kscans

Chapter 463 - The Star, But a Supporting Role

Three days into the event, AFO was filled with players searching for cats.

Many players had initially been uninterested in this event. Some assumed information from the Tamer Guild was a prerequisite, some weren't that fond of animals, some were just taking pictures as they saw them, and some were dog people. But for various reasons, the number of players chasing cats had increased.

One reason was the rarity of there being only about a hundred of them in the world, but many players had given up from the start because the number of points needed for the items they wanted was too high.

That was resolved with the discovery of a hidden rule.

The hidden rule was that by photographing certain types of cats, you could complete a "set," like in a card game, which would earn you a high number of points. This was not mentioned in the in-game event rule pamphlet, and when a certain player posted it on the forums, it spread like wildfire.

Currently, only the "Seven Stars," which was completed by gathering seven cats with star patterns on their backs, had been confirmed. However, other players had started to report receiving bonuses for sets like "Royal Straight Flush," "Black Tail," and "Overkill," though the conditions were unknown.

Many players who had given up because the exchange points were too high now thought they might be able to get the items they wanted. For reasons like that, or wondering what would happen if they photographed all the cats, even those who weren't animal lovers were now participating in the event, and information on cats was now being traded at high prices.

Parfait, who had intended to photograph all the cats from the beginning for other reasons, was now even more motivated.

Since the event started, she had been using her high-speed screenshot ability to not miss a single cat. She was also utilizing her physical abilities to the fullest, performing actions like quickly flanking to get in front of a cat for a sideways jump shot, or a mid-air rotating jump shot to get them in a nice pose.

Furthermore, thanks to her high recognition at the Tamer Guild, she had obtained various pieces of information about the cats from the staff. She had already photographed over thirty cats, and her score exceeded five thousand points. By herself.

However, she was still disappointed that she hadn't received any bonus points from the hidden elements, so she logged in today with renewed determination to take pictures of cats.

On the first floor of their base, in the cafe area, she was about to wait for the other members when she saw that someone was already there. It was someone who rarely logged in, so Parfait was surprised.

"Abel-kun, it's rare to see you on a weekday."

"Yo, Parfait."

Abel, dressed as a sorcerer with a black robe and various charms hanging from his waist, was sitting in a chair, petting Trachiyo, who was lying on the table.

He had taken off his usual mask, revealing his true face. In terms of looks, he was undoubtedly handsome, enough to be called a prince by the public. But since he was a childhood friend and his words and actions were childish, Parfait couldn't see him that way.

Usually, Abel was busy with his work as an actor or with lessons, and could only come on about once a week, but today he had logged in on a weekday, which was unusual.

Even though school was on a long break, it was still a rare occurrence, so Parfait's head was full of question marks. Noticing this, Abel laughed and explained the situation.

"For some reason, Ren-neesan keeps sending me tons of messages asking me to take pictures of the cats from the event."

"Ah, Instructor Ren loves cats too, after all."

"She has so many pictures of Sieg and his kids in real life, I don't get why she wants pictures of virtual cats."

"You can never have too much money or too many cat pictures, right?"

Parfait's face seemed to say, "Isn't that obvious?" Abel looked a little taken aback by her. But as if he had recovered, he quickly smiled.

"Well, that's why I'll be logging in to take pictures of cats for a while. Could you teach me how to take them?"

Abel, who didn't log in often, wasn't very familiar with the system menu operations, and it seemed he had been trying to practice with Trachiyo but wasn't having much success.

"You do it like this."

"...Whoa, what did you just do? It was too fast, I couldn't tell."

Parfait's high-speed screenshot was so fast that a normal person couldn't see it. It was clearly not a good reference. Abel asked Parfait to do it more slowly, and he practiced with Trachiyo while she taught him.

Trachiyo, as if aware that he was being photographed, even struck a series of cute poses for Abel's camera. And not a single pose was the same.

"...I do photoshoots for book covers and stuff, but Trachiyo seems better at it than I am...?"

"Well, I've taken so many pictures of him. It's harder to get a natural shot of Trachiyo now."

"I wonder if he has a high sense of professionalism as a subject...?"

As they were talking, the door leading outside suddenly opened.

"Parfait-chan! I got info on a new cat... oh."

It was Orion from the "Cats are God" clan who came in. She must have gotten some very important information, as she came in suddenly in a panic, forgetting to knock.

Usually, this wouldn't be a problem, but right now, the famous Abel was there. Even though he was dressed in a suspicious outfit, his facial features were good, and his unmasked face as a successful actor was on full display.

"S-sorry, you're high school students, of course you'd go on dates..."

"Ah, it's not like that at all."

"No way I'd be with Parfait."

People had often made that mistake about Parfait and Abel, or rather, Abel and the girls, before. It was a pain to deny it every time, but they made sure to deny it firmly on the spot because it would be a bigger pain later.

However, right now, the fact that Abel was playing AFO being exposed was a bigger problem.

"Um, Orion-san, could you please keep it a secret that Abel-kun is playing AFO?"

"Abel-kun...?"

Orion tilted her head, and Parfait tilted hers as well.

"Um, Abel-kun is a pretty famous actor..."

"Pretty famous?"

Abel interjected with a retort, but in reality, he was quite famous. A large part of that was due to the influence of his parents, aunt, and grandfather, but he was undeniably famous.

When Orion stared at Abel's face, her expression changed to one of surprise.

"Ah! I remember! I saw the movie where you walk the Earth with a handsome doggy!"

"A handsome doggy..."

It was just like Orion, but Parfait had seen that movie too. For the dog, more than for Abel.

"That doggy was real, not CG! I watched it because the Sagittarius Foundation was a sponsor, but I think I vaguely remember a man being there..."

"Vaguely... Well, whatever, but that was me. And yeah, the dog was real too. In fact, we filmed that with three similar-looking dogs, not just one."

"I knew it! The shape of their noses were a little different."

Abel frowned, but Parfait nodded in agreement before speaking.

"The doggy in the campfire scene was so well-behaved. When it heard a sound, only its ears twitched, and when it realized it was nothing, it went back to lying down... I like that one the best."

"Is that so, Parfait-chan? I like the doggy from the scene where it goes to find food for its master. That one was physically gifted, so it did all the action scenes, but it had a certain flair, like it understood it was being filmed!"

"I get that too! Ah, man, now that you say that, my first and second place might switch... They're all cute, no doubt, but when it comes to the best..."

The frown on Abel's brow deepened.

"Look, it's fine and all, but I was supposed to be the star of that movie, you know...?"

"In my mind, that doggy was the star of the movie! You were the star, Abel-kun, but you were in a supporting role!"

This time, Orion nodded in agreement, then immediately seemed to realize something.

"Ah, sorry, we got sidetracked. We were talking about not telling anyone that Abel-kun is playing AFO, right?"

"His fans might flock here in droves, so we're keeping it a secret. Besides, he usually wears a mask..."

"Ah, I see. So you opened the door so suddenly that he hadn't put on his mask yet? Um, I'm really sorry. I got some new cat info, so I might have been a little too excited..."

There's etiquette even among friends. Understanding this, Orion bowed her head in apology. Parfait, who didn't want her to apologize, asked Orion to raise her head.

"No, no, it's really fine. But like I said before, if you could just keep it a secret about Abel-kun..."

"Yeah, of course. I won't tell anyone in my clan, so don't worry. But in exchange..."

Parfait tensed up a little. When people found out they knew Abel, they often asked for autographs or handshakes. Abel usually handled it with a smile, having accepted it as part of being an actor, but she didn't know how he felt on the inside.

Knowing Orion, Parfait hoped she wouldn't make such a trade-off. But her fears were unfounded.

"Tell me about the doggy from that movie! I won't tell anyone! By any chance, were Maris-san or Surya-san the trainers!?"

"Uh, yeah... They were both there."

"I knew it! I thought there was no way a dog could move like that unless those two trained it!"

Abel was a bit overwhelmed by Orion's intensity. It was clear that the dog, Maris, and Surya were ranked higher than him.

Orion listened happily to the stories about the dog, Maris, and Surya. After a while, a voice chat from a clan member seemed to reach Orion, and after excusing herself to Parfait and the others, she began a conversation with them.

When he had a moment to breathe, Abel whispered to Parfait.

"Am I maybe a little conceited? I feel like I was on guard for nothing."

"I don't think so. It's just that Orion-san is an animal lover, so she has things that are more important than you, Abel-kun. By the way, so do I."

"Look, you... I know about you guys, including Natsu. But it's refreshing for it to happen with someone other than you guys. Oh, now that I think about it, Wilnel didn't seem interested in me either. Though it seems she did watch the movie."

"I think Wilnel-chan is interested in you, Abel-kun. But I don't think it's an interest in your looks or anything romantic."

"Then what kind of interest is it...? That's scary in its own way, but I'm grateful that I can be myself around her. And Orion-san's reaction is a relief for me too. Alright, I'll tell her more about that dog. Those three, when I sat on the ground cross-legged, they'd come over and rest their chins on me and fall asleep. It was so cute."

"...Don't think you've won."

"What's that all of a sudden? Were we even competing in anything?"

Parfait placed Trachiyo on her lap and glared sharply at Abel while petting him, but Abel, not knowing what kind of contest it was, simply tilted his head in confusion.