"Shana, are you serious? Isn't this Infinite Hell? Sure, if you camp on the spaceship's bridge, you can pick off enemies below one-sidedly at first. But once you attack, every enemy down there swarms up, and more spawn inside the room. Even for a party, it turns into a chaotic gunfight, riddled with friendly fire, and you wipe. I heard some teams tried fighting with their backs to the wall, but the enemies never stop coming, so they ran out of ammo and got wiped out too!"
"Thanks for the textbook explanation, Pit. Saved me the trouble," Shana said.
Pitohui's lengthy spiel helped the other three grasp what kind of hunting ground this was.
"For now, just follow me. We're setting up on the bridge," Shana instructed.
The five followed him into the spaceship wreckage. No enemies spawned inside, so they reached the bridge safely without combat.
"So, what's the plan?" Pitohui asked.
"We attack the enemies below. No need for long-range guns. Think of it as practice. Sinon, work on your sniping—aim for enemies as far as you can. Pit, do whatever you want. Shizu, Kei, focus on hitting moving targets accurately."
"That's it? Won't we just get overwhelmed by numbers?" Sinon asked, voicing an obvious concern.
"Yeah, probably. But there's one rule I need you to follow absolutely: when I give the signal, stop shooting immediately. Also, unrelated to that, no firing guns in this room—ever. That's non-negotiable."
The four nodded in unison. Then the battle began.
"The enemies are humanoid robots. Weak points are the same as humans—head, neck, heart. Stay calm and aim carefully."
""""Got it!""""
Following standard protocol, the four used optical guns, leaning out the windows to fire at the enemies below. With no means to counterattack, the enemies were easy targets. The moment their first shots landed, the enemies below surged toward the ship.
"They're coming, Shana. Enemies might spawn here soon. What now?" Pitohui asked.
"I'll cut them all down. You guys focus on shooting," Shana replied.
"Got it."
The four concentrated on their gunfire. Enemies they downed below posed no threat, but some, despite taking damage, entered the ship. It seemed only a matter of time before they breached the room.
"No enemies spawning in here yet, but it's getting dicey, right, Shana?" Pitohui said.
A sharp whoosh sounded behind her. She spun around to find a mechanical face inches from hers. Instinctively, she raised her gun, but Shana's earlier warning flashed through her mind, and she held back. Instead, she shouted:
"Shana, enemy!"
As she spoke, the enemy's head dropped, its body dissolving into polygons of light. Beyond it stood Shana, knife in hand. The other three glanced over, saw it was under control, and resumed shooting.
"I've got your backs, so focus on shooting," Shana said, his voice slightly strained.
He turned, slashing his knife to behead a freshly spawned enemy behind him. Moments later, enemies appeared at the room's entrance, and Shana barked an order.
"Alright, everyone, stop attacking. Even if enemies spawn, don't swing knives around in here—I'll end up taking hits."
"Shana, need help?" Pitohui offered, skilled enough with a knife herself.
Shana, beheading another enemy at the entrance, considered it briefly.
"Nah, I'm not sure about our synergy yet. Shizu, can you help?"
"Got it," Shizuka replied.
"Shizu, this'll suit you better," Shana said, tossing her a rapier.
"You had a rapier?" Shizuka asked, surprised.
"It's a rush job, but I had an NPC craftsman make it for you. I could've given it to you before your duel with Pit, but that would've been too much of a handicap."
"What's that mean?" Pitohui asked, puzzled.
"Shizu's main weapon is a rapier. If she'd used it in your duel, you'd have been down in seconds."
"No way, really?"
"Just watch."
"Okay!"
Shana and Shizuka positioned themselves back-to-back, while the other three retreated to a corner.
"Let's do this, been a while," Shana said.
"Yup," Shizuka replied.
As she spoke, three new enemies stormed the room. Shana used the lead enemy as a springboard, leaping toward the two behind it. In that moment, Shizuka's rapid thrusts pierced the first enemy, halting it. Shana landed, slashing both hands outward, beheading the other two simultaneously. He spun, throwing a knife at an enemy that had spawned behind Shizuka.
"Whoa!" Pitohui yelped.
The knife grazed Shizuka's side, striking the enemy. Without missing a beat, Shizuka charged forward, passing Shana to impale the neck of an enemy emerging at the entrance. Shana dashed toward where Shizuka had been, grabbing the knife from the air as the previous enemy dissolved, then swung left, decapitating another freshly spawned foe.
"Incredible…" Pitohui muttered, awestruck.
"What's this? I get Shana, but who is Shizu?" Sinon stammered.
"You didn't know? Shizu's Flash, Sinonon," Pitohui said.
"Flash?! The Flash? She's a girl?!"
"Yup!" Kei confirmed.
Sinon, watching the duo's ferocious display, could only marvel.
"No way… they're unreal…"
Legends she'd only heard in rumors were now fighting before her eyes. Shana and Shizuka moved like dancers, their perfect coordination cutting down enemies relentlessly. Pitohui and Sinon, dazed, murmured:
"It's… kinda beautiful," Pitohui said.
"Their movements are in sync… they barely even look at each other," Sinon added.
The two exchanged glances before turning back to the fight.
"Alright, Shizu, that's enough for now," Shana called.
"Got it!"
The battle had ended, and the two approached unscathed. Despite Infinite Hell's reputation for endless enemy waves, no more appeared. Pitohui, puzzled, asked:
"Shana, where are the enemies?"
"They're all gone for now."
"What? How? This is Infinite Hell!"
"Yeah, needs some explaining."
Shana pulled five drinks from his storage and passed them out. The group took a moment to catch their breath, sipping as they listened.
"The enemies here don't actually spawn infinitely."
"But…"
"It's a misconception. Look below."
The four peered down. Enemies roamed as they had before the battle, showing no sign of noticing the group.
"They're just walking around, not reacting to us," Pitohui noted.
"No enemies spawning in here either," Sinon added.
"Exactly," Shana said, pausing for clarity. "How do you think mobs detect players?"
"They see you?" Pitohui ventured.
"And enemies that attack from underground?"
"Footsteps, maybe?"
"Right. Each mob has a different detection method."
This was a blind spot for GGO players, who rarely overlapped with ALO's fantasy-game crowd. In fantasy games, enemies often relied on sight or sound, with vision being the default.
"The enemies here are programmed to react to the sound of optical or live-ammo guns. If you stop shooting, newly spawned enemies won't notice you. Wipe out the active ones, and none will spawn in the room."
"How'd you figure that out? No one else has!" Pitohui asked.
"Probably because of this knife," Shana said, holding it up for emphasis.
"Huh?"
"Oh, I get it!" Sinon exclaimed.
Having watched BoB footage repeatedly, she knew Shana's knife skills far surpassed other players'.
"Sinonon, you got something?" Pitohui asked.
"Yeah, Pit. Think about it. Most players would try to ambush enemies with guns when they get close. They might switch to knives if they run out of ammo, but almost no one has the skill to instantly kill enemies like Shana or Shizu. So even if they attempt close combat, they can't wipe out the swarm."
Shana nodded, elaborating.
"Exactly. That's why I can solo this place. When I first came here, even I couldn't handle it with guns alone. I switched to my knife and kept cutting them down. Just when I thought I was done for, the attacks stopped. I experimented and figured out what I told you."
"Got it," Pitohui said.
"Nice one, Onii-chan, even if it was by chance," Kei teased.
"That's amazing, Shana!" Shizuka added.
"Only you could pull that off," Sinon said.
The four showered Shana with praise.
"Normally, I use an optical machine gun until I'm out of ammo, then stow it and wait them out here."
"Makes sense."
"Now that you get it, let's move to the next round. To save reload time, consider swapping weapons after a set period of shooting. Figure out what works for you."
The next hunt began, and the five repeated the process, taking down hordes of enemies unscathed. After several rounds, the day's hunt ended.
"My level's shot up so much…" Shizuka marveled.
"This feels like cheating. But it only works with people like Shana and Shizu," Pitohui said.
"No wonder I never heard of Shana before BoB. This explains it," Sinon added.
"Shana's always been a solo type," Kei noted.
As they shared their thoughts, Shana spoke up.
"About the loot—since we're a party, it's pooled in a window, and it's kind of insane. Check it out."
The four opened the window and gasped.
"What is this…?"
"Guns, ammo sets, tons of items… wait, that's a rare gun!"
"Shana, does this mean you're loaded from doing this?"
"Not to brag, but yeah. In real money, probably about a million yen."
"A million?!"
"No way!"
Top players at the time earned 100,000 to 200,000 yen monthly. Shana, only a month into GGO, had amassed an extraordinary sum.
"So, no need to worry about the cake buffet bill. Not that I'm doing this for money—I don't plan to cash out much."
"You're so chill…"
"Having too much money you didn't earn can ruin you. It's a reminder to stay grounded."
Pitohui and Shizuka, both well-off, didn't care much about money. Kei shared Shana's practical view, and while Sinon appreciated the earnings, she wasn't the type to be swayed by wealth. After discussion, they split consumables evenly and decided to sell the guns and other items, dividing the profits. Each got about 30,000 yen—not a fortune, but a nice windfall. Kei and Sinon were thrilled with the unexpected cash.
"Man, I shot so much today!" Pitohui said.
"I grew a ton, and it was fun!" Shizuka added.
"Adventure for the win!" Kei cheered.
"Thanks for inviting me, everyone," Sinon said.
"Turned out better than expected. We'll head out again in a few days, so if you're free, I might call you," Shana said.
The five added each other as friends and logged out. The cake buffet was set to be planned via GGO messages once schedules aligned.
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