'Hmm'.

　In addition to up and down, left and right, and even back and forth, everywhere you look there's a straight path full of traps. A woman in her initial equipment carefully walks through the passages of such a labyrinth.

'I didn't know they confiscated items in addition to armor. I heard it was a test, but it's quite a nuisance.

　She muttered with an expression so tense that in reality she would have been dripping with sweat.
　Her name is Drago. She is a gamer who spends everything but sleep and meals playing this game.

　Drago is also one of the challengers who have obtained the "Golden Invitation" and are now facing the trials after a chance encounter with Gordo.
　As he listened to the explanation of the trials, he thought vaguely, 'My name and Gordo's are a bit similar. ......' He was a man with a bold and unshakable mentality.


'I haven't raised my scouting skills. ......'

　Her fighting style was that of a heavy warrior. She was the first player who took the ordinary profession of "Swordsman" and upgraded it to the rather special profession of "Heavy Swordsman".

　She has one of the highest levels and skill proficiency among all players, and above all she has high firepower, but she is a full attacker.
　The only useful skill she has in the dungeon is "Detect", like Skuna, who is also a physical full-attacker, and that detecting skill cannot be used to find traps.
　It's not that you can't see the traps visually, but you can't help but lose your mental energy.

　What lay before me was a straight path that stretched for about 200 meters.
　The name of the ordeal is "Trap Panic". As the name suggests, it is an ordeal filled with numerous traps.

　But it's still a trap, right? This is not to be underestimated.
　It may not seem like much, but there are plenty of instant death traps along this single path.
　If you take even one wrong route, you will die.
　Drago was trying to proceed carefully, but the drain on his concentration was too much for him.

(Lynne is measuring the power of magic. Skuna was pure combat. (Now, I'm curious as to the reason why I was made to take this test.

　In terms of difficulty, Skuna's ordeal is probably the best, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to complete, as long as you can 'endure' it.
　Skuna is especially good at seeing things through. She'll be able to use evasion and parry to endure.

　As for Rinne's ordeal, I have to say that Gordo completely misjudged Rinne.
　Simply put, the test was to pass the test if you hit the scarecrow with magic of a certain level of firepower, but it was too good a match for Rinne.

　This was a rare skill that Rinne had acquired when they had defeated a named boss monster together.
　Drago knew that if certain conditions were met, it was capable of unparalleled firepower, surpassing even the Judgment.
　If his opponent had been a scarecrow, he would have been able to clear it for sure.

(I envy you.)

　Regardless of the difficulty level of the Sukuna, there was no difference in the fact that both trials were in line with his aptitude.
　In comparison, what about the trials I'm undergoing?
　I'm not saying that I'm not good at detecting traps, but isn't this a test that should be taken by scouts, Drago wanted to swear.

However, he couldn't throw away this chance. It's unclear if there will be another chance to get the invitation, and there are already two people who have completed it. Participating in the Apostle Defeat Battle is definitely a 'golden opportunity'. You can't afford to miss it.



　Drago's thoughts raced through his mind as he stepped cautiously forward.
　'Become gold'. Not the in-game money of Iris, but the real money.

　He is a professional gamer and a streamer.
　It's not uncommon nowadays for people like Rinne and Drago to make a career out of gaming, but unlike Rinne, who plays for the sheer fun of it, Drago sees gaming as a business.

　It's not that he doesn't enjoy WLO. In fact, he is proud of the fact that he enjoys it so much that he is called a cripple.
　It's just that she knows very well that a professional gamer can't make a living just by playing games.

'Phew, ...... a long way to go.

　The road has not even reached the halfway point yet.
　Drago exhaled lightly, wondering how much longer he would have to wait before he could clear the path.


☆


　GING!　The sword was cut off from the middle with a sound.

'That's too bad.

　A young man wearing a simple one-handed swordsman's outfit, with a one-handed sword and a round shield, said this and slit the neck of the knight in armor who was upset.
　I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do it, but I'm going to try.

(Four of them this time. I see, a diamond party.

　I'm not sure what to make of it.
　I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's a good idea.

　The "Diamond Party" was the name of this ordeal that Shuya had been assigned by Gordo in the "Golden Trials".
　At first, Shuya was expecting to see a glittering party, but when she arrived, she found herself alone with her knight in shining armor in the arena.
　You will find a lot of things that you can do to make your life easier.
　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

'What's with the diamonds?

　It's like an upside-down pyramid. As you go up, the number of monsters increases like the width of the pyramid.
　And the diamond symbol looks like two pyramids stacked on top of each other.
　At some point, the increase should stop and the number of monsters should converge. Shuya made a prediction.

　The knights in armor that had appeared so far were not that strong one by one.
　Compared to the monsters that appear in this dungeon, they are a little stronger, about as strong as Griffith, but that's about it.
　Even if a bunch of them were to attack me, I could handle them as long as I kept my distance.

'Shh!

　I slashed the body of the first knight as I passed him.
　He parries the second knight's slash and then rolls him over, avoiding the third knight's attack.
　He uses his shield to stop the fourth attacker, and ducks under the sword of the first one, who is slashing at him from behind.

　Then, with a crunching sound, the knight's sword pierced the fourth knight. This provoked a friendly fire.
　Taking advantage of the opportunity, Shuya used the "Double Bite" art to cut off the head of the first knight.



　Double Bite is an art that slices through the target from both sides at high speed, like the bite of a fierce beast.
　It is a technique that gives a large compensation to the destruction value of thin parts such as the neck and arms when the attack is accurate.
　In this case, he sliced through the neck with such precision that, combined with the attack on a vital point, it was judged as if he had died instantly.

　Shuya kicked away the fourth knight who was frightened by the attack from his ally, evaded the attack of the third knight who was coming from behind, and jumped into his pocket with his shield at the ready.
　This is a shield bash. It is not an art, but a pure striking technique, but because it is a shield bash, it is easy to prevent the enemy's attack, and when it hits, it can give a wide impact.
　In the event you're not sure what you're looking for, there are a few things you can do.
　He then swung the sword to the side with a crushing sound. It pierced the skull and sliced through the head.
　He slashed the heavily damaged knight with a kesa-slash and drained his HP.

　All that remained was the second knight, whom I had knocked down once, and the fourth knight, whom I had kicked away earlier.
　Both of them seemed to have already recovered their stances, and I saw the fourth knight charging at me first.
　He was damaged in the earlier fight. Therefore, Shuya goes to cut down its HP at once.
　Shuya chooses "Heat Triangle". It is a three-strike art with flame attribute.
　It begins with a diagonal kesa-slash, followed by a horizontal cleave, and then an upward slash, forming an equilateral triangle.
　The sound of flame-laden sword fights rang out in rhythm.

'It's over, isn't it?

　The fourth knight's HP had been cut down by the clean hit, and Shuya relaxed against the remaining two knights.
　He used his shield to block the attack and finished it off without using any special arts. There was nothing to be afraid of unless there were multiple knights.

'So this is the fourth game.

　After getting through all four of them with no damage, Shuya waited for the next battle to pop up.
　《Diamond Party》. The number of monsters in this ordeal increases purely until the fifth round, and from the sixth round onwards, their strength increases instead of decreasing.

(How many battles are left? ......)

　The next battle is Round 5. (How many more battles are there? ) The next battle is the fifth, and although there is still room for improvement, Shuya's battle has just reached the turning point.