I feel a connection with God—a strong, deep connection.
May our prayers reach Him. May the Devil God descend upon this war-torn world.
✦ ✦ ✦
Rice crackers, bread, ham, apples, peanuts, fish cake, chocolate, beef jerky... plus some vegetable juice and canned coffee. I’m all set! Good to go! Even while gaming at home, sometimes I forget my nutrition. Hey guys, it’s PotatoStarch!
Man, I thought I was gonna die. Passing out isn’t like going to sleep—the chills and unpleasantness aren’t to be underestimated. Now, this pizza is freaking delicious, even if it’s dry as hell. Is it healthy or unhealthy that I collapse from a little bit of starvation but bounce right back up after a bite of pizza?
And then there’s Kuroi’s feast for the ages going on over here.
“Kuroi, are you gonna keep eating forever? I haven’t seen you stop yet,” Ange wants to know. She was eating at the fort. She’s eating on the move. She eats during training. She even eats while setting up camp. “You really like potatoes, huh? Wait, that’s not even cooked! Does that taste good?”
“Mm.”
What an appetite. She’s like a saiyan, or a certain third generation of master thief. No, girl monster hunter would make more sense. That’s a different game, though.
“Make sure to chew, at least. And drink some water.”
“Mm.”
I’m surprised she can even chew on horseback. Aha ha, now Sira’s trying to copy her! Man, I feel full just watching her. It gives me a little energy, too. To live is to eat! Man, I love fishcake.
That reminds me, when I went to the convenience store earlier, I thought: “Ha! What was I worried about at home? I’m such a scaredy-cat!” Sure, my phone and email are dead. Someone is probably monitoring me, too. But outside my room, the town is peaceful. The infrastructure is sound, order is secure, and the days are calm; there’s no room for horror or suspense themes. This is Japan, after all, home of prosperity, peace, and happiness. We even managed to remain unharmed during the America-China War, which most consider to be World War III, despite being positioned directly between both countries. We had a front-row view of America’s overwhelming victory, and we didn’t even flinch.
And here I am, in such a blessed land, not going to work... I would if I could, to be honest. All I’m doing is playing video games from sunup to sunset. What do I have to be afraid of? I’m not going to die; no one’s out to murder me. I have no struggles. My life’s not even comparable to the ones inside my monitor.
“Potatoes, eh? An excellent taste. I’ll boil a whole bunch of them during our next break. It’s just like setting up a bath. Oh! Look that way, Lady Kuroi.” Beyond the rows of cavalry and foot soldiers is a group of people, not blocking our progress but still unmissable. “They’re citizens that were forced to evacuate their once-peaceful homes.”
An old man in a tattered cloak; an old lady with a cloth over her head; a man pulling his belongings on a large two-wheeled wagon; a woman carrying a baby; a pregnant woman thickly clad in clothes; injured men, carried on the backs of others; muddy children holding their siblings’ hands.
“As you can see, it’s not just one or two places that have been affected. They must have come from the west. The vampires really had their way with them...”
Tens, no, hundreds of people, young and old, male and female, with only the clothes on their backs. I’ve seen and experienced this before; this is the look of people who have been through a disaster. They’ve lost their normal lives, but their expressions say they’re still fighting to survive. DDR gets too real with its details sometimes, man.
“Lord Willow and I shall go speak with them. Lady Ange, please prepare some supplies to share. Son Peine, prepare a guard force from our foot soldiers. Odysson, give them a little show,” orders the fat priest.
“And me? What can I do?” Sira pipes up.
“Go get the rabbits, then. Make sure they’re exquisitely fluffy.”
The hot knight and black-hearted priest head out towards them. Y’know, this event seems like it’s calling to me. See? It’s my time to shine. I don’t even have to get off my horse and a group comes, surrounding me and offering prayers.
“G-Great Apostle, please accept our humble gift. It is our best product.”
“Mm.”
“Oh! Why, she’s eating it raw! Such a blessing!”
Hm, the Devil God’s faith points are shooting up. Up, up, up! Our limited provisions are going down, down, down, though. The biggest requirement in a relief operation is, of course, food. I see some people handing out blankets, too.
And so, led by a group of ten soldiers, the evacuees head north—probably to the fort. We have a lot of food there. I hear there’s even more food stored in the mountains.
How many more similar events will we go through before arriving at the palace? Lots of in-game time has passed since we left the fort. We’ve been charting a direct path, but even so we haven’t even made it halfway yet. Unlike last time, we’re not making a superhuman drive. Instead, we’re going at a steady pace with plenty of breaks each day.
Huh, my system seems to be performing well today. Time to turn on high-speed mode. If I don’t actively use it, I could spend untold hours on marching. This isn’t a game about traveling, man.
Mmh, that vegetable juice hit the spot. Maybe I’ll check the news for a change of pace. Whoa, another bad day for planet Earth. Terrorism, refugees, poverty, starvation, civil war, environmental destruction, a financial crisis... and that atomic submarine is still missing. As usual, the headlines are dominated by American stories. Isn’t that weird? Why are all the top stories on an international news site from the same country?
Every now and again, I’m reminded of how odd the internet is. Every bit of information is at our fingertips, so why doesn’t any of it feel real? The super AI’s perfect service has really made so much of our modern lives more convenient. I like to believe that I think and care about international affairs, but nothing moves my heart. Honestly, DDR seems way more realistic... Oh, dear. My system’s acting weird again. Time to switch to observation mode. We’ve got a lot of marching left to do.
Huh, another event. The rows of soldiers part to make way for a man in ancient armor. He looks very heroic.
“Hare of Flame, I thank thee for granting me this audience. I am Donte, a warrior from Green Hills. My fellow warriors and I come bringing every vassal available to us. We ask that you allow us the honor of fighting at the very edge of your great army, O Great Savior.”
The man kneels and offers up his equally ancient sword. It’s nicely polished, but contains no special qualities or bonuses to speak of. Hm, the item description says it’s a family heirloom. Kuroi, still on horseback, takes the sword and strokes it—it disappears. Gone to her vault, I guess. So she can increase her stores that way, huh?
“Ohh... That the pride of my house would be welcomed as God’s strength... Ohh...!”
The man backs up, and my army’s numbers increase by thirty cavalry and a hundred and fifty soldiers. How many events like this have I seen? I’m gaining more soldiers this way than I’m losing them to refugee assistance, so my army is steadily increasing. Its numbers doubled from ten to twenty thousand strong. Total faith points are also still rising.
See? Here come some more. This time they’re waving a very colorful banner from a different area. Their army seems to be made up of half soldiers, half support units. Today I learned that units carrying supplies are very rare.
Strategy gamers will insist that war is all about numbers and supplies. War, huh? The casualties they read out on the news always felt like they were nothing special, like the traffic accident report bulletin at the local police station. Although, of course, it is a bit humbling to see. In contrast, this is... There are no unnamed characters in DDR, and the game is high quality, so their deaths are more shocking. I remember every enemy and ally’s face. There’s no way to redo things, either.
I’m also pretty attached to this playthrough. It’s so nice to see Kuroi leading all these familiar faces that she met at the Frontier; they’re all working so hard. There’s the soldiers that have followed me since the beginning; the ones that joined us at the fort; and the various groups that joined us in our march towards the palace. You can feel how unique all of them are. I even wish that there were no battle events in this game. Maybe they should make it more suitable for a younger audience and go with sports duels or something instead? Then I could still play as Kuroi, and no one would have to die. It’s a game. Just a game. So why is my heart pounding so hard?
Hm? My intercom just rang. Who could that be? ...Yes, I’ll be right there. Sigh, a delivery?
Uh, what the hell is this?! Hello?! Something crazy just happened. It’s honestly mindblowing, but as a gamer I’m overjoyed. I’m so excited! A VR machine just got sent to me! Then again, I am a gamer, so I already have one... However, this thing’s got way better specs. It’s the latest and greatest model, with the price tag of an import luxury car. I’ve seen one at work, so I’m sure I’m not mistaken, but... Wow, I’m even afraid to take off the plastic.
So... what does this mean? Was it Santa Claus? Although, to be honest, I don’t really need this at the moment. I’m exclusively focused on DDR, after all. VR isn’t suitable for long play sessions, either.
Oh! There’s also a message card. What’s it say... Oh, God, not this again. And since it’s physical, this time I can’t copy and paste it into a translation site. Come on, these weird Romanian letters don’t show up when I type normally on my keyboard!