Chapter 3: Sub-Character

When I came to my senses, I was already at home.
After Ninomiya-san called out to me, although I have absolutely no idea what I said in reply, in the end today I, it ended up with me playing Dragon’s Krone with Ninomiya-san and the others.
You can’t be serious. Me playing Dragon’s Krone with people I know in real life, I will be doing that…

To be completely honest…… I’d rather not have the real world encroach onto the world that I live in.
Even though it should’ve been impossible, Even though I’ve never even spoken to those cla.s.smates before…… but playing together with that Ninomiya-san…
──Isn’t that something to be happy about?

「Why do you have a giant grin on your face? It’s kinda disgusting」
「……ッ!!」

Being suddenly called out to, Ran’s body instantly froze up.
Standing in the 2nd floor hallway of his house, with short cut hair and healthy skin that was tanned by the suns rays, and wearing a sleeveless s.h.i.+rt that matched his toned body, his brother who was the polar opposite of Ran. He was Igusa[1] .

「Did something good happen to you?」
「N-No, not really」

s.h.i.+t. I was totally caught off-guard.
Ran tried to conceal his broad smile by returning his face to the usual blunt and unsociable appearance.

「Hmm~, Well I guess that’s fine. The refrigerator downstairs is out of drinks you see. Is it alright if you grab one from you’re fridge?」
「Sure. More like, it’s fine to grab some whenever you know? I always keep telling you that」
「Well~, just waltzing into the room of a growing boy is a bit awkward. Also, you’re room, there’s a bunch of things I can’t go touching, right? 」

As I insisted that the only thing in there that couldn’t be touched was machinery, Igusa was loudly chuckling as he replied.
Although Ran and Igusa were not all that close as siblings, Igusa was one of the few people in the real world that Ran could have a genuine conversation with.

「By the way, are you in good shape? With ‘That’ I mean」
「’That’?」
「You know, That」

Taking out a water bottle from the double-door refrigerator, Igusa pointed at the VR Console UnChain that took up the majority of Ran’s room.

「Well, good enough that I won’t get dropped by my sponsor」
「That so. Even though you’re quite a big source of income for this family, don’t get too wrapped up in it okay?」

The financial support coming from DICE, as Ran was still under-aged, it was being deposited into his parent’s bank account.
Of course, unlike the usual parents who「Hang on to the New Year’s money you get from relatives」, the money was used to pay for the maintenance cost of the UnChain console and other things related to Dragon’s Krone. In addition it was used on a PC used for editing videos and updating his blog, books and magazines used for to take a breather, and purchasing movies and anime. Ran was allowed to use it on anything he wanted.
But even still, the financial support from DICE was enough to pay for the Edogawa family’s morgage three times over and they would still be left with a surplus. It was a true fact that Ran played a large role in his family’s finances.

「Aniki, are you interested in trying it too? You already found a job, so I’m sure you have plenty of free time」
「Me? Nah, no way. I suck at games after all. I’m more of the type who likes to move my body around」

Aniki’s hobbies included surfing, s...o...b..arding, and road biking.
Earlier he even said that he joined a futsal team[2].

「I, I won’t force on you or anything, but if you want to then let me know」
「If I want to huh…… You, will you buy another one? One of these」
「If Aniki really wants to」
「Nah~, if I caused so much trouble for my little bro then I won’t be able to hold face. Let’s keep things as they are, the only think I need from you would be these drinks」

With a smile, Igusa said “Thanks for the drink~” and he left Ran’s room.
Responding with “You’re welcome,” Ran watched his back while feeling somewhat envious.
Ran, himself, would never go out of his way to invite someone else to play Dragon’s Krone with him, but Igusa was different.
Different from the indoors (or rather, the shut-in) Ran, Igusa had a preference for the outdoors. Maybe he was just good at being considerate, but rather than considering Ran as 「The little brother who’s a popular livestreamer sponsored by a company」and boasting to others about it, and rather than looking at him with scorn and disgust, Igusa treated Ran just like an ordinary little brother. At the very least, this made Ran’s heart feel at ease whenever he was with Igusa.

「……Well, enough of that」

Ran remembered that he was currently at his wits end trying to deal with things. There was no time to worry about Igusa.

Would you, like to play Dragon’s Krone together with us──

Once again recalling Suzu’s soft voice, a myriad of wild delusions began to run rampant in Ran’s mind.
Although there were the names of 2 troublesome male students, and another female student joining them, Ran would be meeting Ninomiya-san in the world of Dragon’s Krone.
If it was just Andou and Yamabuki then there was no way this would ever happen.
But, the person who asked me was not them, it was Ninomiya-san.
That would mean, Ninomiya-san doesn’t view me as the「The disgusting cla.s.smate who should be ignored」but instead as the「Well, it wouldn’t seem like any harm so why not play the game together」, she sees me as that level of a cla.s.smate.

「……Yeah, it must be something like that」

As his delusions continued to spring forth, Ran’s expression grew looser.
But, if Ninomiya-san seems me as a cla.s.smate on the level of 「It should be fine to play the game together」…… Then did she really have to go and invite me, a man, by herself?
No, if I were Ninomiya-san then there’s no way I would invite me.
If she personally invited me, then that means「I, I always wanted to talk with Edogawa-kun」Doesn’t that mean that I’m on that level of cla.s.smate?

「This is, perhaps…… Does this mean that I’m close to my debut as a Riajuu[3]?」

Being pulled left and right by his wild delusion, Ran made great strides to finally arrive at a common ground.
And so, suddenly filled with enthusiasm, Ran hopped out of bed and, like a pilot scrambling into the c.o.c.kpit, he slid right into the chair that housed UnChain.
It was as if he had just entered DEFCON 1.
The time that Ninomiya-san had set for them all to meet was in One Hour. The rendezvous destination would be in the beginning town「Crescendo」. Yesterday Ran logged out in his Home House, so he had to hurry up and Fast Travel there──

「……Aa」

Lowering the hood of the reclining chair, as he was about to boot up UnChain, Ran brought his hands to a stop.

「Wait, my Character, what should I do about that」

In order to play Dragon’s Krone with Ninomiya-san (and her other friends who were just hindrances) obviously an in-game avatar was necessary. My Avatar, I only have Aran to choose from.
For a second, Ran thought of logging in as Aran, but he quickly dismissed the idea.
If they found out that I was Aran then things will end up getting troublesome. It would probably be fine for Ninomiya-san, but if the others found out then they would most likely try to demand many things from me.
If they were only people that he met online then he might be able to manage something, but since they were cla.s.smates that he would see everyday at school, it probably won’t be possible to run away from them.

……What a troublesome bunch.
If it’s only clearing the Grand Mission, then just I should be enough to accompany Ninomiya-san.

「Can’t be helped. I guess I should make a new character huh. Well, it’s in order to find out why Ninomiya-san invited me on the Grand Mission after all, and it would be best to have a character that’s close to their level……」

Thus, as he was saying those words to himself, Ran once again stopped his hands.
And then, the mult.i.tude of delusions in Ran’s mind were suddenly blown out of the water.

The reason why I was asked to partic.i.p.ate in the Grand Mission──
That’s right. The reason why Ninomiya-san called out to me, it was in order to gather the minimum amount of members necessary to partic.i.p.ate in the Grand Mission. As it were, I was only there to balance out the numbers.
In other words, after we finish the Grand Mission, Me and Ninomiya-san will no longer be「People who play Dragon’s Krone together」but instead we will return to being「just cla.s.smates」.

What the h.e.l.l…
Rather than「I want to talk with Edogawa-kun」 it was more like「In order to partic.i.p.ate in the Grand Mission, I’ll put up with having to deal with the gross Edogawa-kun」, doesn’t that make me the lowest of the low?

「……Haaa…… Now I really don’t want to go」

Abruptly losing all of his motivation, Ran breathed a heavy sigh.
Maybe he should just ignore the others, Ran was thinking of logging in as Aran and taking a nice stroll around.
All the better if Sonya was there for him, doing her best to cheer him on.
As if finally resolving himself, Ran pushed the switch and powered on UnChain.

『Welcome, To a World Not Bound By Limits』

Along with an announcement, Ran’s consciousness slowly began to fade.
An optical hallucination as if his body was slowly sinking into the ground.
In the distance, a light from somewhere was flickering.
This was something that he had experienced a countless number of times, The entrance to the world of virtual reality.

『ID and Pa.s.sword confirmed. Welcome back, Edogawa-sama. Activating the application “Dragon’s Krone”』

With a flash, he felt the sensation of pa.s.sing through a tunnel.
At the same time, he body was suspended in the heavenly sky. His body took the full brunt of the wind, the sweet scent of the trees and the Earth reached his senses.

『Please Select Your Character』

Reflected in front of Ran was Aran, the avatar that logged out of his Home House last night.
However, Ran just stood there silently without confirming his「Decision」.
At that time, He was recalling the dazzling smile of Suzu who earnestly looked at him back in the cla.s.sroom.
Even if it was just to balance out the numbers, Ninomiya-san…… That Ninomiya-san, she was counting on me──

「…… f.u.c.k it. I’ve decided」

A light sensation came from Ran’s body, and he flew far off into the distance to a certain city.
What came into his view was not the sight of his Home House, but the city that all new players visit upon their arrival, the city of「Crescendo」──

『Creating a New Character』

Reflected in front of Ran’s eyes, was the nostalgic sight of the character creation screen.

Dragon’s Krone more or less had an overarching story. By clearing the quests given to you, it was possible to pursue down the storyline.
After being attacked by the Dragons, many countries suffered great losses. The rulers of those countries called out to the Players, called out to The 「Dragon Hunters」, and they requested that the Dragons be subjugated. The story went something like that.

『In order to live in the world of Dragon’s Krone, an Avatar will be created. After it is created, changes cannot be made so be careful in your decision』

After being politely guided by a female voice, an inorganic surface appeared, and standing on top of it the figure of an Avatar.
This was the “Me” in this virtual world.
Presently, the figure was displaying the default settings, but it was possible to change and customize the Avatar to anyway you see fit.
The hairstyle, down to the color of the hair, to the eyes and mouth, shape of the nose, the overall silhouette and even the placement of the cheekbones. It was possible to modify and change a large variety of characteristics.
However, Ran did not tamper with those settings at all.

「Load an image of my body from a 3D Scan」
『Command Confirmed. Activating the UnChain Scanner. Please wait one moment』

And so, after a short time had pa.s.sed, a bubble of light enveloped the Avatar and changed it’s shape.
It was as if a replica of the real world Ran had appeared, it was a somewhat plain Avatar that didn’t stand out much.
I’ll end up immediately deleting it later, so it should be fine as it is.

『Is the current setting all right?』
「Okay」
『……The settings for your Avatar has been established. Please Enter Your Name』

Being asked the next question by the announcer, Ran stopped for a while to think.
It might be fine to just go with「Ran」, but that is a bit too similar to Aran, so I’ll pa.s.s on something so direct like that.
As such, I’ll also pa.s.s on the name「Edogawa」.
Edogawa……edogawa……edoga……

「……In Katakana, the name『Edgar』」
『”Edgar”. Understood…… It is possible to create that name. Is this name all right?』

It was the same way with Aran, but quite honestly I have zero naming sense.[4]
Letting out a small sigh, it was now impossible to separate the real world Ran from his virtual reality self.

「Okay」
『Your Avatar has been created. Lastly, Please choose your Cla.s.s』

Surrounding Ran in a circle were a number of small avatars who looked similar to his own.
All of them were clothed in extravagant equipment that were exclusive to each Character──
In terms of Character Creating, this was the most important setting: Selecting a Cla.s.s.

From the orthodox attack cla.s.ses there was the「Fighter」, and the cla.s.s that specializing in mid-to-long distance attacks「Wizard」. The occupation which provided healing「Cleric」, and the cla.s.s that could call forth many spirits「Summoner」──
The various avatars were swirling around Ran, but without hesitation he stopped the rotation on a single cla.s.s.

The Cla.s.s:「Samurai」──
It was the same cla.s.s as his main character Aran; a cla.s.s that focused on dealing ma.s.sive amounts of burst damage by using powerful attacks.

In Dragon’s Krone, unlike your average RPG game, it was an MMO that had a high amount of fast paced action.
Especially during a battle, you weren’t able to casually open up your menu, and without any signal such as「It is Now Your Turn」, the situations were always changing in real-time.
Rather than your normal action RPG[5] that only gave you an instant to make a decision, Dragon’s Krone was closer to a Fighting Game, but because of that it allowed for the fostering of individual technique. Of course this also applied to battles against Mobs, but this meant that even if your character level was low it was possible to compete against other individuals as long as you made use of higher level techniques.
Since this Avatar was fated to be deleted on completion of the Grand Mission, Ran figured that it would be best to choose the same cla.s.s as his main character in order to make full use of his knowledge and practical skills.

『Settings Complete. Now then, Let us journey to the world of “Dragon’s Krone”』

Again, with a light sensation, Ran’s body was a.s.saulted with the feeling of being suspended. Ran’s vision narrowed, and as if he was being sucked inside, he flew into the Avatar in front of him.
For a while, all was dark.
And then, he felt as chill as if he was plummeting from above.

『Welcome to Dragon’s Krone』

Along with the heavy sensation of his feet hitting the ground, Ran’s Avatar「Edgar」now stood in the familiar world of Dragon’s Krone.