“I know how you feel,” he said with an even tone. “It’s an unofficial skill to most players. I didn’t plan on using it initially, so... To be honest, I’m not sure if I can call this fair or not.”
“Not sure? About what?”
“Shinobu, I really didn’t think you’d go that far. And it’s not like I don’t feel anything about using an ability you didn’t know about to escape that predicament. It’s not fair.”
“Does that mean this is my win since you broke the rules?”
“No, checking her scales, that was apparently just within the rules. That’s not how I feel, though, so maybe we can call this a draw?”
What does he mean by “her scales”? I got stuck on that unfamiliar phrase, but the last thing he said bothered me.
“...A draw?”
He nodded. “The game is over, and I will remove myself as a threat from your situation. However, I will also be confiscating your Key to Agartha since you obtained it unfairly from the system and I won’t give you any extra rewards. Those are the conditions of our agreement. Does that work for you?”
“I don’t like it.”
“I can’t do any more than that. If you deny these terms, then I’m left with no choice but to kill you. Would that work?”
“Getting killed is out of the question too.”
“As I thought. So, we’ll call this a draw.”
I looked straight at him and put both middle fingers up. “No draw, and no getting murdered! I’m gonna beat you and end this game!”
I lunged toward his eye patch. He flew backward after getting attacked directly in the head.
The next moment, a bang from a gun rang out—after the bullet itself. This bullet had traveled faster than the speed of sound, after all.
In other words, Alice had just shot him from afar with her anti-materiel rifle.
Mikagami could only manage a “What?!” after realizing what had happened to him.
“I win, Mikagami. I got one hit in. On your face.”
“How...?”
“I didn’t think I’d have to use my real trump card either, but as they say, always come up with a plan B. I contacted Alice through Tsukuyomi’s shadow clone.”
“I got that part, but...didn’t she shoot me with a bullet you buffed with magic? If so, then Liquid Wisdom should’ve detected it, letting me dodge it with Still Water.”
Surprisingly, he actually looked a bit panicked. I nodded softly. “You’re exactly right. Clear as Still Water lets you dodge any physical attack within your sight, and Evil Eye of Liquid Wisdom visualizes magic flows for you. These two skills work together to allow you to dodge any magic spell.”
“Yeah. So I should’ve been able to see her weapons buffed by magic...”
He trailed off, seemingly having figured out what Alice did. As proof, he threw his hands up in the air in a surrendering position.
“I got it. Alice can debuff the magic off of her weapons.”
His mystified expression broke and he started chuckling. “...Ha ha, ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
His laugh gradually growing louder, he eventually buckled over and had to hold his stomach. “Aha ha ha ha ha ha ha! This is incredible... You’re incredible! You thought that far ahead?!”
“You’re the incredible one. Just how messed up are those skills of yours? It took all this effort just for me to get one hit on you.”
“That just makes you even more amazing. I think it means you have the ability to struggle with all your might to survive. You actually won against me... Heh heh, ha ha, ha ha hah!”
“...So I win, right?”
“Yes, no doubt about it. I was a player like you once, but this is the first time I’ve ever been beat so innocently. All right... I like you. Let me tell you something good. About your sister...” Mikagami’s face suddenly turned serious, and he whispered in my ear. “Your sister is going to die as soon as she manifests in this world. That’s what the world has decided.”
“Huh...?”
He turned his back to me and walked away, leaving me with a light wave of his hand. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but in my position, I’m not exactly allowed to leak information or show any bias toward anyone, you see.”
“Hey, wait a second!”
“We probably won’t ever meet again.”
“So hold up!”
No matter how much I pleaded with him, he wouldn’t respond.
Before I knew it, my allies and I were left in a wide grassland outside the city that held the headquarters of the Adventurer’s Guild.
†
“What was his problem?”
We didn’t go back to the Adventurer’s Guild, instead opting for the northern city. The first thing we did was take a breather and get some warm food at the inn.
“If this world really does have a governing system,” Gabriel replied, “that man must be involved with it.”
“I think you’re right. I just don’t get what he’s after, though.”
“He said things about him being an ‘Observer’ and an ‘Executor’ or whatnot.”
“As far as the ‘Executor’ part goes, he’s probably supposed to regulate people—like me—who obtained certain powers in ways that the devs didn’t intend. Cheaters, essentially. Though, in my case, I didn’t exactly get a choice in the matter.”
“It’s hard to understand what an ‘Observer’ is supposed to be as well. He claimed to have been watching you for some time now.”
“It sounds like it’s his job to monitor or supervise the players, but yeah, who knows what it really is.”
A message window popped up in front of me, accompanied by an announcement in my head.
A new present has been delivered to your Present Box.
A present?
Opening up my menu, an item called a “Communication Crystal” was listed. As soon as I pulled it out, a face popped up on the surface of the ball.
“Hey! Short time no see, Shinobu.”