555-553 The abyss of the abyss




 Wind Cloud Oakbo Castle - Advanced EX Mode.

 Immediately after the start of the game, there were already casualties.

''Darquish-dono...?
''Lord Dalkish, who holds the record for clearing the tower for two years in a row, is...?

 Then Zos Saira appeared as if emerging from the void.
 I'm not going to be able to get to the bottom of it.

''Ho ho ho ho......Quickly eliminated by one person?

 Zoscyra came out and looked happy.
 I haven't seen her smile like that in a long time.

 She's been yawning a lot lately.

'O you witch! Such a mother-in-law trap!
Falling into a false sense of sight is a very common occurrence, don't you think? You'd be foolish to fall for this classic approach.
What the heck?
And this strawberry is a witch by nature. The Witch of the Abyss, Zos Saira. Are you nuts?

 It was Okubo who was too busy answering 'yes' as his arms were folded tighter and tighter.

'But don't deviate. I have come to explain the gate to you.
Commentary? Of this cunning illusion of a trap?

 Participants in the advanced course stand on their feet.
 They point to the fake mean table, which becomes thin and looks like a perspective.

That's just a greeting. "That's just a greeting," he says, "but that's not going to stop us from getting to the other side of the river, is it?
That's right!

 Even though the purpose of the first obstacle to cross the shore, "Frustrating Mean Table", was to cross over to the other side of the shore, the mean table was tapered.
 If that average table is tapered off and doesn't reach the other side, how do I cross it?

Here's the thing. Take a good look.

 Zos Saira snapped her fingers and something appeared on the empty moat.

 It's a block.

 There are several blocks floating in the air, just enough for each person to manage to get on top of.

What is that?
There are a lot of blocks floating in the air that go all the way to the other shore? ........is that so?

 The idea was to jump over those blocks one by one and cross over to the other shore.
 It looks like some kind of action game, doesn't it?

'Haha, that's easy to do! Let's just jump over to that level of higgledy-piggledy and clear it out immediately.
I don't think we're done here.

 One of the participants immediately leaped and tried to jump onto the block in front of us from our shore.
 But just before he did, the block slipped off to the side, and the participant lost his footing and fell to the bottom of the empty moat.

''Gyaaaaaaah!

 By the way, if you fall to the bottom, you are safe because it has been magically treated.
 You'll only be disqualified.

'The panicky ones will lose. This block, you see, floats by the magic of the straw, but it also moves around, not just in one place.
Yeah?
Don't worry. It's just a regular up-and-down or left-and-right motion, at best. Don't worry. If you watch its movement, you should be able to catch it.

 I'm starting to feel more and more like an action game.

Okay, let's watch the blocks and proceed carefully!
Two people disappeared before we could get started...!

 This is the course for advanced riders. It's different from the usual course.
 However, my opponent is also an experienced expert, so if he understands the purpose of the game, he will jump from one block to the next steadily.

 I reached the middle of the course in the blink of an eye.

"All right, only half way to go! It's a piece of cake once you get used to it!
Hey, just so you know, from the second half, Brock's behavior changed.

 The first participant to step out before Zos Saira's explanation is finished.

'The blocks are going to disappear and appear,'
''Gyahhhh!

 The block I was about to step on disappeared just before I did. I'm not going to be able to get a foothold and fall headlong.

"Woahhhhhh? More severe and devilish specifications!
Wait a minute! The next block appears at about the same time as the one before it disappears!
You'll have to anticipate the timing and jump to the next one. Too severe!

 Now it's starting to look like an old action game with a demon difficulty level.

 Even so, the people who managed to cross the moat with a lot of dropouts.

''I'm tired...!
It's hard. It's a hundred times harder than your average table...!

 Chasing the tricky moving blocks is more nerve-wracking than you can imagine.

 And the next hurdle, the slope attraction with the big rocks rolling down....

''This one too, with a bit of straw maneuvering. "I made this one too, with some modifications, so that you can change the slope of the slope by yourself.
What? What do you mean?

 Zos Saira, who is also accompanying us, explains the various attractions.
 All the while, she and Okubo are locked in arm.

"For now, the angle of the slope is about 5 degrees. I'm going to change it to 10 degrees.
''Geez!''

 The ground moves and the slope becomes steep.
 It's a good idea to have a good idea of what kind of magic is being used to create this effect? I'm sure you'll find that Zos Saira is an even more capable witch than you thought.

The next time you do this, make it 10 to 20 degrees.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!
It's 90 degrees at once.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Another 180 degrees.
''Angyaahhhhhh?!''

 The participants were confused by the inexplicable natural disasters.
 It's no longer a matter of rolling rocks.

"The third barrier is the area that Warawa is in charge of to begin with! I've got it all amped up for the advanced level! On the regular course, I've placed a playful deep one that will only increase as you hit it, but wow! For this advanced course...!

 What was waiting for me was a battle homunculus called the Deep One.
 ........or something that looks like an orkbo?

My masterpiece, the Okvo Clone Deep One, which I have taken the Okvo's genes and improved upon. Due to my inexperience, I am unable to produce a strength equal to that of the original.

 Even if it was less than a tenth of that, if the original was an orkbo, its power was immense.
 It would be easy to destroy an entire country in one piece.

 Of course, the challengers who had reached that point were kicked to the ground without a trace.

''Gwaaahhhhhh!''

 Mr. Arowana also fell down with the rocks at the second barrier, so he was wiped out.

 The advanced course ended without anyone being able to complete it.

    * * * *

 ........Now, some of you may have noticed this.

 This advanced course, the supervisor, Mr. Zos Saira, insists on being too strong.
 Thanks to her, it's become a devilishly difficult level that no one can clear, but that was actually the goal.

 Her stress was becoming too much.

 Upgrading from fugitive to Prime Minister (?) She was sought out for her skills from various quarters, and she had played the most important role in the recent competition between the three races and the new Dragon Emperor's Castle.

 Thanks to that, a lot of the burden was concentrated on her.
 If she didn't vent at this point, she might explode at some point.

 At that time, Oakbo Castle was conveniently waiting to be held.

 It was the perfect opportunity to let her flail around as she pleased, to clear up and relieve her stress.

 He had Oakbo accompany him throughout the entire time, soaking him in the entertainment, and trapping him with all his might to make him a warrior.

 That's right, it wasn't the participants who were enjoying the challenging and high level of difficulty on the advanced course, but the ones who were actually setting the trap!

 All you want to do is say no in advance to high difficulty and all you're allowed to do is say no in advance!
 So, even though it was game over for all of us, we were all convinced, and Zos Saira was relieved of her stress and able to get on with her job as Prime Minister tomorrow.

 In this way, while solving various problems, this year's Okubo Castle came to an end in a very successful way.

 The main events that happened this time.

Silverwolf became the Adventurer's Guild Master.
And he got married. The other is a cat.
The goblin team's flying attraction is a big hit.
Zos Saira relieved her stress by becoming a warrior in the advanced course.
Prathi sold a lot of octopus balls.
Ramen and natto sold well too.
I failed the second barrier again (general course).
The demon king made it through to the third gate.
The first person to reach the castle tower in the general course was the mermaid king Nagas and many others.

 So, it was a very fruitful festival.

 We hope to return to Okubo Castle next year.