kscans

Chapter 361 - A Bond Forged in a Name

It's not that I don't dream of late nights spent fooling around with friends, enjoying the student life—but right now, I'm a busy man swamped with endless tasks.

The get-together at the Shijo residence ended at a perfectly reasonable hour. I rushed back to my room and, in one fluid motion, initiated the dive.

The current time is just before six P.M.—right on schedule for our meeting.

For better or worse, [Arcadia] has no tedious, lengthy startup sequence. You close your eyes, drift off to sleep, and reality flips with dreams—

"............"

When you open your eyes again, you're in another world, a sprawling virtual space.

"Ah."

"Hm, looks like everyone's here."

My login point was the Eastern Round Table. As I materialized into the world in a flash of blue light, I was greeted by two familiar voices.

My self-proclaimed junior, who was, as usual, occupying a large portion of the table with some suspicious-looking work, and my partner, standing beside him. As far as I knew, they hadn't had much interaction yet, but perhaps they'd exchanged a few words while waiting for me.

Sora's expression, standing next to Tetra, showed no noticeable tension, though maybe not a complete lack of it.

"Sorry, did I keep you waiting?"

"You're right on time."

"You're right on time."

Their voices, identical except for the ending, overlapped perfectly. The two of them exchanged glances—a faint smile from one, a wry grin from the other. Hmm, it seems they get along well enough.

Considering what's to come, that's a good thing.

"Introductions... we've already done that. Is there anything else we need to say?"

"I don't think so."

Just as Tetra gave a crisp, clear answer, Sora, too, seemed to have nothing to add. My partner nodded, and I returned the gesture. With that, I decided to get straight to the point.

"Alright then, let's get started. First up..."

There's a very specific reason we've gathered here today.

"I guess the most important part is the naming ceremony, right?"

To form a clan—with me, Sora, and Tetra.

In this game, the player support organizations known as 'clans' offer two main benefits to their members.

First is the right to use the 'Clan Room'. It's a dedicated dimensional space accessible from your faction's city.

It can be used as a shared clan warehouse and also has housing elements, which is a nice feature. However, it requires Luna as a catalyst—in other words, a usage fee—to maintain the space, and the price is quite steep, so some choose not to use it.

Of course, we're going to throw money at the problem and use it to its fullest. It sounds fun.

The second benefit is a small enhancement effect known as a 'clan buff'. This is a common feature in online games with guild or clan systems, and there's no harm in taking what you can get.

When I first learned about this, I broke out in a cold sweat, thinking, 'Oh, is this another mark against me for my Four Pillar War negligence?' But thankfully, the effects aren't directly related to combat power. I managed to avoid the cold stares of Irori and the others.

The most common buffs are said to be increased drop rates and experience gain.

The former is obvious, but the latter, the experience boost, also affects skill growth rates, so it's not a waste. If you can join a clan, it's better to do so.

—But that's where my position becomes a problem.

Not a huge problem, mind you, but as a Ranker who's constantly in the spotlight, the news of me joining 'some clan' would, at a bare minimum, cause a hundred-percent chance of unnecessary commotion.

Again, not a huge problem, but dealing with all the fuss would be a pain... so the smoothest option is to just 'make our own'.

If there had been a massive guild like Sotalm's [Alliance], which most of the faction's players join with a 'might as well' attitude, things might have been different... but our Eastern Faction, with its abundance of free spirits, seems to favor small-scale clans.

There are benefits to a larger organization, like slightly enhanced buffs proportional to its size, but—well, the bigger you get, the bigger the drawbacks.

Goldow, after threatening me with talk of the entanglements and other issues faced by the largest guild run by 'his daughter,' advised me, "I'm telling you for your own good, just make a small, modest one." Following his advice seemed like the safest bet.

So, naturally, the conversation turned to 'let's just form a duo clan for now'... but the problem was the minimum number of people required to establish a clan.

The minimum requirement is exactly three—in other words, the system told us to bring one more person.

And so, I didn't even have to ask... My self-proclaimed younger senior and junior, the Ninth-ranked [Undying], Tetra, unexpectedly raised his hand himself.

His reason: he happened to be a free agent, and it sounded interesting.

Excellent. Hired! And so, we arrived at today's gathering. Our first joint task as we gathered to form a new clan was—

"""Hmmmm..."""

—a meeting that formed a very relaxed, peaceful atmosphere, as we all tilted our heads in contemplation before the 'clan name' suggestions we had brought.

"I'm terrible at naming things..."

"Same here."

"Same here, too..."

Even the equipment and skill names in this game are all enthusiastically named by the crafters or my master (and her grandfather), so I've never had the chance.

Wait, if we're going by that logic—

"Tetra, you do some crafting, right? Aren't you a little more used to naming things?"

"Don't ask the impossible. You saw the name of the dagger I gave you, right? Don't expect any creativity or sense from me."

"I thought it was a good name, though. The Shadow-Sewing Ritual Dagger."

"Honestly, I ripped it off from a manga."

"Oh, you read manga?"

That's a bit surprising. I kind of imagined him as the type to just wander around aimlessly when he's free.

"Well, anyway..."

Looking at the 'suggestions' we had each written on paper—especially the names I had come up with—Tetra gave a wry, indescribable smile.

"Alright, let's hear it. Say what you want to say."

"You heard him, Sora-senpai."

"Wh-ah... W-wha, me!?"

Startled by the unexpected pass, Sora let out a bewildered cry, which Tetra ignored with a cool, unapologetic expression.

I'm glad they're getting along so well, but does he call Sora 'senpai' too?

Despite his avatar's appearance, his speech and behavior often seem wise or even world-weary... Just how old is this senior-junior of mine?

Anyway—

"Well, like I said. I'm seriously bad at this kind of thing, and I know my sense of style is nonexistent, so you don't have to spare my feelings."

As I spoke, I flipped over my idea sheet, which had elicited a wry smile from Tetra and a troubled look from Sora, sealing it away. I'm not hurt at all. I don't mind.

"In that case... I guess this is the most straightforward option, isn't it?"

"If Tetra's okay with it, I have no objections either."

"Eh... m-me............"

Following my rather tragic sheet of paper, Tetra also flipped his over. Seeing her own suggestion left, Sora's voice shifted from surprise to hesitation as she mumbled the same words.

"I feel like mine lacks any creativity at all, though..."

"But I think it has style. At least more than mine."

"It has style. At least more than senpai's."

Sora-san looked down shyly, but even with a quick glance, I could see several 'nice-sounding' names.

Maybe it's because I know she came up with them, but they're all names you could use with confidence, without feeling like you're trying too hard to be cool.

"Alright, let's pick from Sora's suggestions."

"Sounds good."

"Ugh...!"

And so, the naming meeting for our clan formation proceeded smoothly—

◇ Clan [Azure Sky] has been formed ◇

A small new connection was born in the virtual world.

However, regarding that matter, one person in particular—

"Why am I the master!?"

—cried out in protest against the decision reached by a rigorous deliberation (a majority vote).