“Luckily, I can communicate inside if the communication unit itself is on the other side. I was right to send just my arm inside.”

2V had transformed into a snake. Or more accurately, the severed arm of 2V’s doll had become a snake.

The arm had a communication unit installed, so it could act on its own. It was installed with all the equipment needed to act as a hidden camera and gather information.

The snake hid in the jungle and watched Yoshie and the students. The plain green snake blended into that world quite well.

“It seems that girl managed to escape into this world well enough, but there is something I did not tell her. If my information is accurate, someone was lurking within this virtual alternate dimension long before we arrived. Now, what effect will that have on this world? I need to reach this person before anyone else does,” muttered 2V.

Someone had been lurking in that world from the beginning. That had to be related to the uncertain element.

“I need to do more research into this. Fortunately, the priests of Megis do not seem to have noticed yet.”

While muttering to herself, 2V transferred her consciousness to a doll in the real world. This was the man with the forgettable face that 2V often used. The doll was currently inside the temple of Megis’s data room. The room contained nothing but a few specialized terminals, but those terminals provided access to a large number of files.

2V searched for the file her researcher colleague had once seen. It contained information on the original demon king.

It took some time, but 2V found a few files on the subject. And they told her something astonishing.

“This is it! It’s just as I thought… No, it’s even better!”

“I feel I am in no position to ask you to do what I say, but I would like to give you some advice so as to avoid any possible danger.”

Yoshie (as Yoshihiko) addressed the crowd.

Whether the students gathered in the schoolyard were listening or not, a great stir was running through them. Half of them seemed uneasy and the other half seemed prepared to let loose and enjoy the game. Either way, they were restless.

—This is a problem. I need to ensure they all return safely to reality and I need to find 2V and Sai Akuto.

Yoshie opened a screen and checked on the current situation.

She was using her special rights as the programmer of that world to check the program directly.

Just as Korone had, Yoshie learned there was someone within the virtual alternate dimension who was not obeying the rules of the game.

—2V? No, he was drawn in just like me, so that couldn’t be it. And it’s just his arm, so he shouldn’t be able to do much. In that case, could there have been someone in here from the beginning? At any rate, this is dangerous. If the others come into contact with this person, they could be killed!

Yoshie panicked, but she still did not think she could say anything that would convince the students.

“This isn’t good. Can I really get up on the podium and give them orders?” muttered Yoshie.

If it was necessary, she would have to do it, but it would require the strength of commanding an army. She honestly felt it would be difficult for someone like her.

“Knowledge-wise, I do not think anyone but you can do it,” whispered Junko who had apparently heard what Yoshie had said.

—Eh?

Yoshie looked over in surprise. Junko was smiling in order to cheer her up.

“B-but I am an outsider and I have never held authority over anyone before. Will they really listen to me?”

“If you are worried about that, I can speak for you. And even if you do not want that, I must insist that I help in whatever way I can,” said Junko.

—She must be a nice person to be helping me here. This is a huge help in a trying time like this.

Yoshie relaxed and managed to smile.

—Let’s see. I need to thank her. I’m a guy right now, so I need to smile like an otome game character.

“I am truly grateful that you would say that. It seems my worries were unnecessary.”

—Will that make me sound cool?

But despite Yoshie’s thoughts, Junko turned away when she saw Yoshie’s smile.

“I did not mean it like that. I am saying I do not trust you.”

—Hm, looks like it didn’t work. Well, this is no time to be getting down over that.

“Then please speak for me. That is just one less thing I must worry about.”

“Okay… As long as you understand,” mumbled Junko.

Yoshie stepped up onto the podium.

“Everyone, please listen. I would like to apologize again as the one who created this situation. I would also like to ask for your cooperation. I ask your permission to stand atop the podium like this. But I am not asking you to obey my orders. You may not trust me, but I only want to say one thing: if you act carefully here, you can return safely to the real world while enjoying yourselves.”

Focus gathered on Yoshie. Everyone seemed willing to listen to her for the moment.

“Thank you for listening. I already gave you an overview of the situation. If you refuse to believe what I said, that is fine. I merely ask for your cooperation in leaving this place. I believe we need someone to take command and I believe she would be suitable.”

Yoshie pointed toward Junko.

“Ohhh!” said the students.

Several of them voiced their approval.

“Having Hattori-san as our leader should be fine.”

“I hear she played a major role in the demon king war.”

“You hear a lot about her relationship with the demon king, but she did fight in that war.”

Junko’s mouth opened in a surprised O, but she stepped up onto the podium when Yoshie reached a hand out to her. However, she refused to hold Yoshie’s hand.

“I believe we should act on our own a bit longer before deciding whether we should trust him. Until then, let us work together and act carefully as we fight in our quest for power and experience!”

The crowd let out an excited cry in response to Junko’s words.

Yoshie was quite impressed.

—She’s really cool. I wish I could do things like that.

Overcome with admiration, Yoshie whispered to Junko without thinking.

“They really trust you.”

“R-really? I would not say so,” mumbled Junko as she blushed.

—She’s being modest.

Yoshie placed her left hand on Junko’s shoulder and raised her own right hand. In the s.p.a.ce beyond that hand, a large map appeared. It showed the continent of that world.

“This is what this land looks like. Let us explore it under her command. Once you gather experience, you will gain an army of your own and be able to explore without doing anything yourself. Let us enjoy this peacefully, gain experience which can be used even in the real world, and then return! But not even I know exactly what will happen. It would be safest to gather in a single group and-…”

Yoshie suddenly trailed off.

She had heard a tremendous noise similar to an earthquake.

It came from the jungle, so everyone in the schoolyard turned in that direction.

A cloud of dust rose up from the jungle and it gradually drew closer.

“Wh-what is this?” asked Junko.

But Yoshie was just as confused by the dust.

“D-do not tell me you do not know what this is.”

Junko’s eyes opened wide in surprise.

—I-I need to put everyone at ease. This is probably an army and only the demon king’s side could have one already.

“N-no. I was merely surprised because this is too soon.”

“Too soon?”

“Only the demon king’s side could command an army of that size right now. However, it would take extraordinary judgment to take action so quickly. We still have not grasped the rules!” said Yoshie in shock.

But she did not know what to say beyond that. As she stood frozen in place, Junko raised her voice.

“Everyone, prepare for battle! This is the demon king’s army!”

That voice brought Yoshie back to her senses.

—I know this is a game, but when I’m experiencing it with my actual senses, I can’t do anything.

But Yoshie realized this was no time to be feeling down. She checked on the students’ situation once more.

There were five hundred students in all.

They were students of Constant Magic Academy, so their combat ability would be top notch. They would not give in mentally either. However, when they tried to obey Junko’s order by using the weapons or magic they specialized in, they learned once more that this was not the real world.

“H-huh? My special baton…?”

“I have a knife, but I can’t fill it with mana!”

“I can’t use my reinforcing magic!”

The students stood still and almost completely defenseless. All five hundred of them were bunched together.

“Th-this makes them an excellent target!”

Junko frantically turned to Yoshie.

Yoshie was desperately trying to gather her thoughts.

If the demon king was attacking, there was a possibility Akuto would come himself. He had seemed intelligent, so he would be trying to free the students as quickly as possible. In that case, it would be possible to speak with him. And if all the students were killed here, that might very well solve the problem. However, Yoshie was bothered by the existence of an uncertain element. Until she knew how that would affect things, she wanted to avoid having the students die.

After gathering her thoughts, Yoshie raised her voice once more.

“Into the school building! I will handle the army!” she shouted.

Junko looked over and nodded.

“I will go, too.”

Junko jumped down from the podium, pa.s.sed through the rows of confused students, and began running toward the edge of the schoolyard.

“Me too!”

As Yoshie followed after her, students armed with knives and other weapons began following as well.

The cloud of dust in the jungle approached them like a giant moving wall. The earthquake-like noise roared loud enough to rob them of their hearing.

Some of the five hundred students fled and some followed Yoshie. And before their eyes, the jungle split open.

A giant rhinoceros appeared, crushing the trees of the jungle underfoot. It looked five meters tall. Rhinoceroses were not usually violent beasts, but this one had a ferocious light in its red eyes and it charged forward with the speed of a horse.

“Mwa ha ha ha ha! The demon king’s army has taken the first strike! I am Demon General Korone! I have come to slaughter you all on the demon king’s orders!”

Standing imposingly atop the rhinoceros’s saddle was a lovely girl wearing a magician’s outfit. This girl declaring her intent to slaughter them yet showing no change of expression was of course Korone.

This stopped Yoshie and the students’ charge.

“Wah!”

“Wh-what is that!?”

“This is bad…”

“What kind of game is this!? It’s impossible!”

The students began screaming.

Yoshie and Junko were forced to stop as well.

“Wh-who is she?”

“That is Korone, a L’Isle-Adam observer. She observes our famous student, Sai Akuto,” quickly answered Junko.

“Do you know her?”

“Yes.”

“That is good to hear. We might be able to talk this out.”

“I am not sure she will listen. She was put on the enemy’s side in here, right? Korone is the type to get carried away at times like this,” said Junko while unsure what to do.

And that was precisely what happened.

“I am not here to talk! I already told you this is a slaughter!”

Korone’s voice was emotionless, but that alone made it all the more frightening.

As Korone rode the rhinoceros (technically it was a game monster known as a Behemoth), she held out her staff and a green beam of light shot out. That beam cut between the swiftly fleeing students. An instant later, a tremendous explosion occurred along the path the beam had travelled. Several of the students were blown into the air.

“Gyaaah!”

“Eeeee!”

Two of them turned to dust and vanished in midair. They had died in the game.

“It’s still going according to the system.”

Yoshie was relieved.

And she shouted toward Korone.

“Wait! An uncertain element has slipped into this game!”

Korone replied more obediently than Yoshie had expected. The Behemoth stopped in front of them and she looked down at Yoshie and Junko.

“I am aware. That is why I am slaughtering the students to send them back to the real world as quickly as possible. I have examined the data myself. From that speech earlier, I take it you are this game’s creator.”

“I am. So you knew that there is someone not obeying the game’s rules?”

Yoshie was even more relieved.

“Yes. But humans are inconvenient creatures. They could easily return to the real world if they let me kill them, but they insist on resisting.”

“I think being afraid of that is normal,” muttered Junko.

Korone nodded in response.

“But that fear can be useful. I can efficiently kill them as they flee.”

After crossing her arms and making that bold announcement, Korone swung the staff in her hand. Monsters under her control such as goblins and orcs charged out from the path created by the Behemoth. These five thousand NPC troops were half of the ten thousand Korone could command. As if ink had been spilled on a piece of drawing paper, they dyed one end of the schoolyard black as they surged out.

They ran by Yoshie and Junko who had remained and they began stabbing the fleeing students in the back.

“Waaaaah!”

“Nooooo!”

Student after student screamed and turned to dust.

“Kill the men! Rape the women!” shouted Korone expressionlessly and emotionlessly.

“I had always thought she was a dangerous artificial person…” said Junko in shock.

“I-is all of this part of a carefully calculated plan?” asked Yoshie.

Korone nodded and replied, “Of course. I am aiming for an efficient game over. If you leave it to me, I believe I can easily lead this to an annihilation ending.”

“B-but I have some responsibility for this. I would like for you to leave it to me,” said Yoshie.

Korone shook her head.

“That is all the more reason to send the other students back as soon as possible. I could also abduct you here.” Korone glanced at Junko. “If you are abducted, you will be forced to appear before Akuto-san while wearing lewd clothing. This game has rules for creating offspring, so if a man and woman spend the night in the same room, a message appears saying ‘we sure had fun last night, didn’t we?’.”

A blush exploded across Junko’s face.

“Y-y-you fool! I would never do that!”

“But you did imagine it just a bit, didn’t you?”

“S-stop that! Do not tease me!”

“At any rate, I will be solemnly advancing the game. If you do not like it, then advance the game yourselves as the protagonists. I will eliminate the other students, so please take a short nap. Once you wake up, make your way to the demon king’s castle.”

Korone swung her staff and a beam of light shot from it.

“Watch out!”

Yoshie covered for Junko, but the beam pierced through both Yoshihiko and Junko’s bodies.

“Wha-…!?”

Yoshie and Junko groaned in pain.

—Even as a game, it still hurts.

Just as Yoshie had that thought, she realized what Korone had done. That had not been a fatal blow. It had only been meant to knock them out.

And then the two of them lost consciousness.

Let us move back in time just a bit.

One of the first students to flee into the school building when Korone attacked was Fujiko.

—This may be a game, but I do not like the thought being killed. And something seemed unnatural about how that Yoshihiko was acting. I need to live on and investigate this.

The structure of the school building had not changed, but the contents were quite different. The cla.s.srooms were now strategy rooms or weapon storerooms.

—Weapons… Perfect.

Fujiko turned around and spoke to those behind her.

“There are weapons here! Everyone, take something to fight with!”

Amid the long lines of spears, the piles of countless swords, and all the other weapons, Fujiko chose a whip because she was used to using one in real life. She attached it at the waist.

The students who had fled took weapons one after another. As the weapon storeroom began to grow crowded, Fujiko heard a voice from the next room over.

“There are grimoires in here! If your cla.s.s lets you use them, get in here!”

—Come to think of it, I never checked on my cla.s.s.

Fujiko opened a screen.

Cla.s.s: Potion Master

Level: 1

HP: 5

Strength: 8

Magic: 15

Army: 0

—So there is an army stat. This does not provide much explanation, but it is obvious what that lets you do after seeing what Korone did. I need to raise my level some way or another. This may be a game, but I need to gain as much experience as I can to help me in the real world. …And most importantly, I have to help Akuto-sama grow even stronger.

Fujiko secretly decided to betray the others.

—That means I need to raise everyone’s levels, strengthen them, and then have Akuto-sama defeat them. That sounds like the best plan.

With her mind made up, Fujiko headed to the neighboring grimoire room. She chose a grimoire of the Level 1 magic she could use and carried the book under her arm. When she saw most of the students had completed their preparations, she raised her voice.

“Everyone! This fortress will inevitably fall! We must split up and flee into the jungle! We will raise our level there and gather our own armies. Once the time to defeat the demon king has arrived, I will light a beacon so we can gather once more!”

Voices of approval came one after another.

“That’s right. That’s the best plan for us.”

“We can have a bit more fun.”

“Everything feels so real in here, so I don’t want to die.”

“We can split up into groups of two or three.”

The students began to leave the grimoire and weapon rooms.

“Onee-sama! We can flee together!”

Three undercla.s.smen who adored Fujiko ran up to her. Fujiko smiled and nodded.

“Yes, let us do that. Are your preparations complete?”

Fujiko and the girls left the room together.

The chaos had reached the hallway. The students had no solid leadership, so they had erred in their timing on closing the entrance. Korone’s monster army was crossing swords with the students in the hallway. Cries of anger and the high-pitched clashing of swords hurt Fujiko’s ears.

“Onee-sama! Hurry!”

One girl pulled on Fujiko’s hand.

But Fujiko had a different idea as she fled.

—If I am right, this might not be as difficult as I thought.

Fujiko looked at the three girls with her. They seemed truly afraid of the situation. That was understandable. The sensations were all too real.

—That means their judgment is impaired right now.

Fujiko grinned inwardly. Fujiko chose a different route from the other students. Fujiko and the three girls were the only ones running through that specific hallway. However, a single orc soldier was catching up to them. The three girls seemed to have no intention of fighting.

“You three run on ahead!” ordered Fujiko.

They did exactly that. They worriedly turned back toward Fujiko, but Fujiko called out to them again and they looked forward once more.

And Fujiko did not overlook that timing. She swung her whip toward the orc soldier and the end of the whip splendidly wrapped around the hilt of his sword.

“Hah!”

She pulled the whip back, taking the sword with it.

Fujiko made no attempt to stop the whip’s momentum. The sword flew straight toward the back of one of the fleeing girls.

“Kyaaaah!”

The sword stabbed deep into the girl’s back and she collapsed. She immediately turned to dust, leaving only the sword behind.

—Just as I thought.

Fujiko grinned.

The other students likely thought the dead girl had been killed by the orc soldier.

—You get quite a bit of experience for killing a player!

Fujiko had gained a level. She defeated the now weaponless orc soldier with several strikes of the whip.

And she met up with the two surviving girls with a perfectly calm expression.

“Are you okay!?”

“Yes, but it looks like one of us was stabbed by the sword that orc soldier threw…”

“There is no need to be sad. It may have been a shocking scene, but this is only a game.”

Fujiko grinned.

“I killed 357 of them.”

Korone kneeled before Akuto after returning to the castle.

“Wow! That’s amazing, Korone-chan!”

Keena clapped her hands in delight as she leaned up against Akuto’s shoulder.

“You’re making us look like a horribly evil army, so stop that,” complained Akuto from where he sat on the throne.

“This is all about setting the right mood,” explained Korone before holding a crystal ball out toward Akuto.

It showed the destroyed school building, the ruined schoolyard, and the corpses of orc soldiers.

“That looks pretty bad. But I don’t see any bodies of students.”

“Yes. Everything remained within the boundaries of the game.”

Korone lowered the crystal ball and opened a large screen in midair.

“And here you can see everyone’s resentment.”

“Resentment?”

Akuto peered at the screen. It was an online message board.

127 : [email protected]/* */ : ID:mKq7EtZhO

That hurt. I thought this was a game.

128 : [email protected]/* */ : ID:kAE5SjWcO

When Sai Akuto gets back to reality, I’m gonna kill him.

129 : [email protected]/* */ : ID:JW75Oizl0

If you died, it just means you’re weak. Give it up. orz

130 : [email protected]/* */ : ID:KtBdqH4A0

I almost came when Korone-chan personally killed me.

131 : [email protected]/* */ : ID:e9qeMSmd0

I was crushed by a rhino. ＼(^o^)／

“Well, as long as they’re alive…”

Akuto was not sure how to feel, so he just sighed.

“It seems we can view the game’s real world message board from here. They can apparently see a portion of the game.”

“A portion?”

“It seems they can see the overall picture and the numerical data. I checked on the message board.”

“So it’s the same as when we were in that book. It seemed senpai could see the overall picture of the story then. At any rate, I’m glad we can get some data from outside.”

Akuto nodded.

“Now then. I will go hunt down the remnants.”

Korone stood to leave.

“Could you stop making this sound so horrible?”

“A slaughter is not over until everyone is dead.”

Korone made it sound all the more horrible, but Keena cut in.

“Wait. This is kind of weird.”

“Weird?”

Akuto turned toward her.

“I think the game has changed a bit.”

Keena motioned them over while looking at the screen.

“How has it changed?”

“Well, the final objective was to defeat the demon king, right? That’s changed to acquiring the holy grail.”

She pointed at the screen Korone had opened. It did indeed give the conditions to clear the game.

“Did someone change the game? You said there was an uncertain element. Does this mean that person has begun to act?” asked Akuto uneasily.

Korone nodded.

“In that case, I must slaughter them as quickly as possible. I will slaughter them without a moment’s rest. I will give my undivided attention to the slaughter.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen you this motivated,” complained Akuto.

Meanwhile, in the real world.

“What did you say happened to my school?” asked Lily in a displeased voice.

She had already heard the situation. She had returned to the school after all the students had disappeared, but then students had started to appear here and there. And they were all insisting on the ridiculous idea that they had been caught inside a video game.

“But if the virtual alternate dimension was used, it could make sense, arinsu.”

“Uga.”

“In fact, this kind of supports the information we had gathered, gya. The plan was to seal the demon king in the virtual alternate dimension, gya”

The three officers attempted to pacify Lily as she groaned within the student council room.

“If there’s a connection between this game and the virtual alternate dimension, shouldn’t you investigate the creator of the game?” asked Hiroshi as he looked at the mana screen.

He was also in the student council room because he had been forcibly dragged into all this and could no longer back out.

“The creator?”

Lily looked over at the mana screen disinterestedly, but gasped when she saw the name.

“Yoshihiko? Yoshihiko… Kanna, you were pursuing a Kita Yoshie, right?”

“Yes, gya. I think she’s definitely involved with this somehow, gya. But all her data was erased and she’s currently missing, gya.”

“That’s because Yoshihiko is in the game!”

Lily stood up.

“What are you going to do, gya?”

“It’s nothing but circ.u.mstantial evidence, but it’s enough to make some threats! I need to go get some information from the people with a connection to her,” said Lily energetically.

“That sounds really dangerous…” said Hiroshi worriedly, but Lily grabbed his hand. “Eh?”

“You’re coming, too! You’re already part of all this.”

“Wah! W-wait! Give me a break, president!”

But Hiroshi’s protests were splendidly ignored.

“Nn…”

Junko woke up.

Once she remembered why she had pa.s.sed out, she forcefully sat up. Unlike in reality, her mind was perfectly clear after waking up in the game. She had no headache and her body moved smoothly.

“What…?”

Junko saw the ruined schoolyard. Korone’s army had already left, the school building had tragically crumbled, and the students were nowhere to be seen.

“Kh… So this is what it feels like to lose a battle. I know this is just a game, but it does not feel good. We need to take the initiative from now on.”

Yoshihiko looked up from where he lay collapsed next to her. His well-featured face was twisted in non-physical pain. Junko understood how he felt. He regretted that so many students had died due to him.

“I know this does not feel good, but if we do not focus, we will not get another chance. Then again, this is just a game, so maybe we do not need to think about it so seriously.”

Junko smiled at him.

Yoshihiko’s eyes opened in admiration.

“Amazing. You said your name is Hattori-san, correct? You’re used to fighting, aren’t you?”

“I do not think that is a good compliment to give to a girl.”

When Junko intentionally pouted a bit, Yoshihiko finally smiled.

“My apologies. You are right. To phrase it better, I was struck by your n.o.bility.”

Yoshihiko’s smile looked very bright to Junko, but that was not simply because of his looks. It was due to his carefree and honest expression and the fact that the compliment came from his heart.

—This is the second time a boy has viewed me so positively.

That thought suddenly came to Junko, but she frantically shook her head and worked to keep it from showing on her face.

“I-I will accept that compliment. A-anyway, how many people do you think escaped?”

Yoshihiko opened a screen.

“A lot of them were killed. About three hundred. We were beaten down splendidly. The efficiency approached the limits of the settings. There are some parts of command that your parameters cannot make up for. This was simply the player’s skill.”

“That is amazing,” commented Junko in admiration.

She knew Korone’s combat command ability came from being a L’Isle-Adam, but she still admired her for it.

“But that is not actually a problem. The skill of that L’Isle-Adam means more of the students will be returned to reality.”

“But the students at our school are used to fighting. It seems they scattered into the jungle. They likely plan to kill the demon king in order to clear the game.”

“In that case, we must go too.”

Yoshihiko stood up.

“Go? Go where?”

Junko was confused.

Yoshihiko nodded and explained.

“Into the jungle. That is the only place to hide. If we are to fight well, we must first build up experience. Also, the monsters will drop weapons. We need to gather equipment too. As that L’Isle-Adam named Korone said, there is someone lurking in here who is ignoring the rules. We cannot do anything without looking into that, and we cannot walk freely throughout the game world without experience and items.”

With that said, Yoshihiko headed into the jungle.

Junko hesitated.

“Eh? Wait…”

“What is it?”

“B-but this will mean the two of us are alone together.”

“That cannot be helped, so how about we work together? Also, I feel something similar to respect when it comes to you. Do not worry.”

Yoshihiko gave a carefree smile.

“R-right. That is right. Yes. Understood. You are right.”

Junko was confused.

—Being carefree is fine and all… But why does he not seem to realize we will be a guy and girl alone together? Is it because this is a game? Or…

Junko of course did not know that Yoshihiko was actually Yoshie.

—Ahh! This is no time to be nervous. At least he seems to be a gentleman.

Junko followed after Yoshihiko.

Junko hunted under Yoshihiko’s instruction until sunset.

“Hoh!”

She cut down a Giant Bat with the short sword Yoshihiko had lent her. The Giant Bat let out a high-pitched shriek as it died. Its body would eventually disappear, but the fact that its body remained at all proved it was a monster of this world rather than a player. And occasionally, an item would appear next to a monster’s dead body.

“A knife. I earned this myself. You can have your short sword back.”

Junko held the knife in a backhand grip and swung it.

“And I am more used to this kind of weapon.”

“You are a ninja, after all. A Suhara-style j.a.panese sword would be best, though. Anyway, defeat a few more to level up high enough to use scrolls.”

Under Yoshihiko’s instructions, Junko gained even more levels.

Finally, night came.

“A day in the game is equivalent to about an hour in reality,” explained Yoshihiko as he set up the camp.

He threw what looked like a small model, and a tent and campfire appeared in the jungle clearing.

“That is convenient.”

Impressed, Junko sat next to the fire.

“By the way, what will we do tomorrow other than raise our levels further?”

Yoshihiko opened a screen, displayed a map, and pointed at the center.

“There is a powerful weapon here. The monster guarding it is powerful, but there is a trick that allows you to defeat it even at low levels. We should try to-… Huh?”

“What is it?”

Yoshihiko’s expression was quite serious. He shook his head as if to say something was wrong.

“The game’s objective has changed. It says to search for the holy grail.”

“Can the game be changed like that?”

“Of course it can. However, not even I can do it while inside here. Only someone outside the game can do it. But I had it protected. And if that isn’t it…it must be related to the uncertain element.”

Yoshihiko brought a hand to his chin as he thought.

“We just have to be careful, right? There is no need to worry that much. And there is no sign of an accident having occurred,” said Junko to cheer him up.

“Your truly dignified mindset is most encouraging. I am glad you are the one I got to know so well,” said Yoshihiko in a gentle voice.

“Wha-…? That is going too far.”

Junko looked away.

“No, I mean it. I am not very good at opening up to others. I always try to be honest, but I do not have many friends.”

“I am not sure how to respond to that. …But I understand. We have no choice but to work together for now, so I will try to listen to what you say,” replied Junko embarra.s.sedly to Yoshihiko’s straightforward words.

“That is good to hear. I originally created this technology in the hopes of providing true communication in this virtual alternate dimension.”

“True communication?”

“Yes. Pure communication. With a s.p.a.ce in which one is freed from the physical body, I thought people could live more happily.”

“Sorry, but I am not too good with difficult concepts like this.”

Junko shook her head with a bitter smile.

Yoshihiko smiled sadly.

“I was mostly just complaining. Sorry for bringing up such a boring topic. Let’s get to sleep.”

Yoshihiko moved from the fire and opened the tent.

“Wait…”

Junko blushed and shook her hands.

“Get to sleep? In the one tent?”

Yoshihiko tilted his head slightly.

“Is that a problem?”

“Y-you idiot! Of course it is!”

Junko’s voice grew a bit louder.

Yoshihiko tilted his head even further.

“Well, I suppose you’re right. It would be a bit cramped. …Oh!” He clapped his hands together. “There is a camp in your equipment, too.”

“Eh?”

Junko dug through her pocket. There was indeed a model tent like the one Yoshihiko had thrown. Throwing it would likely create a campfire as well.

—What was he thinking?

An unpleasant uneasiness filled Junko’s chest.

“I am going to sleep.”

Junko created her tent and climbed inside. While wrapped in the sleeping bag inside, she dully looked up at the top of the tent.

—Ahh, I just can’t settle down. What is this feeling? Oh, I know. This is a lot like the feeling he gives me.

Akuto’s face appeared in Junko’s mind. She rolled over with the sleeping bag and curled up.

—Come to think of it, they are kind of similar. Do I have a weakness for that type?

Junko ended up worrying over that all night.

—I’m not really the type to get worried when I cross a perilous bridge.

2V gave a self-derisive laugh.

She was the type that did not cross the perilous bridge in the first place. That had gone beyond being a policy and was now a subconscious habit. Any dangerous actions would be handled by the dolls and the dolls would self-destruct if any information was about to leak out. She even had dolls purchase the dolls and primarily used common models. It was all to ensure it could not be traced back to her.

But she was now touching the terminal a bit fearfully.

2V had no choice but to hack in through top level security. And to do that, she was forced to use her fixed mana waves. In other words, she had to identify herself as the real 2V. Basically, she was trying to reach the depths of the G.o.d by proving she was 2V of CIMO 8.

—CIMO 8 authority isn’t enough to reach the high priest level. From there on, I have to hack.

She had a reason to dive down to that deep level.

“I doubt even the high priest has noticed that entry. After all, it looks like unimportant data. But in truth…”

2V hurriedly touched the mana screen while muttering to herself.

Her true form was a sickly-looking girl. Her slender arms and legs were wrapped in simple white clothes and she did nothing but operate terminals in a dimly lit room filled with dolls. She was filled with a certain sort of beauty.

—I’ve never taken a truly serious action before. It’s almost laughable that I’m typing on a terminal like some kind of geek. My hands hurt and my eyes hurt. I never thought I would get lost in something like this.

Text scrolled by on the mana screen before 2V’s eyes. She had arrived at the deepest depths of the G.o.d Megis.

“This area is only accessed when the high priest rewrites the program,” muttered 2V.

2V heard the voice of the archbishop…that is, the L’Isle-Adam that conveyed the words of Megis. It seemed she had fooled the system splendidly.

“I want to view the data on the sealed demon king.”

“I only need to see it once.”

2V’s eyes frantically followed the data scrolling across the mana screen. She memorized it all.

And after storing it all in her brain after a single read through, she immediately severed the connection and did her best to erase all trace of her actions.

After finishing that, she finally burst out laughing as if she could not hold it back.

“Heh heh heh… Hee hee… Ha ha ha! I never thought it went this far. This is great. Everything I hoped for is here. I never once thought I would come across such good fortune. And it was so easy. It’s almost disappointingly easy.”

2V’s voice started out calm but grew more and more excited.

As her sickly cheeks grew disturbingly pink, 2V opened another mana screen and broke through the security Yoshie had set up.

“But this will work. She’s inside, so I can cross this perilous bridge as many times as necessary. Heh. I’m beginning to understand why normal people spend all day enjoying themselves at this age. I never knew such worthless things could be so exciting. It’s hard to resist.”

2V grinned as she altered the program and set up a trap.

“The original demon king. That existence was created to destroy the system of the world at the time, but it will work well enough even now!”

When Hiroshi realized where Lily had taken him, he could not help but gulp. They had arrived at the temple of Megis.

There were exceptions, but normal people were usually allowed as far as the main hall of the temples. Entertainment facilities would be built inside and a shopping center was often built around them.

However, Lily brought him to an area normal people were not allowed. This was where the clerks and priests worked.

“Sh-should we really be in here?” asked Hiroshi nervously.

“It isn’t a problem. I made an appointment to speak about some secrets.”

“Oh, that’s good.”

“Not that I gave them a chance to say no,” added Lily quietly.

“W-wait! What do you mean by that!?”

Hiroshi panicked, but Lily’s expression remained unconcerned.

“I sent an email saying I was coming so he needs to stay in his office.”

“That’s all?”

“What more is needed?”

“Well, I suppose that’s fine. But with who?”

“The high priest.”

“Wah! Please give me a break!”

“Why do we need to fear someone just because they have an important position?”

Lily laughed, but there were two guards standing before the door to the special areas on the upper floors.

“You need permission to pa.s.s through here,” said one of the guards.

“Ee! S-sorry…”

Hiroshi apologized, but Lily calmly walked over and looked up at them with a grin.

“I’m Shiraishi’s daughter.”

“The priest’s?”

The guards looked surprised at Lily’s self-introduction, but quickly returned to the expressionless look of a guard. One of the pointed to the right.

“Even Priest Shiraishi’s daughter needs permission. At the very least, you need a temporary guest pa.s.s.”

“It doesn’t really matter,” said Lily bluntly.

She stroked her right fist with her left hand and grinned.

The two guards moved and tension filled the atmosphere.

However, a new voice cut in.

“It’s fine. Let them through.”

That low, kind voice came from beyond the door.

“High priest…”

The guards saluted and stiffened.

Kita Hidehiko appeared. The man had gray mixed in with his hair and looked solidly honest. But if one looked, one could see something frightening in his eyes. That self-consciously strong light resembled madness.

“Thank you for understanding.”

Lily bowed in greeting. As a girl, it was not required that she took off her hat, but not removing that large, stylish hat and her earlier att.i.tude made it seem she was mocking him.

But Hidehiko let Lily and Hiroshi through.

And after walking down the pa.s.sageway far enough that the guards could not hear, he opened his mouth.

“I have heard about my daughter’s mistake. I suppose it should not surprise me that Shiraishi’s daughter would try to threaten me using that.”

“I don’t want to talk about family. That father of mine will still accept if you challenge him to a fight.”

“Fathers worry about their daughters. I doubt you would understand at your age, though.”

“Sorry, but I’m not old enough to worry about having an heir.”

Hiroshi had been doing nothing but sweat as he listened to the way Lily spoke. Hidehiko was still smiling, but Hiroshi did not know how long that would last.

Once they entered the high priest’s office, Hidehiko circled to the opposite side of the desk, urged them to sit, and then sat himself. He opened a mana screen and asked Lily to speak.

“The Birdcage Project.”

Lily spoke only that one phrase.

But it was enough to make Hidehiko’s eyebrows twitch.

“Are you trying to say Yoshie is involved in that?”

“Yes. And a video game she wrote is involved as well. I couldn’t tell you how that happened, though.”

Lily slid a mana screen of her own toward Hidehiko. It contained the information she had and the conjectures she had made based on it.

The Birdcage Project was a plan meant to seal the demon king in the virtual alternate dimension.

That virtual alternate dimension was used to protect the G.o.d Megis.

And the academy had ended up involved in it all.

“I personally had Yoshie-san tracked. I found no definitive proof, but I have no doubt she took part in this. However, the fact that she is inside that game is proof enough.”

Lily displayed footage of the game on the screen. It displayed Yoshihiko’s data.

“A little bit of investigation should prove that Yoshihiko-san is the same person as Yoshie-san. We only need to check the temple’s communication data. You should be able to do that here,” said Lily.

“That is not necessary,” said Hidehiko with a shake of the head. “I already knew all this to a certain extent.”

“To a certain extent?”

“I knew my daughter was performing research online.”

“Did you know she was partic.i.p.ating in this project?”

“Yes. But this is the first I have heard of the academy being involved. Since you came here to inform me of this, I a.s.sume you want to make some kind of deal.”

Hidehiko must have already resigned himself to this or had some other idea because all expression vanished from his face.

Lily grinned.

“I want information on the person behind this plan. With that, we can handle everything being done to the academy.”

“You mean codename 2V? Understood. I will do what I can.”

“That was easy. It makes me suspect you have some ulterior motive here.”

“I am not plotting anything. I did not like this plan from the beginning. That is all. …At any rate, look at this.”

Hidehiko slid a mana screen toward Lily. It displayed the log of the terminal Yoshie used, but that terminal was currently in use.

“The terminal is in use!?”

Lily gulped.

“Yoshie is inside that game, so this cannot be her. The connection is coming from a different location as well. It is being hacked,” said Hidehiko.

“That means… This is 2V!”

Lily’s expression changed.

When Hidehiko saw that look, he nodded toward her.

“In all likelihood, yes. This is for the sake of my daughter, so I will uphold my end of the bargain. Please tell me how to contact you. I will send you whatever information I find. You want to head to the location of this connection, don’t you?”

“Thanks!”

Lily bowed and ran out of the high priest’s office.

Junko continued leveling up the following day.

“I think I have gotten the hang of this.”

Junko’s weapon was now a j.a.panese sword and Yoshihiko had gained a few levels despite having started out at a higher level. They were now able to defeat fairly powerful monsters when working together.

“We should be fine heading to the center of the map like this,” said Yoshihiko after they defeated several Bugbears.

“You said there is a powerful weapon there, right?”

“Yes. It is a sword that helps defeat the demon king. It is the most powerful weapon in the game.”

“Wouldn’t everyone be after it then?”

“The monster protecting it is powerful, so it is difficult to defeat without knowing the trick. Unfortunately, I was unable to tell everyone what that is before they scattered.”

“With our students, that would have led to fighting over who got the sword,” said Junko.

Yoshihiko laughed.

“Ha ha ha. I’m not sure whether I should be sad people fight even in a game or if I should be glad they can safely enjoy fighting this way.”

“I was taught that controlling when you fight is part of being a warrior.”

Junko intended that as a casual comment, but Yoshihiko seemed quite impressed.

“I see. I need to learn the teachings of other sects as well. That is a view worth listening to. Or perhaps it is your personal ideas which are wonderful.”

“S-stop saying that kind of thing with a straight face…”

Junko tried to pa.s.s it off as a joke, but she still blushed and looked away.

It was only the second day, but they had already reached the point of being able to talk naturally.

“I have a straight face because I mean it.”

“E-enough of that. That weapon’s location is more important.”

Yoshihiko pointed forward.

“To be honest, we are already headed there. That is the location right there.”

A rocky mountain rose up ahead of them.

“So it is at the peak?”

Junko looked up at the mountain.

Once they arrived at the foot of the mountain, a path became visible. Some of the higher parts of the path seemed to require crossing chains driven into the rock.

“So we will be attacked by a powerful monster on that path? That sounds difficult,” muttered Junko.

“It will be fine,” said Yoshihiko. “There is a volcanic crater at the peak and there is another narrow path there. If we can escape along it, the monster will get stuck in the narrowest portion. That’s how we’ll do it.”

“I see. So it is a secret trick.”

Junko began up the narrow path.

The mountain path was dangerous and there was almost no footing as they approached the peak, but Junko had no problem with heights. She even led Yoshihiko along as he was having trouble.

“The path around the crater forms a ring and one portion of that ring is narrower than the rest. That’s the spot.”

Yoshihiko pointed at a certain spot once they were able to see the several hundred meter path circling the crater. The path was only barely wide enough for one person to pa.s.s through.

“There is a sword in the crater. Once we walk down the path inside, we will encounter the guardian monster.”

Junko nodded at Yoshihiko’s explanation.

“And we will return to the path around the crater and guide it to that narrow spot?”

“Yes. We will flee to the left. If you do not mess up there, you will be fine,” a.s.sured Yoshihiko.

And so they walked down the path into the crater.

After heading down several dozen meters, they arrived at the edge of a lake of lava.

“With all this heat, how are we supposed to enter the lava? And I do not see a sword anywhere,” said Junko as she looked at the red lava at her feet.

Yoshihiko urged her to prepare to run.

“Once the guardian monster is defeated, the lava disappears. Here it comes.”

Just as he finished speaking, the center of the lava lake swelled up as if a fountain had been turned on. That fountain of molten rock gained even more momentum and reached a height of over ten meters while sending a spray of lava everywhere.

“Something is rising up from the below the lava!”

“That is Ifrit. It’s going to chase us.”

Yoshihiko began running and Junko followed.

She looked over her shoulder and glimpsed a ten meter or greater humanoid shape within the lava. As that scorched humanoid thing walked through the lava, the lava gathered around it and blew fire everywhere.

“I know this is game, but that is a terrifying sight,” said Junko in admiration.

It was a ten-meter-plus flame Jinn. It had an amazing intensity.

Ifrit slowly approached Junko and Yoshihiko. However, its large steps meant it was quickly approaching Junko’s back even though she was running.

“Hurry,” said Yoshihiko calmly as he let Junko go on ahead. Their speed was equal to Ifrit’s while climbing the slope, but they would be able to gain a lead on Ifrit on the flat path around the crater.

Junko maintained her distance with Ifrit and entered that path. She turned ninety degrees and continued to run.

However…

“That’s the wrong way! I said to turn left!” cried Yoshihiko.

“Eh?”

Junko stopped running. She turned around to find Yoshihiko a short distance away. Also, Ifrit was moving in between the two of them.

“Oh, no!”

Junko realized she had mistaken his meaning when he said to turn to the “left”. Junko could be careless even when she appeared to do everything precisely.

And Ifrit turned toward Junko and began moving forward.

“Wah!”

Junko had no choice but to run forward.

“No, you can’t run that way. The path is too rough to run properly. It will catch up to you,” pointed out Yoshihiko from behind Ifrit, but she had no other option.

“Wh-what am I supposed to do?” asked Junko frantically.

“I will attack from behind, but Ifrit is made to continually pursue its target. You will have to fight somehow or another,” said Yoshihiko while remaining extremely calm given the situation.

“S-somehow or another?”

Junko turned around, leaped toward Ifrit as it approached, and struck it in the chest with her j.a.panese sword.

“I hit it!”

She jumped back and looked up to check the result of her attack.

“What!?”

The attack had not been enough to stop Ifrit’s advance. That giant form wrapped in lava and flames continued forward as if nothing had happened.

“It’s slow so it cannot avoid attacks very well, but it has a lot of stamina. Also…”

Before Yoshihiko could continue, Ifrit spread its arms, stuck out its chest, and roared toward the heavens. And as it roared, countless granular bulges appeared on its chest.

“What?” asked Junko in confusion.

“It can fire countless bullets as an attack. Those are difficult to avoid.”

By the time Yoshihiko said that, countless flaming stones were already raining down around Junko.

“Waaaaah!”

Junko managed to jump back and forth avoiding the falling stones, but there were simply too many of them.

“Wait…. How long…is this going to last!?”

She let out a scream.

One of the flaming stones had struck her.

She was knocked to the side, another one hit her, and she was slammed to the ground. And then the shower of flaming stones finally let up.

“Not good.”

Yoshihiko used recovery magic.

Junko immediately stood up, but the situation had not improved.

“Wh-what am I supposed to do?” she asked.

Yoshihiko responded calmly once more.

“I will continue to attack it from behind, but you will have to outlast five of those attacks before I can defeat Ifrit. Also, if you are not fully healed, being hit once will kill you. The problem is I can only use my recovery magic three more times.”

“Thanks for the a.n.a.lysis. So basically, I just need to keep dodging?”

“Exactly. But this is not an issue of your reflexes. This is a serious issue on the game side of things. If you do not have the proper stats, you will be hit by the stones no matter how quick your reflexes.”

“You mean there is nothing I can do?”

Junko began to panic.

Ifrit was already preparing to fire the flaming stones again.

“No! There is one way you can do this!” announced Yoshihiko as if to say everything would be all right.

“What is that?” asked Junko hopefully.

However…

“Take off your clothes! All of them!”

“What…?”

“Take off your clothes. Strip naked!” repeated Yoshihiko.

“Wait… Don’t you realize the situation here!?” shouted Junko.

However, Yoshihiko nodded with a serious expression.

“Take off your clothes. Please listen to me!”

“D-do you have any idea what you-…bgh!”

She was unable to say “are saying?” The next shower of flaming stones was fired. It struck Junko and she collapsed to the ground.

“You need to take off your clothes. You can’t even keep your underwear on,” said Yoshihiko as he used recovery magic.

“Wh-what kind of nonsense is this?” protested Junko as she got up after being healed.

However, she received a serious and absolutely unavoidable response.

“A ninja gains greater evasion the more clothes they remove. It triples when they’re naked!”

“Liar!” shouted Junko.

But Yoshihiko did not falter.

“I am merely saying this is more efficient. Your level is high enough that doing that will let you evade while I defeat Ifrit!”

Yoshihiko – that is, Yoshie – was the type to push aside her emotions and focus on efficiency. And in this case, she had completely forgotten that Junko saw her as a guy. She a.s.sumed Junko’s refusal to strip was due to her being extremely shy. She felt it was ridiculous to choose defeat just because you were embarra.s.sed. That was why the words Yoshihiko shouted seemed so ridiculous to Junko.

“Take off your clothes! Don’t be embarra.s.sed! No one is watching but me! And if you do find it embarra.s.sing, at least start by taking off some of your clothes! If you do that, you will be able to feel the freedom it gives you!”

“Are you from some kind of nudist colony!?” complained Junko, but a stone struck her in the head immediately afterwards. “Gah!”

“I can only heal you one more time!”

“Uuh… I just…I just have to strip, right!? At least face the other way!” shouted Junko in despair after being healed and standing up.

But her determination received an inelegant response.

“If I face the other way, I cannot attack Ifrit!”

“Then I’m only taking off one piece of clothing!”

As she complained, Junko placed a hand on her clothes and quickly removed a piece. Chainmail was revealed below.

“If you do not remove the chainmail, I won’t do anything!”

“S-stop commenting on it!”

Having gone this far, Junko used the momentum of removing that one piece to remove the chainmail as well. She now wore nothing but a sarashi on her upper body.

“Th-that’s enough, right!? Huh…?”

Junko was confused. She stopped complaining because she felt the freedom of her body suddenly rise dramatically.

“What is this…!?”

It had not tripled, but she was now able to avoid the next shower of flaming stones when she focused. She also felt like the speed of her falls had grown slower.

“That’s good. But to be sure, you should strip completely naked.”

“Enough! I could evade well enough, so this is fine!” shouted Junko.

Yoshihiko shook his head.

"But when Ifrit dies, it sends even more stones shooting down in every direction!”

And precisely that happened soon thereafter.

Ifrit’s body shrank down, but only so it could fire out even more flaming stones. Those stones rained down with such density that they seemed to fill the sky.

“You idioooootttttt!”

As she cried, Junko reached for her skirt.

And…

Ifrit vanished.

But behind where it had been, Junko was crouched down trying to cover her nudity with her hands.

“Uuh… Such humiliation.”

Yoshihiko walked over and handed her her clothes.

“Sorry about that. You did well despite being so embarra.s.sed.”

“You idiot! Do you not know how to have a bit of delicacy!?” shouted Junko as she grabbed her clothes.

Yoshihiko was shocked by this reaction and stood perfectly still.

“S-sorry. I seem to not understand some of the subtleties of people’s feelings. Um… Could you forgive me? I focused too much on acting efficiently in the game.”

Junko was confused by how much of a reaction Yoshihiko gave and how honestly he apologized. She quickly fell to resignation.

—Getting angry is not going to help. He is just that kind of person.

“N-next time, try to think about how the other person will feel.”

Junko had Yoshihiko look away and then she dressed herself.

“I really am sorry. This might also be why I got the academy caught up in all this.”

Yoshihiko spoke his regrets while facing away.

“I understand, so do not worry about it too much,” said Junko once she was fully dressed.

Yoshihiko shook his head.

“I am simply reflecting on myself. I researched the virtual alternate dimension because I was focusing on direct communication with other people, so I should be worried if I do not understand how other people feel. Or perhaps it is because I do not understand how they feel that I was researching the virtual alternate dimension. Maybe I wanted to be able to truly understand others.” Yoshihiko turned around and smiled at Junko. “Someday I will become the kind of person you can approve of. I hope we can deepen our relationship when that time comes.”

“Wha-…?”

Junko blushed and stood stock still.

—D-did he just confess to me?

“Wh-what are you saying?”

When Yoshihiko saw how confused Junko was, he shook his head regrettably.

“I still have a long way to go.”

“N-no, you… wait. What am I saying? That is not what I meant. It’s just, um…well…”

Junko grew fl.u.s.tere