novelVol 7
| ← Ch.36 | Ch.38 → |
Chapter 1
Chapter 1 —
Closed Circle
Rejuvenation and Aging
——Seven hours must have pa. s. sed since the start of the game with the Old Deus.
Sora was currently running through an alley covered by the darkness of the night.
——There were no stars in the night sky separated by the squares of concrete.
Droplets of a small rain and rough footsteps were hitting the hard asphalt.
A handgun was ready in his hands and the approaching shadow reflected in his eyes——was only the [Enemy].
[————Chh!!]
He clicked his tongue once. Overlaying his sights on the enemy, he pulled the trigger with machine-like thinking.
The hammer stroked the detonator, the explosives' sh. e. l. l casing reacted and detonated——the shock caused his hand to shake.
The supersonic gas born from the conversion to solid phase pushed everything out from inside the gun and made it accelerate——
——The lead blown from the muzzle split the air. The flash of light uncovered the shadow.
With a process in less than milliseconds, it turned into a deadly weapon piercing through the dark night——the lead and the light.
It shot the following shadow with a frightening speed
——hitting the body of the small Warbeast uncovered by the flash of light.
——Yes, it was at the [body]...... He won't aim at the
[head].
The firepower of a handgun from such a weird game couldn't be trusted. No, even with the handgun that Sora knew from the old world, the bullet would slip on the bone with the smallest angle of deviation. That was even more true when it was the cranium, the toughest bone in the human body.
Even more so when the [enemy] wasn't human......
they were Warbeasts and monsters greater than that.
The aim was the triangle made by the jaw and both chests. It'll steal the combat capacity no matter where it hits and, if it hits the center, he can hope damage to the vital organs——Now, what will a coldly and rationally fired bullet pursuing the kill will do he wondered.
It teared into the small Warbeast who slipped on the road with the same speed as when she followed——and turned into a corpse.
——He killed it. That's right, he killed it.
This game is really simple, Sora laughed darkly.
————If the traitor isn't known, then it doesn't matter who it is.
Except his little sister, the only one who definitely won't betray him...... he can simply kill everyone else.
Remove everyone suspected to be a traitor——this incredibly simple answer was this game's theory scenario.
Yes, it's a simple game, Sora covered himself and smiled bitterly.
Simple——but also a game easily surpa. s. sing the very hard, with
Inferno Mode a super degree of difficulty.
That's because the [enemy] was a bunch of monsters one couldn't compete with normally.
Even then, I still can't lose——he had survived until now with that stubbornness.
Sora turned his gaze around and sorted out the situation cautiously.
——It was a Tokyo like the one he saw in the game with the Eastern Union——but, somehow different.
The height of the buildings, the complex back alleys, the objects installed at each place of that map——
Making full use of those advantageous spots, he managed to finish off a large-sized Warbeast, a Dhampir, and a small-sized Warbeast.
All were done in through trickery and shooting:
feigning to be an ally, shooting at their back, luring them out with lies, then sniping them.
While being called [dirty] repeatedly by s. h. i. +ro, he survived until now by not choosing his methods——but.
——That nasty monster who calls itself an angel.
Just that one alone——he didn't feel like it'll work out somehow at all.
After sorting the situation out, he let out a sigh in the back alley, covered his respiration and strained his ears.
Countless footsteps in the distance were slowly getting closer, gradually closing in.
[If I could at least regroup with my sister...... No, I guess even that wouldn't be desirable in this situation, huh. ]
It was a hopeless speech——but, this kind of speech at such a time was obviously a flag.
While thinking that half-expected, half-amazed, Sora's ears captured the footsteps firmly stepping in the back alley.
——He reacted even faster than his thoughts.
Ahead of the aim was the figure of a red-hair girl——
Contrary to Sora's will, the aim wavered.
The girl was suspicious. Rather than suspicious, it's as if it's far harder to search for something that wasn't.
But, Sora put aside those thoughts and eventually spoke some words.
[You, just how did you get inside this area...... No, leave that for later. My sister's together with you, huh. Did you find a countermeasure——]
[Yes...... we found it. ]
——There was no sound, only the shock conveyed.
He understood it in one beat. It seemed the bullet came flying from behind the red-haired girl and pierced his abdomen.
[We should've just done this from the very start......
Isn't that right, Traitor-san?]
[——Wrong...... that was a bluff...... ——!]
Contrary to his will, his body didn't move, his blurry vision captured the shooter of the devilish bullet that pierced through him——
He gasped. The slightly red light from the fire burning the gun barrel reflected the one approaching through the gun's smoke.
The white-haired girl...... for the sake of searching for a way to survive this hopeless game.
She had accompanied the red-haired girl——it was his little sister.
...... Putting Sora aside, whose thoughts froze stopped with his mouth opened, dumbfounded.
[If the one going around killing everyone isn't the traitor, then who would you say it is!?]
Hearing the infuriated scream, "Wrong"...... he replied.
Or he tried to, but, a load of blood overflowed from his mouth and spilled out instead.
[That was...... because if I didn't do so...... At the time, you wouldn't have, protected my sister——]
——Just like a revelation, Sora came to understand it in an instant.
It was within predictions the red-haired girl would betray.
But, the little sister——the one that definitely wouldn't betray him, had betrayed...... then the answer was——
[It was...... you, huh...... the real traitor——the
'fake' was you...... from the very start...... !!]
Exactly——Looking back at her slowly dying brother with mocking eyes——towards that something.
[With my sister's appearance, with her face...... don't turn those trashy eyes to meeeeee————!!]
The red-haired girl swallowed her breath at his wailing scream——but, it was too late.
The flash of light mercilessly illuminated the back alley once again——two times, three times.
The figure of the red-haired girl collapsing on the ground reflected in his already half-blackened vision.
[...... It's a lie, right...... I only, believed——]
——in you, but, her lips stopped midway, the light wouldn't return to her dull eyes ever again.
The white-haired girl——the traitor with the appearance of his little sister slowly approached him.
Hearing the sound of the shoes.. h. i. tting the hard cold asphalt as death approached, Sora finally——concluded.
——Ah. This is a s. h. i. +tty game.
A development where not knowing what will happen is very good. But, super development, you're no good.
When and where was the flag indicating that the fake traitor was the this guy sister?
In the first place, what was that speech——"I only believed in you"?
Say that earlier. A hint that's only collected right before the event can't be called a hint!
[I wonder...... Where did I go wrong...... ? For what reason, did I...... work so hard...... ]
Continuing even after having defined it as a s. h. i. +tty game, Sora sharply agreed with that no-good line.
——Aahh, really, just for what reason did you work so hard for.
Just one thing...... it was "for the sake of his little sister" that he endured Inferno Mode and came this far.
But, if that single thing was fake, then, his efforts and hards. h. i. +ps.
Just for what reason——had he piled up tricks, tactics, and strategies——!?
[Bye, bye Nii...... ]
Just a single shot. The impact told him so, but, the end was slow——the white-haired girl's last voice.
Isolated by the darkness...... lifelessly——echoed.
"...... Nii...... how does it feel...... to die, a virgin?"
————Wait a second.
No, no, seriously wait a second!
"Hey, s. h. i. +ro, that's a lie, right! You're randomly saying whatever you feel like just because Nii-chan can't understand the Warbeasts' language, right!! If you say such reckless things, how will you take responsibility if I accidentally end up crying, huh!?"
——And then, the black-haired young man lost consciousness.
Sora yelled with teary eyes while gazing at that screen, holding the controller.
——Now, it surely doesn't need to be said.
What was reflected on the screen wasn't Sora and s. h. i. +ro, obviously not Steph, either.
Of course, the Old Deus' game——[Sugoroku] didn't have even the slightest relation to it.
——It was right at the beginning, soon after Sora loudly made the [Traitor] declaration.
Sora requested everyone's dice, but they all finished writing their【Tasks】and left through the door.
As if it was obvious. No, extremely natural——saying
[This fight, we'll buy it].
After each of them spoke out their words, feelings, they all threw their own dice, proceeding as they pleased.
Likewise, naturally, Sora and s. h. i. +ro threw their dice and proceeded to aim for their outcome of [62] ——But.
Pa. s. sing through one square, the moment they stepped on the second square, they looked to the sky, then gazed at the nearest house.
——[Ah, this is an impossible game. ]
After nodding to each other, they decided to refres. h. i. +ngly forget about everything, confining themselves inside that house——and played games ran from reality.
...... Thus, suffering their first defeat, the life story of
Kuuhaku
[ ] is now over.
Please wait expectantly for Sora and s. h. i. +ro's next life work.
【THE END】
——Those two went past the sh. e. l. l of the period of life and rushed straight to the afterword.
On one hand, one could see eight dice——the siblings' age had reduced by two-tenths and their limbs had shrunk.
But the Old Deus' game had long since turned into a memory of a previous world, already far beyond the horizon of oblivion.
They found an Eastern Union's [Domestic Game
Machine] in the house they confined themselves in.
——Was there a game? [There are. ]
——Was there a reason to not play it? [None. ]
Thinking for zero seconds, the two of them wordlessly started the game machine and ran from reality refreshed.
Sora, who didn't understand the language of the
Warbeasts——provisionally 14. 4 years old, set the subt. i. tles to ON.
s. h. i. +ro, using Sora's crossed legs as a pillow while playing with the Tablet PC——provisionally 8. 8 years old, read the subt. i. tles out loud.
Seeing his sister's unexpected acting skills, though improvising, she translated all the characters' lines with rich representations——Why doesn't she always speak lucidly like that? Two hours had pa. s. sed since he pulled out such a profound question——But.
After finally throwing away the controller, Sora grabbed the package and growled.
"Even though I expected the Eastern Union would also have 'Zombie Games'...... what a s. h. i. +tty game."
The t. i. tle was [Living or Dead 3 ~ The Price of
Silence]...... apparently. According to s. h. i. +ro.
It also seemed its sequel was a spin-off called [Love or Loved] ——the game they played against Izuna.
This is what happens when one expects something from it and tries playing something from their screwed up senses.
The setting goes like this——The Elves' large-scale magic experiment to resurrect the dead had...... well, it was the usual super failure thing.
The out of control magic gave birth to the living walking dead~ and spread throughout the entire world~
The
Living Dead traitors feigning to be alive were hidden among their friends and~ a game with a high level of stupidity.
That was fine. A stupid game? It's a favorite! ——But.
"Just what kind of decision leads to making a 'Macho
Warbeast Zombie with Wings' considered fine in the head?"
Not a single attack worked, he growled after being reminded of that nasty monster who called itself an angel.
Yes——It was a nasty monster.
He was half-naked, no, that was pretty much fully naked, wearing only a loincloth.
It was the extremely difficult and abnormally weird s. h. i. +tty game with a s. h. i. +tty development at all times but, he still endured it.
All for the sake of the only solace in his mind! The
[Little Sister]! A white-haired loli with cute animal ears!
...... And the result was that——after Sora suddenly remembered the protagonist's speech.
"Where did you go wrong? It's the brain of the staff who made this game that's wrong——"
Throwing away the package, Sora barked while lying on the tatami mat.
Enduring it for the sake of the little sister character, there was a super development where the sister was the
[fake].
As if that wasn't enough, he was killed while she looked at him as if he was trash——
............ Hmm?
"Hm~...... Well, that part was fine. Yeah. On second thought, that was a reward."
"...... Nii, just how much...... do you plan on......
being aggravated...... ?"
He let out a single cough after being looked by his real sister as if she was looking at trash.
"...... Nnnn!...... W-Well, as expected, the problem surely must be this scenario, right......"
He looked at the screen while still sprawled on the ground.
On screen, the protagonist had used his privilege—— no matter how many death flags he raised, they all turn into survival flags, he'd wake up somewhere without displaying any regrets, just like it was written.
But Sora already lost interest in the development after that, so he rolled around and looked at the ceiling.
While emptying his head and s. p. a. cing out, he once again remembered that speech.
——[I wonder...... where did I go wrong...... ], was it.
"...... Suspicion kills everyone——I wonder why'd you think only you wouldn't be betrayed......"
That kind of [ theory common sense]——It's obvious everyone will think the same thing.
"If you betray then, you'll be betrayed. It's just inevitable......"
Exactly——Just like how those guys wrote their【Tasks】after betraying so easily.
Sora clicked his tongue at the same time——he thought about "this situation".
"——Hey s. h. i. +ro, I wonder where did I go wrong......"
"If you're seriously asking that, then shall I. Answer.
You!?"
But the answer he got was a furious roar and——
"Even though you betrayed me and made it impossible for me to return that betrayal! You threw everything at me even after forcefully dragging me, so
Why. Are. You. Holing. Yourself. Up huh——!?"
A red-haired girl rushed inside the room after breaking down the sliding door together with a cart.
Just like Sora and s. h. i. +ro——with eight dice on their chest——she had shrunk to 14. 4 years old.
——The one whose breathing was coa. r. s. e due to yelling was Stephanie Dola.
"See! I acquired the 'cart' you wanted, didn't I!?"
"............ Uh...... m?"
"——What was that about again?"
"You said you wouldn't move unless I brought a cart, didn't you!"
Seeing Sora and s. h. i. +ro's blank response, Steph roared while scratching her head.
"Now, it's fine if I pull it like a cart right, literally like a horse pulling a cart, right!"
Yes, Steph turned the cart around inside the room, taking no for an answer and urged Sora and s. h. i. +ro.
Scooping the surprised two like a shovel to ride the cart——following, literally, the principle of a carriage.
In a way, the BGM "Dona, Dona"
[3] would fit really well.
Steph mercilessly dragged the two recluses out of the room......
——In the second square...... Steph left the cart she was pulling and sprawled on the ground.
It was being used as a bed by s. h. i. +ro, who was using the tablet PC with hollow eyes.
Steph cried out to Sora, who, until about two hours ago, declared the view before him as an [impossible game].
"So? Isn't it about time for me to get a satisfying explanation!?"
"...... About what? Eh, could it be...... about the reason I declared to be the traitor? That was——"
"Yes, yes, it was to fool me the idiot, right~? I already know that!"
Sora answered evasively in an effort to reject the view in front of him but Steph's screaming continued.
"Not even I would fail to see through that stinking lie act so it's really unsettling you thought otherwise!!"
——That's right, there wasn't even a single speck of truth in Sora's [traitor declaration].
With a purity rate of 100%, free of any intent to ever add any element into it——a super lie.
Without being a Warbeast needing the five senses to uncover the lie——
Even Steph knew it was a third-rate act.
But——That was exactly why.
Steph didn't know what she was supposed to do.
——[I don't know what Sora's real intentions are......
but]
——[I believe——he won't let anyone die or kill each other. ]
She extended out her nine dice to Sora together with such a lame speech.
——While trembling with a pale face. She transferred her existence's time——"her life".
Knowing one's life is fading away surely must cause an incredible amount of fear...... but.
If this game was all about the [ dice life] decreasing as one proceeds, then.
Which one was better...... That——or stealing from those close to you and indirectly killing them?
Putting the fear on the scales, she swallowed her patheticness, but, even so, she still decided to do it——
"When I finally decided to hand over the dice, it backfires on me! Everyone keenly made that eloquent traitor declaration!!"
——[I'll buy that fight, desu!] Izuna spoke in a cute way.
——[It's an honor for me to be able to challenge
Master. ] Jibril said so reverently.
——[I'll make you regret throwing salt on my wounds, got it?] Plum said mysteriously.
——And Ino said [Die]...... really, it was straight- forward, without beating around the bush——
"There's also what you said when you guys threw your own [ dice lives] unhesitatingly——when all I could do was watch!!"
While that was happening, Steph already handed over nine dice——nine-tenths of her life.
Basically, Steph had returned to a single die's worth of age...... [1. 8 years old].
Sora had gained nine dice' worth of time and was now
[34. 2 years old].
Together with s. h. i. +ro, he smiled——a smile so nice it even looked creepy, at Steph.
——[Hm, the amount of dice age held only affects the body, holding more than ten makes you grow older. ]
——[...... Then, Nii...... now that you...... confirmed that...... there's no problem...... ]
——[Right. Then——now, we'll have you "travel together" with us, alright. ]
——[...... If you don't...... want to, then...... it's fine, too...... ]
——[But then, you'll have to wait here all alone and sad, with only one dice——]
——[...... Because, we want to...... wait until, everyone dies...... then...... right❤]
——[Ah, also. If no one gets to the top, then everyone besides the leading player will die. Of course❤]
"——My feelings when you two threatened me and used me! Answer everything within ten characters!!"
Hearing the roaring Steph, Sora went Hmm...... and scratched his jaw.
Within ten characters, now that's a quite a challenge
——but.
"...... I think...... it's...... 'Not doing it'......"
"Oooh, s. h. i. +ro! That's exactly ten characters!! As expected of the Crossword Master!!"
"You. Are. Super. Correct~❤——I'll snap if you don't cut it out already!?"
Steph rioted by rocking and rattling the cart when s. h. i. +ro immediately answered.
"Ahhhh wait, wait I say! That was obviously because all that was absurd, right!?"
"Right, right, now that I think about it, it was obvious, wasn't it——!"
Steph shouted deprecatingly in a single breath.
"Even if Sora gathers the dice, you can't be separated from s. h. i. +ro, isn't that right!? Only a fool would fall for such a bait, right! And I'm the only one who did that, right!!"
——Yes. From the start, Sora and s. h. i. +ro were a "rule left untouched intentionally" ——In other words.
04: In the case of [traveling together], after declaring so, the travelers will only move in accordance to the outcome of one person the representative.
05. In the case the number of players moving together surpa. s. ses two people, an [Overall Number of
Travel CompanionsxAttendants]'s worth of dice will be removed from the number of dice used.
——If the [traveling together] rule isn't used, they cannot proceed.
Even more so when there's a reaction to possessing more than ten dice by growing older.
Everyone's dice——he would be [115. 2 years old] if the sixty-four dice were to gather at Sora——normally, he'd become senile.
That's why they followed the rule and added the [9 dice] he got by deceiving Steph to s. h. i. +ro's [9 dice].
After declaring they would travel together, they threw twenty-eight dice——it decreased by six, two per person.
"...... Cheer up, already...... We properly returned your dice, right...... ?"
It was redistributed in a way so each person would possess eight dice——but.
"Why did you make everyone betray each other!! I'll keep making a fuss until I get an explanation, you know!?"
It indicated Sora's objective was consistently——[to draw Steph over to his side].
...... And——
————To have [her a. s. sistance in betraying the others], none other than that.
It was the same as Sora had said, where they would kill each other——a situation he wanted to avoid.
While Steph was shouting why it did it "lead to this",
Sora——did this.
"Hyaah!? W-What...... are you doing?"
Sora held her cheeks with his hands and forcefully made her face him, then he gazed into her eyes.
Forgetting her anger, her face was red without realizing, Sora, with a gaze full of sincerity—— announced.
"Believe and just leave it to me. With the power of love, courage, and friends. h. i. +p, everyone will——prevail."
————.
"...... You're waiting for a retort, right? Can I ask you to reflect on your own past?"
When asked by one who lied betrayed and made them betray intentionally, what would be a sufficient reply to "please believe in me"?
Steph answered that question, that dilemma, while looking down at him with an icy gaze.
"Wha...... Why, why don't you believe me!? What are you doubting about this purely-pure me who's that pure!?"
"While I'm at it, I also want you to reflect on the present, alright!? More specifically, where you're currently using me as a cart horse!!"
Sora's expression was so filled with acting, Steph continued pursuing.
He had held Steph's head and spoke with sincerity
——Indeed, that sounded really good.
But in reality, he had forcibly turned her around and was currently making her pull the cart so to speak.
——Her expression questioned whether there was any element besides [distrust] in this.
"Right. That's it. That's the answer."
But, Sora spread his arms out and——exalted.
"Did everyone agree on a game where you can win if you trust and cooperate with each other? Even though I'm here!? In a game with Miko-san's life as the price, would everyone readily agree and believe in stuff like love and friends. h. i. +p? If the winner can only be the one that reaches the goal, then would they definitely move so we
[ ] end up winning——even though I'm here!? Hmm~~!?"
——He emphasized it twice.
"Are you trying to say that everyone will believe in me?" ——Using his own lack of trust as basis.
After being affirmed it was impossible to not betray,
Steph turned to the heavens and cried out.
"What should I do about this...... there's nothing but persuasion......"
This game held seemingly complicated rules and many seemingly weird places——but, in truth, it's quite simple.
Fifth of the [Ten Oaths] ——The challenged party has the right to decide the contents of the game.
Since memories before the game aren't there, they don't know whether the challenged one was the Old Deus or not.
But, in any case, to begin the game——"everyone's consent" was a major prerequisite.
Did that lineup agree to a cooperative game with memory loss and Miko's death as compensation——?
——There's no way such a prerequisite would be accepted, right?
"If the premise can't be accepted, then it's a simple story, right——?"
Rolling around in the cart once again, Sora put s. h. i. +ro on his chest and laughed.
If it's based on the premise that there's an "improbable prerequisite" among the rules, then——
"It means that there are falsehoods within the rules."
"...... Something...... that was in the first explanation...... but wasn't in the second one......"
"...... The second one...... you say?"
"This is a game started by【Pledging the Oaths. 】It started after confirming the rules, but the memories were erased——There's a dif erence between the rules explained and the rules in the [Traitor]'s memories."
Yes, Sora answered without care.
Purposely starting the game after [erasing memories before the game] and only disclosing the rules after that.
On top of that, clearly stating someone whose memories weren't erased was a [traitor]——it's hard to not doubt it.
"But, well, frankly speaking——something like that doesn't really matter."
——It didn't matter who the traitor was...... No, to be precise.
That lineup, everyone agreed and started the game
——and there were rusksacks on their backs.
The dif erence between the memories don't matter, since just that tells us everything. ——Sora laughed fearlessly.
Everyone cooperating with each other was something impossible, far more stupid than the premises.
——It was far more possible for things to go this way, right?
"All of us started this game a. s. suming we all would betray each other——and, "
If we that lineup were to agree to something, it would be with this, right?
"——Every single one of us prepared a scenario where we, ourselves, would be the ones to win...... ♪"
Sora laughed pretentiously in a loud voice—— proclaiming that he was clean.
"——Therefore! Cleanly, correctly and beautifully!
Overflowing with sincerity! This humble me named Sora, a virgin and 18 years——due to having eight dice, provisionally 14. 4 years old! Took the liberty to make an oath, as the representative of the Players!"
He spoke with a smile while standing up and moving around his hands in a huge act——In other words.
"Oath. We, in accordance with the rules hereby swear br>
/>——to betray fair and square, like that."
——No trust could win against their confidence that
"they will definitely betray them."
That's why it was an oath to make them remember that.
Steph stopped and turned around without turning the cart and yelled.
"I won't accept, something like that...... In the end, that's just killing...... I won't consent!!"
"Right? That's why it also confirms the 'falsehood within the rules'."
But, while still speaking like that, once again, he sat in the cart and answered with a creepy, bitter smile.
Rules which not a single one of them would agree to will all be [false]——In other words.
"We agreed on betraying each other. We even took the initiative."
——But.
"We didn't agree to kill each other——that was all."
——Once again, the sound of the wheels of the cart rolling echoed.
Sora laughed on the inside at Steph's silence, who couldn't refute but wasn't satisfied, either.
It's natural for
Steph someone with common sense to be unsatisifed with that——if Sora's principle was broken down, after all.
In the name of her grandfather, if one looked into it with uncovered and clean eyes.
——[All the mysteries were solved; the culprits are us!] ——it'll be like this.
Indeed, certainly it's a game that would be impossible to trust and cooperate with these members.
But, for Steph, it was too much to simply say that
[betraying each other is the right answer], so......
"There's no choice but to betray each other——It's impertinently putting on the airs of a [Prisoner's
Dilemma]."
Sora commented ironically, Steph turned around while pulling the cart.
"...... Prisoner's Dilemma...... you say?"
——If everyone cooperates and someone manages to win, then maybe everyone's lives will be saved.
——But, if you betray, then you can win yourself.
——The moment everyone thinks that, the chances of everyone losing increases......
"It's a famous example in our previous world, but......
To put it simply——"
————A detective brings a certain possible deal to
Prisoner A and Prisoner B.
【1】If both of them remain quiet, then, both of them will receive a [prison sentence of 2 years].
【2】If one of them confess, the one who confessed will be [released] while the other who remained quiet will receive a [prison sentence of 10 years].
【3】But, if both of them confess, both will receive a
[prison sentence of 5 years].
If the prisoners believe in each other and remain quiet, they'll get away with the better result——a [prison sentence of 2 years].
But as long as the prisoners pursue their own benefit, it will definitely become a [prison sentence of 5 years].
If one of them betrays the other and confesses, the one who confessed will be [released] and the one who remained silent will receive a [prison sentence of 10 years].
Then the option of keeping quiet——in actuality, doesn't exist.
There's no other choice but to bet on the possibility the other will remain quiet while confessing. By doing that
At worst, the [prison sentence of 10 years] can be evaded, if lucky, they'll be [released].
——This is the reason it's called a dilemma.
On top of that, in this game, the Old Deus had politely told them——there was a [traitor].
Using that example, it would be the same as saying
[however, one has already confessed].
If someone had already betrayed before the game even started, then believing each other was——"
meaningless impossible".
"So that's why you said to betray? Isn't that exactly what the [detective] wants?!"
Indeed, it's meaningless to believe in each other and there's no other choice besides betraying each other.
But isn't doing that exactly what the [detective]—— what the Old Deus wanted?
——That "pointing straight out the heart of the problem" att. i. tude really wasn't like her at all.
But, she wasn't even aware she was doing it so Sora laughed——and corrected her.
"No, that's exactly what we want. In truth, this example doesn't establish itself as a dilemma, you see."
".................. What?"
"By betraying and believing in each other, instead of the 'better result', we get the 'best result'♪"
Sora and s. h. i. +ro gave a thin smile onminously distorted
——that is, and continued.
This game——No, this game, too.
Sora and s. h. i. +ro, Imanity's strongest gamer,
Kuuhaku
[ ]'s, policy, their existence itself revealed everything.
Both past and future, no matter the opponent, it was an unwavering fact of the present——Namely.
"No matter what game it is, even before starting——"
"...... We've already won...... that's...... all."
They pulled everything into their hands and all attempts were within it.
Not even G. o. d was missing from the compilation thread
The eyes of the two who arrogantly said that, fearlessly and irreverently, saw Steph's trembling shoulders and——
"............ Well, that's only if we're able to see the end of the game, right...... hahaha, haa......"
"............ s. h. i. +ro...... can't stand it, anymore......
want to...... go home......"
——The next moment, they could see her shoulders dropping.
In Sora and s. h. i. +ro's sharp and irreverent eyes——in their eyes that moved unconsciously.
It was the hard truth they avoided looking directly upon——Basically, it captured the [Game Board] in the sky.
In an instant, they left behind a voice tired of a cloudy life and sank into the cargo.
"...... Ah, Uhm. If you're going to act cool, then, could you please do it until the very end?"
Strength suddenly left Steph and she panted with her eyes half open, but, Sora declared inside his heart.
Defeat
Death]——through the loss of all dice is
——impossible.
Losing due to stealing and betrayal is——even more impossible.
But——
"The stealing and betrayal 'doesn't matter' you know...... there's a different cause of loss for us."
With a raping eye, he threw away everything that happened until now saying it "doesn't matter."
But, without giving Steph any time to process, Sora, with a pensive expression——continued.
"...... But really, this isn't even funny; that really is the most probable—— defeat ending......"
Gazing at the interminably giant [Game Board], he spoke.
It was——
"——————[Starvation. ]"
——.
————It was urgent.
They felt inside a cruel and merciless silence...... but.
"...... E~Eeehh? Ahm...... What do you mean?"
"Ha, haha...... I vaguely doubted it, but, you really haven't noticed?......"
"............ Ignorance is bliss...... those are profound words...... right......"
Towards Steph who was tilting her neck, Sora and s. h. i. +ro smiled——but, with eyes of a dead fish——
"Ah, attention all pa. s. sengers~! Could you please look to your left~?"
Even though the ones riding on something were Sora and s. h. i. +ro.
Steph turned her gaze to beyond Sora's left hand, who was extending it like a bus guide.
What laid beyond it was "land" ——and the Eastern
Union's countless islands visible on the ocean.
——It was on the left. Not below or above. There was a land to their left.
"Continuing, could you please look to your right~?
——Now, I wonder what do you see?"
What she saw was what the Old Deus had created, the absurdly huge——[Sugoroku] game board.
The square continent floated on air without any support, drew a spiral, pierced the clouds, and stretched high into the sky.
——It was something that's seen a lot on television games where the stage was set in a fantasy world.
A load of rock going against gravity and floating on air
——a field where one walks forward atop it.
Be it F〇9's last dungeon or Ra〇n or Ji〇
Kingdom
[4]
, well, anything is fine.
Now then, walking above that rock, let's slowly try to turn it sideways by 90°.
If it obeys common sense, we would fall. But since this lacks common sense, let's a. s. sume we won't fall.
That stupid load of rock goes around picking a fight with gravity, pretending to be a [square]. After each of them stretch itself to the size of a city, extending throughout s. p. a. ce, overlapping a few hundreds of them in a spiral
——The boldness of it to pretend it's a [Sugoroku Board]
——Well, you see the image, right?
The impression leaving your mouth, even though you try to hide it, wasn't [beautiful] even by mistake——
".................. It's an absurdly huge game board
That's right, it's absurd. It's also huge.
"Ye~s it's an absurdly huge game board! Now, what's our current position after we've walked for five hours!?"
"............ The second square, right."
Yes, the second square——In other words, they were on the [second rock].
"That's~~ ri~ght~! Basing on the above——Now!
Let's fully answer the question that you asked when you broke through the house's door a while ago!!——In other words! 'Why did we confine ourselves there?'!!"
After sucking in an incredibly long breath.
"It's too uselessly huge and slowwwwww! If we crossed a single square after walking for five hours——
Just how many days, how many months will it take until we set foot on the dice's outcome, the [62 nd
] square~!"
——aree, ree......
...... ee......
In the s. p. a. ce called uselessly broad.
Sora's useless complaint uselessly piled up echoes...... and uselessly disappeared vainly.
"It's the Old Deus' game, so, it's obvious it'll be ridiculous......"
Indeed, Sora scorned at Steph's cursing as she pulled the cart.
"Haahn!! She must be a really s. h. i. +tty game maker to mistake a map uselessly big and cool as something interesting. Did she think replacing [ development costs money ] with
[power] would complete this a spectacularly s. h. i. +tty game!?"
That's exactly what you'd normally think of when a capital is purposely created in the sky of a fantasy world.
Indeed, it's impossible to imagine how much power was necessary to make something like that possible——
But.
Why! Especially! Must that continent! Float in the sky!
To sell a good fight with gravity is definitely a [waste of power] when there's no need to.
Sora affirmed before the deed that could literally be called a [work of G. o. d].
——Wouldn't a virtual s. p. a. ce be enough?
"Moreover, even with all these fields, there not even a
'straight road railway', and as if that wasn't enough, 'the road is long'...... this is the worst landmine pretending to be an open world......"
——In the end, it isn't load-free.
About two hours ago——before Sora and s. h. i. +ro declared it to be an [impossible game] and confined themselves.
While aiming for the outcome of the dice——the
[62 nd
] square, they walked away for five hours.
After finally crossing the first square, at the square's end——he stood at the division of the land.
They moved onto the next square with the time used in a cup noodles' timer.
As they moved onto the [second square], s. h. i. +ro, faintly breathing——murmured.
——[...... The number of footsteps, until here......
were 20, 834 steps...... ]
Mathematics, too, were out of Sora's area of expertise, but, any words beyond that point was unnecessary.
s. h. i. +ro's current height was 131cm——her step length was about 0. 48m
[5]
.
The size of one square calculated from there is—— surprisingly, about [10km
[6]
].
The several kilometers between each square is moved through teleportation. The [ascending squares] are excluded as crossing isn't necessary.
This game board piercing the heavens in a spiral has
——[350] squares——In other words.
"...... It's [3, 500km
[7]
] until the goal...... walking with your own feet. Without any fast travel."
Seeing Steph's expression as if it still hadn't hit her,
Sora turned towards her with a difficult smile.
Then, will she get it if I say it this way?
That it's almost the same distance as crossing
America or making a full lap around Honshu in j. a. pan
——No...... ?
For an inhabitant of this world, I should make this kind of comparison, huh.
"...... It's the same as going from Elkia's western border to
Kannagari the Temple of the Priestess——do you get it this way?"
After Sora said that, this time for sure, the lights disappeared from Steph's eyes.
There's no way for Steph to not know about it when she was in charge of politics, diplomacy, and trade.
It was a distance even Elkia's open sea sailing s. h. i. +p which took pride in its max speed would take on average
——half a month.
Naturally during that time, it'll be on of -roads, outdoors, in direct sunlight; furthermore, if the dice decreases, with a child's feet.
With such conditions, you'd ask 'Why did you confine yourself?'
If I had to say it, it was a question as stupid as asking why do moles dive into the ground——
"...... This game. If you have only one die left, you cannot proceed any further. Basically, unless someone ascends or everyone has only one die left without reaching zero——it won't end."
It was a super drawn out war game continuing endlessly......
The more it's prolonged, the greater the probability of everyone losing——besides
Jibril that absurd living being who needs no food or sleep.
Yes, he let out a dry smile that was almost giving a rustling sound.
Why did Sora forget about it all, threw everything away, and confined himself? ——He now announced the reason.
"For starters, there's no way we can walk such a distance, right!? I'm a flesh and blood human, you see!? For a person, a living being who gets hungry and tired, it's a distance that would normally and inevitably kill him!!!"
——In the distant past, starting from the southern end of Africa, humanity had crossed the majestic Eurasia.
It's said they reached the
Americas
New Continent beyond the
Pacific Ocean by going along Indonesia on a wooden boat.
But, the strength of such a primordial humanity had long since been lost by its descendants.
Much less when it led to the poster child of civilization——the hikikomori gamer, there isn't even a residue left.
One square...... They almost died walking 10km—— this is the modern human. This is reality.
It didn't matter if they already confirmed their victories before the game even started.
That only applied if they managed to see it to the end, right?
Low physical abilities, due to the time elapsed, elements unrelated to the game itself——"self- destruction".
To Sora and them, this was the most unreasonable, therefore realistic, hypothetical defeat conclusion they could expect.
Once again facing despair with s. h. i. +ro, he glanced at
Steph who just now also fell into the same despair.
He smiled bitterly, suddenly, the protagonist's speech of that game floated once again in the back of his brain.
——[I wonder...... where did I go wrong...... ]
He answered Steph's question about why he had confined himself, but——it was different.
——They're challenging a G. o. d.
——They're in the middle of mutual betrayal.
——They lose their life if all their dice is lost.
——They lose their life if they get defeated.
Even if such fearful sentences were heard and lined together——
——They'll die if they get hungry.
Before this single too realistic line——and therefore, easily understandable sense of danger.
Sora questioned that, which allowed him to put everything else aside with just a "it doesn't matter."
——Just where did I go wrong to agree with such a rule?
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
——Still on the second square.
Nine hours had pa. s. sed from the start of the game......
there was quietness.
Inside the long and continuing silence, all that echoed were the rustling of trees and the chirping of birds.
The sound of the cart wheels rolling couldn't be heard anymore.
Before the irrefutable reality, even Steph had stopped pulling the cart and crouched down.
Confronted with reality once more, Sora laid in the cart and watched the dusk without moving an inch.
Contrary to the calm scenery, if that view was made into a painting and a t. i. tle is added on——it'd be [The
End].
But, a small voice above Sora's chest rejected decorating a museum with it.
——Until now, it was only working endlessly.
The small hope was using the tablet PC the entire time, with the resolution to exhaust the battery.
".................. Nii...... I finished, calculating......"
Saying so, she showed the dazzling tablet PC's screen to her brother——with a smile s. h. i. +ning several times more.
——Showing to her brother a hope that released more light than the stars.
"——Woaaaaahhhh d. a. m. n yeah!! Both the Old Deus and Tet should just eat s. h. i. +t!!! Ah, whose line was it again?
——G. o. d is always in my heart——or more specifically, on my chest!!"
"Hyaaaaah w-w-what's going on! I-It hurts, you know!?"
Sora had raised a strange voice from above the cart while carrying his little sister, correction, a G. o. ddess, up.
The cart tilted and the handle had bounced strongly and hit Steph in the face.
But, he was sure the "harm" would be treated as
"negligence" by the [Ten Oaths] ——therefore!
Sora splendidly ignored her protests, giving s. h. i. +ro a piggyback ride, he smiled and turned the tablet to Steph.
——He should've apologized for the negligence but, since those two were the antonyms of common sense,
Steph made a resigned face——
"...... A 'world map'? What are those...... red, oblique lines?"
"The map of this game board——It's the drawing of the 'part of the land the Old Deus copied'!"
The [first square] they crossed and the currently
[second square] ——
The two and the potential squares forming the spiral were joined together as seen from the land drawn on the map.
s. h. i. +ro indexed the distance ratio and the s. p. a. cing of all
350 squares and, just in case, the overall length of
3, 500km.
It was a map that indexed this game board, copied from the land, from its starting point to the end.
"...... This...... Is it really something that great?"
Seeing such a pitiful and ordinary person who couldn't understand the feat of the G. o. ddess, Sora screamed appalled.
"Y-You, look carefully——There are no mountains, straits, or deserts!! Not to mention, this is a farming region!?"
——Exactly, if one goes by the map s. h. i. +ro indexed.
This game board was the Eastern Union's former continental territory——north-northeast from the center of the Lusia
[8] continent.
Grazing the
Sanctuary
Inviolable Area, it crossed the territory of
Elven Garde and lead to Elkia.
With Sora and the other's equipment...... the terrain wasn't "physically impossible for one to travel by foot"!
Even more so——this [second square] was Eastern
Union's former territory that's now Elkia's farming region on the southeast border.
"Then, we still have a chance to win survival route——!!"
Sora, who had overcome despair, was ready start walking, jumped down from the cart while carrying s. h. i. +ro.
I see, it still won't change that it's a journey of
3, 500km.
Although unfortunate, we don't have any residue of the old humanity's strength——but.
"In that case, let's just go like a modern person would.
With the method of making something else walk for us!!"
"It's about me, right, it's about me, isn't it!?"
"Listen to me, cart horse! It's about catching a 'leg' and making it pull the cart!"
"As expected, it's really about me, isn't it! You said
'cart horse' just now, didn't you, so you already caught one!!"
Putting aside Steph who making a fuss, Sora picked up something stacked in the cart——In other words.
"Alright, s. h. i. +ro——Let's go ' bag capture' a horse or maybe a cow."
"...... Got it...... Understood......"
He let a dangerous smile float on his face as he held a hoe and a rope.
"Y-You're going to steal!? That's——N-No, good or bad thing aside, with the [Ten Oaths] it's——"
But, the restricting voice of common sense was answered with the smiling embodiment of the lack of.
"...... Hey, how about you look back to our actions until now?"
Property invasion, unauthorized use of equipment.
The presumption is——
"Even you 'stole' that cart and committed 'property destruction' by flas. h. i. +ly destroying that door, right?"
"——Gahh!...... H-Huh?"
Steph finally seemed to have noticed and Sora smiled bitterly.
——If the Old Deus created this land game board from nothing, then——it's not supposed to have a house.
But, "gouging it" from the ground wouldn't end with just an uproar on rights infringement, it'd violate the
[Oaths].
Even if it's an Old Deus, the [Ten Oaths] are absolute, then this place——
"It's a stage the Old Deus 'copied' from the ground...... everything existing here is a 'replica' of what's on the ground and as such, it's no one's possession
——That's why the [Ten Oaths] didn't apply."
——Therefore, there aren't any other people
Exceeds, targets of the [Oaths], in this place besides the game partic. i. p. ants.
——Therefore, there are living beings exempt from the [Oaths] here——like birds, trees, and since it's a farming region, cows and horses.
With the exception of the partic. i. p. ants——you're free to burn or cook everything inside this game!
"There~fore! Let's first go catch a 'leg' to tie to this cart and make it pull it."
...... Although, doing that isn't as simple as saying, but, he swallowed those words.
"Ah, so you really didn't plan to make me pull it all the way......"
"...... Are you thinking that I'm the kind of person who would make someone pull a cart for 3, 500km?"
"I thought so without a doubt until a while ago. Now,
I've slightly changed my opinion of you."
"You know...... If I did that, you would become exhausted, right......"
——If he were to commit such a mistake——
"Then who would pull the cart next!? You should try to think with some common sense!!"
"Isn't that right~❤ I knew it, let's just say goodbye to that change of opinion ♪"
——Everything was decided by games——It was a world Tet reasoned was a utopia.
It was extremely unwilling the two hikikomoris accepted physical labor.
——But, if it was to win the game, then, it couldn't be helped.
If it's made into a demonstration in the previous world, they wouldn't even confine themselves, thinking flexibly.
...... Sighing, looking to the left outside the game—— gazing at the ground surface of the sea, Sora stood alone.
"Speaking of which, I wonder when Kurami and Fiel will be joining this game."
"What? It's a game starting by 'pledging to the oaths', right? They can't join in the middle of——"
"I'll be troubled if they don't. Besides, intruding in the middle of a game is a form of art, right?"
Steph asked dubiously, but Sora answered meaningfully while only smiling——
"——Alright, I wonder which farm animal will thereby become Imanity's sacrifice?"
"...... Nii...... s. h. i. +ro, likes horses...... but, like cows, even more......"
Making the rope creak, Sora and s. h. i. +ro looked around for a target not included in the [Ten Oaths]
——Essentially.
They were searching for a pitiful livestock stripped of its [right to live], becoming prey for the
Exceed
Sixteen Races
——
"...... s. h. i. +ro, s. h. i. +ro~...... won't you wipe your drool...... ?"
Steph's eyes, seeing the two predators, changed into the way one looks at demons, but——she was ignored.
Overwork them as legs, eat them when starving——!!
That was why it was limited to horses or cows.
This game, the first and absolute condition was to live...... it's time to show the humans' dirty way of living...... !
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
A large flower bloomed in the open sea.
The giant flower spread its petals on the sea's surface as if to cover and conquer the waves——it was a [s. h. i. +p].
There wasn't a mast or a paddle, not even the sound of a propeller, much less a flag indicating its affiliation, but.
The flower bed's carving trajectory on the sea's surface——That diverse scenic view eloquently spoke of its affiliation.
——Elven Garde.
Woven with the magic of the Elves——riding on the drifting "fragrance" instead of water——a flower.
Floating above the flower, the land, the sea, making flowers bloom to further advance, the floating flower——
Vár Pullum
Flower Vessel
[9]
].
It wasn't just a single s. h. i. +p elegantly and soundlessly conquering the harsh ocean.
A countless number of
Vár Pullums flower vessels from the west turned toward the eastern sea and were now crossing the ocean.
They formed orderly ranks, speeds aligned, and their trajectory drawing multicolored flowers on the sea's surface.
They formed a flower garden giant fleet extending for dozens of kilometers, from the first one to the last one.
Large, red roses was leading the fleet——a single
Vár Pullum flower vessel.
On the bow of that vessel was a black haired human figure.
The sea breeze disturbing her black hair and veil, the dark girl glaring sharply at her destination was——
"............ *hik-choo*"
She was repeatedly letting out a cute sneeze.
"*Hi——hik-choo*! I-It's cold...... it's cold here,
Fii!?"
"Kurami—? Stop trying to look cool and come inside~You'll catch a cold, you know?"
She said towards the black-haired Imanity girl trembling with her nose running——to Kurami Zell.
The golden-haired Elf girl, Fiel Nirvalen, hugged her closer and spread her shawl.
While coming down from the bow, the black-haired girl asked.
"Uu...... and then, Fii? Just how much longer it looks like it will take?"
"Hm~ with this progress...... it seems it'll take more than half a month~"
"Ugh...... even though it's a distance that normally wouldn't take even an entire day to reach......"
"It's a antique flower vessel, you know? It took time to both gather them and make them move~"
——I know that.
Going by air, not sea——The Elves' principle transport, any place on earth would be like their
"neighborhood".
For Elves, something like a s. h. i. +p moving above water was nothing more than an obsolete antique of a distant past.
But now, these slow antiques were extremely necessary——Kurami clicked her tongue.
——It must've been a few months since she started acting separated from Sora and the others.
Meanwhile, she endlessly piled the collapse of Elven
Garde——the culmination was this.
The greatest marine trade port in the Elven territory
——Tilnog, where influential merchants and related companies established a force in the province, reaching even the Govenor.
She tricked them into a game then, gripping their weaknesses, changed the leaders and silently attacked them.
In order to transfer the Senate and make the province move, she even took the majority of the guilds, the House, and the Senate's consent vote.
——Everything was for this moment.
——For this timing occasion when those two were challenging the Old Deus.
For the sake of the siblings moving far beyond the a. s. sumption, she too, had had to accomplish quite the impossible.
That also applied to the numberless dangerous bridges she had to run through——But——
"...... If we don't make it in time, it'll all go down the drain——if that happens, then everything will——"
"It'll be too late for anything...... I understand that,
Kurami......"
Fiel hugged Kurami, who was biting her nails from impatience, as she replied as if to soothe her.
——That's right. This game won't end without us
——no.
Kurami glared at the giant land floating on the horizon
——the Old Deus' game board and bit her lips.
The destination she was leading the huge fleet to was below it——the Eastern Union.
In the spiral's center——She won't allow it to end without her in the center of the game.
"...... Fii, can you see what those two are doing right now?"
"Yes I can~ Obviously, I can see it~♪"
At Kurami's words, the irises of Fiel's eyes and the gem on her forehead glowed faintly.
Her tone of voice and smile spoke of her extremely natural, yet, arrogant confidence.
——With her using hexacaster the Six Layers Formula, there's no event within the horizon she couldn't see through.
...... But.
"I 'see' them, you see~ but, I don't really~ understand
'what they are doing'."
"...... Huh? What does that mean?"
"Hmm, they're stabbing a horse with a rod——ah, they found a stray dog——now they're running while crying."
"————————Really, those guys, just what the h. e. l. l are they doing?"
Not even Fiel could see the answer for that question, which Kurami accidentally let out.
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
——The 34 th square...... it's been forty-two hours since the start of the game.
[
This place
The square] the horse-drawn cart loaded with Sora, s. h. i. +ro and Steph was running through a moist plateau.
According to s. h. i. +ro's map, the duplicated surface was a farther eastern surface of Elkia's reclaimed eastern territory.
The Forest of Spirits——a land virtually grazing on the territory of the Elementals, known as the [
Sanctuary
Inviolable Area].
——Now. Sora had no way of knowing about the murmur faraway on the horizon, but.
While the cart swayed violently, Sora started thinking suddenly, just what the h. e. l. l am I doing?
I'm playing a game against an Old Deus? I'm surviving? ——No.
If he had to say it, then——he would be
[philosophizing]. The theme was...... correct, it was about "rights" ——
——The [Ten Oaths].
It guaranteed the rights, while forbidding all kinds of killing and pillaging——basically, the [Violation of
Rights].
But——"living" by itself meant infringing upon someone else's rights.
...... No one can live alone. They cause trouble for each other and protect each other.
By violating each other's small rights, holding others'rights, having their own rights taken——they finally "live".
And——there'll be a time where they'll definitely reach a certain line which they must definitely protect.
The clash between that [contradiction]——those two incompatible claims rights couldn't be avoided.
That's why the Oaths avoided it——That conflicts contradiction should be solved through games intelligence, not war force.
But, still——as long as one is "living, " that fundamental contradiction cannot be solved.
The contradiction where one can't live if they don't kill eat——if one doesn't violate the life maximum rights, one can't maintain the life minimum rights.
That's why the Oaths solved it——The guarantee of rights only apply to
Exceed intelligent lifeforms.
That's why the right to eat anything besides the
Exceed
Sixteen Races was guaranteed——it solved even that fundamental contradiction.
Aah, just how wonderful the [Ten Oaths] are——!!
——But, I want to wait a little on that praising.
Aren't the [rights] that are being guaranteed—— something that was worked out mutually?
Isn't the [right] to not be harmed, at the same time, a
[duty] to not harm?
Then, wasn't the [right] to harm, at the same time, a
[duty] to be harmed?
Ahh...... how profound, Sora indulged, deeply moved.
"Free will and rights carry responsibility and duty"...... in the
Earth previous world, those words are still being discussed.
But, in this world——if one puts it in a simpler and easily understandable way.
It can be expressed with a single sentence——In other words!
————[You can eat if you want, but, don't complain if you get eaten, alright!?]......
"Uwooooahhhhhh! Hey, can't you raise the cart's speed!?"
"It's a cart made in a hurry, you know!? If the speed is raised even more, it'll flip and fall downnnn!"
"...... N-Nii...... ! Fire, need more...... fire...... !"
Behind the sprinting cart——was a swarm of monsters in pursuit while baring their fangs and claws.
Sora——Maybe it was the last time he held that philosophy in his heart.
He was swinging and throwing torches, struggling hard while clinging to his life.
——They chased a horse, was pursued by a dog, and after painfully managing to repel it, they captured the horse.
While making full use of Steph's riding skill, s. h. i. +ro's design skill, and Sora's precarious Sunday Carpentry skills, by the time they somehow managed to make a subst. i. tute that could possibly be a cart, eighteen hours went by.
At the end of the struggle worth a volume of a book, they left the reigns to Steph and sprawled in the cart.
The sound of the cart's wheels turning lightly acting as a lullaby, they fell into a mud-like sleep——both of them saw a dream.
They had broken through a hurdle they considered to be an impossible game and a pleasant journey started......
Like the saying, "Dreams are fragile things"
——Really, it was so fragile, it already collapsed a few hours ago.
The cause was what they saw when they heard Steph's scream and looked behind——it was due to "
that h. e. l. l".
Like the swarm of death crossing the [12 th square] in pursuit and now——
"Hey!! Could it be if you take one step outside the city in this world, it's a world of serious swords and magic!?
I'll complain about that Tet b. a. s. t. a. r. d to JAR〇
[10] for such deceptive advertising saying 'A utopia where everything is decided by games' you know!?"
——Sora shouted after painfully experiencing the
[Fantasy World] for his first time.
But, it was a field where one's heart seemed about to break just proceeding through that square.
Even so, they thought there was still hope if it wasn't on a terrain impossible to cross by foot...... but.
They didn't hear anything about "Monster Encounter:
ON" ——!!
The distance between the monsters and them were closing in and the hastily made cart was making noises, like it was about to fall apart.
If that happened, the only fate left for them would be...... a dead-end route as [food]......
"Normally, there's no such monsters like thissss! Just where is this place!?"
"...... We're currently...... in the
Sanctuary
Inviolable Area......
near, the 'Forest of Spirits'......"
"Ah! Good news, Sora! The reason they're appearing is because we're on the outskirts of the 'Forest of Spirits'!
If we leave this place, we'll be fin——like I've been saying, please don't try to jump down from the cart!!"
"...... Nii...... Nii, stay alive......"
Sora, due to having too much fear, was about to unconsciously let go of his life and breathed roughly.
——Calm down.
When they were thrown into a super fantasy world
——How did the people from another world survive?
...... The trend was use the ultimate cheat of fighting with a chosen power or something similar...... isn't that right?
But...... Sora took a single glance at the monsters pursuing them and smiled bitterly.
Here we have a hikikomori sheltered girl and a clearly obvious NEET gamer.
They didn't have any experience with such primitive killing intent directed at them, much less being chased as food.
In modern-day j. a. pan, just what kind of lifestyle would one need in order to grow enough guts to face these monsters head on?
——A cheat-like sword technique? Cheat magic? Or was it superpowers? ——Wrong, right.
It's wrong, isn't it, it wasn't like that, right, definitely none!
Humans——we——aren't a race that fights like that, right——!?
Facing the oncoming death, Sora put more strength into the hand holding his little sister's.
"...... s. h. i. +ro. If I return to Elkia...... I'll make them develop the technology of [sniper rifles]......"
With distant eyes, he raised such a flag.
——It would from a distance, one-sidedly, without allowing counterattacks, certainly, reliably——kill them.
That's how the animal called human fought, Sora was convinced of that——but.
"...... Rejected......"
She instantly rejected her older brother's proposal.
"...... Nii, how about we burn this place...... ? Let's drop highly efficient explosives on it......
Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane
C6N12H6O12
[11]
, every day?"
Sora felt a s. h. i. +ver at the suggestion she made with her eyes s. h. i. +ning unnaturally.
——Don't say something as naïve as firearms.
——Shall we burn down this forest every day from now on?
——Let's just bomb this area with an aircraft, plow it and turn it into an empty land?
She's really a genius, huh——As expected of my prided little sister.
Right, that's exactly how humans——
————An impact.
His thoughts escaping out of control were brought back to reality.
The reality where the claw drawn by one of the monsters teared through the wooden cart like b. u. t. ter.
Hmm, it seems like it really won't end up simply as a joke, he thought.
"My bad, s. h. i. +ro...... seems like I messed up somehow.
It really seems to be 'Game Over'."
Murmuring that, Sora started a. n. a. lyzing the result, the reason of their defeat with no light in his eyes.
——Where did I go wrong?
For challenging G. o. d? Did he take the handicap known as survival too lightly?
Or was it that he dared to be born even though he was just a mere virgin? ——
While Sora was fading into dusk with a dry smile, s. h. i. +ro quietly spoke.
"...... Nii...... how does it feel...... to die, while still a virgin...... ?"
"Ah~...... It's a regret so huge, it makes me feel like dying, to say the least...... haha......"
Aaah...... humans are weak.
They lose and lose again, keep losing, then they bite the dust in disappointment, just to look back at the cause of their loss, full of regret.
Even so, they still think "next time, next time without fail" and keep walking forward——until the day they finally win arrives.
Sora collected his reflections and problems——
Next
In the next world, first, let's aim to graduate from being a virgin.
I have no clue how I'll do that, but...... well, let's entrust that to the me of the next world. Fight.
——Sora threw out his limbs with no strength, finis. h. i. +ng the result conclusion of his life.
"Nii......"
Sitting across from Sora, s. h. i. +ro whispered thinly.
With a distance so even her breathing could be felt, she lowered her face to hide her red-dyed cheeks.
"...... Then...... before dying...... since it'll happen, anyway......"
s. h. i. +ro exposed her white skin underneath her clothes while her moist eyes were burning——
——Now, then. Sora the virgin, age of death: 18 years old.
What should be done normally in this situation—— his immediate reply: do nothing.
It's s. h. i. +ro. His little sister. 11 years old——right now, she's down by two dice so, provisionally 8. 8 years old.
Would there be an uproar over how she's out of elements for that role or drop into a preach about a maiden's skin?
But——facing real death before him, Sora a. s. serted without even noticing he was confused and confirmed.
——It was in a weekend movie theater.
Those s. h. i. +tty people satisfied with their real lives deliberately have s. e. x when under extreme life or death situations.
The mood breaking behaviors of the viewers and the production, Sora was doubting for quite a while.
It would be fine if they just died like that, or so he thought——but, he was the one who was wrong.
I see——Those guys...... everyone——
——They were all virgins——!
If I'm going to entrust it to the next world, then, certainly, I would think about it before dying, right!?
Sympathizing with Hollywood more than ever, Sora extended his hands towards the warm skin before him.
"Hey, you thereee! What are you doing in the rear at such a time————"
It happened in an instant.
Twice——a roaring sound resounded, making the cart jump as the group dance in the air.
What happened——without even being granted time to consider the question, he hugged s. h. i. +ro on reflex.
Falling to the ground, rolling with the momentum......
he raised his head while in pain and saw.
——The real monster was here.
A huge crater was drawn in a perfect circle in the soft humus
[12] ground.
In its center——there was a single monster exhausted, breathing heavily.
It was a young, small, and cute beast with the appearance of a human on all four limbs with their head tilted——
"...... I won't share Izuna's meal, desu! S-Sora is the one at fault, desu!!"
The little girl was dressed in a kimono with fennec- like ears, shouldering a rucksack while swinging her big tail.
Facing their way while glaring with her eyes half- closed while in a bad mood was——Hatsuse, Izuna, but.
............
"...... Hey, let me hear about the reason you said such monsters shouldn't be here?"
He confirmed the safety of s. h. i. +ro in his arms with her eyes spinning, then checked his own body.
That he was almost unharmed was almost a miracle, considering he fell off a running out of control cart.
Seeing Steph hadn't suffered any big injuries, either,
Sora——asked a question he could already guess.
"...... Nearly all large animals became extinct during the [Great War]...... The rest is just like you've guessed
——"
——As for what happened, the current situation explained it all.
The "one step" Izuna took——the ground shook.
Next, a single punch——no, a "one stroke" ——made the ground roll up and changed into a crater.
Most likely, she attacked what she called a [meal], although——it no longer retained its original form.
The swarm of monsters ran away without even a single one left behind——just like how small spiders scatter.
That was only natural, so long as the peak of the food chain——[
Izuna the predator] was there.
"Excluding Imanity, the other races...... predations and defenses, various outbursts of anger——yes, well......"
Indeed, said Sora, looking up at the sky.
[Rights] are something that worked out mutually, and, at the same time, it was a duty.
But——as for whether those rights and duties were guaranteed or not, without the Oaths——
"...... Nii, this world...... isn't gentle...... with anyone, other than...... the
Exceed
Sixteen Races, right......"
As the ones who escaped from becoming prey, Sora and s. h. i. +ro thought——Humans are calculating living beings.
To think they would feel pity for the ones threatening their lives just a little while ago.
Would that be the ego of the survivors, they wondered......
"I-I really don't get it, desu! I-Izuna is angry, desu!?"
...... Though, if you really insist, it's not like I can't share it.
Seeing Izuna's eyes wavering like that, Sora and s. h. i. +ro raised their thumbs with a smile——
"...... It's, fine...... Izuntan, is...... our savior......
and besides......"
"To eat something like this——as a human, let's think about it when we're on the brink of starvation, alright?"
They refres. h. i. +ngly refused the creature that was something out of a bio〇zard.
[13]
——A few minutes ago.
While lifting up the cart, Sora questioned Izuna sitting formally in front of her prey.
"...... Hey Izuna. Why did you kill only a single one?"
——Just like Sora and the others, starvation was also a danger for
Izuna the Warbeasts.
You would want to secure even a bit more food, wouldn't you, Sora asked so.
"It's forbidden to hunt for more than you need...... it's a bad thing, desu."
Saying so, Izuna——It must be an etiquette of the
Eastern Union.
She politely joined her fists and bowed, deeply thanking the life she took.
Seeing that appearance, both s. h. i. +ro and Sora, and even
Steph——they honestly felt ashamed.
Those who lived surrounded by civilization tend to forget that meals were the ingestion of another life.
Was that girl just really attentive to her food education or was she a saint——
"*Spit*!? Y-You, you taste so d. a. m. n bad to an unbelievable degree, desu!? Just what did you eat to grow into this【*BEEP*】's【*BEEP*】of a taste that's almost like【*BEEP*】, desu!?"
——A single bite.
They really would've thought like that if it weren't for all the booing and spitting ruining everything.
"H-Hey...... as expected, no matter how you look at it, it's not edible, right......"
"I-If you hunt it, then you must eat it all no matter what, desu!...... *sob*......"
Yeah, while Izuna's face distorted with large tears, let's at least do this much as thanks for saving our lives.
They sorted out their feelings and took out some spices from the luggage bag——
"Let's cook this...... wait, for starters, just what would this be!? W-Where should I start considering
——Rather, is it really fine to eat this!? Hiiiih, S-Sora!
Some weird, blue liquid has——!"
——They made Steph do it and heard screams raised for a long time.
If a Warbeast's sense of smell determined it was edible, then it must be——Sora and s. h. i. +ro were feeling sorry about it, but......
Thus, Steph handled grilling the skewered meat around a bonfire.
"...... Anyway, Izuna, why are you still in this kind of place?"
Their current position was on the [38 th square], almost
380km
[14] from the starting position.
Around Izuna's chest were nine dice——though her age decreased by one-tenth.
With that overwhelming physical ability...... to them
——it's unthinkable her speed was inferior to a horse's.
Izuna, who was supposed to be much further ahead, just growled at the question with her eyes half-opened.
"...... Izuna is angry, desu...... [Answer the choice
Sora playfully took when picking a bride during his first playthrough of Dragon F5. ]...... It's obvious, Sora was the one who wrote this task, desu!!"
Ahh...... understanding, Sora and s. h. i. +ro laughed.
The【Task】that Sora wrote——In other words, it was placed "
here on the 38th square".
Naturally, it meant she hadn't been able to answer and, in the end, was [forced to wait seventy-two hours].
And after seventy-two hours have pa. s. sed, one die will be stolen by
Sora the Question Master——
Maybe her anger came back after remembering it since
Izuna stood up and suddenly growled intimidatingly.
"I don't get it at all, desu! Give me the rules and follow them, desu!!"
12: However, all【Tasks】that include any of the following will be considered invalid:
12b: Instructions impossible to accomplish by anyone besides the Question Master or impossible for any of the Players.
That's right, the rules certainly defined it like that—— but.
"O~iii, oi...... you failed, it's a real failure, you know? Oh dear kemonomimi. s. h. i. +ro~?"
Giving a nod, s. h. i. +ro took out her cellphone—— answering while typing in a way Izuna wouldn't understand.
——[Ludman].
"Super correct!! s. h. i. +ro also knows——that's why this【Task】is valid, you see♪"
——Any task that cannot be accomplished by anyone or only by the Question Master are invalid.
For example, if Jibril were to write something like
[Perform a spatial s. h. i. +ft with your own power].
Or maybe [Answer your future year of death] and so on, it was a rule forbidding impossible instructions.
But, on the other side——It meant it'll be valid so long as it's possible for at least one more person.
"Ah, putting it simply!? The other【Tasks】I wrote—— like [Answer the name of the three MODs where you kill the f*cking b*tches who ordered to kill Paarthurnax
[15]
] or [Answer the t. i. tle of the first exciting and heart- pounding eroge landmine Sora purchased in commemoration of his 18 th anniversary]!? Without knowledge of the other world——no, even if you had the knowledge, it'd still be super improbable you could answer are all OK!!
Under~stand!?"
Sora answered, dancing with a face similar to as if he had smacked Siddartha
[16] once with the palm of his hand.
"...... Nii, you're so dirty...... super, cool......"
"——You're the worst...... it's just obvious for Izuna to be angry......"
Looks of admiration and gazes as if seeing something filthy poured onto him——But.
"It's following the rules——it finished grilling, Izuna.
I hope it's a little better, but."
Seeing Izuna's pouting face, Sora laughed and extended out the skewer——in an instant.
"...... It's a little better now, desu. It changed from d. a. m. n bad to simply bad, desu."
After she stuffed the skewered meat into her mouth, her mood became better and her tail started swinging.
Steph furrowed her eyebrows dubiously while Sora noticed it observantly and laughed.
——Sora understood like the palm of his hand why she was found it so mysterious inside her mind.
Following the rules or not, it was certainly a cruel pattern for the【Tasks】.
After seventy-two hours have pa. s. sed, what Sora will steal from Izuna will be a dice——her [Life].
Sora "killed one-tenth" of her life, yet even so, no matter how you look at it——Izuna helped him.
Why could Izuna stay in such a good mood without watching him get killed?
Why did it become just like Sora suggested, even though they betrayed, they didn't kill each other——
"...... Sora, s. h. i. +ro. Izuna——haven't lost, desu...... ?"
Izuna declared in a "question form" ——as if she was asking to confirm something.
But, Sora and s. h. i. +ro extended out all the remaining skewers and answered.
"We returned the favor of saving us, you know? Don't expect an admirable repayment like letting you win, okay♪"
"...... Izuntan, too bad, but the ones...... who will win, the prize...... will be us......"
"It's incredible how you guys can say it like you're better than her when she's the one who saved us from dropping out not only from the game but, from life......"
Steph went past amazement and groaned, impressed, but.
"............ Yeah! Bring it on, desu!!"
——Maybe Izuna saw the answer she wanted in their faces.
Instantly, she stuffed all the skewers inside her mouth and gave a full smile.
"*chomp chomp*...... I'll pa. s. s you guys soon, desu!
Prepare yourselves, desu."
Saying that with her stuffed cheeks, she hugged her tail and curled up.
Since Izuna implied she would sleep as she waited for seventy-two hours to pa. s. s, Sora and s. h. i. +ro stood up again.
"Then, shall we hurry up? Does the cart look fine?"
"Eh, yes, somehow——wait, are we going to leave
Izunsan here and go on!? It's dangerous!?"
"Yeah...... It's really dangerous, isn't it——for us."
After Sora murmured that, Steph's face changed in one turn.
If they strained their ears——they could faintly hear it.
The presence of the monsters those guys who scattered with the arrival of
Izuna the strong, waiting for her to sleep.
And their target, of course, wasn't the sleeping
Izuna tiger. It made no sense for them to go after the predator.
The ones they must want to hunt, naturally, are the ones borrowing the tiger's authority——
"...... Let's indulge in Izuna's kindness——let's get out of here while she's still awake."
——Yes, while a sleeper's breathing isn't raised,
Izuna overpowers the surroundings, who gave a small smile.
Seeing her smile——Sora's voice could be heard trembling slightly.
The three of them jumped onto the cart without hesitation——and departed.
——The 59 th square...... It's been seventy-eight hours since the start of the game.
The horse-drawn cart holding the three people was running along the edge of a grand cliff endlessly.
According to s. h. i. +ro's map, the square terrain reflected the earth's surface beyond the edges of Elkia's northeastern border.
Everything——seemed to be
Disboard this world's greatest canyon known as [
Oblivion
Star's Rift].
The azure fissure extending into the sea and the two continents in the great war's final stages——was said to be an after-effect of the [Decisive Battle].
Traces of the power to mow down a star——Listening to the thunder roaring at the bottom of the ravine even now,
Sora thought.
——It's been 21 squares since we parted from Izuna, the Forest of Spirit's outskirts seem far behind us already.
According to Steph's information, besides the Forest of Spirits, the monsters don't seem to inhabit anywhere else.
In other words, it seems we've escaped the danger zone a long time ago. It's probably safe now.
Seems to, appears to be, probably seems to——!!
"Don't believe it won't believe it!! Where are the pursuers!...... No~ne——Trying to put me off guard!?
Aaah!?"
"...... s. h. i. +ro, won't be, deceived...... Where? Where, are they...... hiding...... !"
——Continuing to be vigilant, but with teary eyes like a new gamer playing a horror game.
Fearing immobile corpses endlessly, it was a template that didn't change itself at all.
The two kept fighting against an enemy that can't even be seen with a cellphone camera's zoom above the cart
"...... I know how you feel, but it's already a day and a half, you know? Even if you aren't alert for monsters......"
That's right, it's been thirty-six hours since they last noticed a monster.
They ran day and night since they'd be attacked on both sides when resting or when the horse and
Steph the cart-horse reached their limit.
When that happened, both Sora and s. h. i. +ro took turns staying awake and patrolling, but the monsters didn't appear.
Nevertheless, seeing the two still jumping at shadows,
Steph just about had enough and was about to complain
"——s. h. i. +ro, what do you think? I feel it won't be that bad to think it's already safe but, how about you?"
"...... s. h. i. +ro, will...... believe, in Nii's, judgement......"
——Hmm. Then, the conclusion.
"——————We survived, s. h. i. +ro"
Murmuring that, Sora and s. h. i. +ro, the two embraced each other and fell into the cart.
With a huge amount of large tears dropping, they nodded as if confirming their lives.
...... Ahhh, the sky is so blue.
Even that hateful sun only felt lovable right now as the two people narrowed their eyes.
"I allow it, everything——All living things, may you be blessed......"
"...... Hallelujah...... Sleepy......"
"Wai, eeh, hey!? I'll be troubled if you just follow the flow and go into a deep sleep, alright!?"
Steph was bewildered by the extreme mood swing and proceeded to shout while steering the cart.
"After three squares we'll reach the destination
62nd square, you know!? A different danger——a【Task】is drawing near!"
——Danger? 【Task?】——Hmm, Sora tilted his neck.
I neck.
I see, so we've proceeded going after the outcome of the dice——until the [62 nd] square.
If we stop at that square, a【Task】that someone wrote will be activated, but——
"...... Compared to being chased by monsters, no matter what【Task】it may be, it'll be an easy game, right......"
Sora declared so with a serious face after pondering about it, with s. h. i. +ro nodding in agreement.
Indirectly killing each other by stealing their [ dice
Life]
——it was this game's greatest danger...... the【Tasks. 】
But for them
Imanity, compared to starvation, overwork, and predation, it was probably a third or fourth danger......
"............ Even if it makes sense for me, it still doesn't change it's a danger, right!? Because——"
Immediately after, their vision blackened out as if to interrupt Steph's voice.
Maybe the cart crossed the edge of the 59 th square because it was swallowed by a weird s. p. a. ce filled with black mist.
——It was the first reason for Sora to call this game a s. h. i. +tty game——the [ loading
Square Movement].
It must be for the sake of forbidding illegal movement and withdrawing from the game through magic.
If they touched the "invisible wall" in games existing at the square land's edge, they would be moved to the next square land.
Not being able to turn back, all they could do was obey the outcome's value and continue onward.
As if that wasn't enough, they made this d. a. m. n long load reading happen during the square movement.
It was a power that killed off Jibril's spatial s. h. i. +ft, unilaterally coordinating the transfer.
Surely a highly sophisticated, absurdity ridiculous power must be at work for that, but——
"...... Nii...... I finally, remembered...... this......"
"Ah~ what a coincidence, my little sister——This this loading's slowness and sound. There's no doubt"
Much less magic and spirits are outside the understanding for them commoners who can't perceive s. p. a. ce.
However, the scratching noise couldn't be heard as anything but "the sound of a disk spinning".
If they silently starred at the undefined distorted view, an illusion of [NOW LOADING] with "juggling monkeys"
could be seen at the edge of their view——Sora and s. h. i. +ro murmured quietly, remembering even the killing urge.
——[This is Neo Geo].
[17]
"...... C-Can I continue...... the talk?"
To the two people were clicking their tongues and tapping unconsciously, Steph timidly——
"I-If the【Task】——if [Die] is written on it, we'll die...... won't we?"
Her body trembled as she asked perhaps just noticing that danger in the rules.
"Oh?...... How unlike Steph...... aren't you wide awake?"
07: The Dice Holder who's stopped on the square will be forced to follow any instructions the【Task】holds
——Any kind of instruction is permitted.
Yes, even instructions designating to throw away their lives or similar can't be denied——but.
"This game has ma~ny mysteries, right? One of them is this【Task】rule."
Although irritated, seemingly giving up, Sora explained dispa. s. sionately.
"I said it, right. We didn't agree to kill each other.
Even if you don't worry, a death task——no one will write it"
"J-Just why is that so, because——"
12: However, all【Tasks】that include any of the following will be considered invalid:
12a: Words limiting the【Task】to a specific target
"Targets can't be specified. Writing an unconditional instant death【Task】, what happens if you step on it?"
"——————Ah."
Smiling wrly at Steph, perhaps she felt embarra. s. sed for being told with a smiling face, who lowered her face.
——That wasn't all, Sora continued in his mind.
Indeed, this game is [Sugoroku]——[one person can ascend] no matter what happens.
Not to mention, if no one ascends, then the only one who would be saved is the [Leading Player].
Thinking it with common sense——It's a good a thing there's only a few opponents to compete with.
Killing all the other players would be the promising and certain option.
——Big miss, Sora laughed.
Since killing means——we can't steal their dice.
Much less when it's impossible to ascend without stealing dice——
"For example, if a【Task】indicates an instant death,
[the task is accomplished] when they die, right. The
Question Master loses one die, moreover, they can't collect the dead guy's remaining dice——a poor move going in the opposite direction from victory."
In the rules, this【Task】rule forces any kind of unreasonable possibilities upon others.
But in fact, "in order to win" ——the things one could write were restricted.
"Directions only you can do are invalid——If written【Tasks】are somehow doable, then the chances possibility to steal a die will also be a risk danger to have one stolen instead——If it's 'instructions stealing but not be stolen', then——"
——The [ loading
Square Movement] making even cup noodles become soggy ended,
"...... 【Tasks】like that will be the limit."
Sora gave a small laugh, pointing ahead to the empty field of vision.
At the 60 th square's starting coordinate——At the continuously changing precipitous cliff's edge was a billboard.
Glancing at the sentence written there, Steph muttered quietly.
"...... What is it, that"
............
"Hey, we've moved through dozens of squares until now, you haven't noticed it even once?"
10: Each【Task】will be described on a billboard arranged irregularly on the square's board
"They were always around until now, weren't they!?
Those billboards with【Tasks】written on them!!"
"Was there even a single free moment to worry about that tattered billboard until now!?"
............ Hm, well, frankly speaking, there wasn't.
It wasn't just Sora, even s. h. i. +ro readily accepted
Steph's reb. u. t. tal.
Even the two in question, with all the escaping and sleeping, could only read a few books.
In any case, this was what was written on the billboard Sora pointed to.
——[Count all the strands of hair on your body, including the tail, and answer the correct number of strands, desu. ]
...... Izuna, even in writing, you have this way of talking, huh, Sora said pleasingly.
"It's a【Task】anyone can do——but the ones who can actually do it in seventy-two hours are really limited."
——In the first place, the only ones who have a tail are Ino, Izuna, and Plum.
With the bunch of absurdities five senses of the Warbeasts, they could probably immediately count their body hair.
But, for the ones without a tail, let alone those five senses——more specifically for them, they have no choice aside counting all the stands of hair from even that horse tied to the cart, including its tail, one by one.
Doing so for seventy-two hours——it would grow instead, there's no way they could do that.
...... That's quite a harsh【Task】 you wrote, huh,
Izuntan.
"In any case, regardless of the【Task】, [stopping the target for seventy-two hours to steal one die] is the limit."
Would it be like Sora and s. h. i. +ro's, stopping them for seventy-two hours with questions only answerable by a few.
Or would it be like this one, giving instructions only a restricted amount of people can do in seventy-two hours.
——As long as someone's trying "to win, " it's a fact they can't write anything besides those two patterns.
"...... The, tasks...... until now, too...... were mostly, like that......"
s. h. i. +ro listed some of the tasks she had memorized.
——[Complete a hundred laps on this square, from one edge to the other, with your own feet, desu. ]
This was also Izuna's【Task】——It meant go walk
2, 000km within seventy-two hours.
Though, too severe even for a Warbeast...... to begin with, there's no need for Izuna to complete her own tasks.
It'd be easy for Jibril, insanity with the risk of death for Ino, and the others are slowed down by seventy-two hours.
——[If there are two or more people present besides the target of the task, immediately pledge to the Oaths and, according to it, be victorious in a game. ]
This must be Jibril——Normally, it would be
[invalid] without any coercive power at all.
So long as there isn't a third person, the conditions can't be met and becomes a "task impossible to do."
But if the conditions were met, then it'd surely be a【Task】of the highest difficulty, but——In any case.
"Well, one more mysterious thing. 【Tasks】only the
Question Master can do are forbidden——Why?"
"...... Hah? Isn't it because the game can't be established otherwise...... ?"
I see, a common answer, Sora laughed.
In the quiz programs, if partic. i. p. ants were to design only questions they could answer, what would happen?
Surely, that s. h. i. +tty program would immediately cut and the one in charge would be fired.
But Sora, with a nice smiling face towards Steph who spoke of such common sense——responded irrationally.
"So? Why is there a need to establish the game?"
"............ Wha~at...... ?"
"This game, if the Old Deus is the [host] aiming for [us to kill each other], a rule binding like this would be in the way, right? Letting us force unreasonable demands, or even impossible tasks and instant deaths is better, right?"
Then, what's the reason for not doing so?
——At that moment.
Sora and s. h. i. +ro, on both their chests——like growing from the void, the dice increased by one.
From Izuna who stepped into Sora's task, one die moved to Sora after seventy-two hours have pa. s. sed.
Likewise, someone who had stepped into s. h. i. +ro's task must've lost one die after the time limit.
Obeying the number of dice increasing to nine, their limbs extended slightly.
While Sora (provisionally 16. 2 years old) and s. h. i. +ro
(provisionally 9. 9 years old) gloated together——he declared.
"I can even affirm it. 【Tasks】which only you can do are invalid——The one who said that was me♪"
"........................ Whaaaaat~?"
Sora said with not a single trace of guilt——exactly why his smiling face was a devil itself.
This【Task】rule, although restricted to Sora and s. h. i. +ro alone, was too much of an advantage.
Just like Izuna said——only those two
[ ] moving together can make tasks impossible for anyone but those two
[ ].
...... W-Well.
When you consider this survival journey, it's still a tepid
"handicap, " but let's put that aside.
"N~ow, let's ima~~gine, commoners!!"
Sora stood up exaggeratedly above the cart.
"Our memories before the start of the game are erased!
Let's imagine, after confirming the rules, we seem to cry out, 'You're f. u. c. king kidding me, that's like Jibril writing
"use spatial s. h. i. +ft" kind of impossible game, right!?'"
After Sora shouted that loudly, everyone gathered—— and thought about it.
——I wonder why, even Sora thought that.
"Following that, 'Tasks only you can do are forbidden, banned an~nd prohibited'——Can you imagine it!?"
——That should have been the erased memories.
But...... they could easily imagine it as if they had just seen it.
s. h. i. +ro nodded deeply as if saying that's how her brother was while Steph's eyes were wide opened.
"Thus, I changed it to an advantageous rule only for me and s. h. i. +ro——but"
Sora was in a good mood, but——boldly continued.
"Let's recall again, shall we? This game started after everyone consented. There——"
It had a condition everyone was unlikely to agree with.
Therefore, clearly there were fake rules among them——
"No matter how you think about it, there are rules prepared by me...... Absolutely interesting, right?"
If this game wasn't about making them kill each other with the Old Deus as the host——then.
"This game, on whose circ. u. mstances, who began it, on what intentions——Who do you think holds the initiative?"
Saying that, Sora played with the dice in his hands and laughed, but.
Steph, dissatisfied, muttered quietly.
"...... But, if you'll die once the dice reaches zero, then...... isn't it the same thing?"
If the dice keeps being stolen, eventually that "
zero death"
will be forced on someone.
In the end, isn't it the same as killing each other by ordering death——Steph's eyes appealed so.
"Certainly, you'll die if you lose. On the contrary, you'll die from starvation, or get eaten by reliable gentlemen monsters, conversely, if you eat carelessly, you'll die from attempting poisoning without exception, an instant☆Go to Heaven, right?"
"...... Nii...... for, us...... it'll probably...... be h. e. l. l, instead......"
Sora replied in an easygoing manner to the bitter end,
Steph's face turned into a frown——
"But even so, it won't become a killing spree."
Turning, Sora announced with a tight face, Steph faltered with a "Why?" while staring at him.
Indeed, there's a coercive force working on the rules surpa. s. sing our own wills.
It would be the same as if we had consented into betting [our everything] and putting it on the plate.
We may easily die, even if you put aside the tasks and the dice as something irrelevant——But, even so.
"——After all, s. h. i. +ro and I will win anyway♪"
............
"........................ Fufu...... yes, that's right!"
——Winning absolutely naturally, in our scenario
——there's no such plot.
A rather refres. h. i. +ng arrogance bursting into laughter, before long the anxiety disappeared on Steph's face.
The natural swindler that was Sora and s. h. i. +ro who unconditionally believed him——But just one thing.
For this reason, Steph also had faith in them and felt proud of it.
That, for sure, was the reason why Steph entrusted her dice to Sora before the game started.
——
Kuuhaku
[ ] does not know of the word defeat.
And because winning means [perfect victory] —— therefore, they won't recognize anything less.
Someone's death or sacrifice as a condition——they won't permit a "victory inferior to defeat" and so forth.
"...... It's the 61 st square soon, just one before our destination. Let's carefully look for the billboard."
——Sora turned his face away from the embarra. s. sing gaze, pointing ahead of the cart that kept running.
Pretending to not notice the tepid mocking gazes from s. h. i. +ro and Steph,
"In that case——I'll show you how I instantly find out who wrote out the【Task】ahead."
Saying with a posed look, at the same time.
The continuously running cart was, once again, enveloped by the thick fog.
From the 60 th to the 61 st square——Ignoring the grating noise, they waited for their view to clear up.
Thus, after the long load transition ended, as expected, at the square's boundary before the transfer point——
As expected a sentence——a【Task】was engraved on an old billboard, standing as if discarded.
Yes, such a sentence was written, the billboard............ ,
——[Pluck out your pe〇is while smiling and die refreshed]......
————————.
...... *swagger swagger*...... *roll roll*......
On the precipitous cliff's greenery, under the clear skies, only the horse's hooves and cart wheels resounded.
"Sora~It seems I'm a little tired~♪ I just saw a word denying everything we just talked about❤"
Behind Steph who asked with a bright smiling face singing as if rejecting reality.
In a poised state with a face wearing a tepid gaze—— was Sora and s. h. i. +ro whose time was stopped.
——Well, well, well.
Wellwellwell, c-c-calm d-d-down.
Calm down, Sora, virgin, nearly 18 years old, provisionally, 16. 2 years old!
Eh~, for now there's something that must be done first, right? Right...... just like the billboard declared
——
"Geezeer!! I hope you're listening this is definitely your's right! What the h. e. l. l are you writing did you finally go senile! Rather even if you don't open your mouth isn't there something besides dirty jokes you doggg!?"
Guessing the offender right instantly, Sora's roar resounded to the heavens.
——A reply came from behind the giant game board forming a spiral.
The offender's reply resounded on the game board in a straight line from a nearby distance.
[Oooh what good news! To think Sordono would stop at my【Task】and——what!?]
They couldn't see his figure. However, perhaps the
Warbeast's eyes captured them.
[What...... To think s. h. i. +ro-dono and Stephanie-dono are also going together...... I'm sure it must be painful sight to see a gentleman drawing something out with a smile as he dies invigorated...... But!! Not only for the sake of
Sordono pest control, but for the sake of world peace!!
Please somehow understand this isn't a way to sacrifice
"We didn't stop at it~ We're pa. s. sing by! b. a. s. t. a. r. d, what did you plan to do if you stepped on this square, huh!?"
[I was prepared for the worst? But for you to be pa. s. sing by——*tsk*, d. a. m. n stubborn c. o. c. kroach...... ]
...... *swagger swagger*...... *roll roll*......
The cart continued advancing as Steph rode with a hollow smile while time was stopped for him and s. h. i. +ro.
Sora, the only one who could still think, enduring a headache, groaned as if wringing it out.
"...... Geezer. If I died to this, you understand you would lose, right...... ?"
He just said instant death【Tasks】are the worst moves, the farthest from victory.
But the returned reply was——plain and simple.
[I wonder? If the [
Sordono
Traitor] who screwed us and killed
Miko-sama were to drop dead, it's obvious this game would work out somehow——I'll fulfill my revenge duty as a retainer and crush you b. a. s. t. a. r. d the world's enemy...... how is that a loss?]
"...... Sora. Sora~. Of course, this is also within your expectations...... isn't it? Right?"
Sora replied to the imploring-like voice, but in his mind——It's clearly unexpected.
Ordering death meaninglessly, the justifiability of betrayal, etcetera......
But all of that was——"the case only if everyone considered it upfront."
Either he was a real idiot or Miko's death greatly shocked him——No, it was probably both.
At any rate, what he really wanted to snap at was the fact his brain's fuse seems to have completely flown away.
Despite having the five senses to see through lies, even
Steph could see through Sora's [ big lie traitor declaration]——
He still accepted his words of all things as the truth
"...... I, I see, that's quite the admirable resolution you have there, I'm no match for it"
But——There's no problem.
Regaining composure, Sora secretly wiped his perspiration and spoke for revenge as well as self- interest.
"To go as far as risking your '
Izuna grandchild's death'......
must be the extremity of loyal retainers."
[............ What?]
In a suspicious voice, he had used his remaining scant reasoning to come up with——"tasks where only males die."
Targets cannot be specified——but while he wants to kill Sora, he won't let Izuna die.
Thus he wrote a task death utilizing "something only males have"——or so he intended.
——Good grief, it's too much.
[18]
"If a female——and I mean Izuna, were to step onto this【Task】, they'd have to extract something suitable from an animal as they smile and die invigorated...... It's a harsher idea than me dying by doing so, I'm amazed......"
...... The writing for this task cannot be restricted to a target.
Just like how Izuna's task must have [including the tail].
——If it doesn't exist on oneself——it'll simply bring in something else.
............
——In the long silence, an idiot interrupted, crossing the interval within.
The scream ripped through the sound of the still running horse-drawn cart without caring about anyone
[S-Sordono what should I do!? Izuna carries no sin please show mercy on Izuna! Make use of the normally meaningless unscrupulous fiend's wisdom! Please a plan to save Izuna——!!!]
The pathetic pet. i. tion tembling with tears uselessly resounded as an echo in the sky corridor.
"...... I guess it's fine. Spit out what other stupid【Tasks】 you wrote without exception."
[Yes~~and alsoblahblablahbah]
——And so.
Done listening to Ino's confession thoroughly, Sora nodded seriously.
"——Yeah, I see, I understand now. Relax, I found a countermeasure so Izuna doesn't die."
[Oh, ooooh...... !! There was meaning in the error that was Sordono's birth! Ooh, I'm really grateful!!]
With the same understanding——s. h. i. +ro took out a sack from a bag and wore it on her head, they nodded——
"But I won't tell you, b. a. s. t. a. r. d——!!!! s. h. i. +t yourself and sleep!!!!"
"...... Geezer...... go count, your sins...... aside from, being born......"
Just like Gedo and
Rider f. u. k. u. men
[19]——The two people thrust their middle fingers out as they replied.
A BGM of an abusive language with unclear meaning was above the advancing cart.
"Wai, you two!? Y-You won't teach him the countermeasure!? If someone were to step on it——"
"...... Plucking...... Nii's, nii...... Geezer, ten thousands of deaths, won't be enough......"
Steph's mouth closed at s. h. i. +ro's slur holding about four-tenths of real killing intent——but, as for Sora.
He laughed after drawing out all the【Tasks】from one player and, in Imanity, carved such words on the cart.
——[It was a lie to make him reveal his tasks. No one would die with his tasks]
Ino's【Tasks】were all——subjective, objective, and directive.
All phrases were incredibly lacking indications about target and period——There wasn't any coercive power to it.
It's the same as contracts that don't specify things like who will, by whom, what, when, and how.
It's fine to wait seventy-two hours, you can accomplish it if you're a male by dying, only Ino's dice will be plucked.
The guy who did something so stupid is the Eastern
Union's high of icial?...... He should be dismissed.
[T-Then, let's make a deal! I'll introduce you to a few cute girls!!]
While the proposal resounded——Sora breathed deeply and ridiculingly disregarded it.
"............ Nii, ni-ni-nii, wha, wha, what's, wrong......"
"Sora, are you alright!? Did you hit your head when you fell from the cart!?"
s. h. i. +ro and Steph, with a face like they saw a ghost, gasped as their voices trembled.
But Sora, with a gentle smile, shook his head elegantly and replied.
"Both of you calm down...... Men are beings that grow up every day, you know?"
That's right, until a little while ago, I'd have bit into the bait in zero frames.
But now the Eastern Union has merged! There's as many kemonomimis as lights in the skies to take advantage of!
Sora, 18 years old, still a long way——But! He's no longer a man hooked by cheap baits!
[There's a fan club infatuated with
Sordono
Elkia's King who call themselves "I want to be embraced by Sorsama"
a. s. sociation that's puzzling the Eastern Union with some incomprehensible testimonies about——]
"Oooh friend, don't be so cold!! We're comrades who pledged eternal friends. h. i. +p just now, aren't we!!!"
——But if the bait is expensive then it's a different story.
Biting into the bait in zero frames, Sora exalted while thrusting his palm pa. s. sionately and winding the air.
All the while, he received Steph and s. h. i. +ro's amazed
——no, relieved, gazes upon himself.
"If it's my unworthy silly wisdom, then I will share it as much as you want and as such, come on, hurry up and let me hear in details about it please, oh my soul mate
But, Sora's voice continued without caring while he shouted overly pretending to be some kind of actor——
............ *silence*
His answer was only a calm silence——no.
There was only the sound of the disk spinning and the darkness, which already became something usual after being repeated 61 times in a row.
The running cart had crossed the 61 st square and, before they noticed it, they reached the edge of the square.
"Now, it's 'Event Load'!? It's aiming too much for the KOTY
[20] right!!!"
Sora was breathing coa. r. s. ely through his nose while growling at the [
Loading
Square Movement] that ignored the mood and Steph questioned him.
"...... More importantly. You haven't forgotten the next square will be the one with the【Task】, have you?"
"You, don't make me repeat! I just said that something like that hardly matters, didn't I!?"
"But, I also just happened to see your prediction getting wrong and having a task written 'die', didn't I!?"
——Sora stopped laughing and ridiculed it as
"something trivial."
Just having one person in charge of being a fool was already good enough, but, they even found out his entire【
Fool
Task】was completely harmless.
No matter what kind of task it may be, it'll just slow them down by seventy-two hours——In other words.
There's too much time for him to inquire with more details about the interesting organization known as the "I want to be embraced by Sorsama" a. s. sociation——!
And like that, the cart that had Sora, who was in high spirits, and the other two riding, finally reached the square of the outcome of their dice.
——The load——correction, the movement to the [ destination
62nd square] finished——and, in their view was——
............
........................ Erm, yeah.
"Aha, ahaha~ hey, Gramps? About the details about the girls that want to be embraced by me——"
"...... Nii...... Nii...... ! Look at...... reality——!"
——Reality. What about it, Sora laughed with a troubled face.
Occasionally, s. h. i. +ro, who was his prided little sister and a genius girl, would say weird things too far from the understanding of commoners.
It was her brother's duty to strive to understand it, but
——He would often be troubled by it...... well then.
——He was riding the cart. Or so he was supposed to.
And yet.
He had been thrown out, abruptly, without any context, and, on his own, far up into the sky.
He was literally in the middle of a bungee jump without any rope and was currently falling towards boiling magma.
Could this realistic situation, that's lacking the letter
[re], really be called [reality]?
............ Hahahaha, no wayyyyyyyyyyy——
His thoughts ran idle but the【Task】being read mercilessly hit Sora's earlobes.
——【The task's target should instantly be teleported into midair, fall into the magma below, and burn. 】
"Ah, I see♪ Sora, Sora~? As expected, I'm not an idiot~"
The voice continued, right by his side.
"It seems like you can just make it so that they will die if they can't accomplish it——just like this❤"
Hearing Steph's words, laughing while taking a walk in the middle of the air alongside him with eyes reflecting no light, Sora smiled.
"Hahaha, you really are an idiot, huh. That way there's no change to the fact it will become impossible to collect all dice but one, right. By the way s. h. i. +ro, listen to your brother's great deduction...... won't we die with this!?"
"...... Welcome back, Nii...... but, soon...... it'll be, bye bye......"
——It's said when people are right before their deaths, they'll see a revolving lantern.
They would search through each and every memories and knowledge, looking for a way to escape the predicament.
It was said to be a phenomenon which caused an aberrant activity——making the brain overcome its limits.
That, it even stopped time.
An enormous amount of memories crossed Sora's accelerated brain.
The kemonomimi girls hugging Sora saying with a shrill voice they want to be embraced by him.
The geezer——making a muscular pose while making the muscles of his chest move and twitch.
His own smiling face tellingsmiling face telling the kemonomimi girls fighting over him "you girls, please get along."
The geezer——enthusiastically showing his muscles while prostrating with his fresh uniform with an afterglow.
The geezer——making the kemonomimi girls curl near his loins while he puffed a cigarette...... *fuu*.
The vermillion-colored cloth waving.
The loincloth swaying with the wind...... red—— geezer——
(Are you stupiddddddddddd as if I'll allow myself to die with such a revolving lantern, you s. h. i. +tty geezerrrrrrr!)
Using those forged memories that I now want to erase, just what the h. e. l. l did this head of mine planned to save me from?! He was completely confused at the turbulent waves of flashbacks, but.
"...... Nii......"
A single drop——just like a drop of water.
It was a faint voice and the hand holding his wasn't trembling——The eyes looking at him also didn't think they would die.
——The older brother won't allow that to happen.
Her eyes were certain of that and with the words that followed.
"...... Calm, down...... ?"
While time was still stopped, his rippling thoughts became calm.
He roared once at his instincts that raised a scream at the heat of magma burning his skin.
——Disappear, you're in the way, Sora ordered.
He got an answer from the warmth of the hands and the light of eyes that looked at him.
In order to instantly uncover the [meaning] of this magma——this unnaturally slow death——
You are
Fear is a hindrance——!!
Sora clenched his teeth hard enough to break them—— and, sure enough, he reached the answer in an instant.
——Originally, he would've found the one who wrote this【Task】through process of elimination.
And from there, he would list and test the methods for breaking through and uncover the moves he could make
——But, there weren't even a few seconds left until the magma and, if someone could do that in that small amount of time, it would be s. h. i. +ro not Sora.
As such, Sora undid the string in his own way——In other words, he shouted towards the boiling and bubbling magma which was approaching...... towards the "malice"
floating and could be seen there——
"——That's quite the nerve you got there, huh, you b. a. s. t. a. r. d!! I'll remember it, alright!?"
It was the young boy who once induced them without telling a single lie, used them and, in the end, planned to turn them into food.
The Dhampir——who simply harbored pure harmful intent, deeply etched into his pale face's smile.
——Having decided on his own it was Plum's thin smile, he postponed proving his intuition and——
"Give me your panties."
"————Huh?"
"The panties, I'm talking about your panties!! Panties, shorts, scanties!! Your panties——It's a panty made of linen with 0. 8mm of thickness of a natural light pink dye with a red frill ribbon attached to it, right, isn't that so!?"
While baring his canines, he asked——no, he simply confirmed it.
——The view was etched deeply into his heart since he did a continuous loop to [remember] it——confirmed everything.
That instant, where s. h. i. +ro had lowered down Steph's panties.
The way it stretched, the shape of the wrinkles, the sewing and even the string used to sew it——without a doubt, he remembered it all!!
"You keep up with the s. e. xual hara. s. sment even on your death bead...... it's wonderful how you keep being yourself until the very end——"
"...... Nii...... even though, you're a DT
[21]......
why, do you have, such...... knowledge, for identification
Amid the sensation of boiling magma burning their skin, with resignation and consternation flying about—— he answered inside his heart, it's because I am a DT.
"Enough——Just shut up and give me those easily burnable panties already——!!"
Sora roared with a face befitting of a crisis but before
Steph could even reach, much faster than her——
"Hyaaaaaaah!?"
s. h. i. +ro noticed Sora's intention and inserted her hands inside Steph's skirt, plucking out her panties.
The remaining force made Steph spin around——but, he couldn't afford to mind it.
s. h. i. +ro took out some food from the pouch and wrapped
Steph's panties around it——then, she threw it down at the magma right before their eyes with all her strength.
——It seemed so slow, it was abnormal and it was clearly visible inside their view.
After the reason finally caught up to the intuition, Sora lined up the basis for having "decided that by himself."
——Why did it have to be Steph's panties?
——That's because it would be bad if it wasn't something that "burned" faster than they were falling.
This【Task】made the target of the task get teleported to midair, and inevitably, fall——but.
But, that sentence didn't restrict "what had to fall into the magma and burn" ——!
At the same time the panties touched the magma—— no, before it even touched it.
The fibers made of thin linen got engulfed by the heat raised from the magma's surface, which easily surpa. s. ses a thousand degrees Celsius.
*pow*——and in the instant that a small fire lighted on the panties (packing a meat) ——
——【The task has been accomplished. 】
The magma disappeared along with the echoing of that voice, and, in its place, the watery surface of a lake appeared, where the three of them fell.
While he was sinking in the water, Sora laughed ferociously at the last basis——Plum's intention.
——The degree of freedom for this【Task】rule, contrary to the words, was incredibly low.
Designations only one can complete are invalid, so what will happen if one were to write it in a way one would only steal while not having any stolen?
As long as one's trying to win, they cannot write anything besides those stopping others for seventy-two hours.
But——what if "you're not trying to win."
They would give【Tasks】which, when noticed, anyone can instantly accomplish——so, there's only two possible intents behind it.
So, did he fool around like always and ended up messing up, or would it be——
(I won't wait for seventy-two hours, so please just hurry up and steal my dice...... or something like that?)
Right——while making face like it was saying [Or else you'll die~] while adding a heart mark to it.
That Plum surely must've written those tasks while making that annoyingly thin smile on his pale face, Sora smiled bitterly.
——Just him. Just for Plum alone, having the dice stolen from him was more convenient——
"——Puhaa! Haa...... haa...... are...... are we saved!?"
Hitting the water, Steph asked while peeking from above the water's surface.
But, Sora grinned at the voice he could only hear faintly and answered inside his mind.
——[NO. ] ababababbababababegobobobobabagah——!!
The bubbles surging violently on the water's surface were saying things beyond translation.
"D-Don't bother with me! Please, at least save my little sister, s. h. i. +ro!!"
"...... s. h. i. +ro...... until the very end, wants...... to die, together...... with Nii......"
Those two were the strongest when it's about games and the weakest when it's about anything else.
Their lives were thinner than j. a. panese paper, as if they were the embodiment of [fragility].
But, they were steadily sinking towards the bottom of the lake, as if they were, literally, heavier than a hammer......
"——s. h. i. +ro, I promise...... I won't run away from reality anymore. That's why......"
"...... *nods*...... yeah...... Nii, s. h. i. +ro, too......
won't, ever, run away again......"
The two had sunk, but, barely got salvaged thanks to
Steph's desperate salvaging operation.
Hugging each other and filling their drenched faces with tears, they firmly pledged to stand against reality together.
——Let's learn to swim.
"Now, Sora! What kind of repet. i. tive talk you'll distort saying I got it wrong!?"
While being completely drenched, her breathing disturbed by weariness and exhaustion, Steph suddenly stood up and shouted.
She pulled up not only the drowning Sora and s. h. i. +ro, but, even the sunken luggage at the bottom of the lake——
Her amazing lung capacity and inexhaustible stamina that still let her shout raised even a sense of respect for her.
——But, if respect recovered stamina, then, they wouldn't be having such a hard time.
"...... No, it's fine like this...... it's just like I expected——"
"Are you really saying that you expected yourself to spit out water from your mouth like a fountain while trembling together with your litter sister, raising a crying voice!? Was it also within your expectations to turn into an artificial fis. h. i. +ng reef decorating the bottom of the lake!?
You really think about nature, right~!?"
...... Maybe she really snapped this time, her criticism is many times sharper than usual. But. Sora grinned——and, while lying on his back and spitting out more water, he laughed.
"Why would you create a fis. h. i. +ng reef in a freshwater lake...... if it's about protecting nature then you should create it in the ocean——"
"It's-not-about-thaaaaaat!! How is there anything
'expected' about this disastrous situation!!"
Steph firmly pointed that out so Sora thought about her so-called "disastrous situation."
——He was lying on his back, s. h. i. +ro was lying on top of him and Steph was screaming.
The rucksack had sunk in the lake as they had before
——but that, too, got pulled up by Steph.
Most of the contents should be safe.
It was a waxed rucksack water-proof bag since he a. s. sumed from the very start "this kind of thing" would happen.
Their smartphones, tablets, and the like, too, were all water-proofed products that could be used inside the bath.
And, since they accomplished the【Task】——the dice floating around the three's chests increased one by one.
——That's all of the current situation called
"disastrous." I wonder, what's wrong about it——
"They are killing each other, aren't they...... just which mouth was saying that it's within expectations...... !"
Steph said so with a regretful voice, as if blaming him, although Sora noticed it a little late.
Sora said they wouldn't end up killing each other—— and yet.
She called it "disastrous" ——"this" situation where both Ino and Plum had nearly killed them.
"....... Hmm, even if you ask me 'which mouth, ' unfortunately, I only have one mouth, so......"
Sora murmured so and stood up and turned to Steph, who was glaring at him accusingly.
He said it as carefree as always——but.
"Regardless if I spit out water or fish from this mouth,
I'll say it as many times as necessary——it's all within my expectations."
He declared with a gaze that didn't waver in the slightest.
Steph faltered involuntarily but Sora continued, completely aloof, while squeezing his wet s. h. i. +rt.
"This game started after everyone consented...... with improbable conditions."
——That's right, with improbable premises.
They'd believe in each other, they wouldn't betray each other, they'd kill each other, and the price was
Miko's death.
There were many improbably conditions to be accepted——and there's one more thing at that.
"'A game with an Old Deus'...... me and s. h. i. +ro would partic. i. p. ate unconditionally. Jibril would partic. i. p. ate—— either due to obeying us or by curiosity, I guess. If it involves Miko-san, then Ino and Izuna would also partic. i. p. ate. Steph, well~ I guess maybe you would partic. i. p. ate by going with the flow."
Sora once again wore the s. h. i. +rt he had wringed and, while showing a thin smile——he spoke.
"——And? Why would Plum be partic. i. p. ating in this game?"
...... Those words made Steph choke.
It was a game with improbable conditions——but started with the consent towards the ones that were, probably.
But then, what about Plum who from the very start didn't have any reason, motivation, or obligation to partic. i. p. ate?
"In this game,
Plum a Dhampir's survival is more endangered than our
Imanity's. Every place in this field are open plains, after all. It's a long-term battle where the sun is fatal. Forget about bloodsucking, there's no way to even replenish the bodily fluids."
Since it was almost impossible to ascend, there wasn't even any significance for Plum to partic. i. p. ate.
"What did he aim for and under what conditions did he consent to partic. i. p. ating? ——It's simple, right s. h. i. +ro?"
Every one of them, at the very least, wringed out and dried their clothes——Sora had pointed to the dice that had increased by one——due to accomplis. h. i. +ng the【Task】prepared by Plum which anyone could do.
Seeming to have finally caught on to her older brother's thoughts, s. h. i. +ro answered happily.
"...... Plum's...... aim, is to...... 'win without ascending'......"
Saying that, the two of them played around with the dice they stole——No, that Plum made them steal.
Imanity's strongest gamer,
Kuuhaku
[ ], showed a thin smile, fearlessly, irreverently——and declared.
——If you forgot, then, we'll say it as many times as it's necessary.
——
Kuuhaku
[ ] does not know of defeat.
Just like this declaration, everything was within expectations.
Everything lined up correctly towards victory, just like the inevitable——
"............ That's right. Fufu, that's how it is, right!
Then——"
There was no longer anxiety spilling from Steph's face.
Her face broke into a relieved smile as if she had remembered something she was about to forget.
She took a deep breath and then pointed at Sora and s. h. i. +ro——No, to behind them, in other words, "beyond them."
"...... Would you please let me hear about the scenario
Elkia's prided two Wise Kings expected? About what will happen from now on...... and along with it, what I should do about my underwear so I don't end up with my heart breaking ❤"
——Steph pointed out with an empty smile, her eyes still dead.
The scenery got temporarily overwritten due to the task and, on top of that, everyone got teleported high in the sky.
Maybe it ran away, since both the horse and the cart they were riding in earlier had disappeared without a trace.
They have no other choice besides to walk on foot, through the pathless fields still extending far into the horizon.
While they were making a posed look...... the single teardrop running down on the yet silent and immobile Sora and s. h. i. +ro's cheek silently spoke it all.
It's like a lie.
It's the first move and yet, something like this happened.
The [62 nd square] ——this place, where they were standing on after going through hards. h. i. +ps and dying experiences.
The place they were aiming for was after more [289 squares], after throwing the dice many more times and piling up many more hards. h. i. +ps.
——This place was about one sixth of the total......
he cursed at the him who agreed to the rules.
Couldn't he do something more about it!? At least about the means for moving, you know——!?
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!! Come on, gather the dice at me one more time and let's [travel together]!!"
Sora roared as to inspire his heart which seemed it would easily break down if he were to lose focus.
And just like the first time——they [traveled together].
Leaving [one die] with Steph and s. h. i. +ro, all the remaining dice were gathered at Sora.
04: In the case of [traveling together], after declaring so, the travelers will only move in accordance to the outcome of one person the representative.
05. In the case of the number of players moving together surpa. s. ses two people, an [Overall Number of
Travel CompanionsxAttendants]'s worth of dice will be removed from the number of dice used.
When [traveling together] as three people, six dice will be lost per move, but——it can't be helped.
The number of dice thrown will be greater that way, the outcome would also be bigger, and the number of squares with a【Task】they will have to stop at decreases.
Steph grabbed eight of the dice floating around her chest and handed them over to Sora's extended hand
——Or so she was about to, but, she halted.
Noticing something, she lowered her face and asked.
"...... It might be a little too late for this, but...... why are you bringing me along?"
——————Wh...... at?
"M-My bad...... to be honest, I looked down on you...... are you saying that, on your first look of the game, you wanted to [play it by traveling alone while being the weakest character and without raising any levels] ——!? d. a. m. n you! You must be a pro m. a. s. o. c. h. i. s. t, right!?"
"...... Nii, that's, just...... because, it's a series tagged with uploader missing......"
[22]
"I-I don't understand what you're saying!? I-It's not that......"
In the first move, Steph was borderline intimidated and was forced to [travel together], but, her face distorted in doubt and said.
"This [travel together] rule...... it would be far more ef ective if you left me behind, wouldn't it......"
——So why did you force me into traveling together with you?
Maybe she finally noticed it, since she spilled that fearfully while feeling something was wrong.
Sora and s. h. i. +ro turned and looked at each other.
...... It really was too late for that, they exchanged smiles, amazed.
At first, they intimidated Steph, stole and used the
[nine dice] ——but.
If they brought Steph along and [traveled together], each one would lose two dice per move——a total of
[six] dice would be consumed.
Furthermore, if they failed on accomplis. h. i. +ng a【Task】, it would decrease by one for each person——at worst, they could even end up consuming it all in a single move.
Even if the value of the outcome increases along with the number of dice, if the consumption also increases then the result would be negative.
Let alone that——
"...... If it was only Sora and s. h. i. +ro then——you could get away with just having [two] dice consumed, couldn't you?"
That's right——Going by the rules, the consumption would increase if the number of people moving together
"surpa. s. ses two."
Surpa. s. sing two people——it's "exceeding."
It's not "two or more" ——so two people aren't included in that.
If it's Sora and s. h. i. +ro [with just the both of them], they could get away with having only one die consumed for each of them, totaling only two.
But, if they add one more person to that——from that moment on, the consumption would triple.
"Basically, me and s. h. i. +ro have no other choice besides
[traveling together], but, with this rule, there's little meaning for anyone else besides us to use it. In addition, just me and s. h. i. +ro is fine, but, it would be disadvantageous for us if we were to add one more companion. Our chances to win would be come thinner, so we should leave you behind and go on——is that what you're trying to say?"
"Y-Yes......"
Steph said troubled, but, the voice that answered was
From the one who was in possession of [27 dice], having received nine from s. h. i. +ro and eight from Steph.
"——Then, too bad, but, you're [wrong]...... isn't it regrettable?"
It was a low and sharp voice laughing fearlessly—— in the late 40s.
"This [traveling together] rule, too——The one who attached it was undoubtedly me. Then——"
——This [traveling together] rule was completely meaningless for everyone besides Sora and s. h. i. +ro.
There's a [traitor] weaved in, so even if two people moved together, there weren't any advantages to it.
If they moved together with three or more people, it would simply be disadvantageous...... it was a rule meaningless for anyone to use.
But——Since that rule was essential for Sora and s. h. i. +ro, Sora must've attached it.
——If you say it's something convenient like "like there won't be any penalty if it's just two at most
Sora and s. h. i. +ro, "
then basically, it means that there are "those kinds of circ. u. mstances, " right G. o. d?——
"Rather, I see it as you can't win if you don't travel together——please [declare] it."
He antic. i. p. ated it——at the end of this giant game board, far beyond the horizon.
The words Sora spoke while laughing, as if mocking and inciting the Old Deus that awaited there.
He would bring down a G. o. d with only a human body
——he said so with his aged future voice and face as if he had already shown it many times.
Both s. h. i. +ro and Steph's faces involuntarily turned red.
While still being prompted by Sora, they took his hands——and declared.
——They're [traveling together] ——
As the words echoed, Sora grabbed the [ dice
Life] from his chest and threw them in the empty s. p. a. ce.
From the moment they all rolled on the ground and revealed their numbers——they could only proceed until that value.
The lives of those three——At the price of two-tenths of their lives.
The place they would reach after proceeding while consuming their life, their existence time, their age—— just where would it be?
Sora and s. h. i. +ro laughed.
Steph trembled.
Then, they looked at the destination that their dice lives revealed——......
——Thirty minutes have pa. s. sed ever since they stared at it.
"I also asked the same thing during the first move, but...... what are you doing?"
"I think I also answered the same thing during the first move, but!!——It's a 'ritual'!!"
"...... 'Random number a. n. a. lysis'......"
——The nervousness and the like had already became a distant memory.
Steph (1. 8 years old) asked while sitting in a triangle while Sora and s. h. i. +ro answered instantly——in other words.
It was a situation where a nearly 50-year-old NEET virgin hikikomori gamer was doing a handstand with his upper half naked while taking along two little girls.
If the police pa. s. sed by, then in one shot, with just the circ. u. mstantial evidence and the boiling smell of an offense, he would be arrested and certainly charged for it.
It was a bizarre situation that would surely charge him as guilt.
"...... Nii, next...... keep moving the torch, to the left and right, while making squats...... then throw it."
"No, erm...... can I ask you to explain it in more detail?"
——His figure had looked like that of a reliable and stern father for a moment, but, when one looked attentively like this, it was just
Sora an older brother with a sorry odor drifting around.
"The invalidation of tasks that can only be done by yourself and this travel together rule. I told you that I was the one who made both of them, but——"
02: The Dice Holder can only move across the same amount of squares as the outcome of throwing all the dice they possess.
03: The result from throwing the dice is random and, after throwing it, [one] die from the used ones is removed.
"These dice rules were probably also designed by me."
"...... Nii, next...... return, one step...... and throw it...... while making, a bridge."
He made a bridge, looking pained, just like s. h. i. +ro instructed and once again threw one dice.
——All of them were showing [six].
"Anyone can do a technique hand movement of this level...... to manipulate the outcome, right!"
...... Like h. e. l. l they can.
s. h. i. +ro seemed to have heard the voice in Steph's heart, but, actually it really was something anyone could do.
Like those with paranormal five senses, Izuna and Ino, and those with magic, like Jibril and Plum.
It was unclear as to who was the first one to say that it was forbidden, but——the older brother continued.
"But, if the manipulation of the outcome was forbidden, and you were to leave something as ambiguous as [Random-san] up to that Old Deus, the outcome would be manipulated in a way that no one would be able to ascend. It would be a cheat impossible to prove and we'd surely lose. As if I'd overlook it."
"...... Nii, next...... make a dent, on the, ground......
and throw......"
Just like she instructed, Sora stuffed his face to the ground and threw another dice.
"On top of that, even if you say [random], there's someone who can concretely specify that [Random-san]."
He said while turning his gaze to s. h. i. +ro.
"——Here, without fail."
He said while staring at the surface of the dice, where the floating numbers were shown before rapidly disappearing.
s. h. i. +ro replied with a smug face while raising her fingers and making a V.
If the manipulation of the outcome was forbidden so that "even the Old Deus wouldn't be able to do it, " then.
Then, we have no choice but to specify the random function——through a specific pseudo random number sequence.
If the erasure of memories is the initial condition, then it's a fact they've made a random no one can operate on.
"However! If s. h. i. +ro could specify it, then——certainly it was specified under 'some certain conditions'!!"
"...... If you, calculate...... the 'reference value'......
you can adjust the random value...... and specify it, to get the number you want......"
And so, this is the basis for saying it was something we prepared, the older brother laughed wickedly.
"Proceed by throwing all the dice you possess——but there's no rule saying to throw all of it at the same time, is there?"
Then——by altering the conditions and throwing it one at a time, you can calculate the reference value.
"I already knew it, but...... as charlatans, you both are so reliable that it's even tiring."
"...... Then, Nii...... Next, undress your bottoms, too...... take a step back......"
"——s. h. i. +ro, I think it's about time for me to question it, but, is there really a possibility the lack or possession of clothes are part of the reference value?"
Sora let that out with his eyes half closed, s. h. i. +ro answered in her head——There's no way that's true.
The [random] s. h. i. +ro specified had the same deviation characteristics of Ro〇Saga3's
[23] random number routine.
The [reference address] also had a [number of steps] and [elapsed time] s. h. i. +ro could completely memorize. But
"...... There is...... because of...... s. h. i. +ro's taste......"
"Just what kind of taste is that...... what do you think would happen if the random number adjustment required me to be completely naked!?"
"...... ? It would be fine, if you just stayed, fully naked...... ?"
"If a middle-aged man was fully open while bringing around two little girls, the police would go crazy, right!?"
...... It might be too late for that already, s. h. i. +ro thought quietly.
Maybe she had already given up, but, Steph, after plucking out some gra. s. s, was blowing a gra. s. s whistle while gazing at the blue sky; the only thing echoing was its languorous sound.
| ← Ch. 36 | Ch. 38 → |