Volume 6, Chapter 5 – Chiaki Hoshinomori and Broken Multiplayer, Part 1 of 3

Volume 6, Chapter 5 – Chiaki Hoshinomori and Broken Multiplayer, Part 1 of 3

Translator: your_pingas

A morning in the middle of October, where the red leaves can be seen everywhere in the mountains of the northern region.

After I covered my lips with the scarf that I’m not used to wearing because it stings my skin, I’m still waiting for the bus to the school alone while sighing as usual.

“…It suddenly got cold.”

The September that still reminded me of summer is already a distant memory…Usually, this season should be called autumn. However, to a person like me, Chiaki Hoshinomori, who can’t withstand hot or cold, as long as the temperature outside is making me cold, it already counts as a full winter.

“By the way, what’s with the indefinite period of autumn and spring, it’s literally testing whether an awkward loner like me with stand out from the crowd. I hate it.”

The same can be said for the fluffy scarf that I covered my chin in, nobody knows how long did I observe the surroundings and how determined I am to wear it. My little sister Konoha even said this.

“Uh, does wearing a scarf or not matter that much? Just wear whatever you want…”

She’s always despising her sister with a dumbfounded look. Seriously, this is weird. That’s why I’m really anxious around hardcore normies. To a coward like me, my “clothes” will always be prioritized over everything else.

“Will it be weird compared to others?”

Also, I choose what I wear based on a standard like this, things like cold resistance will always be considered later.

I can’t help but exhale forcefully and clench my fists.

“From this perspective, I’m the girl that’s paying the most attention to her outfits!”

…………

While it’s fine to look, but I realized that things are definitely not going this way, so my face flared up. I coughed to clear my throat. During this time, I can feel the vibration of my phone in the pocket. I wanted to know what’s going on, and then I realized it’s a notification of the mobile game that I didn’t touch on for a while.

At one point, I raised my head to confirm that the bus isn’t coming for a while before opening the game. First, I took the login rewards and checked my progress. After all that…

“Ah…”

…I found out there’s a message sent to my account.

“Is it some kind of compensation from the system maintenance a while ago?”

My mood was slightly uplifted due to the free spin, so I opened the inbox. At that moment, the text that came into view is…

<Sender: Tsucchi>

“!”

The appeared text freaked me out. I can’t help but raise my face and look around meaninglessly…Then-

“Ah…”

Coincidentally, the bus slowed down and stopped at the station I’m waiting. Although I was a bit restless, I still went onto it and walked along the empty carriage the same as usual. Then, I sat down at the double seat at the front that I treated as my own personal space.

“Phew…”

When the bus started, I put my bag to the side and took off my scarf and let out a sigh in relief.

The plain and boring scenery slowly passed by the window. I can hear the engine of the bus and the chitchatting behind from time to time.

I’m still holding my phone with my right hand and looked outside the window dazedly…Basically, it’s hard for me to say that I like going out or going to school alone. However, I really love the 15 minutes that I’m taking the bus to the school leisurely in the morning. This is slightly different than the “leisurely alone” time in my room. Also, the time when I’m taking the bus ranks no.2 in where my creativity runs high. No.1 is when I’m washing my hair in the bathroom. Recently, I’m taking good care of my hair because a certain bean sprout midget has been taunting me as a seaweed head. That’s why I’m getting exceptionally creative….Ah, it’s not like I care.

“…By the way, why would he send an in-game message to me in times like this…”

I adjusted my breathing and looked at the screen again. It’s still showing the message with Tsucchi as the sender. It seems like my eyes are working correctly.

“The body is…An Invitation to Checkpoint Tours? …What does checkpoint mean…Ah!”

I almost tilted my head for a second, but I immediately realized what that word means.

“Right, this game, GOM, added something new in the last update.”

I mumbled as I closed the inbox, and then I checked the help screen of that system.

“Mm-hmm, …ah, right, the one that uses your real-time location to play.”

Honestly, this is just something ripped off from Ingress and Pokemon Go. By using the GPS on your phone and arriving at specific locations in real life, you can acquire items or characters.

In reality, this never impressed an indoor loner like me, so I used to ignore it entirely.

After I understood what it was about, I returned to the inbox again and checked the message.

<Sorry for the sudden message. Are you still playing GOM? If you do, do you want to play that new checkpoint quest with me? I’m fine as long as you’re free.>

“…W-W-What!”

I almost dropped my phone. Since the bus is pretty quiet, someone is glancing at me at the side. So, I apologized and held my phone tight with both of my hands. My sight browsed through the screen a couple times.

“T-T-This means that K-Keita is inviting me to go out and play with him, …right?”

I’m mumbling with a voice that only I can hear, …and my heart is pounding so fast. The last time that I’m this nervous was already the first day that I’m walking in Otobuki High School.

Although I kept shivering, and my face is flaring up…I immediately made up my mind and first expressed my willingness to go to the boy. So, I replied as quick as possible.

<Of course, I’m going!>

I pressed the send button, and my breathing went rough…It’s actually rare for me to accept an invitation like this without any hesitation. Usually, I would overthink it until my stomach is starting hurt, and then I’ll reject it politely.

However….

(W-While I’m unwilling to admit this, but stuff like this would happen! I became way too excited and forgot about everything, not to mention all the complicated questions that are surrounding me. This immediately became the first priority in my heart! It’s literally like the release day of a game!)

I held my phone with both of my hands and can’t wait to see his reply, and I can’t even stop my legs from kicking in excitement.

(…I-I can’t deal with that fanatic gamer Keita. He already has Tendou-san as his girlfriend, yet he’s immediately going crazy once it’s related to gaming. Going so far to even invite me first, j-jeez…)

Going on a tour while playing the game that both of us like with Keita warmly…Oh my god, how should I put this, even though I’m unwilling to say this, …but I’m really looking forward to it! This hurts my brain! What’s wrong with me! Is it even alright for something this blessing to suddenly happen to me! Things won’t be balanced if there aren’t any terrible traps waiting for me-

“Hiya, there’s a reply!”

-There’s a new message in the inbox. Keita’s definitely texting me on a bus to school, right…U-Uwah, what is this? Texting each other in the morning, i-it’s like…we’re a pair of sweet couples!

I opened the message delightedly and confirmed its content with a blessed heart.

<That’s great! Then we’ll figure out a time where we’re both free, let’s head out as soon as possible! I’m looking forward to it!>

“I’m the one that’s looking forward to it!”

I can’t help but salute my phone. Then, I wanted to tell him that I have an empty schedule- During this time, I suddenly found out that’s not the end of Keita’s message. It looks like the screen can’t show the entire thing due to the limited spacing.

I scrolled down the screen while humming a song since I’m in an excellent mood, then I realized-

<-I’m looking forward to it! Konoha-san!>

“…Ah!”

-Then, I realized I’ve already fallen into a terrible trap.

*

“Are you an idiot!?”

Uehara-kun looked at the scenery outside the window from the stairs that are headed towards the roof. Then he sighed at me, completely dumbfounded.

As for me, I sat on the stairs two steps from the platform and grabbed my phone with both hands before speaking up with watery eyes.

“W-What should I do, Uehara-kun?”

“I can’t believe you’re asking me…”

Uehara-kun, who’s putting his right elbow on the edge of the window, answered lazily.

“Well, I do admire the fact that you’re willing to trust me and view me as a friend, even going so far to provide all the online interactions you’ve done.”

“Y-Yes. I do think that all of these are quite shocking to you…”

“Nope, it’s not that at all. You’re just nagging over the intelligence that I gathered a long time ago once more.”

“How…how did you know everything beforehand! Don’t tell me…you’re actually…”

Don’t tell me Uehara-kun has been stalking me! I trembled as Uehara-kun scratched his head like it’s nothing and continued.

“By the way, how’re you going to face Amano now? Don’t you view him as your rival?”

“W-Well…”

I lowered my head awkwardly. Then, Uehara-kun sighed at me.

“Sigh, you can keep that part to your own. I already figured things out on my own.”

“I-I’m convinced.”

I lowered my head and glanced at Uehara-kun’s slightly melancholic face.

“But, didn’t Uehara-kun say that he loves me…?”

So, his confession earlier was really just a joke, right? Well, I guess so, …but, …hmm…

Just as I’m pondering, Uehara-kun continued.

“Usually, why don’t you just say that ‘I’m still busy’ and reject him?”

“I-I can’t say that. I already said that I’m joining at the beginning, and the date is already in the ‘a time that both of us figured out that we’re convenient’ phase. Right now, I’m afraid that I can never come up with a good reason to reject him and say we can’t go together…”

“Ah, …you’re already replied that you wanted to go.”

“I-I’m sorry…”

I turned depressed. Then, Uehara-kun scratched his head and acted like this is a troublesome task, …but he’s still racking his brain for me.

“Indeed, it’ll be weird if you rejected it at this stage. How about…right, why don’t you ask Amano’s plan before saying no. Just say ‘oh I’m busy at that time, how regretful, we’ll see if we’re lucky enough next time’ and things will work out fine…”

“Well, basically, Keita is ‘always’ free.”

“That guy doesn’t have that many friends, after all!”

“Also, the regretful thing is, I’m even freer than him!”

“You two should just go and be a pair of couple, I beg you! Both of you are loners, you two need to stay together and be blessed!”

Uehara-kun is somehow screaming at me with tears in his eyes…I’m baffled by his recent actions. It seems that he already forgot about his confession to me completely, right? Although this might just look like I’m finding an excuse again, it’s not like I can bring this up when Uehara-kun is giving me this attitude…

In the end, I feel like we’re back to square one…While I’m not sure whether I can say that, but Uehara-kun and I were back to each other’s “discussing partners” once more. Thank god…Hmm…

I decided to reaffirm who should take the most responsibility here and change this stagnating mood.

“Jeez, GOM is really good at adding unnecessary functions!”

“There’s a limit for pushing away responsibilities, right! Also, I didn’t know that GOM is the name of the mobile game you two are playing…I’ve never heard it before.”

“Ah, right, this is an abbreviation. The correct name should be Gate of Mars.”

“Oh, I think I’ve seen that on an ad. But I think the abbreviation makes the game less dull, what was that called…Ah, right, it’s called Gamar-“

“Nope, you have to call it GOM.”

Uehara-kun blinked his eyes in shock from my firm stance. I let out a ‘hmph’ before continuing.

“You know, I really hate this kind of abbreviation. The company is obviously just trying to attract new customers’ attention with it.”

“Hoshinomori, it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen such an annoying side of you!”

“I-It’s not just me! All the veterans must belong in the GOM faction. It has always been like this since the release of the game. Right, why don’t you ask Keita and see what he’ll say! I bet that he’ll be just as pissed as I do when you’re using a weak abbreviation like that! He’ll fight until his last breath!”

“What kind of baffling trustworthiness is this. I really don’t understand the feelings between you two. Jeez…”

After Uehara-kun mumbled dumbfoundedly, suddenly, he seems to have thought of something and looked at me.

“This is simply a question. Will weird gamers like you call Dragon Quest as DQ?”

I smiled smugly at his question.

“R-Really. So, you two won’t let that weird temper out often-“

“As for FF, our attitude is, of course, hoping that it could explicitly use the vintage name Space Warrior. However, basically, there’re absolutely no issues to just call it FF.” [Note: In Taiwan/Hong Kong, the old translation of Final Fantasy is called Space Warrior during the 80s.]

“Can you really ‘of course’ that? It’s not right. I think that part definitely varies from person to person!”

“Nope, at least my opinion is completely identical to that of Keita’s.”

“You two can really go marry each other!”

Uehara-kun is yelling at me based on his mysterious judgment. While it’s good for me to know that he’s actively supporting the relationship between Keita and me for some reason, but sometimes he’ll complain. “You two should marry each other!” I was baffled by this. I guess Keita’s the same as well.

Uehara-kun looked outside of the window and brought us back to the topic of discussion.

“Sigh, if we’re thinking about this normally, you can just hand your phone to Konoha-san and let her go for you. Case closed.”

“Yeah. But if I did that, …there’s still a big problem that can’t be ignored.”

“There’s a problem? Ah, like Konoha-san unable to keep the secret?”

“While that’s more or less true, …but there’s a bigger issue.”

“A-A more significant issue? Eh? What’s so serious to the point of making you say that?”

Uehara-kun turned to me with a confused look. To that, I nodded and answered gravely.

“I want to go out happily with Keita as well!”

“You’re really in love with Amano!”

I can’t blush after Uehara-kun yelled at me.

“I-It’s not like that! It’s not because I have any feelings for Keita! Uh, well, …this is just a great activity that represents the accumulation of feelings between Mono and Tsucchi! I feel like it’s too much if I’m giving it to my little sister…”

Uehara-kun is already giving me the billionth dumbfounded look of today and answered.

“The root of the issue is you randomly making up a lie. It’s harder to find a case that exemplifies the term ‘you get what you deserve’ even more than this.”

“Ugh…! W-While that’s true, but!”

“Hmm, I get what you’re trying to say. How about, …right, why don’t you just say ‘hey I’m just coming with my little sister’ and just chill in the event?”

“M-My dignity doesn’t allow me to be treated as ‘third wheel’ like that!”

“I can’t believe you’re still mentioning ‘dignity’ in times like this!”

“It’s because if I’m participating with that excuse. I feel like Keita will definitely be baffled by this. ‘W-Why is the seaweed head coming as well? Then, my sister will glare at me and say, ‘Onee-chan is surely annoying…’ That would ruin my whole holiday.”

“Indeed, it’ll be terrible. Even so, it’s not like you don’t deserve it. Hmm, …eh? …Come to think of it, the big premise is, will Amano go alone?”

“Eh?”

I let out a weird noise at Uehara-kun’s question. He continued.

“Uh, usually, will Amano invite Konoha-san to go out on his own? Now that I’m thinking, that guy is very loyal to his girlfriend.”

“I…I guess that’s true when you’re putting it that way. He’s not a crappy player like you…”

“Don’t just hurt someone who’s trying to figure this out with you. That’s scary.”

“But, in reality, Keita becomes a different person when it comes to gaming. While I’m not entirely sure about this, but perhaps he didn’t notice that this is something between a boy and a girl. He just invites Mono…Konoha, because he’s excited.”

“Right, …this is entirely possible…Hmm…”

Uehara-kun is started to get frustrated again. During this time, the bell that signals the morning assembly will begin in 5 minutes rang across the school.

I stood up from the stairs. Then, Uehara-kun said “anyways” and brought up the conclusion.

“I’ll try to get Amano to say something about this after school without a trace. You can decide what you should do after that, right.”

“Ah, sure, sorry about that. While it’s quite troublesome, but I can only rely on you.”

I lowered my head and greeted Uehara-kun. So, he patted my head and continued with a bright and sincere smile.

“I got you covered. After all, I already decided that I’ll support you more than anyone.”

“………….”

Suddenly, I can feel a tinge of pain in my chest.

I chased after Uehara-kun as I wiped the sweat off my forehead.

(…Did I…did I…just do something very cruel to a guy that’s seeming attracted to me…)

Although this idea popped out in my head, it was overwhelmed by a train of emotions flooding in my heart.

First of all, I’m thinking of myself too lowly, which caused me to feel confused with my feelings towards Uehara-kun.

At the same time, there’s a sense of reliance on Uehara-kun since I treated him as a guy that I can talk to and figure out a solution.

Also, most importantly, …the increasingly deepening feelings towards Keita.

All of the emotions were swarming up and got mixed into a huge mess. I have no idea what I should do about them.

“…………”

I can only plop my head down and slowly walk down the stairs.

Once I snapped out of it, I unconsciously grabbed my phone and opened the browser…At this moment, I’m shocked with myself.

“Am I…trying to search for something? To try and search for an answer.”

I can’t help but laugh at myself for lacking any sense of autonomy.

That’s why I’m helpless.

I can only secrete glance at other’s faces when I’m asking for suggestions. When that person is looking directly at me, I’ll immediately be embarrassed and escape.

…I’m scared to express my sincere feelings.

“As a creator, …didn’t I have much more power to express myself truly than anyone?”

If this continues, I’ll be thrown away by Tendou-san, Aguri-chan…No, I’ll be thrown away by Keita.

Instead of letting myself falling towards that abyss, how about I just screw everything and go for it.

Instead of slowly degenerating into my former self that’s full of regrets and self-hate, how about I just screw everything and go for it.

Even though I deeply understand that this will cause nothing but troubles.

Even so, …even so.

At least I have to decide on which path I wanted to take!

“Please…please listen to me!”

“?”

Once I snapped out, my back is already facing the sunshine. At the top of the stairs, …I loudly suggested to Uehara-kun, who turned his head around with an unbelievable expression.

“Well! I think…I should get everyone on board on this tour!”

Keita Amano

“Hmm, …Konoha-san is still not answering…”

Lunchtime. Today, Tendou-san invited me to the Game Club clubroom as usual. Right now, I’m opening my bento as I glanced at my phone on the table to check.

Tendou-san pinched up a small piece of tomato deftly with her chopsticks as she asked.

“Ah, is it about that ‘cheating permit’ you’re asking me earlier?”

“I don’t remember for asking such a permit. I’m just asking you whether I can go out alone with a person that’s slightly anthomaniac towards me.”

“I feel like that’s already a ridiculous request.”

Tendou-san said that as she put that piece of tomato into her mouth…Hmm, I feel like she’s not angry, but I don’t think she’s happy about this either.

I turned off the screen of my phone and faced her again.

“Uh, but, out of all the people I know, only Konoha-san is playing GOM. Moreover, she, …no, Mono, has always been a good partner of mine…”

When I realized that someone that has been playing the same game with me for a long time is so close, and the game decided to add something that’s based in the real world in this situation. How could I not invite the person to have a good time together?

Even so, I do understand that ‘inviting a girl other than my girlfriend to go out alone’ kind of counts as cheating or betrayal. So, that’s why I tried to get a permit from Tendou-san beforehand…

Tendou-san put down her chopsticks temporarily and sipped a carton of green tea silently…She’s still an elegant person in every way, far different than the crude and careless Aguri-san.

“What’s wrong, Amano-kun? Why are you looking around suddenly?”

“I-It’s nothing, I feel like, …right now, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for me to receive an interdimensional punch to my face.”

“Why is my boyfriend suddenly talking nonsense this brainlessly?”

Tendou-san sighed dumbfoundedly. She said a “whatever” as a conclusion. Then, she put her green tea on the table and looked at me.

“As your girlfriend, I really admired your attitude for saying your goals clearly and asking for permission beforehand. Also, you swear that ‘you’ll maintain a certain distance when you’re with Konoha-san.’ This clearly shows that you’re aware of the relationship with me. The walkthrough mindset from a gamer’s perspective is also working correctly, I can only say that it’s perfect. This already proves that it eliminated all possibilities of cheating in that activity.”

“Then there’s no problems…”

“There is.”

“Eh?”

There’s already no way for me to cheat, …yet there’s still a problem?

I tilted my head, and Tendou-san said it with a calm and natural look.

“I’ll feel lonely.”

“That’s a big problem!”

I can’t help but stand up abruptly right away. Tendou-san nodded and continued.

“The time that was initially just for you and me will be robbed away by some other girls. Moreover, it’s a game activity that feels quite interesting. I feel lonely.”

“Y-You’re right! Uh, if that’s the case, why don’t you just come with us…”

Tendou-san put out her palm and rejected me abruptly in the middle of my suggestion.

“My dignity as Karen Tendou doesn’t allow that either!”

“Hiya, that’s troublesome!”

“The boyfriend just sincerely asked whether he can go to the meeting beforehand. If the girlfriend is still joining together like it’s nothing, …I feel like it’s a bit too much for a woman.”

“I get what you’re trying to say…However, hmm, if that’s so, I should just cancel going out with Konoha-san, and the case will be closed-“

After I said that, Tendou-san rejected it even more vigorously than before.

“M-My dignity doesn’t allow that even more! Please just go out and enjoy your time! I, Karen Tendou, will never be a girl that tries to manage her boyfriend’s hobbies! Please don’t underestimate me!”

“R-Really. Thank you. Well, then I’ll go out happily with her-“

“…Ugh.”

“There’s no way for me to go out of this alive! I feel like I’m the one that’s saying nonsense, right!”

I quickly plopped my head down and apologized! Yep, this is all my fault! This is all my fault for planning the activity too casually! What Tendou-san thinks doesn’t matter, I’m already stuck as soon as I came up with the plan!”

Even so, I can’t just give up thinking directly.

I scratched my head and tried to search for a compromise.

“Uh, how about…this. Tendou-san, I’ll ask others to go including you, does that sound good?”

“Ask the others? For example?”

“Think about it, like finding Chiaki.”

“Hoshinomori-san…”

During this time, Tendou-san is curling her lips up for some reason.

“…Amano-kun, you always call her your rival, …yet she’s on top of your list when you’re trying to find someone to play. You’re even calling her name directly.”

“Eh? Ah, it’s not like that. She just came up on my head because I’m considering people related to Konoha-san…Also, the reason that I call her name directly is only that it has always been this way since I met her…”

“You and Hoshinomori-san are already best friends at the start.”

“Uh, instead of calling us best friends-“

I almost wanted to retort right away. But, when I’m actually thinking about this, …indeed, I remembered. Initially, we’re really calling each other’s names directly because we like each other. It has always been like this even after we became rivals, so I just eventually forgot.

Actually, in the beginning, Chiaki and I called each other’s first names because we’re good friends.

After I felt silent, Tendou-san tapped her chopsticks on her lips gently…and looked away from me. Then, she mumbled as if she’s throwing a bit of tantrum.

“…I want you to call my name directly as well…”

“Eh…”

My heart skipped a beat as I froze…The ticking sounds of the clock is gradually filling up in the clubroom.

After I gulped, …I quickly decided momentum is crucial for things like this. So, I tried to say it swiftly to prevent this pause for going too long.

“Karen.”

“…………”

“…………”

……………………………………………………

…UWAHHHHHHHH.

At the same time, both of our faces flared up immediately.

Crap. This is so embarrassing. What the hell? Why is this 10 times more embarrassing than when I’m confessing?

I guess I can skip the part for thinking, “who the hell do you think you are” when I’m calling Tendou-san’s name directly.

Well, the deeper part is that our hearts suddenly got too close together.

It feels like I’m wall-pinning her out of excitement.

From such distances, expressions, and the girl’s reaction, it made me think about a lot of things related to our future.

Those images swept us like a wave of tsunami. In the end, we can only be engulfed in this storm and do nothing aside from feeling embarrassed.

We plopped our heads down and fell silent for a while. It feels like the room got two degrees warmer.

So, after a whole minute, I cleared my throat when I barely recovered and continued.

“S-So, …Tendou-san, about the plan for finding more people to join…”

“Y-Yeah. Yep, I’m Tendou-san, right.”

The two of us looked away from each other and pretended nothing happened.

Tendou-san quickly chugged two mouthfuls of rice and answered.

“It’s a good idea to find more people, …but I can think of two problems.”

“Like what?”

I also looked at my bento as I talked. Tendou-san then continued.

“First, like what you’ve mentioned earlier, right now, only the two of you have played that game before. Let say I’m starting to play immediately, can I enjoy the entertainment of that new function?”

I immediately answered Tendou-san’s question. “Ah, I think it’s fine.”

“You can use the new ‘GOM Search’ function right away. I think it’s still entertaining if you treat it as a real-time location game. Also, the abilities of the starting characters are quite good as well, perhaps they’re even better than veterans like Mono and me.”

“Really? Well, let’s forget about this one first. The real issue is the next one.”

“Hmm?”

I can’t help but raise my head from my bento and made eye-contact with Tendou-san.

“…………”

We blushed and fell silent for a while again. However, Tendou-san cleared her throat and activated her “Polite Tendou-san” mode before answering.

“I feel like that Konoha Hoshinomori-san wouldn’t allow us to do that.”

“Why?”

“You’re still asking why…From the things that Konoha-san have done in the theme park, it’s evident that she wanted to be alone with you-“

Just as Tendou-san is in the middle of her unbelievable sentence.

My phone on the table is vibrating. It looks like there’s a notification.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

I paused the conversation to confirm the content. So, just like what I expected, that’s a message from GOM.

I quickly clicked on my phone with my left hand and grabbed a piece of sausage with the chopstick on my right hand.

“Eh, Amano-kun, that’s impolite.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

After this family-like interaction, I temporarily put down the chopsticks and looked at my phone.

Then, it wrote…

“…Tendou-san, I think that problem of yours…is solved already.”

“What’s going on?”

Tendou-san pinched a mouthful of fried egg that was cut with her chopsticks as she tilted her head. To this, …I answered while tilting my head as well.

“Uh, …I have no idea what’s going on as well.”

“What?”

Tendou-san blinked.

So, I let her look at the screen of my phone as a “?” popped above my head. Then, I conveyed the content of the message.

“I think Mono is suggesting that we should go in a group.”