Chapter 1045 - ....................
"... Hey."
"Yeah?"
"It's a bit late for this, but seeing you run like a normal person is so rare it's hilarious."
"Don't laugh at that, you're way too relaxed."
And so, this was our thirty-seventh break.
This Wedge was blue... so it corresponded to the North camp. Tora-kichi sat down next to me with a thud, and we exchanged some banter. We had gained a tiny bit of power back after touching it.
If we trusted Ashe's internal clock, eight hours had passed. After all that time spent running, being chased, running, being chased, and running and being chased again... we had naturally gotten used to it.
"Honestly, being relaxed isn't a problem right now."
As Tora-kichi said, there was a level of comfort that made it okay to be relaxed.
He looked back over his shoulder. A few minutes after we had ducked into the barrier, the Black that had filled one side of the path vanished.
It simply disappeared without a trace. It was a truly unnatural disappearance.
That pure black thing with the squirming eye couldn't enter the barrier and couldn't even sense us inside, so it would vanish after a while every time.
And then it would reappear whenever we started running again. It was a constant cycle. Like Tora-kichi, I was also starting to lose the sense of tension.
Though the anxiety that we still couldn't see the end remained...
"How many did I... which one was this again?"
"This was the eleventh for the North. South is nine, West is ten, and East is seven."
"Wow, you're useful."
"You should be able to remember this much easily..."
And so it went.
Every time we reached a Wedge, we regained a tiny, heart-felt bit of Status, so the difficulty of the game of tag was decreasing with each repetition.
... Truly, only a very, very little bit at a time.
Unlike the initial chaos, we were able to make a resolved start each time, so for now, we were within the realm of having some leeway.
"I'm not joking, I'd be terrified if you weren't here. It'd be impossible."
"Yeah..."
As Tora-kichi teased and praised me, my memory gift was working perfectly despite the Goddess's blessing being gone.
I had thought it was something bestowed by the Goddess because it was called a gift, but on second thought, it was just a name the players had given it. So it was fine.
I was using my memory to its full extent, and I had no worries about the mapping. But there were other things I had to prioritize right now.
"... Haru."
"Yeah. How's it looking?"
We were at the edge of the safe zone within the barrier. We were performing the task of resting our avatars, and a voice called out to us from behind.
I didn't need to look back. Ashe sat down next to me on the side opposite Tora-kichi.
"... They're one step away from their limit. We should take a longer break."
"Alright, let's do that."
After receiving the report, I looked back.
I saw the pair of the gold girl and the blue girl leaning against the Wedge, with their shoulders touching and their eyes closed.
I could tell from their pained expressions that they weren't sleeping. They were both trying their best to recover their strength, just as we were.
"Well, it can't be helped. It doesn't seem like we're purely based on our real bodies, but if you think of them as delicate girls, we should be giving them a standing ovation for working this hard."
"I suppose so."
"In that case, third girl. What's up with you? Are you a triathlete?"
"I'm aware that the word 'delicate' is far removed from me."
I'm not sure if we're close enough to be called friends, but we could talk normally. I'll put aside the banter that sometimes happened...
As Tora-kichi said, and as I had sensed at the beginning, our current avatars weren't a direct reflection of our real specs, but they seemed to refer to them to some extent.
Physical ability and stamina.
And for some reason... the sense of fatigue was very realistic. Because of that, the angel and fairy of the delicate group were in a pitiable state.
Normally, players in the virtual world do not suffer from physical fatigue. The hidden status 'stamina' related to AGI might run out and cause temporary immobility, but simply being too tired to move doesn't happen.
The only thing that causes immobility is the feedback phenomenon called 'illusory fatigue,' which affects both the real and virtual bodies due to overusing the Outer Brain.
And that illusory fatigue generally doesn't happen just from running as fast as you can. In other words, I, Tora-kichi, Sora, and Nia shouldn't be in this state normally.
It was a truly bizarre environment.
"... Is everything really going to be okay?"
Ashe, who was sitting next to me, muttered while looking into the distance as she watched Sora and Nia.
I looked at the other side and saw the tiger shrugging his shoulders. So it was my turn to speak.
"We just have to trust, right?"
Trust in what?
Trust in continuing this situation.
The five players, excluding the knight who was standing guard and protecting the two beautiful girls leaning against the Wedge, all shared the same vague anxiety.
"Well, it'll be fine. This is Arcadia, after all."
"Yeah, it is Arcadia..."
Even after eight hours had passed according to our senses, the system clock at the edge of our vision hadn't changed a single digit.
It probably wasn't that the function was stopped because it was part of the 'Goddess's power.'
The evidence was that most of the user interface, like the radar showing party positions, was still working.
Since we were regaining our Status bit by bit, the HP and MP bars were still empty or grey, but other things were mostly normal.
So the clock was likely working too.
This was our current situation.
In other words, eight hours had passed, but not a single second had actually gone by in reality.
It was scary, of course. We wondered about the acceleration rate and if our brains would be okay... but after all this time, we were already used to it.
We had already been immersed in technology that made the impossible possible. And besides...
"Kendy-dono said it would be okay, so it's probably okay... right?"
In a game, the guide NPC is the most reliable thing. He had directly told us, 'No matter how much time passes, no harm will come to your original bodies. Do not worry.' It was an ultimate meta-comment that cleared our worries.
We had to trust him.
We couldn't log out anyway. We had to cover our vague anxiety with absolute trust in the Four Pillars' technology and move forward.
"It'll be fine. Everyone's here."
"... Yes, you're right."
Perhaps it was because she felt the weight of being the leader. She quickly dismissed the uncharacteristic negative expression and smiled.
"I'll stay with Sora and Nia."
"Yeah. Thanks."
For just a moment, she placed her hand over mine as it rested on the floor. Ashe stood up and walked toward the Wedge with a small smile.
... It'll be okay. We'll manage.
"... ... Hey. I was sitting right next to you, you know?"
"Don't look, you idiot tiger. Keep your eyes closed."
"Honestly, that's just unreasonable. I wouldn't even be blamed if I hit you for that."
I think this virtual world is designed so that everything will work out in the end... so I'll just keep an optimistic smile. That's definitely the best for my mental health.
The story doesn't mention it and Kendy-dono doesn't seem likely to talk about it, so I'll reveal it secretly: Kendy-dono would have sent them home the moment he judged even one person had reached their limit.
So it's safe.