Chapter 3:
I'm the Only One Who Knows That This World Is Reality
Kisara had disappeared.
Yet, the player's vigor had not. First, they'd formed a search party to find their missing Kisara. They checked every corner from floor one to floor two. While there were people saying that she might've just logged out due to the shock, the fanatics who'd been close to her turned a deaf ear.
Thanks to that state of affairs, the second floor was bustling with a huge number of people. The active player count was on the rise, too. Someone had launched an ad campaign with the slogan, [The VRMMO Where You Fight the Devs], which had attracted a lot of people. A reason for big celebration for the management.
However, there was one problem— Azrael was feeling super down.
"Will Azrael-san be fine…?"
Lizna was sitting on a chair in the debugging room and let her feet dangle in the air. She was on boss fight duty all the time these days and just having a short break right now. Azrael had gone off somewhere. Probably to look for Kisara again.
"So you can't find Kisara-chan? Even with TP?"
"No… How to put it, we've hit all sorts of limits…"
What kinds of limits? The amount of shame both Azrael and Sasaraki could endure, for instance. Licking milk was already plenty dangerous, and redoing that would cut the amount of TP received in half— which left nothing but straight-out sexual acts.
"Well I'm thinking that you're man and wife, so iiisn't that stuff fine?"
"We're just man and wife by bug, though."
"But you'd like to get lewd with Azrael-san, wouldn't you?"
Sasaraki choked big time. Lizna was awfully straight-forward with just about everything.
"I said it before, but I'm sure that you'd do good telling her those things, you know?"
"Putting aside that we're minors, we're not even in that kind of relationship, okay?!"
And then, he could hear a notification sound. It was a message from Azrael.
[Come over here.]
Just those three words. The coordinates were displayed on the screen. It was in a testing area.
"Guess I'm going for now."
"Yep. And Sasaraki-kun? I'll tell you something in all seriousness."
"...Which is?"
Lizna winked and gazed at Sasaraki.
"If you convey your feelings upfront— the two of you will be right back together."
* * *
Sasaraki and Azrael were on a vast, windy plain.
It was the first floor's testing area. At their feet a steamy hot spring. It was a hot spring with various ancient Greece-like things all around. Close to this impressive structure stood a modern dressing room, and in it were two people.
Why? Because the two of them were going to get in, of course. They were gathering TP to look for Kisara. It was Azrael's suggestion. Her expression had been determined. Since they would've definitely been peeked on, they did it somewhere far from the debugging room.
Well then. They had to strip naked to go into the hot spring. However, both of them were still in their usual outfits.
"............Ah, I-I wonder how the guild's doing, how about you?!"
Azrael said in order to distract.
"Ah, y-yeah. Looks like they keep going with their activities even with Kisara gone."
"But they're also looking for her, right? And yet there's no trace."
"She might be somewhere players can't enter."
"T-That's gotta be it, huh…? That's definitely it…"
And then they fell back silent.
An awkward silence passed. Not good. I can't even look at her face.
"...Um!" "...You know…?!"
Their voices overlapped.
"Ah, you first, Azrael." "Y-You first, Sasaraki."
Both of them withdrew simultaneously.
Sasaraki remained silent for a bit and then looked at the hot spring. Think, me!
Right! We don't both have to strip at the same time. It's better if Azrael changes and gets in first. The water's not that clear and I shouldn't be able to see her body. Alright, let's do it like that!
"So anyway, I'll go over there and in the meantime you can—"
"...That won't do."
"Eh—?"
"The snap fasteners on my clothes are hard to open… I-I can't take my clothes off by myself… so…"
His strategy had been thrown over in ten seconds.
"T-Then I'll shut my eyes and help you out of it."
"...They're pretty complicated, so… i-if you do it with your eyes shut, it'll make matters… worse…"
The enemy was getting reinforcements.
Azrael remained silent for a while, but at last, she gazed at Sasaraki with upturned eyes.
"S-So, umm… l-let's get it over with quickly…"
Those words shook his mind violently. At the same time, he felt an overwhelming sense of guilt welling up inside him. What the hell am I even doing?
Stripping Azrael and going into the hot spring with her while neglecting Kisara wh's still missing... I know it can't be helped, but— can't it really?
One thing's for sure, this is no time to hesitate.
………...E-EIII—!
THIS IS INEVITABLE! IT'S INEVITABLE!
Sasaraki pointlessly shouted in his heart while extending his hand towards Azrael's clothes—
[System Notice. The death penalty in this area has been intensified.]
A voice echoed between the two of them.
"...Eh?"
Next, a window popped up in the air. It was a message from Alice.
"Sorry to interrupt you when things were getting good, Sasaraki, but I messed up.
We've got an emergency."
"What do you mean, 'good?!' Wait, how do you know what's going on over here?!"
"You know, Fury d—"
"Aye-aye? That's enough, Alice-san~? "
Fury interrupted her.
"This is a message for Master? Umm, how should I put this...? ? "
Fury appeared to be pondering for a bit, then smiled,
"Oh, right— Your daughter has taken over? That's how you say it, right? ? "
She said in a fancy voice suited for the contents.
* * *
Thereafter, Fury, who'd now appeared right in front of them, was explaining the situation.
"So here are our dema~nds?"
The gist of it: When Alice and Fury were performing 'Immortal Pendant' tests in the testing area, Kisara had appeared out of nowhere. It was a place where ordinary players weren't supposed to be able to enter, but apparently she'd used a 'Black Dice' to fire a Debugging Beam and destroyed the boundary in the process.
Of course, she had refused to give herself up there.
And, of course, Alice had accepted the challenge, but the power of the 'Black Dice' - bugging everything out - had been too strong, even for Alice. And since the situation looked fun to her, Fury had switched sides to Kisara.
"You're just the worst, as always, you know?!"
"I humbly accept your compliment~?"
Fury scratched her head seemingly embarrassed.
"It'll be fine, Master. In the end, it's just an event. An event for the devs?"
"If things go wrong, this could be a game-ending event, you know? Definitely."
"HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM?! WHAT'S KISARA TRYING TO DO?!"
"Right, right, I've a message from Kisara for the both of you?"
Fury took out something like a scroll and read its contents out loud.
[Papa, Mama, I hope you are well.
Kisara was doing not so well for a bit.
But I am doing fine now. Because I have found the truth at last. This magical and slightly foul-mouthed green fairy told me everything. I've now found the reason why everyone in our world is losing their minds.
It is death.
The death that Mama governs.
The root of all evil is death in our world being far too forgiving.
The fairy knew a way to return death to its original punishment.
There is no other way to make Papa, Mama, and everyone else return to their senses.
It's a bit scary, but, but Kisara has to do it.
Papa, Mama, just a bit longer.
Please watch me.
Kisara will definitely show you how she saves Papa, Mama, and the whole world.
Kisara, Daughter of Deathbringer Angel Azrael]
Basically, things were as bad as he'd imagined.
"Fury, (I more or less already know, but) what's in that patch?"
"I-It couldn't be that Death Game Patch, could it?!"
Azrael went pale. The Death Game Patch was something Fury's former master had left behind. It turned the world into a place where people got married just by holding hands and pregnant just by kissing. The Death Game part was just a metaphor for marriage equaling death.
Fury wagged her finger, "Tsk, tsk."
"It's not a joke this time, this patch makes death 'fatal' in a real sense?"
"In a real sense…? That's not pos…"
Sasaraki felt a cold shiver running down his spine. This was Fury, the Fury who had tricked him countless times already, but— even if she was hiding something, she was restricted from lying by the system. Death was fatal— this had to be the truth.
"W-Wait a sec… It can't… Huh, KYAAAA—?!"
That moment, Azrael lost balance. Treading on the marble floor, slippery from the steam, with her bare feet, Azrael displayed a heroic slip. And hit her head magnificently. On the corner of the bathtub. Receiving 180 damage. And died.
"SHE DIED RIGHT AWAY——?!"
Five seconds after he'd shouted that reflexively, Azrael respawned at the spawn point in the dressing room.
"AND JUST RESPAWNED AS USUAL——?!"
"Ha~ah, busted already?"
"FURY—?! D-DID YOU TRICK ME AGAIN?!"
"No wa~y, I was totally telling the truth. And here's proof—"
Fury pointed upwards. He could hear a voice that sounded like Azrael.
But not in her usual tsun-tsun tone, in a more gentle one.
"Sucking milk from Sasaraki's finger made my heart race really fast. Especially when my tongue touched the tip of his finger, it made me shiver all the time. I'm a pervert.
No. I might be a pervert, but I'm a noble Deathbringer Angel pervert. How's that different from an ordinary pervert…? Maybe it's about how the finger is angled…?"
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—?!"
Azrael screamed.
"WHATISTHATWHATISTHATWHATISTHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"
"It's the fatal death penalty? It discloses the player's most embarrassing secrets?"
It was fatal. Socially.
"WHAT'S WITH THIS SICK 'N TWISTED FATALITY?! HOW ARE YOU READING MY
MIND?!"
"It makes your heart speak in your stead by utilizing the results from Fury-chan's investigations and guesswork?"
This kid was the worst. Doing a few twirls and giggles with a smile on her face, she was obviously enjoying that.
"That aside, we can't leave this alone, can we…?"
It had been the same with the Death Game Patch from before - a patch that had merely done extraordinarily stupid changes - but if this patch would be applied, it'd certainly be fatal. Who'd play a game in which all your embarrassing secrets got leaked when you died? Players would certainly stop playing, the service would get cancelled, Kisara would disappear.
And she still wasn't aware of that.
"Azrael, we've to hurry and save— Why are you bashing your head against the floor?!"
"THAT'SNOTITIT'SNOTTRUEIWASN'TTHINKINGANYTHINGABOUTTHATMILKYFING
ERSTUFFI'MNOTAPERVERT!"
Azrael had succumbed to the fatal condition.
"Wai—, Azrael, you have to calm down! We have to stop Kisara!"
"...Ha—!"
The moment he'd mentioned Kisara's name, Azrael came back to her senses.
"Let's go save her right away!"
Sasaraki manipulated the 'Master Screen' and a gate appeared in front of their eyes. After the incident with Azrael, they'd learned from their mistakes and prepared a gate that was constantly connected to the debugging room to prevent them being shut out like before.
"T-That's right, huh…? I wonder if she'll listen to what we have to say."
"If you're the one telling her, we'll be fine."
If there's someone who can persuade her, Azrael's the one. She's the one who's always worrying about Kisara. It wasn't like Sasaraki wasn't serious about this, but he couldn't get rid of his 'it'll all work out somehow'-kind of thinking.
Kisara's just more similar to Azrael, in personality and looks.
She's even doing the same stuff as Azrael right now.
Azrael seemed to be hesitant for a moment, but nodded at last.
"Yeah— let's go—"
She faced the gate and took a step forward— that moment,
*BACHIIIIIIIIIIIIIN*!
"KYAU—?!"
An electric shock struck Azrael's feet when she tried to pass through the gate.
She stepped backwards out of reflex. Sasaraki caught her in a hurry.
"Eh? I can't pass through…? Why?"
[SECURITY CLEARANCE ERROR. Permission to enter denied for Player Azrael.]
The usual system voice said.
"Denied…? Eh? Azrael can't enter the debugging room? So me neither?"
Sasaraki also timidly extended his hand. Together with the sensation of touching something slimy, his hand passed through the gate. Trying the same with one of his feet returned the same result. Apparently, he could pass through it. Was only Azrael prohibited from entering?
Fury put a hand to her mouth and giggled seemingly enjoying herself.
"You can limit access to the debugging room if you have gamemaster privileges, you know??"
Yeah, Kisara should've gotten her hands on Lizna's 'Immortal Pendant,' after all.
Holding gamemaster privileges basically turns you into a god around here. No wonder she was able to pull a fast one on Alice.
"Wait, so Kisara put that restriction in place? And just on Azrael?"
"............Eh?"
Azrael blinked incessantly.
"............A…u…"
She immediately dropped to the ground and let the tears flow.
"So she really grew to hate me—!"
"Nonono! She didn't give that impression at all, okay?!"
"But you can go see her and I can't…"
"There's gotta be some kind of misunderstanding! Probably, surely, without a doubt!"
No matter how he tried to console her, she didn't stop crying.
"Um, sorry to interrupt your flirt (blow up and die), but don't forget the time limit?"
"You mean until the patch gets applied? How much longer? And I can tell what you've really been thinking between the lines, you know?!"
"30 more minutes? And that weren't my real thoughts, just a cute little joke?"
"A-Anyway, Azrael, I'll be back soon."
He told the devastated Azrael. Her big, round eyes were filled with tears. Eyes just as big as Kisara's. She gazed at Sasaraki for a while and then lowered her eyes.
Azrael tapped both her index fingers together and nodded.
"............Yeah…"
Her voice was small, but he had the feeling that she did trust him.
I definitely won't let you down , he thought.
"Well then— Ah, right, do you still have that rainbow bread with you?"
If he brought some with him, it might come in handy with persuading Kisara.
"There's none left… But I made something new."
"Heeh? That's fine, too. What is it?"
"Sukonbu."
"............Sorry, could you say that again?"
"Sukonbu."
Azrael nervously took something out of her pocket.
It was a package of cheap sweet, sukonbu, that he was used to seeing. However, it was sparkling in rainbow colors.
"............Why sukonbu?"
"Eh? Sukonbu tastes great, right?"
Azrael expressed puzzlement.
"............Right, it does."
"I know, right?"
Seeing Azrael laughing a happy "Ehehe~," he couldn't bring himself to say anything more. I see, so that's how she is. I've heard before that she's a granny's kid, but oh well, it's a refreshing side to her… he thought, when,
"You know, Kisara's still a child and don't children love cheap sweets?"
"I see."
That was a logic he could agree with.
"And if you talk cheap sweets, it's gotta be sukonbu, right?"
"...I can see people thinking like that."
"Right?"
He had a feeling that it wouldn't do any good to tsukkomi any further than this.
Actually, maybe from the shock of being denied entrance, she seemed to have regressed a bit to being like a child. Anyway, after Sasaraki put the rainbow-colored sukonbu away in his pocket, he patted Azrael's head.
"I'll be right back. And when I return, I'll definitely have her with me."
"Please hurry up and go already, or I'll blow you up?"
* * *
A spectacle that gave him a feeling of deja vu was unfolding in the debugging room.
Pillars, reminiscent of an ancient Greek temple. Marble flooring. And in the center of all that was not a throne, but for some reason an object made out of stone, like a cliff that was rising out of the Mediterranean Sea. The top of that rocky structure was as even as Table Mountain, and there she stood, Kisara.
Her cloak swaying, she faced the pitch black Main Screen.
Wings had sprung from her back. White wings just like an Angel's.
Seeing that, Sasaraki completely understood.
She is, without a doubt, our child.
"...Mama, I've found the recording. You weren't wrong."
Kisara turned around. Her eyes were closed and she had a smile on her face.
"It's the world that's wrong. Well then, this time for sure— I'll take you back!"
She opened her eyes vigorously and extended her hand.
"—Mama, you'll become the real deathbringer angel!"
Sasaraki stood there dumbfounded, wondering what a 'real deathbringer angel'
was. Kisara froze up on the spot and stared at him. She didn't even twitch with one of her fingers. Even if he would've waited for her for all eternity, she wouldn't have moved, so Sasaraki had no choice but to open his mouth.
"............Sorry, it's just papa."
Kisara opened her mouth halfway. She looked to her right. Then she looked to her left.
And yet, she couldn't find mama.
"Please wait. Why is Papa here?"
"Because I was the only one able to come here."
"That is strange. Kisara was sure she made it so that only Mama could enter."
Kisara grabbed the silver pendant on her neck— Lizna's 'Immortal Pendant.' It made a 'BOOHN' noise and then it said 'Access Permissions Player Azrael Only'
on the Main Screen.
"See?! I made sure to set it up like that!"
"...Yeah, it's probably a boundary inversion bug."
"Baundery invershon?"
To put it simple, it was an awfully basic bug which caused a condition like 'only X'
to turn into 'anything but X.' Azrael had been grumbling about that before. The workaround was to use 'anything but X' if you wanted 'only X.' Of course it was nothing more but that: A mere workaround.
—He explained that to Kisara.
"All the lines I thought up are pointless now, you know—?!"
Kisara was at her wits' end.
"Papa! It's unexpected that you're the one here! Please wait a moment!"
"Ah, sorry, I'm in a hurry, there's a time limit ticking on."
Over Kisara's head, to her right-hand side, was a rotating 'Data Cube.'
Apparently, the aforementioned patch was stored in there. During Azrael's accident, the 'Data Cube' had gotten disposed in the electron shredder. But that didn't seem to be the case this time around.
"Kisara, please hand me that."
"...Why?"
"That cube isn't what you think it is."
"I know."
"I'll just say it once again: I'm sure that you do not know."
Going by her earlier messages and his experiences with her, he was sure she did not understand.
He was sure of that— However,
"No, I understand— This is something important to Mama and Papa."
"That much is true."
"That's why…"
Kisara drew her sword from her back. It's blade flashed silvery.
"At times like these, I should say… Oh right, this!"
She sliced a cross into the air. As soon as she did that, a whirlwind appeared. A golden whirlwind. It swirled and danced around her blade. The wind reached Sasaraki and brushed his cheek. It felt hot; as if it transmitted Kisara's passion.
Kisara shouted,
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