kscans

Chapter 286 - Viewing Party

"'Since I'm doing this, I can't afford to look pathetic no matter what happens—so be prepared for an offense so relentless you won't be able to do a thing.'"

"Hey, here it comes."

"It's coming. Oh, it's totally coming."

"…Um, please, I really can't take any more of this—"

"'—Let's begin… shall we?'"

""—Wooooooooooooo!!!""

"…, ………………"

"It's fine. You look genuinely cool, so it's okay."

"Ah, ahaha…"

If I had to describe this disastrous 'present' in four words, this would be it.

Public. Execution.

On the large screen, a 'video' was playing—more specifically, Shoko and Toshiki were getting explosively hyped watching the 'hyped-up idiot' in it.

Pretending to offer support, Mizuki was actually glued to the video and wouldn't even glance at my devastated form.

Kaede, on the other hand, who was desperately trying to distract herself by focusing on food and drinks, seemed to be my only saving grace as she kindly refilled my tea…

…but that's only because her turn was already over.

The next day.

To be precise—the day after I was introduced to the great 'Yotsuya Development' through my university, had a meeting with its representative, formed a contractual relationship, and through that series of events, met my virtual world partner in reality, who turned out to be a real-life ojou-sama with whom I entered into a fake engagement, moved into a luxurious apartment like something out of another world, received a date invitation in the virtual world from my exclusive artisan, found a moment of healing through an adventure with my reunited partner, was then ambushed by an 'incarnation of fantasy,' was approached with an unexpectedly full-force romantic advance by the world's princess, and after being left battered and bruised, fled back to the virtual world where I was slightly saved by my senpai (kouhai).

What kind of 'yesterday' was that? Give me a break.

In any case, while my mental state was a mess, the situation had reached a temporary lull… or rather, I had been given some time to calm down.

Putting aside my personal messes, as for the contract with Yotsuya, Mr. Togo contacted me around noon and told me to 'stand by for a while.'

He would take care of all the necessary contacts and procedures, including greeting my parents, within this week. In other words, he was telling me to 'get my head straight' in the meantime.

Honestly, I was grateful for this reprieve.

Thanks to it, I was able to set aside time to catch up with my friends who I had worried, including reporting what I could—but.

"'It's about time—for the grand finale!'"

""Woooooooooooooooooooo!!""

"Nozomi-kun."

"Yes?"

"Which one is the real you?"

"That's not it, my tension just tends to break in the virtual world, that's all…!"

Finally, even Mizuki started teasing me head-on, leaving me with no escape in this place.

The only one left was the esteemed Miss Kaede, who had grilled me with questions right after we met this afternoon and was temporarily 'satisfied.'

Though still slightly awkward, she had unleashed her unrestrained passion for the [Sword Saint] upon me, leaving me critically injured from the get-go, it goes without saying. Please refrain from your overly passionate delusions about our master-disciple love.

And, I get the feeling, but… aren't you guys skipping lectures again? Are you sure you're okay?

Being teased like this feels like a 'necessary expense' to the extent that it mentally saves me, so I won't call you out on it.

This was my second visit to the Shijo residence, the pretext being none other than 'cheering me up.'

Seriously, I'm so grateful I could cry—including the fact that this naturally devolved into a Four Pillar War archive viewing party!

"'Pierce through—[Caladbolg, Spiral Brilliance Spear]!!!'"

Ah… oh, ah… I know that shouting out your special move is common in Arcadia because it boosts its power, but still, ah…!

"Hey, Nozomi—?"

"…Yes, what is it?"

"That spear, was it made from materials from 'Rabbit Heaven'?"

"That's right."

"So it's a player-made weapon, right? Is it possible to pack it with that many functions?"

"Ah… He said he shaved off as much durability as possible, relying on the material's properties, and poured all the leftover resources into interesting functions. The dagger is the same."

"Seriously? That [Asibinin] is amazing…"

"If he shaved off the durability to the limit, why doesn't it break after clashing so much?"

"That's the property of the rabbit's horn. At a certain speed, its durability locks."

"Isn't that insane?"

"—Nozomi-kun."

As I was answering the pair's questions one after another, my sleeve was tugged from the side. When I turned, Mizuki was looking at me with a rare, troubled expression.

"All that information you just shared so casually, you're the insane one. If you took it to the right places, it's information valuable enough to be sold for money."

I wondered what was wrong, only to be admonished like that.

However, it's not like I'm taking the value of my build information lightly. I can understand why Mizuki would be concerned, but—

"I plan on releasing the [Spiral Crimson Tower] information soon anyway, so I don't mind giving my friends a little sneak peek."

"…You're going to release it?"

"I am. I never intended to monopolize it in the first place."

I made that clear decision when I asked Kagura-san to sell the [Ruby Rabbit Demon Horn] on the market. If I were to secretly sell one or two, I could turn a blind eye to the poor victims, but if I were to provide the material widely in the future, it's a different story.

I couldn't, in good conscience, distribute that 'defective material' on a large scale while pretending not to know…

"And as a little teaser, I plan on uploading a gameplay perspective of the [Spiral Crimson Tower] to the archives soon, so look forward to it."

"Seriously?!"

"Whoa, I can't wait!"

Look forward to it all you want. I plan on delivering it in first-person view, so be prepared.

"Um… is that okay? A player's build is a personal top secret…"

Kaede's point here is also very valid, but that's no problem either… or rather, to be blunt, rankers need to be 'seen' to some extent.

It's better to be a 'strong person whose strength is understood to some extent' than a 'completely incomprehensible strong person,' as you can gain more understanding and support from those around you—to tell the truth, this was something my master recommended to me during my training a while ago.

And well… if my priority is 'conquest,' then by having others use it as a reference, even if it only slightly raises the overall quality of players, it will benefit me in the end.

"—So that's the gist of it, no need to worry."

"If Ui-sama says so, then there's no doubt!"

"Too close, too close, too close."

As always, this Sword Saint-loving ojou-sama.

"Hey Nozomin, is it really true that you don't have a thought acceleration skill with that? You don't secretly have some super unique skill or something?"

"I don't. In fact, I'd gladly offer up my useless super unique skill for a normal thought acceleration skill, I'm dead serious."

"Hey, hey, how does that dagger fix itself after being broken or shattered? Does it have auto-regeneration?"

"Correct. The repair function is on the sheath, not the blade, though—"

"Then what about that one—"

"What's going on with that—"

As I was answering Shoko and Toshiki's barrage of excited questions, I happened to meet Kaede's eyes and noticed she was watching us with a happy expression.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing. I was just thinking… it's nice that it actually happened."

Seeing her smile bashfully, I tilted my head for a few seconds, wondering what she meant—ah, I see.

"…Some idiot had no plans of his face being revealed, so I never thought it would turn into a public execution. At least, not at that time."

"Ah… you remembered?"

That was on the day of the Four Pillar War, when we all gathered here at noon.

The promise of an archive viewing party, which came from Toshiki's suggestion… honestly, it would be a lie to say I remembered it clearly, but—

"I'm glad we could all get together again too. Though that was some serious damage."

I let out a wry smile at the sight of the [Acrobat] rampaging on the screen.

"All things considered… this feels the most like my daily life, and it's calming."

Even with the slight fantasy element of a rich ojou-sama, we're still just 'school friends,' a common relationship.

"…Want more tea?"

"I'll have some—wow, as expected of an ojou-sama, quite the skilled hand."

"But of course, I am an ojou-sama, after all."

We joked around with a mysterious exchange and laughed for no reason.

When I declared 'question time is over' to the two who were watching from the side with smirks on their faces, the power dynamic was instantly reversed.

And as I deliberately flaunted my superiority over the two, Kaede was being teased by Mizuki next to me—ah, this is so damn peaceful.

All things considered, I'm too blessed with people. I can only be grateful for my good fortune… and of course, that includes the four who showed me they would remain my friends.

"'From the bottom of my heart, good game—'"

"'Heah?!'"

"'Hoooooottt!!!'"

"—…, …………"

"The sudden gags are a high point for me too, Nozomin."

"You're mysteriously cute at times, are you naturally like that?"

"It's an element that could make you popular."

"Hee, heehee…"

Suuuuuuuu… You know what, maybe I should just go home.