Chapter 49
That distinctive hand gesture, with her thumb and index finger crossed over each other.
‘A finger heart?’
But would Maron even know about finger hearts?
‘This is a world that’s both a subculture game and a romance fantasy.’
Neither side of that equation had anything to do with finger hearts.
So was it a hand gesture meant to express some other positive feeling, rather than affection?
‘Well, Maron probably wasn’t insulting me.’
I wasn’t sure, so I simply returned the same gesture.
Even if the gesture meant something else, it had been a while since I’d made a finger heart for a girl, and it made my heart flutter in a strange way.
Maron blinked.
The red in her face deepened.
“Seriously… That’s cheating.”
Maron muttered.
‘Ah, was it some kind of game?’
How strange.
A game played by crossing your thumb and index finger.
Was it something like rock-paper-scissors?
I’d ask her about it later.
Anyway.
Now that we’d looked away from each other,
‘Maybe I should buy it now.’
I brought up the shop.
【Shop】
<Category: Two-Handed Swords>
(…)
- HIDDEN! Water-Cleaving (4-star): 50000 points
The hidden skill I’d discovered but hadn’t been able to buy until now.
【Would you like to spend 50000 points to learn Water-Cleaving?】
【Yes/No】
‘Yes.’
The reason I needed this skill so badly was its effect.
Water-Cleaving (斬水) (4-star)
Description: A sword technique imbued with the wish of a swordsman who wanted to cut through water. Deals ×10 damage to water-type enemies.
‘That’s an absurd multiplier, even after seeing it again.’
×10.
One hit could pack the power of ten.
‘With a multiplier this outrageous, it must be meant for clearing a specific area.’
Areas with a particular theme.
And items or skills that make it easier to progress through them.
That’s a common concept in games, whether they’re open-world or not.
Water-Cleaving was a skill designed to make it easier to clear a field where water-type enemies appeared one after another.
And I was just about to challenge exactly that kind of dungeon.
‘The Temple of the Water God, Seia.’
The dungeon I’d had to leave after getting only the collar last time.
Naturally, it would be water-type.
Professor Kadisha had told me this last time.
—I’ve asked the Holy Church to cooperate so you can challenge the dungeon before midterms. It’ll probably be sometime next weekend.
—…Can’t I just go by myself?
—Absolutely not. Absolutely not.
Professor Kadisha’s gaze had been deadly serious.
‘The Holy Church…’
The villains from the romance fantasy were there, too.
But it was also true that there were people I needed to meet.
For now, it’d be best to find out who they were sending.
If I met them and didn’t like them, I could refuse afterward.
After all, I was the only one qualified to enter that temple: the one recognized by this world’s system as a Star Gatherer.
‘The Seven Gods’ temples must be places the player has to clear as part of the scenario quests in the original game.’
Anyway, with Water-Cleaving, I should be able to clear it without much trouble.
So.
I wanted to try out my newly acquired skill first.
“Maron, I’m going to test something out for a moment.”
“?”
I took <Waterfall Slash> out of storage.
Maron, still lying down, murmured.
“I think this every time, but that really is amazing….”
“The sword?”
“The sword is impressive, too, of course, but I meant the storage more than the sword.”
“Oh, this.”
<Small Storage>
Description: Storage that can hold up to 10 kg of items. Handy in the early game!
‘It really is a big advantage to be able to carry things around without holding them in real life.’
Inventory space was a given in games, but storage that took up no space or weight would be a rare item in the real world.
“Wouldn’t it be useful for ambushes, too, if you carried things around in there?”
“Maron, you’re surprisingly quick-witted about things like that, too.”
“I-I am? Hehe….”
【The target is shy】
<Praise Points: +900(100→1000)>
*A ×3 multiplier is applied
That wasn’t even a compliment.
‘This is making me a little uneasy.’
I remembered the system message I’d seen last time, saying Maron’s chance of becoming a villainess had increased.
‘Can’t I call that number up again and check it?’
Just as thinking ‘shop’ brought up the shop, ‘stats’ brought up my stats, and ‘quests’ brought up the quests I was currently doing.
‘What should I call it? Fate? Fate potential?’
〈Fate Potential〉
It worked.
Villainess of Calamity: 85%
Tyrant of Ruin: 77%
■■ of the Frozen Ice
‘Frozen Ice must mean Lucy, but I can’t see the rest.’
And the other Fate Holders didn’t appear on the list at all.
‘Do they only get added once I start their Bond Quests?’
And once a Fate value changed, I could track it from then on.
Still, there was some good news.
‘Both of them went down a little.’
The chance of becoming the Villainess of Calamity had gone from 90%→85%.
The chance of becoming the Tyrant of Ruin had gone from 87%→77%.
‘Do I not have to get them down to 0%, as long as I make sure they don’t reach 100%?’
Like a hunger or thirst meter in a survival game.
The problem was…
‘What determines whether these numbers go up or down?’
A survival game’s hunger meter went up if you didn’t eat and down if you did. It was intuitive.
But.
When Maron’s chance of becoming a villainess went up last time…
And when Elettra’s chance of becoming a tyrant went up…
I couldn’t guess what had caused either of them.
“Haa…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Maron.”
“Yes?”
“Do you ever think you want to become a villainess?”
“Hmm….”
Maron stared at me for some reason.
“Now that you mention it.”
She stared at me.
She stared looong and hard.
“Sometimes, I do.”
Maron’s irises started to turn red.
【Warning】
〈Fate: The chance of becoming <Villainess of Calamity> has increased by 1%〉
【85%→86%】
Why?
What on earth did I do wrong?
‘Is asking about it something I shouldn’t do?’
I’d better be careful from now on.
“Ahem, ahem.”
To distract Maron, I cleared my throat for no particular reason, then…
‘Water-Cleaving.’
【Skill Activated: <Water-Cleaving>】
A bluish effect shone across the surface of the sword.
Whoooosh!!
My body moved on its own.
A bold, satisfying horizontal slash that cut forward.
‘I can control it, too, can’t I?’
I used my own strength and agility to alter the sword’s path.
The bluish effect didn’t disappear.
‘So this is how you chain skills together.’
I was glad I’d increased my stats and trained my body after all.
If I tried to fight using nothing but a click to activate skills, I’d probably hit my limits in battle very quickly.
‘But it’s a shame there’s nothing tangible to try it on.’
Just as I was wondering if I should go find a waterfall to cut, since the sword was called Waterfall Slash…
“!”
“!!”
An ominous presence.
Maron hurriedly got up and stared warily in the direction I was facing with my sword.
And.
In the peaceful field, which had been completely unremarkable until just moments ago,
a strange middle-aged man stood.
His slicked-back hair left his forehead completely exposed.
Dark circles under his eyes.
An eerie, damp sort of atmosphere.
The man opened his mouth.
“You now ask, ‘Who might you be?’”
“…?”
“…??”
Silence.
After waiting a moment, the man gestured to himself.
“I am none other than the tenth-ranked Guide of the <Cult of the Abyss>….”
“Tenth!”
“Oro of Erosion. You now exclaim, ‘Tenth rank? Just how strong is he…!’ in shock.”
“Shit…!!”
Silence again.
After waiting, the man pointed at me this time.
“Gilliam Everchess. My goal is to kill you and take your head. You now ask, ‘Why are you doing this to me!?’”
“…”
No, I don’t have to ask. There’s nothing strange about the Cult of the Abyss targeting me.
Oro of Erosion.
He was a strange man.
But.
‘His strength is the real deal…!’
Just.
Even just standing there, he seemed to radiate danger from every pore.
He didn’t have the overwhelming presence of Hildet of Pride, the third-ranked one I’d met last time.
The moment I’d met Hildet, I’d been certain: ‘I can’t beat her. There’s nothing I can do to win a fight against her as I am now.’
But.
He was strong.
‘Three times stronger than me…? Four?’
It was two against one, at least.
But Maron’s fighting ability was about on par with mine at the moment.
‘This is bad.’
Cold sweat ran down my face.
I’d racked up some impressive victories so far, but that was basically because I knew the original story.
When it came to elemental attacks, I knew the right way to counter them.
When an enemy had a plan, I knew how to ruin the whole thing.
I’d won because I could analyze the situation accurately, then prepare and respond accordingly.
If someone showed up out of nowhere like this, it would come down to a straight-up contest of strength.
‘Even with Maron here, I can’t make winning the fight my goal.’
If we fought him head-on, there was too high a chance we’d die.
Me.
And Maron.
That didn’t mean I was going to surrender.
‘I need to send a distress signal and focus on holding out until help arrives.’
We were close to the city gates, and even closer to the academy.
We were somewhere help could reach us in time.
We just had to hold out until then.
“Why won’t you play along even once!?”
Oro suddenly flew into a rage.
“I will never forgive you!! I absolutely will never forgive youuu!!! Behold!! Gaze upon it and tremble!!!!”
Oro spread both arms wide.
“This is my majesty!! My poweeeeer!!!”
Shwaaaaaaa!!!
Groundwater gushed forth.
A towering, thick, massive wall of water unfurled, dancing at Oro’s fingertips.
“Hwahahaha!! You now shout, ‘To wield water magic this powerful in a place without a drop of water!’”
“…”
“Say something!!!”
I gripped <Waterfall Slash> and spoke—not to Oro, but to Maron.
“Maron, I’ll fight. Just stay back.”
“What are you talking about!? Let’s fight together!!”
“Hahaha, are you trying to look cool in front of the girl? You now cry, ‘Damn it, I should’ve abandoned the woman and run!’”
“…”
“I said respond!!!”
Neither of those things.
That’s because the exact experience points I needed had just walked right up to me.