Chapter 36

I was convinced I knew more about gaming than anyone else in class, but I was just full of myself, Yuuma thought, internally admonishing himself as he answered Tada’s question. “I think so. I’ve started calling it Guaranteed Magic Proc, but Niki’s demon exploit seems to give any spell a one hundred percent chance of success, no matter how low its original proc rate was. Meaning that if instead of Petrify, Niki had used an instant death spell…” …Oono and the others would be dead now. Yuuma left that conclusion unsaid, but Tada seemed to get the picture. “That’s nuts…,” he muttered, turning white as a sheet. “Guess that’s why they call it an exploit,” added Aida, who was next to Tada. The other students also murmured uneasily among themselves, until a girl spoke up in a calm, levelheaded tone. “So then when you and Aria resisted the petrification spell…that was due to a demon exploit, too, right?” The speaker was Mimi Hariya, student number 15. Almost nothing about her was in disarray, from her hair, which was done up in a pristine bun, to her neatly buttoned uniform. “Yes,” replied Yuuma. As a hardcore gamer, Yuuma didn’t like revealing his own abilities, let alone revealing those of Aria and Nagi without their permission. But trying to hide things now would just invite the group’s distrust. “My demon exploit is Quick Action,” Yuuma began. “It lets me move twice as fast for just a few seconds. After I started to turn to stone, I activated Quick Action to use a status ailment item on myself, which overwrote the negative Petrified status. Misono’s demon exploit is Lightning Transformation, which lets her change her own elemental type to lightning. I’m not really sure, but I think she continuously electrified the part of her arm that had been touched by the mist in order to keep the petrification from progressing any further. Unfortunately, just when she was about to defeat the intruders, she got swallowed up entirely in a thick mist…” “Wow… Aria really stuck her neck out for us…,” Mimi said, glancing toward the eat-in corner. “Oh, and so did you and the class president,” she added a moment later, as if just remembering them. “Me? No, I only got in a single hit against Niki…,” Yuuma replied. Sugamo clicked his tongue softly. Come to think of it, Sugamo hadn’t even traded direct blows with Niki and his guards. All he had done was try to hold Aria back. But Yuuma wasn’t childish enough to purposely call Sugamo out for that. He decided to continue his explanation before he and Sugamo could make eye contact. “Wait…,” Kenk interrupted in realization. He’d been silent so far, basically half asleep. “How’d you avoid being turned to stone, then, Sug? I thought you didn’t know about the demons.” “…” Yuuma froze and stared agog at Sugamo. Now that Kenk mentioned it, Nagi’s rapid-cast Icewall had been impenetrable—no getting in or out—which meant that Sugamo couldn’t have been protected inside the barrier. But all the students who had been outside the barrier, including even Yuuma, had been exposed to the mist. Sugamo would have needed some sort of spell or item in order to resist Niki’s unerring petrification spell. That or a demon exploit. Everyone stared at Sugamo, who scowled. “I was in the eat-in corner when that pip-squeak, Niki, attacked us,” he said flatly. “The eat-in corner stretches back pretty far. The mist never reached that deep… Isn’t that right, Kisanuki?” “Y-yeah…,” Kai Kisanuki replied, slowly nodding. True, the eat-in area was in the back corner and was even partitioned off. It was possible that the petrifying mist hadn’t reached that far. But if so, at what point had Kisanuki, who had supposedly been there with Sugamo, fled into the Icewall instead? Or had Kisanuki been hiding in the eat-in corner this entire time, without ever joining Sawa and the others? Yuuma opened his mouth to ask more questions, but Sugamo beat him to the punch. “Forget about the eat-in corner,” Sugamo said, his voice dripping with hostility. “You, he-twin! You just said you overwrote the petrification with a status ailment item… Care to explain?! I don’t remember you mentioning getting your hands on a thing like that. You were keeping it for yourself, weren’t you? Who cares if the rest of us get screwed, right?!” “Don’t be stupid. I didn’t even know Niki could cast Petrify,” Yuuma replied, obviously fed up. “I used an item called the Tenderizing Needle of Human Transformation, which the lizardman boss we fought in AM had used to change into human form. For all I knew, jabbing myself with that thing could have done something even worse than turn me to stone, but under the circumstances, I had no other choice.” “Hmph… I still think it sounds like you’re lying, but I’ll let it slide since you did well earlier,” Sugamo said disdainfully. Sawa and Kenk took a step closer, clearly angry at Sugamo. Yuuma, however, held up a hand to stop them. “The Tenderizing Needle of Human Transformation was a consumable item so it disappeared after use,” he continued, “but I’m proof that Niki’s petrification magic can be dispelled. I’m pretty sure there were items to remove petrification listed in the guidebook as well.” “Yeah, I think you’re right… Crap, I wish we could check the guidebook out here,” Tada grumbled. Yuuma had never tried it for himself, but apparently, just like equipment, the guidebook couldn’t be taken out of the inventory in the real world. Maybe the guidebook was classified in-game as a one-handed weapon. Yuuma did remember there being some sort of job class in older generation RPGs where the character attacked enemies with the corner of a big fat book. Yuuma plumbed his memory for the name of the item that removed petrification status, which he hadn’t been able to remember during his fight with Niki. “Uh… Um…” A tiny voice interrupted Yuuma’s thoughts. Yuuma lifted his head. A small girl, who had been huddled behind Mimi Hariya up until now, raised her little hand into the air to speak. Her short-cut bob, which was angled forward slightly, left her eyes almost hidden behind her bangs, but Yuuma recognized her. There were no other girls in their class with that hairstyle. She was Aoi Soga, student number 8 and a good friend of Yukimi Yumura, who hadn’t made it down to the first floor. If Yuuma remembered correctly, Aoi and Yumura were in the cooking club together with Mimi Hariya. “I read over the part of the guidebook on healing items several times, so I think I might remember a few things…” “What are we wasting our time for, then? Just spit it out already!” Sugamo hollered, causing Aoi to recoil in shock. “Don’t yell at her!” Mimi shouted back. The other girls stared at him reproachfully. Sugamo sucked his teeth and scowled. This time, Yuuma urged Aoi to share what she knew, taking care to be less forceful than Sugamo had been. “Soga, please tell us whatever you remember. It’s all right if you make a mistake.” Aoi continued cowering slightly, her voice trembling. “Um… It mentioned elixirs, which completely heal HP and MP and cure all status ailments, as well as panaceas, which don’t heal HP and MP but still cure afflictions. But those were both high-level items. We probably won’t be able to get our hands on those yet… There was also an item specifically for curing petrification, though. I think it was called a Rubellite Needle…” “That’s it!” Yuuma shouted, forgetting himself. He then hastily lowered his voice. “That’s definitely the item. I read that page, too, but all I could remember was that it was some sort of needle. Rubellite…! Of course! Thank you, Soga.” “No, I didn’t do anything…” Aoi shook her head in embarrassment before retreating behind Mimi once again. Now they knew what to search for in AM. True, they probably could have gotten that information from the guidebook after diving in, but Yuuma appreciated the chance to think things through ahead of time. Yuuma wasn’t familiar with the word rubellite, but he figured it was probably some kind of gemstone like alexandrite or iolite. So if they were going to search for it, they should probably check the mountainous regions rather than in forests or near the sea. Another voice interrupted Yuuma’s speculations. “Just a second.” It was Tada’s fellow card game player, Shinta Aida. He glanced around at the other students with an extremely serious expression and finally made up his mind to keep talking. “It’s anyone’s guess as to when Niki and the others will attack again. Yes, we definitely need to get our hands on something to cure petrification, but before we go exposing ourselves to more danger by searching for it in AM, shouldn’t we exhaust all our options first…?” “What do you mean?” Yuuma asked. Aida rubbed his hand on his pants, seeming nervous. “The demon exploits. We’ve all got them, right? Maybe somebody has the power to cure any affliction simply by touch or something like that. Ashihara… How do we figure out our own exploits?” “…” Yuuma stared at the swoop of Aida’s faux-hawk, speechless. That was the last thing he was expecting Aida to say. At first, it sounded crazy to Yuuma, but after a moment’s thought, he realized that as a TCG player, the idea might sound perfectly reasonable to Aida. All the demon exploits they had encountered so far had been insane balance-breaking abilities. In fact, Yuuma’s Quick Action ability almost seemed tame in comparison to what everybody else could do. Yuuma would have probably had the same thought in Aida’s place. Having these killer abilities at your disposal and then not using them was akin to intentionally limiting yourself to a challenge run. However, as someone who had witnessed Sawa’s and Aria’s demonic transformations firsthand and who had cowered before their terrible auras, Yuuma wasn’t sure that using the demon exploits was such a great idea. Doing so required cooperating with their demons, and there was no guarantee that all those demons were as good-natured as Valac, Crocell, or the unknown demon inhabiting Yuuma. Aida and the others hadn’t seen the way that Aria had gone mostly berserk after transforming. Yuuma was trying to figure out how to best explain the risk of borrowing power from the demons when— “Using the vires does not come without a price.” —someone spoke first. Although calm, her voice weighed heavy in Yuuma’s ears. She stepped forward from the other students, dressed in a black windbreaker with magenta stripes, her face buried deep within her hood. It was Sawa. She stood next to Yuuma and spun around to face the crowd. “By and large, the demons inhabiting us are plotting to take over our bodies completely,” she added, staring straight at Shinta Aida. “That was their whole reason for possessing us in the first place, after all.” “How do you know something like that…?” Aida asked. Sawa gave a nonchalant shrug. “Because I’ve spoken with my demon. Obviously.” “You’ve spoken…with your demon?” said Tada. Most of the other students glanced at their friends, looking uneasy. The idea that there were demons possessing them sounded like some sort of fairy tale. But it looked like reality was finally starting to set in. Sawa paused for a moment before giving them nearly the exact same explanation she had once given to Yuuma. “The demon inside me is named Valac. After Valac possessed me—between when the Actual Magic playtest ended and when I woke up inside my Caliculus—she suddenly made contact. She said that she was a demon, she told me about the vires—the demon exploits—and explained more or less what was going on in Althea.” “So you’re saying…that you and your brother already knew about the demons when you first joined us in the shelter? I’m not trying to accuse you of something, but why didn’t you tell us until now?” Just like Aida said, his tone of voice was not accusatory. But there was one student who probably wasn’t going to let such ammunition fall into his lap without saying something. Yuuma snuck a peek in Sugamo’s direction. Sugamo was still sulking, but surprisingly, he did not seem interested in butting in. Maybe Sugamo was still feeling sheepish after the way Mimi Hariya and the other girls had glared at him, but Yuuma would have thought that this was too good for him to pass up… “The reason Yuu and I didn’t say anything earlier,” Sawa said, interrupting Yuuma’s train of thought, “is because we figured if you didn’t believe us the first time, it would have been that much harder to convince you the second time around. Also…” Sawa glanced around slowly at the other students and then leveled her gaze in Aida’s direction once again. “…we were worried that people would want to try out their exploits. Or think that using them might be a good idea. Exactly like you just suggested.” “But what’s wrong with using our exploits?” “Let me repeat: The demons’ endgame is to completely take over our bodies… There’s no need to be frightened; that won’t happen so easily. As long as we weather this out safely, here in the shelter, I suspect it could all blow over with more than half of us never even hearing our demon’s voice in the first place. But if you call out to your demon yourself or begin answering when it speaks to you…your ratio will start to increase.” Yuuma breathed in sharply and turned toward Sawa. A single memory solidified out of the past ten hours of confusion. It was during the mock school trial, when Yuuma had been accused of being responsible for Takeshi Moro’s death during the Tabanus Hellfly Larvae attack. Sawa had muttered something out loud after Teruki Sugamo banged his tiny hammer on the counter to silence the murmuring students. “His ratio is increasing…” That was what she had said. Kakeru Niki had mentioned the word ratio as well. It clearly referred to the degree to which a person had been taken over by their demon. And if Sugamo’s ratio had already been increasing back then, that meant— “Our ratio? Is that like the kill/death ratio in a game…?” someone asked, interrupting Yuuma’s thoughts. Instead of staring at Sugamo, Yuuma turned his attention toward the speaker. It was Tada again. Sawa nodded firmly. “Yes. Strictly speaking, it’s our demonization ratio… The degree to which the demons have taken us over. Everyone, pull up your status screens.” The students hesitantly lifted their hands, pinched their fingers together, and then flicked them open. One after another, purple-colored rectangles materialized before them. Yuuma performed the pinch-out gesture, bringing up the Actual Magic menu. The default status window was long and detailed. His name, level, and experience bar were listed at the top. Underneath that were his HP and MP bars. The lower half listed information such as ability scores, attack power, defense, and resistances. As far as Yuuma could tell, nothing on the screen had changed since the last time he had looked. Obviously, there was no sign of this demonization ratio that Sawa mentioned. “Sawa…?” Yuuma whispered. Sawa pointed toward the empty space underneath Yuuma’s MP bar. She raised her voice so that everyone else could hear, too. “People, keep your eyes fixed on the space below your MP!” Yuuma furrowed his brow and stared doubtfully at the space where Sawa was pointing. Two seconds, three seconds… Eventually five seconds passed, and an effect like lightning raced across the previously empty space. A new bar floated into view. Unlike his HP bar, which was a brilliant blue, or the MP bar, which was green, this bar was a shadowy gray. Looking closer, Yuuma realized the left side of the bar was deep black, but it grew fainter as it stretched toward the right. It looked like about 20 percent of Yuuma’s bar had turned solid black. The letters DR were written to the left of the bar. Wondering what those letters could mean, he pressed and held the spot for a moment until a small pop-up window appeared with the words Demonization Ratio. Yuuma wasn’t sure if demonization was a real word; he couldn’t remember learning it in school, but he assumed it meant transforming into a demon. He slid his finger over the bar and the display changed to a simple numerical format reading 21/100. The meaning behind these numbers was also clear. It meant that Yuuma had now transformed 21 percent of the way toward demonization. That seemed surprisingly low, considering that he had used his Quick Action ability multiple times during his fight with Niki, but supposing that number never went back down, if he kept using his exploit at this pace, it wouldn’t be long before he surpassed 30 percent. What about Sawa? How high was her demonization ratio? He was actually more curious about her number than his own, but Sawa hadn’t opened her window. He was still trying to decide if that was the sort of thing he could ask about directly when Sawa started speaking again. “You all saw the bar labeled ‘DR,’ right? That is your demonization ratio… This bar cannot be seen by others, not even when you set your window to visible. Most of you are probably still at zero now, but if you talk to the demon in your head or use your demon exploits, that number will grow. At ten percent or under, the changes to your mind and body will likely be minimal, but once you move past twenty, you’ll start to see things like horns or a tail, and once you pass thirty, you’ll be able to switch personalities with your demon.” No one spoke for a moment. Even Tada and Aida, who were usually so talkative, glanced furtively at each other. The way the system was set up—so that you couldn’t see other people’s ratios—almost seemed intentionally designed to make it harder to ask, the closer you were to a person. When Yuuma glanced at his own window once again, the DR bar had vanished. Apparently, it only appeared while you kept your eyes fixed on it. After about ten seconds of silence, Kenk spoke up. “Hey, Saps,” he said, his tone easygoing. “There’s no need to share our number with everyone else, is there?” “None at all. Even if we did, there would be no way to tell if that number was real. Although to be safe, I would prefer if anyone over fifty percent would self-report. By the way,” Sawa added nonchalantly, “my demonization ratio is forty-five.” The other students’ eyes went wide. Most simply seemed surprised, but a few shuffled backward, afraid. Yuuma chewed his lip softly. It was understandable for the students to react this way, but if things went south, there was a chance they could even be kicked out of the shelter. Fortunately, Sugamo, the only person who seemed likely to immediately suggest such a course of action, continued to hold his peace. Kenk was once again the one to break the uncomfortable silence. “What happens if our ratio goes over fifty?” he asked Sawa. “Valac hasn’t told me the details, but at forty percent, you begin to take on demon form…to transform, like Aria has. And once you get past fifty, depending upon the situation, the demon can sometimes hijack your mind and body.” “Really…?” “At the moment, Valac and I can only switch if I call for her by name, but if I were to pass out or lose control, Valac might be able to switch with me of her own accord… At least, that’s how I think it works.” As Yuuma listened to Sawa’s explanation, he recalled the first time that Sawa and Valac had “switched.” It was in Playroom 02, on the third floor, just after Yuuma and Kenk had been kicked across the room by the powerful Conehead Demolisher. Sawa had cried out, “Come, Valac!!” That must have been the key word for the switch. Part of Yuuma felt like the demons having the ability to take over on their own might not always be such a bad thing, considering how something could always happen in the future that would prevent them from saying the phrase when they needed it most, but there was no guarantee that all demons were as friendly as Valac. Some demons might even begin to rampage indiscriminately inside the shelter the moment they switched places with their host. “Still…,” Tada began. Yuuma lifted his head. He was expecting Tada to say something about Sawa’s ratio. “…if you look at it the other way, there’s not really a downside to letting your ratio reach around forty, is there? Shouldn’t we check out our exploits after all, just in case?” “…” Sawa seemed to consider what he said for a moment before nodding hesitantly. “I also suspect that’s going to be necessary at some point. But there’s no guarantee that our demonization ratios will only increase a little bit at a time. I’m pretty sure I was already past forty when I exited my Caliculus capsule. And in Aria’s case…” Sawa trailed off, turning toward Yuuma. He blinked a few times and then picked up where Sawa had left off, the memory of what had happened still fresh in his mind. “Misono was super angry about Ezato being turned to stone. There was no change up until then, as far as I could see, but she activated her demon exploit and then took her demon form almost immediately afterward. She still sounded like Misono, though, so I don’t think her personality switched with the demon’s…” “In that case, Aria’s ratio must be over forty but below fifty,” said Sawa. “Her anger was probably what triggered the demon to make contact, and she must have accepted its invitation… Meaning, I think, that she made a pact with the demon.” “A pact…?” Yuuma cocked his head. Sawa appeared slightly hesitant. “It’s kind of like how in manga or anime, you see demons offering to give stuff like wealth or a long life in exchange for your soul.” “Y-your soul?! Are you saying that Mibs gave the demon her soul…?” Yuuma croaked out. The rest of the class began murmuring among themselves. “Her soul?!” “That’s crazy!” Sawa quickly shook her head. “No, no, that kind of stuff is just in manga. The demons in AM don’t want our souls or anything like that. But they do offer us their power.” “Their power…? You mean they’re willing to just make us stronger, without anything in exchange?” “There’s still a cost. There’s always a cost,” Sawa answered before turning her gaze toward the other students. “If you accept the demon’s proposal and receive its power—in other words, if you form a pact—your demonization ratio will skyrocket, and you’ll be able to enter demon form like Aria. You’ll also be able to use your exploit whenever you like. For the demon, that in itself is a reward. After all, the higher your ratio, the closer the demon gets to its final goal of taking you over completely.” “That explains it…,” Yuuma muttered, remembering the strange voice he’d heard in his head several times lately. It sounded like a young boy’s voice but likely belonged to the demon inside Yuuma. His memories of those times felt strangely fuzzy, but he could still vaguely recall the most recent incident. When Niki’s magic had turned Yuuma to half stone, just when Yuuma thought all was lost, a voice had whispered inside his head, Yuuma, have you forgotten? If it hadn’t been for that voice, Yuuma wouldn’t have been able to activate his Quick Action ability, and he probably would have been petrified. In other words, the demon possessing Yuuma had urged him to use his demon exploit, and Yuuma had done as he was told. That sounded awfully similar to the pact Sawa was talking about. But somehow, Yuuma’s own ratio hadn’t actually increased that much. Yuuma was still trying to figure out what it all meant when another one of the students began speaking. This time it was one of the girls—Tomori Shimizu. “I agree with Sawa. I think we should be cautious about using our demon exploits.” It was natural that Tomori would feel wary, seeing as she had spoken to Valac directly when Sawa and the demon had changed places, but she didn’t look afraid. What Tomori said next only confirmed that impression for Yuuma. “Valac, the demon possessing Sawa, saved my life, so I don’t think we should be excessively scared of the demons or the demon exploits. But it’s also possible that Niki, Nunono, and Metoki’s behavior is being influenced by the demons. The same could happen to everyone else here, so I think we need to have a minimum safety plan in place before we investigate what our demon exploits can do.” “A safety plan? What do you mean?” Aida asked. Tomori replied immediately, having apparently already thought that far ahead. “There’s a mid-level holy spell known as Holy Bands, which is designed to prevent friendly fire. Players affected by Holy Bands can’t damage one another. I’m not able to cast it yet, but if Nagi, or Aoi, or myself could learn that spell and cast it on everyone, we might be able to avoid a worst-case scenario, even if one of our demonization ratios spiked suddenly.” “Of course…! That might be a good idea.” Tada and the other students agreed with Aida. It was odd that Sugamo was choosing to keep quiet for once, but at least he wasn’t interrupting with a dig every other sentence. Yuuma closed his window as he spoke, hoping to get whatever decisions they could out of the way for now. “All right, we’ll wait until one of the Priests learns Holy Bands before we check our demon exploits. Until then, I want everyone to avoid calling out to their demons, and do not, under any circumstances, answer your demon, even if you hear its voice. It may take some time to cure the people who have been turned to stone, but make no mistake, we are going to get our hands on a Rubellite Needle, so—” “Hey. Ashihara.” A low, hoarse voice interrupted Yuuma, mid-sentence. It had come from Haruki Hokari, who’d been standing at the back. He pushed his way forward. His unruly hair, which was shaved up high on the sides and a little disheveled now, spilled down his face. His eyes were flinty underneath the cascade of hair. “When you go into AM to search for the petrification cure, take me with you.” “What…?” Yuuma reflexively glanced toward Sawa, making eye contact. Sawa arched her eyebrow by a faint centimeter, as if to suggest, Why not? Yuuma turned back toward Hokari. “I’d welcome the extra fighting power…but the world of AM is more dangerous than even Althea. There is no end to the number of monsters roaming about there, and if you die in game, I’m not sure you’ll be able to revive or log out. You might even disappear from both worlds entirely. Game over…” Yuuma was horrified by the prospect, despite being the one to paint this picture. Hokari, however, did not back down. “I know the risks,” he said. “I don’t mean to act like Sera is more important than everyone else, but I can’t just sit around here doing nothing while he’s sitting there turned to stone.” “…” There was a determined gleam in Hokari’s eyes. Yuuma cycled through their options in his head. If Yuuma remembered correctly, the skateboarding duo of Hokari and Sera were both Rangers. If Hokari joined the search party, it would greatly expand their repertoire of available battle techniques. The issue, however, was that a single party was limited to just four players. They could form raid parties of four plus one or three plus two, but even if that allowed them to see everyone’s HP bars, there was healing and buff magic that was still party only, which meant there was a risk they wouldn’t be able to respond fast enough in the case of an emergency. Yuuma was still trying to decide what to do when— “I-in that case…I’ll go, too!” one of the girls announced in a trembling voice, stumbling forward. Slightly smaller framed than the rest of the female students, she had short hair that curled at the ends and was wearing a light pink hoodie over her school uniform. Her name was Chinami Nushiro—she was part of Aria Misono and Shouko Ezato’s clique. If Yuuma remembered correctly, her character class in AM was Thief. They didn’t have a Thief in their party, so she was sure to be useful when it came to things like scouting or picking locks but only if she could fight properly as well. Hokari already had experience from facing off against the Conehead Bruiser when it attacked the shelter; would Chinami be brave enough to fight once the party encountered monsters? “Erm…” Yuuma wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. Chinami, however, seemed to sense his hesitation. She began to plead her case, a hint of desperation on her face. “I was standing right next to Aria and Shouko, but when Niki used his wind spell, they both shielded me… It’s the only reason I was able to escape behind the ice. If Aria hadn’t protected me, she might not have been turned to stone. I need to help search for that item. For both their sakes.” “Of course. Let’s search for it together,” Sawa said. Nagi, who was standing nearby, smiled and nodded. Sawa and Nagi were both core members of the party. If they thought it was all right, then Yuuma was hardly going to disagree. Kenk probably felt the same, as well. Besides, a six-member group meant they could form raid parties of three plus three. Yuuma still wished they had more than one Priest, but so long as they did their best to avoid battle, things would probably work out all right… “And I’ll go, too, of course!” Tomori Shimizu said, quickly raising her hand. It looked like there was no need to worry after all. They would now have two Priests, a Warrior, a Mage, a Monster Tamer, a Ranger, and a Thief. For the sake of balance, Yuuma would have preferred to have one more fighter on the team, but his first choice for the job, Youichi Oono, had already been turned to stone. He sized up the other students, trying to decide on the next best replacement, when— “Shimizu isn’t going anywhere,” someone insisted, his voice loud and blunt. Yuuma was wondering when the other shoe would finally drop. He cast a glance toward the speaker—Teruki Sugamo. Sugamo was glowering like always, but Yuuma couldn’t interpret the emotion in his eyes. If Sugamo’s ratio really had increased, like Sawa said, then he must have already made internal contact with his demon, at the very least. So then why was he still keeping that to himself? In fact, there was no guarantee that Sugamo’s interaction with his demon didn’t already go beyond mere contact. Depending on Sugamo’s ratio, he might already be able to use his exploit or even transform into demon form. While Yuuma was still thinking, Sawa spoke up in his place. “And why not?! With two parties, we’re obviously going to need two Priests. And Nagi and Tomori seem like the obvious choice.” “Like Aida said earlier, there’s no telling when Niki might attack next.” The vein in Sugamo’s temple twitched as he said Niki’s name, but otherwise, he displayed zero emotion. “The next attack might be even bigger. We’ll beef up defenses as much as possible, but one of the high-level Priests, either Sano or Shimizu, needs to stay behind, in case there are injuries.” “…” What Sugamo said was logical and surprisingly restrained. Not even Sawa could disagree. However, Tomori didn’t seem satisfied. “The only spells Niki used were Air Blast, which has low attack power, and Petrify, which doesn’t cause hit point damage at all,” she countered. “It seems like his goal was to disable the shelter without injuring anyone.” “So what? Next time he attacks we should just let him turn us all to stone?” “That’s not what I’m saying. If we can understand what Niki was trying to accomplish, we can turn that against him. If their main focus is flashy crowd control, we can pull the rug out from under them by using fast frontline physical attacks and magic attacks that have fast casting times and projectile speeds. Of course, we don’t want to kill them, but if we can do enough damage to shut them down, we may be able to get them to cough up their reasons for attacking us.” “Ohhh…!” An exclamation of admiration escaped Tada’s lips. “See, I knew she had those glasses for a reason,” said his friend Aida, in what Yuuma supposed was meant to be a compliment. Tomori sounded a little desperate as she pled her case. Even Sugamo had to hear her out. After several seconds of thinking, however, his answer was still negative. “No, that won’t work. Even if Niki’s goal is just to restrain us, his guards Nunono and Metoki still brought real swords with them, not practice bamboo ones. But even with real swords, they weren’t able to guard Niki completely. Next time, they probably won’t be so hesitant to attack. We can’t know for sure that the front line won’t get injured if they attempt to interrupt Niki’s casting.” “No… I suppose not,” Tomori murmured with a sigh, apparently ceding Sugamo’s point. Seeing the look on Tomori’s face, Nagi took a small step forward. “It’s fine so long as one of us stays in the shelter, though, right, Sugamo? Either Tomori or me. In that case, let me be the one to stay.” “Absolutely not!” Tomori blurted out before Sugamo got the chance to reply. She turned toward Nagi and said, “Nagi, you should be the one to go with Sawa and the others. I know my level is a little higher than yours, but I’m not nearly as used to working with everyone as you are and I don’t have a fraction of your gaming skills…” “That’s not true. I was just lying around unconscious while you supported everyone during the fight in the mayor’s mansion, remember?” Nagi said with an encouraging smile. Yuuma was a little relieved to see that Nagi still had the same smile as always. Nagi had switched with Crocell during the fight against Constable Oeben, which meant that her demonization ratio must already be over 30 percent, but fortunately, it didn’t seem to be affecting her personality. But if she was the same old Nagi, that also meant that the softer she spoke, the less willing she was to compromise. Yuuma had a feeling they might be here for a while… Suddenly, a sharp snap interrupted Nagi and Tomori’s battle of manners. It was Sugamo. He had lifted his hand high into the air and snapped his fingers to get everyone’s attention. “Enough. If you can’t decide for yourselves, then I’ll decide for you. We stick with the original roster. Sano joins the search party, and Shimizu stays in the shelter. The second Priest for the search party will be Soga.” “But…I—I can’t!” cried a feeble voice. It was Aoi Soga, whom Sugamo had just volunteered for the mission. She shook her head several times, still clinging to Mimi Hariya’s back. “I… I’m only level 6. I can barely use beginner healing magic…,” she stammered. “There’s no way I’ll be able to fill in for Tomori…” “Well, your level can’t be much lower than Hokari and Nushiro’s,” Sugamo said, pointing at the two boys, who both nodded silently. Now that Yuuma thought about it, the only students in the first-floor shelter who had leveled up much since the playtest ended were himself, Sawa, Kenk, Nagi, and Tomori. The other twelve—eighteen, including the students who had been turned to stone—were probably all at about the same level still. But in a fulldive RPG, a player’s own skill and experience mattered just as much, if not more so, than their character level and equipment. As did their courage, of course. And while Yuuma didn’t consider himself particularly brave, he didn’t think Aoi, who was already cowering at the mere thought of diving in, was going to be able to stand her ground against the monsters in AM—especially now that they had grown so much more vicious than they had been during the playtest… But wait, thought Yuuma. Deciding things for Aoi and purposely keeping her away from battle will only lower her chances of survival in the long run. After all, there was no guarantee that the shelter would remain safe in the future. At some point, the time could come when Aoi had to fight to protect herself. And when that time comes, if she perishes because her level and experience were too low, it will have been Yuuma’s fault, for arbitrarily deciding that the battles in AM were too much for her to handle. “It’ll be okay, Soga,” Yuuma said impulsively. “You read the guidebook very carefully during the playtest, didn’t you? So you have all the knowledge you need to be a good Priest, and the rest of us can cover for your lower level. It’s your choice whether you go or not, of course, but if you’re anxious that you won’t be a good enough Priest, I promise, you don’t need to worry about that.” “…” Even after Yuuma finished, Aoi’s lips remained pursed. Her eyes, which were difficult to see through her long bangs, glimmered slightly with a film of tears. Mimi placed a hand on Aoi’s head, apparently feeling like she had to say something. “Don’t worry, Aoi. I’ll go, too. As a Merchant, I probably won’t be as much help as a Warrior, though.” Aoi rubbed her eyes and smiled awkwardly at her friend. “Thank you, Mimi… But it’s all right… I’ll be fine with Ashihara and the others.” “Really…?” Mimi looked shocked. “You’re sure you don’t need me to come with you?” Yuuma was as surprised as Mimi was, but Aoi just clasped her hands together and nodded earnestly. “I’m sure. Yukimi is probably doing her best, wherever she is… And I need to get stronger, too, so that I’ll be ready to save her.” “…Right.” Mimi nodded back with a smile, ruffling Aoi’s hair. Despite all the twists and turns along the way, the seventh member of their search party had now been decided. If possible, Yuuma would have still liked to have one more Warrior. As he was glancing around at his classmates one last time, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a sneaker sole squeaking on the floor tiles. “I’ll be number eight. You’ll need another Warrior beside Kondou,” Teruki Sugamo said as he took a step forward. Yuuma stared at him in surprise. It wasn’t like Sugamo to put himself forward under circumstances like these. Yuuma half suspected that Sugamo was up to something, but surely not even Sugamo would try to undermine an expedition to save their petrified friends. In fact, maybe Aria being turned to stone by Niki had finally woken up Sugamo’s will to fight. Still, though… “That won’t work, Sug,” Yuuma said. Sugamo narrowed his eyes, glaring at Yuuma angrily. “And why exactly is that? Now that Takio and Oono have been turned to stone, me and Kondou are the only Warriors left. Who else is gonna go if not me?” “It’s not that. You’re the shelter’s leader, Sug. If you’re gone, who will take charge if something bad happens?” “…” Yuuma could hear Sugamo clench his teeth. There was a fierce glint in Sugamo’s eyes, beneath his disheveled bangs, but Yuuma didn’t sense any signs of demonic transformation. The fire burning deep in Sugamo’s eyes right now was just human anger…and perhaps pain. “I know I can’t abandon my responsibilities as a leader… But…” Sugamo’s right hand was clenched into a fist. He lifted it in front of his chest as he spoke, his voice strained. After several seconds of silence, he slowly relaxed his fist and let his hand fall to his side again. “When I think about just sitting here for hours and hours, doing nothing, waiting for you all to return…I feel like I might lose my mind…” Sugamo’s voice was raspy and barely audible. When was the last time Sugamo had opened up about his feelings this much? Maybe the shell that Sugamo had buried himself in ever since they had become trapped in Althea—no, ever since the student council elections last year—was finally beginning to crack. “Sug…” Yuuma took a breath. He wanted to let Sugamo know, as best as he could, that they were going to find what they needed. Sugamo just needed to trust in them and wait. Besides, there were plenty of other things that still needed to be done in the shelter. Before Yuuma could speak, however, someone else beat him to the punch. “I… I’ll go as number eight!” The voice cracked slightly, a little high for a boy’s. The student who stumbled forward had disheveled wavy hair that hung down to about his nose. It was Sugamo’s friend—or rather lackey—Kai Kisanuki.