Chapter 105

Chapter 105 \nChapter 105\n

Kay: Please note that I ‘made’ an error in regards to the APC’s caliber . It’s 762, not the . 30 . Apparently, NATO changed the caliber to cartridge in question, but the A4 is listed as a . 30 .  

NATO forces cal-swapped the M1919s, changing them to 7 . 62 from the . 30, and that was in the 90s; M1919s have been in service for a very long time and the author failed to mention this tiny little detail, the JPN gods only know why considering how much he loves to prattle on . So, I will not be editing the previous chapter to cal-swap it like NATO .  

For those who’re wondering ‘Lovely Editor Kay, how long is a long time?’

Well my little children, 

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Currently, I am inside the Wolf Fang Labyrinth, traveling down a forested road on the 24th floor . While it rained heavily, I used the LVTP, an armored personnel carrier (APC) while relying on my map display . Throughout the ride, otter-like monsters had surrounded and attacked me during different points . It reminded me of the monster manual I’d read in the General Guild’s library back in Barga, where I’d screenshotted every page, and so I pulled it up as I drove .  

Those monsters seemed to be a monster called Aquatura, often encountered within the surrounding areas in Barga . It used its small but sharp claws, as well as water magic, to attack; oftentimes in large groups . Certainly, they’ve attacked me en masse every time I’ve encountered them and once they’d run out of magic, they’d resort to their claws . Their claws weren’t strong enough to penetrate the APC’s armor, a scratching blow at most . Once they ran out of steam, I’d just crush them with the tank tracks .

Aquarturas weren’t the only monster I encountered once I got past the 21st floor . I also encountered a giant salamander-like beast, known as an Aquadorias . It was 2 meters long with a black glossy body covered in red spots . It moved as though it was swimming across the muddy terrain . They never actually attempted to attack me, preferring to down their own thing . However, sometimes, they’d stop in my path and leave me with no choice but to run them over .  

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Finally, when I looked at the map, the stairs leading to the 25th finally appeared on my map .  

From the 21st to 25th floor, the heavy magical rain had been the only major obstacle – it being an environmental hazard – and despite how often the Aquaturas attacked me, they weren’t that strong individually . Aquradorias didn’t fight and considering that I could easily run them over, firearms would’ve dispatched them easily enough .

I drove the APC over the stone staircase before I switched to the machine gun controls . I turned toward the flock of Aquarturas that’d been following close behind, then tapped the fire button . The LVTP-5’s mounted Browning machine gun was chambered in 7 . 62x63mm with an effective range around 1300 meters, but of course, it was difficult to accurately hit a target beyond the 1000 meter mark without a scope . In any case, it would easily take down any target since its stopping power only dropped slightly at range .  

Since I was using the TSS UI like a tablet, it made me feel like I was playing an old game . That being said, I moved the crosshairs quickly, only stopping for a moment on target before moving onto the next one . The turret moved left and right with precision, taking down the monsters as fire burst out the barrel with a roar .   

After cleaning up the monsters, I opened up the hatch and exited the vehicle before returning it to the garage . While I waited for it to recover its fuel and armor, I let myself get drenched in the rain as I collected the dropped stones . It’d been only 4 floors, but I’d consume quite a lot of CP to arrive here – most of it being spent on fuel and armor .  

If it was mostly just fuel, then the maintenance cost wouldn’t be so high . VMB provided a wide range of vehicles, but the CP required to buy and maintain each vehicle was no laughing matter . It was to prevent players from treating the vehicles as disposable items, like using them for suicide car bombs .\n\n 

Since this was my first time soloing a guardian, my main weapon was an MPS AA-12 with FRAG-12 shells . The SCAR-H was my back up along with 2 of each of the 3 different special grenades . The Five-SeveN was my secondary, along with a ballistic shield to complete it – Now I was ready to go .  

According to the information I had, it was apparently possible to retreat from the guardian room . My plan was to retreat and rearrange my loadout if it was found lacking . I stored the APC in the garage, then looked to the gate before me . The white pillars, and the gate itself, was decorated with carvings . Upon close inspection, I noticed the carvings depicted a battle between humans and monsters, giving a hell-gate vibe to it . On the top of the gate, there was a throne shaped ornament, on which a monster sat on while it looked down over me .  

The monster’s head was a wolf, its eyes gave off the feeling that it was watching with intent . I tried to ignore it as I pushed the gate open .

“Thi-this is…” 

The room beyond the gate… Was flooded with water . To be exact, the entire room was a pond — Huh?

Judging from this, could it be that the guardian was some sort of monster that lived near water like the rest of the monsters I encountered so far…? I thought so as I observed all the water inside the guardian room . The map displayed showed the walkable parts of the pond and I walked the obscured path covered in water – water splashing with each step . As if attracted by the racket, a large black spot emerged from the pond .  

The guardian was here .