kscans

Chapter 85 - Installing Common Sense

“Time to move on.”

The me who was drowning in hatred died twenty seconds ago. The reborn me will try to live with a clean slate.

In any case, this was a massive harvest, or rather, a super harvest—an unexpected bounty of spoils. The unique rewards, the god-tier skills… I'll have to figure out a countermeasure for the insane MP consumption of Fatal Leak, though. Losing all my MP in under ten seconds is beyond just having bad fuel efficiency.

Incidentally, when I took off the ring and activated it with MID: 0, it didn't even last five seconds. I guess Mind is a pretty important stat after all…

Having died and been sent back to the dungeon entrance, I took a deep breath as I gazed at the familiar respawn point. I don't know why, but after that grand display of stupidity at the end, I finally feel like I can relax. I worked hard for two and a half days. Good job, me…

“And now, on to the next job, me.”

At the tender age of eighteen, I already possess the mindset of a corporate slave. If there's work to be done, there's no time for rest. Burn your spirit as fuel for your body and push forward, you company slave!

…Enough with the foolishness, let's get a move on. It's time to gather materials.

I checked the [Spiral Crimson Ring] on my right hand and readied the [White-Flawed Straight Sword] in my left. Shifting my focus and firing up my gears, I stepped back into the rabbit paradise for what felt like the umpteenth time.

◇◆◇◆◇

A few hours later, I had been summoned to a certain location.

A stylish bar counter, a deserted interior, and a particularly taciturn, elderly NPC bartender… in other words, the usual tavern.

And the person who summons me to this place is always the same—Kagura-san, for the first time in two days.

Just a few minutes ago, a message arrived for me as I was engrossed in gathering materials.

The usual tavern. Now.

Terrified by the incredibly blunt summons, I immediately cut my work short and rushed back to the goal point. From the teleport gate there, I warped to the 'Safe Area' which I had updated as my home, and then from there, used another gate to return to the city of Istia—

“—Pff…! Heh, heheh…!!”

I thought she might be angry about something, but the artisan in question greeted me in an outrageously good mood. And now, as I reported my results from the [Spiral Crimson Tower], she was slumped over the counter, desperately trying to stifle her laughter.

“You—you really are… the best… pff, heh…!”

“Is it really that funny?”

Seeing the state of the artisan, whom I had met again ahead of our scheduled one-week appointment, I propped my chin on my hand, the tension I had built up in preparation for a scolding completely deflated.

“Hah… how could I not laugh? The public is in an uproar, a chaotic mess of ‘Who on earth could the conqueror be?’ This will definitely make the news in the real world, too—”

“Hold on a second.”

Wait, I haven't reported clearing it to anyone other than Kagura-san just now.

“How does everyone already know?”

“How? …Ah, you don't know this either.”

She tilted her head at my confusion, then nodded as if she understood.

“When an unconquered dungeon is cleared for the first time, there's a flashy animation. The entire dungeon glows, and a red pillar of light shoots up into the sky.”

“Everyone calls it the ‘celebration cannon’,” she added, her good mood still going strong. But wait, what? Didn’t you just say something about real-world news?

“Well, I get it, but… isn't news and all that a bit of an exaggeration?”

I laughed as if to say, “That’s a bit of a stretch, haha”—and then, no, what, please stop. I don't want to see such a serious face at this timing, please stop!!

“I knew you were clueless, but… are you the type of person who doesn't watch TV or browse the internet at all? Aren't you a little too out of touch with the world?”

I couldn't say that I had cut off all forms of media for three years, so I silently turned my face away. She must have guessed something from my reaction, as she laughed, looking amused as if to say, “This is so ridiculous it's funny.”

“It's not an exaggeration at all. It will undoubtedly be on the news, both on TV and online, and it's certain that features will be made about it in all sorts of media.”

“N-No way… no matter how unique a virtual world it is, for something that happened inside a mere game to cause such a stir…”

“Ah, now I’m finally convinced that your understanding is fundamentally skewed.”

As I trembled in horror, she stared at my face, her amusement growing even stronger.

“From the very first day, this world has never been just a game.”

“—Have you processed it all?”

“……………………Yeah.”

The lecture on common knowledge lasted for about an hour. My common sense, frozen in time from three years ago, was utterly shattered, leaving behind one dumbfounded idiot.

I was shaken by an impact so immense that “culture shock” would be an understatement, trembling with what was undoubtedly the highest level of turmoil in my life.

What shocked me the most… well, there was no number one or two, it was like having my brain bashed in by everything, but…

“The top rankers of Arcadia are… the number one dream job in the real world…”

“Well, it’s a position where you can literally live by playing, that's for sure.”

First of all, I’m shocked that it’s even considered a ‘job’.

“Information shows about the virtual world… are dominating prime time television all over the world, regardless of country…”

“Even just watching from the sidelines, it’s undeniably an unparalleled form of entertainment.”

I can kind of understand if you think of it like a live broadcast from another world, but still…?

“And to top it all off… Japan, what was it again?”

“An Internationally Designated Non-Aggression Treaty Protected Nation—… I think? Well, it’s a fact that it’s become the most important country in the world.”

Really, I just—

What timeline is this?

And how did I manage to remain so ignorant for three years while the world was undergoing such a cataclysmic upheaval?

“Now you understand why I was so surprised by your ignorance, don't you?”

“Well, yeah, I guess so…”

This isn't on the level of not knowing who the current prime minister is. This is on a scale where the world itself has changed.

“For it to have gone this far, you must have had your reasons, right? I won't pry, but you’re about to step into the spotlight, so you should do some catching up.”

She's absolutely right. I have no room to argue.

As I stood there, stunned, I might have looked dejected. As if to change the mood, Kagura-san clapped her hands once and said in a deliberately cheerful voice, “More importantly!”

“This is no time to be making a gloomy face. You've brought back a mountain of spoils, so let's talk about something fun.”

Her cheerful demeanor was clearly meant to distract me from my shock—she might act rough around the edges, but she’s really a considerate person…

---

The protagonist is heartbroken, so he'll properly face the goings-on of the real world a little later.

By the way, she got the name “Internationally Designated Non-Aggression Treaty Protected Nation” slightly wrong.

As for the perfectly valid question of how this guy passed his university entrance exams while being so out of touch with the world, the answer will come a bit later. For now, please ignore it and wait…