And with that, I’ll bring this section to a close.
I hope their story shall continue in your hearts.
✦ ✦ ✦
By the way, I’m rooting for Tselika! …How about you?
Kazuma Kamachi
✦ ✦ ✦
The world was vast. Not just inside Money (Game) Master, but outside, too.
This story takes place in the real world, in an ordinary house, on an ordinary street, in an ordinary town.
“Honoka, have you finished your homework?”
“Oh, shut up! You can see all my grades on your phone anyway! That app’s always keeping tabs on me like a goddamn pervert!”
“At least look up from your phone when you’re talking to me, dear. Are you playing that game again? I know it’s the only way you get to show affection without embarrassing people, but you’re not using my face again, are you, Mother?”
“Bwuh?! I—I don’t want to hear that from you when you’ve been going wild in there looking like me! I should sue you for defamation!!”
“Sorry, dear, I just can’t help it. It makes me feel like I’m a schoolgirl again ”
✦ ✦ ✦
There were always going to be Dealers striking it rich in Money (Game) Master, but just because it was all a game didn’t mean it couldn’t make a difference in real life. Especially when it came to internet trends. For example, here we have a couple who started with a food truck and worked their way up to a hamburger chain. It was the juxtaposition of casual flavors with geeky anime brands that got people talking.
“Hey, Quasimodo. I think the grilled rations we made in-game have started a trend. This here says Harajuku restaurants have started adding Calorie Must to other foods, like sticking it in ice cream or serving it with whipped cream.”
“…Wh-what are you looking at anyway, a new gourmet food app?”
✦ ✦ ✦
Still, the game was very different now. It wasn’t just about making money anymore. Many Dealers came to Tokonatsu City simply to walk the streets with their Magistelli.
A blue-haired girl stopped in front of a store window and examined her reflection, pinching her skirt between her fingers. She heard the sounds of strings and horns and walked over to a small group of street performers. Tossing a few coins into the open violin case at their feet, the undine girl leaned over to her partner and whispered into his ear:
“How about a dance? It’s been a while.”
“Tch.”
Bloody Dancer awkwardly scratched his head before replying, “Ain’t this the song that convinced me to start working out again ’cause I couldn’t keep up with it? Fine, but I’ll lead.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Something had changed. But that didn’t mean everything had been worked out. It would be too late to start planning once the next big threat came along. The world needed people working hard behind the scenes to ensure this peace could last.
“Master. What do you mean to gain by buying up all the frozen storage at the harbors? Those rental fees are nothing to sneeze at, not to mention the electricity costs.”
“They’re about to be in high demand,” replied a man, or possibly a woman, known as the Pawnshop King. Upsets were not part of his game. He had a massive store of gold and diamonds, and so when something came along to threaten that, he needed to be prepared.
“A food crisis is coming,” he explained. “People need food and water to live, and no amount of money can slake that thirst. When that time comes, banknotes will become worthless scraps of paper. Restaurants and supermarkets with two- or three-star ratings will go out of business. But if all the shops in an area close, people won’t be able to keep living there. Very soon, we’ll bear witness to a new kind of battle—residents competing to raise their local businesses’ rankings by any means possible.”
✦ ✦ ✦
They walked along the same path they always did. The brother, on his way to high school. The sister, to middle school.
However, one thing had changed.
“Yo, Kaname.”
Now, Takamasa Hekireki walked that route by their side. He no longer needed to hide and could be with his family again.
A young girl with long dark hair tied up in bunches clung to him, almost as though she was trying to hide behind him.
“Wh-what am I supposed to say? I’m not used to seeing him in real life! It’s embarrassing.”
The transluscent demon with arms around her shoulders whispered:
“I suppose we never did get to the bottom of it in the end.”
“The bottom of what?”
“…The bottom of who is most important to My Lord, after everything that has happened.”
Tselika and Midori both met the boy’s gaze at the same time, and the boy who saved the world averted his eyes.
Instead, he suggested a compromise.
“H-how about if I say it’s Midori in the real world and Tselika in the virtual one?”
The see-through demon took out a see-through pistol, while the girl’s big brother reached into his tool pouch and pulled out an oversize crowbar.
““We’ll kill you!”” they both said at once.
“Wait, wait, wait!! I really will die if you shoot me with that, and Takamasa, that crowbar is probably in violation of a few laws!! Why the hell are you carrying it around with you anyway? Planning on breaking and entering?!”
Obviously being beaten around the head with a crowbar would kill him as well.
Midori’s face was even redder than her brother’s. She snatched the weapon out of his hands.
Ayame muttered something under her breath.
“…So his attention’s split. Good. All I need to do is sit tight and they’ll both get tired of him. Once that happens, I’ll be there to comfort him!”
“Stop saying things like that. You’re going to set them off again,” warned the boy, his whole face dripping with sweat.
“So what’s your next move?” asked the demon girl with a wink.
Of course, she wasn’t asking about setting up his harem. The boy let out a deep sigh.
“We can’t let these new AR games get out of hand. Their influence on the real world is much more direct than a virtual currency’s. We’re not just talking about a Fall. In these games, if you go into debt, you could starve.”
“So what are we going to do about them?”
“That’s simple. We’re not fighting inside Money (Game) Master anymore. We’re fighting to make our game the most influential, to impose its rules on the world.”
✦ ✦ ✦
On a certain app store that saw upward of five thousand new apps published every day, one in particular flashed up at the top of the ranking pages.
The next desire in the cards was Hunger.
Say hello to the new gourmet food app, Lord (Map) Eater.