Shangri-La Frontier (シャングリラ・フロンティア)

Putting an end to eternity

it's danger, danger

The dots and lines connect

I just wanna know what lies beyond

outta the concrete jungle

The dungeon I race through is a sea of trees

let's get ready to rumble, we can go

A-I-Ya-I-Ya

All right, you know this isn't a game

Twisting strategies, covering up the bugs

You gotta know pain to break the limit

A-I-Ya-I-Ya

ok... let's get it

it's time to fly

I'm gonna die in my hype

Nothing bothers me anymore

moving your body

Light shining through the ground

They're hysteric

Our faint dream...

But who do you fight for?

A-I-Ya-I-Ya A-I-Ya-I-Ya

The scene passing by, it's danger, danger

Now you're,

A-I-Ya-I-Ya A-I-Ya-I-Ya

Facing the stopped clock we are the game changer

Keep going, even if there's nothing at the end

A-I-Ya-I-Ya

if it's danger, danger

In SLF , the game's world is often the key to beating challenges.

I always thought that Wethermon was a cyborg

who's got a mechanized body with tech from the Divinity era.

But...

He's an undead monster!

And you deal with the undead with holy water!

Hey, he started screaming! )

Is it the AOE attack? )

No, this is different.

Bingo!

I canceled his AOE attack!

Aw, you've done it.

You pissed him off by spraying him with the saint's "holy water."

Hey, don't make it sound weird!

The saint's an idol in SLF !

Wow, what's happening to him right now?

Oh?

O-Oh!

E-E-E-Eh?!

H-Hey, wait!

H-Hey, that thing just transformed...

Wait, what's with that?!

Beats me.

But if that thing merges with Wethermon, it won't be good.

Is it a third phase-specific form?

H-H-Hey! Now what?!

Since it transformed, that means we need a new approach.

Pencilgon, you should go assist Katzo.

Wethermon's body is slowly starting to crumble.

For the first two phases, we need to survive for ten minutes each.

And for the third phase,

we gotta hold out until he totally falls apart?

It should be safe to assume that the winning condition is time passage.

If the pattern holds, it'll be another ten minutes.

This is probably the final time limit.

Leave it to me.

I'll keep him occupied for 10 minutes.

Got it.

But don't do anything reckless, okay?

Since you'll get next to no support,

one death will be fatal.

I'm counting on you.

Sunraku-kun.

Yeah.

Sorry, Pencilgon.

Just holding out and waiting for the time to expire...

Ever since you told me that...

I've had this thought in my mind...

"Isn't that boring?"

A boss that you beat just by holding on for thirty minutes.

Would that be a fun game?

Let me say this. It's NOT!

A story-centric game design?

I've played games like that many times.

Those games failed to balance the gameplay with the story

and each one of them got labeled as "trash games" because of it.

But Shangri-La Frontier...

You're a god-tier game, aren't you?

I knew it!

After seeing that holy water, it made me think.

That maybe I can deal damage to him in his current condition!

The crossroads between story and gameplay!

A reward for players who endured this for twenty minutes!

That's right!

The turn for counterattack!

First time getting your attack parried with a helmet?

Let me show off my new gear made from a Quad Beetle material!

I'm gonna beat you before you even get to break apart.

Wethermon the Tombguard!

Neat, don't cha think?

I've been practicing this "head parry" thing.

Why use my head for this, you ask?

If I can parry with my head...

I can freely use both of my hands!

Wind...

...Slash!

Tch.

Good grief!

Am I really dealing any damage?

I landed a critical but he didn't budge even a bit!

I didn't invest as much as Pencilgon did,

but I blew quite the cash to prepare for you, y'know?

That money-grubber rabbit...

...took 80,000 mahni out of me.

And I'll make it worth it by making you eat dirt!

Vorpal Blade Tech!

Moon's Reflection!

Watch out for your back.

Your back is wide open!

The Moon's Reflection is just a bluff!

This is the real deal!

Assassin Pierce!

I'm not done yet!

This ain't enough to vent my frustration!

Drill Piercer!

Sorry if a backstab wound is dishonorable.

Be as ashamed as you want!

Hahahaha! Ahahahahaha!

AHAHAHAHAHA!

I knew it.

I knew he would fight him head-on.

I think I'm hearing a burst of crazy laughter over there.

Is he okay?!

He should be okay if he's still able to laugh like that.

Sunraku-kun is the type who gets more motivated and plays better

the worse the situation the game puts him in.

But...

If we can't hold down this thing...

...it'll be impossible to win this.

I tried punching it several times.

But it seems you can deal damage to it like normal.

It's tanky as hell, though.

Look, we don't need to risk our lives to beat this thing.

We just need to keep taunting this thing and keep it from attacking Sunraku-kun,

and that'll be good enough.

"Good enough," eh?

But...

Whip puppet: Snake!

Instead of just "good enough," don't you want to really nail this?

I swear, you two...

Or maybe not.

Nothing goes through this thing.

What's this?

It's called Evil Force!

It boosts the user's stats for fifteen minutes!

With your current character, I think it'd make your stats to that of a level 99.

Level 99?!

What kinda godly item is this?!

If you had this cheat on you, bust it out earlier!

It's got quite a nasty side effect!

It used it once before, and it was awful!

Side effect?

I'm also getting frustrated from all the things we've had to endure.

You want to really "nail" this, don't you?

Then you must be willing to take a risk for...

Eh?

Side-effect?

Fine by me.

I'm gonna turn this thing into a scrap and win myself a perfect score!

Th-The colors are all inverted?

My hearing's also not so good now.

It messes up your smell and taste, too!

Is this the side effect?

Well, it does feel kinda weird,

but it's much better than I expected.

No, that's not the worst part.

You will lose one level every thirty seconds.

Eh?

What?! I lose levels?!

A-And for fifteen minutes?!

Not just during battle, but always?!

Yeah!

I've used it before, but man, what a sense of loss.

If it's one level every thirty seconds...

I lose thirty levels in fifteen minutes?!

I'll have to start over from level twenty after this?!

Tell me that sooner!

Ah, it went down.

You ate it before I could.

By the way, I'll just use the scales to boost myself up.

Hey!

But I'm impressed you actually chewed it.

Although it's just the game description,

ever since I knew what it was made of,

I couldn't dare to stick it in my mouth.

What did you make me eat?!

Argh, I'm pissed off now!

Get ready, robot! I'll make you my personal sandbag!

Red...

...and black...

...make scarlet!