“Um, well. It’s against the rules to use miracles directly on an enemy player. If you do, and that player comes to harm, it’s an instant game over. So I needed to be smarter than that.”
Did this rule apply to major god players, too, or was it only for the corrupted gods?
“Wait, where did you hear about this rule? I’ve never seen anything like that in my version of the game. Have you been talking to other players?”
“Huh? Whaddya—What do you mean? Oh, wait. Right, if you’re still level 1, you probably don’t have access to the forums yet.” Though he muttered the words to himself, they didn’t escape my notice. He said “forums,” right? As in, online forums? Places for players to discuss strategies and information about the game?
“Online forums? I thought you weren’t allowed to leak information about the game to other people?”
“Kinda, but not quite. You’re not supposed to talk about the game, you’re right, but there’s an exception. You can talk about it with other players. What, didn’t ya even—ahem.”
Every time he was on the brink of insulting me, Destiny shot him a hard stare, and he backed off. It was amusing, but I didn’t have time to laugh.
We’re allowed to talk about the game to other players, huh?
I was getting a lot from this guy. But the more I learned, the more questions I had.
“You knew about me from the email, right? Did you tell any other players about Carol or the holy book?” If he did, I might have more creeps coming after me.
“I didn’t tell anyone. I think the email got sent to all the corrupted gods, though, ’cause everyone was talkin’ about it on the forums. You can tell I’m in a band, right? Bands cost a ton to run. We gotta rent our studio, buy the instruments, distribute tickets. The expenses never stop, I swear.”
I thought his outfit might just be a fashion thing, but I figured that made sense.
“Anyway, so I got that email with your photo and address on it, and it said I could get, like, ten million yen just for snatchin’ your book. Impossible to resist, right?”
Ten million yen?!
Was he serious? My book was worth ten million yen? Wait. Thinking back, Yamamoto-san mentioned he got five million for destroying a big village, so maybe it wasn’t that crazy.
The money wasn’t the only issue, though.
“Are you telling me that every single corrupted god got sent a photo of my face and address?!” I was so horrified I reached out to grab the neck of his shirt, but since he was paralyzed, I couldn’t get a good grip.
“I reckon so. When you’re done with me, you’ll probably get them all comin’ at you. I mean, it’s ten million yen, right? And you get a bonus if you bring the kid.”
What should I do? What could I do? They knew my face. My address. Destiny saved us this time, but I couldn’t rely on that in the future.
“Think you could unfreeze me now? I told you everything already, and I promise I’ll leave you alone from now on!”
I couldn’t trust him. Not with that stupid grin on his face. My book was worth ten million yen, and this guy was broke. Would he really let a chance like this pass him by?
“You should just lemme go and get outta here. You never know, there might be some more guys watchin’ and waitin’ in the shadows right now, trying to get their hands on the book and that girl.”
I looked around reflexively but only saw Carol struggling with her yo-yo. The park was empty.
But that didn’t mean we were safe. Someone might be along any minute. We needed to be sensible and leave, but what about him? What if he used his miracle? What if he controlled a whole crowd to come after me? He was way too overpowered. I couldn’t just let him go. That left me a single option.
“Okay. I’ll unfreeze you. Destiny, can you unfreeze him in just this spot?” I pointed at the man’s pocket, which clearly had something inside it.
“W-wait, whaddya doin’?! Hold it! Stop! Stop right there, lizard! Dammit! If I don’t have my phone, I can’t use any miracles!” The man protested loudly, at which point Destiny very kindly petrified his mouth again. At the same time, it unfroze his thigh, allowing me to take out the guy’s phone and check the screen.
There—the other world. Not even a day had passed since I’d last seen it, but a lump formed in my throat all the same. I watched a huge, one-eyed monster stomp through the wilderness, apparently out on reconnaissance. I would’ve loved to do a bit more poking around to see what the game was like from the other side, but I had no time. I ignored the monster, checking his miracles instead. He had “charm,” “tempt,” and “control.” I suppressed the urge to try them out.
“The main option screen is the same as in The Village of Fate.” I opened it and searched until I found “Abandon Game.”
“Here it is!”
That button was in The Village of Fate, too. I glanced up at the guy. He was staring at me, his face pale with horror. I could almost hear him screaming at me to stop. I pressed the button without hesitation.
Are you sure?
Yes No
A confirmation message flashed on the screen. I tapped “yes.” The same game over message that Yamamoto-san got appeared on the screen, and the next second the game disappeared from the phone. The guy’s eyes rolled back into his head. His memories were most likely being deleted along with the game. He was no longer a threat to me, but that didn’t mean I could relax yet. More like him would be coming, and I needed to be ready. If they went after just me, that was fine, but I didn’t want my family or Seika to get wrapped up in this.
I gritted my teeth. I knew what to do. I just needed to gather the determination.
“There’s only one way out of this mess. Carol?”
“Yeah?” Carol scampered up to me, her yo-yo tangled around itself.
I knelt down, looking her in the eye. I took a deep breath. “We’re gonna go see God.”