"A knight in imposing black armor clashes swords with you and says, 'You know the difference in our power, don't you? It'd be a shame for you to die here, so why not become my minion? I will help you if you submit to me...'"
My game didn't have any rebirth mechanics or anything like other games had. Once your character died, that was it. So even if it was just the life of the character that was on the line, the fear of death was always around the corner.
"I'll let my sword answer! 'I won't give up. I won't be able to keep on living if I lost who I am. I will defend my humanity at all costs!' Yes, if I use all the magic tools I have, there's about a 50% chance of winning!"
She had the strength to confront death head-on, and the pride to treasure her dignity.
"Zzz..."
I remembered something I had noticed from observations of Ann, as I looked at her happy, sleeping face. She glued herself to me and dressed lightly when we went to sleep, so it was kind of difficult to keep my head cool. While the female warrior Anne played out in the game, the thought of Ann projecting herself through Anne made me feel somewhat lonely, but also happy.
Right now, Ann was the one being protected by me, but if Anne represented her true ideals, then she wasn't very satisfied with how things were right now. Even if she wasn't unhappy with them, it wasn't something she'd want to live with forever. Which reminded me... She'd been devoting herself to helping me with potion making and doing housework. Judging from her attitude towards Wata the NPC, she seemed more eager to protect than be protected. She would probably want a partner that could stand on equal ground with.
If Ann told me someday that she wanted to me to be her 'equal partner'... What would I say? What kind of face would I make? Would I feel happy or sad? Which one of us would overcome the other? She may even find someone that wasn't me to be her partner... I wanted to believe in the relationship we developed between each other over the last few months. I could rest easy if she chose me as her partner, right? The feelings swirling within me were a mix of 90% expectation and 10% anxiety---just like when you came across a cool-looking game with a large update coming.
I slowly closed my eyes and fell asleep before the warm feeling inside my chest dissipated.
Life may have tons of difficult events in store, but there will always room to have fun and play around.
Afterword
"Do you like games?" That was the first phrase that came to mind when it was time to write the afterword. Hello, nice to meet you. I'm the game-loving author, Shinobu Yuki.
This novel tells the story of our protagonist, Aoi, a gamer that dedicated his whole life to enjoying the games he loves so much, and the people he meets along the way. I hope you enjoyed it!
What happens when you devote your heart and soul to living games? I think there are various ways to answer that, and my conclusion was that I wouldn't neglect playing real life while still actively enjoying games. I'd be very happy if you could enjoy the story of our protagonist, who doesn't discriminate between real life and games, and takes both as seriously as he can.
Some time ago I found myself asking, "Once I become an adult, why would I play games?" To which I would've liked to respond with, "If my play time goes down, so will my youth!" It's a good time to be alive, though. There are plenty of adults that endeavor to play multiplayer games and such late into the night, even after a long day filled with work and commuting.
It's the middle of summer as I write this, but... "I'm slaving away at work now so I can play this open world game that lets you wander a devastated world at the end of the year. I'll take my full vacation then!" I'm sure there are lots of people that have this kind of Aoi-esque thought inside their heads.
Although one part of that crowd might be going, "If I study for the entrance exams, I won't be able to play 'til next year! I'll have to shoot for getting recommendations now!" It's not all too uncommon among students, at least. Surprisingly enough though, Japan seems to be gradually moving into the future in areas unknown. Ah, I'm starting to ramble on now, so I'll move on to thanking everyone that made this possible.
First and foremost, I'd like to thank my editor, Mr.K. You helped me more times than I can count. I still remember the countless times you told me "Let's make this novel even more perfect!" I'd like to also thank Katou Itsuwa for delivering such beautiful illustrations, and Hiiragi Ryou for drawing such an amazing cover, together with Itsuwa. And a thank you to all the judges that valued this world and awarded it in the second Overlap Novel Awards.
To every single person that bought and read this book, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me get to where I am today. All of you have my most heartfelt gratitude!
STRONGEST GAMER: LET'S PLAY IN ANOTHER WORLD VOL. 1
SHINOBU YUKI
Translated by J. "Bango" Colmenares
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and places are products of the author's imagination.
©2015 by Shinobu Yuki
First published in Japan in 2015 by OVERLAP, Inc.
English Language translation rights granted to Sol Press, LLC.
Under the license from OVERLAP, Inc., Tokyo
English translation ©2018 Sol Press, LLC.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed "Attention: Permissions Coordinator," at the address below.
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First Printing, May 2018
ISBNs: 978-1-948838-02-3 (paperback)
978-1-948838-00-9 (ebook)
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