Chapter 214: Critical Ring

"Alright then, shall we enter the forest?"

"Yes! Let's go, desu~no! It's time for some hunting, desu~no!"

After finishing breakfast, I took Urza to a nearby forest.

We were separated from the other members.

Aeris and Nagisa, along with Leon Party's Ruffie, were completing another sub-quest

Monica remained at home to persuade her mother to stay, while Ciel had returned to her family's mansion, the Count Uranus, to meet with her father.

Melia had disappeared for some reason, but since there was no reason to search for her, we left her alone.

The reason I was entering the forest was to clear the sub-event "Chase the Golden Bee."

A rare bee inhabits this forest, and discovering its nest allows you to obtain a rare item.

"Well then... as previously explained, our goal is to find the nest of the 'Gold Queen,' the golden bee."

"Yes, desu~no! I can't wait to taste the honey, desu~no!"

"Yes, I hear the honey is excellent. I've never tasted it myself."

In the game, it was said to be so delicious that it would melt your tongue, and a certain influential person was also interested in it.

Anyway... there were several conditions that had to be cleared to find this bee's nest.

"First of all, we don't know where the nest is located. And the trouble is, their hives change location from day to day."

The Gold Queen was a special monster that was half demon and half spirit.

Therefore, she could interfere with the forest with her spirit power and move her nest to different places depending on the day.

Even in the game, the location changed randomly, and it was quite difficult to find.

"However... the key item has already been obtained. We should be able to find it by using this."

I took out the ring I had obtained last night after defeating the ghost knight.

The ring, called the "Critical Ring," had the ability to see through the weak points of monsters, and when equipped, the weak point would glow red.

Although there was a 20% chance that the ring would break when used, it was preserved as my valuable item because it doubled the damage if it hit a weak spot.

"Well then, Urza, please do as I explained."

"Um... Are you sure about that, desu~no? Even if I do 'something' like that?"

"Yes, it's fine. I won't get mad, so hurry up and do it."

I put on the ring and motioned to Urza.

Although she tilted her head in wonder, Urza readied her weapon, a club, and said, "Understood."

"Well then, Goshujin-sama... Here I go!"

"......!"

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Urza scoops me up from below and swings her club at me.

I stepped on the attack from below and timed my jump carefully.

"Ooooooh!"

With the help of Urza's physical strength, I leap with momentum and jumped high enough to overlook the trees in the forest.

I combined the power of my increased leg strength from skills like "Body Enhancement" and "Fighting Technique" with Urza's power to soar to great heights.

"Critical Ring activated."

With a view of the forest below, I activated the ring.

While using the ability to see weaknesses, I scanned the forest and found a certain spot.

"There it is...!"

A part of the forest emitted a red light.

That must be the weak point of this forest, that is, the place where the Gold Queen is.

"Here we go..."

I spin on the ground in midair and land on the ground... and let out a short "hoo" breath.

Tch... this game's management is truly wicked.

To find the nest of the Gold Queen, players have to walk around the wide forest for several hours... or even several days if they're unlucky.

Furthermore, even if they try to visit the "nest" again, the location has changed, and they have to start exploring from scratch. This is just plain evil.

"And yet... if this item is used, it can be discovered in one shot. They're seriously twisted."

This was confirmed when one player discovered it and posted it online.

The player was moving around the field using a flight item, but for some reason, activated the critical ring equipped towards the field.

It wasn't an intentional action. Gamers who play RPGs for a long time sometimes act strangely, such as talking to dogs or cats, collecting a large number of "horse droppings," or playing casino games for hours to increase coins even though they already have prize items. The action taken by the player was also one of those inexplicable actions.

However, the player noticed something.

A red light indicating a weak point was floating in the field seen through the critical ring.

It was later found that when the critical ring was activated while overlooking the field, it could find hidden rare items and boss monsters.

This is something that is not mentioned in the item descriptions or in the strategy books.

Some players complained to the game management, but they responded by pretending to not understand, "Oh, I don't know what you're talking about," or "Isn't it a bug? We overlooked it."

And because of that, the real value of the critical ring was not to find the monster's weak point, but to use it against the terrain.

"It's not a hidden *-key (kakure ○kki)... so stop teasing the player."

"Ah, Goshujin-sama! Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes, we found it. The destination isn't far from here. Let's hurry."

I respond to Urza's rush and brush the leaves off my body as I jump.

As time passes, the Gold Queen's nest moves, so we decided to head to the spot we found as quickly as possible.

As we moved through the forest, I cursed the game developer in my mind for being so mean... while bringing Urza along.