kscans

Chapter 189 - Interlude

『—And we’re finally here, ladies and gentlemen!! Welcome to the world of virtual reality, Arcadia, for the monumental TENTH! FOUR! PILLAR! WAR!!』

『Less than thirty minutes remain until the grand opening! Let’s get this party started with our usual pre-show special, the Quad War Before, or QWB!!』

『Your host, as always, is me, Ninomiya Mikan—better known as the Western Faction, Vestol’s, third seat, [Brilliant Beauty] Nonomi!!』

『Alright, only twenty-seven minutes left! Take out the commercials and all that, and we’ve got less than twenty minutes! As usual, we’re gonna be rushing through this, so hold on tight!』

『First up, the basic info! The Four Pillar War kicks off at 8:00 PM and runs until midnight, for a total of four hours in real time!』

『I know time flows differently between the real world and the virtual one, but don’t you worry! The countless original camera feeds broadcast from the【Arcadia・Archive】—or AA for short—are, through some mysterious super-technology, edited and released in real time, making for a pseudo-live broadcast!!』

『If you have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t worry, neither do I! Experts from around the world have already proven that thinking too hard about the technical stuff is pointless, so let’s just accept it as it is and move on!』

『Dozens of feeds will be available completely free online! You can watch them directly on the AA website! You can share the stream on various video platforms! You can watch the commentary programs in your living room!』

『Trying to follow multiple perspectives at once is super fun but also super tough, so be prepared! I always end up with about twenty feeds open at once and my brain just melts!!』

『Now then, for the detailed rules and other info about the war, be sure to check the official QWB program website! Here, we’re going to be picking out the highlights of this Four Pillar War—』

◇◆◇◆◇

“She’s as hyper as ever.”

“I like Nonomi-chan.”

“The furisode she showed off the day before yesterday was incredible, as always. No surprise from a three-term third seat.”

In a spacious home theater, a trio of university students chattered away in front of the large screen broadcasting the info program.

“Here you go, sorry for the wait.”

A fourth person joined them, carrying a tray of glasses. She wasn't the owner of the house, but she was the one who had invited her guests over. After handing out drinks to her thankful friends, Kaede settled into the seat next to her best friend.

『The one to watch is, without a doubt, the newly emerged ninth-ranked player in the Eastern Faction, Istia—』

“The [Acrobat], huh.”

“I wonder if that rumor about Irori-kun losing is true.”

“If it were, you’d think they’d be ranked higher than seventh.”

“Not even any info on their appearance. With the timing and all, they’re being kept under wraps more than almost anyone in the past.”

Toshiki and Shoko chattered on, with Mizuki occasionally chiming in. Usually, Kaede would be right there with them, but—

“...Nee-hee—Kaa-ee-dee?”

“Wah, wha—!? Wh-what is it, Shoko-chan!?”

Kaede, who had been sitting quietly, tapping on her phone that rested on a cushion in her lap, let out a shriek as a grinning Shoko wrapped her arms around her from behind.

“Were you messaging Kasuga-kun?”

“N-no, that’s not… Ugh! That’s all you ever think about!”

“Aren’t you the one who’s always thinking about Kasuga-kun?”

“I’m gonna get mad!”

She shot a glare, knowing full well it would have little effect. Her angry-pout, which had a reputation for being “surprisingly unimpressive,” was, as expected, not very potent.

Shoko just laughed brightly and released Kaede, then for some reason, patted her on the head with a “there, there,” before returning to her seat. One of these days, she really had to do something about this mysterious habit of treating her like a child.

“—But it’s true that you were messaging him.”

“Why would you betray your best friend like that!?”

Mizuki’s quiet murmur caused two faces to turn towards her in perfect sync, their expressions染ed with the exact same shade of mischievous grin.

“N-no, that’s not it… I messaged him a while ago, but he hasn’t even read it yet, so…”

A glance at her phone screen showed the chat history of a messaging app. She had sent a simple, trivial message about three hours ago.

“I was just thinking he must be really busy, that’s all.”

“Ah, well, yeah. I don’t know what he’s up to, but he does seem like he’s got a lot on his plate.”

“Sometimes he just sits there meditating with this mysteriously enlightened look on his face, you know?”

The topic of conversation shifted from the Four Pillar War, and the two of them got excited about this new subject. Every time the stray comments were directed her way, Kaede dutifully fought back—

『Though there is almost no information about this player, he—or she—is thought to be connected to several incidents that have been stirring up the Arcadia community for the past two months or so—』

“……………”

Leaving the other three to their own devices, Mizuki, who had been quietly watching the program, tilted her head.

“…………Two months.”

It’s only been a little over two months since I started getting into that stuff…

Perhaps because it happened on the same day, a thought popped into her head, accompanied by a memory of ‘his’ words. It was an utterly ridiculous idea.

An absurd, far-fetched notion—

“...That’s taking my otaku delusions a bit too far.”

She laughed it off herself.

To atone for her whimsical act of mischief, Mizuki decided to jump in and support her best friend, who was currently losing the argument quite badly.