Volume 5 - The Rampage of Suzumiya Haruhi
Page 8
What about Haruhi, you say? Ha. Once her eccentric reputation has spread to the whole school, the only guys who would pick her are either natural born masochists, or are just weird themselves. Of course, they can never match Haruhi in terms of weirdness, so I can breathe a sigh of relief at that.
And so, the stage for the battle had been set.
The president led his minions out of the Literature Club room and quickly returned. This time they carried, if I remember correctly, four notebook computers. At first I thought, how generous of them to offer us the prize in advance. It was only then I realized that the game requires five computers in order to play. Then, not knowing whether they were members of the Computer Group or telecommunication technicians, they swiftly installed LAN cables for Haruhi’s desktop PC and the remaining four notebook PCs, and then installed the gaming software that they had developed onto the machines. From their conversations, I could guess that this was a 5 vs 5 space battle simulator. Basically, the SOS Brigade would have five computers, the Computer Group would also have five computers, and both would do battle over the same server. It’s just that we’ll be in our club room while they’ll be in theirs.
Of course, the server itself is placed in their room. Hmm, I see.
“One week of practice for you should be enough?”
The president looked pleased with the swift efficiency of his members.
“The battle will commence one week from now at 4 pm. Try and do some practice before then. It wouldn’t be much fun if our opponents were too weak.”
He’s talking as though he’s going to win this. He sounds just like Haruhi in this aspect. And just the thought of getting something new is enough to make Haruhi grin from ear to ear.
“Hmm, I was thinking about getting some new notebook computers as well. Everyone should have one, since investment in equipment is one of the key factors in motivating employees.”
I’m not the sort that can be motivated by a mere notebook computer. But since you’re giving it to me for free, I might as well accept it.
I drank the tea that has now gone cold and noticed Nagato’s expression. She stood alongside Asahina against the wall, looking at the Computer Group making their installations with her blank face. There was no change in her emotions, looking peaceful as usual.
I don’t think they would place a virus inside their own game, but there’s no guarantee that they wouldn’t. If they did, Nagato would do something about it. As long as she’s around, then I can relax. No matter what tricks the Computer Group tries to pull, there’s no way they can cheat Nagato.
As I played with my empty teacup, Asahina rushed to my side and said,
“Kyon-kun…… what…… what should I be doing? I… I know nothing about machines……”
Her troubled eyes are fixed on the ever increasing number of wires. Well there’s really no need to worry much.
“It’s only a game, just have fun and play along.”
I comforted her. To be honest, I meant what I said. If the stakes for this showdown were really Nagato and Asahina, then I would fight with all my might without hesitation. As for whether Haruhi returns the computer that she obtained through trickery, that’s a completely different issue altogether. For me, the conditions set out by the Computer Group were of low risk and high return. That was the difference between the obstacles and confidence of both teams.
“This is a showdown where we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. That’s why Haruhi accepted it so quickly.”
I said convincingly, to ease the anxiety of Asahina, I even smiled deliberately.
“But Suzumiya-san…… she seems very serious about it…”
Once the Computer Group members had finished their installation, Haruhi grabbed Koizumi, who was holding a stack of papers which seemed to be the game’s instruction manual, and went to her commander’s desk, wanting to try the game right away as she clutched the mouse.
For some reason, as they left the club room, the other members besides the president all looked rather pleased, or should I say rather smug, as though they had accomplished some great achievement.
After that, we tested each of the computers. This testing lasting till sunset, and then we decided to call it a day.
As the five of us walked down the slope from school, I had a conversation with Koizumi.
As the five of us walked down the slope from school, I had a conversation with Koizumi. I waited till we were yards behind the three girls, then I said to him,
“A while ago, I decided to just forever seal away a certain sentence from my vocabulary.”
“Really? What was it?”
“Take a guess.”
Koizumi smiled ironically, and pretended to do some thinking,
“From your perspective, there aren’t a lot of words that you would want to seal away. It can be the speechless expression ‘……’, or ‘That’s enough!’ These are the most appropriate answers, aren’t they?”
I kept quiet as Koizumi smiled and answered my question.
“All right, you win.”
I gave him a shrug of my shoulders and raised my hands as a reward for correctly guessing my question. Koizumi pretentiously waved his hands and said,
“I truly understand how you feel right now.”
Like hell you would understand.
“No no, you’re trying to avoid getting into the same repetitive mood all the time. If you do the same stuff all the time, then even if no one else has noticed, over time you’ll get tired of it as well. It’s just like not wanting to play a game that’s been played thousands of times so that you’ve become bored of it. You’re actually worried what would happen if you become tired of it all. This is the same with Suzumiya-san. The difference is that her actions are based on her thoughts, while your thoughts are limited by what she does. So, who is the one more relaxed here?”
What are you analyzing all this like a psychiatrist for? The hole in my heart isn’t easily filled by your instantly made-up theories, you know. In fact, it ought to be you who should be examining your actions. As Haruhi’s yes-man, you’re the least qualified to analyze me.
“A yes-man I may be, but I’m staying here out of my own will. Have you forgotten? Though Nagato-san, Asahina-san and I represent different factions and ideals, we’re all gathered here for more or less the same reasons. I don’t think you need reminding, my primary mission is actually to observe Suzumiya-san.”
That’s why I’m feeling depressed. Being dragged into the SOS Brigade for no reason, and then strangely following her every whim without question? Give me a break! What sort of conspiracy is this?
“How can I possibly know?”
Koizumi’s playful eyes now looked into me.
“Actually, it’s not just Suzumiya-san. Even you have become our observation target. From now on, no matter what you and Suzumiya-san do, I will always take on the challenge with trepidation, and treat it as a widening of my vision of this world. I should be thankful to you just for this point alone. I’m not joking, I’m really grateful for you two.”
You’re not the one suffering, of course you’re in the mood to be grateful.
Since the end of the school festival, my mind’s gotten a bit clearer. The mountain winds now carry a bit of autumn chill. I just can’t like this season. Compared with the ever colder weather as the days pass by, Haruhi’s tyranny feels so much better.
It was getting dark. The three girls slowly walked ahead of us, Haruhi was chatting away, Asahina nodded in agreement with her from time to time, while Nagato shut off all other mechanical functions besides walking. Nagato’s bag was bulging, as it contained the notebook computer that had been allocated to her. When I asked her what she was taking that home for, Nagato placed the game CD-ROM into her bag and said, “Analysis.” Looking at her silhouette, I suddenly thought of something.
“Koizumi, I have a suggestion.”
“How rare. I’m all ears.”
Just to be safe, I lowered my voice.
“Can we not cheat during our showdown with the Computer Group?”
“Your definition of cheating is……?”
Koizumi also lowered his voice and asked.
“The stuff Nagato used during the baseball tournament.”
Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.
“Let me make this clear, if you have any powers that allow you to manipulate video games in our favor, don’t use them. And besides supernatural powers, don’t use any other methods that would constitute as cheating as well!”
Koizumi smiled lightly and gave me an inquiring look,
“Are you up to something? You’re saying it doesn’t matter if we lose, right?”
“Yes.”
This I admit.
“Just this time, don’t use any powers or techniques related to aliens, future time travelers or espers to cheat. I think it’s best to face the showdown properly and accept whatever outcome comes our way.”
“And your reason for doing that……?”
“Even if we do lose, we’ll only lose the computer that we stole from them. Besides, it’s just being returned to its rightful owner. It’s not that much of a big deal for us.”
Before returning the computer, I’d better store Asahina’s secret photo album somewhere safe first.
“What I wanted to know was not about whether the computer gets returned or not.”
Koizumi said in an intrigued tone,
“You should know Suzumiya-san’s not the sort that likes losing. If we keep showing signs of losing during the showdown, she might get frustrated and create a Sealed Dimension. Are you really okay with that?”
“I don’t care.”
I looked at Haruhi’s back.
“It’s about time that girl learns to grow up. She can’t have everything her way. Besides, it wasn’t her who started this fight this time, so I don’t think she would be too serious about the outcome.”
I’d better tell Nagato to seal her ESP powers as well tomorrow. Wonder if I should tell Asahina as well? Though for someone who admits that she’s no good with machines, it’s hard to imagine what sort of special powers or classified stuff she would use to win this space battle. But I think I’ll talk to her just to be safe.
Koizumi giggled quietly, just what is he doing? He sounds gross.
“No, I wasn’t laughing at you. It’s just that I’m envious of you.”
What are you envious of me for?
“I’m envious of the deep level of trust between you and Suzumiya-san.”
What are you talking about? I heard you but I don’t get what you mean.
“Are you playing dumb? Sorry, perhaps you really don’t realize it. Suzumiya-san always seems to count on you a lot, while you place a great deal of trust in her as well.”
Who are you to tell me who I place my trust in?
“Let’s assume that we really do lose the showdown next week. Yet you believe Suzumiya-san won’t create a Sealed Dimension as a result. This shows how much you trust her. Similarly, Suzumiya-san believes as long as you’re around, she can win this showdown. This is also a level of trust. She placed her stakes on herself and her own members, because she genuinely believes she won’t lose. You two may not admit it openly, but it’s obvious that you two have developed a trustful partnership.”
I fell into a well of silence. Why did I not answer him back for so long? Was it because Koizumi’s speculation had hit the bullseye in my heart? I’ll let the experts deal with whether I trust her or not, but I really do believe Haruhi’s mental state won’t be going out of control all the time now. Just look at the events of the past six months. Many things have happened from the founding of the SOS Brigade to the making of the movie, and many memories were created. I myself have grown a lot since then, I’m sure the same can be said of Haruhi. Otherwise she would be the biggest idiot in the world without any hope of salvation.
“It’s worth a try.”
My tongue finally moved to find something to say.
“If we really lose to the Computer Group, and Haruhi creates a weird and sinister grey world as a result, then I really don’t care about you guys anymore. This time I might as well join her in destroying this world.”
Koizumi smiled casually and said a matter-of-factly,
“That’s what I meant by you guys trusting each other. Now do you understand why I’m envious of you?”
I didn’t answer him, paying attention only to my footsteps. Koizumi wanted to add something, but realizing I wasn’t in the mood to listen anymore, he didn’t say anything in the end.
Forget it, I’m used to seeing Koizumi in deep thought, it’s just as normal as Asahina dressing up as a maid, and Haruhi’s confidence which always seems to come from nowhere.
It was also as normal as Nagato’s near invisible existence…… I had wanted to say that as well, but……
A week later in our battle with the Computer Group, I saw something that was totally unexpected.
The next day after school, we underwent special training using the guys in the room next door as our imaginary enemies.
Officially it’s called special training, it’s just another excuse for playing video games. Now allow me to explain in detail the game which the Computer Study Group has developed.
That’s the name of this game software. It sounds cool at first, but then you get the feeling of how silly it really sounds. Never mind, names don’t really matter here, what matters is the software itself. If I didn’t say that, then the SOS Brigade would lose its meaning of existence. When it comes to meaningless names and non-existent founding principles, I don’t think any organization out there can best our brigade. Anyway, since it’s the third installment of the series, that means the game has two earlier versions as well.
First of all, let us delve into the background story for
The year is unknown, all we know is that it’s set in the far distant future. Humans have expanded outwards into space and have occupied a sizeable portion of the galaxy already. This is basically a galactic-scale space battle set in a solar system. Two space powers have bickered with each other over border conflicts, as neither side is willing to back down, a war has been waged. For simplicity’s sake, one side is called the
The opening screen is pitch black, the blue dots flashing at the bottom of the screen are the fleet that’s controlled by us. The indicators are in the shape of little isosceles triangles. There are five of them in total, lined up in a row. This is the total force of the
We’re each allocated one fleet per person, and we can only control the fleet allocated to us. So no matter how unreasonable Haruhi gets, there’s no way she can interfere with my notebook computer.
One of the main features of this game is its search function. If we don’t use this function, there’s no way we can know what space debris awaits us ahead, let alone track the enemy’s position. So if we wanted to move our fleet but are afrai
d of colliding with any unidentified objects, we would have to send out intelligence vessels to scout the area ahead and wait for them to return before we can analyze the situation ahead. It is that complex.
The visibility radius for each fleet is only a few centimetres (on the computer screen), if we were to move without scouting ahead, then we run the risk of being attacked from an unknown direction, and not even knowing where the enemy is.
On the other hand, the intelligence collected by individual fleets is shared between all allies (I think it’s set that way). For example, the whole fleet can receive information on what Nagato’s fleet and her surveillance vessels have detected. In other words, even if I sit back and not do anything, I can still see the map slowly expand to reveal the positions of various planets, asteroid belts and enemy vessels.
Despite this, the whole battle map still looks very vast. So being able to swiftly detect the enemy’s position becomes very important as it’s the key to victory.
There are two weapons available. Lasers and missiles. Lasers can hit any enemy vessels that enter its range. Missiles are much slower, but they have a homing device attached. So it’s impossible to dodge them. In order to survive, one must shoot them down.
Generally speaking, this is a two-dimensional space battle simulator. As this battle simulator is real-time and not turn-based, if one were to play in a relaxed manner, they would be wiped out by the enemy in no time, so it’s kind of tricky here.
Facing the imminent battle ahead, we entered gaming mode the whole week. Only Haruhi sat at her commander desk using the desktop computer, while the remaining four of us had to stare at the notebook computers on the long table, constantly clicking our mice. Looks like this surreal scene is going to be part of the SOS Brigade’s activities for some time. We first practiced against the computer, and even though we had the difficulty set to “VERY EASY”, it still took us three days to score our first victory. Our progress in gaming skills is just as fast as slowly drilling through the earth’s crust with an electric drill.