“You coulda woken me up at least!” That was the first thing out of Kenk’s mouth once Yuuma and the others gave him an abridged explanation of what had happened while he was out cold. Yuuma had actually forgotten all about Kenk—but he wasn’t about to admit that to his friend. He tried to look as sincere as possible as he spoke. “You were the most injured out of all of us, Kenk… I just figured you’d recover faster if we let you sleep.” “I don’t buy that for one minute!” Kenk stared at him angrily. Tomori, however, cut in. “No, it’s true. It varies between individuals, but HP does regenerate faster during rest.” From her tone of voice, it seemed like she knew what she was talking about. “Wait, really?” said Kenk, surprised. Yuuma almost said the exact same thing, but he bit his tongue in the nick of time. Tomori was right. In the world of Actual Magic, a player’s HP recovered at the same rate regardless of whether they were lying down or sprinting at top speed. But Kenk’s HP bar had overtaken Yuuma’s at some point and was now at over 90 percent. Even considering the fact that Kenk was a Warrior and Yuuma was a magic-using class, the difference in recovery speed wasn’t plausible inside AM. “Hey Shimizu, does that mean that we can recover completely in just a few minutes, even if we’re badly injured, so long as we lie down and rest?” asked Yuuma. Tomori shook her head slowly. “I don’t think so. Regeneration probably wouldn’t be able to keep up if you’re so badly injured that your HP is continuing to fall… For instance, if you’d broken a bone or severed a major artery. I have a feeling resting will only help to recover from mild injuries, say the top thirty percent of your HP bar.” “Makes sense…” Althea was currently a mixed reality, a fusion of the natural laws of the real world and the game system of AM. Pitfalls awaited them around every corner if they let themselves forget that fact. But it was also something they could use to their advantage. For example, if they ever found themselves in a situation where they were unable to use healing magic, so long as they could administer first aid to stop their HP from decreasing further, as Sawa had done for Yuuma earlier in the infirmary, they could wait for the natural HP recovery granted by the game system to take care of the rest. That meant that abilities that were underwhelming inside AM, like Enhanced HP Regeneration, might be invaluable in the real world. Maybe all four of them should use some of their accumulated skill points to acquire that one. “Hey, Sawa, can you call that demon up again?” Kenk asked bluntly, interrupting Yuuma’s thoughts. Only a few minutes had passed since Sawa had taken over from Valac. She took a sip of mineral water from her inventory before replying, apparently annoyed, “There’s a limit to how long we can change places. I can’t bring her out again today.” “Man, really? How long can she come out per day?” “Ten minutes.” “That’s all?! You’d think she could at least do fifteen…” “Hey, don’t blame me.” Yuuma scrutinized Sawa as she bantered with Kenk. Her voice and facial expressions seemed normal. At the very least, that air of detachment that had appeared while she was trading places with Valac was gone now. Sawa had likely—in fact, almost certainly—encountered Valac as soon as reality started shifting. It would explain why Sawa seemed to know things that Yuuma did not, or why growing horns and wings didn’t scare her. Valac must have given her at least some information. “Sawa…is there something you know? Something you’re not telling me?” Yuuma had asked her that about an hour and a half earlier, while they were in the locker room on the first floor. He still remembered her reply. “Please… Just give me a little more time… Once things settle down, I’ll tell you everything I know. But there’s more I need to investigate first. Please—just wait a little longer.” To be fair, if Sawa had told him back then that she was possessed by a demon, Yuuma wasn’t sure how he would have reacted. He certainly believed her now, at least. There was another entity living inside Sawa, one that went by the name of Valac. A demon, from the world of AM. What if it had been Yuuma who had been possessed, rather than Sawa? There was no way he would have remained so calm throughout all of this. Sawa may have been the younger twin, but mentally speaking, Yuuma had to admit that she was the slightly more mature one. Deep down inside, however, she had to be at least a little afraid. “Are you okay…?” Yuuma asked Sawa, drawing close. Sawa simply nodded. Kenk was still standing around, looking sullen. Sawa pushed him out of the way in order to address the other two. “Yu, Tomo, I know you must have a lot of questions, but right now what we need to do is focus on finding Nagi. It’s already five thirty. If we don’t make it back to the shelter by at least seven o’clock, you know Sugamo will make another stink.” “Ah…” Yuuma, Tomori, and Kenk frowned at the same time. With all the crazy things that had been happening, they’d completely forgotten that the whole reason they had left the shelter in the first place was because their class president, Teruki Sugamo, had ordered them to go find food. Fortunately, Yuuma and Sawa already had loads of onigiri, snacks, and baked goods in their inventories, which they had pilfered from the employee breakroom earlier in the day. There were currently twenty-three students at the shelter, including Yuuma and his friends—no, twenty-two, since Takeshi Moro had been killed by a monster. That meant they had enough food to cover about two meals for everyone. One onigiri or baked good, plus one snack. That should have been enough to satisfy Sugamo for the time being. But if they didn’t find a way out of Althea by tomorrow morning, or if help didn’t come from outside, then they were going to run out of things to eat by noon tomorrow. Supposedly there was a huge food court on the fifth floor of Althea. There’d be plenty of food waiting if they could make their way up there. But what if Althea was like one of the tower dungeons in an RPG now, where enemies got progressively stronger on each floor you went up…? While Yuuma was still thinking, Kenk suddenly punched his right fist into the palm of his left hand and spoke. He seemed to have finally given up on getting to meet Valac. “All right, let’s go find that crybaby, Nagi! She’s still in Actual Magic, right? All we need to do, then, is open up her Caliculus and…log her out manually…” Kenk trailed off mid-sentence. A moment later he continued speaking, seemingly perplexed. “But wait, didn’t we already check all the Caliculus capsules in Playroom 01? You don’t think we missed her, do you—?” “No,” Yuuma interrupted. He remembered what Valac had told them while Kenk was out cold. “Nagi’s in AM right now, but she’s not playing the game. She’s been transported to another world, just like in a manga or anime.” “Transported…?” Kenk stared at him, open-mouthed. Yuuma understood how he felt. Yuuma had trouble believing it himself, and he had heard it straight from Valac. “You see…um…if we use one of the Caliculus capsules now to dive into AM, then our actual bodies—” “Just watch me do it. That way you can see it for yourself,” Sawa cut in, glancing around the room as she spoke. Due to the Conehead Demolisher’s rampage, and Valac’s powerful magic, all the nearby capsules were now seriously damaged. Sawa walked toward the back of the room instead, gesturing for the others to follow. She stopped at a point with four undamaged Caliculus capsules conveniently lined up in a row. After checking to make sure that the lids of all four capsules were open, she climbed up the ramp into one of the capsules, which had been painted with the number 229—likely indicating that it was Capsule 29 of Playroom 02. Once she was standing next to the capsule, she turned back to Yuuma and the others. “After I enter the capsule and close the lid, wait thirty seconds and then use the emergency lever to reopen the capsule and see for yourselves. Once you’re convinced it works, you can use these other capsules to dive in.” “Okay… But wait,” said Yuuma. Sawa’s right leg hovered, ready to step into the capsule. “What?” “The diving part is fine, but how do we get back out? There was no LOGOUT button in the menu during the playtest, remember?” “Ah…” Sawa furrowed her brows together for just a moment. “It’s fine. I’m sure there’ll be something.” “You’re sure?” “What reason would there be to keep us trapped in AM? It’s not like we can escape Althea anyway. Come on, we don’t have time for this right now.” “All right…” Yuuma nodded. Sawa swung herself gently over the lip of the capsule and then lay down on the cushion inside. The QREST on her left hand blinked as it synced up with the Caliculus. The lid of the capsule, which was shaped like a flower petal, closed and locked automatically, and the holo-text on the lid’s surface changed from Vacant to Occupied. After waiting for thirty seconds to pass on the clock in the bottom-right-hand corner of his vision, and then counting out another five seconds just to be safe, Yuuma grabbed the emergency lever on the side of the Caliculus capsule. Pulling back hard, he heard the lock groan as it released, and the lid rose several centimeters. He placed his fingers inside the gap and slowly lifted. “No way…,” Kenk whispered hoarsely. Yuuma wasn’t sure what to say. Sawa had entered the capsule just forty seconds earlier. They had seen it for themselves. She was gone now, without a trace. Windbreaker and all. Yuuma poked his hand into the capsule and gingerly poked the gel-mat cushioning. This was what Valac told them would happen if they dove into AM, but seeing it in person was a different story. Plenty of weird and inexplicable things had been happening since they became trapped in Althea, but witnessing a person evaporate into thin air really ratcheted up the paranormal factor. Don’t worry. It’s just like a game, like when your avatar disappears after using fast travel, Yuuma told himself. He lifted his head. “We should go, too…” Tomori and Kenk nodded wordlessly. The three hurried back to the walkway and climbed up to their individual Caliculus capsules, which were lined up on the left and marked 226, 227, and 228, respectively. Yuuma slid into the empty capsule and lay down. His QREST connected automatically, and the Actual Magic logo appeared in the middle of his field of view. Maybe it was his imagination, but the color of the logo seemed to be darker than before. But that was a minor detail, all things considered. Yuuma shut his eyes tightly as he listened to the hydraulic whoosh of the dampers as the lid closed. He breathed in, out, in once more, and then— “Dive in.” As Yuuma uttered the command, a radiant burst of light appeared behind his eyelids, starting out rainbow in color but soon fusing together into pure white. He felt his body grow distant; gravity seemed to fade. He was soon enveloped in a floating sensation, almost as if his soul had been released from his body. Yuuma could almost swear he heard someone speaking. Be careful, Yuuma… …Valac…is not your… Before Yuuma could listen any closer, his legs made contact with soft ground. He adjusted his footing to avoid falling over as he landed firmly on terra virtual. Yuuma didn’t even take a look around. He had barely stood up straight and opened his eyes again before accessing his menu window. He navigated directly to the System tab, before breathing a sigh of relief. The LOGOUT button was right where it should be. Yuuma closed the window and looked up. He gasped. The sun shone deep red against the horizon, as the evening sky stretched from crimson, to indigo to darker blue. A fresh breeze wafted across the lush green plains. Everything was so vivid and colorful. After being trapped in the grim, drab halls of Althea for so long, the bright colors hurt Yuuma’s eyes. The air was slightly chilly and smelled of fresh grass and flowers—something they had been missing during the playtest. Kenk arrived about ten seconds later. He craned his neck around in all directions. “I…forgot how beautiful the world is…,” muttered Kenk, taken aback. “Don’t forget it’s fake,” Yuuma reminded him. Althea was also half virtual now. A few seconds later Tomori also dove in, but she only took a cursory glance at the scenery before turning her attention toward her own body. She was dressed in a cassock—a type of robe specific to the Priest class. She began patting herself all over. “Shimizu, are you all right?” Yuuma asked. “Yes, I’m fine… But these bodies—they’re our Actual Magic avatars, aren’t they?” “Hmm…” Yuuma glanced at his own hands before nodding. “I think you’re right. The moles and scars on my hand are missing.” As Yuuma checked his own body, he realized that his Yukihana Elementary School uniform had been replaced with light leather armor and a woolen tunic. Apparently, their real-world clothes—their equipment—didn’t make the trip with them into AM. Tomori scrutinized her own hands. “Yeah…me too. But if these are our avatars, then where did our real bodies go…?” There was no way to know the answer to that question at the moment. Yuuma exchanged a look with Kenk. After initiating their dive inside the Caliculus capsules in the real world, their bodies should have instantly disappeared from inside the capsules. But now that they were in AM, they were here as avatars, created from digital data. In other words, their actual bodies didn’t exist in either world right now. Yuuma froze, overcome by a strange, existential unease. Sawa, who had dove in earlier than the rest, finally approached, the crisp grass crunching beneath her feet. “Don’t worry, Tomo,” she said. “True, these bodies are our avatars, but they’re also real.” “I don’t understand… What does that mean…?” Yuuma, who was standing next to Tomori, cocked his head in confusion as well. “I don’t entirely understand it myself…,” began Sawa, who was now dressed in Mage robes. She haltingly tried to explain. “But think of it this way. Right now, everything in Althea exists both physically and as data. That includes our human bodies. It’s why objects can still be sent to inventory there, and why people can be healed using magic. If one of us learned the high-level Teleport spell, we could probably even teleport to different spots inside Althea.”
Chapter 21
13 min read