Chapter 25

The five minutes felt more like an hour, but Niki never returned. That meant the coast must have been clear in the stairwell and Niki had headed down toward the first floor. Once he made it down, all he would need to do was pass through the elevator lobby, the main lobby, and the waiting area before arriving at the shopping area—aka Shelter Sugamo. Those eighteen students would be so relieved to see Niki’s face. Not only was he bringing food, but they would finally know that the students who had fled upstairs were doing all right. The only person who might not be too happy about Niki’s arrival was Sugamo, since that might threaten his leadership. Yuuma stood up from the stone he was sitting on. He knew it was petty, but he wished he could see Sugamo’s face when Niki showed up. “It’s been five minutes. We’ll just have to trust that Niki made it safely,” said Yuuma. “Let’s get moving.” “Finally! Actually, before we go…,” Kenk began. Kenk was still sitting. There was a whiny tone in his voice. “…maybe we should eat first. Since we can smell stuff in AM now, we can probably taste as well. You know the saying: A gamer marches on his stomach!” Kenk seemed to think he had just made a clever joke. Sawa refused to even crack a smile. “You can last another hour, can’t you?” she told him. “Instead of using up our rations, now that we’ve finally gotten our hands on some, we should try to find something to eat once we reach Calcina. We can also try to get some more information while we’re there.” “All right, some real food! I remember seeing a bunch of food stalls the last time we were there,” said Kenk, jumping to his feet with greedy excitement. Tomori giggled. The time was currently 7:10 PM. It would probably be past 8:00 by the time they arrived at Calcina. Stores shut down early in AM. There might be some taverns still open, but Yuuma wasn’t so sure about the food stalls. He decided not to mention that to Kenk. “Okay then, it’s decided,” said Yuuma. “I think we should explore the castle a little bit before setting off, though. What does everyone else think?” “But we already explored the upper floors during the playtest, didn’t we?” said Sawa. She looked perplexed. Yuuma quickly explained. “Yes, that’s true. But if the dungeon is gone now, what was that giant lizardman—the Varanian Axbearer—guarding? It only dropped an ax and some materials, no real treasure.” “Oh…!” Sawa was as familiar with games as Yuuma was. It took her a second or two, but she quickly began nodding. “That’s right. I hadn’t thought of that. The upper floors aren’t designed as a dungeon, so it shouldn’t take us long to look around.” Kenk and Tomori also agreed, and they all hurried toward the other end of the spacious room. Tomori cast Brightbird once more, which they used to light their way as they climbed up the wide staircase located there. Kenk and Sawa were leading the way, their expressions serious. Yuuma spoke quietly to Tomori as the two trailed behind. “In case I haven’t said it before, thank you again for coming with us, Shimizu. You’ve been a big help.” “Have I…? All I do is stand at the back and cast a few spells…” Tomori looked down, embarrassed. Yuuma shook his head emphatically. “That’s what a Priest does. We wouldn’t have been able to beat the Varanian without your magic. It was also real smart what you did when you pulled away its shield… And what about now? Without that bird of yours, we would be forced to carry lanterns or torches while we explored,” he explained, pointing to the magic bird as it flapped around over Kenk’s head. Tomori smiled softly. “It’s nice of you to say that, but I need to learn to fight properly like everyone else… After all, Sawa’s just got a wand while I’ve got this extra-long staff. What’s the use of dragging it around with me if I can’t even use it to fight?” Although the croziers used by Priests served as magic staves, they were also blunt weapons, with curved metallic heads that could be used to hit enemies. Additionally, a Priest’s stats were more suited to close combat than a Mage’s, although ultimately that depended on your build. “Everyone has their own playstyle. A magic-focused Priest is entirely viable. Besides, we’ve already got Kenk to handle the front row,” said Yuuma, trying to cheer her up. Tomori suddenly laughed again. “Just him?” “Well…me too, I guess!” “Tee-hee… Okay, if you say so. I’ll just stick to magic, then,” said Tomori softly. Her shoulders finally relaxed, and her usual, untroubled tone of voice returned. Her face suddenly clouded over, however, as if she was remembering something. “… But…” “Hmm…?” Yuuma was about to ask her what was wrong, when suddenly— A strange sensation washed over him, faint yet unmistakable. He paused mid-step. He was overcome by a feeling of detachment, almost like his soul was separating from his body… It lasted for only a moment, however, before the chill night air, the musky odor of dust, and the hardness of the stone beneath his boots returned. At first, Yuuma thought he had imagined the feeling, but Kenk and Sawa, who were walking up ahead of him, and Tomori, who was by his side, all froze as well. They glanced down at their own bodies in puzzlement. “Yuuma, did you…?” Yuuma nodded as Sawa turned toward him. “Yes, I felt it. Something strange. Maybe it was a long-range monster attack…? There was no damage, though, and I haven’t taken on any status effects…” “It didn’t feel like an attack. More like…” Kenk paused for a moment, as if looking for the words, before sighing in frustration. Yuuma sympathized—he couldn’t find the right words to describe the feeling, either. “Well, under the circumstances, we’re bound to run into one or two things we can’t explain… Or three… Or four…,” said Yuuma. He glanced around once more just to be sure there were no signs of danger, and then he made eye contact with Sawa. They began moving again. The second and third floors of the old castle contained only rubble, but at the end of the fourth and highest floor, they found what they were looking for: a large treasure chest, bound in darkly gleaming iron. Kenk let out a celebratory hoot and began to rush forward, but Yuuma grabbed him by the collar before he could take another step. He had Sawa cast Reveal Traps and then cautiously approached the chest himself. For a moment, he panicked, noticing the large keyhole on the front of the chest, but after everyone checked their inventory, they realized that Kenk had picked up a drop item called a Steel Key. Yuuma stood to the side and let Kenk do the honors. Kenk made a show of inserting the key into the lock and turning it, until it clicked with a satisfying sound. Next, he placed both hands on the lid and began making celebratory sound effects, like the kind you’d hear when finding treasure in a game. Sawa smacked him hard on the back. Kenk finally lifted the lid. There was a much bigger jackpot waiting for them than expected. It consisted of a two-handed sword, a small sword, a wand, and a crozier, all evidently high-grade equipment. The contents of the chest were probably generated based on the party that opened it. In addition to the weapons, the chest was also packed full of basic provisions, such as lanterns, binoculars, and water canteens, as well as stoppered potions in expensive-looking glass bottles. The bottom of the chest was also blanketed with a large number of coins. The four gasped in excitement and turned to give each other high fives. No one wanted to celebrate too much, since they weren’t there on a treasure hunt. But a win was still a win. Kenk turned back toward the treasure chest. He pulled out the two-handed sword and placed it on the floor before passing the wand to Sawa, the staff to Tomori, and the small sword to Yuuma. The piles of items and coins could be divvied up later. For now, he separated them into two leather pouches he had on hand and passed one each to Yuuma and Tomori, since they had the most room in their inventories. After collecting the treasure, the four hurried back down to the first floor. They had spent around ten minutes exploring the castle… Nagi would probably forgive them for the delay. Before stepping outside again, they scouted the courtyard from the doorway, just to be safe. There didn’t seem to be any monsters. Yuuma was worried that more Barbed Wolves or even some other monsters might wander in at regular intervals now, but that didn’t seem to be the case. “All right, let’s head toward Calcina…,” said Yuuma. Sawa, Tomori, and Kenk nodded wordlessly. We’ll find you before the night is over, I promise. Just hold on a little longer, thought Yuuma, praying that Nagi could somehow hear him. Yuuma turned toward the distant town and began running. The distance from the ancient forest castle to Calcina was about five kilometers. If it had been daytime, when they could easily spot monsters from afar and avoid them, they would have run there at full speed and arrived in less than thirty minutes. Night, however, required that they keep their eyes peeled. Even walking swiftly, it took twenty minutes just to exit the forest and another thirty to cross the plains. By the time they had finally traversed the dozenth or so hill and caught sight of the glow of a town in the distance, the clock was already ticking past 8:00, just as Yuuma had expected. Calcina was a small fortress town built on the northern bank of a large river known as the Cal River. It was enclosed by a semicircular stone wall, with three major roads branching off in a radial pattern from a central plaza that faced the river. Each of these roads connected to one of the town’s gates. Since they weren’t wanted as criminals and could just walk in, Yuuma and the others headed for the north gate, which was the largest of the three. Yuuma tensed up a little as they walked past the guards, who were dressed in chain mail and wielding halberds, but the guards let them in without hassle. No one asked to see a pass or tried to shake them down for a bribe or anything like that. It was 8:12 PM when the party of four finally set foot onto the stone-paved streets of Calcina. Of course, Calcina had also been their starting point during the playtest, so really, they were just coming back after an eight-hour absence. As a result, Yuuma didn’t expect to feel particularly excited as he laid eyes on the large road that extended in a straight line southward from the gate. “Huh…?” A small gasp escaped Yuuma’s lips. The last time they were there, the quiet street had been only sparsely dotted with stalls and street vendors. Now, however, there were no stalls in sight. Instead, the street was lined on both sides with closely packed, and brightly lit, shops and taverns. Their awnings butted all the way up to the street. There were also throngs of tavern dwellers and shoppers, who strolled past leisurely with smiles on their faces. “Who knew Calcina got so exciting at night…?” Kenk said in amazement. Yuuma cleared his throat gently. “I don’t think it’s a matter of day or night, Kenk… There’s not just more people. There’s also way more shops than there were before…” “Well, better more than less. Come on, let’s go find somewhere to eat. I’m starving…!” Kenk dramatically clutched his stomach. Sawa smacked him on the back again. “You’re not gonna starve to death. Information first, food later…” Just then, however, Yuuma noticed a new symbol appear under Kenk’s HP bar, which was still displayed in his own field of view. It was a symbol he had never seen before. Its border was black, which meant it was a debuff rather than a buff. It was shaped like a crank but with a thick middle—probably meant to represent a stomach. Yuuma stared in surprise. As he did so, he noticed that Kenk’s HP count, which was superimposed over the graphical bar and had been full just a moment ago, suddenly decreased by one. “Oh. That must be the Hunger status ailment. I guess I was wrong, Kenk. It looks like you might starve to death after all,” said Sawa, cool as a cucumber. Kenk shook his head back and forth in denial. “Noooo!!” Yuuma and the others rushed into the first restaurant that caught their eye, relying on guesswork to order from the unfamiliar menu. As they finished placing their order, Kenk’s HP fell by another point, to 174. It wasn’t clear if this was fixed damage, or a percentage of max health, but either way, Kenk was losing hit points at a pace of about one HP per five minutes. At this rate, it would take 875 minutes for Kenk to die from the hunger debuff… In other words, 14 hours and 30 minutes. In the real world, you could go ten times that long without eating and survive, so long as you had water. In game terms, however, it was a pretty unforgiving damage over time. Good luck convincing Kenk of that, however. His knee was bouncing restlessly as he glanced back and forth between his HP bar and the door leading into the kitchen, practically ready to jump out of his skin. If he was so worried, he could have always just nibbled on some of the rations in his inventory. The debuff would have probably disappeared. But Kenk didn’t seem to like that idea. Luckily, the door to the kitchen opened before Kenk’s next tick of damage, and the NPC waitress reappeared carrying fully loaded trays in each hand. “Here you go, sweethearts, sorry for the wait!” she said cheerfully as she began laying the dishes out onto the table. Sauces sizzled on the plates, and the mouthwatering aroma of spices filled the air. Huge, perfectly browned cuts of meat glimmered appetizingly beneath the lantern light. Yuuma felt his stomach rumble. The waitress poured fresh lemon water into each of their glasses. “Enjoy!” she said, before stepping away. The moment she was gone, Yuuma and the others snatched up their knives and forks and descended on the food at the speed of light. Yuuma had ordered the aged sepala sirloin steak with steamed vegetables and baked potato. Yuuma didn’t know if sepala was a real kind of beef, or even what part of the cow a sirloin came from, but the dish certainly made an impact, both in terms of sight and smell. Yuuma impaled the thick slab of meat with his fork and began cutting into it with the knife in his right hand. For a moment, the meat seemed to resist, but then the knife sank in with satisfying smoothness, almost like butter. Although nicely singed on the outside, the plump cut of meat he carved off was still pale pink in the middle, and clear fatty juice trickled out before his very eyes. It looked incredibly delicious. But more importantly, it all seemed so real. The first time Yuuma dove into Actual Magic and had been confronted by the sight of the rolling, windswept plains, he’d been astonished by the quality of the world, which seemed to surpass even reality. This steak was something else altogether, though. Surely it was just a 3D model, and yet it seemed as if it had been re-created down to every last fiber and cell of meat. With trepidation, Yuuma brought the bite of meat to his lips. What if it shattered into pieces like an ice sculpture, just like equipment did when it ran out of durability…? He maneuvered the chunk in between his right molars and then bit down. The meat split open with a firm yet tender mouthfeel. Hot fat and juices exploded across his tongue, blending with the sauce, which was sweet and acidic. That single bite of steak was so delicious that Yuuma thought he could have died then and there. He managed to keep it together enough to shovel in the next bite, and the next bite, and the next bite, until before long, the beautiful steak had been reduced to a mess across his plate, leaving him in a heady state of bliss. Once Yuuma had come back down to Earth and taken a look around, he realized everyone was intent on shoveling food into their mouths: Kenk, who had ordered the same dish as Yuuma; Sawa, who had ordered the grilled fish; and Tomori, who had ordered the chicken stew. Not one to be outdone, Yuuma took another bite of his steak and then followed it with a mouthful of baked potato. Yuuma chewed with his mouth full, relishing the delectable mixture of fat and carbohydrates, before washing it all down with a healthy swig of lemon water. In the real world, an elementary school student would never be able to enter a restaurant as fancy as this on their own, let alone afford to order a steak with the paltry allowance stored on their QREST. Not that this place was cheap, either—the sirloin steaks Yuuma and Kenk had ordered cost thirty-nine whole aurums—but they had found over three thousand aurums, in gold and silver coins, at the bottom of that chest in the castle. They could be forgiven for using 5 percent of that amount to splurge a little this once. Yuuma had already finished off about half of his steak and wanted to savor the rest. He reached for the basket of bread on the table, which contained three different types, and he chose a thinly sliced piece of black bread, spreading it with butter before shuttling it to his mouth. Even the bread was delicious. It was slightly sour, which complemented the whipped butter perfectly. Come to think of it, Nagi loves European-style bread like this. Sitting next to Yuuma was Kenk, who stopped his fork in midair. “That crybaby, Nagi, would probably love a taste of that, too…,” he said. Now that Kenk’s stomach wasn’t so empty, he was apparently beginning to feel guilty, just like Yuuma was. Obviously they had to do something about Kenk’s HP, but there was no telling what Nagi might be facing at the moment. Instead of stopping at a restaurant and ordering steak dinners, they probably should have just grabbed some quick shish kebabs or something from one of the street stalls… “Then we’ll make sure she gets a chance to try it,” said Sawa simply, before reaching across the table with her fork and skillfully pilfering a bite of steak from Yuuma’s plate. “Once we find Nagi, we’ll bring her to the fanciest restaurant in town…no, in this whole world, and let her help herself to anything she desires. Until then, though, we probably won’t have another chance to sit down at a restaurant like this, so you guys better fill up now while you still can…” “Yeah…” “Okay.” Yuuma and Kenk nodded and began attacking their steaks once more. Five minutes later, Yuuma had polished off every last scrap of meat, vegetable, and potato from the cast-iron plate sitting before him. He drained the last drop of lemon water from his glass and sighed deeply. Kenk had already finished a few moments earlier. Yuuma glanced above his head, speaking in a low whisper since the girls were still eating. “Your Hunger debuff is gone,” he said. “I know… I thought I was gonna die,” said Kenk, grinning. He suddenly furrowed his brows together uneasily. “But…how come I’m the only one who got hit with a debuff? You guys hadn’t eaten for a while, either… Wait a second, you didn’t sneak a bite from your inventories while we were still traveling, did you…?” “Of course not!” said Yuuma, elbowing his friend in the side. Yuuma had his own theory. “It’s probably just like in the real world… The amount of energy you consume is like a car’s mileage and varies depending on the size and strength of your avatar. You’re big and powerful, so you probably get hungry quicker…” “What, really? It sounds like a smaller avatar and lower strength would be an advantage, then.” “I don’t think it’s that simple,” said Tomori, cutting in. She had just finished her chicken stew. She wiped her mouth gracefully with a napkin and took a sip of lemon water before continuing. “I was thinking about this during the boss fight earlier, but in Actual Magic, it’s really a case of might makes right. With higher strength and endurance, you can carry more things, swing around heavier weapons, and can even serve as a shield to protect your friends… Classes like Mage and Priest can do a lot with their magic, obviously, but that’s only if they’re protected by a strong character like Kondou…” Yuuma was about to disagree but stopped himself. In MMORPGS, every class and build had its own advantages and disadvantages, and it was only by working together and covering each other’s weakness that you could start challenging really powerful enemies. A character like Kenk, with zero skill in magic, couldn’t buff or heal his friends, either. Protecting the Priest was just a natural part of party dynamics. Still, as logical as that might be, something about Priests needing to be protected by Warriors seemed to bug Tomori. Yuuma could somewhat see where she was coming from. Of all seven classes available in Actual Magic, a Priest focused entirely on healing and support magic, like Tomori had chosen, was probably the least capable of surviving on their own. Yes, glass-cannon Mages were even more fragile, but their immense firepower and mobility still allowed them to deal with dangerous situations. A Priest might be able to use healing magic to hold out for longer, but eventually they would run out of MP, making it a losing battle. Back in the castle, Tomori half jokingly said that she’d just “stick to magic” after all, but apparently the same concerns were still bothering her. It would be easy enough for Yuuma to say that he and Kenk would protect her, like he’d said before, but that didn’t seem to be what she needed to hear right now. “Shimizu…,” said Yuuma, staring directly at Tomori, who was sitting in the seat diagonally across the table. “It’s entirely up to you what class and build you choose. I don’t know if there’s any system in place to change classes in here, but you can start putting points into STR, END, and weapon skills, and become what’s called a battle priest, if that’s what you want to do. Just because AM, and Althea, are in the states they’re in, that’s no reason to… What I’m trying to say is you should decide your own build, not in spite of everything that’s happening, but because of it. Naturally if you want advice, I’ll help however I can. But it’s your choice.” “…” It took every ounce of verbal skill Yuuma possessed to express what he was thinking. Tomori was dead silent for a moment. Suddenly, heavy teardrops began to spill from behind her black-rimmed glasses. “I…uh…” In a panic, Yuuma glanced to the side and across the table. Kenk sat frozen, his fork held in midair. Sawa didn’t look like she knew what to do, either. After about ten seconds of Tomori crying, Sawa drew a clean napkin from the napkin holder on the table and handed it to Tomori. Tomori wiped her eyes with the napkin. After a few more seconds, she managed to get her breathing under control and was able to speak again. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cry all of a sudden like that… It’s just, no one’s ever said anything like that to me before…” “Oh…” She probably wasn’t talking about the game anymore. Yuuma couldn’t guess much more than that, however. Tomori hesitantly glanced toward Yuuma and then immediately turned her eyes away again before continuing. “With everything happening at Althea, I’ve been so afraid I wasn’t good enough… Me, Soga, and Moro were the only Priests in the shelter, and then Moro went and got himself killed… I’ve been so scared that it was my fault, that someone would blame me. But then, when Sugamo held that mock trial and blamed you for Moro’s death instead, I actually felt relieved… I…I…I just thought…” Tomori’s tears had stopped earlier, but they suddenly welled up again as if a dam had been broken. Once again, Yuuma was at a loss for words. It wasn’t that he was shocked by Tomori’s confession. If their positions had been reversed, he might have felt the same. Besides, if anyone was going to get railroaded by Sugamo, better Yuuma than Tomori. After all, Yuuma had innate Sug resistance. Tomori clutched the napkin to her face. Her shoulders shook slightly, but she managed to get her tears under control and to begin speaking again. “Part of the reason I volunteered to go with everyone to find food was because I felt guilty, but that wasn’t the only reason… I wanted to get away from that place. I knew that would leave Aoi responsible for taking care of everyone in the shelter all by herself, but I didn’t care, I just wanted to run away… I thought, if I could at least live up to my role in this party… But when that coneheaded creature attacked us on the third floor, and when the giant lizardman attacked us at the castle, I needed everyone else to protect me…” By that same logic, Yuuma hadn’t really lived up to his role as a Monster Tamer during those two fights, either. All he had done was use his Chilling Hand spell against the Varanian. He hadn’t done any summoning or capturing, like his class was supposed to do. Pointing that out probably wouldn’t do much to comfort Tomori, however. Yuuma didn’t understand why she was so hung up on roles and responsibilities, but if those were the chains around her neck, it would probably take more than a few cheap words to remove them. If nothing else, however, she could at least pick her own character build, without letting stuff like roles and responsibilities hold her back. Yuuma clapped his hands together decisively. “Okay then, how about this?” “Hmm…?” Tomori lifted her face, which was still wet with tears. Tomori, Kenk, and Sawa turned their eyes in Yuuma’s direction as well. “I was already thinking we should do this before continuing our search for Nagi, but while we’re here, why don’t we assign all the extra skill points that we’ve saved up?!”