Chapter 224: Encounter Penalty
Big news: the hardcore player Psyger-0 was leaving the clan Schwarz Vulf.
And on top of that came her request to transfer to Wolfgang, the clan whose members had defeated a Unique Monster.
Nobody knew where the information had leaked from, but the double helix of those two huge stories spread in an instant, and the SLF boards were going wild.
Why choose to leave now, with departure for the New Land right around the corner?
Was there some deeper meaning behind the fact that she had defeated the Unique Monster Ctarnidd of the Abyss together with members of Wolfgang?
Forum post: “Saint-chan is cute. Saint-chan is cute. Saint-chan is cute...”
Take it to the dedicated thread, damn it.
Rakuro: “This is what you call standing out in the worst possible way...”
Keyword search: “Sunraku”... Whoa, that is already into triple-digit results. More importantly, what the hell is the Rare Bird Sunraku Capture Countermeasures Conference? Sunraku is one hundred percent a human being, you know.
Good thing I had secured the safe zone known as Rabituza. If things got bad enough, people might start camping outside the inn I had logged out from.
Teacher: “All right, everybody, take your seats. None of you pulled a summer-break debut on me, right?”
I guess I did make my SLF debut over summer break.
After a short assembly and turning in our assignments, school was done for the day.
My house sat in a weird part of the school district—more specifically, an area where there just were not many high-school students—so I said goodbye to my friends and started heading home alone.
I could have gone straight home and full-dived into SLF, but as usual I decided to stop by RockRoll first.
Rakuro: “Maybe they’ve got some hidden gem sitting around...!”
I am Rakuro, scavenger extraordinaire, proudly helping RockRoll dispose of its excess inventory—otherwise known as shit games!
Rakuro: “............”
And so.
Rakuro: “Got any promising-looking shit games?”
Mana: “You know... do you ever think about spending your youth a little more meaningfully?”
Rakuro: “I really don’t want to hear that from someone who devoted her entire summer to otome games... Did you hundred-percent all of them?”
Mana: “Every hidden scenario too. Full completion, and I even sent in feedback afterward.”
The dignity of a seasoned heavy gamer.
That said, I had always thought of Mana as the kind of person who lived life with the clock compressed, constantly rushing ahead. She had probably chain-cleared those games the same way I did last year, so if she was still looking healthy, good for her.
Mana: “So? If you came all the way here to hunt for shit games, did you quit SLF?”
Rakuro: “A bunch of stuff happened. I ended up forming a group with some people I know, and we’re taking it at our own pace.”
Mana: “I see, I see... Oh, right. I’ve actually got something good. It’s not exactly a shit game, though.”
With that, Mana held out a single package.
Rakuro: “...A shit game?”
Mana: “Mmm, not really a shit game, exactly. But apparently its secret boss has a reputation for being unbeatable.”
Rakuro: “A secret boss...”
Honestly, I was not even sure this counted as a game in the first place. Even so, I could not deny that the words secret boss tugged at something in me.
But still... no, seriously... this thing was a VR teaching tool, wasn’t it?
Rakuro: “Eh, whatever. How much?”
Mana: “4,210 yen.”
Rakuro: “That’s pretty cheap.”
Mana: “Well, it’s less a game and more like a VR classroom.”
I had not bought anything except SLF that summer. I had spent a little on transportation to get to GGC, but my wallet still had a decent amount of warmth left in it.
I was a cash guy, so I handed over a piece of paper bearing the old man who preached the universal truth of, “Heaven makes us all equal, so study, dumbass.”
Mana: “Thanks for your business. So, how’s SLF? Having fun?”
Rakuro: “More or less. Though every now and then I start missing shit games.”
Mana: “Hmm... should be about time.”
Rakuro: “Hm?”
Was she waiting for something?
If she had some business to take care of, then I—nothing more than a customer—should probably get out of the way.
While I was thinking that, the door to RockRoll opened. Apparently someone had arrived.
Rei: “Um, Mana-san, you said ‘as soon as possible,’ but what exactly is—”
Rakuro: “Oh, hey.”
Rei: “............”
Well, would you look at that. Rei. Again.
Hadn’t it only been four or five hours? I had been running into her a lot lately.
Rei’s eyes went completely round. She froze with one hand still on the open door, then slowly, creakingly turned her head toward Mana.
Mana: “OHHH, WELCOOOOME. DON’T JUST STAND THEEERE, COME ON IIIIN.”
Rakuro: “That’s the kind of deadpan delivery you get from a game that cheaped out on character voices.”
Mana: “Never compromise on the voice cast.”
A statement straight from the soul of a player who had devoted her life to otome games.
Rei: “U-um, Mana-sa—uh, um...”
Mana: “Oh my, could it be that you two know each other?”
Rakuro: “...? We’re in the same grade at the same school, so I know her face and her name, I guess.”
Mana: “...Coward. In otome-game terms, you’re at about Chapter Two.”
Chapter Two? What was she talking about?
And why was Rei turning away with such an unbearably awkward look on her face?
Mana: “Actually, Rakuro-kun, Rei and I have talked about you before.”
Rakuro: “Me?”
Rei: “Euh, ah, um, n-no, I mean—”
For some reason, Mana sighed.
Mana: “...Look, Rakuro-kun. Your taste in games is, well, that, but you do play all kinds of things, right? When Rei-chan was about to start gaming, I brought you up.”
Rei: “R-right! Yes! That’s exactly it! Yes!”
Rakuro: “Ohhh. Then the person who recommended SLF to Rei was...?”
Mana: “Me. It was selling well, and I’d heard it was one of the easier full-dive games to get into.”
I see. So that was why our conversation about games had gone so well. Your first game tended to stick in your memory, and people naturally got attached to it.
Mana: “Still, what a coincidence. Today was your school’s first day back after summer break, right? And both of you came straight to my shop. I’m so happy.”
I did not know why, but the whole thing felt spectacularly staged.
Eh, whatever.
Rakuro: “I was going home to play games anyway. I just stopped in to see if there was anything interesting lying around.”
Mana: “Hmmmm...”
This woman was making a lot of weird little moves today. Still, Rei and I were not close enough to stand around chatting forever, and I wanted to try what I had just bought, so I might as well head home.
Rakuro: “All right, I’m gonna get going.”
Rei: “Ah...”
Rakuro: “...? Something wrong?”
Rei: “Um, well... s-see you tomorrow!”
Rakuro: “Huh? Oh. Yeah, see you tomorrow...”
For a second I nearly asked if she was in elementary school or something, but maybe she was simply the kind of properly raised person who still observed the basic greetings they taught little kids.
That must have been the aura separating her from ordinary civilians.
Now then. SLF, or the thing I just bought? Decisions, decisions.
Rei: “............”
Mana: “............”
Mana: “All right. Time for the review session.”
Rei: “Could you at least have given me a little more time to prepare myself...?”
Mana: “If it takes you three years just to prepare yourself, we’ve already got a problem.”
Rei: “Ugh...”
Mana: “First we need to get you to the point where you can talk without stammering...”
Come to think of it, I wanted to replace what I had burned through in the Ctarnidd fight. All right, SLF first.
Sunraku: “For starters...”
There was something I had to do. Maybe I ought to cut my own stomach open and show my sincerity.
Sure, ninety percent—no, maybe seventy percent—of it had been Ctarnidd’s fault. But I had still taken Emul and Ceecrue with me and stormed Ruluiath. I probably needed to show Vash some proper proof that I understood I had crossed a line...
Emul: “W-what’s wrong, Sunraku-san!? You look like you’re in terrible pain!”
Sunraku: “My pinkie...? No, maybe concrete shoes and the Pacific... or maybe I really should cut my stomach open...”
Emul: “What in the world are you talking about!?”
Sunraku: “Emul, be my second and finish me off.”
Emul: “I said, what are you talking about!?”
For the record, I was forgiven surprisingly easily.
The lecture afterward still lasted about an hour, apparently.