Bofuri

Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense.
First light novel volume cover ft. Maple / Kaede Honjō
痛いのは嫌なので防御力に極振りしたいと思います。 (Itai no wa Iya nano de Bōgyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu.)
Genre	Fantasy,[1] isekai[1]
Novel series
Written by	Yuumikan
Published by	Shōsetsuka ni Narō
Original run	2016 – present
Light novel
Written by	Yuumikan
Illustrated by	Koin
Published by	Fujimi Shobo
English publisher	NA Yen Press
Imprint	Kadokawa Books
Demographic	Male
Original run	September 8, 2017 – present
Volumes	12 (List of volumes)
Manga
Illustrated by	Jirō Oimoto
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
English publisher	NA Yen Press
Magazine	Comp Ace
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	May 26, 2018 – present
Volumes	4 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed by	Shin Oonuma Mirai Minato
Written by	Fumihiko Shimo
Music by	Taro Masuda
Studio	Silver Link
Licensed by	Funimation[2] (worldwide rights outside of Asia) SA/SEA Muse Communication
Original network	AT-X, ABC, Tokyo MX, TVA, BS11
Original run	January 8, 2020 – present
Episodes	12 (List of episodes)
Anime and manga portal

Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense. (Japanese: 痛いのは嫌なので防御力に極振りしたいと思います。, Hepburn: Itai no wa Iya nano de Bōgyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu.) is a Japanese light novel series written by Yuumikan and illustrated by Koin. It began serialization online in 2016 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was acquired by Fujimi Shobo, which published the first light novel volume in September 2017 under their Kadokawa Books imprint. Twelve volumes have been released as of August 2021. A manga adaptation with art by Jirō Oimoto has been serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's seinen manga magazine Comp Ace since May 2018, and collected into four tankōbon volumes. Both the light novel and manga have been licensed in North America by Yen Press. An anime television series adaptation by Silver Link aired from January to March 2020. A second season has been announced and is set to premiere in 2022.

Plot[]

Urged on by her friend, Kaede Honjō begins playing the VRMMORPG NewWorld Online under the name Maple. Not wanting to get hurt, Maple opts to be a shield user with maxed-out defense stats, and continues putting every status point she earns in the game into increasing only her defense level. As a result, she is left with slow foot speed and no magic, but her high defense allows her to endure most hits without taking any damage. This, along with her basic-level creative thinking, allows for her to make unexpected accomplishments in the game, its quests and events. By doing this, she ends up earning all kinds of equally unexpected skills and becomes one of the strongest players in the game.

Characters[]

Maple Tree[]

Maple (メイプル, Meipuru) / Kaede Honjō (本条 楓, Honjō Kaede)

Voiced by: Kaede Hondo^[3] (Japanese); Megan Shipman^[4] (English)

The main protagonist, who has just started playing NewWorld Online. Since she doesn't like to get hurt, she puts every skill point she earns into boosting her defense, allowing her to acquire new skills and level up simply by withstanding attacks; she managed to level up quickly just by letting Mr. Bunny (a monster rabbit) attack her for a long period of time, until she accidentally killed it. Even with her lack of gaming experience, Maple remarkably gains enough resistance to almost anything, giving the game admins many headaches on how to slow her down; to which, her unorthodox methods overcomes the developers' adjustments (such as using the [Wooly] skill as not only a way to gather wool material, but also as an offensive skill by smothering opponents and using Poison to take them down, or as defense to absorb attacks that are not fire based). Despite her weaknesses, she uses techniques like [Cover], to make up for her lack of mobility. After consuming a Hydra and receiving one-of-kind equipment and shield, Maple acquires powerful poisonous magic, and obtains a skill called [Devour] due to maxing out her vitality points that devours her foes in a single counter. She equips this item to her shield, which subsequently consumes over 2,000 players in the first event. She becomes the third-rank player after competing in the first event. During the second event, she finds a monster egg which hatches into a turtle, which she names Syrup. She also seems to have an innate luck ability to locate rare items, hidden dungeons, and unique quests and skills (such as the Loving Sacrifice quest where she gains a second form). At the conclusion of the 4th event, the Guild Raid, the admins eventually decide to stop trying to weaken her as she has become the face of the game, with everyone working to either team up with her or be the first to actually defeat her. Due to her high defense, she has been nicknamed "the Walking Fortress" by other players.

Armor Forms

• [Black Rose]: Her default armor; a black armor with red highlights, she gained this by eating the Poison Dragon (which took more than 7 hours) and soloing the boss first. It is equipped with the Dark Knight Shield, which releases a [Poison Breath] mist. She also equipped the shield with a [Devour] ability, which turns defeated opponents into Magical Power (MP); originally, the use was unlimited until the NWO Admins nerfed it to only 10 uses. It also has a tanto called Crescent Moon, which enables her [Paralyzing Shout] skill by drawing it. The Black Rose can draw and equip powers from the other armors like Loving Sacrifice's Wings & Halo, Atrocity's shadow devourer familiar [Predator], and Machine God's jet boosters and arm cannon, making this a somewhat customization armor.
• [Loving Sacrifice]: Maple's Angel Form; which allows anyone in her circle of influence to share in her already otherworldly defense. She gains wings which can be used to fly (though she prefers Syrup), a halo, and her hair turns blonde.
• [Atrocity]: Maple's Demon Form; a four armed giant reptilian-like behemoth (a hybrid resemblance of Godzilla and Alien), which she obtained by defeating (aka. eating) the Demon Knight in the abandoned church. She gains 1000 HP when she uses it and when the HP is lost she returns to her original form completely healed. By gaining this form, she is also gains [Predator], which summons shadow consumer familiar that has great reach and speed.
• [Machine God]: Maple's Mecha Form equipped with railguns, lasers and other mechanized weapons. She earned this after the third event where she finds an old cog. She then finds the lab of the first Machine God who grants her its power to defeat him. She can also fly with this form; as well as deploy certain parts of the armor and weapons in a partial state.
• [Ghost Girl's Clothes]: Clothing earned after defeating the Ghost Twins boss from the 6th floor. She likes it due to having a similar green color to her pet Syrup. Enables her to use [Poltergeist] which allows her to manipulate objects and projectiles she owns.

Sally (サリー, Sarī) / Risa Shiromine (白峯 理沙, Shiromine Risa)

Voiced by: Ruriko Noguchi^[5] (Japanese); Jad Saxton^[4] (English)

Kaede's real-life friend who introduced her to NewWorld Online. She plays the swashbuckler class, which specializes in evasion and high speed offense, with the backlash of having low vitality, which is usually fatal for players. Should she get hit, she dies instantly, so she has to play cautiously, as Maple's hydra ability can also kill her. To compensate for Maple, she maxed out her agility. Risa previously won a championship online game reward; all the trophies in her room, as well as gaming knowledge, hint that she may be a pro gamer. She had to join Maple late in the game because her mother forbade her from gaming, wanting her to pass her proficiency exams. After leveling up her duration in swimming, she slashed a giant fish and acquired its water base attack magic. She has phasmophobia, despite being in-game; Maple jokes she couldn't handle haunted houses. Sally usually back carries Maple on fast foot due to her zero agility status. She immediately parties with Maple in the next game event. During the second event, Sally found a monster egg which hatched into a fox she named Oboro. During the second event, she was responsible for “The Massacre of Day 6” where she annihilated many players on the final day of the second event; earning her the moniker of “Untouchable Blue Monster.”

Kasumi (カスミ)

Voiced by: Saori Hayami^[6] (Japanese); Tia Ballard (English)

A samurai whose speed is on par with Sally. She was ranked sixth in the first event. The Flame Emperors guild intended to recruit her, but Maple got to her first. She and the Flame Emperor's Split-Sword Shin have faced each other multiple times in the past and she defeated him every single time.

Kanade (カナデ)

Voiced by: Satomi Arai^[7] (Japanese); Brittney Karbowski (English)

An androgynous male mage player, who specializes in intel gathering and puzzle solving, which allows him to access secret places and items in the game. He uses a Rubik's Cube-like staff called the "Akashic Records," which grants him a random skill each day. Kuromu tends to forget Kanade is a boy. He also has a library of spells that he can prepare ahead of time.

Kuromu (クロム, Kuromu)

Voiced by: Noriaki Sugiyama^[6] (Japanese); Anthony Bowling^[4] (English)

A great shielder like Maple and one of the first users Maple meets in the game. He ranked 9th in the first event, and usually hangs out with Iz, implying that both he and Iz are friends in real life. He later gains the [Undead Lord] gear after soloing a hidden dungeon designed for players who have died and revived a certain number of times. The [Undead lord] gear grants him a unique ability called [dead or alive] which allows him to keep fighting after 0 HP, with a 50 percent chance of activation. He is usually involved in the chat moments where the chat presses him for information about Maple and Sally. Some of chat envy him because he joined Maple's guild. During the chat sessions, in the manga, he is represented by a cartoon shield icon. It's implied he's the oldest among the guild as he states he has to act as the girls' big brother and protector just to make sure no one takes advantage of them, which Iz misinterprets as something perverted. He also forgets that Kanade is a boy as he says that he's the only male in the guild who must protect the girls. Some of the chat room recognize him as a Pro Gamer.

Iz (イズ, Izu)

Voiced by: Satomi Satō^[6] (Japanese); Caitlin Glass^[4] (English)

A crafter who creates order-made equipment. She becomes the guilds crafter, but still accepts private commissions. Being in the guild inspires her to craft unique gear, an opportunity she never was given originally. She usually hangs out with Kuromu, implying they're friends in real life, and sometimes has to keep him in check any time she feels Kuromu is acting weird around the girls. She enjoys when Maple shows off a new ability no matter how weird or improbable it is by saying "As long as she's a friend". In battle, she specializes in demolition equipping herself with various explosives; she also uses a pickaxe for close range.

Mai (マイ, Mai)

Voiced by: Ai Kakuma^[6] (Japanese); Sara Ragsdale (English)

A rookie player who, put all of her skill points into her Strength stat, which allows them to wield heavy weapons and deal maximum damage. She wears a green ribbon in her black hair and wields 2 giant hammers with the same color scheme. Much of her skills are earned in boss rushes and time trials. She and her sister have a strong hero worship of Maple and Sally, showing that maxing out their skills can be a benefit.

Yui (ユイ)

Voiced by: Nanaka Suwa^[6] (Japanese); Kristen McGuire^[8] (English)

Mai's younger sister, who put all of her skill points into Strength, much like Mai. Her hair is white with a pink ribbon and her hammers are also the same color as her hair. Like her twin sister, her skills are earned through boss rushes and time trials, which allows her to wield heavier weapons and deal maximum damage. She and her sister have a strong hero worship of Maple and Sally showing that maxing out their skills can be a benefit.

Syrup (シロップ, Shiroppu)

Voiced by: Miyuri Shimabukuro^[9] (Japanese); Natalie Hoover^[10] (English)

Maple's turtle familiar, whose egg was reward to her after Maple and Sally defeated the Silverwing boss. Ironically, Syrup's mobility is far superior than Maple; after the second event, Maple uses her rewards to allow Syrup to grow in size using the [Metamorph] skill, as well as fly by means of Maple equipping herself with [Psychokinesis] skill. Thus, utilized as the guild's form of transportation or, in battle, as a flying fortress using powerful moves such as Mother Nature, which uses vines as defense or offense and Mana Beam - a powerful beam attack that can cut through almost anything. Syrup soon grows an affection for Kuromu, especially when he feels depressed. It can only say the word "Kame" (カメ, turtle).

Oboro (朧)

Voiced by: Akiha Matsui^[11]

Sally's Fox Familiar, whose egg was reward to her after Maple and Sally defeated the Silverwing boss. Oboro specializes speed and fire spells like Sally. She also has the ability to split Sally into shadow clones.

Order of the Holy Sword[]

Pain (ペイン, Pein)

Voiced by: Kensho Ono^[12] (Japanese); Clifford Chapin^[4] (English)

The Order of the Holy Sword's guild master; a swordsman and NewWorld Online's top player with the highest level in the game. He specializes as a solo player and in PVP combat. Many consider him on par with a final boss monster. Based on statistics, if equipped properly, he is skilled enough to defeat Maple. His name, "Pain", makes reference to Maple's motif to avoid pain.

Dread (ドレッド, Doreddo)

Voiced by: Takumi Yamazaki^[12] (Japanese); Jarrod Greene (English)

An assassin type and a second-rank player after the First Event. Like Sally, he acts as a high speed attacker. Along with Drag, they develop a rivalry with the twins, Mai and Yui, who earns his respect during the fourth event where they nearly defeat him.

Frederica (フレデリカ, Furederika)

Voiced by: Ayana Taketatsu^[12] (Japanese); Lindsay Seidel (English)

A magician and one of the first users Maple meets in the game; in addition, gives Maple advice on how to level up. She later develops a friendly rivalry with Sally. She is also the guild's information gatherer.

Drag (ドラグ, Doragu)

Voiced by: Nobutoshi Canna^[12]

A warrior type axeman who became Fifth-rank player after the First Event. He excels in brute force attacks. Along with Dread, they develop a rivalry with the twins, Mai and Yui.

Flame Emperors[]

Mii (ミィ, Mī)

Voiced by: Rina Satō^[12] (Japanese); Terri Doty (English)

Nicknamed Entei, she is a high ranking mage and the Flame Emperors' guild master. Considered one of the most powerful and charismatic players. She is considered one of the few players who could compete with Payne in PVP combat. She also has her own fan club both in and out of the guild, but feels inferior; especially, if she fails to complete a task for her guild. She develops a one-sided rivalry with an oblivious Maple.

Shin (シン)

Voiced by: Kappei Yamaguchi^[12]

Nicknamed Split-Sword, due to his special skill of splitting his sword's blade into multiple projectiles. He fought Kasumi several times in the past and lost. Originally, he wanted to recruit her to the Flame Emperors, but Maple recruited her first.

Markus (マルクス, Marukasu)

Voiced by: Akira Ishida^[12] (Japanese); Aaron Dismuke (English)

The guild's Trap Master.

Misery (ミザリー, Mizarī)

Voiced by: Yūko Minaguchi^[12] (Japanese); Morgan Garrett (English)

The healer of the Guild. She has a fan club following within the guild for as much as her skill as her beauty.

「thunder storm」[]

Velvet

Hinata

Rapid Fire[]

Lily

Willbert

NewWorld Online (NWO)[]

The Administrators

A boardroom consisting of developers, designers, and programmers. This group is constantly driven crazy by Maple's shenanigans and describe her as "more of last boss than their last boss" due to the fact that many of the Administrators' "special" bosses, such as the Silverwing and the Sea King; were created as a trolling prank against players. They're made to be undefeatable, equipped with many overpowered, lethal attacks and ridiculous vitality that even Payne or Mii would not be able to defeat them; only to learn that Maple defeated them with relative ease, in addition, Maple being reward rare items as a result. They get even more stressed when Sally joins Maple; they collectively refer to the duo as “The Embodiment of the Developer's Malice.” They constantly struggle to make adjustments to compensate for Maple; only to be thwarted by her unorthodox strategies and creative playstyle; as well as her absurdly good luck. At the conclusion of the fourth event, Guild Raid, they decide to leave her be as Maple has become the face of NWO. Some are even now betting among themselves in predicting what Maple will do next. In the anime, they are represented by smiley face rabbit avatars; in the manga, they are paper bag headed individuals in business suits.

The Dungeon Bosses

Poison Dragon: A three-headed serpent mid-boss that Maple first fought and defeat (by eating it overtime after 7 hours); thus, leading her to gaining her [HYDRA] abilities, as well as her first set of armor. Mai and Yui would fight it multiple times to increase their levels.

Big Fish: A giant fish whose dungeon was located in the lake cavern that only Sally could get to; it used its water abilities to flood the room to give it an advantage. After a close battle, Sally would gain her Oceanic Armor set.

Forest Guardian: The Guardian to the 2nd floor. A giant deer who uses plant and light attacks. Its weakness is the apples hanging from it. It managed to knockout Maple leaving Sally to fight it on its own. Later Sally fought it again solo as a demonstration to Mai and Yui and to let them enter the 2nd floor.

Demonic Jester/Goblin King: A boss Maple and Sally encounters early in the 2nd event. The Goblin is in the manga and the Jester is in the anime. The Jester is also featured in the opening song video with the entire Maple Tree guild fighting it.

Doppelganger: An entity that takes the forms of others. When Maple and Sally were separated in the dungeon, the entities took the forms of them respectively. It fought Maple in the form of Sally, while vice versa fought Sally in the form of Maple. But, because the two girls knew each other's weakness, the duo managed to beat the clones. This boss only appeared in the manga.

Silverwing: A giant ice bird boss, created as a prank boss by the Administrators, which appeared during the Second Event. It guarded the eggs of Syrup and Oboro at the top of the mountain summit. It first faced Kuromu and his group and effortlessly defeated them.

Snails: Giant unkillable enemies patrolling a dungeon from the 2nd event.

Sea King: A giant squid boss that appeared during the Second Event. It was discovered by Maple and Sally after Kanade gave them a hint on how to get to it. It is another prank boss, as the only thing that can defeat it is attacking the main body, which is hidden deep in the ocean that no player can get to it. Destroying its tentacles will only cause them to regenerate. In the anime Maple overcame it by poisoning the entire sea; thus defeating it relatively easily. In the manga it was a harder fight as the poison effect was slower.

Skeleton King: A skeleton boss that Chrome encounters alone in a dungeon that require 1000 deaths to enter.

Demon Knight: A demon that lurked in an abandoned church that Maple and Syrup stumbled upon during the Third Event. It is one of the first bosses to speak and it constantly told Maple that it wanted to devour her, only for her to retort that she would devour him first. It has two forms, an armored knight, and after taking enough damage, would shed its armor to reveal a demonic form. The boss managed to eat Maple, thus destroying most of the Wool Armor that Iz made for her; however, her vitality was enough to survive the demon's stomach. Thus, Maple "devoured" the boss from the inside out until its destruction. As a result, Maple gained many demonic attacks as well as a demon form.

Green Giant: The Guardian to the 3rd floor. A giant Tree monster like an Ent that uses Strength and Constricting attacks on its Opponent. Maple clears it by using the [Seeping Chaos] to severely damage it; then finally finishes it off with her demonic third form, [Atrocity].

Machine Lord: A corrupted mechanical golem who asked Maple to defeat it before it went out of control; thus inserting a machine gear into Maple and allowing her to gain [Machine God].

Steel Golem: The Guardian to the 4th floor. Designed with high defense and HP such that Maple was unable to damage it. Thankfully she entered with Sally who was able to defeat it in 30 minutes. Later quickly defeated by Mai and Yui for the rest of the guild.

Self-devouring Bewitched Sword: A boss in the 4th floor. Has fast, scripted attack patterns depending on its health. Grants itself if defeated.

Oni: Final boss of the 4th floor available if you maxed the level of your permit and got 3 quest items. Has to be fought alone. Adapts to player classes and specializes in deflecting almost all attacks and repeating them back to the player, showing nearly no weaknesses. First defeated by Maple and gained [Pandemonium] when she mistook him for the Guardian to the 5th floor.

Nine-tailed Fox: The Guardian to the 5th floor. Gets faster as it loses health. Maple Tree without Maple defeated it by paralyzing it. Maple later helped Fredrica's party fight it by demonstrating [Pandemonium] when it became too fast for them to hit.

Ice Arm: A boss in the 5th floor after climbing to the top of a specific thundercloud. Grants [Freezing Area] if defeated.

Tree Man: A boss in the 6th event. Attacks with flying leaves and has the ability to swap the players' equipment to a different random one they own. Grants MP increasing skills if defeated.

Skeleton King: A boss in the 6th event after going through a complicated maze. Swarms of skeletons appear with HP reduction over time effects. A black liquid also with the effect splashes out if the boss is damaged, and also from the ceiling and floor if its HP is reduced enough. Grants the [Ghost Mud] skill that has that effect if defeated.

The King of Light: A boss in the 5th floor after crossing a plain of lightning. A giant king sits on a throne and attacks with light arrows and 'evil' type skills are disabled around it. After a while it regenerates its health and also summons 2 angels that binds the player which drains their MP and lowers AGI. Grants its light arrows if defeated, or [Throne of the Heavenly King] if the player has a skill related to angels.

Rain Man: A boss in the 5th floor after crossing an area with slow rain that on touch freezes the player and summons a water canon. The boss is a humanoid made of water with a solid core in its middle and can clone itself. The aforementioned rain also rains in the arena. Grants an item that creates the rain.

Cloud Jellyfish: The guardian to the 6th floor. Has a variety of status effects including paralysis.

Giant Red Ghost: A boss in the 6th floor. A boss version of the red ghost enemies found in the floor. Attacks out of a rift with slow moving hands that tries to grab the player for high damage or an instant death effect. Also summons a swarm of the red ghosts and ghost hands from the ground. Later in the fight the arena is completely enveloped in darkness and light sources don't work. Grants a "Helping Hands" pendant item if defeated by dealing the final blow with an exorcism tag.

Ghost Twins: A boss in the 6th floor in a mansion full of traps. Gets stronger the more traps were triggered while getting through it. Takes away most equipment and uses poltergeist powers to control suits of armors and flying weapons. It also distorts the mansion into a maze and the goal is to find their boss room and then touch them. Drops "Ghost Girl's Clothes" equipment and a chest of unknown contents if defeated.

Sand Dragon: The boss of the 7th event tower's 1st floor. Dives in and out of the sand and all attacks that hits its body are reflected. There are bombs rolling around the arena meant to be thrown into its mouth.

Magic Book: The boss of the 7th event tower's 2nd floor. Telegraphs the spells it casts represented by the page drawings it turns to. And it can steal player skills to fill in blank pages.

Lava/Ice Giant: The boss of the 7th event tower's 3rd floor. Starts as a lava golem with the arena full of lava puddles and it can shoot pillars of lava from the ground. It can change to its ice golem form along with changing the arena that has icicles falling from the ceiling. If defeated without using the "10,000 year ice" item from the floor, grants the [Great Eruption] skill.

Sea Turtle: The boss of the 7th event tower's 4th floor. Comes out of the sea and flies in the air while creating a stream of water behind itself. Attacks with waves of water, water pillars and violent currents in the sea, and laser beams. Hardens most of itself except for the stomach if its health drops low.

Headless Knight: The boss of the 7th event tower's 5th floor. Rides a zombie horse, burns in a blue flame and wields big swords. It was quickly defeated by Maple Tree in 2 cases before it can show any special attack patterns.

Crystal Magician: The boss of the 7th event tower's 6th floor. Summons crystal soldiers which are common enemies of the floor that has high defense. The magician has low health and defense but is good at creating barriers against ranged attacks while moving away.

Ice Hedgehog: The boss of the 7th event tower's 7th floor. It has icicles on its back which can be shattered but regrows when it digs into the snow. Its primary attack is to become a ball and roll straight. It occasionally falls onto its back exposing its weak belly. At 50% HP it starts to aim for the players while rolling and could shoot spikes from the ground while it is buried. At 20% HP it also shoots its spikes into the air.

Forest Chameleon: The boss of the 7th event tower's 8th floor. The entire forest themed floor is the boss arena. Could turn invisible and attacks the players with its tongue that can push or pull and could inflict a Sleep status effect. When its HP drops to 50% it clones itself and could spit poison.

Black Pillar: The boss of the 7th event tower's 9th floor. The entire floor is the boss arena which takes place in a bottomless night sky with star shaped platforms which gives a temporary floating buff to players. The boss attacks with 2 arms at close range and also mirrors any attack with a black version that has strong knock back. At 70% HP some comets fall randomly which can destroy some platforms and then more attacks come out of magic circles around itself. At 30% HP burning comets targets players, the star platforms burn for a while, and the boss adds 2 more arms.

Silver Knight: The boss of the 7th event tower's final 10th floor. Starts with basic but swift and powerful sword attacks without openings. As its HP drains its sword lights on fire, creates a pillar of fire from the ground, and keeps creating levitating burning swords.

Giant Ghost: The guardian to the 7th floor. Attacks without attributes don't damage it.

Giant Octopus: A boss in the 7th floor. With unclear conditions, drags the player from an island into a cave full of black mist. After navigating to the end, its main body is deep underwater as it attacks with tentacles. It also creates black mists that spawn more tentacles and could disarm the player's equipment. Grants [Invitation to the Ocean Floor] if defeated.

Lava Dragon: A boss in a volcano at the 7th floor.

Skeleton Pirate Captain: A boss in a beach cave at the 7th floor. Is on a pirate ship that shoots cannons and summons an endless army of skeletons. Awards a monster companion that's a floating armor if defeated.

Monster Bird: A boss on top of a giant tree at the 7th floor that's similar to Silverwing. Only seems to appear when the player has spent a lot of time with their monster companion and guards one of the keys needed to evolve them.

Wind Giant: A boss at the 7th floor. The area's gravity is weak and has floating platforms. It can throw boulders or the players themselves with strong gusts of wind. Only seems to appear when the player has spent a lot of time with their monster companion and guards one of the keys needed to evolve them.

Water/Mud Doll: A boss of the 8th event. A pair of a giant version of the stock monsters. The water dolls are weak to lightning and the mud dolls are weak to fire, and any other attacks would cause them to multiply. Their attacks prevent you from moving and freeze your skill cooldowns. The boss version also drops seeds that create vines that attack your legs when damaged.

Forest Shinobi: A boss of the 8th event. A shinobi that's nearly invisible in the forest arena. Throws kunais attached with bombs. Was quickly killed by Maple Tree after it is found before it can show any other abilities.

Sand King: A boss of the 8th event. Sits on a throne while commanding an army of sand soldiers.

Centipede: A boss of the 8th event. Starts as a giant boss, but keeps getting doubled but smaller as you kill it until there are 64 of them. Afterwards reverts to a single giant one for its final attack.

Catfish: A boss of the 8th event. Flies in the air while creating trails of water. Also creates floating bubbles of water that are charged with electricity. Fills the entire arena with electricity when it's about to be defeated.

Stone Slab: A boss of the 8th event. In the series of rooms leading to the boss room, there are multiple doors with different weapons drawn on them. So the players could choose which humanoid mini-bosses to fight. The unchosen weapons are gathered on the slab which then continuously summons the mini-bosses of those types.

Crystal snake and scorpion: A boss of the 8th event. Small enemies that hide in piles of sands while the common snakes and scorpions from the dungeon with instant kill attacks attack the players. When the pair receives enough damage, they gather the sands to form a bigger body of themselves.

Purple Devil: A boss of the 8th event. Emerges from a massive cocoon and has a lot of limbs with claws that can be stretched at great speeds. Also has needles on its body used for body slamming. After about half of its HP is gone, it starts to shoot purple fire beams from magic circles.

Giant Devil: Final boss of the 8th event. A giant version of the above boss. Creates map-wide meteor showers and special enemies throughout the map supplies flames and more of them are summoned as it takes damage. Envelopes parts of its body with flames to protect itself from players climbing it. Can create a sonic wave from its roar that has high piercing damage.

Red Dragon: A boss at the 5th floor. Introduces itself and creates the battle arena by destroying the castle roof from the inside. Uses strong Fire, Wind and physical attacks that can knock the players off the castle. At 50% HP, it also summons dragonewts, a common enemy of the dungeon.

Mummy: A boss at the 7th floor. Summons sand golems and mummies which are common enemies of the dungeon. Casts various debuffs to the players. At about half HP it emits a chilling moan that deactivates all active skills and buffs. Also can create a fog that rearranges the positions of the players and enemies.

Stone Statue: A boss at the 7th floor. Difficulty changes depending on the number of players fighting it. It's equipped with a shield, spear and armor against 4 players. It starts with jumping into the air toward the players to break their formation. Was stun locked by the characters before it could show more abilities. Later it's shown equipped with 2 axes against 2 players. And it's equipped with a long sword and shield when fought alone.

Fairy Doll: A boss at the 7th floor. Summons an army of roses and tree dolls. Was overwhelmed by Rapid Fire before it can show more abilities.

Ice Queen: A boss at the 7th floor. Summons ice enemies which were common to the dungeon which explodes into icicles when defeated. The boss mostly attacks with strong icy winds. At low health it can disable abilities and freeze the players' legs to the ground, then attacks with an ice sword. Grants access to a special night sky themed location if defeated.

Boss Rush: A dungeon of the 7th floor is a trial that features hordes of common enemies or a slightly modified boss from the previous floors.

Giant Squid: A raid boss of the 9th event on the 7th floor. Appears during the 2nd half of the event period if enough smaller event monsters were killed. Attacks from the air with tentacles, ink to obstruct vision, and a stong flood of water.

Jellyfish: A special boss of the 9th event replacing a regular dungeon boss. Floats in the air and physically attacks with tentacles that has a paralyzing poison. Afterwards it floods the ground and creates water tentacles. Drops an animated miniature version of itself as a reward. As for similar bosses: a sea anemone, clownfish, manta ray, shark and a crab is fought offscreen.

Submarine: A special boss of the 9th event that can appear after the Stone Statue is defeated. A pool of water is created on the ground, and it periodically dives in and out of it as if it was in deep water. It wraps the player in anchors and creates an explosion under their feet. Drops a black box item named "Lost Legacy" if defeated.

Giant: The final raid boss of the 9th event. A giant wielding a trident and emerges from a giant puddle of water from the waist up. It creates destroyable spheres of water near its head which summons monsters. When damaged enough, they create water blades moving around the surface. On the ground it creates waves of tsunamis with knockback, spears of water with piercing, water geysers, and swings its trident.

Jelly Slime: The guardian to the 8th floor. Is able to shapeshift into various monsters for flexible moves.

Drazō (ドラぞう, Dorazō)

Voiced by: Sakura Tange^[12] (Japanese); Monica Rial (English)

NewWorld Online's little dragon mascot exclusive to the anime, who acts as host to the various player events; popping up now and then to remind players; as well as conduct player interviews.

The Chat Room

A forum of various players who express their opinions of Maple and Sally, or any other happenings in NWO. When anything bizarre happens in the game, all the members quickly agree that it is related to Maple. They also get very excited when they learn about any battles where Payne, Mii, and Maple face off against each other; as they deem it a battle between true monsters. It is evident that Kuromu is a part of that chat room; when they learn that Kuromu is part of Maple's guild, they press him for information about Maple and Sally's abilities; some envy Kuromu because he is in Maple's guild, which consists of mostly female members; some ask him to introduce them to Maple because a few of them have a crush on her but are too shy to approach her. There is a subgroup that created the Maple fan club, who vows to protect her in the shadows; in which Kuromu deems them hopeless. They also refer to Payne as “The Embodiment of the Player's Malice”, due to his dominating gameplay in PVP battles; some chose to avoid him and his guild entirely. There is also the implication that some of the chat is from The Holy Order of the Sword and the Flame Emperors. In the manga, the chat is represented by cartoon icons; Kuromu is represented by a Shield Icon, while some of his friends are represented by a Wizard Staff, Sword, Long Bow, and Spear.

Media[]

Light novels[]

The series originally began on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō by Yuumikan in 2016, being viewed more than 60 million times on the site. The following year, the series was acquired by publisher Fujimi Shobo to be published as a light novel with illustrations by Koin on the Kadokawa Books imprint, with the first volume being released in September 2017. The light novel is licensed in North America by Yen Press.^[13]

Manga[]

A manga adaptation by Jirō Oimoto began serialization on the seinen magazine Comp Ace by publisher Kadokawa Shoten in May 2018. The manga is also licensed by Yen Press.^[13]

Anime[]

An anime adaptation was announced by Kadokawa on December 6, 2018.^[38] The series was animated by Silver Link, and directed by Shin Oonuma and Mirai Minato, with Fumihiko Shimo handling series composition, and Kazuya Hirata designing the characters.^[3] The series aired from January 8 to March 25, 2020, on AT-X, ABC, Tokyo MX, TVA, and BS11.^[6] Afilia Saga performed the opening theme "Kyūkyoku Unbalance" (究極アンバランス!), while Riko Sasaki performed the ending theme "Play the World."^[12] Funimation has licensed the series for a SimulDub.^[2][39] It ran for 12 episodes.^[40] Muse Communication streamed the series on its Muse Asia YouTube channel in Southeast Asia and South Asia.^[41] A second season of the anime was announced at the end of the first season's final episode, and is set to premiere in 2022.^[42]

Reception[]

The web novel version of the story on Shōsetsuka ni Narō has over 60 million views since its original publication on the site.^[44]

Notes[]

References[]