by Sakon Kaidou
Just so you know, I’d done little to help them in the actual fighting. I’d changed my main job from Death Shadow to Journalist and only used the “The Pen is Mightier than the Sword” skill, increasing their EXP gain. After all, if I’d just powerleveled them while doing all the work, they wouldn’t learn anything.
Ray had defeated tons of monsters during the past month, and he was getting close to reaching max level on Paladin. Not only that, but the stat growth bonuses from his job and Nemesis had made his HP enter the quintuple digits.
...In contrast, my HP growth was so bad that, despite being a level 500+ with a Superior Job, I was still in the quadruple digits, meaning that he’d already surpassed me in this regard.
Additionally, Ray had had lots of mock battles against me and the duel rankers such as Figaro, which had greatly improved his fighting technique.
It only went to show that there was much to learn by fighting those stronger than yourself. My feints were working on him less and less frequently.
Ray would often dedicate entire Dendro days to quests and mock battles, but that would certainly happen more rarely when he started college.
“On my days off, I’ll be online as much as before, but on weekdays, I’ll only log in for one day,” Ray explained.
One real-life day was equal to three days here, and he was saying that he’d only be able to stay around for one of them. No surprise there; college students seemed like busy creatures. As far as I knew, they spent their after-school hours living out their youth through club activities or part-time jobs.
...Despite that, Ray had implied that he’d be online for eight real-life hours each day. Which, if you asked me, made him into quite a no-lifer.
Looks like the Dendro virus has really corrupted him over the past month, I thought.
Speaking of corruption... his gear made it look like he’d given in to the dark side. To think that he’d looked so decent back when I’d PK’d him a month ago.
...Wait, his dark fashion sense isn’t my fault, is it?
“The turns and twists following the PK are directly linked to the present, so I wouldn’t say the incidents are unrelated,” muttered Rook. “After all, the reason Ray was in Gideon in the first place and got involved in all the incidents here was because the newbie hunt made him go to the Tomb Labyrinth, where he met Figaro, who suggested coming here.”
Rook, I would prefer it if you didn’t try to hold casual conversations with my thoughts. Also, you’re implying that I’m the one who caused Ray’s fashion sense to take a turn for the worse, and I won’t accept such slander!
It had all started with the one who’d given me the PK request! I didn’t know who had done that, but I was willing to bet it was all Franklin’s fault!
...Strange. I could almost hear him shout, “No, it’s not!” Was I having auditory hallucinations?
“But wait, if your college starts tomorrow, shouldn’t you be preparing for it today?” I asked Ray.
“No, I’m actually pretty free today,” he answered. “I’ve already taken care of the necessary paperwork and gone through the physical examination. Right now, it’s about 2PM in real life, so I’ll be online for the whole of tomorrow here in Dendro, log out, and then go to bed. When it’s tomorrow IRL, I’ll have to go to another college briefing and the orientation.”
Well, he certainly seemed to be more busy than he’d let on.
“No entrance ceremony?” I asked.
“Yeah. That’s gonna happen in about two weeks. I was told it’s gonna be held in the Budokan, too.”
“Wow, I had no idea colleges handled things so strangely.” Having never gone into higher education, I was quite surprised by this.
...Huh? I thought as a certain word caught my attention. “...The Budokan?”
Wait a second...
He was going to a college that was holding its entrance ceremony two weeks from now, at the Budokan?
“By the way, uh, don’t answer this if you don’t want to, but... what’s the college?” I asked.
“UTokyo,” he answered with no hesitation.
...Th-That’s the best place in the country, I thought in shock. The University of Tokyo!
Oh no. Ray was actually a winner at life. I reluctantly compared him to myself, an unemployed high school graduate manga artist, and it made me feel...
“...Bitter,” I muttered under my breath.
“My parents refused to let me live in Tokyo by myself unless I passed the entrance exams for UTokyo during my last year of high school,” he continued. “Also, a year and a half before the exams... on the summer of my second year... I rejected all entertainment and focused solely on studying.”
“Ohh, well... I see... Hm?” I murmured.
Entering UTokyo after a year and a half of intensive studying was certainly quite impressive, but he’d started it at about the same time as Infinite Dendrogram had come out, which made me feel kinda bad for him.
Also, if he’d passed the entrance exams in his last year of high school, then he really was younger than me.
“Wait, so you’re living alone now?” I continued my questions.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “I’m from the northern parts of the country, but last month, I moved to a high-rise apartment building in Tokyo.”
“...Hmm?” I said.
A college student, living all by himself, not in a dorm or some cheap condo, but in a high-rise apartment building?
“First mind... now wealth... Curse you!” I grabbed Ray’s collar and rocked him back and forth, not caring about his protests a single bit.
“Whoa?! What the hell?! Stop shaking me!” he cried.
Feel the resentment of a have-not! I thought.
“...I think lots of people would get mad if you called yourself a have-not, Marie,” said Rook under his breath.
Rook, could you please stop reading my mind and replying? Thank you very much. Also, I didn’t actually say it out loud, so don’t judge me.
“Anyway.” Rook looked at Ray. “You can actually afford an apartment in a high-rise and don’t have to live in a dorm or a cheap flat... Are your parents rich, perchance?”
With his collar still in my hands, Ray shook his head.
“No,” he said. “The allowance I get from my parents doesn’t even cover rent. I can live in a high-rise apartment only because it belongs to Shu.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is.” I let go of him and nodded.
So he lives with that reckless furball bear man King of Destruction... Well, his brother.
...Wait.
“Eh? Didn’t you say that you live alone?” I asked.
“Yes, and...? Oh, sorry, the way I put it is confusing. Let me rephrase,” he said, correcting himself. “I’m borrowing an apartment in a building owned by Shu, so I don’t have to pay any rent.”
That semi-naked fur man actually has an apartment building — a no-effort source of income — in an urban area?
“Really?” I asked incredulously.
“Yeah, Shu said, ‘Just use any of the free rooms in my three apartment buildings, you can pay the rent after you get a job and start making bank,’ so I just chose the one closest to college, and—”
“Wait, ‘three’?!” I cut his words short and howled.
Three apartment buildings in an urban area?! How?!
“Where did he get the money for them?” I exclaimed.
Ray put on a distant look. “When he was still in college, he often used to accompany his professors to their presentations in other countries, and he casually bought lottery tickets every time.”
...You’re joking.
“He actually won?” I asked.
Ray slowly nodded. “He called us and said, ‘I hit the jackpot with a lottery ticket I bought for no real reason and got some serious money,’ and even with all the international taxes and handling charges, he still had an insanely huge fortune. I’m kinda scared of finding out the exact amount, so I never actually asked.” There was that
distant look again.
Honestly, Ray’s brother’s IRL luck was so broken, it left me speechless. That arsonist hairball was an enigma both here and on the other side.
“So yeah,” Ray continued, “Shu used the money to buy land and apartment buildings. I still remember how hard our dad snapped when he shouted, ‘Woohoo! No-effort income! Now I don’t need a job!’”
Well, it was only natural to be upset when your college graduate son proudly proclaimed that he would live a life of leisure because he’d won the lottery. My sympathies to you, Papa Starling.
“Anyway, that explains why your working-age brother is online around the clock,” I said.
“Indeed it does.” Nemesis nodded. “Hm? Wait a second.”
“What?” Ray raised an eyebrow.
“You said that Brother Bear was a popular child actor when he was young, and the world champion martial artist during his school years, no?”
“Yeah.”
What? That’s just... disturbing, I thought. Then again, I think I’ve actually heard of someone with such a track record.
“So, basically,” Nemesis continued, “Brother Bear is an insanely talented individual with a brilliant track record who now spends his days as a video game no-lifer NEET surviving on money he won in a lottery?”
“...Yep.”
I might not have been in a position to say this, considering I was a manga artist who had shut herself into Infinite Dendrogram instead of doing my job, but... he was definitely wasting his talent.
“We went off on a tangent there,” commented Ray.
“Indeed we did,” I agreed.
What we’d just talked about was so astonishing that it could easily have become the main subject of the conversation.
“Anyway, starting tomorrow in real-life time, I’m a college student,” Ray said.
“Real life is important. Don’t neglect it, and do your best,” I said.
It was a shame that he’d only be able to take quests spanning multiple days on weekends and the like. Then again, right now, in real life, it wasn’t even 3PM. Just as Ray had said, even if he planned to go to sleep early, he could easily spend a whole day’s worth of time here in Dendro.
“Then let’s go on a big quest tomorrow!” Rook proposed. “We have Audrey, so we can even pick one that takes us far away!”
Ray and I both nodded in response.
Flying monsters were always useful in these situations. With Rook’s Audrey and Ray’s Silver, I had come to know this pretty well.
Maybe I should buy a flying monster myself? I wondered.
Though I was taking a break from it right now, I’d pooled quite a lot of wealth from my professional PKing, so I definitely had the money for one. These days, I even had some nice extra income from the jobs I was doing for Count Gideon.
Wait... “pooled”... “pool”... That gives me an idea, I thought and spoke my mind.
“Then how about we go to the seaside tomorrow?”
As far as I was aware, these two hadn’t seen Dendro’s seas yet.
“The seaside? Good idea. We could go fishing,” said Ray.
“And I might be able to tame an aquatic monster,” Rook put in.
The two were clearly in favor of it.
Personally, I was looking forward to sketching them in their swimwear. It was for research purposes, of course. Couldn’t neglect to gather material, after all.
“The sea, you say?” Nemesis asked with interest. “Fresh seafood... Kamameshi... Seconds, please.”
“The sea... Maybe I’ll get to cover some sashimi in habanero topping...” Babi murmured.
Those two were the same as they always were. Also, in my humble opinion, sashimi covered in habanero topping would be sashimi no longer.
“Then let’s meet up tomorrow at the western gate. How does eight o’clock sound?” I asked.
“No objections there,” said Ray.
“Same here.” Rook nodded.
And so, with the meeting time and place properly set, we went our own ways.
◇
The following day, Ray, for reasons unknown, hadn’t showed up at the meeting spot. The friends list said that he was online, so we checked up on him at the inn he was staying at.
When we asked, the proprietress of the establishment said, “He didn’t come down when it was time for breakfast, and when I went to call him, I found this in the gap in the door,” and gave us a piece of paper.
Its contents said:
“Due to certain circumstances, I had to summon Mr. Ray Starling to our headquarters.
I greatly apologize for this abrupt interruption of your plans.
Please bring your complaints to the nearest Lunar Society branch.
Yours sincerely,
The Lunar Society’s spiritual leader’s secretary, King of Assassins, Eishiro Tsukikage.”
“...”
“...”
“Hey, is this a kidnapping?” said Babi, breaking the silence.
Oh, uh... Yes, I realized.
I had many things to say about this situation, but the jist of it was this: Ray had yet again found himself in some sort of trouble.
Barely a month had passed since Franklin’s Game, and it looked like he was now at the epicenter of a new major event.
“...The swimsuits will have to wait,” I said as I went to contact the furball.
◇◇◇
Paladin, Ray Starling
I woke up to see a ceiling completely unlike the one I had seen as I was drifting off into dreamland.
“I’m quite sure I was sleeping on a bed at an inn,” I said through my drowsiness.
Now, however, I was in a futon in a predominantly wooden, Japanese-looking room.
I momentarily thought that I was back at my parents’ house in real life, but though the room was similar in style, it certainly wasn’t the same.
It had the aesthetic characteristic of Japanese construction, but it looked far more expensive than any place I’d ever lived at.
“This is... not real life,” I said as I noticed my avatar’s blond hair drop over my eyes and confirmed that I could open the game’s menus.
Indeed, I was still in Infinite Dendrogram.
“You’re awake,” said Nemesis as she popped out of the crest on my left hand and sat on her knees next to my futon. Her posture was surprisingly proper.
“Nemesis... where are we?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “We seem to have arrived here while I was still sleeping within you.”
I was silent.
From her words, I could deduce one thing.
The one who’d taken me out of my bed at the inn and brought me here had done it so silently that neither I nor Nemesis had woken up. As far as I was aware, not even Marie, with all her Death Shadow skills, was capable of such a feat.
Overcome with worry, I looked into my inventory, but thankfully, it didn’t seem like anything was stolen.
“But Ray, can’t you check where we are by simply looking at the map?” asked Nemesis.
“You have a... point?” I said as I opened the map, and what I saw made me tilt my head in confusion.
The words written there were:
[Royal Capital, Altea, The Lunar Society Headquarters]
“...Calm down, me,” I muttered.
Players were automatically given the maps of the capitals of the countries we belonged to, so the map window showed my exact location. I was in an area outside the walls encircling the capital. That was fine and all, but I couldn’t say the same for the name of the place.
“‘The Lunar Society Headquarters’...”
I was at the heart of operations of the one and only Lunar Society — the largest clan in the kingdom and an actual real-life cult.
The fact that I’d been taken from my inn and was moved to the headquarters of such a shady bunch could only mean one thing...
“I’M KIDNAPPED!”
Why did they kidnap me?! For what pu
rpose?! I thought frantically.
“Don’t men only come to establishments like this when trying to save girls they’re acquainted with?” asked Nemesis.
“Well, I gue... HEY, NOW’S NOT THE TIME!”
“Calm yourself. A predicament like this is nothing compared to the lab coat lunatic’s shenanigans.”
“This isn’t like anything Franklin did, but being kidnapped by a cult is still freaky as hell!”
“Hm...” she said.
Okay, Ray, think. Work your brain... Oh, yeah!
“Nemesis, I actually have no reason to panic!” I declared.
“Oh?”
“I can just log out and return to the save point in Gideon.”
“That’s a great idea!”
All right, I’ll just open the menu, start the log out process, and...
[Cannot log out: In contact with another entity]
...Pardon?
“I... I can’t log out,” I muttered as I fell to my knees.
“You sound like the protagonist of a death game VRMMO story,” Nemesis commented.
“No, really, I can’t. It says that I’m in contact with someone...”
To log out, a player had to go 30 seconds without touching anyone. We were the only ones in the room, and there was no one who could touch me, so why...?
“Oh, so that’s why I’ve been feeling a presence here,” said Nemesis.
A presence? I asked telepathically.
“Ever since I woke up, I’ve felt as though there was another Embryo here,” she answered. “We are probably within the effective range of a Type Territory or Castle. Naturally, that prevents you logging out, as that counts as you being ‘in contact’ with someone.”
“Ah...!” Shock overcame me. They’d actually anticipated me trying to go offline, and had prepared a countermeasure. That meant that...