by Kasugamaru
The alluring witch’s tray has three bowls. The small one’s for Sira, the middle-sized one is for Kuroi, I guess? And the extremely large one with the holy symbol on it, well, who’s that for? It’s a hell of a bowl for a supposed mendicant to be using.
“We’re not here because we’re hungry.”
“I’m not so sure about that. After all, Origis is always hungry.”
“Ma-ri-us!”
“Save it for later, you two. Your holiness, the report to Lady Kuroi?”
“Is more or less finished.”
“Mrrggmrrg.”
“Oh? It appears my dear friend has even injured his mouth.”
“...Apologies, I wrapped it shut. He’s started yammering, from boredom.”
“Ah, so it was your handiwork, Ser Zakkow. I believe you made the right choice.”
“Tch, but anyway, is Kuroi alright? Given all that happened yesterday...” Oh, this is great. I can’t hold back the laughter, it keeps coming.
So this is the settlement. These are the settlers. This udon is also delicious. I actually wanted to try it. It really tastes like home.
Welp, this is a dream. Yep, a dream. It’s a beautiful, fun dream just fit for a gamer.
Worn down by the day-to-day grind, exhausted from everything they can’t change... and they just can’t help getting caught up in it, wanting to do something to change that monotony, starting up the game. Playing it for hours on end. They then start to see results and get further sucked in. Then comes satisfaction.
I’m sure there are those who would say, “Why invest so much in a game?” But it’s not escapism; not exactly. We take it seriously. That’s why the emotions are real, too. Each gamer’s heart has a life of its own. They feel joy and sadness, rage... all of them are truths of one sort or another. It’s not a mainstream philosophy, I guess, but I’m fine with that. I’m fine with being niche. I mean, gamers are always happy to cheer on the protagonist.
“My... God?” Sira’s voice. Yup, that’s right. In the ruthlessly cruel world of DDR, what they need is that. A God of War. Seems a little weak, still, but... it’s got potential.
“There’s hope.” I say with confidence. Whatever is missing in terms of God of War power, I, PotatoStarch will cover with player skill. Right, Kuroi?
“...Yea.” Wow, Kuroi responded. It feels a little bit like talking to myself, but I’m starting to drift away. So I could hear it... Damn, I’m sleepy... What’s this? I’m getting sleepy in a dream? Seriously? Just how tired am I?
But it’s a good dream. A really good dream.
Grr... It was a good dream.
But my head hurts so much I don’t want to wake up. The nausea’s pretty terrible, too. And then there’s my bladder. It’s damn near bursting! Gyaaah! My stomach’s acting up, too!
To the bathroom! Hurry to the bathroom! Oh Lord! Gaaaah!
Made it... Somehow made it.... I guess humans can cause miracles if they’re desperate enough.
Just as I’m coming to that sort of enlightenment, I’m hit by the awful reality of what had happened.
I passed out in front of the screen. This is so totally drunken passing out in front of the screen. And I recorded it to boot. Fuck. Drinking during a war event? That’s shameful for a self-declared hardcore DDR player. Totally stupid. Completely guilty.
Wait... What sort of event was it anyway? The war event?
Uhhh... So I did a stupid charge. Somehow made it. Then fought back using a Call type spell... Oh crap, it’s really foggy. I guess the bathroom rush was so intense I must have pissed out the details, too... Also, my head hurts like hell... Urrgh.
Oh well, what’s going on in DDR? Time to check my monitor.
Huh? Kuroi, why’s everyone surrounding you? Are they worshiping to you?
Wait, is this an event? No? I-It should be okay, right?
I set myself into observation mode and... Anyway, I need to check the recording. It’s time to face your own crimes, PotatoStarch... Ugh.
Mmh? What’s this icon? Mail notification? Did I have my mailer open? Let’s take a look... Err, the heck is this? Can’t read it. What foreign language is this? There’s like commas and stuff on the letters.
Times like this, I guess you just cut and paste a little bit of text and search what language it is. Internet’s really nice... Wait, what do you mean Romanian? We don’t have any business with that country at my job.
W-Well, okay, fine. Time for translation sites to come in! Go!
...Errr?
What on earth is this?
“Hope is a lie you tell to the future”... The hell does this mean?
What the... Why does this piss me off so much? So much it’s blown away my nausea!
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Copyright
Outer Ragna: Volume 1
by Kasugamaru
Translated by Alexander Keller-Nelson
Edited by Eric Bravo Górriz
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2018 Kasugamaru
Illustrations by NAMCOOo
All rights reserved.
First published in Japan in 2018 by Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo.
Publication rights for this English edition arranged through Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.
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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
Ebook edition 1.0: February 2020