Chapter 184: Gathering In the Unexplored Gold Mines Part 2

「…… Now that you calmly think about it, we were the only cosplaying party at that event.」

「Because you see, I’m that kind of a woman who tends to be ahead of her times.」

「Don’t you mean: a woman who leaps head-first into something first before thinking about the consequences?」

Following that logic, why don’t you star cosplaying an old granny everyday now? Then you’d be even more ahead of your times. Or maybe Santa Claus? Then you’d always be ready for Christmas, no matter the circumstances.

There was a bodyguard standing in front of the entrance to the party hall, wearing sunglasses and a full suit. Suddenly upon seeing that I felt a strong urge to just turn around and go home.

Aaah, come on, if I were to catch some shinkansen right about now, I could get back home and even have some time to spare on some optional activities! And what about a dress code? There has to be one, right? What if we violate it? Wouldn’t that be so embarrassing that you would like to die?

Apparently we were the only guests who were late, since I could already feel that a vast part of the rather lively venue started to look right at us the moment we entered the room.

Wow, I don’t know just how many Pro Gamers are in here at the current moment, but those are some intense glares I can feel on me right now! If I were a Pro Gamer just like them, would those stares be less fierce? Or maybe even more brutal?

「…… Why do I feel like a squirrel that was hibernating up until now and was woken up only to find out it was woken up in the middle of winter?」

「Not a bad comparison, even if somewhat dull…… Ah, that’s right. How about “I don’t feel like losing to anyone right now!” …… Except I just lost? Kukuku.」

「Hello there, my Boss! Congrats on your big victory! If it was me, I would have lost immediately.」

「You guys sure know how to sell a good fight!」

Those words were really friendly and could even be considered as kind, if it wasn’t for the fact that the faces that were spouting those words looked anything but kind.

I once played a baseball-themed video game where you could eliminate all the opposing team thanks to smashing their heads in with fast balls. This situation right now bore the same vibe as that game.

「What about yakiniku?」

「What about sushi?」

「It’s all there, so you can eat to your hearts’ content. But it just that……」

Just what?

Katsu then slides to the side quickly. What the hell, man? If you wanted to show us something, then why don’t you just……

「It seems that a whole lot of people want to talk to you.」

「I don’t want it!」

「You can talk so much that your throats run completely dry, suckers.」

「In that case, Gaijin Guard!」

「「Gaijin Flash Counter!」

The two of us instantly tried to reverse this whole situation and get the hell out of here. God damn it, why aren’t physical attributes equal in real life!? Gah……!?

- Are you a Pro Gamer?

- If I was, why would I hide my face?

- It was amazing!

- Ah, thanks.

- Why didn’t you already participate in official competitions?

- Personal circumstances.

- What’s your relationship with Uomi Kei?

- Gaming friends.

- How can I be like you?

- Feel an unreasonable fear of being exposed.

- Is it true that you win-lose ratio against Uomi Kei is 3:7?

- I’m often angry because of that but sometimes even I win.

- Why do you hide your face?

- Personal circumstances.

- Do you like Jack?

- Jack? Ah, this guy from the helmet? I don’t hate him, at the very least.

- Do you play FPS games?

- I’m not limited by any genre.

- What is your age?

- If I wanted to disclose that, I wouldn’t change my voice, now would I?

- Here, have a drink.

- Ah, no, I’m still underaged…… Gah, Katsu! You stupid sh*thead!

- I’m from Gatling Drums and I would like to ask No Face-sama some questions……

- Eh, ah, yes? Haa…… Eh!? A full-on interview!?

「…… Sho tired.」

I don’t know just how can Pencilgton can stand situations like this. Her brain must be wired in a completely different way than that of a normal human.

「Meat…… Meat……」

It’s not that I’m all that hungry right about now. It’s more like I want to heal my mental state thanks to the sole act of eating.

It was then when I was slowly walking towards that part of the buffet that was serving all kinds of meat that I saw Natsume-san looking rather uptight.

Following her line of sight, I could see what was going on…… apparently Katsu was locked into a conversation with none other than Silvia Goldberg.

I see, they cannot speak to anyone else in here thanks to the fact that none of them could speak Japanese fluently enough.

「What do you think of that, Agent No Name?」

「Let’s hear your opinion first, Agent No Face.」

「I want to smash Katsu’s face in.」

「Understandable.」

I don’t know why, but every time I see that bastard having a good time, something deep inside of my soul seems to be screaming. Now, is there a spare fork in here that I can use?

「Guess it cannot be helped. This lovely Onee-san here is going to help you out just this once.」

「Do you have some sort of a plan?」

「Ahahaha…… Do you happen to know what a “Scapegoat” is?」

「Some poor sap that ends up taking all the blame for something they did not do…… Ahh, don’t touch my helmet! Don’t you dare sacrificing my privacy!」

「But I must say, you really were amazing, No Face-kun! To fight so fiercely against a Pro Gamer even though you are nothing but an amateur yourself…… Wouldn’t you agree!?」

Those words, accompanied by the act of taking my mask off managed to grab the attention of at least several people in the room…… And since vast majority of them were Pro Gamer, the shine in their eyes was really unnerving for some reason. Some of those people even looked like managers.

Then something truly terrifying happened: they reached out into their pockets only to produce that one accursed thing that everyone was afraid of -- business cards! Ah, I see, so right now I’m the raid boss and they are a swarm of bloodthirsty players about ready to rip me apart. Oh sh*t, oh fuck! What about my escape route!?

「You bitch--!」

「Ahaha! Good luck out there!」

That bitch is insane! I swear to God, she must have at least a dozen of screws loose inside of that stupid head of hers!

Waaah! Wait, wait, wait, wait just a fucking minute! Silvia Goldberg and her macho squad!? What are you, some sort of monster tamers……!? Waah, the muscles! Muscles as far as I can see!!

「Well then, in order to not let the noble sacrifice of Cupid A go to waste, should this here Cupid B put an extra effort into her job?」

「What are these guys even doing over there……?」

There were many things and words that needed to be done and said, but thanks to Kei’s victory over Silvia Goldberg and the fact that the Exhibition Match was major success, it goes without saying that Nitro Squad’s renown in the gaming world would surge as a result.

Hopefully, it would be enough to reject another unreasonable offer coming from the sponsors if such a thing was ever to happen again. And it would surely happen.

「K-Kei.」

「Oh, Megu. What’s up?」

Kei asked while watching various managers and Pro Gamers swarming over a certain lonely boy who was apparently left by his comrade for them to feast on him.

「Um, first of all, congratulations on your victory over Silvia Goldberg.」

「Well, it’s a shame that I lost that last match and the whole Squad lost because of me……」

「Even if we lost the game, it’s still incredible that you managed to achieve a thing like that, don’t you think?」

「You may be right…… But it was thanks to team effort, if nothing else. One day, I would like to be able to win only thanks to my own power.」

Even though he said that, a win like that was nothing all that uncommon in gaming world. It was one of the best strategies to wear down and exhaust your opponent in team battles as much as possible so that you could deal the decisive blow when the moment was just right for it.

But this is this, and that is that. Without the help of his ever so reliable friends, Uomi Kei wouldn’t have been able to achieve victory like that. So next time around, he was hoping he would be able to achieve something like that all on his own.

「Speaking of that, there’s something that I’m curious about.」

「And what could that be?」

「Umm…… No Face and No Name are not Pro Gamers, but simply amateurs…… You said that yourself, right?」

「Yes, they may sometimes speak really bizarre things and act in unreasonable ways, but they are only amateurs. Nothing more and nothing less.」

「And since they are in High School, don’t you want to do the thing…… You know, scout them out?」

Hearing that, a strange gesture appeared on Uomi Kei’s face…… Turning away from the people in question, Kei gave Megumi the answer that Sanraku gave him some time ago when he actually tried to scout him out.

「He promised his parents that he would go to University and graduate it.」

According to Sanraku’s words, all of his family are hobbyists of some kind. They are all rather understanding and supporting when it comes to their individual hobbies, but there was a condition under which Sanraku could enjoy his passion the way he was able to do so until now.

「So education is the reason why he turned you down?」

「That may have been part of the reason, but I don’t think it was the main point.」

In this day and age, Professional Gaming was as good of a profession as anything else, plus it was the one with a relatively high income. You could get money from tournaments, beta testing of new games, paid for doing reviews etc.

It might be a stretch to say this, but if you manage to score as big as Star Rain…… the amount of money you could earn could easily equal to what successful athletes can earn.

There is no one who, if given the opportunity ticket like that, would turn away from it and said that they are not interested.

However, when Kei was looking at the figure of Sanraku who was currently being hugged and surrounded my American macho men, there was a sense of envy in him.

He envied that attitude of his, that everything is doable if you give it enough tries and that if you only give it your very best, you are bound to succeed eventually. He truly believed in those words. And that’s how it all should be.

Mysterious anonymous players, their defeat of Silvia Goldberg and what that event has brought.

Soon enough, all of the above would turn out to be the instruments of a great change.