Chapter 66

Chapter 66. Reunion

A café.

A nice café.

It was honestly kind of strange that I kept coming and going from a place like this as if it were my own home, when in reality, I had never once voluntarily stepped into a café.

“Hmm, looks like everyone got here early!”

One monster, two NPCs, and two NPCs who, officially speaking, still weren’t supposed to exist.

Hmm.

Yep. Everyone was definitely here.

“It’s only been one day, but it feels like I haven’t seen everyone in ages. If I’d stayed there one more day, I probably would’ve come back with my liver completely soaked in alcohol.”

“Same here. I felt so uncomfortable in Haiang that every minute felt like an hour. Why are there so many people there who start fights for absolutely no reason?”

“People kept saying a talking slime was fascinating, so I almost got dragged away as a test subject several times! Fist King saved me every time, though. I think he took a liking to me.”

Looks like everyone had gone through all sorts of things in just one day.

Well, we probably wouldn’t have any reason to visit Haiang again for a while, so hopefully everyone could keep enjoying this peaceful mood.

Everyone sat down in their usual spots and naturally began ordering, almost out of habit by now.

It felt strangely ordinary.

“Huh? You’re drinking that? Have you ever tried it before?”

“Nope. I thought I’d try being adventurous for once.”

Haha.

Other people did this kind of thing with their friends in real life, while I was enjoying it inside a game with NPCs…

Was it really okay for me to be satisfied with something like this…?

…No.

That wasn’t right.

Now there was a chance I might finally make some friends who would play games with me besides Kim Inbang, whom I only met every once in a while.

And maybe…

Just maybe…

One of those gaming friends might even become a real-life friend someday?!

“Actually, the reason I called all of you here today is to announce that I have made a new acquaintance.”

“Why are you making such a big deal out of that? Briquette, you seem to make new acquaintances everywhere you go.”

Me?

Did I?

I couldn’t remember doing anything special other than acting however I felt like.

“Thanks to you, I also made several friends in the back alleys of Haiang. Hahaha!”

“Village Chief! You were doing that kind of thing even in the Alliance?! Why do you keep doing this?!”

“To gather information, of course. When it comes to gathering information, there are few people more suitable than those kinds of fellows.”

“Mister! You should’ve stopped him! Wait, no—you’re the one who told him to do it, aren’t you?!”

“Well, I just thought it might be nice if we could buy bullets a little cheaper.”

“We were going to find a craftsman’s weakness and use it. In the end, though, we discovered that he had no weaknesses worth exploiting, so we decided to simply become friends with him instead. Isn’t that peaceful?”

“Exactly.”

“What do you mean, ‘exactly’?! Do both of you want me to hit you?!”

We hadn’t done anything particularly special.

I had simply copied some gun-related information from the wiki and recited it to him.

The guy laughed his head off, became my drinking buddy, and even gave me a special gun as a present.

“I also heard that Briquette became friendly with the contractor who manages the underground waterways! Apparently, people live throughout Haiang’s enormous sewer system, so they said they need a lot of the purified water I make!”

“Mallang, you’re being taken advantage of…”

“Even if that is the case, I understand that it is necessary for the sake of making the world even slightly cleaner… Hehehe!”

“You…! You! Where did you learn to talk like that?! You learned it from Mister, didn’t you?! Hey! Of all the things you could copy, why would you copy that?!”

“I think Ien is too stiff sometimes.”

“?!”

How peaceful.

Had everyone finally gotten used to the rest of the group?

I liked this.

It was wonderful to watch.

W-What an incredible display of free and astonishing interaction between AIs!

Hehehe.

In other games, dialogue like this would probably only happen between characters with special relationships.

But here, I could see conversations like this whenever I wanted.

What an amazing game.

Seriously.

“You’re laughing? You think this is funny? Huh?!”

Smack, smack.

Ien had recently been showing some rather noticeable growth.

So even when she held back and merely slapped my shoulder lightly, it still hurt.

I really wished she would stop.

But now that I thought about it…

Ien had originally been assigned to me specifically to keep an eye on me.

Was it really okay for her to get this friendly with me?

Was she secretly reporting everything about me behind my back?

If she was…

Would that count as betrayal?

Or since I already knew that was her purpose and chose to tolerate it because she was useful in combat, should I consider it not to be betrayal?

“What do you think?”

“Just you wait. The moment I find one of your weaknesses, Mister, I’m reporting it immediately.”

“Ahaha! Is that so? Guess I’d better stay on guard!”

I really should stay on guard.

Maybe I needed to manage my image a little better whenever Ien was around before she started disliking me even more.

Still, I’d shown her a decent side of myself so far.

My current evaluation probably wasn’t that bad.

“Ah! Seriously!”

“Oh, my son’s back. Why are you so angry?”

Fortunately, Modaki returned after dealing with Happy before Lucy arrived.

Still, he stomped inside while huffing angrily, clearly upset about something.

He looked even younger than Happy, whom I had met a little while ago.

But the true form hidden inside him was a wolf as large as a house.

So even though he approached while adorably stomping his feet, there was still a strange sense of weight behind every step.

And as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he picked Mallang up from my arms, plopped Mallang onto my head, and then sat down on my lap himself.

What in the world had happened to you during the past twenty years?

Dad…

Dad really doesn’t understand.

You definitely weren’t this clingy before.

“What’s with that brat? What the hell is his problem? Why does he piss me off so much?”

“Hmm? Was he bothering you? Was he that strong?”

Even if Happy had discovered madness because of me, there was no way he could have grown enough in such a short period of time to fight Modaki one-on-one.

“No? He was ridiculously weak. But that idiot! He keeps looking down on me because he thinks he’s stronger!”

“Hmm. So he thought you were weak?”

“Um, Mister? What are you talking about?”

…Ah.

Maybe I shouldn’t talk about Happy in front of Ien yet.

No.

Wait.

If I hid it from her and she later asked me, “Why didn’t you tell me?” that would be troublesome too.

Right.

This was also a cliché.

Someone tried to hide something from the past, only for it to become a problem in the present and cause an even deeper emotional wound.

I also needed to improve my image with Ien.

So let’s just be honest.

“Yeah. Actually, I met Happy today.”

“…W-What?! W-Where?!”

As expected, she immediately got worked up.

Still, at least now I wouldn’t have to hear her complain that I’d deliberately hidden it from her.

Thanks to the advice from the angel lady, I had acquired the ability to remain calm.

With a composed expression, I gestured for Ien to settle down and began explaining.

“Actually, yesterday, before logging out, I entered a dungeon. Then when I logged in today, Happy was standing right next to me.”

“You should’ve captured him!”

Happy was clearly one of the fanatic’s people.

Why did I think that?

Because Happy’s name had come out of the mouth of that fanatic despite Happy supposedly having disappeared.

And yet, amazingly, Happy had appeared right in front of me looking completely fine!

Happy definitely had some kind of plan.

I didn’t know what that plan was, but it was possible that I might end up in danger because of it.

That was how I explained it.

Ien desperately wanted to find Happy as soon as possible, but she wasn’t so emotional that she would start screaming at me even after hearing that explanation.

“I already reported it separately to Grandpa Alo. He’s probably started investigating by now.”

“Uh.”

…What was with that ominous reaction?

Modaki.

What the hell did you do?

“They probably can’t enter the place anymore. I melted the entire cave.”

“…Holy…”

“No! Listen! That bastard dared to make fun of me! Was I supposed to just let that slide?! So I beat him until he begged me to save him, but then these fairly strong guys called Stems suddenly appeared. After that, I couldn’t exactly keep holding back!”

Hmm.

Stems.

Were they related to the Root and Seed that the fanatic had mentioned before?

If Modaki described them as “fairly strong,” then they were probably somewhere around the level of a Great Demon.

“Did you win?”

“Of course I won! They were a little strong, but they’re still beneath me! A hundred of them… might be difficult, but I’m confident I wouldn’t lose even if around ten attacked me at once!”

“Hmm. Naturally. Who do you think trained you? I never taught you to be weak enough to lose against trashy monsters like those.”

Jin subtly showed his pride.

Meanwhile, Modaki finally realized that he had done something worthy of praise and looked up at me with sparkling eyes.

Hmm.

I don’t really like children, you know.

Staring at me like that only makes me uncomfortable, Modaki.

Besides, that dungeon was used by tons of players.

The monsters respawned quickly, and the rewards from killing the golems were pretty good too.

Veteran players often used the place to carry newbies.

But if I only scolded Modaki without praising him at all, it wouldn’t be good for Jin, who was finally beginning to find meaning in life through his pride.

Nor would it be good for Modaki, who had done the job because I had asked him to.

Right.

Moderation was the answer here.

I should clearly separate what he did well from what he did badly.

Neither of them was stupid enough to misunderstand.

“You did well by winning! I’ll praise you for that. But your cleanup was a little sloppy, son. Next time, try to finish things more neatly.”

“Okay! I’ll work hard!”

“That’s my good boy.”

I gently stroked his hair.

Rather than human hair, it felt soft and fluffy like a dog’s fur.

Maybe because Modaki’s true essence was fire, it was also pleasantly warm.

Actually, it was a little too warm.

I couldn’t keep petting him for very long.

“Happy… What happened to Happy?”

According to Modaki’s story, Happy had been beaten half to death and called for help.

And there was a good chance that whoever had come to save him had also been burned to death by Modaki.

Ien was clearly worried.

And if Happy had actually died, the despair and sense of betrayal Ien might feel…

Damn it.

I had literally just been thinking about improving my image.

What was I supposed to do now?

“I couldn’t kill him. I saw him escape before I came back.”

“Ah…”

“You let him go?”

“Well, you see… this guy called Root appeared. No matter how I looked at it, I didn’t think I could beat him, so I just let them leave.”

Was that actually fortunate?

Seeing Ien breathe a sigh of relief made me relax as well.

I couldn’t care less what happened to Happy, but I wanted to avoid Ien going down a twisted path if possible.

I’d raised her this far.

Getting betrayed all of a sudden would hurt way too much.

It couldn’t be helped.

For the time being, I would focus entirely on攻略—

No.

On winning Ien over.

Until now, I had mostly left her alone.

From now on, I would pay a little more attention to her and get closer to her.

Then later, even if only because of emotional attachment, she wouldn’t be able to betray me.

Whether I could truly manipulate an AI that was basically identical to a real human into feeling that way was something I could worry about later.

For now, I could only desperately pray that the game system would help me.

Perhaps because the tension had made her thirsty, Ien was gulping down the drink in front of her.

She really was an affectionate girl.

What kind of approach would work best on someone like her?

At the very least, I was certain that I needed to treat her completely differently from how I had until now.

“…Mister…”

Ah.

Was I already too late?!

That expression.

That tone of voice.

It practically screamed:

All right. I’m about to pour an entire bucket of nagging straight into those tiny ears of yours. If it hurts, tell me. I need to know you’re suffering so I can enjoy myself!

That kind of expression!

“Wait! Hold on! I don’t know anything!”

“What do you mean you don’t know?! You already had a pretty good idea! You were obviously thinking, ‘Well, I don’t care what happens to someone like Happy. Whether he dies or not has nothing to do with me.’ Weren’t you?!”

“!!!”

Ien suddenly sprang to her feet, her face strangely flushed, and struck straight at my heart with a terrifyingly accurate imitation of my voice!

The killing intent stabbing into me felt like needles.

I couldn’t even find the words to respond.

“Wow, Miss Ien. That impression was quite impressive.”

“Shut up!”

“Hahaha.”

“Wait! Don’t nag our Briquette! If anyone’s going to complain about him, I’ll be the one to do it!”

“You…! Ah, forget it. Mister, get ready. I’m not letting this go today!”

“Kyaa! Scary! Briquette, save me~!”

“What the hell are you even trying to—WHOA! H-Hey! You can’t suddenly swing your sword at me!”

She actually swung her sword!

She swung it like she was seriously trying to kill me!

And on top of that, Dorphin clung to me right in the middle of it, so I almost got genuinely cut!

Why the hell could she swing a sword so well while staggering around like a drunk?!

“If Mister dies… if only Mister dies, then nothing bad will ever happen again…!”

“That’s too cruel! You’re seriously too cruel! You crossed the line! You crossed it hard! You think Mister’s just going to tolerate that?!”

“Oh dear, Miss Ien. So this was alcohol? No wonder your voice was louder than usual.”

Apparently even the Village Chief thought Ien was acting far too violently.

He picked up the glass she had been drinking from, smelled it, and immediately frowned.

Wait.

Just how strong was that alcohol if even the Village Chief reacted like that?

And why the hell had Ien drunk it without realizing?!

Hey!

Manager!

What the hell did you serve a kid?!

And!

I don’t care how strong the alcohol was—who gets completely drunk that quickly?!

Sure, I’d seen people with low alcohol tolerance turn bright red after a single glass.

But I’d never seen someone become completely wasted in seconds!

“DIE!!!”

“Aaaah! I’m gonna die!”

“You all look like you’re having fun.”

While I desperately tried to escape the rampaging Ien, an unfamiliar voice suddenly slipped into our group.

The sharp voice clearly reached everyone’s ears.

“Ah, Miss Lowell! Perfect timing! Could you help me for a second—”

Back during the test period, perhaps because the technology wasn’t fully developed yet, players couldn’t change their gender or drastically alter their appearance.

But apparently, the technology had now advanced to the point where even changing your gender, changing your species, or creating a completely ridiculous character through extreme customization no longer caused any noticeable sense of awkwardness.

Lucy Lowell, who was easily one of the most beautiful women around in real life, had a somewhat decadent kind of beauty.

She had a slightly sharp face, large eyes, and heavy dark circles beneath them.

Black suited her remarkably well.

Whatever appearance a woman like that chose inside the game was none of my concern.

People like me, who created characters that looked almost identical to their real selves, were actually the unusual ones.

“…Uh…”

Her character had orange hair tied once around shoulder level before falling loosely over her shoulders.

Her eyes were also orange—round, soft, and charming.

Her features were distinct and undeniably beautiful.

She wore a black dress that immediately brought a witch to mind, along with an excessively wide-brimmed pointed hat whose tip drooped weakly downward.

Her body looked healthy and well-toned, as though she exercised regularly.

…

She looked…

She looked far too much like Pie.