Chapter 1:
End of Service Notice
—Games are the greatest pastime.
Sword & Magic Online.
The first ever VRMMO made possible by utilizing 'Neuro Connect', a technology which lets you dive into virtual reality. Equipping the headgear, it intercepted your brain waves and let you experience an adventure in a world of swords and magic. A world from a formerly famous science fiction novel had suddenly become reality.
Imitating that sci fi novel, the game was a classical RPG. It wanted you to conquer the 255-floor-tall tower that soared high in the sky to free the 'Goddess of Creation' held captive at the top. At its peak, the number of simultaneously logged in players was about 50000, the size of its floors - judging by the first one
- was about the size of land enframed by the Yamanote line.
Its catchphrase was, "The world's first, biggest, and best VRMMO."
All the maniacs had raided the beta test application. However, the developer argued that, 'There'd be too much of an advantage between beta testers and ordinary players,' and limited the number of participants to an utmost minimum. That secrecy fanned the hype even more and the players'
expectations shot through the roof.
And thus, 'Sword & Magic Online' got released.
It'd been three months since.
The impressions of the players who had logged in brimming with enthusiasm could only be summarized with these words—
Azrael shouted with a beet-red head after she had returned.
"Why?! Why would there be lag in a VRMMO?! Aren't the devs' brain cells the thing that's bugged?! Hamsters could've progged this game better! Like, seriously, just go and die in a hole, you shitty devs—!"
She kept venting her anger by stabbing the floor.
And each time the game kept returning, [Indestructible Object], [Indestructible Object].
"This game hasn't changed since the beta test at all—!"
Azrael was one of the longest-term players. It appeared she'd used some connections to get into the closed beta. Considering that, her level was low, she had few friends— few players on her friend list, but— according to her, "My level got drained by a bug!"
"Umm, Azrael-san?"
Lizna had raised her voice, one of her few friends. 15 years old. She had fluffy, medium-long hair and wore a robe with a high exposure like a mini skirt. On her back, she carried a giant mace contradicting her childish appearance.
"In other words, you died by 'seppuku,' right?"
"Hnng. T-That's right, but… don't makes it sound like I'm some dishonored soldier."
"Hmm, I see…"
Lizna mumbled and took the mace in a backhand grip for some reason.
She shoved it against her exposed abdomen and muttered, "Hmm, a mace won't do, huh…?"
"Hmm… Ah, Sasaraki-kun. Would you mind trying to cut your stomach open a bit?"
"Why—?! I won't, okay?!"
"I'd reeeally like to see a seppuku, you know…?"
It troubled him to be told that with such a broad smile.
"R-Rather, here, chests! 'Legendary' chests!"
Sasaraki pointed at two enshrined treasure chests emitting a golden shine. It was the reward for clearing a dungeon which had been beyond their level. You could only obtain rare items from these legendary chests. There was also a bug (or a feature according to the devs) which made it harder to get rare items the higher your level was, but that's a different story.
"Errr… Before we open it, let's get the needs straight."
"If it's a magic sword, it's mine. If not, you two can have it, sounds good?"
Magical swords were a separate sword category and solely useable by Azrael's job, 'Arc Sword.' They had names like 'Gram' or 'Laevateinn' and were probably just Azrael's taste. 'Probably' because since they had shown the swords in the preview video just before the game went on sale, nobody had seen the real thing.
"Isn't there something wrong with the loot table?"
...the rumors wondered— Anyways, Azrael was longing for a magical sword.
After all, the sword illustrated in the manual was so cool.
"...That'd be really unfair to you, wouldn't it?"
Chances for a magical sword to turn up were almost zero, after all.
However, Azrael laughed proudly.
"Sasaraki, you don't get it."
Azrael clenched her fist and said,
"The power of faith— overcomes chance—!"
"T-That so?"
"That's so—!"
He could do nothing but nod after seeing Azrael's shining eyes.
"Ah, please wait a second!"
Lizna said. She sneaked something out of her pocket. It was a colorful, 1 cm big cube. An 'Item Cube'. A magical container which allowed you to store large items. Basically, this was how you carried items with you.
The downside was that you could carry only ten of them. Ten and ten only.
Because of that, it was of utmost importance to the player to do proper item selection.
"It's the 'Fluffy-Fluffy Bunny Tail', please use it!"
He remembered that name. It was a good luck charm that a bunny had dropped some time ago, Lizna had told him proudly. If you carried it with you, it increased the chances for a rare item drop. According to its description there was also a 1% chance that the item would break every time you opened a chest.
"Eh… Y-You sure? It might break, you know?"
Azrael glanced at the cube and asked.
"If it happens, it happens!"
"No, I mean, you can't repair it, you know…"
"You don't want your magical sword?"
"Uh~"
"Ehehe~ It's fine, chances it'll break are only 1%."
"T-That's right, huh?! Just 1%!"
Azrael accepted the cube and smiled happily.
"Alright, time to open it! C'mon, Magical Sword Gram—!"
Azrael put her hands on the chest.
...Must be nice…
Looking at the two enjoying themselves, he thought that the game had its good sides, after all.
Even in this bug-infested world, you could have fun as long as you were with your teammates.
If possible, I'd like to be in that circle too—
Right after he wished for that…
A blazing light covered the room.
In front of Azrael, a sword was hovering above the chest.
It was a longsword, about 80 cm. Its edge emitted a purplish-red aura.
The item window popped up beside the sword.
[ "Forged by the Demons" Magical Sword Gram Item level: 88 Special Attributes: Critical Chance +50%]
"Eh...E-Eh? F-For real—?!"
Azrael's expression changed from surprise to joy.
Lizna was brimming like a ray of sunshine.
Sasaraki broke into a smile, too. They did it. The real deal magical sword.
Lizna's good luck charm had done its job!
"WE DID IT, AZRAEL, LIZ—"
Sasaraki tried to shout and right after…
[Player Azrael carries the maximum number of possession cubes.]
The robotic system voice announced.
['Magical Sword Gram' couldn't be transformed into a cube. Cancelling the event.]
"Eh—?"
Crack.
The magical sword was smashed in an instant.
Azrael's mouth still maintained its shape from saying 'Eh.'
"Maximum—? Oh, ah! The possession cube limit!"
If you reached the maximum number of possession cubes, new items would be scrapped without a warning. A really rotten bug— I mean, 'feature;' according to the devs.
To avoid that bug from happening, you usually would adjust the number of possession cubes you carried with you before a boss fight, of course.
However, Azrael was now carrying ten cubes. Because of Lizna's good luck charm.
The next instant...
[Rolling… Fumble. 'Fluffy-Fluffy Bunny Tail' broke.]
Snap. The cube quickly cracked apart and dissolved into light.
It seemed like they had hit the 1% chance.
"The power of faith— overcomes chance—!"
Azrael's words from earlier revolved in Sasaraki's head.
Wait. What is this? What's with this— absurd combo?
"I— I'm sorry—!"
Lizna shouted. Tears welled up in her eyes.
"Just because I gave you that good luck cube, the cube limit… It's my fault—!"
Azrael suddenly came back from her daze.
"It's not your fault—! Rather, I should be sorry for breaking your cube!"
"I'm really sorry, I'll commit seppuku to redeem myself—!"
"Just how much do you wanna commit seppuku?!"
"I-It's fine, you two! There's still one chest left—!"
He stopped Azrael and Lizna in a snap.
"...So what?"
"Errr, I just thought it might be a magical sword…"
"What are you blabbering, that's impossible. We're talking magical sword, magical sword !"
It certainly was an item so rare, that no one had gotten their hands on it since the day the service had started.
Two of them showing up in a row was nothing short a miracle. And yet—
"We'll never know… if we don't try."
Sasaraki said and squatted down in front of the chest. From behind he could hear her grieve, "It's impossible, I tell you," and Lizna taking a deep breath.
Sasaraki, too, took a deep breath and prepared himself.
They'd never know if they didn't try— that had been a lie.
In truth, he knew.
Actually, the magical sword—
Would definitely drop.
I didn't… wanna have to rely on this.
No matter what kind of excuses he made, it was an exploit and nothing else.
He was even likely to receive a permaban— and get permanently expelled from the game.
But—
Sasaraki turned around and looked at the two. Azrael looked resigned with a few tears in her eyes, mumbling, "O-Of course it won't drop, that's just…" Next to her Lizna watched over Sasaraki anxiously.
If the magical sword does drop, those two will surely be overjoyed.
And making my hands dirty… can make it possible.
So— What am I hesitating for?
"Execute Skill 'Adventurer.'"
Sasaraki said. 'Adventurer' raised the chance for a chest drop from monsters by 30 percent. It was Sasaraki's special skill. In short, it was useless right now. The reason he executed it anyway was the golden twinkle that covered his hand.
That golden effect was the same they used for boss defeats.
And the same kinda 'Lag' came with it.
And Sasaraki knew just the underhanded trick to use it for.
Alright, I can do this.
Sasaraki lifted up the chest. And shook it several times. When he repeated that a bunch of times— something slightly stuck out from a gap in the chest. It was the tip of a sword, but in split seconds it changed into the laces of some boots, then into the bottleneck of a potion.
It were the chest's contents.
The two objects' locations had gotten out of sync and the contents could be seen.
In this game, the loot was definite when opening the chest.
And before you opened it, the loot changed in fixed intervals. That shifting stopped the second you opened the chest. In this arrangement, if combined with the content peek 'feature'— he could go for any rare item.
"Now—!"
The moment he had spotted a dark-red sword tip, Sasaraki opened the chest vigorously.
Gently, the silhouette of a sword hovered in the air.
""EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH—?!""
As if chaining right onto their voices, the system voice echoed throughout the labyrinth.
[Player Sasaraki acquired 'Magical Sword Gram.' Commencing cube transformation.]
* * *
After they had left the dungeon, the three returned to town. In this world, there was only one town. Situated in the heart of the first floor, it was the first town, called 'Start.' Azrael always grumbled towards this hopeless naming sense, 'May your heads explode, devs!'
Be that as it may, the three of them had gathered in front of Start's castle gate.
"For the time being… umm…"
Azrael glanced at 'Magical Sword Gram' which dangled at her hips.
She seemed to be hesitant about something, when finally…
"...T-Thanks… for your efforts today."
Lizna chuckled besides her.
"Sasaraki-kun, she actually wants to say, 'Thank you, I appreciate it!'"
"Wha—?! Don't interpret my words however you want! It's totally not like that, okay—?!"
"You made a huge jump in Azrael Points!"
"What are those meaningless points?!"
"If you collect 100 of them, Azrael-san will marry you."
"Those points will be at zero for all eternity, alright?! A-Anyways—!"
Azrael cleared her throat with a cough.
And holding up 'Magical Sword Gram' together with its scabbard, she glared at Sasaraki.
"Sasaraki. I'll definitely return the favor."
"Eh… No, don't worry about it."
He'd only gotten it by using an exploit and they'd promised to give magical swords to Azrael, to begin with.
If she'd be grateful, it'd rather worry him.
"My Deathannouncer Angel pride won't allow that."
Azrael said and put her hand to her chin.
"But we're talking about a magical sword here… What could hold a candle to that…?"
She started to ponder. In this game, all business came down to item trading.
There was a currency, but the economy had broken down completely— thanks to a widely known gold dupe— and so valuable items couldn't be bought with money.
"—Hmm, can't be helped. Sasaraki. Come here for a bit."
She signalled him to come over with her hand. For now, he went. Right then, in a flowing motion Azrael untied the big brooch that held her cloak together. Lizna raised her voice with a, "Wah—!"
"A-Azrael-san, you're going that far?!"
"It really is a waste if it's Sasaraki, but I made up my mind."
"You're that determined—?! But that'll violate the Youth Protection Code, you know?!"
The Youth Protection Code. A system which held up the game's morals and prevented physical and psychological intimity between boys and girls. The penalties were absurdly grave; if you kissed, you'd splatter across the floor and on top of that there were players whose names had even been put on the bad words filter.
"—Eh—?!"
And so an act that could violate that code would be— Her face lit up.
"Wai—! W-W-W-W-What do you think I'm doing—?!"
"You're stripping right now! Seductively!"
"It isn't seductive—! I'm just handing over the brooch—!"
"It is seductive! Am I right, Sasaraki-san?!"
"Uh…"
Seeing Azrael with a face red like that really had raised his awareness of the situation.
"Anyways, Sasaraki! Back to topic!"
After she had cleared her throat with a cough, she presented the brooch.
"Accept it. It's the 'Tear of the Goddess.'"
Azrael smiled haughtily.
"It's item level 80 and a quest item needed to communicate with the goddess on floor 255!"
"Why do you have something like that?"
"I found it in town in a back alley the other day."
"...Yeah, right, I see."
An item of the last floor's quality falling down to the first floor's town.
He didn't know about other games, but it seemed quite possible to happen here.
"But I can't accept it, it's way too valuable."
"Why?"
"Because I want Azrael Points, not that."
"Please don't mimic my voice, okay, Lizna?! The reason is…"
All I did was using an exploit— he couldn't bring himself to say that.
Azrael'd be dejected if she knew that he simply exploited a bug to get it.
"Errr, look, you need it for a quest."
"So?"
"So when the time comes and you don't have it with you, you know, that'd be bad, right?"
But she only cocked her head in puzzlement with a, "Hah?"
"That doesn't really matter, right?"
Azrael put a fist to her hips and pointed at Sasaraki with the other hand.
She then mumbled.
"It's enough as long as one of the party members has the item."
He thought about it for a few seconds.
It certainly was true that only one party member needed to have the quest item with them for everyone to benefit. So as long as Azrael and Sasaraki were in a party, both of them could do the quest just fine. Yeah, there was no problem at all.
And yet, why— was his heart throbbing?
"W-W-Wah—!"
Lizna rejoiced.
"Azrael-san! That was so beautiful just now—!"
"Hah? What was?"
"You see…"
Lizna clenched her fist close to her heart, her cheeks blushed slightly.
"'Until the last boss we'll always be together'— is what you mean, right?!"
Three seconds. Four. Five went by when Azrael's cheeks finally flared up. Like a goldfish she opened and closed her mouth a few times, but nothing came out.
Sasaraki was the same. Something hot was welling up within his heart and he couldn't breath.
"Wha— That's no— I didn't mean it like— Wai— Sasaraki! What are you blushing for, you're not misunderstanding something, are you?! It's definitely, completely, not a shred like that, alright—?!"
Azrael's frantic voice echoed to the skies, and faded.
* * *
Sasaraki had split up with the two girls and was walking around town by himself.
Lizna and Azrael had been forced to log out since their 'Youth Health Login Time'
had been up. The 'Youth Health Login Time' was a time limit that had been 36
decided by the parliament because of VR familiarization and was determined by a brain waves test called 'Reality Control Measurement.' Azrael and Lizna had four hours, Sasaraki six.
"A lot… has happened today, huh…?"
He was at 'Teleport Plata' in the center of Start. Paved with marble, it had - as you'd guess from its cheap name - eighty magic squares on it in grid-shape, which served as teleporters. This should've been the place to travel for players.
I say should've been because due to a certain 'feature,' nobody used the teleporters.
Hence, there was little traffic and it was a good place to think.
Taking to himself, Sasaraki continued walking around.
He took out the brooch from his pocket.
The 'Tear of the Goddess' twinkled in the sunlight.
He recalled their words from when they had parted just now.
"Sasaraki-kun, let us answer Azrael's feelings, okay~?!"
"How many times do I have to tell you that I didn't mean it like that—?!"
His cheeks blushed. Of course it was just like Azrael had said, she shouldn't have meant it in a romantic way. But— although she had rigorously denied everything Lizna said, she didn't demand the brooch back.
Maybe she had acknowledged him as a member?
If so— he'd be happy, and his heart hurt from throbbing.
"I really did use an exploit, huh…?"
It had already been a while by now, but he really did take advantage of a system flaw and exploited it. Even if it was to make the both of them happy, and moreover to make up for the bug that had put them in a spot to begin with, had 37
his action really been just? He had turned this question over in his mind several times already, with no definite answer.
On the other hand, he couldn't tell them the truth.
Azrael's eyes had sparkled when she received her magical sword.
Turning that sparkle into disappointment was something Sasaraki couldn't take.
"Yeah… I'll have to take it to my grave."
Sasaraki clenched his fists and steeled his resolve.
"But, a quest item for the last floor, huh…? Will I ever get the chance to use it?"
The last floor.
That it existed alone was the only thing people knew about it.
"Isn't it on the teleport list?"
He muttered and walked on top of a teleporter.
Together with white smoke, a dictionary-like book appeared hovering in front of Sasaraki's eyes. It had the feeling of a grimoire to it, made out of parchment and with a purple cover. The title said, 'Goddess Alice's Codex.' It appeared to be the book from which you'd pick the location to teleport to.
'Appeared to be' because he hadn't used it yet since there was a bug with the processing logic within the teleport mechanism that caused your equipment to not teleport correctly. Namely— you'd arrive naked.
Literally naked.
Thanks to that bug, a great number of female players seemed to have quit the game.
"The devs really are funny in the head, yep."
Murmuring that, Sasaraki opened 'Goddess Alice's Codex.' A two page spread saying, 'First Floor: The Place Where the World Starts,' appeared. He kept turning page after page until he finally arrived at the last one. A mostly blank page.
There was only one line at the top which stated the floor's name.
[255th Floor: Angband Depths, Goddess Alice's Eternal Prison]
"...The 255th floor, huh…?"
He gripped the 'Tear of the Goddess' he had received from Azrael.
This brooch would come in handy at the 255th floor. However, it had been three months now since the service had started and no one had even cleared the first floor yet. The content size was ridiculous. It was ought to decrease from the second floor onwards, but how many years would the road to floor 255 take?
How many adventures would await them until then?
Thinking about that— made his chest pound, after all.
This world really was amazing.
There were kinda a lot bugs and actually there weren't just 'kinda' a lot bugs and you could easily cheat rare items and you usually died to bugs thrice a day and the devs insisted they were 'features' and didn't do a thing about them and this game was so much of a kusoge at times that all you could was wonder...
But, it was an undiscovered fantasy world.
The first floor was an orthodox world of grasslands, but what would the second floor be like? Or the third? And beyond that? What kinda dungeon, whose name alone he knew, would 'Angband' be? What would Goddess Alice, waiting in its depths, look like?
He didn't know how many years it'd take, but if he kept playing the game—
"I might be able to— meet the goddess someday, won't I?!"
Right after he had clenched his fists and said that…
"How about we meet right away?"
A girls' voice echoed from the 'Tear of the Goddess.'
"...Hah?"
"I've finally found you— Debug command 1984, execute!"
Something strange happened immediately. 'Goddess Alice's Codex''s entirety emitted a pale blue light. The 255th floor's page that Sasaraki had opened turned once more— it was supposed to be the last page in the book, but something was peeling off from behind it.
Peel. Peelpeel.
Finally, it appeared. A page, painted out black, as if ink had splashed all over it.
And in the middle of it, it said in white letters…
[256th Floor: Angband Backstage, Goddess Alice's—]
Before he could read it to the end, the world distorted. It was something different than the teleport effect. The whole world warped with noise and discloakd in a hexagon matrix. His head was spinning. Obviously, this wasn't a normal teleport.
Sasaraki wore a dry smile.
He didn't exactly know what was going on, but one thing he knew for sure.
—He had been caught in a really bad bug.
* * *
Once the bugged teleport effect ended, his vision returned.
Sasaraki stood with his mouth wide-opened.
He thought he'd be teleported to some bugged place, but that wasn't the case.
It was a space battleship's bridge. At least that's what he thought it was at first.
The room had a robotic feeling to it and was made out of a black metal. When he looked up, the ceiling had round openings with bluish-white light in it. And those illuminated the whole room.
In the corner of his eye the text with the area's name floated up.
[256th Floor: Angband Backstage, Goddess Alice's Debugging Room]
"Debugging Room?!"
The room where the developers would test the game and had complete control over items, completion flags, and statuses. At least that's what it was in Sasaraki's imagination. Basically, it was the developer's secret room where players weren't supposed to set their feet in.
And that's where he was in right now—
"Huh? But…"
He panicked and looked around, but there wasn't a single developer in sight.
Are all the developers away right now? He thought, when...
"You did well coming this far—"
A voice echoed within the room.
Followed by a slow, electronic sound, the wall within the room transformed into a gigantic display.
Thereafter, Sasaraki's consciousness got captivated by the girl on the screen.
"—Wah—"
It was a silver-haired angel. Wearing a thin dress colored white and light blue.
Her body was clad in a transient white cape and from behind a slight halo surrounded her. That kind of girl was looking at Sasaraki and— began to smile.
"Nice to meet you, Player-san!"
"...Huh?"
What a simple-minded greeting, indeed.
"You're— Ah, it's on screen now. Sasaraki, right?"
The girl clapped, smiling again.
"Sasaraki. Yep, sounds refreshing and just like a young knight, really. A good name, isn't it?"
He was praised all of a sudden.
"Eh, ah, yeah, thank you…?"
"What's wrong? You've been looking sorta out of it."
"Well, frankly, I've no idea what's going on."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Wait a second, I'll be right there."
"Eh?"
"A player's come here, so it should work now— Main skill 'Advent,' activate!"
The girl shouted and right after, intense light and noise pierced the debugging room.
"Wah—?!"
A pillar of light appeared right next to Sasaraki.
The light particles flowed from the floor, up to the ceiling. Like a waterfall in rewind.
Within that pillar floated the girl from just now.
However, something was different about her appearance.
She didn't wear a dress. Actually, she didn't wear anything at all.
"Wai—"
"Eii—!"
The girl shouted before Sasaraki could say anything.
An even stronger light emitted and immediately, the pillar disappeared.
What's left were Sasaraki and the girl floating in the air.
Soft-footed, the girl alighted to the ground, her silver hair sunk gently.
She looked at her hands, her arms— and then smiled once again.
"Yep, perfect. Teleport successful—!"
"Wai— Y-Your clothes! They're gone, you know?!"
They really were. Not just her dress or so, her underwear was gone, too. Hence, he could see her bare skin. Her slightly protruding chest, or her long and slender legs, or that part at the root of her legs; anyway, all of this silver-haired girl lay bare before him.
Not good, I've to avert my eyes.
Even that kind of thought got absorbed by the naked body in front of his eyes.
Uwa, so that's what a girl looks like dow— Wait, what's wrong with me?!
"Hm? Clothes?"
The girl looked down at herself. She blinked.
Then she looked at Sasaraki, back at her chest, and repeated that once again.
"Huh? Shouldn't the Youth Protection Code— Oh, I see, I'm not treated as a player."
She had mumbled something. And then her eyes met with Sasaraki's.
The girl alternated her gaze between her own naked body and him.
Not good…!
Once she realizes I saw— He prepared to get slapped across the face, when...
The girl murmured with a serious expression.
"Hm. Should I be like this or wear clothes— What should it be?"
"........................Hah?"
What's with this question?
"There aren't just male players, right? The boy/girl ratio's about 9:1, if I remember correctly. It's not like I'm not getting the romance behind clearing the game and as a reward getting the girl to… But hmm. I've to make it so the game comes up with something based on the individual player…"
"Wai… Wait a—!"
"Ah, that's right. Sasaraki. What about you?"
The naked girl drew one step closer.
She inclined her head and asked with a carefree expression.
"Like this? Or clothes? What's better?"
"W-What's better—?!"
Sasaraki shot a fleeting glance downwards— and turned his eyes right back up as fast as he could.
"I-I think you should wear clothes—!"
"That so? Considering that, you look awfully happy, though."
"Wha— T-That's not true at all—!"
"Hmm? Well then…"
The girl flicked her fingers.
In an instant, the same clothes from before reappeared.
"Is this okay with you?"
Seizing his chest, Sasaraki nodded a few times.
His heart hadn't stopped throbbing yet.
On one hand, due to the impact of her naked body just now— On the other hand… could this girl be—?
"Let's start with introductions… Then again, that might be unnecessary, right?"
She winked.
"Maybe you know who I am?"
Sasaraki swallowed hard.
A girl whose main skill was 'Advent' and who - going by her looks - could be mistaken for an angel.
She looked much younger than he'd expected, but— there was no mistaking it.
"—You're Goddess Alice, right?"
"Beeeeehb. Wrong."
"Eh—"
She smiled mischievously.
"Well, I am Alice, but— I'm not really a goddess."
Alice put her hand to her ear and undid the earring.
After a closer look, it actually was a ten-sided dice. Juggling that with her hand, Alice said…
"Gods don't roll dices. I do."
She raised her left hand and opened her palm. A bulky book appeared together with the smoke effect from a teleport and floated above her. The cover said,
'Sword & Magic Online Rulebook.'
"Gods let people suffer, I let people have fun."
After her last line, she spun around and assumed a pose.
"Which is why you should call me like this!"
And then, with a smile as dazzling as the sun, she announced...
"'Genius Gamemaster Alice-sama!'"
* * *
Gamemaster.
Something like the god of a VRMMO, or maybe even above that.
Especially in 'Sword & Magic Online' their power was tremendous. The world got changed frequently due to the gamemasters' intervention. For instance, they had made a bank to deposit items in, or prohibited love.
Their goal was but one thing.
To let the players, who had come to this world, have fun—
"Which means a gamemaster is much greater than a goddess. Got it?"
Alice slammed her hand against the whiteboard which said, 'What's a Gamemaster?!'
Sasaraki had been told to sit down on a pipe chair. In front of him was Alice. She smiled at Sasaraki while standing on top of a big 'Ehime Mandarins' cardboard for some reason. She really seemed to enjoy herself.
"...Why a whiteboard?"
"Because I'm most accustomed to it. When it comes to explaining something, whiteboards are best."
Alice slapped her hand against the whiteboard a few times, smiling. It felt like he'd lose the moment he started to care.
"Once again: My name's Alice, I'm this world's gamemaster."
"A developer, so to say, right?"
"You could say that, huh?"
But no matter how you looked at her, she was definitely younger than Sasaraki.
Due to the infamous 'Virtual Reality Harmonization Law,' a VR game character couldn't diverge from the player's real gender, age, and appearance too much, so everyone in this world was supposed to look pretty much like they did in real life—
"Alice, how old are you?"
"I had twelve birthday parties so far."
So she was three years younger than Sasaraki, 12 years old. Way too young.
"Why are you a gamemaster with 12?"
"Because I'm a genius."
"This isn't a matter of being a genius or not, you know?!"
"It is!"
All Sasaraki could do was be silent.
"Errr… Then why did you call me?"
"Because I was locked up."
Alice explained it. Her initial job was 'The Creator,' but due to some peculiar settings, her first spawn had been in prison and unable to get out, she was in a bind. So she had used the 'Tear of the Goddess' to seek help.
"Waitwaitwait?!"
There were way too many things to tsukkomi on.
"Isn't the 'Tear of the Goddess' supposed to be used on the last floor?"
"Floor flags actually become dysfunctional when you stand on a teleporter."
"EEEEEEEH—?!"
He'd come to know yet another worthless bug.
"Also, isn't it bad when the goddess arbitrarily breaks out of prison?"
This girl was basically the game's goal.
If the imprisoned goddess would just walk around freely, the story would come to nothing.
"Even goddesses want to take a stroll, you know?"
"Yeah, but you could've asked another gamemaster to help you."
"I would have done that, if I could."
"What's wrong? Are you on bad terms?"
"Hmm, that's not it— Let's not talk about it."
Alice expressed a refreshing smile.
"Rather, I want to know more about you , Sasaraki."
"I'm just an ordinary player, you know?"
"Exactly because you're an ordinary player."
Alice chuckled enjoying herself.
"Isn't it obvious? Hearing the story of a player who's visited my world…"
Linking her hands behind her back, she slightly bent over her body.
"...is the most enjoyable thing there is?!"
Alice said with a genuinely happy expression.
"I-Is that so…?"
He didn't really get it, but maybe gamemasters just were like that.
In any case, it didn't feel bad to be told that with a smile. Sasaraki began telling his story bit by bit. How he had first logged in a month ago, how he had two comrades here, how he had successfully cleared his first dungeons with them earlier.
When he told Alice that, she suddenly broke into a smile.
"Really?! Congratulations on your first clear—!"
She grabbed Sasaraki's hand and shook it.
Appearingly, she was as delighted as if it'd been her own feat. It was somewhat embarrassing.
"T-Thank you?"
"Hey, wanna watch the play record?"
The play record was an automatic album feature which saved adventures in video format. After Sasaraki nodded, it started playing on the screen. She fast-forwarded it to the 'Balrog' boss kill.
"You did good winning at that level. It was hard, wasn't it?"
"Well… it's thanks to Azrael's efforts."
He pointed at Azrael on screen as she was wielding both her swords making a serious face.
At that moment, Alice's expression grew serious too, leaking a, "Mumu?!"
"That's Azrael, something wrong?"
"Sasaraki… this girl's…"
Alice faced him with a stern face and said…
"...boobs are big , aren't they?"
"Guha—?!"
Alice chuckled.
"A good comrade, isn't she? You should treasure her."
"That advice doesn't seem as nice after that comment just now, you know?!"
"Ehehehehe~"
It's hopeless, she's totally pulling my leg.
Meanwhile, the video had reached Azrael's seppuku scene.
"Aah, that one— The ticket's flagged red in the database, if I remember correctly."
"Flagged red?"
"That's one category on our bug tracker. Red means it has an influence on game progression, a critical bug."
"So you do have bug management, more or less…"
Considering that, there hadn't been a single bug fix yet, though.
"It's ticket #60035, 'Positional desync accompanied by lag,' isn't it?"
"Wait, what's with that number?"
"It's the ticket entry number, something wrong?"
"There are 60000 other critical bugs?!"
This game was way too outrageous.
"Hmm, I always want to watch the players, but there's just no time to— Hm?"
Forwarding the video, Alice's hands suddenly stopped.
When Sasaraki took a look, it was the scene where he had looted 'Magical Sword Gram.'
"Hm. This is an unknown bug— I think?"
"Ah…"
The scene where he used an exploit to get his hands on a rare item.
It probably spelled trouble if a developer like Alice saw that.
"Mhm, mhm, I see."
Alice talked to herself with a pokerface. Finally, she turned to Sasaraki.
Should I apologize? He thought, but Alice was the first to ask…
"Sasaraki, did you discover that bug?"
"Eh…? Yeah, but…"
"Then why did you use it for such a weak item?"
"Eh—?"
"You could take whatever rare item you want, right?"
She said in a tone that bore genuine curiosity.
"Why, huh…? It'd just be boring if I did that."
"Is that so? I think it'd be fun. Everyone'd call you hero. That pink-haired girl and the big-boobed one and everyone else too, all would come and pamper the hero."
"That's—"
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