"I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense. 2" will begin airing in January 2023, but before it airs, we're taking a look back at the first season. In the previous article, we introduced the first half of the story, from episodes 1 to 6, and this time we'll be looking back at episodes 7 to 12. Maple, a gaming novice, plays in ways that a proper advanced player would never think of, and gradually becomes as strong as the final boss. The second half of the series focuses on Maple's interactions with the top players. We hope you'll check it out before the second season airs.
Episode 7 "Defense Specialization and Strengthening."
Maple is helping her new companions Mai and Yui level up in the Poison Dragon's Labyrinth. As they clear the dungeon in a time attack, Mai and Yui gain new skills, "Invader" and "Destruction King." Their levels reach 20, and the other members are astonished, saying, "I thought they'd get skills because they're with Maple, but they went way beyond that."
Members who become unusual
Inspired by Mai and Yui, the members level up, and Chrome discovers a hidden dungeon called the "Grave of the Dead." To enter it, you must have died and been revived at least four times, which is perfect for Chrom the Great Shield. After successfully clearing the dungeon, Chrome obtained equipment from the unique series. Chrome felt that he too had taken a step in a strange direction, just like Maple.
Event "Knight of Benevolence" occurs
The other members are each leveling up. Maple was walking around the city alone when she suddenly found herself in a house down an alleyway where an event called "Knight of Benevolence" started. Maple accepted the quest, but instead of flying through the forest she was supposed to be passing through, she used syrup to move through it, and already had the necessary item, the "Forest Queen Bee Ring," and the event proceeded on her own. Maple is truly unpredictable, and then the extra quest "Sacrificial Affection" occurred.
Acquire new skill "Devoted Compassion"
The new quest is to go to the dilapidated church in the southern forest to get the "Archangel Fragment". Maple easily returns with the item and successfully completes the quest, acquiring the skill "Devoted Compassion". The skill "Devoted Compassion" turns her into an angel, and a 10-meter radius of the circle of light surrounds her, meaning that any allies within that circle are always covered by Maple's cover, making it a cheat skill. Maple is one step closer to becoming a monster without even realizing it.
Episode 8 "Defense Specialization and the Third Event."
The third event is finally here. This time, it is an orthodox event where you defeat cows on the field to obtain bells, and the reward changes depending on the number of bells. However, this event is not suitable for Maple, who has low agility and moves slowly. The other members are worried that Maple will do something strange by herself again. But as expected, Maple is involved in a strange event without realizing it.
Fighting the Demon Boss
During the event, Maple fell off the mountain, picked up a strange gear and explored the area, arriving at a dilapidated church. Nothing happened last time, but this time the demon boss appeared. Maple fights alongside Syrup, and just when she thought she had done a fair amount of damage, the demon transformed into a black light and attacked Maple, swallowing her. However, Maple says, "If I defeat him, I can get out, right?" and starts eating. And she really did defeat him. Maple, who defeated him in an unusual way, gained the skills "Predator", "Oozing Chaos" and "Brutality". This time, Maple really became a monster.
Maple Tree Heads to the Third Floor
The third event ended safely, and the members of Maple Tree, who had successfully obtained their individual and guild rewards, headed to the third floor. Maple will fight the boss alone, and it's a debut of a new skill. Maple attacks with "Predator" and "Oozing Chaos", and with "Brutality" she transforms into a demon monster and kills the boss in an instant. The other members were shocked by Maple's innocent behavior, and gave up, saying, "Have you finally given up on being human?" and "There's no point in worrying about Maple's actions anymore."
Another unconscious event participation?
When the members of Maple Tree arrived at the machine city on the third floor, they each began to act. Then Maple was once again caught up in an event. It was the first machine god who appeared. The machine god told Maple to defeat him with his own strength, and the gear she had picked up before was attached to Maple's body, and she gained the skill "Machine God." When she activated the skill, her whole body was covered in the weapon's mechanical armor, and the blow she unleashed with a full burst defeated the first machine god. Maple had unconsciously taken another step closer to becoming a monster.
Episode 9 "Defense Specialization and the Fourth Event."
Maple immediately showed off her "Machine God" skill. The members were no longer surprised, saying, "Oh, so that's what she's doing this time," "This time it's a mecha," and "It's fine if she's on our side." When Maple asked her what she thought, Sally replied, "We'll increase our fighting power!" Next up is the guild competition for the 4th event. The members of Maple Tree are preparing.
Maple Tree being scouted
Frederica of the Holy Sword is scouting Maple and the others who are refreshing themselves by playing in the water. Sally sees through this and challenges them to a duel system, betting on each other's information. The two start fighting, and Sally uses the skills "Attack Guidance" and "Running Water" on Frederica's attacks. Seeing this, Frederica admits defeat and ends the fight. However, Frederica thought she had confirmed Sally's skills, but Sally was fighting using skills that did not exist. Sally is also a powerful player who is not inferior to Maple.
The 4th Event Guild Competition Begins
The 4th event begins, and Sally goes alone to scout and steal the orb from the enemy camp. As Sally seizes the orb, she encounters Dread, the holy sword, who is gathering. The two fight each other by feeling each other's eyes, and Dread, who receives Sally's "Running Water", disappears for some reason. After that, Sally goes on a rampage, stealing the orb from Mii of the Fire Emperor's country. Enemies also attacked Maple Tree's camp to reclaim the orb. However, the members of Maple Tree easily fought them back. The 4th event got off to a good start.
Episode 10 "Defense Specialization and Deployment."
On the first day of the 4th event guild competition, Maple Tree is off to a good start, but is ranked 17th. Sally, who wants to get points before the small and medium-sized guilds are crushed, goes out alone to steal the orb again. Kaede also went out to get the orbs, and the remaining members defended the base. Sally managed to seize 10 orbs, but the army of the Gathering Holy Sword led by Frederica appeared in front of her.
Sally vs. Gathering Holy Sword led by Frederica
Sally was surrounded by the soldiers of the Gathering Holy Sword. Her actions had been discovered by the Gathering Holy Sword's reconnaissance unit. Sally fights, unleashing her hidden powers, defeating the soldiers surrounding her one after another. Frederica is surprised at Sally's movements, which are completely different from when she scouted. At that time, reinforcements from the Gathering Holy Sword arrived. A triumphant Frederica was about to finish off Sally, but before she could, Maple appeared, wearing the image of devotion. Maple then activated her machine god and took Sally to the sky, deployed all her weapons, and unleashed a combined attack with Hydra on the Gathering Holy Sword.
Dread attacks the Maple Tree base
Maple helped Sally, but Frederica had contacted Dread, who said that Maple was not at the base. Only Mai and Yui were at the base, and the other members were fighting outside. Mai and Yui desperately resist Dread, but are defeated by him. Dread reaches for the orb, but an explosion sounds from behind, and Maple and Sally return. Maple restrains the surprised Dread with Syrup's Nature and finishes him off with a Predator.
Maple moves to Plan B
Sally wasn't just collecting orbs on her own. She was checking the locations of other guilds and making a map. Maple then decided to go with Plan B. Plan B is a strategy to release Maple and send her on the attack. Maple and her friends seize the orb with Mai and Yui, and their next goal is to capture the Fire Emperor's country. The Fire Emperor's country, led by Marx and Mizari, is unable to stop Maple, and just when they give up, the guild master Mii returns. Will Mii be able to stop Maple?
Episode 11 "Defense Specialization and a Strong Enemy."
A battle unfolds between Maple's strongest defense and Mii's strongest flame attack. Mii first targets Mai and Yui and launches an attack, but Maple uses Syrup to send Mai and Yui into the air and fights alone. Mii, Marx, and Mizari overwhelm Maple with piercing attacks, but they have little effect on Maple's defenses. Realizing that she won't be able to defeat them like this, Mii unleashes her special skill, "Flame Prison." "Flame Prison" is Mii's powerful technique that traps Maple in a wall of flame and continues to inflict damage on her. Maple's HP is gradually being whittled down, and at this point Maple makes a decision.
Activate the Machine God!
Maple's answer to being cornered was to use the skill "Machine God". After activating the skill and breaking the "Flame Prison", Maple deployed all her weapons and defeated the members of the Fire Emperor's Country, and then annihilated everyone except for Mee with a full burst attack from the deployed gun barrel. Mee, who was left alone, tried to self-destruct with her last resort, the skill "Self-destruct", and take Maple down with her. However, Maple was unharmed, saying "I was surprised". Maple managed to win the battle against the Fire Emperor's Country.
Event Development and Sally's Decision
Maple Tree splits into two groups, Maple, Kasumi, Chrome and Sally, and Mai & Yui, to go around and get the orbs, but the small and medium-sized guilds are already in ruins and they could hardly collect any. Sally proposes the next plan, to leave the base with the orbs. This is because she judged that the Gathering Holy Swords would attack in the current state. However, the Gathering Holy Swords were moving faster than Sally thought. The top four members of the Gathering Holy Swords appeared in front of Maple Tree.
Maple Tree vs Gathering Holy Swords
The battle began, and Maple was faced with the strongest player Pain, Sally and Kasumi with Dread, Chrome, Mai and Yui with Drag, and Izu and Kanade with Frederica. As expected, the members of Gathering Holy Swords were pushed hard by the members of Maple Tree, especially Pain's strength was outstanding, and Maple was on the defensive. At that time, Frederica activated her skill and the buffs of the other members were concentrated on Pain. Then Pain cut Maple to pieces with the "Holy Sword of Condemnation". Will Maple be okay after receiving such a powerful attack, and will Maple be able to win?
Episode 12 "Defense Specialization and Connections."
Maple managed to hold on with 1 HP thanks to her "Unyielding Guardian" skill. However, Maple's fatal damage caused the same to happen to her other allies. One by one, her allies are defeated, and Maple desperately fights back, but it's no use against Pain. Pain goes in to finish her off, attacking Maple with his skill "Holy Sword of Destruction." At that time, Maple, who had thrown away her shield, had the machine god's gun barrel on her right arm. Pain, who was activating his skill, was unable to stop his movement and fired a counter attack at him.
Maple vs Pain
Pain did not fall after receiving Maple's full-power counter. Pain also had the skill "Unyielding Guardian". Pain was about to make his final attack, but Maple finally released the skill "Brutalism" in response. Maple, who had turned into a demon, caught Pain, and Pain was defeated with a smile, saying, "You were in a hurry, I got you." Maple Tree defeated the other members of the Gathering Holy Sword one after another, and defeated the Gathering Holy Sword.
Seven Maples...
Maple Tree defeated the Gathering Holy Sword, but there are only three days left in the event. Sally switches to a strategy of destroying the guild and reducing the absolute number of orbs rather than taking the orbs. The Gathering Holy Sword and the Fire Emperor Country, realizing this strategy, also defeated the guild in the same way. In front of Pain and the others, Maple, who had become seven bodies in Oboro's shadow clone and Kanade's Phantom World, was rampaging. And with two days left, the event ended when only six surviving guilds remained.
Everyone is friends after the event
After the event, Kaedeno, who came in third place, was having a launch party. Members of the Holy Sword and Fire Emperor Country who had gathered there also participated. At that time, a collection of famous scenes from the 4th event began to be broadcast. While watching it, Maple was told that she would immediately find strange skills, and she muttered, "I'm just playing normally," but everyone pointed out, "What do you mean?" It will be exciting to see how the ultimate unbalanced Maple will perform in the future.
Summary of the second half of the first season
I looked back on the second half, from episodes 7 to 12. The second season of "I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense," in which an ordinary Maple becomes stronger through an unorthodox idea, is scheduled to air from January 2023. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Maple evolves. I hope you'll check it out on the anime broadcast. Thank you for reading to the end.
