kscans

Chapter 139 - In a Place Far Away

"—...Guh... ughhh, ahhhhh..."

It was just past eleven in the morning, real time. After the Sword Saint-san—Ui-san—had declared with a warm, domestic air that she "had to go prepare lunch," we temporarily disbanded and logged out. I was now back in my room.

It was a simple one-room apartment, just enough space to stand, sit, and sleep—the typical setup for a student living alone in Tokyo.

While I liked that it was relatively clean despite its small size, the Arcadia console occupied over a third of the already cramped space, making it feel seriously oppressive.

Not that it took me more than three days to get used to it, though.

Atop that console, which was eating up space like it owned the place, lay the room's tenant, letting out a groan like a dying old man, unable to move.

I must have gone numb toward the end, because I wasn't even conscious of my fatigue... but seriously? Has it only been a little over two hours since my fourth match in the selection tournament against Irori?

It was three hours in virtual world time, but what difference does that make? Either way, that's not a density of events that should happen in just two or three hours.

"Maybe I should just sleep like a log..."

It was a tempting thought.

Ui-san had told me, "If you're tired, please just go ahead and rest," and I didn't have any particular plans for the rest of the day anyway.

We'd already arranged our schedules for her to train me, starting the day after tomorrow. Sora was worried about me, too, and told me to rest if I could...

After my experiences these past three years, I've developed confidence in my physical stamina, but there's nothing I can do about the unique phantom fatigue of the virtual world.

Just like the battle against [Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King] or the endless assault during the [Spiral Crimson Tower] conquest. Once I experience a severe case of it over there, it follows me even after I log out.

I remember the first time it happened. I panicked, thinking, What is this, this is bad, and immediately grabbed my phone...

But it's been three years since the service started. As the various aspects of the virtual world become common knowledge, the general public seems to think that phantom fatigue bleeding into reality is nothing to worry about.

There was some complex explanation about brain illusions and whatnot, but the weariness was so overwhelming that I gave up trying to understand it after two and a half lines and haven't touched the subject since.

I knocked on the 'lid' of the Arcadia, and the translucent, mysterious material lifted without a sound. I rolled onto my side and let myself dive from a height of about seventy or eighty centimeters onto the futon I'd laid out beforehand.

I had anticipated this would happen after fighting a ranked player. A brilliant move on my part, if I do say so myself.

I have strong opinions about my futon-making skills—not to be confused with bed-making—honed during my part-time job at the inn. Truly an excellent job, as if to say, "Now, sleep."

Not that I have much room to talk; it was a short-term gig, so I only worked there for about a week.

However, I didn't dive into my futon for an immediate nap. My target was the smartphone I had set up by the pillow.

My fingers moved sluggishly, as if dragged down by my incredibly slow thoughts. I summoned the search box and slowly, one by one, typed out the characters.

'A'
'r'
'c'
'a'
'd'
'i'
'a'

A single space.

'A'
'c'
'r'
'o'

"—No, no, no, impossible, no way...!!"

Smack! I slammed my phone back down by the pillow and retreated into the futon as if raising a defensive barrier.

Ego-surfing...! So this is that thing they call ego-surfing...!!

I tried to calm my heart, which had instantly started pounding like crazy, and frantically wiped away the cold sweat that had broken out. No, this is impossible. It's too scary...!!

Back there, Goldow had said something about keeping quiet, but no matter how charismatic the third-ranked player is, I wonder how effective that would be against a crowd of anonymous gamers.

Besides, that's not even the main issue. Even if only the Istia players who were present know what happened in the selection tournament, the fact that I—the player known as Haru—had entered the ranks in the East had been announced to all players via a system announcement.

It would be weirder if there wasn't an uproar about this. The public is almost certainly in a frenzy, even more so than a few hours ago.

Probably on par with, or even greater than, the commotion over the [Spiral Crimson Tower] conquest two weeks ago.

That means, at this very moment, an overwhelmingly vast number of people are talking about none other than 'me'—

"I'll just sleep."

And forget.

Because right now, I don't think I can handle this immense pressure—

Oh, right, the alarm.

I probably won't sleep for a full day starting from the afternoon, but oversleeping is out of the question.

My adorable partner is all fired up. Our meeting tomorrow is first thing in the morning.

◇◆◇◆◇

"—..."

It was a familiar sensation, the world shifting around her.

As the gentlemanly machine detected her movement and helped her sit up, she gently patted it in appreciation, as she always did.

The woman—not a girl—stepped down from the large, mechanical bed. Undeterred by the drastic change in her physical senses, she walked straight out of the room with graceful steps.

She opened the sliding fusuma door and left the room, which was far too large for one person... and walked down another long, long corridor without hesitation.

Eventually, she sensed a presence from one of the rooms—the very kitchen she was heading for.

"—Grandpa."

The woman called out as she peeked inside. A figure fumbling in front of a state-of-the-art system kitchen, completely out of place in the old-fashioned Japanese-style building, turned around in surprise and spoke.

"—Ah, Yui. Is it that time already?"

The old man in a kendo uniform—the one called Grandpa—wore a guilty expression, like a child caught in the middle of some mischief.

"Oh, don't pretend you didn't notice... You were hungry and came to find a snack, didn't you? I'll prepare lunch right away, so please wait a little."

With her beautiful black hair swaying, the woman—Yui—giggled, and the old man, chastened, smiled shyly with an adorable charm that betrayed his age.

"Well, I'm caught... How embarrassing to be seen like this again—"

Caught red-handed by his granddaughter in a childish prank, he scratched his head as if to say he was at a loss. Then he paused and looked at Yui's face.

"Oh... Did something good happen?"

It was her usual calm expression, but he sensed a little 'something' in it. He gently asked his granddaughter, who seemed to be in a good mood.

Yui herself hadn't seemed to realize it.

Noticing his gaze, she touched her own cheek—then immediately gave a simple nod.

"Someone asked me to train them."

For a moment, his expression stiffened slightly at her words—but seeing her joyful demeanor, the old man's face quickly softened into a smile.

"Oh? And what kind of person might that be?"

"What kind... let's see."

She pondered the question for a moment, then answered.

"He was an honest, energetic, and adorable boy."

And with that, Yui—the woman who bears the name of the [Sword Saint]—smiled, her face identical to her virtual world self, save for the color of her hair and eyes.

She began to tell her grandfather, who watched over her with a pleased expression, about the unexpected encounter she'd had that day.