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Accel World - Volume 17 - Chapter 4




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4

“Haannngaaaangh!” After yawning for a full five seconds, Haruyuki glanced at the clock in the lower right of his virtual desktop.

Monday, July 8, 6:50 AM. The weather was slightly overcast, and although it was early, the temperature and humidity were rising rapidly. The gaits of the people plodding toward the station along Kannana Street before him were also heavy somehow.

Haruyuki had left his house an hour earlier than usual to say good-bye to Kuroyukihime and Niko. A few minutes earlier, they had gone off to the north and south in a bus and taxi, respectively, to stop in at home before going to school, and the spontaneous sleepover party/superhard study group came to a close. But he couldn’t deny he was feeling a little sleep deprived after staying up and working hard until two in the morning since Kuroyukihime was taking the trouble to help him.

He’d gotten his things ready for school, thinking he’d just head that way once he saw the girls off, but he considered going back to his house and sleeping for another half an hour. But no, that would be nothing but a drop in the ocean of exhaustion. He agonized over this for a moment before he broke free from the temptation of an early nap and started walking along the sidewalk to the south.

If it had been Tuesday, he would have had his usual morning duel with Ash Roller, so that would’ve woken him right up. But unfortunately, it was Monday. And given that they had taken a break the previous week out of consideration for Rin Kusakabe’s health after she was so recently freed from the mental interference of the ISS kit, tomorrow would be their first duel in a while.

I’m pretty sure I lost the last duel, so Ash’ll be the starter tomorrow. He got me that time by diving into the sand with his bike and launching missiles from beneath my feet. I gotta watch out for that if we get another Desert stage…Haruyuki’s mind was wandering as he turned right on the road beneath the Chuo Line elevated bridge.

“’Sssssssuuuup?!” a forceful voice cried from behind as a hand slapped his back.

“Ouch!” His hanging head snapped upward, and before he even turned around, Haruyuki was shouting the name of the one person who would greet him in such a powerful manner. “Chiyu! Wh-what are you doing?!”

“You were walking like you were all down or whatever, so I just gave you a little pick-me-up!” Puffing out her chest proudly was, as expected, Chiyuri Kurashima. T-shirt on top, sweats on the bottom, large sports bag slung over her shoulder.

“It’s too early in the morning to have that much energy,” he replied in a near whisper before falling in alongside his childhood friend.

Haruyuki had totally forgotten that Chiyuri went to school every morning at about this time for track practice, and he let out a sigh of relief that he hadn’t run into her when he was still with Kuroyukihime and Niko.

But then a question came flying at him. “Haru, something going on today?”

“Huh? Something?”

“It’s just, you usually barely make it before last bell, so why’re you so early?”

“I—I go to school early sometimes, too, you know.”

“Hmmmm.” Her voice was full of suspicion, and when he stole a peek at her face in profile, so was her expression.

He shifted the bag on his shoulder for no reason, and now 100 percent awake, he thought about whether he should change the subject to the final exams or the track meet after that, or even the end of the rainy season forecast for sometime that week…

His life raft dropped down from an entirely unexpected direction.

Skreeeeee!! The sound that filled his head was no doubt acceleration. And then the message that a challenger had appeared showed up in his field of view.

A-a challenger?! But it’s Monday?! Did Rin get the day wrong maybe?! But even if she did, it’s too early…?! Even as half his mind descended into utter confusion, the other half automatically switched into duel mode.

Descending into a virtual darkness, sparks scattering, Haruyuki landed as his duel avatar, Silver Crow, on an excessively elastic ground. Looking around, he saw that the road and buildings were covered in a pattern of squares at a forty-five-degree angle. Each was about eighty centimeters, and the dense tiling made it seem like the world was made of an enormous quilt—no, it was made of an enormous quilt. This was a natural-type, wood-affiliated Buffer stage. Every terrain object was wrapped in thick, sturdy cushions, a rare stage where nothing could be easily broken, and impact damage was minimal. Even the cars driving down Kannana Street were rounded like stuffed animals.

At present, there was no sign of the Gallery on the rooftops. Most likely because it was still early, and it wasn’t a day for the Ash-Crow duels that were so strangely popular.

After checking the situation, Haruyuki turned his attention to the health gauge of the dueler hanging in the upper right of his field of view. If Rin hadn’t gotten the day wrong, then he thought maybe Niko or Kuroyukihime, whom he’d so recently parted with, had challenged him for some reason, but displayed there was an entirely unexpected avatar name.

CHOCOLATE PUPPETEER. Level five.

“Ch-chocolate—I mean, Chocolat Puppeter?!”

Haruyuki’s shock was amplified by a voice behind him.

“Choco?! Why?!”

“Whoa?!” Leaping back, Haruyuki met the exasperated gaze of the Watch Witch, Lime Bell, in her yellow-green pointed hat.

“I was standing right next to you. Why’re you so surprised?”

“U-uh, I never thought you’d be in the Gallery…”

“We’re both on each other’s lists. You should be surprised if I wasn’t here. And, like, why are you getting challenged when we’re in our territory?”

“Oh, uh. I’ve been leaving it set to open to challenges just when I go to school so that I don’t deny Rin—I mean, Ash.”

“Mmm-hmmmmm.” Although she really stretched the Mm out, Chiyuri seemed to accept this explanation, fortunately, and turned her gaze back to the challenger’s health gauge. “She’s gone up to level five from level four. But it’s definitely Choco, huh? We met her in Setagaya the week before last.”

“Yeah…” He nodded but couldn’t say anything more.

Chocolat Puppeter was a Burst Linker Haruyuki and Chiyuri had encountered when they visited Setagaya Area No. 2 of the Unlimited Neutral Field, the Master of a small Legion called Petit Paquet. But at the time, her Legion members, Mint Mitten and Plum Flipper, had been infected with ISS kits by Magenta Scissor, whose stronghold was in Setagaya. When Magenta came to infect Chocolat as well, she and Haruyuki fought, and after a difficult battle with her scissor technique, he managed to get her to retreat. After that, Chiyuri had purified the ISS kits parasitizing Mint and Plum with her Citron Call, and the three members of Petit Paquet had gone back to being friends. So why was Chocolat here in Suginami and challenging Haruyuki, to boot?

“No way. Choco’s got an ISS kit…,” Chiyuri wondered aloud hoarsely.

“There’s no way!” Haruyuki shook his head forcefully. “The ISS kits have been destroyed. It’s not possible for anyone new to be infected now!”

As he shouted, he stared toward the south indicated by the guide cursor displayed in the lower part of his field of view, as if he could devour it with his gaze.

The ground and buildings of a Buffer stage were a uniformly bright color, off-white or beige, or maybe light gray to light brown. So Chocolat Puppeter and her dark-brown body should have stood out, but he couldn’t catch sight of her.

Most likely, she’d challenged him because Suginami Area No. 2 was near the border of Petit Paquet’s headquarters, in Setagaya Area No. 2. In which case, it would still be a while until they made contact, given that she had no high-speed movement abilities.

“What’re you gonna do, Crow?” Chiyuri asked anxiously.

Haruyuki took a deep breath. “Fretting over every little thing here won’t change anything. I’ll decide what to do when I encounter her. If she is actually infected with a kit, then I’ll think of some way to purify her. I’ll probably want your help then, Bell, so get ready for that at least.”

“…Right. Got it.” Chiyuri nodded forcefully, sounding even more anxious, and Haruyuki walked over to the corner of the overhead bridge nearby. He tried punching it, this thing covered in an enormous quilt.

His avatar’s fist sank deeply into the thick cushion but was soon enough repelled with a bounce. There was basically no damage to the synthetic leather-like surface, either.

“Building up my special-attack gauge with terrain destruction’s a no-go, huh…?” He sighed.

“I’ve never seen this stage before, either, but I heard you can’t break the terrain with a gun or a sword or a drill, either.”

“So then, physical attacks are basically null,” Haruyuki responded, and Chiyuri was about to say something in response when she suddenly disappeared without a sound.

Disconnection? —No. The guide cursor had also similarly disappeared. Which meant that Chocolat Puppeter had gotten to within ten meters of him, even though he’d thought she was still far-off, to the point that Lime Bell in the Gallery had been forcibly teleported. But where exactly was Chocolat? Haruyuki wondered, looking around.

And then a small silhouette jumped down next to him from the roof of a stuffed bus driving along Kannana Street, bouncing fiercely off the ground to hit a nearby building and then bounce once again before somersaulting through the air and coming to stand before Haruyuki. Even after these acrobatics, she appeared to take absolutely no damage.

Bonnet-style hat with a large brim. Flared skirt spreading out in all directions. And smooth chocolate-colored armor. There was no doubt this was Chocolat Puppeter.

“……!”

Quickly dropping into a fighting stance, Haruyuki stared at Chocolat’s chest armor hard enough to burn a hole in it. If she had been parasitized by an ISS kit, there’d be a repulsive black eyeball enshrined there. But Chocolat’s armor was fairly dark to start with, and he couldn’t immediately detect the presence of a kit. Straining his eyes, Haruyuki inched closer.

As if in reaction to this, Chocolat brought her hands up in a ready position.

He gritted his teeth—she was getting mental interference then. But at that moment, a shrill shout pierced his ears.

“Wh-what are you doing, you creep?!”

“C…c-creep?” Haruyuki hurriedly lifted his eyes.

Chocolat covered her chest with one hand while she snapped the index finger of her other in his direction. “I went to all the trouble of coming to you, and then the second you meet me, you’re staring there of all places. Disgusting! I’ve lost all hope, Silver Crow!”

“Wh—? N-no…!” Haruyuki hurriedly waved his hands and shook his head, but further abuse rained down on him from somewhere up above.

“That’s riiiight! Total perrrv!”

“They’ll be calling you Silver Perv from now on!”

Lifting his gaze to find out just who from where was trying to give him the worst nickname in all of history, he found three figures on top of one of the buildings on either side of Kannana Street.

To the far left from Haruyuki’s point of view was a bright, light-blue F-type avatar with large mittens: Petit Paquet’s Mint Mitten. In the center was an F-type avatar with something like enormous candies stuffed into both hands and feet. Given the reddish-purple armor, this was Petit Paquet’s second member, Plum Flipper. And then on the right was the cheeky figure of Lime Bell.

“I-I’m not a creep or a perv or anything! I was just worried you were infected with an ISS kit, Choco…”

“There’s no way!” She jabbed her finger at him in the air again. “And you’re acting far too familiar by calling me that!”

“You said I could call you Choco, didn’t you?!” Haruyuki protested once again.

“I…I did, but…”

“And I think you’d actually read that avatar name as Chocolate Puppeteer instead of Chocolat Puppeter!”

“Y-you just be quiet! Chocolat is cuter, and Puppeter is easier to say. Do you have some kind of problem with that?!” Chocolat threw her arms up in the air, and Haruyuki suddenly returned to the point at hand.

He focused once more on Chocolat’s mostly flat chest armor, but he couldn’t find anything that looked like an ISS kit. And her behavior didn’t seem to indicate she was experiencing mental interference, either. But then…

“I—I don’t have any problems with that, but…Choco, so then, why did you suddenly challenge me first thing in the morning? I mean, you guys have school today, too, right?”

“That…” Chocolat started to say something but then snapped her mouth shut firmly before jabbing a finger at Haruyuki once more. “I will tell you that when I win!”

“Huh? We’re dueling?”

“Of course! I won’t hold back, either!” She pulled her index finger in to make a fist and lowered her center of gravity. The pumps on her small feet sank deeply into the cushioning of the ground. In the next instant, she charged with ferocious speed.

“Whoa!” Haruyuki hurriedly crossed his arms to take on a defensive posture. But Chocolat’s small fist slipped through his guard and landed a clean hit on his lower jaw.

Clang!! The sound of the impact echoing in the core of his brain, Haruyuki reeled backward. He desperately tried to keep his balance, but Chocolat was already at the cushions on the floor once again.

The next attack was a flying knee kick with more power than the first hit. Utterly unable to respond, Haruyuki was knocked flying by a solid hit to the solar plexus. He landed on the ground on his back, and the elasticity of the cushioning bounced him upward quite energetically.

While he was in the air, Chocolat quickly closed the distance between them and dropped onto him with a heel kick. This time, he managed to defend, but even so, he was knocked into the ground again. When he bounced back up like a roly-poly toy, Chocolat’s left roundhouse kick closed in on him with unerring aim.

“Hiyah!!” she cried sharply as the kick hit Haruyuki hard in the head. He saw stars as he flew to one side.

He’d taken four hits in a row, but as long as he didn’t crash into the ground, he’d be able to recover his balance. He’d get some distance from her and then his chance for a counter—

Sproing.

Haruyuki sank into the quilting covering the Chuo Line elevated bridge that had appeared out of nowhere. There was no collision damage, but whether he wanted to go flying again or not, he was forcefully repelled by the pressure of the cushioning.


“Hiyaaaah!!” Chocolat launched a right straight with impeccable timing.

His health gauge was already down nearly 30 percent. If he didn’t interrupt the succession of attacks somewhere, he might not be able to make a comeback at all.

Chocolat was smaller and lighter than Silver Crow, so why was he being thrown around like this? It was because she was using the reaction of the ground to boost the power and speed of her kicks and punches, and at the same time kept knocking Haruyuki off-balance, constantly adding velocity. In other words, she was well versed in the ways of fighting in this Buffer stage.

His special-attack gauge was already pretty full, but before he could spread the wings on his back and escape into the sky, Chocolat’s thrust reached him. He didn’t have time to guard with his arms or counterattack with his special attack, Head Butt.

Staring hard at the dark-brown fist closing in on him, he desperately groped for a way to turn this around. An effective way of stopping a rush was a quick punch to a weak point. He’d only fought with Chocolat once before, and that had been as an ally, so her weak points—

In a flash, a certain memory sprang up in the back of his mind.

Unconsciously, he opened his mouth as wide as it would go. The bottom of his visor slid open, and his avatar’s exposed mouth awaited Chocolat’s fist. If it had been the fist of a large avatar like Cyan Pile, this strategy would have ended in his avatar’s naked face taking a hard blow and his health gauge dropping quite a bit.

But Chocolat’s fist, small enough to slip through his cross guard, fit perfectly in Haruyuki’s open mouth. And he felt essentially no impact at all because Chocolat started to pull her fist back at the last second. It was a movement accompanied by a shrill cry echoing throughout the stage.

“Eeeaaaaah?!”

Her chain of hits at an end, Chocolat tried to pull her fist back, pushing on Haruyuki’s face with her other hand, but if he let her pull away now, she’d just start attacking him again. In a trance, Haruyuki grabbed the arm sprouting from his mouth and twisted Chocolat’s body to pull her down to the ground.

“Wh-wh-what are you doing?! This is a violation of the rules in the middle of the duel!!”

“Ooo heh ooo oon oh aah!”

You said you wouldn’t hold back was his intended retort, but Chocolat’s fist was jammed into his mouth, so all that came out was unintelligible noise. There was also a particular sweetness that filled his mouth. To be honest, it was rather tasty.

“Gah! D-don’t lick meeeee!!” Chocolat’s cries were nearly drowned out by the protests from the Gallery.

“Hey! What’re you doing to Chocolat?!” yelled Mint Mitten.

“I’m jealous—I mean, no fair!” shouted Plum Flipper.

“That’s pervy, Croooow!” yelped Lime Bell.

Telling himself that it was definitely not pervy and that it was in fact an intelligent strategy, Haruyuki chewed even harder.

“Nngh! …I—I won’t forgive this…!” Chocolat squirmed as she pinned Haruyuki down, thrusting her unharmed left hand out and shouting, “Cocoa Fountain!!”

Pink light poured from her fingertips to make a pool of chocolate bubble up from the ground nearby.

“And now…Puppet Make!”

A simple-shaped avatar slithered up from the pool, all narrow body and rounded head, Chocolat Puppeter’s automatic fighting doll.

“Get that lick-happy weirdo, Chocopet!”

At Chocolat’s command, the Chocolate Puppet aka Chocopet started running, and Haruyuki was forced to release its master’s hand. He left the puppet master on the ground panting for the time being and stood up to take care of the scion.

He had learned in his earlier battle with Chocolat that simple physical attacks didn’t work on the chocolate dolls. Their weak point was heat or a freezing blow or…being eaten.

Feeling relieved that there were only a few people in the Gallery, Haruyuki guarded against a Chocopet punch with one arm. The blow was ferocious enough that it was hard to believe it came from a doll, but unlike Chocolat, the mini ball of chocolate didn’t use the elasticity of the cushions, so he was able to get through it, more or less. Once the Chocopet stopped moving, he grabbed onto its arm, his mouth still exposed.

“Hom!” He bit down on the entire fist. It wasn’t quite as good as its master’s armor, but it was still pretty tasty. And surprisingly, his special-attack gauge was replenished, albeit very slightly.

“……”

The mouthless Chocopet retreated silently bit by bit.

“……”

Equally silent, Haruyuki advanced inch by inch.

Abruptly, the Chocopet turned around and started to run toward the chocolate pond. It was half its original size, but there was still plenty of dark-brown liquid left.

“Stop!” Haruyuki cried, instinctively guessing the pond would heal the Chocopet’s injuries, and pushed off the cushions of the ground with everything he had. The unexpectedly strong reaction gave acceleration to his dash, but he had too much force behind him now, so rather than catch up with the Chocopet, he ended up flying into the pond of chocolate with it.

Plrp. A viscous sensation enveloped his entire body. The liquid chocolate poured into his mouth, so he hurriedly closed his visor and then kicked and flailed until he was finally able to stand up.

In the center of his field of view, dyed a light brown, was the Chocopet in an attack posture, her hand healed just as he’d expected. Fine, I can chow down forever here! Haruyuki readied himself, but there was something strange about his enemy. It had taken an attack posture, but it appeared to be frozen like that for some reason.

“……?”

Haruyuki cocked his head to one side, and the Chocopet dropped its head in the same direction.

The reason it did not attack became clear three seconds later. Having recovered from Haruyuki’s licking attack, Chocolat dashed over at top speed, and no sooner had she put on the brakes than she was shouting, “Wh-what is going on here?! Which one is my Chocopet?!”

Haruyuki reflexively looked down at himself. Silver Crow’s shining silver armor had turned a dark brown, coated in chocolate from head to toe. And with his round head and slender body, he looked very much like a Chocopet. Apparently, it wasn’t just Chocolat; the Chocopet running on autopilot also seemed like it was not picking up Crow as a target for attack since he looked just like it.

“N-no fair! Show yourself immediately!”

How am I supposed to do that?! he very nearly shouted back before realizing something with a gasp. It was indeed a little unfair, but this was his chance, wasn’t it? If he could get just a little closer, he could cinch Silver Crow’s victory.

He slowly turned, conscious of moving like a Chocopet. He stepped out of the chocolate pond and moved briskly toward his opponent.

“Huh? Stop right there, Chocopet!”

The instant he was given the order, he froze in place.

“…So then, that one is Silver Crow…?” Chocolat turned her gaze toward the real Chocopet still in the pond.

“It was this one!” he shouted as he flew at her. He grabbed hold of the slender avatar’s hands and deployed the wings on his back. Using the elasticity of the ground, he took off.

“N-no faaaaaaaair!” Chocolat howled, and together they ascended to an altitude of two hundred meters in an instant. Half the duel time hadn’t yet passed, but thinking about what would have to come next, he needed to put an end to this now.

“L-let go! You!”

“You don’t have to ask twice!” He snapped his hands open. Chocolat blinked in midair before plummeting downward.

“Aaaaaaaah…” She receded into the distance, her cry fading out, and Haruyuki chased after her in a sharp descent.

This “bring ’em up and drop ’em down” strategy was Silver Crow’s most simple and effective plan for winning. The descent to the ground seriously damaged most duel avatars. But in this Buffer stage, he probably wouldn’t be able to win just by dropping her.

Just as he’d expected, when Chocolat plunged into the ground, she sank deeper and deeper into the cushions before being expelled with extreme force.

“…aaaaaaaaaah!”

The scream that had faded from earshot trickled back in. He brought his right hand down on the head of the rapidly approaching Chocolat in a chop. Pkaan! He heard the dry sound of collision, and the chocolate hat was ripped right in two.

The impact was amplified by the synergistic effect of the rapid descent and sudden ascent, and Chocolat’s health gauge immediately dropped by half. He passed the puppet master as she descended once again to land a minute before her and catch the falling Chocolat in both arms.

“Um, how about we call it a draw here?” he hurried to propose while his opponent was still dazed. “You must have come to Suginami because you wanted to talk, right?”

“……”

After a full five seconds or more of silence, Chocolat Puppeter replied, her head hanging, bereft of its trademark hat, “Well, I suppose I could do that for you.”

The duel ended, and having returned to the real world, Haruyuki hurried to disconnect his Neurolinker from the global net. As a general rule, he welcomed challengers other than Ash Roller, but having two battles in a row first thing in the morning was sure to make him sleepy in the middle of class.

The moment he let out a sigh of relief, a noticeably exasperated voice came to him from one side. “Haru, the way you fought there…”

“I’m not listening! I can’t hear yooouuu!” Haruyuki tried to plug his ears, but Chiyuri caught hold of his right hand and grinned.

“Good thing we were the only ones in the Gallery, huh? If anyone else had seen that, you’d have yourself a serious nickname right about now.”

“Sh-shut up. Kuroyukihime and Master both say that the duel is about playing it by ear, to use whatever there is you can use.”

“Still, I don’t know about licking your opponent in the middle of a duel, thoooough!”

“I’m sorry, Chiyuri. Please don’t tell Kuroyukihime and the others.”

“My lips might be sealed by a gelato from Enjiiiiya~.”

They chatted as they walked under the elevated bridge before getting serious again.

“But still…,” Haruyuki muttered.

Chiyuri nodded. “That was a surprise, huh?”

After accepting the draw, Chocolat Puppeter used the rest of the time to tell them the reason she had suddenly challenged him. And that reason was simply baffling, so Haruyuki hadn’t been able to say anything other than “I’ll tell our master.”

He couldn’t even imagine how Kuroyukihime would react, though. He needed to report to her as soon as possible and seek her instructions.

“All right!” Chiyuri suddenly whisper-hissed, likely thinking the same thing. “Haru, let’s run to school!”

“Wh-whaaat?!”

“If we get there early, we can talk to Kuroyukihime.”

“Sh-she might be late today…”

“And how would you know that?”

He could only respond with “I—I just do.” He definitely couldn’t tell her that Kuroyukihime had left the Arita house a mere twenty minutes earlier. “W-we can tell her at lunch. I mean, you have practice this morning, right, Chiyu?”

“Yeaaah, buuuut. I wanna tell her right away and surprise her, too!”

“Yeah, I guess she’s gonna be surprised, too, huh? Anyway, if we do it at lunch, Master and the others might be able to come to the meeting, too, via remote access.”

“Hmm. Well, that’s probably better, huh?” Chiyuri assented, and he was secretly relieved. If he ran in this humid heat, he might very well collapse of dehydration before he reached the school.

But his childhood friend apparently didn’t miss Haruyuki’s relief, and she said with a grin, “So instead of jogging, let’s play vocabulary games until we get to school.”

“H-huh…”

“The words we memorize here might be on the test the day after tomorrow! C’mon! Here we go!” Chiyuri ran her hand through the air, and a request for an ad hoc connection appeared in his field of view. He had no sooner accepted it than the application launched and the word CRUNCH was displayed, while a five-second countdown began.

“Chew up!” he shouted, and the CORRECT bell sounded, but Chiyuri erupted in laughter. Why? He glanced to his side before realizing she was probably remembering Haruyuki crunching away on the Chocopet’s hand during the duel. “C-c’mon, be serious!”

“S-sorry, sorry. Um…” Chiyuri dropped her eyes to her own vocabulary app, and no sooner had her eyes lit upon the LICK displayed there than she was clutching her stomach and exploding with laughter once more.

 



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