Chapter 95 - Haunted Property?
Tuesday
“Huh, so that was a bug.”
“Yeah, I’m glad I won, but honestly, I didn’t feel alive during it.”
The usual gang was having lunch on the rooftop. Nat had apparently seen the short video, but not the pinned comment added later, so I was explaining the situation.
[Iincho] hadn’t played IRO yesterday and didn’t know about that short video, so she was watching it on Mion’s terminal.
“Ise-kun, weren’t you scared by this?”
“I was scared, but it didn’t look like I could escape. And I was planning on fighting it eventually anyway. Though the [Red Armor Bear] transformation mid-fight was completely unexpected.”
“Throwing it into the sea is fine, but for you to jump in yourself from there, that’s reckless, isn’t it?”
Mion nodded in agreement.
“No, you gotta do it when you can, right?”
“Yeah. I think I would’ve jumped in too.”
Nat agreed with me. Right?
“Oh, right, yesterday… did you go looking for an [Area Boss] with Seth (Miki) and the others?”
“Ah, I was invited, but I passed. I had a prior promise with a friend, helping them build a house.”
“Huh, Nat, did you perhaps get a production skill too?”
“Yeah, Shou’s gameplay looked fun, so I decided to pick up [Carpentry]. It’s enjoyable being able to build my own house.”
Grr, to start building a house before me.
In my case, I can only start [Carpentry] once I have [Lumbering], so it can’t be helped.
“Well, there was talk about being able to log in and out at the village near those [Ancient Ruins]. I talked to [Dads]-san, and we agreed that we’d build houses, and they’d do the [Blacksmithing].”
“Oh, so you became friends with Leona-sama’s [Imperial Guard]?”
“We’re planning to form a player guild ourselves eventually, so we want to stay on good terms with the famous ones.”
Mion and I were surprised by that answer. I’d assumed he’d become a guild member of [Silver Manor]…
“You didn’t join Seth’s guild?”
“Nah, my bad. When the guild topic came up, I was already planning to make our own. We’re cooperating with Seth-chan’s group, so it’s been helpful on that front.”
“I see, I see.”
If that was his plan from the start, it can’t be helped. Given how many friends Nat has, it wouldn’t be surprising for him to form a player guild, and it’d feel bad to make him cut ties with them just to join us.
Then, Mion tugged at my sleeve repeatedly.
“Oh, right. What about [Iincho]?”
“I’ll be joining Seth-chan’s group. Yuki-san asked me to help with guild management occasionally, if I could.”
Who’s Yuki-san? I looked at Mion, and she said,
“The leader’s…”
“Ah, the one who coordinates the production team.”
Well, [Silver Manor] has a lot of female members, so it’s probably safe. Nat, I can’t help but think you should’ve properly invited them, but I guess I’ll just assume you were worried about something…
As usual, I was the first to arrive at the club room, waiting for either Bell-buchou or Yata-sensei.
The short video’s view count seems to have passed its peak. No strange comments either.
Shou-kun, please check the video I’m posting today.
“Roger.”
The content was about weaving ropes, fixing bows (and breaking them once). Oh, the talk about my home base setup is in here too. I confirmed that the nation-founding declaration part was properly cut. Seems fine.
“Hm, okay.”
Okay. Today… are we investigating that abandoned house?
“I plan to, but I’m not really feeling it…”
Right…
I pulled up yesterday’s live stream archive and re-watched it. I started playback from around where I climbed those stairs, checking if there was anything I hadn’t noticed then…
Looking out from the exit to the surface, it was a basin surrounded by cliffs, with a forest spreading along the cliffs. Looking closely, I saw birds flying, so it seems quite a few things live there.
Ah, is this a small spring?
“You’re right. I hadn’t noticed. It might be a bit bigger if we get closer.”
At the northwestern edge, in a slightly lower area, I could see what looked like a spring, a pond, or a lake. If there’s clean water, it makes sense that animals would live there.
And then, turning around, I could see the volcano. This side had a sudden increase in slope and sparse trees.
And then,
“This is it, huh…”
It looks quite damaged.
I paused and zoomed in. It was a house with a stone-built first floor and a wooden second floor on top. Perhaps because it wasn’t captured very clearly, it looked… kind of horrifying.
“Good work everyone.”
“Hey there.”
Good work.
As soon as Bell-buchou arrived, she put on her [VR HMD] and her eyes fixed on the [Mountain Cabin] we were looking at.
“So, what exactly is this?”
“Um…”
I vaguely explained it: I defeated the Armor Bear, the western side became peaceful, so I explored, found a cave, its depths connected to the [Ancient Ruins] on the east, and I could also go further north… something like that.
This is the door that wouldn’t open at the end of the northern path.
Mion rewound the video a bit and showed it to me. I mean, that part…
“Pffft, kukuuku…”
Bell-buchou burst out laughing at my “Open Sesame!”…
“Haa… So, I didn’t know the ‘[Unlock Code]’ for that door, and when I went up the stairs…”
This is where it leads.
Mion skipped ahead and started playing from when I went outside. It ended right after I found that [Mountain Cabin].
“Normally, we should investigate that, right? There haven’t been any traces of previous inhabitants until now, so perhaps that ‘[Unlock Code]’ is there?”
“Right…”
“Oh? Are you perhaps scared?”
Bell-buchou asked, a bit condescendingly, almost teasingly.
“Honestly, I’m not good with that stuff.”
Me neither…
“How sloppy. This isn’t real life, it’s a VRMMO, it’s just a game. Undead monsters are going to appear eventually anyway, aren’t they?”
A game. It’s just a game, isn’t it…
“Well, I plan to go tonight anyway.”
“I see. If it weren’t for the live stream today, it wouldn’t have been so bad to watch Shou-kun being scared, would it?”
Grr…
Hello there~ Is Mion-san’s uploaded video ready~?
Ah, yes.
Yata-sensei appeared and checked today’s video.
I’ll have to keep an eye on the comments for a while after uploading, so I guess club activities will end with dinner and resetting the traps?
Looks good~ Please upload it~
Okay.
Shortly after it was made public, the view count rapidly increased… And comments about my home base started piling up in the comment section.
“So~ what is this ghost-mansion-like thing~?”
“Apparently, it’s Shou-kun’s new potential home.”
Bell-buchou answered, sounding amused. The location isn’t bad, but I don’t think I want to live in a ghost mansion… Ah, demolishing and rebuilding it might be an option.