Planarium (1)
After logging out, in the waiting room. I was reflecting on the achievements I had gained in the game.
[Betting Success]
[Additional quest rewards will be given.]
◆ EXP + 2,137
◆ Level Up!
◆「Enhancement: A ring that looks ordinary but isn’t 」
The experience points had increased sevenfold from the original 300, and the item had been enhanced.
「A ring that looks ordinary but isn’t (Enhanced)」
:Casting speed reduction [5%]
:Agility increase [1.2]
The ring that Soliette coveted. It was definitely a ring that suited a rogue.
I was fiddling with it for no reason.
“.......”
The things I said today were weighing on my mind, but now she needs to know herself.
Just as the saying goes, ‘know thyself and thou shalt win a hundred battles’, she needs to overcome herself more than anyone else.
She needs to learn how to become stronger on her own.
In that process, I want to help her, and I will try to be helpful, but......
Someday.
When she finally stands on her own.
For some reason, I feel like I won’t be there.
“......Shall I try it?”
Well, that’s a matter for the future.
I flicked two fingers─index and middle─like throwing a card. By consuming magic, a card came out.
“Memory.”
「124 / 130」
Recent Change: -1
I’m not very confident because there’s not much capacity left in the 「Notepad」.
First, I closed my eyes gently.
“Memorize.”
The target to save is not the card itself, but the skill that makes up the card.
That, which might be similar to a formula, is stored in the 「Notepad」.
“Huh.”
For a moment, magic was consumed in a lump. The Magic Core vibrated strongly.
“......Did it work?”
I opened the 「Notepad」 again.
「129 / 130」
It seems to have worked, but the capacity it occupies is only 5. Is it because this Gambler class itself is largely ‘me’?
“Nice.”
Anyway, it was a success.
I completely logged out.
“Log out.”
* * *
“Ah, I’m hungry.......”
Immediately after logging out, back in Soliette’s [Room 206].
I instinctively rubbed my stomach.
“......Why am I hungry?
It was strange. I had eaten a lot in the game.
“Is it because it’s a game?”
Does the food in the game only satisfy the hunger in the game? It’s unnecessarily real.
I took the CD out of Soliette’s game console and returned to [Room 107].
“Shall I try it?”
I tried using 「Card Draw」 first.
With a swoosh, a blue card stuck to my finger.
“It worked.”
It works, but it just looks like paper material and doesn’t seem to have anything special.
“...... It’s a dud.”
The effect of the card is merely 「Firecracker」. It’s not special like in the game. Probably because the luck stat isn’t applied.
In this case, it’s not very useful-
“No, wait a minute.”
The 「Card Draw」 brought into reality consumes magic. It also takes place through the medium of a ‘card’.
Then, isn’t this also a kind of ‘formula used like a tool’?
“.......”
I quietly looked at my right forearm.
The ancient magic proliferating from the root of 「R-elix: Treasure Hunter」. If I combine this with 「Treasurization」, it might have quite a synergy.
─Meow.
Just then, Grawl crawled out from the cushion.
“Oh, everything alright?”
─Yes, Master. Elise said she would take care of the student ID.
“Really?”
Right now, a mana core extracted from my 「Notepad」 is hanging on his necklace. Thanks to that, he can maintain his form and use his smartphone even when he’s far from me.
He’s even started using social media lately.
His username is [Grou——].
He posts selfies as if his owner took them.
“Grawl, can you create some land for farming?”
─What for?
“Self-sufficiency.”
The second quarter of the College Board is as crucial as Bethune. The principle of self-sufficiency, as stated by the person in charge, feels all too natural and urgent for me, someone who has experienced [Planarium].
Perhaps food itself might be the top priority.
─It’s entirely possible. Also, I’ve collected a lot of loot. There’s a lot here, probably because the mana concentration and quality are high.
Grawl lifted his cushion. There were more mana cores, mana stones, and even Gether than on the mainland.
“Good job. I’m taking 70% of the mana cores. You can have the rest.”
─Why? Why 70%?
Grawl frowned.
“I have something to do.”
I immediately absorbed the chunk of mana cores into my「Notepad」. The total capacity increased to [142].
─Ahhhh! Why! Ahhhhh!
Kyaaaa-! Grawl arched his back and screamed.
“I have a goal.”
Bringing the class of gambler itself from [Bethune Dungeon]. Of course, the luck stat is impossible, but I plan to make other skills and ‘items’ as much as possible mine.
“Let’s go out for now. Come on.”
─No, no, no, I want to lie down, lie down, lie down.
Grawl flopped down and flailed his arms and legs as if swimming.
“I’ll smash your smartphone.”
─...Let’s go.
I went outside with Grawl.
Outside the dormitory, I strolled through the forest of [Planarium]. To find some land suitable for farming...
Then suddenly.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle-
The sound and smell of meat cooking wafted from somewhere.
“What’s that?”
I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame.
In the middle of the green forest, a statue with dawn-colored hair and eyes like the Milky Way.
It was Gerkhen.
He was roasting a whole pig on a bonfire he had made himself, clutching a large bag of sugar in one hand.
“Oh, you’re here.”
I sat down next to him. Gerkhen responded as if he found it absurd.
“You’re the one who came.”
“What’s up?”
“......”
He asked, glancing sideways at me.
“......Do you have a student ID?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Pick that up.”
“What, oh! My snails!”
Layla hurriedly poured the snails squirming on the ground back into the cup.
“I was going to boil them for soup later...”
“So that’s what it was for.”
I’m speechless.
“Aren’t you going down?”
“No. I stayed to build a base for the second quarter. What are you doing here, Shion? Planning to be homeless?”
“.......”
I silently looked at Layla.
It’s not that, but the incident in Trick City keeps coming to mind. The day she appeared as Mila, protecting ‘Dale Kal’.
We both hid our identities.
“Hey. What was your name?”
“What, what?!”
She suddenly narrowed her eyes.
“You, I was your Secret Friend and you don’t know my name?! Who did you think I was then! You’re ungrateful!”
“I mean your full name. I know your name.”
“......Hilton Ramsey. What’s in front.”
She still asks with suspicious eyes, narrowing them thinly.
I answered, taken aback.
“Layla.”
“What, you knew.”
Layla Hilton Ramsey.
I repeat that name and try to spell it in my head.
Layla Hilton Ramsey.
“Oh, no way.”
I slapped my forehead.
In Trick City, the full name of the hero ‘Mila’, who only a handful would know about 10 years later.
Mila Sayre. (Explaination at end)
If you remove Hilton from Layla Hilton Ramsey.
Layla Ramsey.
The two have the same alphabets. It’s an ‘anagram’ that holds true for each other, just by changing the order.
“I’m going crazy, really.......”
Who did I idolize before regression, and what comfort did I get from which hero—
“Why are you going crazy? What are you going to do here?”
“......Farming. If you get hungry later, come find me. I’ll sell it to you for achievement points or barter.”
“Huh. Shion, you’re a lunatic! Who would buy something like rice with achievement points?”
“There are fruits too.”
“Who’d spend achievement points on fruit?”
“Achievement points aren’t ice cream scoops, you know.”
“Your logic is flawed, so you’re nitpicking!”
“...You’ll understand eventually.”
Layla snorted and took a step closer. I quickly said,
“This is my land. If you enter, you’ll be deducted achievement points.”
“What! What’s that! Is there such a thing?!”
“Yes. But you can enter if I allow it.”
“Allow me.”
“No.”
“What!”
“Instead, when you come to buy food later, I’ll give you a special 20% discount. I’ll also give you a free tasting coupon for the first transaction.”
“......Huh?”
At that, Layla puckered her lips with a strange expression. She also raised her eyebrows slyly.
“Oh~ What’s this~? Why am I getting a discount? Shion, you’re suspicious~ What could it be~?”
“......”
Honestly, I can’t tell even while looking with my own two eyes.
I can’t believe it.
How could she possibly be the embodiment of the noble and dedicated hero ‘Mila’.
“What could it be~? What could it be~? Oh wait, what could it be? What could it be? Hidden camera? Hidden camera...... It’s a hidden camera!”
“Just get lost.”
“What did you say?!”
As I was about to chase Layla away, a thought suddenly struck me.
“Oh right. Hey, did you see that news?”
“Do you watch the news, Shion?”
“Yeah. They said a monster appeared in Trick City’s D-Section. Some suit reportedly defeated the monster?”
“......”
I casually mentioned it, and Layla immediately turned serious.
“Why are you asking me that?”
“You’re from Trick City.”
“......What are you talking about. And, it wasn’t a suit, it was a person named ‘Mila’. It wasn’t just the suit, they said she did it with some mage.”
She just blurted it all out.
“How do you know that? It wasn’t in the news.”
“......I’m a star from Trick City’s A-Section! Of course I know!”
She suddenly raised her voice for no reason, then suddenly scanned my face with a slightly strange look.
“Wait. Shion, are you......”
“What.”
She stared at me intently. Could she have caught on? I quickly dodged her gaze.
“Do you, by any chance, have a mage in your family?”
“......”
I was slightly surprised.
She must be referring to Dale Kal.
“What are you talking about?”
“No~ I think I may or may not have met someone who looks like you~”
She’s surely ‘Mila’.
“Never mind.”
Rustle-
The sound of shaking bushes. Woah- In the midst of Layla’s surprise, Gerkhen walked out, carrying a large wild boar on his back.
“......Oh Gerkhen! You caught a wild boar?! How did you catch it?!”
“Well.”
“......”
Layla blankly stared at the wild boar and then wiped the drool trickling down her mouth.
“Ooh, what a coincidence~ I also caught some snails. Look!”
She proudly held out a cup filled with about ten snails.
“It must be delicious. Shall we have a meal together~? Eating only meat can be tough! Let’s boil it and eat it together~”
At that, Gerkhen’s eyes slightly wavered. Layla brightened her face.
“Right! Snail soup must be delicious!”
Of course, Gerkhen was surprised not by Layla, but by the vinyl greenhouse that was suddenly completed.
He looked at me and quietly said,
“......Melon. Mango.”
I met his gaze and solemnly nodded.
“Nothing is impossible.”
“And snail soup too!”
I ignored Layla, who kept pushing the disgusting cup towards me.
Explanation:
[??] (???) – Mila Sayre
[?](?) – Lalya[br][/br] [?](?) – Ramsey
Mila Sayre:
“?? ???” consists of the following syllables: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?
Laya:
“? ?” consists of the following syllables: ?, ?
Ramsey:
“? ?” consists of the following syllables: ?, ?
These Korean syllables are indeed anagrams of each other when rearranged:
?? ??? can be rearranged to make ? + ? + ? + ? + ? + ?