kscans

Chapter 112 - Episode 112

"Shinonome Rena, greatbow user. My progress is the same as Hayate’s, so I don’t think a detailed introduction is necessary. I look forward to working with you all."

Rena’s profile was filled out as thoroughly as mine. Besides her achievements, it listed strengths analyzed by an AI, and it was written with even more enthusiasm than my own profile.

The plan was for the AI to fill things in as we introduced ourselves, but this was at a level where the AI had already investigated us and written everything on its own.

And that AI was probably Aina-san.

That must mean she was the one who analyzed our combat skills, too. It was reassuring to think that Aina-san would be supporting our school life.

"Next is Mei-san."

"Yes. I’m Sakino Mei. I’m a mage, and I’ve unlocked all attributes for low-tier magic. Like Naoto, I haven’t started exploring dungeons yet, so I can’t use intermediate or higher magic. But I’ve memorized all the magic circles and chants for composite magic."

Whoa! The classroom buzzed with excitement.

FWO was a game where basically every class required player skill. You could cast a spell just by targeting and saying the magic’s name. However, to unleash high-power magic, you needed a ‘magic circle’ and a ‘chant.’

If you didn’t draw the magic circle, the power dropped by twenty percent, and if you omitted the chant, it dropped another thirty percent. In other words, activating a spell with just its name resulted in half its original power.

Conversely, to increase a spell’s power, you could use a magic circle and chant that combined spells with synergistic effects. But unlike basic magic, the guidelines for generating the magic circle didn’t appear for composite magic. You had to memorize it.

Even with low-tier magic, the right combination could defeat a boss from a Grade 4 dungeon. Of course, the more attributes you combined, the more complex the magic circle and chant became, but Sakinon had memorized them all perfectly.

"Assuming the same level of equipment, Mei-san is capable of unleashing the most powerful technique in this class. In the future, when we face an enemy we absolutely cannot defeat, there will be times when we all have to protect her and bet everything on a single powerful strike. We’re counting on you."

"Yes. I’ll do my best!"

"Just two more. Let’s go with Suzuka-san."

"Okay. I’m Hatori Suzuka. My combat class is also a mage, but I’m a healing and support type. I don’t have much fighting power on my own, but Hazuki here and I were FWO rankers as a two-person team. Our party was called Suzutsuki."

Oh, I know them! They were hardcore players who cleared the most difficult dungeons with just two people. They used cute beast-girl avatars, but they were actually women.

"Following that, I’ll introduce myself too. Takemiya Hazuki, fist fighter."

Their style was apparently for Suzuka-san to apply buffs and healing to Hazuki-san as she cleared the dungeon. Their numbers were small, but it felt more solid than the Holy Order Knights party that Kazuma-san belonged to.

Well, eight healers was probably a bit too eccentric.

"You two from Suzutsuki used to clear dungeons as Cat-Eared Maids, right? Um, do you ever wear those outfits in real life?"

Ichinose-san asked the question I was also a little hopeful about.

The healer, Suzuka-san, had a white cat avatar, while the attacker, Hazuki-san, had a black cat beast-girl avatar. Because they were cute and strong, they had their own dedicated thread on anonymous forums, and their live streams sometimes drew tens of thousands of concurrent viewers.

Having FWO’s idols as classmates, this is a seriously exciting development.

Cat-ear equipment and the like have been implemented in reality, but with the compulsory broadcast, not many people challenge dungeons in cosplay.

I thought it would be too much to ask, but...

"Hmm. What should I do?"

"If Hayate-kun really wants me to, I wouldn’t mind clearing dungeons with cat ears on."

"Hey, Hazuki, that’s not fair! I’ll listen to Hayate-kun’s request too."

Th, they’ll do it if I ask!?

FWO’s idols were offering to appear in real life with cat ears. I couldn’t find a single reason to refuse.

"I’d love it if you would, plea...ugh!?"

I felt a cold killing intent from behind me. It was on a level that made me, a ninja, feel my life was in danger.

I turned around to see Rena glaring at me, the flames of intense anger burning in her eyes.

This was bad. I had fallen for the temptation of beautiful older women.

"A, alright. Now that introductions are over, that concludes our morning homeroom! First period is a class at the training grounds, so don’t be late."

With that, Smith-sensei fled the classroom.

"Sh, shall we go too?"

"Yeah. Let’s go."

"I’m heading out first."

"Ryunosuke-kun, wait. Me too."

"Ah, we’re going too."

Everyone left. The only ones remaining in the classroom were me and Rena, who couldn’t contain her aura of fury.

"..."

"..."

The silent space was painful. I was pretty sure if I handled this wrong, it was game over. Was I in more danger now than when the Goddess-possessed Undine was spamming instant-death-level ultimate moves at me?