Chapter 199
If we keep this up, I might start mistaking us for a music-focused group rather than a combat-oriented one.
"Everyone!! Let's give it our all and have fun today!!"
A massive crowd. Blinding spotlights.
"YEEEEEEAH!!!!"
Amina's voice echoed through the venue, met with roaring cheers. Spirits wearing the T-shirts we prepared, others waving uchiwa fans—
Honestly, it's clear just how deeply the spirits of this world have fallen for the concept of idols. Not that I have any room to talk, considering I'm the one who introduced idols, gacha, and other things to this world where entertainment is scarce. But hey, they're enjoying their spirit lives to the fullest.
"Here we go!!" "Let's do this!!"
Not letting the energy drop, Lady Esmeralda's drumming and Nel's cajón began to set the rhythm.
The spirits swayed to the powerful beat, waving their glow sticks, their eyes sparkling even before the singing began.
We'll make this moment the best it can be. By uniting Amina and the audience, we'll spread joy.
With that kind of passion fueling us, something hot and fierce rises in our chests as we play.
Sure, the start was a little forced, but with everything that's been happening lately, I needed this kind of mental reset.
Following the rhythm, my lute, Ingrid's harp, and Claudia's flute harmonized.
Every instrument was enhanced with amplification skills, allowing the sound to fill the entire venue from the stage the spirits had carefully prepared.
So, for now, I'll empty my mind and just enjoy the music.
Maybe this is just the gamer in me.
Amina began to sing. Naturally, we started with a classic—one that was well-received at the last live show.
But this time, Amina also began stepping gracefully to the beat.
Not the slightly clumsy footwork from the time of General Inago.
This was a polished, practiced dance.
Now that she's reached Class 4, with more stat flexibility, she's taken Dance Arts as a skill and even picked up Voltage Dance from the skill shop—finally making her look like a proper idol.
Voltage Dance doesn't offer huge buffs to allies, but it provides a long-lasting stat boost.
It's a skill meant to enhance endurance in prolonged battles.
An idol isn't complete without singing and dancing, and now she's got both. As for the dancing—I was the one who trained her.
Huh? You think it's weird that I can dance? Well, for your information, I've covered everything from breakdancing to tap, even otagei and other niche styles.
Why? Because I had to. Dance skills, like singing skills, are build-dependent—if you want to excel, you have to learn the moves.
Luckily, there was a full-dive VR dance game, so I hopped over there to train. At first, I treated it like a rhythm game, but I ended up getting hooked! Back then, I was juggling both FBO and that game, barely getting any sleep.
At least it paid off—as an adult, I could bust out breakdancing as a party trick.
Though, unlike in-game, my real body didn't move as smoothly, and I'd always wake up sore the next day.
"The next song is… a brand-new one!! This is its first live performance!!"
Now, though, I can play at full speed without my fingers cramping or stumbling.
Back in Japan, I might've managed one or two songs, but anything more would've wrecked me.
"We're just getting started!!"
In this world, there's no time limit for live shows. Amina sang like she couldn't contain her joy, sweating but still smiling, demanding more.
She was giving it her all—pure, unfiltered enjoyment.
Honestly, compared to me, who's been getting tossed around by circumstances lately, Amina's stayed true to her original goal.
She wants to sing, to have fun, to be heard, and to hear others. That exchange is happening right here.
But what about me? Lately, even if it's unavoidable, I feel like I've been dragged around too much.
Maybe I need to rethink my approach.
As my fingers played and my mind focused on the music, that thought lingered in the back of my head.
In the end, it's because we leveled up too much.
"Ugh… it's morning already." "Pulling an all-nighter for a live show… what the hell are we even doing?"
We collapsed onto the floor of the mountain cabin the spirits had prepared for us to rest.
"My arms won't move…" "I can't feel my hands anymore…"
The worst off weren't Amina but the percussionists—Lady Esmeralda and Nel. Of the rhythm section, Esmeralda had lost all grip strength, unable to even hold a drink. Nel's palms were numb from overplaying, her hands bright red.
"We should've set a cutoff point. We got carried away with the encores."
The pleasant exhaustion had long passed—now, it just felt like we'd overdone it.
"Amina, drink a potion. You've still got more singing to do, right?" "Thanks… yeah, I definitely overdid it. But it was fun."
I pulled potions from my magic bag, handed them out, and drank one myself.
"Ahh… the potion feels amazing." "Are you okay? You looked like you were really pushing yourself." "I've never been this exhausted before, but it's a good feeling. Have you all been doing things like this the whole time?"
Lady Esmeralda, raised as a noble, had the lowest stats in the group, yet she'd kept up. No doubt, sheer enjoyment had carried her through.
I can't think of any other reason she'd push herself this hard.
"Yeah! Though this is only our second proper live show. We've also sung during battles a few times." "You sing during battles?!" "Liberta and the others protect me while I do! My songs power everyone up!!" "The buffs are seriously insane."
The shock on their faces was refreshing. Normally, the idea of a singer on the battlefield would be absurd.
But when it comes to buffing, a singer is top-tier. You see it in stories sometimes—singing to cheer people on—but in Amina's case, it literally makes them stronger.
There's no reason not to let her sing.
"Liberta." "Huh? Yeah, what's up?"
In the middle of our post-all-nighter haze, Claudia set a glass of water on the table and spoke up.
"With this live show done, can we assume you've finished everything you were asked to do?" "Pretty much. I've handed the civil official training manual to the Duke. Lady Hyurida and the others are his responsibility now. And the Duchess's request doesn't have a set deadline anyway."
This was about our future plans. We'd discussed it before, but the situation had changed since then.
"So, have you decided what's next?" "We're entering preparation phase for crossing the Wall."
By chance, we ended up fighting the Mad Jester of Frenzy, forcing us into a low-level clear challenge. We did it because we had to—but it was a constant tightrope walk.
Getting stronger means getting safer. I reminded myself of that, constantly running growth plans through my head.
"From here on out, growth slows down. Enemies get stronger, progression plateaus, and the risk-reward balance starts tipping toward risk."
Even with a tired body, I'd been thinking about this nonstop, so the words came easily. Plans are just plans—in this real world, they don't always go as expected.
"That's why Class 4 development is crucial. Not just stats—skills, titles, jobs, weapons, items, and experience."
In terms of game difficulty, FBO players consider everything up to Class 4 as the tutorial phase.
"Once we hit Class 5, monsters like Marsh Dragons and Land Wyrms become standard enemies."
The boss-level monsters we've fought so far will become mere mobs. We fought wyverns as minions of the Storm Dragon, but even with specialized firepower, we couldn't wipe them all out.
"If we can't handle those standard enemies comfortably, we won't survive what comes next. For a while, we'll be fortifying our foundation."
We've made it this far at a breakneck pace—but now, it's time to pause and solidify.
"Fortifying our foundation? I agree with that. What's the plan?"
First, fill all skill slots. Then, evolve all passive skills to Divine-tier, leaving just one stage of evolution remaining.
For weapons, we'll tackle whatever quests we can to gather what we need. But above all, the priority is—
"Ancient Relic hunting!!"
Gacha.
The sudden shift to a luck-based item hunt had the girls tilting their heads in unison.
"We're aiming for early-game cheats!!" "Early-game cheats? Liberta, what's that?" "It means acquiring gear that's normally unobtainable early on, making battles at that level much easier."
Level-wise, we've avoided it until now, but we've reached a safe threshold of strength. Ancient Relic hunting requires a certain level of power, but with our current team, we can farm them efficiently.
If you've played games, you might've experienced this—finding equipment in shops that far outclasses what you can afford at that stage, or stumbling upon mid-to-late-game gear through obscure methods.
In FBO, the only way to do that is through Ancient Relics—items that have a low chance of containing so-called "cheat skills."
Quests can get you higher-tier gear, but it's usually level-appropriate.
So, if we want to tip the risk-reward balance in our favor, we need to cheat the system with overpowered skills.
"You mean like that Heavenly Voice skill you mentioned before?" "There are others, but yeah, that's the idea."
I've already scouted the necessary quests—secretly, without the Duke's knowledge. I'd rather not have him interfering with this one.
"With that, Amina's singing skills would skyrocket. There are also cheat-tier magic skills, and some ridiculous combat skills too."
It's a method heavily reliant on luck, and normally, you'd just progress normally instead.
But sometimes, you have to do it.
"The key quest for this—"
And now is one of those times.
"We're tackling the Ancient Ruins of Madalda excavation quest!!"