Original subtitles

This world is filled with too many games to count,

though the vast majority simply come and go in obscurity.

The greatest of all games

is the fully immersive VR game boasting over 30 million players worldwide—

Shangri-La Frontier, which rightly earns the title of "god-tier game"!

One lover of trash games, Rakuro Hizutome,

is trying out the god-tier game, Shangri-La Frontier!

What adventures await him there?

Winner

Kei Uomi

Errands, Cultivation, and Game Progress

Okay, let's move on to fortunes.

Number one star sign is...

Gemini! You have the best luck today.

Your lucky item is roller skates.

Gosh, I wish I could ride roller skates to school!

But where would I get some?

Gotta say, it's one well made game...

Shangri-La Frontier.

I'd originally meant it to just kill a little time.

Kei Uomi

Pro Gamer With "Nitro Squad"

But...

Mwahaha

Gwahaha

The thought of them enjoying it without me really ticks me off!

Still, there's just a week until the big tournament,

so I'd better work out the last of the kinks.

Check out Inventoria Key ASAP, man!

Scratch that.

I really can't bear to let them get ahead of me!

Okay!

The Serpent's Apple

Did you see it?

That awesome sci-fi armor lineup?!

I could take on the entire SLF playerbase with that!

Yeah, I saw it!

If you could use that stuff, it'd change up the whole game, for real!

Yeah!

So, what now? What now?!

Well, about that...

Before I came here, I went into the storage space and checked a few things out.

And?!

My conclusion is...

At the moment, they're not useful as anything more than art pieces.

Those tactical machines and power armors

seem to require a power source called a "Non-Standard Ether Reactor,"

Non-Standard Armament: Wire Keep-Out Wire

Non-Standard Armament: Blade Harbinger

an item I've never heard of and have no idea where to get.

And you can't use the weapons without the power armor on, so...

No way!

I got so excited, I didn't dig any deeper...

Actually, I've got a Non-Standard Ether Reactor.

Gross!

Where the hell did you get that?!

Maybe it's 'cause I did most of the fighting against Kirin,

but I got it in my loot.

Non-Standard Ether Reactor

I underestimated you, Mr. Bondage Rodeo!

Damn it! Wish I coulda seen that rodeo.

It's my one regret of the Wethermon fight...

It seems like it's damaged, though.

Non-Standard Ether Reactor

Damaged

You can't fix it at a shop?

The blacksmiths I went to all turned me away at the door.

"I can't fix a thing if I've got no idea what it is."

Yeah, being a Divinity-era relic and all...

We might need a specialized blacksmith.

Or a special item...

Either way, I'm stumped.

I might know a way to get it fixed.

Hey! You did that on purpose!

Hey, are you serious about that?

Well, no guarantees.

And since it involves a unique scenario, it might be hard to get you there.

I was hoping you'd let me borrow that item of yours.

Okay.

Or so I'd like to say...

But I've got a condition.

I wanna know the unlock conditions for that unique scenario you're hiding.

Come on, Katzo.

I mean, it's not like I'm triggering my own unique stuff!

I gotta piggyback on everyone else's stuff!

You sulk about the most annoying things.

In SLF, information on uniques is extremely valuable.

Even more so for those with monopolies on it.

The three of us didn't come together purely out of a sense of camaraderie.

To protect our own profits, we won't share information easily.

And... the same goes for Katzo-kun.

It's not like it showed me the conditions when I unlocked it,

so I can only explain my own situation at the time.

Is that enough?

You mean it?

Don't act so shocked. You're the one who asked.

I didn't wanna reveal this stuff,

but you want a show of good faith, right?

And like I just said, I don't have any proof that these are the conditions.

All right, here I go.

What I did was...

Unique Monster Lycagon the Nightslayer Encountered

Unique monster, Lycagon the Nightslayer, encountered.

Unique... monster?

At level 20 or less,

I lasted five minutes without taking damage

against the randomly encountered unique monster, Lycagon the Nightslayer,

then landed around 200 critical hits with a vorpal weapon.

You expect me to do that?!

You acrobatic asshole!

What are you mad at me for?!

It's like if he asked you how you fly,

and you told him to work out his pecs!

You think there's no harm in telling me because there's no chance I'll do it, right?!

Hey, this isn't fair!

I gave you a genuine answer!

Fine, whatever!

Just take the stupid thing already.

Hey!

Oh, right. Sunraku-kun...

What now?

Could I get back that thing I left with you?

What thing?

Oh, right. Forgot I hadn't done that.

Hey, Sunraku-kun.

Could you hang onto this for a while?

Um, sure.

Item ownership has been transferred.

Reward Scales

That thing you were messing with in the Wethermon fight, right?

You said you'd borrowed it, right?

Item ownership has been transferred.

From an NPC organization called the Golden Scales.

I think it's part of one of the highest classes of items in all Shangri-La Frontier.

Theoretically, if you throw in enough money,

you can get stats even higher than those of a unique monster.

You'd need the budget of a small country to do it, of course.

It seems the Inventoria can't be removed once it's equipped,

so I'd expected it to be sold off...

What? Really?

Right, they did mention it becoming a part of your body...

Fortunately, it doesn't seem to have been taken, even as part of the PKK penalty.

But this is the one thing I didn't want to lose, so I laundered it.

Laundered it?

A little trick to keep your items from being lost to the penalty.

The penalty for PKing means that when you're killed,

ownership of your items transfers to the person who killed you.

And you have to pay a fee in proportion to your wrongdoing—your karma points.

I think it sets your affection levels from most NPCs to the lowest level possible,

too, but that's fine.

The fee this time was pretty annoying.

Oh, no!

When you're killed, even items kept in storage will be

Pencilgon's Storage

automatically seized and sold off to help pay off the fee.

Sold Off

Repayment

Protecting certain items from this seizure is called "laundering."

So instead of putting them in storage,

you gave them to Sunraku before Psyger-0 killed you?

You can actually do that?

Seems like a pretty big exploit...

No. Even if you hand over the item,

it'll still search through your history and sell it off.

Huh?

Then why didn't the Scales go away?

The Scales aren't really mine.

Their ownership fundamentally lies with The Golden Scales.

What matters here is that

items you don't have ownership of won't be automatically sold off.

But you can't transfer ownership just by handing an item to someone else.

So when Psyger-0 killed me, even if I'd been carrying the Scales,

their ownership by The Golden Scales wouldn't have changed.

So they wouldn't have been sold off; they'd probably just be dropped as an object.

I think I get the idea, but how's that laundering?

Isn't it just the Scales falling outside the standard penalty purview?

You can exploit that property to do some very interesting things.

"The scales preserve the balance.

Let the past be my payment, and return what has been offered."

Tome of Truth: The Tombguard

Flower Pin of Bygone Prayers

That's the Tome of Truth and... What's the flower thing?

My loot from the Wethermon fight.

Looks like the three of us each got slightly different items.

Clear Sky Skillbook

Let's see... "Clear Sky Skillbook"?

Clear Sky Skillbook A digital record of sword techniques left by a Divinity-era swordsmaster.

I offered the Flower Pin of Bygone Prayers and the Tome of Truth to the Scales.

In that instant, ownership of the Pin transferred to the Scales,

Ownership

Offering

which meant they no longer had physical existence.

So they couldn't be seized?

Right.

And it actually let you get 'em back?

If you pay the price within one week, you can retrieve the items.

Of course, I had to give up 40 levels to make it happen...

But if it means I get to keep this pin, I won't miss them.

On top of that, in order to rent out these Scales,

I used my main weapon as collateral!

The Scales' power transferred its ownership to the organization, so it's also safe!

So much for wiping the slate clean on your crimes...

So, how much was the fee?

A good 500 million mahni.

You won't get it outta me.

I don't need to borrow it.

I can totally afford it.

The most recent fight proved it to me.

Proved what?

Hunting unique monsters is a profitable enterprise.

As simple as that, huh?

On that point, I have a proposal.

Would you two like...

to form a clan with me?

Rock...

Paper...

Scissors!

Yeah! Pencilgon loses!

That means Pencilgon's our clan leader!

Oh, yeah!

Best out of three!

Nothing doing!

I should've known I couldn't beat their reaction speed...

Just figuring that out, are you?!

Smug

I'm not cut out to be a leader... but ah, well.

Okay, Leader! Here's your first job.

What should our clan name be?

Unique Hunters

Outrage

Trash Game Alliance

Wolfgang

Gold Rush

Pike-Mounted Heads

Pencilgon-chan and Her Errandboys

Okay.

What about this one, then?

Sounds good to me. Pretty cool.

I'd have been okay with "Pencilgon-chan and Her Errandboys," myself.

I would not have.

Unique Hunters

Outrage

Trash Game Alliance

Gold Rush

Pike-Mounted Heads

Pencilgon-chan and Her Errandboys

All right, my fellows.

Let's ready our drinks.

We will henceforth become wolves venturing through the

world of Shangri-La Frontier in search of unique monsters—

Wolfgang

And in celebration of Clan Wolfgang's founding...

A toast!

So, what'll our emblem be?

I think that one...

should be up to Pencilgon!

Get to it, Leader!

Stop making me do everything!

Didn't know there was a pub back here...

I figure it can just be whatever.

Same here.

C'mon, man.

If we're gonna make a guild, at least think stuff over!

Wow, there's basically no one here.

Hey, you guys.

I've got a question for you.

I've been searching for the trio

who beat the unique monster from that recent announcement.

Their names are

Arthur Pencilgon

Arthur Pencilgon,

Oikatzo,

Oikatzo

and Sunraku...

Sunraku

Never heard of 'em!

Hey!

Hey, Leader! I thought you rented the place out!

I don't recall ever saying that!

I just said barely anyone ever went there!

Well, it's good timing.

Let's call the meeting to a close.

My level dropped, thanks to the Evil Force and all,

so I'd like to do some leveling, myself.

Yeah, and I should turn in the Scales and get my main weapon back.

You handle the reactor stuff, Sunraku-kun!

You got it!

And you figure out that emblem!

Later!

They split up!

Hey, player named Sunraku!

Wait! Don't run away!

Terribly sorry!

My name's not Sunraku! It's Samraku!

You liar!

Here we go!

I'm back, Emul!

Open a gate, would you?

You're late, Sunraku-san!

Positively tardy!

Now, now. I'll explain later.

Harrumph!

Right, that creepy sword.

I forgot to hand it back to Pencilgon.

Well, next time.

You chose the wrong escape route, buddy!

You're heading right for a dead end!

I just wanna ask you some questions.

You don't have to run—

Hey, he's gone.

Where'd he go?

Huh? Aniki Vash isn't here?

I haven't seen Dadd—the boss since the day he spoke to you.

Got it.

So he's not necessarily always at the Palace, huh?

I was hoping to go see him after I did my skill fusions and point distributions...

You successfully learned your new skills, I see.

Hey, bird-man...

Would you like to peruse my skill grimoires?

I'm kinda broke.

mahni

Hmph!

Don't "hmph" at me, lady.

You were gonna rope me into a purchase the minute you saw a chance,

you money-grubbing bunny.

Well, where shall we go next?

Who else besides Aniki could fix the Ether Reactor?

Probably not Bilac, but I might as well ask.

Yeah, I can't fix that.

Yeah, figured.

Only an Ancient Craftsman can fix up stuff from the Divinity.

Ancient Craftsman

I'm only a Master Craftsman.

Master Craftsman

Pops is the only guy I know who could handle this.

So you need the "Ancient Craftsman" job?

Ah, well.

I'll forget the reactor for now, and work on raising my fused skills.

Raising?

Growth?

What is it?

That's it!

I just need to do some raising!

If there's no Ancient Craftsman around,

I just need to turn Bilac into an Ancient Craftsman!

Don't underestimate the Ancient Craftsman title!

It's not as easy as you make it sound!

I'm not telling you to become a Divine Craftsman like Aniki Vash.

Divine Craftsman

Besides, it's a road you've got to go down someday, right?

Which means now is the time!

Let's make a try at that Ancient Craftsman title!

Make a try?

I'm not saying this out of a lack of faith.

I'm saying it with full confidence in your skills!

And I'll help you, of course!

Big Sis Bee, I know you can do it!

Me, an Ancient Craftsman?

You got it, bird-man.

I'll play along.

I'm gonna become an Ancient Craftsman!

Yay, Big Sis Bee!

Hell yeah!

Let's start the plan to cultivate Bilac!

Yes, indeed!

Y-Yeah!

SLF Mini

SLF Theater!

Making Oikatzo

Mini!

SLF Theater

That seems decent for my appearance.

I get the feeling they'll tease me about the female avatar, though.

Or maybe they'll totally ignore it?

Okay, let's go with it.

Please input name.

Name...

It's gotta have "Katzo" in there.

Modor Katzo. Katzo Bushi.

Modor Katzo

Katzo Bushi

After that should be...

They've been playing SLF for a while.

That means I'll be playing catch-up with 'em.

Pursue. "Oi."

Oikatzo, then.

Please input name.

Oikatzo

Nice to meet you.

Actually, that's not quite right...

"Let's work hard together as Oikatzo," maybe.

I guess I'll pick Monk as my job.

And for origin...

"If you play as a Wanderer, instead of starting in Firstia,

you'll be dropped off somewhere in the first area, the Rampant Forest."

What kind of weirdo would want to start off lost?

Actually, I can imagine.

I might even know someone like that...

Okay, I'm getting a late start,

but I'm gonna catch up in no time!

Let's go, god-tier game, Shangri-La Frontier!