Vol. 7 - Chapter 393 - ‹Okarina› Trial Run! Let’s hunt down the ‹Golden Meowr-Meowr›!
Much like the rare boss's ‹Flute›, rare monster okarina was also a ‹Flute› item with 70% probability to summon a rare monster.
As okarina was enveloped in golden hue and since it was also used to summon ‹Rare Golden Monster›, it was nicknamed ‹Gold Flute›, and needless to say, was a hugely valued item by the players of ‹Dungeon Activity›.
Incidentally, the majority of people tend to call it ‹Okarina›, since it was easy to misunderstand it with ‹Gold Chest›.
‹Okarina› rarity was also lower than ‹Rare Monster Flute (Boss)›, as it appears from normal drops rather than rare boss drops. Considering the benefit, the rare boss flute far surpassed okarina in value, probably why ‹Okarina› has been put into normal drops. Besides, it was also far cheaper to restore the usage count of ‹Okarina›.
While ‹Rare Monster› were guaranteed to drop a rare drop and took only one hit to be taken down, landing that one hit on them was in itself the most difficult aspect. Not to forget their escaping speed.
‹Okarina› could be used for a total of three times, which means we could substantially use it only three times to avoid it becoming unusable forever, which means there were few chances to pull it off. It' similar to rare bos flute in that aspect. So, basically, the moment you let your target run mean a loss.
That being said, the rare boss flute in general was far more popular in reality. Alright, time to use it. It's better to confirm any discrepancy from the game now than other times.
"Come to think of it, aren't you going to use ‹Flute› this time?"
"Yeah, no. Our members are still far from the level to clear it safely."
‹Okarina› seems to have reminded Hannah of ‹Flute› as he inquired about the plan to use it.
We have just set our foot in the Int-mid, and with our levels still low, it wouldn't be beneficial to use ‹Rare Monster Flute (Boss)›. At Least for now, that's the plan.
I think I would wait till we hit level cap before proceeding with it, otherwise it would be a bit dangerous. Well, I do think we might be able to handle it without any problem if I re-compose our team with members particularly strong against the respective rare boss, but our current formation wasn't exactly the best match-up, so gotta hold back for now. I don't want to risk the party wipeout.
For now, our main goal should be to focus on farming regular bose.
Following on, Celia opened the treasured chest with a slightly forlorn look on her face.
The drop in it was another hyped item. Celia took out that drop, her voice trembling.
"T-This is! What an adorable kitten plushie!"
"Woahhh! This is ‹Koneko-sama›! ‹Koneko-sama› came home!" (T/N - Basically mean kitten. Just like Sachineko is lucky/fortune cat)
Holy crap. No, seriously. The drop that Celia pulled out was a plushie that bore a striking resemblance to ‹Sachineko-sama› and shared a resonance skill—‹Koneko-sama›!
Its official name was ‹A kitten that grants fortune›. Much similar to ‹Sachineko-sama›, it was a kitten plushie shaped in an executive proportion. The color was also similar to ‹Sachineko-sama›, and if ‹Sachineko-sama› was modeled after an adult cat, then ‹Koneko-sama› was modeled after a kitten. ‹Koneko-sama› was around one-third the size of ‹Sachineko-sama›.
There were even some ‹Dungeon Activity› players that used to call them ‹Parent-Child› as a set. One reason was also the ability of ‹Koneko-sama›.
‹Koneko-sama› was another of the item meant to setup in the guild, and while ‹Sachineko-sama› was 'A cat that beckons the good fortune', ‹Koneko-sama› ability was to 'bestow good fortune to the sub-guild'.
In the game, it had the function of increasing the rank and quality of item, material or resources from the sub-guild. In fact, there were even ‹Advanced Job Ascension Ticket› occasionally.
Well, of course, the effect pale in comparison to ‹Sachienko-sama›, but its super adorable appearance coupled with its function to show much better result in presence of ‹achineko-sama› had contributed to rising popularity of ‹Koneko-sama›, making it a must-have item.
However, now that we have gotten it in reality, wouldn't this make for a terrific effect? I mean, just thinking about the situation of 'fortune' granted to sub-guild and its effect, it was a one heck of a situation!? And we were just in the middle of establishing our sub-guild as well, there couldn't have been any better timing than that.
Hurray, ‹Cat-Dun›! Viva ‹Cat-Dun›!
Bless the heavens! I almost wanted to jump out and dance but somehow—desperately so—held myself back. Sierra' sermon are terrifying. I internally gave my eternal gratitude to ‹Sachineko-sama›, ‹Cat-Dun›, ‹Coin› and ‹Koneko-sama›. Just thinking about the result—fuhahahaha!
"Th-this so adorable! incredibly adorable!" (Lana)
"Absolutely. It's so devilishly adorable!" (Hannah)
"Ce-Celia, please let me take a good look as well." (Ester)
"Lulu too! Lulu also wants to take a look at it up close!"
While I was praying, girls had already flocked around the ‹Koneko-sama›. Hmm, I knew this was bound to happen.
Lana and Hannah were of course, but even Ester and then Lulu, who should have opened the treasure chest with me, were chattering around Celia. Is this the magic of ‹Koneko-sama›!? I also wanted to take a look at the actual thing, but given the current situation, I guess I will have to wait for my turn.
For the time being, I remained on the sideline, alone. A few moments later, the situation remained the same.
"Ahem, we have gotten a wonderful rare item, ‹Okarina›, I am thinking of using it right away! Who wants to use it?"
In response to my statement, four members raised their hands. Lulu was first to raise.
"Zephyr onii-sama! Lulu, Lulu want to try blowing it!"
"Oh, of course. You can have the first try."
"Hold on, Zephyr. What about me!?"
"You can try after her, alright?"
"Hmm-mm. Hah, fine."
"Your Highness Lana, if you don't mind, can I please take the 2nd turn? I want to be one to blow it after Lulu."
"Calm down, Celia. You look too serious!"
Alright, I should have expected it. The situation wasn't going anywhere and anything I said to girls was akin to falling into deaf ears. Helplessly, I could only sacrifice myself to become their enemy and somehow retrieved ‹Koneko-sama›.
I tried to calm them down, that they could admire it as much as they want once we return to guild, but it still didn't appease them so I bring out the ‹Okarina› in attempt to divert their attention. Fortunately, it worked. Well, that was the brief explanation of how the situation rolled out to this.
It was impossible for me to try it today, so I left it to the girls and shifted my gaze away from them. It wasn't like I was afraid of Celia's expression.
Also, the last person to raise her hand was Karua. Though, tries were limited so I was going to have the remaining one, who couldn't get their chance today, try it tomorrow. Besides, it wasn’t going to be the last time we used it.
We headed to the 39th floor with everyone and had Lulu blow the ‹Okarina› there.
"Karua and Pamela. Are you ready?"
"Hn, anytime."
"All okay-desu!"
"Great. Then, Lulu, try it."
"Aye-aye! Inhale, ―――♪―――♪."
A melodious sound of a flute echoed through the forest as Lulu blew the ‹Okarina›.
Subsequently, the previously inactive cat monsters within the forest became even more subdued as a result. It was as if they fell into reverie to the tune of okarina as they sprawled out, assuming a relaxed posture.
A part of the girls were already chattering within themselves looking at the relaxed appearance of cats.
"It should appear right away if the attempt was successful, so make sure it doesn't run away."
"Hn—‹Sonya›!—Hnn, it appeared,"
Karua put her hand behind her ear and used ‹Sonya› skill to search for the rare monster. It seemed like it appeared. As if lured in by the tune of okarina, ‹Golden Meowr-Meowr›, adorned with socks-like patterns, appeared from the forest.
Fish took the bait, hurray!! 70% success, yahoo!! We fished a cat!!
But, that was still the first step. Unlike before, rare monsters had clearly registered our presence. Escape the moment you notice the enemy—this was the common instinct of rare monsters. Therefore, players had to make their move before the rare monster could and took it down instantly.
"Meow!?"
"You can't escape. ‹Number One Sonic Star›!"
"Meow!"
"Carelessness is the bane of accident-desu! ‹Slash›-desu!"
"Guh-moew......"
Sure enough, ‹Golden Meowr-Meowr› immediately took the stance to run away as soon as it noticed u, but Karua was a step ahead as she swiftly acted and stood in its path of escape. Then, Pamlea followed with her quick attack skill ‹Slash› and was defeated in one move. That was wonderful teamwork.
I greeted them with applause.
"Exquisite! That was simply amazing! With this, we now have a total of...... 3 ‹Coin›!?"
Pamela had used ‹Demolition Sword› like last time but the effect ‹Double drops from animal-type monsters› seems to not have activated this time. Kuh, what a pity!
Afterward, Celia, who managed to win the 2nd turn, blew the ‹Okarina›. ‹Golden Meowr-Meowr› had appeared but we failed in stopping it. It had mainly appeared from the edge of the road, so as soon as it noticed us, it instantly vanished into the forest.
Karua tried to cut its path of escape this similarly but luck was not on our side today. The spot just happened to be disadvantageous for us. Well, that's what it is, I guess.
Following that, the third and last try was attempted by Lana, but the rare monster didn’t show up this time. In the end, ‹Okarina› trial ended in failure. A bummer.
But at least we have three ‹Coin› now. This in itself was a matter of rejoice.
For the third one, I have decided to strengthen it and pass that to the Mert team. Though my ideal count was to get two more of these coins so that I could pass them to the sub-guild as well.
Better drops would certainly help sub-guild to rise quickly. Let's secure them when we have time, I decided.
Either way, ‹Okarina› now only had one usage remaining so we halted our rare monster hunt for today there. Now, I gotta take it to repair after returning. The expense for it was going to be deducted from guild' budget.
Lana looked dejected, so I ended up promising that I would let her try again once I had it repaired.
Moving onward on our schedule, next, Team B stepped up to challenge ‹Meownarch› and scored a splendid win. With how they explained, It seemed to be a relatively easy win for them. That makes sense, though. They have ‹Eden› best tank and healer, Sierra and Lana, after all. I expected them to win more easily, and the result was indeed as I had expected.
From there, we started boss farming, and both teams took turns to fight the boss till 9 p.m.
During the grind, Team A had managed to get one more ‹Gold Chest› while Team B enviously scored two ‹Gold Chest›. Speaking of the drop, ours dropped ‹Advanced Job Ascension Ticket›. This makes it the fourth!
We just need to have one more and then we could start preparing for the advanced dungeon!
I just hope ‹Yokai: One more insufficient piece› donn't appear, I prayed silently.