Beyond M-Eclipse: Easy Mode LIVE

———Karra———

<3: 19 pm>

“So what were you doing during these past few days?” I asked, just to get the conversation going. He was never the one to speak up.

“Just normal things I do everyday. Train, stay at home not doing much, and maybe hang out with Useph and the others for free meals.” He said, probably leaving out some details. I’m pretty sure he has more hobbies than that.

“I see.” Nothing worth talking about, and I don’t really feel like pressing him further on that question. I’m just sitting here in the park… in the cold. Well, I might as well eat something. I got a few bars of chocolate Wiina gave me. “I was in a dungeon for an hour or so. You know, getting ready for that big stream of mine.”

“So I’ve heard. From the looks of it, it doesn’t even seem like you have even announced who would be involved, correct?” Seems like he has been following the story for a while.

“Yeah, not too many people, we need to be modest for our first time doing something like this.” I said before munching down on the chocolate bar filled with pistachio.

*Munch*

Crunchy. She made these herself, and it’s a bit different from the popular stuff. It still tastes great though.

“...You want one?” I asked since he seems to be staring at it.

“I-I’ll be fine, thanks.” He said, even though I’m trying to be considerate. Well, if he wants something similar to this, he can just go ask Useph to buy it for him. That guy will always spend money to impress his friend… Not that he doesn’t have his own redeeming quality outside of that, unlike some other rich kids.

“Well, your loss.” I said playfully… Speaking of which, I wonder what Edea is doing nowadays, I didn’t hear much from them as of late. Mostly just random chat messages in the group chat. “You were never shy about being a sweet tooth before, you know?”

“And I still am not. I’m simply being considerate.” He said, sounding slightly flustered. I’m just messing with him.

*Munch*

“Whatever you say.” I said and kept eating. “Weird how a new year came by and yet everything seems to stay the same. I know nothing magically changed when the year passed, but after that light show, it felt like I should have.”

“I mean, I do feel a bit better than yesterday, if that’s anything.” He said, obviously being quite sincere, but the wordings made it sound more like a joke.

“It’s at least more than what is usually said, I guess.” I said in a somewhat sarcastic tone. “Really though, it is somewhat nice that everything still feels rather mundane, despite, you know, you not even having human ears, for one.”

“...Why did you get to keep yours anyway? The others who got changed certainly did not.” He asked with a frown. Trust me, it’s probably a lot more disorienting this way than just having one pair of ears.

“Best you stick with one pair, honestly.” I said with a weak grin. It’s actually way more of a problem than anything else. I mean, I don’t even wear glasses anyway. And as for headphones… That’s such a small upside compared to the sensory overload in exchange. I don’t think my hearing is even extra good, at least in comparison to other demi-humans who also have enhanced senses. “It’s a pain whenever I need to muffle out the noises. Seriously, normal ear muff and whatever I can stuff in these dumb horse ears. It just causes more problems overall. It ain’t fun.”

“A-Alright I get it! Sorry…” He said, caving in rather quickly. I was being a little bit dramatic and he is already shaken up. For the somewhat silent tough guy vibe he gives off, he is quite the softie, and a bit awkward when it comes to interacting with others.

“Anyway, my problem isn’t actually that big of a deal. Not like it’s gonna cause any problem during a fight or something.” I said and then remembered something I just glanced at earlier. “Speaking of fighting. Kenni had been getting quite bold, talking about people she’s gonna kill in the group chat like that.”

“It’s rather disturbing, even if we already knew she and Emmie are already doing something like that for a while now.” He remarked. “I couldn’t find it in me to even leave the town. It’s already well-known just how dangerous the current world is outside of here.”

“There certainly aren’t that many ‘safe zones’ to go around nowadays.” It’s not as if things aren’t somewhat peaceful usually, it’s just that the chance of a dangerous individual showing up and basically destroying the town or city you lived in is way too high for comfort, and when it’s two gangs of lunatics going at it, you can be damn sure it’ll turn into a war zone.

Of course there are also righteous people who fight these psychos trying to uproot everything, but unfortunately they are usually outnumbered, not to mention not as strong.

Nothing boosts your efficiency quite like the willingness to kill. Something I can’t say with confidence I have, even after that scuffle with a warlord last Thursday.

Effective vigilante is definitely in short supply, and the cops sure aren’t doing anything productive. The moment shooting wildly isn’t solving the problem they all cowers. It’s not like those guns magically stop working, just aim a bit better, have more discipline.

“Indeed…” He mumbled to himself. He certainly shouldn’t be angsting over this unless he is planning on solving the issue somehow. “Those two… Even though what they did was disturbing, it felt like they still did a lot of good by killing them… I couldn’t even imagine myself leaving here on my own initiative.”

“Hey, most people don’t have those kinds of traits anyway. It takes a lot of guts to even think about doing something like running across the states and hunting down someone so dangerous, let alone actually doing it.” Still, I would rather no one besides those two and maybe Jennla, Qyunda, and Malk actually try it. We can’t really gauge the power of someone just from some photos and footage, so unless you’re super duper strong you should never even think about it. “I mean, I can definitely go fight some of them right now and win, but I don’t really have that wild spirit to do it. And I do value my life quite a lot, there’s a lot I want to do in life. Those two are free spirits who are quite compatible with this new world and the new level of power it introduced, not everyone is gonna be like them and the other lunatics.”

*Munch*

That’s one chocolate bar down. I think she added a bit of coffee powder in this? It kinda tastes a little bit like coffee.

“Maybe in a year or two we’ll be in the age where strength controls everything, but right now, don’t stress too much about it. Trying to jump into a situation we don’t know the full scope of is just suicide.” I know better after the first time I try to jump in… Honestly, there probably wasn’t any realistic way for me to survive it if she didn’t come to the rescue. “How much have you been training nowadays? The dungeon is usually not that populated outside of the first few floors anyway.”

“Around forty floors on average whenever I entered it.” He replied. I think the standard of people going into this dungeon is still around fifteen to twenty, right? Admittedly this is one of the harder dungeons out there.

“Pretty good numbers.” I said, not really having much to say about it. If I don’t want him to think too hard into all the magical nonsense and how people start to use those powers to terrorize or help others, then it’s best to not bring much attention to it right now.

…There isn’t a lot to talk about with a guy who stays quiet most of the time. Even Wiina is more talkative than him…

“Yo.” Suddenly, someone else came over and greeted us. That tone and voice makes it clear who it is even without looking at her.

“You look hella beaten up. You didn’t lose, right?” I asked, seeing that her clothes are pretty torn up, specifically the long skirt she wore for some reason. That’s very out of character for her to wear.

“Nope. I win it all fair and square.” She said before letting out a small chuckle. There aren't any visible injuries on her, but that’s probably just because she healed them up after the fight, which would explain why her mana level is so low right now. “A bit stronger than all the others I’ve fought up to this point, but it is what it is. Expecting a linear difficulty curve is kinda unrealistic in a lot of ways.”

“Well, good to see that you are still alive.” I said while taking a glance at Sixson, who keeps a natural face.

“I know how to pick my fights, no need to worry about little old me.” She said while shrugging her shoulders. Anyway, let’s eat another bar of chocolate…

*Munch*

Crunchy and tasty, a bit bitter…

“Hey, don’t just ignore me like that!” She complained the moment it looks like I’m not paying any attention. Sure is a handful…

“Jeez, sorry. How about you go talk to Sixson over here? He ought to learn to speak a little bit more.” I said while continuing to eat this big bar of chocolate.

“M-Me!?” He said in confusion. You’re here, so you don’t get to ignore her either.

“What the hell do you sound so offended!? What have I ever done to you!” The moment he blurted out something Kenni immediately went on the offensive. Poor guy, maybe maintain your composure a little better. “Oh I know! Bet you think just because I kill people now I’m the bad guy? You’re one of those, huh?”

“N-No! I never said that!” He is losing composure quickly.

“...You really are bad at responding, you know that?” Wow, she got bored of him real quick. “You’re no fun.”

*Munch*

It’s probably for the best though, a guy like him looks like he’ll melt if someone gets too confrontational.

“By the way, Karra. What regiment have you been going through? You seem a lot better than the last time I saw you in person.” Kenni asked with a small smile on her face, putting her hands on her back and putting on a relaxed pose.

“Nothing special, I’ve mostly been training new skills or honing old ones instead of getting bigger numbers.” It’s mainly from that torture Wiina put me through yesterday. It felt like it was going on for an entire day. It being a simulation means it doesn’t actually boost my power in any way since nothing actually happened.

…I guess that’s not completely true, but that’s quite a rabbit hole I don’t understand.

“I see. I see.” She muttered to herself while putting her hand on her chin. “Well, looks like you two aren’t doing anything important, which is pretty damn boring. I’ll tell how my fight goes in more detail in the group chat. See ya.”

*Flap*

And there she goes, flying off despite her house not even being that far from here…

———Lerim———

<3: 32 pm>

“Who the hell is this pervert?” Evari asked, seeing the rather gross expression he has on his face. He doesn’t even look that bad normally, why even make that kind of face!?

“No idea, he likes to go around harassing strong adventurers and fight them for whatever reason. I thought he died in a ditch somewhere.” I said, wanting to grit my teeth in frustration.

He is twirling his weapons around and looking at us with an ugly grin. I know the cops can’t really do anything since they rely more on their guns than try to hone their abilities, but surely they can at least figure out who this guy is and where he lives or something.

“Now now, ladies. I would like to call my ‘harassment’ an invitation more than anything.” He said unapologetically. No, seriously, why is he doing this? Nowadays people who do this also usually have a camera attached to them. I don’t see a camera anywhere. He’s just doing it because he is a genuine creep.

“Alright, Evari. Step back while I beat the hell out of this guy.” I said and drew out my sword. I think this time around I’ll actually keep him detained somewhere.

“Hey, at least let me get a hit in!” She yelled out in protest.

“He’s actually strong, you know? You could actually get hurt.” If there is anything that would hinder one’s progress it’s a serious injury.

“Ladies! There is enough of me to go around. Come at me all you want.” He said as he got ready to fight. He really could’ve worded that a lot better…

“Whatever, let’s just jump him and get this over with.” I don’t want this stupid conflict to be stretched out any longer. Let’s end this quickly and go back home.

*Grab*

“Huh?” I let out a voice in confusion as a set of hands grabbed the man’s shoulder. I don’t know where she came from and when, but it was sudden.

*CRACK* *RIP*

The next second, his arms were torn off violently, blood splurting out and the man’s expression changed to the one of shock before he collapsed onto the ground, as if losing consciousness in an instant.

Evari’s face quickly turned from apprehensive to horrified. A pool of blood quickly formed. The person who ambushed and dismantled him like he was a mere insect came into view once he collapsed to the ground and became unresponsive.

“It’s time for round two.” She said with a maniac grin as she raised her scythe…