Chapter 35: [EDen] Wake the f*** up, SAMURAI. Let’s burn down the city together [Yuki/Rin/Lunaverse] (2)

A martial artist in a Rider suit.

Could there be a more contradictory phrase?

And yet, that contradiction stood before my very eyes.

Having activated her “Diamond Body” skill, Rin had taken it to the extreme—she had literally become a Rider.

Her mechanical body glowed under the neon lights.

“This is the ultimate form of Diamond Body. My entire body is now covered in real metal.”

“MZ-style Diamond Body? You’ve lost it…”

– lololololol

– MZ-style Diamond Body lmaoo

– Is this even real?

– Rider!!!! Kick!!!!

– lmao

– lololololol

– Transformation!!!!!!!!!!

– Henshin!!!

“Pay no mind to my attire and let’s just move on with the game. Looks like the tutorial’s over.”

“Y-yeah, sure…”

Leaving Rin’s totally-not-subtle look behind, I glanced around the area.

A garbage dump, packed with industrial waste.

Abandoned electronics and plastic waste were compressed into cube shapes, stacked tall like buildings.

[Floor 0. Garbage Dump ─ Garbage Dump]

“Looks like people in the future failed to save the polar bears. So much trash…”

“It’s a cyberpunk world. There’s probably a mecha polar bear roaming around somewhere.”

– fr lol

– Earth got wrecked again

– Mecha polar bear LOL

– Cyber Pung. 2022

[Glow-in-the-dark Dino Nuggets has donated ₩3,000!]

– Mecha polar bear? That’s a glow-in-the-dark T-Rex.

Tuning out Rin’s nonsense, I scanned the area again.

Two steel pipes lying on the ground nearby.

As I approached, a prompt popped up: “[F] Pick Up.”

“Rin! Looks like I can equip steel pipes over here!”

“Is there one for me too?”

“Yeah. There are two. You take one.”

I pressed F and picked up a pipe.

Then came the “[Tab] Inventory” prompt.

I opened the inventory with Tab and equipped the pipe as my weapon.

After equipping, a tutorial-style control guide appeared on the right side of the screen.

[F] Pick Up

[R] Dash

[C] Roll

[Space] Jump

[Left Click] Normal Attack

[Right Click] Skill

[Hold Left Click] Strong Attack

[Hold Right Click] Ultimate

[Ctrl] Swap Weapon

[Shift] Use Sub Item

[Tab] Inventory

A lot of controls to absorb at once.

Still, I skimmed through and nodded to myself.

“Hm. Got it all down perfectly!”

– lololol

– (Totally didn’t understand)

– Skipping the manual, huh?

– Honestly, Koreans don’t read instructions

– For real lol

– Classic Yuki being Yuki!

“You’ll get the hang of the controls as you move around.”

“Yeah?”

“Pain is the best teacher. If anything happens, I’ll carry you, so don’t worry.”

…What?

When did she start saying stuff like that?

“If anything happens, I’ll protect you”?

Isn’t that… basically flirting?

“That’s hot as hell.”

“…Pardon me?”

“Marry me, Rin.”

“No.”

“Whyyy~ It’s fine if it’s between girls, right?”

“What part of that is fine?!”

“Let’s form the Summer Triangle together.”

“I said no!! Go away!!”

I leaned my avatar’s head against Rin’s, but her reaction was unexpectedly sharp.

“Tch… so it’s not gonna happen after all…”

– lololol

– Got rejected instantly

– Yuri move failed!

– lolololol

– That’s a hard no

– But seriously Rin was hot earlier

– She said she’d protect you? Hoo boy…

“Right? Rin was totally hitting on me.”

“No I wasn’t. I simply stated a fact.”

“So I’m the only one who was serious again? Rude, Rin. You tempted me first and now you’re pretending it didn’t happen.”

“…Stop talking nonsense and focus on the game.”

Rin ignored my rambling and started exploring the junkyard.

She’d moved about 10 meters away when—

Wiiiiiiiiing─

A sinister wind began to howl.

Between the junk-formed buildings, deep within the shadows, dozens of red lights began to flicker.

[!!-ENEMY ENCOUNTER-!!]

A bright red warning filled the screen.

Then, dozens of drones emerged from the shadows and surrounded both Rin and me.

[Lv.5 Trash Incineration Drone]

Drones equipped with terrifying flamethrowers beneath their cores.

Originally designed to burn trash, these things were now aiming their weapons at us.

“Rin!!”

“I know!”

Tap!

Rin’s mechanical legs pounded the ground.

Her body soared into the air.

Voooom─

The core on her chest spun like a halo, glowing blue as energy poured from every seam of her suit.

A plume of blue flame burst from her back, and her form stretched forward like a missile.

“DIIIEEEEEE!!!”

Rin dashed mid-air, swinging her pipe.

Direct hit on two drones.

[HP □□□□□ 0%]

Their HP bars plummeted.

Bzzzt… With a crackling sound, the two drones crashed to the ground.

“Yuki unnie!! Get down!!”

She must’ve forgotten her formal speech, but considering the situation, I let it slide.

I hit R and dashed left.

Fwoooosh!!

The sky turned orange-red.

Drones had just showered the area I’d been standing in with fire.

“I can’t let Rin fight alone…!”

I moved to back her up.

One drone had broken away and was flying toward me.

A red exclamation mark appeared—it aimed its flamethrower at me, but it was too late.

Tap!

Like Rin, my character launched into the air.

My left eye glowed blue, trailing long sparks.

CLANG!!

[HP □□□□□ 0%]

I slammed my pipe diagonally into the drone.

The HP bar instantly bottomed out, and the drone spiraled down toward the ground.

“Five left! One’s heading your way—take care of it!”

“Got it!”

Rin leapt into the air again.

Two more dashes followed, her pipe slicing with a trail of blue sparks.

[Strong Attack – Smite]

BZZZZT!!

A flashier effect than normal attacks and at least twice the damage.

That must be the “Strong Attack.”

Hold left click—charge up and smash.

I dashed toward the one drone headed my way.

Trailing a glowing blue afterimage.

Before it entered range, I started prepping the strike.

Held left click, and a circular gauge began to fill in the center of the screen as I closed in.

I leapt toward the sky.

My dash curved upward at a sharp 90 degrees as my character kicked off the ground.

Then I unleashed the gathered energy into my pipe.

[Strong Attack – Smite]

BZZZZZTTTT!!

Blue sparks carved a crescent through the air.

Way louder than a normal dash attack.

The drone took a direct hit and blackened instantly, crashing to the ground without resistance.

“Rin! I got mine!”

“Well done. I just took care of the others.”

– ooooh

– How is Rin so good at games??

– A seasoned pro

– Yuki’s getting carried lol

– Yuki took out 2 while Rin wiped like 10

– Veteran gamer confirmed

– Kyaaa~~ Rin-sama~~!!

– RMT! RMT!

– Rin-sama is literally an angel

(TL note: ~sama = respectful honorific, “maji tenshi” = literally an angel)

[MejuGaki has donated ₩10,000!]

– Why is Rin cracked? I thought this was her first time playing?

“Right? Rin, isn’t this your first time in Eden?”

“It is, but I’ve played similar types of games before. These controls are nothing to me.”

“Oooh…”

Yep. Hardcore gamer confirmed.

She was already known in various communities for her skills, and she lived up to the rep.

While I wrestled with two drones, she solo’d a dozen.

At this point, maybe she should go pro instead of being a VTuber?

I could already see it—Rin on stream saying stuff like, “Did you not see the kill angle?” and “That was free.”

[???: Hey, you there!!]

Just then, a voice called out from a distance.

A group of heavily armed cyberpunk fighters came running toward us.

Clack!

They surrounded us and pointed their weapons.

One of them, who looked like the leader, stepped forward and spoke.

[???: Did you take down all of these by yourself?]

[Me: Quietly nods]

[???: Huh, unbelievable. To take out incineration drones like that… What’s your name?]

[Me: Replies with my name]

[???: …‘Yuki’? Never heard of it.]

[???: Judging by your body, you’re not one of those tinheads either.]

“I mean, Rin literally is a tin can…”

“Silence. That’s the stylish part.”

– lol

– She is a Rider

– Wow! Mecha! Neon! Robo-arm!

– She’s totally a tin can

– ???: Doesn’t look like you’re one of the tinheads

– lololol

– This line is comedy gold

The man, however, didn’t seem fazed by Rin’s appearance and kept speaking.

[Erik: I’m Erik. Leader of the Resistance.]

[Erik: What brings you here?]

[Erik: Judging by your attack on the drones, you’re clearly not a ‘citizen’…]

[Erik: Did you come from the Hood?]

“The Hood? White powder? Somebody backflipped and died?”

– lololol

– “Move unpredictably”

– s*** lol

– That was a reflex response

– Life in the Hood

– lololol

A reflexive hood-meme burst out of me.

Rin quickly corrected it:

“No, he’s talking about Floor 1, which comes after the junkyard.”

“Aha? Wait, ‘floor’?”

“We’re currently on Floor 0, the Garbage Dump. This game has six total levels from Floor 0 to Floor 5. Floor 0 is basically the tutorial.”

“How do you know all this?”

“Well… I was super hyped for the game, so I looked up the lore book. Don’t worry—I didn’t read the story, so no spoilers.”

Leave it to a tech nerd to study the game’s lore beforehand.

If anything confuses me later, I’ll just ask Rin.

Meanwhile, the cutscene continued while we chatted.

[Erik: ‘Outsiders’…? Never thought we’d get guests from outside the Tower.]

[Erik: Well, at least it’s not a scouting team from the upper floors.]

[Scout 1: Commander! Now’s not the time! More incinerator drones are coming—]

[Erik: That time already? Alright. Let’s get back to HQ.]

[Erik: You two, follow me.]

[Erik: I’ll show you the Resistance’s base.]

The screen faded to black.

Then it lit up again, revealing the Resistance’s HQ.