I hate being in pain, so I think I'll make a full defense build

Chapter 517: Defense Specialization and Conclusion

After successfully helping with Kasumi’s quest, the two accompanied her as she brought back the particularly large mineral dropped by the boss and completed the quest. The remaining smaller elemental minerals could be used for weak elemental attacks, but they decided to give them to Izu to explore further possibilities. With this, the planned quests were completed.

“I might need your help with more quests in the future, but for now… thanks.”

“You’re welcome!”

“If anything, we’re the ones getting help from you.”

For their challenge against the Demon King by the deadline, they had received significant support from the members of [Maple Tree].

“Thanks to you two, the quest was successfully cleared. As expected.”

“Kasumi, you were amazing too!”

“Haha, next time I’ll show you even more.”

“We’re looking forward to it.”

“Yeah, count on it.”

With the quest smoothly finished, Kasumi went off to search for the next quest in the town of the fourth floor area.

The two watched her go, then looked at each other to decide what to do next.

“What should we do? We could go back to the fifth floor area, or maybe try to find a hidden area… well, that’s an option too.”

“Hmm… well, I think we should head to the fifth floor area. We had new equipment made for it!”

“Okay. Advancing there is our task. If things go well, we might clear all the remaining areas at once.”

“That would set us up perfectly to take on the Demon King!”

“We need to advance for that too.”

“Yeah!”

“Alright, let’s head to the town in the fifth floor area… huh?”

“A message.”

Wondering who it could be from, they checked their messages and saw it wasn’t from [Maple Tree] guild members but from the administrators.

“It’s about the concluding event for us.”

“Um… Choose between PVP or PVE to participate… hmm. Whoa! Just for participating, you get a gold medal!”

“Wow, they’re really going all out for this milestone event. Generous rewards. It probably means the difficulty of the next area being implemented will skyrocket too.”

Getting a gold medal could potentially allow them to acquire skills that could become core to their build.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the strength of players would change significantly before and after this event.

“PVP is duo… If you form a party, it’s up to two people… The space is partitioned at the start of combat, and the number of skill uses is restored.”

“Sounds like a duel.”

“That’s close. Also, if a certain number of players gather within a certain range, a limited battle royale can also start.”

“Wow. Is there a ranking or something?”

“No, it’s more like a festival event. There’s no forced retirement, and the participation prize is the gold medal. It’s all about going all out and having fun. Defeated players are temporarily sent to a losers’ area and can teleport to any location to restart if they still want to fight.”

“I see.”

It’s not about being forced to fight for ranking. Each player gets a chance to test their current abilities, reassess what they’re lacking, and think about the skills they want with the gold medal.

While this aspect is present, it’s mostly a place to enjoy the battle itself.

“PVE is straightforward. Show your strength in a field where extremely powerful monsters, which are very difficult to defeat, are rampant.”

“We can form a party of up to eight people for this one.”

“A full party, just like usual. Some of the monsters we see here might show up in the new area too.”

“Sounds likely!”

“Since it says they’re extremely difficult to defeat, these monsters are probably on a different level from the quest bosses. I bet they’ll have piercing attacks, buff nullifications, and constantly launch area attacks.”

“Yeah, because they clearly say ‘extremely difficult to defeat’.”

Sally speculated that the PVE event might also serve to give the administrators a sense of where players currently stand. Which bosses can be defeated, and which ones can’t be beaten by anyone?

With rewards guaranteed, there’s no risk in losing, allowing for multiple attempts, and the high difficulty is stated upfront. This way, any party can enjoy challenging powerful monsters without worry.

“We have to choose one or the other… What do you think, Maple?”

“Hmm… If it’s eight people, then PVE, right? Everyone can join in! If it’s PVP, then I’d go with Sally.”

“…Everyone must have received the message too, so maybe we should ask them later?”

“Yeah! Sounds good!”

“In any case, the event is still a bit ahead, so we should focus on defeating the Demon King first.”

“Absolutely! Let’s give it our all before the event! First, to the fifth floor area!”

Saying this, they walked towards the guild home to teleport to the town in the fifth floor area, as they had discussed before receiving the message.

“……”

The dreams once seen still remain distant.

Covering her mouth slightly with her hand, struggling to articulate the important words. Sally followed behind, watching the back of the one who had walked ahead.