A Sense of Reality
Translated by LyraDhani
Edited by LyraDhani
Silent hit the ground with a bang and sounded like he was about to cry.
“Hu… Master… what is the problem with me…”
Aside from Nanashino, I did not expect to be stopped from Risemara by my follower.
After all, it should be said that games and the real world are different. Even if there is no tutorial, if I get stopped like this every time, it would be a hassle to do a Risemara.
I sighed and decided to let Silent persuade me after all.
Even if I can’t get any more special magic stones, if this world is AbiCall, they will be a number of summoning opportunities.
The odds may be low, but it’s just a matter of making more attempts.
I clicked my tongue loudly, looked down at Silent, and said as if to spit out.
“It can’t be helped, let’s compromise with Silent for now.”
“Egh… Th…thank you very much…”
“Don’t tell me, Blogger-san is…actually crazy?”
Indeed, to Nanashino, who has never even heard of the word Risemara, those who go to the trouble of deleting their accounts and risk their lives for rare characters may seem crazy. A cultural difference…is it?
The first magic stone you can get is five. I have no use for the Ruins anymore. To begin with, you can summon your followers anywhere as long as you have a magic stone.
Speaking of which, there’s no summoning effect… If it were the game, it would have the effect of making the player look like a fool for flipping over the trash can. I guess there are some differences.
Nanashino, with a tense expression on her face, followed me as I left the ruins. And Silent, who looked completely exhausted, followed behind me at a slow pace. Where is his pompous tone from earlier? He doesn’t look like an Underworld species at all.
There are seven different species of followers that can be summoned by the Abyss Calling.
Underworld
Heavenly
Seedless
Dragon
Beast
Spirit
Heterogenous
The seven races are said to correspond to the seven moons in the sky. The seven pillars that remain in the [Ruins of the Beginning] are also said to be related to this, but I don’t know the details. Basically, I skipped the story in the game.
However, the Underworld is famous among the seven races for its superior attack power and excellent abilities. It is a race that can be handled from the beginning to the end of the game. The graphics are also quite cute and cool, and from that point of view, the silhouette-like Silent is a bit of a letdown.
Nanashino stood next to me, looking a little sick. With agile movements, Iris’s Single Cavalry was walking at his feet.
“Um…What should we do now?”
“I’m heading to the town. Just like in the game.”
There are several cities in AbyCall, but the city that the players visit first is called [Ancient Profondeum].
The Caller Guild, which provides job placement services for callers, and other major facilities are located there, and in the game, players are required to do a tutorial there before making their first summons. The city can be a hometown from the beginning to the middle of the game.
If you follow the road leading from the [Ruins of the Beginning], you will reach [Ancient Profondeum]. There is only one road, so there is no need to worry about getting lost.
Together, two people and two units headed for the city from the [Ruins of the Beginning] in a group.
The sky was dark, but with the seven moons still rising, the visibility was secured.
As we were walking, Nanashino suddenly asked me.
“By the way…Silent? He can speak. But my Ai-chan can’t.”
So, you already give him a name…Even so, calling him Ai-chan, she really has no sense of naming things.
Even in games, you can give nicknames to your characters. I didn’t because it was too much trouble, but for now, Silent should remain Silent. It’s too much trouble.
“Well… Of course, little girl! Who do you think I am!”
Hearing those words, Silent shouted in exasperation. His shadowy body swelled up like a balloon.
Nanashino was startled and took my arm, using me as a shield. Don’t fight with someone else’s follower.
“Well, there are some unique events for the rare followers…”
Basically, a follower is just a unit, but there are events that only occur when you have specific followers, and there are some conversational descriptions there. AbyCall is a game with a lot of attention to detail. It even comes with voices.
Well, the conversation is only in the event, and usually, you cannot have a conversation, but it is different in reality.
I hit the swelled-up Silent and turned my attention to Nanashino’s follower.
“Iris’s Single Cavalry will be able to talk too…but he has to evolve first.”
“Is-is that true?!”
Nanashino’s eyes lightened up. …Do you want him to talk?
By the way, as Iris’s single horseman evolves, his body gets bigger and bigger, eventually becoming as big as a normal human being. Only when they get to that point do they reveal the setting that you don’t want to know about the character of Iris’s Single Cavalry.
I wondered whether I should tell her that much, but it was too much trouble, so I decided not to.
Ancient Profondeum is the oldest and the most open city in the Abyss Calling.
The entire spacious city is surrounded by walls, with four huge gates on all sides. Although there are gates, there is very little screening. Nanashino and I were able to enter the city by simply answering a few simple questions.
Nanashino gave a short cheer when she saw the streets.
“Whoa…Somehow, it’s different from what I expected.”
The worldview of Abyss Calling is fantasy, but it is not a typical medieval world.
Even if it is the oldest city, it does not mean that the streets are old-fashioned.
If I had to describe the city Ancient Profondeum which is the oldest city in the world, with a vocabulary that I lack, I would describe it as a modern European-style cityscape.
Of course, I have never been to Europe because I have never been out of Japan, so this is just an image, but the streets are clean and the roads are paved with industrial products.
What is different from reality is that in addition to electricity, energy called magic power is also used. And there are fantastic plants and animals that are the purveyors of fantasy.
Although not everything that exists in the modern world has been completely recreated, I don’t feel much different about the townscape.
There are no cars on the streets, but instead, carriages pulled by strange four-legged creatures come and go frequently. I don’t know the name of the strange creature. It’s not a follower. I didn’t see its name in the game either. What is that thing?
Anyway, it was a common rumor among AbyCall players that the reason why the city doesn’t look like an ancient city at all is because the management was too lazy to set up the historical background. Maybe they didn’t care about the worldview or something. …I don’t care either.
“Well, I heard that in medieval Europe there were feces all over the roads, but it would be a problem if it was described as such.”
“Ngh?! Blogger-san, don’t you have delicacy?”
Checking the map that was given to me when I entered the town, I immediately headed to the Caller Guild.
Caller Guild.
It is an organization that arranges jobs for callers. Players will be the first to belong to it in Abyss Calling.
In addition to job placement, the Caller Guild can buy and sell followers’ items, mediate between masters and apprentices, gather information, and occasionally hold events. In the first place, it is said that one must join the Caller Guild to be recognized as a caller in the eyes of the public.
This would be a good place for me to go, as I am not yet familiar with this world, even though I am familiar with the Abyss Calling.
Thanks to the street lamps, my footsteps were certain. We soon arrived at the Caller Guild.
The Caller Guild is not a very large building.
It’s still much larger than a private home, but it looks smaller than it is because it’s sandwiched between the Mage Guild and the Warrior Guild, which are so huge that you can look up at them.
In the world of AbyCall, the caller is a rare profession compared to mages and warriors.
Since AbyCall is a game in which you become a caller, wizards and warriors only occasionally appear as one of the enemy or friendly units, but when you look at the buildings in real life, you can clearly see the difference in scale.
It was still nighttime, but there were not a few pedestrians in front of the guild. People in fantastic armor and robes were going in and out of the guilds on both sides.
“Whoa…Whoa…”
Come to think of it, where do we stay… I thought about it while Nanashino was gawking at the sight.
It’s not specifically mentioned in the game. I’m getting hungry and I have no money. No real money, no game money.
Do I have to manage those troublesome aspects of reality by myself?
What a hassle. I am not very good at such proactive actions.
As I was making a difficult expression, a shadow that was flickering at my feet spoke to me in an arrogant manner.
“Don’t worry, my Master. As long as I am here, the Master has no enemies.”
“…I guess so.”
I swallowed the words, ‘well, then, you’d better find an inn, make some money, feed me, and bring me a magic stone.’
It would be pointless to tell Silent, and I was not one to do anything meaningless. Of course, it would be pointless to tell Nanashino.
Anyway, I made a proposal to Silent, who was full of motivation.
“Silent, you’re in the way, so get on my head. Can you get smaller?”
“…It’s easy.”
Silent’s body shimmered, changing from half my height to the size of a mouse. With a big jump, he landed on my head.
As I had expected, Silent felt almost weightless. He’s a shadow, so it’s natural, but at this size, he wouldn’t stand out.
Taking a small breath, I opened the large door to the Caller Guild entrance by pressing my body against it.
“Caller Guild welcomes two new members.”
The Caller Guild is open 24 hours a day. We were able to register without any problems.
Apparently, there was no need to pay anything (not even in-game), and I was able to register my name with the guild without any difficulty. However, this is only possible because we already had a follower with us, and apparently, only callers can register to the Caller Guild, but that’s not important.
Nanashino, with a big smile on her face, wore a pendant around her neck with a seven-pointed star on it, a sign of a caller. The seven colors glittered on her moderately heaving chest.
Female callers are probably rare, and when they are beautiful girls, their rarity value must be even higher. The men callers gathered a short distance away from the scene, casting glancing glances at each other.
I don’t know if it’s because she’s Japanese, or if she’s always been that way, or if it’s because of her upbringing, but even to my not-so-savvy eye, Nanashino’s appearance seems defenseless.
You can do whatever you want, just don’t bring trouble to me.
Nanashino, who was already looking completely flirtatious from the outside, asked me in a casual tone.
“Hey, Blogger-san. What about today’s lodging?”
“I think I’d like to sell Nanashino out and use the money to stay at a luxury hotel.”
“…Again.”
Perhaps sensing the seriousness of my words, Nanashino became a little dejected.
Therefore, I asked her about what I was thinking for a while.
“Hey, Nanashino. I was wondering if we could survive without food. What do you think?”
“…Eh? Normally, we will die…”
A cute sound came from Nanashino’s belly with a well-timed squeak, and vermilion appeared on her cheeks.
As expected… You think we’re going to die…
“No, it’s not that I don’t have any common sense or anything, it’s just that in the game there is no such thing as eating.”
You don’t think you’ll die without eating, right? I mean, in the game, the followers die, but the players don’t.
Nanashino kept her voice down and said dismissively.
“…I, for one, don’t think Blogger-san has enough common sense. Aren’t you hungry?”
“I am, but I think it’s just my imagination.”
“…There’s no way that’s possible.”
“From the sound of Nanashino’s stomach, it doesn’t seem like that.”
“That!!”
Now, however, if that’s the case, I’m in trouble.
There are two main ways to get in-game money in AbyCall.
Receive a request in the guild, achieve it, and get a reward.
Defeat a demon and sell its drop. If you play the game properly, you will end up with a huge surplus of money, so I was never worried about it, but it is a hassle if I have to eat.
It was still nighttime.
I didn’t feel tired because of the tension, but I needed to rest because I had to think about the future and there were many things I had to do.
Suddenly, my gaze turned toward the bar attached to the guild. It was night, but there were a number of drunken callers there.
Most of them were men. I came up with a nice idea for the NPCs who seemed to be uselessly free.
“Nanashino.”
“…Yes?
“Why don’t you to that bar over there, hang out with the guys, and ask them for some money?”
I thought I could get by with a glass of wine or light touch and a little coaxing.
Nanashino looked blank for a moment at my words, but then her face immediately turned bright red. It was not embarrassment, but anger.
“Hah? Blogger-san, do you even know what you are saying right now?!”
“You don’t like it? Don’t you want to?”
“That…”
Biting her lip, Nanashino shook with anger. Iris’s Single Cavalry drew his sword and pointed it at us.
“Rather than not wanting to do it…Why should I do that–“
“No, you’re just following me around, you don’t seem to know anything, and you’re not being very helpful, so I thought I’d help you out a little bit.”
At this rate, it would be a long time before Nanashino became useful.
But well, certainly, I don’t have delicacy. I guess I shouldn’t have said that to a girl of her age. …I’ll be careful.
I lightly tapped Nanashino’s shoulder, who was no longer looking at me even with murderous intent.
“Whatever, it’s fine. I’m going to go make some money, so, Nanashino, you can rest around here for a bit. You must be tired.”
“…That, ah, yes.”
Still unable to contain her anger, Nanashino replied bluntly.
Let’s go outside for now. And let’s walk in the dark where there are few people. It was too much trouble to go out of the city now, but from what I’d seen, there were some ruffians.
Let’s get Silent to be useful as soon as possible.