[Author’s Opening Note: I wrote this while completely losing my mind, so naturally I didn’t revise it.]
Chapter 464: O Dragon, O Dragon! We Race Toward the End of Our Longing — O Dragon, O Dragon! Part Forty-One
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We’ve really done it now!
Kukuku... We really went and did it!!
Sunraku: “Look. They even went to the trouble of showing markers for each faction.”
Psyger-100: “You seem to be enjoying yourself.”
Sunraku: “Of course I am. PvP is one of the best parts of an online game. And once you get used to faction battles with a ridiculous number of victory conditions, they’re actually damn fun...!!”
What’s wrong? What’s wrong?
If you want to aim for my back, I won’t stop you.
Unfortunately, for reasons related to my Job, I’ll be avoiding taking kills myself, but...
Yeah. I can feel myself getting fired up.
Sunraku: “How far can Vital Awakening: Liberate be applied...? I need to test that... The sky’s starting to brighten. It’s almost... time... Can I make it? Yeah, I can. If I can somehow launch it...”
Psyger-100: “H-Hey?”
Sunraku: “I’m talking to myself. Putting it into words helps organize my thoughts... Tch, balancing firepower against convenience seriously sucks. Absorption? No, given the capacity, maybe I should just eat the damage? Dying here would be way too stupid.”
Psyger-100: “Stop muttering weird words to yourself! Now I can’t help wondering what you’re talking about!!”
How should I know? It’s not like I think through every single thing logically.
As long as I lock down the important points, I can connect the rest by feel.
Sunraku: “We’re in the final stretch. I smacked the horns earlier, and a few of them felt like they were getting close. Of the three on the right, the upper two. Of the two on the left, the lower one.”
Psyger-100: “Even if you tell me that, I doubt I could actually aim for them...”
Sunraku: “No, that’s not the point. Oh, Rust! Perfect timing!”
Rust: “...What?”
Sunraku: “Telephone game. Go tell the guy providing fire support from Bryubas over there—oh, he’s an acquaintance of mine, okay? Tell him, ‘right: top and middle; left: bottom.’ Let’s use Suzaku too.”
Rust: “...Fine, but do you actually have a chance of winning?”
Sunraku: “You could say I do, and you could say I don’t. But there’s one thing I can say for sure...”
I’m going to smash every last one of that bastard’s horns to pieces right here.
Besides, when it comes to our “chances of winning,” I’m not talking about myself.
A Unique Scenario is someone’s story.
Maybe every last one of us who stepped onto that gaudy golden dragon’s stage is just an extra...
But there are ensemble stories where every single person is a protagonist.
So who’s telling this story?
At the very least, we’re supporting characters in a different storyline.
Sunraku: “Right? You’d agree, wouldn’t you... Uh... you are Rei-shi, right?”
Psyger-0: “Huh? Y-Yes.”
Sunraku: “You’re not some predatory creature that ate Rei-shi and stole her stats, right?”
Psyger-100: “Do not casually declare my little sister dead.”
Psyger-0: “Ah, um... no... this is just... that kind of armor.”
Whoa...
That helmet is blinking, and it’s all slimy too.
...That is seriously gross.
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The person called Akitsu Akane did not play games by completely becoming her role from the bottom of her heart, the way Josette did.
The girl called Akitsu Akane did not consciously behave in ways that were possible precisely because it was a game, the way Sunraku did.
The player called Akitsu Akane did not simply write everything off as nothing more than graphics being moved by strings of numbers, the way Deep Throater did.
Akitsu Akane: “...”
So then—
What kind of gamer was Akitsu Akane?
Akitsu Akane: “Noirlind-san.”
Noirlind: “What is it!!”
Akitsu Akane: “This is something very important... and I think what’s about to happen is very important too.”
Noirlind: “Hmm?”
There was no embellishment in those words.
She simply spoke the words that surfaced from the sea of her heart, without dressing them up, and conveyed her sincere feelings to the dragon.
Akitsu Akane: “Noirlind-san is Noirlind-san. You’ve fought because you want to surpass Siegwurm-san... You admired Siegwurm-san, chased after him... and now you’ve made it right up beside him.”
Noirlind: “That is...! Is that really something you must say right now?!”
Akitsu Akane: “Yes.”
Akitsu Akane did not roleplay.
Akitsu Akane did not look down on NPCs.
She understood that they were fictional NPCs, clearly different from the human players who lived in reality.
And even with that understanding, she still spoke to them with the same words she would use in reality.
That was precisely why her way of playing possessed extraordinary value within the game known as Shangri-La Frontier—
No.
Within its “system.”
Akitsu Akane: “Even so... you can’t live looking only forward, only upward. Noirlind-san, you have to face your past.”
Noirlind: “...”
Because Akitsu Akane was on Noirlind’s back, she had a higher vantage point than the other players.
That was why she could see it.
Was it merely an illusion?
Or was it a truth revealed by SLF’s absurdly advanced graphics?
Akitsu Akane: “...”
???: “...”
Far away, at Skull Azuchi, a group was slowly but steadily making its way toward Noirlind.
At its front walked a single woman.
Akitsu Akane was certain that their eyes met.
She bit down on her lower lip just a little harder.
Noirlind: “That one... Hmph. You mean to say she intends to slay me?”
Akitsu Akane: “Yes. And... even if Pencilgon-san and the others turn everything into a complete mess, if they still refuse to give up after all that... then I think, at heart, it’s the same as how you feel about surpassing Siegwurm-san.”
Akitsu Akane hated giving up.
Akitsu Akane liked people who refused to give up.
And Akitsu Akane believed that when two people who refused to give up collided, there absolutely had to be a conclusion.
Because—
If one person kept moving forward and the other never stopped...
Then the hand reaching out would never reach what it longed for.
Noirlind: “The likes of them could be erased with my breath—”
Akitsu Akane: “No. Noirlind-san, you take Siegwurm-san. Those people... yeah. I’ll handle them.”
Noirlind: “What did you say... Hey!”
Akitsu Akane hopped down.
Noirlind roared after her, but the fox-masked girl did not turn around.
She kept speaking.
Akitsu Akane: “I’m cheering for you, Noirlind-san. I want you to keep moving forward with your eyes only on Siegwurm-san. So... I’m going to help you do that. That’s why...”
Then she turned back.
Akitsu Akane shifted her fox mask slightly aside, exposing half of her face.
She formed a broad grin and smiled at Noirlind.
Akitsu Akane: “Leave it to me! I’m Noirlind-san’s vassal? Servant? So I’ll go settle things? Settle the score? As your representative!!”
Noirlind: “Akitsu Akane, you...”
Siegwurm: “What is the matter, Noirlind! Will you atone with your own body for the folly of losing focus before me! While bearing that name!!”
Noirlind: “Gnuoah!? Damn you...!!”
A breath attack scorched through the sky and struck Noirlind.
Even as the black dragon groaned, he stared straight at Siegwurm.
That was good.
Akitsu Akane quietly turned forward again.
In the end, she knew she was simply doing whatever she wanted.
Maybe that made her terribly selfish.
Even so, bearing Noirlind’s blame in his stead, Akitsu Akane headed toward the anti-Noirlind faction—
Emilia, Knights Tempura, and several mixed parties made up of crafters and other players.
Come to think of it...
What would they say at a time like this?
The people Akitsu Akane admired.
The people who possessed things she lacked and let those things shine as they enjoyed Shangri-La Frontier.
What would they say?
What would Oikatzo say, with the caution Akitsu Akane lacked, steadily building one thing upon another?
What would Arthur Pencilgon say, with the cunning Akitsu Akane lacked, throwing not only players but even NPCs into turmoil?
What would Psyger-0 say, with the dedication Akitsu Akane lacked, honing herself until she earned an incredible title like record holder?
What would Kyogoku say, with the skill Akitsu Akane lacked, wielding a katana with such mastery that she fought without fearing the stigma of being branded a PK?
What would Rust say, operating a robot with three-dimensional movement in a realm Akitsu Akane could not even imagine?
What would Mold say, supporting Rust from a perspective Akitsu Akane lacked, moving in perfect sync with her and contributing far beyond raw firepower?
And what would Sunraku say, racing wildly across the world with a boldness Akitsu Akane lacked?
They were different from her.
And precisely because they possessed things she did not, every one of them was someone worthy of her respect.
That was why she wanted to chase after them.
Why she wanted to aspire to them.
And giving up could wait until after everything was over.
Until then—
She wanted to keep running with her hand outstretched.
Emilia: “I had heard about you... You are the one who has been openly cooperating with Noirlind...”
Akitsu Akane: “Yes! My name is Akitsu Akane!!”
Right.
At the very least, wasn’t this what Sunraku would do?
Akitsu Akane: “Starting now, I’m going to knock every one of you flying...!!”
Because for Akitsu Akane, taking on a challenge was her playstyle in life.