kscans

Chapter 45 - Waking Up in a Sealed Space

"Ngh..."

"Oh?"

A short while after we'd jumped into the portal and escaped the sandstorm—about thirty minutes after she had logged out—a faint voice reached my ears. I turned to see the previously empty avatar stirring.

I moved to her side in the dim, damp air, and just as I crouched down, she slowly opened her eyes.

"Welcome back. How are you feeling?"

"...It feels, strange."

Looking somewhat dazed, Sora shifted awkwardly, her back still resting against the wall. It looked a bit like the movements of someone who had just woken up.

"I think... it's because this is the first time... I've re-logged in while my body was still here..."

Apparently, the experience was different from a normal login. I was a little worried about my partner's uncharacteristically dazed state, but her words were clear and her expression was calm.

"...Yeah, good. You seem okay."

Relieved, I sat down next to Sora, who still seemed unable to move.

"...Haru-san."

Then, I felt a tug on my sleeve. I turned to the side to see my just-awakened partner staring intently at me.

"Yeah?"

That upward glance is devastatingly powerful, could you please spare me...? I pushed the foolish thought aside and prompted Sora, who was exuding a more childlike aura than usual.

"...Thanks to you, I was able to calm down. Thank you."

With her verbal confirmation of her well-being, the matter was truly settled. I laughed it off with a light "Don't worry about it," and she returned a modest smile.

Combined with her sleepy, dazed face, it was a wave of healing energy that seemed to wash away all the fatigue from the disastrous boss fight. I fought to keep my own cheeks from breaking into a grin, awed by a power that would likely purify most boys.

Speaking of which, I now noticed an unfamiliar icon flashing in Sora's status bar. Her half-open, dazed eyes seemed to be a perfect representation of someone who had "just woken up"... It seemed this state was some kind of system debuff.

Maybe it was a penalty for re-logging in a non-safe zone? The debuff icon, which had already started flashing by the time I noticed it, disappeared without a sound a few seconds later as I watched idly.

"So, um... what happened to get us here...?"

Now that Sora-san was safely back, it was time to share information. The pure confusion in her voice was understandable; the situation we were currently facing could be summed up in one phrase: "What the hell?"

Alright, first, let's take a look around. To your right, you'll see a 'wall' of black rock. To your left, you'll also see a 'wall'. And allow me to introduce the low ceiling, which feels particularly oppressive, perhaps due to the contrast with the vast space we were in just moments ago.

Opening up before us is a cramped 'passageway', less than three meters wide. Perhaps it's the designer's personal touch, but the light sources placed sporadically in this sealed space, where no light penetrates, create an eerie atmosphere—seriously, where are we?

It was no wonder Sora was tilting her head in confusion. I, who had gone through the portal in the [Great Flowing Sand Cavern] with her avatar, had been thrown not into the city of Istia, but into this mysterious space.

As a rule, defeating a boss in a beginner area would cause a portal to appear, which would then return you to the city. So I had jumped in without a second thought, but I never imagined that the game would suddenly break that convention.

"So, to be honest, I'm just as confused as you are."

I explained the whole story, from the boss fight after Sora had logged out to how we ended up here. As for the girl's reaction—

"I-I see..."

It's written all over your face. "I see, but I don't get it."

"It looks like a cave, or a dungeon... but as usual, there's no tips pop-up or anything."

I could probably find out in a second if I looked it up outside the game, but Arcadia is generally lacking in explanations and route suggestions. Going in blind is pretty hard; it must have been absolute chaos when it was released three years ago.

"A dungeon... ah, but it seems we can log out," Sora said.

"Oh, really?"

I peered over at her hand as she tilted her head and operated her window. Sure enough, the "Do you want to log out?" message was displayed. Well, that part is the same no matter where you are, but the warning message that's usually added in non-safe zones was missing.

"For a safe zone, this place doesn't feel very comforting..."

I muttered as I looked around the chilly little room, and Sora chuckled in agreement. When I checked later, it seemed the passage beyond was a non-safe zone, as the warning message appeared.

"A temporary safe zone, huh..."

Having just barely survived a deadly place packed with features, I honestly would have preferred to just go back to town.

I could always just headbutt a wall and take my own life, but... I recently saw the death penalty for "suicide" on a strategy site. A full day of halved stats, plus a decrease in accumulated experience, and even a chance of skill loss? Are you serious?

Apparently, you can reacquire the skill if you follow the right steps, but that's still too harsh. I can feel the pressure from the developers saying, "It's possible system-wise, but ethically, it's a no-go."

It's probably because it's a virtual reality that's indistinguishable from the real world, and they might be concerned about feedback on a person's real-world personality. This game is generally unforgiving with penalties for actions that go against real-world ethics.

"It doesn't seem like we can go back to town yet... right?" Sora asked.

"There's not even a pebble lying around, let alone a portal," I replied.

The space, devoid of any objects other than the crystals that served as light sources on the walls, seemed to be silently telling us to "get a move on."

...Following the trash-tier boss, I'm starting to feel like I'm being picked on by the designer. Is it just my imagination?

"Well, even if this is an extra round, I'm going to take a break... and wow, look at the time. It's lunchtime."

It was around noon in real time. It might be best to just log out and rest for a bit.

"You've been playing since this morning, which is a pretty long time. What are you going to do, Sora?"

Sora had been logged in since morning, which was unusual for her, and she had already exceeded her average daily playtime. When I asked her, thinking of this... my partner seemed to be lost in thought.

"Um, Haru-san."

"What's up?"

"Would you mind if we explored just a little bit more?"

It was a surprising suggestion, considering I was already in full-on break mode.

"And your reason is?"

"After such a difficult boss battle, for them to not even send us back to town and just throw us into the next area without a word... I thought that might be a bit too mean, even for them."

Yeah, I thought the designer had a bad personality too.

"So, maybe this place isn't so much a dungeon as an extension of the boss fight... Um, how should I put it?"

"Ah... you mean, like an epilogue?"

"Um... something like that. I thought maybe if we went ahead, we'd find the goal surprisingly quickly."

Well... that's a point. The fact that the area outside the small room is a non-safe zone gives me a bad feeling, but it's hard to believe that they would set up another long and arduous trial after we've overcome that series of spectacles, which were too malicious to be summed up with the word "difficult."

It's hard to believe, or rather, I don't want to believe it.

"...Let's give it a go. Who knows, maybe the goal is just around the corner."

"Yes!—Ah, um... I'm the one who suggested it, but I know you must be tired too, Haru-san, so please don't push yourself."

"It's fine, it's fine. I'll be able to rest more easily if we clear this up."

Sora seemed to have let her curiosity get the better of her. As she belatedly started fussing over me with concern, I was once again healed by her kindness and stepped into the dark opening of the passage.

The path ahead, faintly illuminated by the sporadic light sources, was filled with a quiet darkness.