kscans

Chapter 491 - The Spirit Festival and the New System

Three days after the video of Kazatoki, the fox miko princess who uses 'boku', was streamed, an announcement was made in AFO that the Spirit Festival event would begin tomorrow.

This event was like a festival held every year. While there were some battles, it was mostly about streaming videos of singing and dancing, or broadcasting them on the video monitors at the World Tree for everyone to enjoy.

However, the scale was quite considerable, with professional singers and dancers participating exclusively for the event. One of its selling points was the ease of experiencing a live atmosphere in virtual reality. And unlike the real world, where location and financial issues were a major factor, it was easy for people to gather here.

The videos were also streamed in the real world, which had a significant promotional effect. As a result, it had become a massive event that involved the real world, with a never-ending stream of participants.

And now, the AI who managed that event, Diite, had come to Parfait's base.

She wore a very serious expression, giving off an aura that something was amiss.

For now, only Parfait was logged in, so it was just the two of them. A little wary of what could have happened, Parfait served her coffee.

Diite said, "Thank you," and brought the coffee to her lips, but her solemn expression remained.

"Um, Diite-oneechan, is something wrong? Is there a problem?"

"That's right, there is a small problem. Or rather, you could say it's a major problem, which is why I've come to ask a favor of you, Parfait-kun."

"Huh? Of me?"

It was very rare for Diite to ask for anything. In fact, Parfait was usually the one making requests. Wondering what sort of favor would require such formality, Parfait leaned forward, ready to listen to Diite's story.

"You're always helping me out, Diite-oneechan, so please tell me anything. If it's something I can do, I'll do my best."

"Thank you, Parfait-kun. Those words alone are making my cooling systems run at full capacity. Perhaps it's fair to say that you're half my child. No, we were sisters, weren't we. In any case, we are family."

"Well, yeah, we're definitely family."

Parfait was sure her father, Hayato, and her mother, Esha, felt the same way. It wasn't something they had ever explicitly stated, but the way they interacted, they were a family in every sense of the word.

And for her family, she was willing to push herself a little to grant their requests. With that in mind, Parfait prompted her to continue.

"So, what's the favor?"

"I'm not really supposed to say this, but tomorrow, at the same time as the Spirit Festival event, a certain system will be released. It's a system that's been in development for a very long time, but the data is finally complete, and I've enabled various new features for it."

"Wow, that sounds exciting. But the way you're saying it means there's a problem with it, right?"

"Exactly. But the problem is also a personal one."

"Personal?"

"I can't give you the details, as that would be a spoiler. But I want you not to use that system, Parfait-kun."

Parfait's thoughts came to a halt.

She recovered quickly, but she had no idea what Diite meant by telling her not to use a new system.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll explain the details tomorrow, but you must not use that system, Parfait-kun. It's fine for other people to use it, but you alone cannot."

"Um, I can't really agree when I don't understand what you mean. Can I give you my answer tomorrow?"

"Yes, today is just a proposal of sorts. However, if you do decide to use that system... I might go into shock and have to reboot. Or in the worst case, I might even stop the Colony."

"That's a threat, isn't it!?"

Stopping the Colony was clearly out of the question. Gravity would disappear, the air would vanish, and eventually, it might even fall to Earth.

Diite said she would give her the details tomorrow, but Parfait spent the rest of the day in a state of unease, wondering just what kind of system it could be.

The next day was a normal holiday for the general public, but for the people in this Colony, it was also a dangerous one.

She had consulted her friends and parents, but they all just said, "It'll be fine," and none of them took her seriously. Still, she couldn't imagine Diite would come all this way just to tell a joke, so she logged into AFO with a pounding heart.

It was early in the morning, so only Parfait was at the base. Immediately after she logged in, there was an announcement that the Spirit Festival had begun, along with information that a new system was now available.

"The New Outfit System is released...?"

She checked the details. Broadly, there were two things you could do.

First, you could use outfits you designed yourself within AFO. You couldn't create anything overly revealing, with copyright issues, or that didn't function as an outfit, but otherwise, you had almost complete freedom.

Second, you could apply designed outfits to existing equipment. You could switch the appearance of your current gear to a newly designed outfit, keeping the stats while changing only the look.

The original equipment wouldn't be lost. It was a system just for changing appearances, and you could revert it at any time.

(I guess, in short, she doesn't want me to change the look of this nun's habit, huh?)

It was the nun's habit she had received from Diite when she started AFO, and it was a matching set. In other words, they were twinning.

Apparently, it would eventually become the strongest piece of equipment, but she wasn't aiming to be the strongest, so she had no particular attachment to that aspect. She didn't dislike the look either, so there was no need to change her outfit in the first place.

(I guess the Colony is safe now...)

To begin with, Parfait wasn't very good at design, so she couldn't come up with an outfit anyway, and she had no reason to change her nun's habit. It seemed interesting, but it wasn't something she wanted to do at the risk of endangering the Colony "Frontier".

She immediately started a voice chat with Diite. Diite appeared on her monitor, beaming, and exclaimed, "Is that so!"

Parfait couldn't help but think about how a single outfit in a virtual reality game could put a Colony in danger, but she was relieved that the threat had been averted. This called for a celebratory dessert, she thought, just as a crashing sound came from the second floor of the base.

"Huh? What was that?"

Then, she heard the sound of footsteps running, and Ginny appeared on the stairs. Ginny's eyes were bloodshot and she was breathing heavily, so excited that it looked like a forced logout-worthy situation.

"Ginny-chan, good morn—"

"Parfait-san! Cynthia-san and I are going to make new outfits! We're going to make something amazing, so you have to wear it! No, I'll make you wear it!"

"The Colony is in danger, so please stop."

To protect the Colony, Parfait flatly rejected Ginny's proposal.

Their back-and-forth continued for several minutes, after which Natsu logged in.

Naturally, Ginny made the same proposal to Natsu, but Natsu refused in a very serious tone.

"Know that changing this equipment is an act that fears not even the gods! I will reduce even the sun to cinders!"

(Natsu-chan's equipment is from Lutz-san, after all...)

Next to log in was Chris, who also refused.

"I have no particular attachment to it, but the maid outfit Ginny is proposing has short sleeves and a short skirt. That is not a maid outfit, but a maid-style outfit. The same goes for the ghillie suit. If you increase skin exposure, it wouldn't be camouflage, would it?"

Despite saying she had no attachment, Chris prioritized function over cuteness. Perhaps knowing that leaving it to Ginny would result in something strange, she was turning her down flatly.

Wilnel had contacted them to say she might not be able to log in for a while, as she was still having trouble arranging her visit to Parfait's family cafe. So, any outfit changes for her were on hold.

After that, Rick arrived and, upon hearing Ginny's proposal, tried to log out without a word.

As if sensing his movement, Ginny grabbed Rick's arm with incredible speed.

"Rick-san, please wait. You are my last hope. In fact, you are my primary target."

"...You want me to cosplay as Ashley?"

"If you already know, then this will be quick. The butler outfits in this world are slightly different from the ones in DokiPan, so I'm making an Ashley-sama version! No, I've already started making it!"

"I'd rather not."

"Listen, Rick-san, you can save girls all over the world with this! There are so many girls who can only get their nourishment from cosplay!"

"What nourishment? Besides, it's a copyright violation. It says so in the system's notes."

"No, DokiPan is collaborating with AFO, so it's safe. It's no exaggeration to say this system was made for DokiPan! I believe about a third of the world has already started designing Ashley-sama's butler outfit...!"

A wrinkle formed between Rick's eyebrows.

He seemed to have immediately sent an email to the administration, but the reply stated that "DokiPan is OK," and Rick held his head in his hands.

"No, wait. I'm pretty sure Abel looks like some character too. We can just change his outfit."

"Abel-san isn't allowed to show his face..."

"Th-then what about Kazatoki-san or Lion-san? DokiPan aside, I think making them outfits would have its merits for them too."

"That may be true..."

Sensing an opportunity, Rick pressed on.

"It seems there's also a clothing-related video stream category at the Spirit Festival this time. A fashion show, in other words. Designing outfits must be difficult for amateurs, so there probably won't be many participants. We might be able to aim for the top in that category. How about we have Kazatoki-san and the others do it?"

"Mmm, mmm...! Their current outfits were good in their own way, but a perfect fox miko and magical girl outfit... It's true that nourishment is essential...!"

"Picky eating isn't good for you. Neither is overeating."

Ginny closed her eyes and groaned for a moment, then exhaled and slowly opened them.

"You do have a point. I'll work on persuading Rick-san later, but for now, I think cooperating with Kazatoki-san and the others for their stream is a good idea."

"I'd rather you give up, but to get a good result in the event, shouldn't we go meet their clan leader first? We'll need permission from her and the leader, and if possible, I'd like to form an alliance."

Rick looked over at Parfait. His gaze was a desperate mix of pleading, as if to say, "Cut in here and change the subject," and a strong will that said, "You know what to do."

Rick had always been there for her, and she had recently pushed some troublesome things onto him, so Parfait decided to throw him a lifeline.

"Ginny-chan, let's respect Rick-kun's opinion here and go to their clan to ask if they'd be willing to wear outfits you make for Kazatoki-san and Lion-chan and stream it."

"Understood. Then let's bring Cynthia-san with us. We're acquainted with their clan leader, so I think it will go smoothly. I just got an email from Cynthia-san saying she's designing the Ashley-sama version of the butler outfit, but I'll have to ask her to put it on hold."

"That level of dedication is, in a way, respectable."

Ignoring Rick's exasperated voice, Ginny and Cynthia, who had met the leader of Fight☆Club when they presented the fox miko idea for Kazatoki, were ready.

Parfait figured that would indeed speed things up. They called over Cynthia, who had been working on the butler outfit, and headed for the other clan's base.