Chapter 1.2

Chapter 1 Part 2

At the time of translating this, I was working on it during the downtimes of watching TI9 so please excuse any errors you may find. It was just such a great run that my attention was split between the two. If it wasn’t obvious already, I was rooting for OG the whole time so I found the whole thing to be really entertaining. It’s really a breath of fresh air after that meta-riddled SFV Karin EVO. A game centered around a meta where everyone just does the same thing is no fun after all.

That aside, I mentioned before the break I’ll be taking, but I think I’ll defer that until Netoge’s 20th volume arrives (which would probably be around the time I finish with the entirety of chapter 1). When it arrives, do be informed that I’ll be taking a break from translating that time. No need to worry though as I will still see through this volume to the end. After all, I want people to know just how adorable Schwein really is.

Speaking of volume 20, Ako’s birthday is finally revealed in that volume. This made me think that throughout all those volumes, the author didn’t really talk about any of them celebrating theirs so that’s a lot of material left to write about. And if I may say one thing though, information from the sole wiki on this series is mostly all just made up so be sure not to fall for false information there.

Anyway, this part pretty much explains the aftermath of the Castle Siege and everything after that leading to the present time so I hope you enjoy all these developments. That’s all I have for now. The next part would be the final part of chapter 1 so look forward to it.

Chapter 1

Part 2

Translation: Yamaking

Right when I when I was so hungry that I began reminiscing about the feeling of being full, class had ended.

The unskippable homeroom section scroller for this day’s speedrun is now over and it’s now time for club activities.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that the reason we came to school today is because of it. For today, this is surely no laughing matter for neither me nor Ako.

“Oh, Segawa and Ako, you’re already here?”

“Of course. I simply can’t miss out on today.”

“It’s a strategee meeteeng after all!”

When I arrived at the club room, Segawa and Ako were already firmly positioned in their desks.

And as for the other desk that’s supposed to be vacant…

“Wahoo! It’s a me Nanako-chan!”

“Annoying…”

“Ako, keep it cool, keep it cool.”

Akiyama-san, who was in high spirits, was sitting on it as if it were natural.

Dark Ako’s mental state is already becoming even more grim that I asked her to calm down a bit.

“Actually, why are you even here Nanako? We didn’t ask you to come.”

“You shouldn’t underestimate Sette-chan you know! I could tell with just a glance that something was up with you all so I came to take a look!”

It’s not like we were trying to hide it anyway so there’s no way this person here wouldn’t notice it.

“…What exactly tipped you off?”

“So you were actually trying to keep it under wraps weren’t you Segawa…”

I forgot that she was the type of person that was clueless about the most trivial of things.

We three all skipped out on lunch after all so you could tell something was going on at a glance.

“I had to do that since it’s dangerous to do otherwise. The cultural festival where we put LA on an exhibit had just finished so I have to lie low for now. Whether it’s inside or outside the school, the danger of getting doxxed is always there!”

“We only changed our guild emblem to be the school’s seal for those few hours during the cultural festival you know? Not to mention that it was the smallest fort out there, so I’m sure no one saw it.”

After it was over, we immediately changed it back to the usual cat emblem so it’s fine.

There weren’t that many visitors during the cultural festival anyway.

And as for the Modern Electronic Communications Club, people thought that Ako had become the princess for an otaku circle so they’re assuming everyone in the club is comprised of males only.

I think that’s the case. Maybe. Probably. Though don’t quote me on this.

Then, at that moment…

“Rather than the cultural festival, the sports festival last week was much more recent right? That’s why there hasn’t been any club activities for a while now right?”

Akiyama said that with a beaming smile, completely free of malice.

This was probably just an attempt at small talk.

However, this was unforgivable. For us, this is tantamount to twisting the knife called trauma that was already stabbed right into us.

Sports festival? Sports festival you say? You said sports festival just now right? YOU did?

“Akiyama-san, that’s a tactless statement that you just uttered there.”

“I, I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you—!”

“Just forget about it, that miserable incident…”

Me, Ako, and Segawa were all trying to avert our eyes from reality as we looked far off into the distance.

“Eh? Why? The sports festival was fun right? Sensei even treated us all to juice after it was over.”

It’s not about that.

It’s that we didn’t think that we’d have to end up participating in the sports festival and have another page added to our dark history.

“Then let’s review what happened shall we? That day, and the numerous tragedies that occurred all throughout its duration. This is all to prevent number of victims from increasing…”

“D, did an incident like that really happen?”

“It did. Though you might have not realized it, Nanako.”

“If it wasn’t held on the weekends, I would have definitely skipped on going…”

The biggest reason for Ako wanting to skip out on school today was the sports festival that happened over the last weekend.

It was that huge of an ordeal.

“I suppose I’ll start off with telling my agonizing incident first.”

It kind of felt like I was telling a scary story so I started off by narrating in a lower voice.

“I think you already know this Akiyama-san since we’re in the same class, but I participated in the tug-of-war that I was aiming for before, along with the pole toppling events. Either of those events don’t rely on the contribution of a single individual so the outcome of that event should be unaffected even if I did participate.”

“Yup, I remember you participated in that. But didn’t you just normally do your best there?”

It seems the seriousness of my plight was not conveyed to Akiyama-san as she stared at me in wonder.

“The tug-of-war was fine. The problem was with the pole toppling. Pole toppling is an event where you have to topple the poles which are located in the field of each team. It’s an event pitting males versus males, matching their strengths against each other to try and perform the objective. This is why it was inevitable that someone like me was assigned to protecting our pole instead.”

“Right.”

I find it a bit disappointing that you just easily agreed to that, but anyway, I was on the defense.

“If I do that, there would be barely be any chance for me to make a scene. The opposing team would be stopped before they reach our pole anyway, and I don’t have to go over to their pole either. My job there would be only to space out while watching them.”

“Y, yeah.”

Was it weird to use the term ‘space out’ there? It seems I would have been better off holding back on saying that, but it looks like Sette-san and I are still pretty much on the same wavelength.

That aside.

“Then, while I spacing out and watching the match play out, the enemy team had already pushed up and surrounded us.”

“Isn’t that bad?”

“That’s right, it was bad. A lot of the enemy team came and I thought ‘This is bad. We’re all going to get done in.’. I had those thoughts all the while I was spacing out.”

I held back my tears and with a quivering voice I said,

“Then the thought that I had to do my job as a tank suddenly came into mind and I reflexively went out to the front to take all the aggro from the enemy.”

“Eeeh?! It’s pole toppling right? It wasn’t the game you know?!”

But! But! I couldn’t help it! If I’m spacing out while a huge wave of enemies are coming then the first thing that comes to mind is to immediately take aggro! It’s an occupational disease that comes with being the main tank!

“So then, a large number of the enemies surrounded me and I got all beat up. It was an instant death…”

“The pole toppling event isn’t an event where someone would die, right?”

“But I was really beat up after that event though.”

“I brought him to the infirmary after…”

I never thought that the day when I would have to lean on Ako’s shoulders would arrive so soon.

“Nishimura-kun, just what did they do to you…?”

“They gave me a trauma that’s what.”

It was an experience enough to make me hesitate about sending Rusian jumping into the middle of large mobs.

So that guy has been putting up with such terrifying instances such as this… My other self sure is amazing.

“And well, the one that delivered the finishing blow to that beat up Nishimura was me though.”

“That was quite the terrifying incident as well…”

“So Akane, you had something to do with it too…?”

She did. Of course she did.

Segawa is one of our kind too after all.

“Err, as you already know Nanako, I participated in the scavenger hunt.”

Segawa figured it was her turn to tell her story as she started explaining bit by bit.

“But Akane, you ran off to that before I could come back from my event before that right? Because of that I couldn’t come to watch it…”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

Segawa said that as she laughed, as if to mock herself.

“Since it was the sports festival anyway, I thought of putting in a decent amount of effort to doing my best. I was pretty hyped up about it. If I’m lucky, I just might win after all. A scavenger hunt is in the same classification as a fetch quest after all, so I thought that it fit my area of expertise.”

“Online games really have a bunch of quests that make you fetch all these designated items don’t they?”

“Right, there’s a ton of them. The problem lies in there.”

Segawa slowly stood up from her chair and turned her back towards us as she continued on.

“After the go signal was fired, I ran for the third box and drew a lot from there. The part about bringing the item written on it towards the goal is alright with me, but what was written it was— a male first year’s hat. That kind of item was written on it.”

“…Isn’t that simple then? Nishimura-kun should’ve had one right?”

“That’s right. That’s what I thought as well.”

Segawa’s voice was wrought with regret.

“The hat that Nishimura had was the quest’s objective. If I can bring that to the goal, then I can clear the quest. With me being so nervous, that was all I could think about as I ran towards where our class was seated. There, I found Nishimura and then the moment I saw his hat—”

Segawa then suddenly turned back around to face us again and sternly thrust her fist out towards me.

“I hit him with all my might, just like a quest mob.”

“Quest mob?”

I figured she wouldn’t understand that so I added a supplementary explanation.

“It’s another term for quest monster. Long story short, I was sent flying by a kick from Segawa.”

“…Why would you do that?”

“I mean Rusian had the quest item you know! I thought he would drop it if I defeat him!”

“D, defeat?!”

Akiyama-san looked astonished as she kept changing her gaze between me and Segawa.

“You thought you could get Nishimura-kun’s hat by defeating him?! The game and reality are different you know?!”

Don’t go around saying my catchphrase!

I understand. I understand what you mean but sometimes we happen to do things like that too!

“Nishimura dropped the hat after I sent him flying, so I did get the drop after all~”

“Is that really what you should be saying here…”

I only have one of those things so it’s definitely bound to be a rare drop you know?

“Luckily, the mood was so festive that everyone was able to brush it off as a funny incident. Normally, that kind of thing would spell really bad news.”

“If I didn’t go for you I’m sure it would’ve still turned into a big deal as well. I’m reflecting on my actions.”

After the event, Segawa came to pour me some tea looking very guilty as she apologized so I forgave her for sending me flying that time. She’s pretty light so that kick of hers didn’t hurt as much as I thought.

“And then, right after that, the event I was participating in started.”

“Aah, I watched your event Ako-chan. It was the 1500m race right?”

Ako’s shoulders shook in surprise.

For some reason, this girl participated in the hellish 1500m race.

“You’re right, you’re so really right. Because of this accursed game called RPS where I always lose during an important moment, I was made to participate in that 1500m race!”

In addition, it seems like she also lost in RPS five times in a row.

Being unlucky at a crucial moment sounds just like Ako.

“For the 1500m race, everyone begins from the starting line, so everyone lined up there… And at that moment, someone from my class called out to me and said ‘Tamaki-san, let’s reach the goal together okay?’…”

“A, and then?”

A dark aura then swirled around Ako as Akiyama-san fearfully asked her that.

Ako then suddenly opened her eyes wide and let loose the rage from her body.

“Just ten seconds after the race started, that person went dashing far far away from me! But it wasn’t only that one person. Everyone else left me behind in the dust as they all ran so fast!”

Ako is much more unathletic than your average highschooler.

Since even a sprint is already hard for her, a long-distance race is just impossible.

I was watching it as well, but seeing her get separated from the pack like that made it painful for me to watch as well.

“I still ran even though I was left alone. I desperately ran for it. Nobody is watching anyway, and everyone in class know I’ll be in last place, so I thought it would be no problem no matter how long it took for me to get to the goal. But I was wrong. I was taking so long that they couldn’t use the track I was still on and stopped the events— Everyone… everyone was watching. They were all watching me run alone!”

“That was cruel. It was already tantamount to torture.”

“The whole student body was watching Ako desperately running the whole time that even the Broadcasting Club said on the speakers, ‘Tamaki-san do your best! You can do it!’…'”

“Yeah, that’s why I came to watch it too…”

And the hellish torture doesn’t end there. At the very end of it all, a nightmare awaited her.

“And then came the moment when I was about to reach the goal. I begged in my mind for everyone to please stop watching me and to just let it all end, but as I wished for that to happen—”

Ako grasped her head with both of her hands, and then used that to loudly hit her head on the keyboard as she said,

“—The whole student body gave me a round of applause!”

For some reason, Ako had the whole student body showering her with applause as she ran towards the goal.

“They really had a kind welcome for you didn’t they?”

“They were all rooting for her after all.”

“Even if they were being reserved about it, that’s still bullying to me!”

And so the reason why I couldn’t order her to ‘definitely come to school’ was because of that scene.

I’m really glad she did though. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if she went back to being a truant again.

“And then the people from class welcomed me back kindly as well, so there was again…”

“I really don’t want to see that sight.”

“The unathletic students comprising of about half the student body are all behind your back.”

As Ako was made aware of her standing, there was just no way she could find this amusing.

It was simply a painful experience for her.

“I thought the sports festival was all fun and games but it’s really tough isn’t it?”

“Nanako, you, who would happily dance around in the middle of the cheerleading competition, won’t understand about any of this…”

“That was quite embarrassing for me as well you know?”

I’m sure we would have found Akiyama-san’s position at the time to be quite the hellish torture as well.

“Pardon me for making you all wait.”

Then, right at that moment, Master opened the door and went inside.

“…The traitor who said she couldn’t participate in the events because she had student council work to do has arrived.”

“That’s unfair! I’m so jealous!”

“Even though all you really did was sit at the faculty tent…”

“What’s this? What is with you all?”

Even though she was a bit shaken from our sudden antagonistic gazes, Master clapped her hands together to incite a change of pace.

“I don’t know what has transpired here, but today is an important day. Stop horsing around and get back to your seats.”

We reluctantly headed back into each of our desks.

Ako’s forehead looked a bit red that it seemed like it hurts. I guess you do happen to hurt yourself sometimes when you’re suddenly made to remember the agony of your dark past.

“Fumu, so you came as well Sette?”

“I knew today was an important meeting! Then I’ll participate in it as well!”

“But I really think you should sit this one out Nanako.”

“I won’t let you leave me out of this.”

“I’m not saying this to bully you, you know?”

‘Good grief’, Segawa seemed to blurted that out as she turned her gaze towards me.

Hmm, but I’m not really good with leaving others out as well. It’s just that she didn’t log in last night that I wasn’t able to tell her. That girl is also a noteworthy comrade of ours after all.

“There’s no problem with that is there? You may participate in this as well, Sette.”

Since she, our guild master and club president, said that then it’s decided. She’s still the big shot here after all.

“As expected of Ms. President! You do understand!”

“I know right? I know right?”

Master nodded to Akiyama-san’s statement as she walked towards the whiteboard.

The atmosphere was somewhat different from usual and there was tension starting to brew in the air.

“As Sette had already mentioned, today we’ll be having a strategy meeting. I’m sure I’ve told you already, but today’s meeting will be an important turning point in deciding the fate of Alley Cats.”

“This is getting kind of exciting isn’t it?”

A comment by the happy-go-lucky Akiyama-san.

Laugh all you want now because now is the only time you’ll have for it.

“And the topic of this meeting is, I don’t even have to say it, of course this!”

[Housing System, now implemented]

Master vigorously wrote down those characters and smacked the board. Ako’s shoulders shook in surprise.

“The time has finally come. I’m sure you’re all already aware of this, but the player housing system that has been desired by all players in LA has finally announced its implementation date!”

“They sure made us wait, didn’t they?”

“Even though they announced the planned update so long ago…”

“My and Rusian’s love nest will finally be…!”

Don’t look at me like that while you’re drooling. It’s scary.

“The implementation date is two weeks from now. After the 5PM maintenance finishes, the Land Management NPC and Housing NPC will be added in. Furthermore, the Housing Contest and Housing Consultation’s Association events will be underway. It truly is the peak season of updates.”

As expected of the fall update, the management sure is getting serious about this.

In order to keep the player base that has increased during the summer, they really can’t hold anything back.

“Err… that ‘Housing’ thing… what is it?”

Akiyama-san was staring at us blankly, unable to keep up with the flow of events.

“At least check the announcements on the official site.”

“I won’t be looking at it every single day!”

“Then look up the general in the Wiki.”

“I don’t even know what general means you know?”

You don’t have to teach her that. Visiting that place would only corrupt you even further.

So, about the details of that housing system…

“As the name implies, the Housing System is a system where you would be able to build your own house.”

“You could set it up inside of town, somewhere nearby, or just someplace with a good scenery… Anyway, you buy a piece of free land, and from there, players can have their house there.”

“Would I be able to get a detached house?”

It’s not really a matter of getting one but more of buying one.

Well, at least her understanding of it isn’t mistaken.

Anyway, we can have houses in-game now.

You can mess around with its exterior design and decorated the interiors as well. You’re able to make a house just for you.

That’s the gist of the Housing System.

“That’s amazing! What about a detached house with a garden? Would I be able to keep pets there as well?”

“If it’s one of the expensive houses then they should have a garden. Pets are… huh, I wonder? I don’t think there’s any?”

“Then Mu-tan would be just fine I guess.”

I really wish you would stop letting Mu-tan run wild. It would cause a lot of trouble for the people passing by.

“On that note, the topic of today’s meeting will be about the establishment of Alley Cats’ guild house.”

“So the time for us to part with that shop as our hangout spot has finally come…”

“It’s been too long hasn’t it…”

“We’ll be able to make it our very own spot just for us right?”

I began solemnly reminiscing about all the memories we’ve had in there so far.

The place we would always meet up in-game was in a cafe in a corner of the Imperial City of Lodestone.

It was a simple NPC shop so you never know when someone would just barge in.

“When we get really caught up talking about something, some person would suddenly come in and everyone would just suddenly clam up. So I guess there won’t be any risk of the conversation being cut short anymore.”

“And the times when I log in and find someone I don’t know in there I would think to myself, ‘Is this someone’s alt?’ and just keep checking on them from time to time would be over right?”

“I won’t have to worry anymore about someone picking up my items when I’m trying to transfer stuff by dropping them on the floor too.”

TL note: In old MMOs, account shared storages/sending mail with items were not a thing back then so the only reliable way to transfer items by yourself to another character in the same account without a friend or another PC/account was to login, drop them on the floor, change character, and then pick them up on the other character.

I feel like I’m going to cry just thinking back on all these painful memories.

If we have a place solely for us, a space that’s available only for us, then things would really be a lot more convenient in a lot of ways. The game would become more enjoyable as well.

There’s no problem even if we cause a ruckus. We can get as wild as we want, talk all we want and  no one else would see it in open chat.

It’s a space with much more freedom that we could have in this room.

If this isn’t exciting, then what else could be there really?

We’re putting everything on the table for this and will do whatever it takes to get it.

This meeting is exactly for that purpose.

“If we can get a house up, we can open the storage from there too right?”

“There’s also the possibility of being able to craft in there if you can create the crafting facilities required for it.”

“And if you register equipment sets in the dressing room, you can change clothes with just the press of a button you know!”

“Amaaaziing!”

Our eyes sparkled at the hope of having our own ‘Home’.

No, it’s not just hoping at all. We’ll be on our way to creating that home from here on out.

“That’s really interesting! Once everyone gets a house up, we can each have rooms in it— Something like a share house right?”

Akiyama-san here is quite the combat-oriented player, but it seems that she’s fond of life skill activities like this as well.

She looked so glad as she clapped her hands together.

“That’s how it would be. And as for me, being the guild master and all, I would like to have the farthest room in the uppermost floor.”

“As for me, I’d like to take one in the first floor close to the doorway. Nothing beats convenience after all.”

“I’m fine with anywhere though…”

“I’m fine as long as I’m in the same room as Rusian.”

“That’s not fine at all.”

Why are we the only ones sharing a room as a couple? It would really be awkward for everyone else there no?

“I’d like a room with a view of the garden.”

This person has it completely set in her mind to having Mu-tan there.

“That reminds me, what about Nekohime-sensei?”

Segawa brought up the subject on the person who wasn’t here.

Come to think of it, that person hasn’t come huh.

“Isn’t it fine? In the first place, she’s not a guild member anyway.”

“Sensei joined Nekohime’s Elite Guard after all right?”

“…Sensei was really reluctant about that wasn’t she?”

Nah, that was just her being a tsundere. It’s fine.

“The matter with the Castle Siege before was a mission for the Modern Electronic Communications Club. However this time, it’s one of the dreams of Alley Cats. Our guild member Sette is quite involved in this already, but we can’t be dragging in Ms. Saitou into this as well.”

“Comrade!”

For some reason, Sette-san was flashing a double peace sign.

We invited her during the Castle Siege and haven’t been able to leave her out since then. Naturally, she would be considered a guild member.

“Well then, ladies and gentlemen of Alley Cats, the real problem begins from here on out.”

“Problem? What do you mean problem?”

Master gave a stern gaze to Akiyama-san who was still in high spirits.

“The Housing System’s primary nature is that it depends on the individuals playing the game to obtain ownership of their own land. As such, numerous limitations arise from this fact. The popular plots of lands would be a scramble for who gets to buy it first. And above all else, this requires a large sum of in-game currency.”

“Ah… So you need money as well huh. It’s strangely realistic in that aspect despite being a game, isn’t it?”

“That’s where it draws similarities with the real world you know. Net games are not all fun and games.”

Segawa said that with a wry smile as she indifferently poked at the screen.

But surely enough, this is much easier compared to actually buying a house in real life.

“And that’s not all. After buying a plot of land and setting up your house, you’ll still need to buy furniture and decorations to make it even more convenient— and that in turn requires more funding.”

“No matter how much we save up for it, it might not be enough…”

“Some of the large guilds seem like have been formed for this kind of purpose you know?”

“There are castle-like houses for those large-scale guilds after all.”

Speaking of large-scale guilds, a certain Elite Guard’s image flashed at the back of my mind— for Nekohime-san’s sanity, I prayed that nothing would happen.

“What were trying to make is different from the large residences that large-scale guilds are trying to make. As for the location, we’re aiming to get one that’s near the outskirts of town similar to the cafe. It would be a medium sized house located in a place somewhat inconvenient. While I cannot assure any of this yet, the amount we’ll need to gather for this is still quite realistic.”

“So we still don’t know how much of that precious money we’ll need?”

“It’s still not implemented yet after all.”

Thinking about how much this would affect the game, I had hoped they would at least announce the pricing for these things. But then again, the announcement for that update just came out. I have to take all these things into consideration.

“Based on the pricing of housing system in other games and taking into account the excessive amounts of gold in the server right now, I speculate the prices to be around 500M.”

“Well, that seems pretty realistic.”

“Though we’re not sure if that much would be enough…”

“I haven’t even gotten 100M before you know!”

That’s because you waste gold on useless things too much, Ako.

“With that, we’ll be getting into the main agenda of this meeting.”

“Eh? All that just now wasn’t it yet?”

Akiyama-san said that all puzzled as she gathered everyone’s gaze on her.

She’s looked quite delighted that we were showering her with our gazes as she cutely tilted her head to the side.

People who are used to being the center of attention sure are amazing. If it were us, we would probably just panic and keep our heads down and cry.

“You didn’t think that this meeting would just end with us talking about all fun stuff did you?”

“The important part starts from here you know?”

‘Indeed’, Master nodded as she took up the marker for the whiteboard.

“Our main problem here is the required 500M gold. It would be fine if we were able to take out that amount from our guild’s coffers, but unfortunately, we used it all up in that previous Castle Siege. There is a need to build up our funds yet again. However…”

“We don’t have that kind of gold right now either.”

We’ve used up all of the gold in our possessions to buy PVP gear during the cultural festival.

Master’s fortune all disappeared into the void with those Ygg Drops, and Segawa gulping down all those White Elixirs put her finances in a dire strait.

“I haven’t saved up anything at all you know…”

“I still haven’t gotten my gear together yet too…”

This timing is about as horrible as those times when it’s really bad to buy yourself a rig.

But well, those people would always say that’s it’s not a great time to buy a PC anyway.

“How about if Ms. President just buys it with her cash?”

“‘Cash’ you say, it’s not that simple of a…”

“Even if you went with official RMT, you won’t be getting 500M unless you spend a ridiculous amount of money you know? Do you understand that?”

In response to our disgusted reactions, Akiyama-san considered all that we said as she replied,

“But isn’t that incomparable to how much you’ve already spent at this point?”

“Master, just how much have you actually spent on this game up until now?”

“That kind of thing is more exciting when not blatantly mentioned, don’t you think?”

While she was laughing that off, we could see that smile of hers twitching a bit. Needless to say, it must have probably been an absurd amount enough to make us reel in disgust.

Though in a sense, Akiyama-san’s suggestion was realistically sound that I found it hard to refute it.

“…True, this occassion is one concerning the guild house that we have all dreamed of… it may just be outside of the limitations you’ve placed on my spending on the game but…”

Master place her palm on to her forehead as if to clearly say ‘I’ve failed, I’ve failed, I’ve failed’.

TL note: A reference to a particular scene in Stein’s Gate.

“I went overboard with the previous Castle Siege. Though I may be as I am, I am still a minor. There’s a limit to how much I can charge monthly. Charging more for this month is simply… impossible.”

“Ms. President, just how much did you spend on the game this month?”

“If you wanted to know, you can always just check the Purchase History in the official website you know?”

At the very least, it should amount to ten thousand.

After all, she didn’t just charge currency for the gachas, but the amount she spent on packages also added on to that that I think the amount of money she’s sunk into this is terrifyingly huge.

“Anyway, there’s no way we can rely on Master for this matter. Since it can’t be helped, we’re prepared to invest our own allowance into this as well.”

“Our lunch money would go into that investment too.”

“I’m starved…”

“That’s why you were skipping out on lunch?! You’re skipping out on food because of the game?!”

Yeah that’s right! There’s no other reason for that!

Actually, I think we wouldn’t be able to endure anything like that if it weren’t for the game!

“If we could save 500 hundred yen for every meal skipped, then that’s a one whole roll at the gacha!”

“If we can get a rare item then we can instantly become winners!”

For the sake of the game, money is extremely important!

Normally, we would never do such a thing, but this time it’s different! I mean, it’s a house you know! We can buy our own house you know!

We can’t just let it pass because of mere roadblocks!

“That being said, the gachas in LA are extremely harsh. The management has already taken the current situation into account, but it’s not as if they have anything planned for it. Normally when you roll at a gacha, you don’t really stand to profit from it.”

Earning money in real life is hard so we came up with this as a compromise.

“And since that’s how it is, it can’t be helped. I’ll have each and every one of us farm up gold in-game. I don’t really want to have to use this term however… let’s set up a quota.”

Our bodies shook in surprise.

In a room where everyone’s sense of urgency is running wild, Akiyama-san was the only one who looked completely clueless as she sat there.

“Our goal is— roughly 500M. The individuals involved in this are me, Rusian, Schwein, Ako, and lastly, Sette. We’ll individually go about our ways farming up 100M each until before the update. This is the minimum quota that we’ll have to upkeep.”

“It can’t be helped.”

“100M huh… That’s quite the hefty amount.”

“If it’s for me and Rusian’s love nest then I’ll do my best!”

You… you’re really determined not to give that up, aren’t you?

“Wait! Wait just a minute!”

In contrast to us, who easily accepted that plan, Sette-san seemed flustered as she stood up and said,

“Y, you’re including me in that too?!”

Isn’t it obvious? You’re a comrade who did properly attend the meeting after all.

As we were all staring at her in wonder, she shook her head furiously.

“Being suddenly told to get ‘500M’, which is something I still don’t understand what that is by the way, and being told its very important is kind of— Actually, how much is that in terms of Japanese Yen?”

K, M, B, T are all units of currency used in-game where you substitute the letters for increasing powers of a thousand.

TL note: In Japanese MMOs, it’s not actually K-thousand, M-million, B-billion, etc. but rather K-kilo, M-mega, G-giga, T-tera which is how the metric system also works.

This method of referring to currency is quite popular in net games, but I guess it’s a bit different from the usual usage in society so it’s understandable if you find it hard to comprehend.

“Nanako, 500M you see is well, converted into our standard currency would be…”

As Segawa said that,

“Approximately 500 million yen.”

I finished her statement.

“No way, no way, no way! I wouldn’t be able to get that much!”

“It’s alright you know? Each of us only needs to farm up 100 million each after all.”

‘Teehee—’, is what Ako said with a somewhat lifeless expression.

Honestly speaking, this is a pretty severe amount to farm up for Ako as well.

Needless to say, this much is also tough for me.

“One hundred million yen is just impossible for me!”

Sette-san said as she furiously shook her head.

“But that’s the quota.”

“It’s the quota after all right?”

“It’s because that’s the quota you see—”

“Don’t go thinking everything is fine just because you say the word ‘quota’ you hear?! Just what is up with that?!”

What are you saying? The word quota in net games is not to be taken lightly!

In the net gaming society where mutual monitoring systems called ‘logins’ are currently used, the moment a leveling quota or a contribution quota is decided for a guild, it causes such a severe problem.

After all, you can know if someone is doing their best or not by simply looking at it.

The moment Master uttered the word ‘quota’, playing the game instantly became a lot more intense.

“That said, however.”

Master folded her arms and continued on with a satisfied look on her face.

“The fact of the matter is that Sette’s level is still low. Realistically speaking, having her receive the same quota as us is unreasonable, to say the least.”

“It’s clear as day that that’s physically impossible after all.”

“We shouldn’t do something like bully her. Bullying is scary after all.”

“…That sounds somewhat scary coming from you.”

Bullying is lame.

We wouldn’t go so far as to ask her to farm up the same amount as us.

“Ah jeez, don’t scare me like that—”

‘Good grief’, Akiyama-san muttered as she went back to take her seat.

Master then directed her usual smug expression, full of confidence, towards her.

“There you have it then Sette. As long as you can work hard to the best of your ability, we won’t have any complaints. Simply do what you can.”

“…By that you mean?”

Akiyama-san made face that looked like it was saying, ‘Huh? You’re letting it slide just like that?’.

We all exchanged glances for a bit as we gave it some thought.

“For starters, your current level of login time isn’t going to cut it.”

“That’s not all. You have to at least put in five hours minimum into farming everyday.”

“Fiv—?!”

Akiyama-san was at a loss for words.

Was there anything wrong with what we just said?

“Why are you so surprised? Even we spend two hours for club activities and then follow it up with five more hours after we get home you know?”

“And we have that quota to think about now as well so that time is just going to end up increasing right?”

Ako was beaming from ear to ear as she agreed with that.

“Wait, wait! That’s just physically impossible!”

Seeing her flustered expression like this is rare.

Somehow, I can feel a better affinity towards you if you have that expression on, you know?

“See, the PC at my house is in the living room. If I kept messing around with the PC for five hours straight, the people in the house would get worried.”

Ah, a communal PC huh? Well that’s quite a problem.

“Ah, I was kind of like that too before I got my own hand-me-down PC.”

“I would often get scowled at before for using the PC in the living room too before I had my personal one.”

Those were some fond memories.

I would get scolded pretty often by them telling me, ‘Just how long are you going to sit there and use that PC?’.

“Right? That’s why it’s impossible!”

“Yeah. I guess it’s impossible if you’re just going to play at the usual times.”

“It’s impossible to go and play as soon as you get home after all.”

We all nodded in agreement.

However, the conversation carried on.

“That’s why I wake up as early as I can to play.”

“Eh?”

“Yeah that’s right! I did that as well— I would secretly get up at about 4 in the morning during those times.”

“Oh those were the times! And when everyone in the house gets up, you just try to play it off by making a face like you just got up right—”

“Eh, you were serious about that?”

Akiyama-san looks like she couldn’t believe any of this.

Weeell, it happened quite often.

Late nights and early mornings are a pretty standard routine for someone who only has a communal family-use PC at home.

“So there you have it.”

“Good luck with the quota, alright?”

“We’re counting on you, Sette.”

“Let’s do our best together okay?”

We’ve acknowledged Akiyama-san as our friend, and showered her with warm gazes.

She should’ve been all smiles at that point, however— Akiyama-san’s expression froze up as she proceeded to look over each one of us. She then suddenly stood up.

“Sorry! I guess this is just impossible for me after all!”

“Wait! Nanako?!”

Akiyama-san ran away!

Akiyama-san has disappeared.

Just like that, Akiyama-san flew out of the room with such an amazing force.

“That’s why I told you that you really shouldn’t have come…”

“I feel like I kind of won over her this time.”

“Ako, striking a victory pose over that is weird you know?”

I won’t say that she clearly won that one.

If anything, I feel like we’re more of the losers here.

“I guess Nanako really isn’t cut out to be a net gamer after all huh?”

“If Sette only had the willpower then I was thinking of recruiting her into the club as well.”

Segawa and Master looked a bit disappointed as they said that.

In my mind, I find it regrettable as well, but since Ako is scary I’ll just shut up about that.

“But I think that forcing someone to play net games everyday would just make them hate playing it right away.”

“…I guess so.”

Sette-san seems to be the type that just gets back to playing every now and then when she’s past the initial hype of playing for the first time.

If you keep pressuring these players who are simply riding on the initial hype of playing the game, they would come to hate the game sooner. These kinds of casual gamers are quite present within normie groups.

And when they get invited by someone to play with them, a large gap suddenly forms between the two and the former would think it was their fault for being bad at it that things just get awkward.

It was like the time when I didn’t get to join the Black Magician’s guild.

She too was not able to make it into the Modern Electronic Communications Club. It can’t be helped.

But, just as those people thought of me as their comrade, we all think of Akiyama-san as our friend as well.

“Let’s leave the room facing the garden vacant shall we?”

Everyone nodded as I said that.

“Indeed. When she comes back, let us give her a warm welcome.”

“Let’s make a dog house for Mu-tan!”

Those who leave are not missed. You can’t stop people from quitting net games after all.

But then again, it’s not like Sette-san had quit the game.

In any case, the quota was set without any problems.

Now that we’ve determined our goal, all that’s left to do is act on it.

“All that’s left is to farm up gold however… There’s one more problem.”

Master smoothly ran her pen along the blank space on the whiteboard.

And what she filled that space in with were,

Name: Undecided

Design: Undecided

these characters.

“That’s right. It’s the name and design for the guild house.”

“That’s important after all isn’t it—”

“…Is it? Wouldn’t just a normal house work?”

They all glared in response to me, who asking that as if this wasn’t a huge issue.

“You just don’t get it do you—”

“That’s right Rusian! This is an important matter!”

“You think so?”

Isn’t anything just fine? For both the name and the build.

As long as we have a convenient home that we can stay at then that’s all that matters.

“Rusian, would you mind letting me hear what kind of a housing design you have in mind?”

“Well, this is Alley Cats we’re talking about after all. So I was thinking it would have a slightly spacious garden with a name like Stray Cats Gathering Hall or something…”

“Nah, no way.”

Schwein shot my opinion down with that one statement.

Uwah, my naming sense just got completely denied by a someone who named a PC their ‘War Machine’. I’m just extremely shocked.

“No, no, that much is normal isn’t it? It’s fine like that.”

“It’s way too normal that it’s boring.”

Not you too Master?!

What about Ako? And, as I turned to look at her,

“There’s not enough love in it!”

“Eeeeeh?!”

Am I the one being strange?!

I do believe that name had quite the love poured into it.

“T, then what about your ideas then huh!”

I instantly pointed to Schew as I asked that.

“Err… what about something like, Smile House?”

“Stop it you moron.”

A bunch of bald geezers would come gather there so there’s no way I’ll stay in a house like that.

TL note: This is a reference to the Egao House housing on the Bahamut Server in FFXIV. I believe this screenshot would speak for itself.

“I’m joking, it’s just a joke. Let’s see… How about ‘The Heroic Knight Schwein and his lackeys’ House’?”

“Stop it you moron.”

“Isn’t that the exact same reaction as before?!”

There’s no way I’ll be staying at a house like that either so of course my reaction stays the same.

“You’ll come up with a normal one won’t you Master?”

As I fearfully asked her, Master strongly replied.

“I’ll go with the name ‘Maegasaki Palace’ and turn it into something like a castle!”

“That naming sense is nuts!”

Aren’t you a bit too obsessed with our town Master?! There’s no need for a student council president to be that loyal!

“…So, how about you Ako?”

As I asked Ako, who was right beside, my wife looked at me straight in the eye as she said,

“Uhm, Nishimura.”

“No, no, I’m not asking you for my name.”

Ako calling me by my surname was very rare that it got my heart racing there for a bit, but that’s not the point here.

“No I mean, I want the house’s nameplate to say ‘Nishimura’.”

“……”

“And then under that I’d want to put Ako there as well.”

“Isn’t that just the standard family home?!”

Isn’t that just a normal nameplate then?! There’s not a hint of fantasy in that at all!

“Actually, won’t that simply be a house for just you two?”

“That guild house would become quite difficult to stay in…”

“More than that, you could please not expose my real name like that?”

That much should be obvious even without the net from ‘Net Literacy’.

Why do you have to put out my real name in the game?

“Then at least let’s make it a standard family home and have me and Rusian’s name side by side out front!”

“No way, no way. That suggestion is firmly rejected.”

“Ako, why are you so hellbent on denying us space in the house?”

“I’m not denying anyone of anything though! I just wanted it to at least make it look like that!”

Because of Ako not giving in, this has turned quite chaotic.

“Isn’t Stray Cats Gathering Hall just fine at this point?”

“That’s no good.”

“No way! It’s the best one there is!”

“Schew-chan, you said my idea was no good but didn’t you also put Schwein in your suggested name as well?!”

“But I properly added the lackeys part there didn’t I? You’ll have your own room there as well.”

“How about we just meet in the middle and go with Maegasaki Palace? What do you all think?”

“Do you really think we can buy a large enough land to be able to put up a castle?”

“Actually, can we just stop with the names which are so focused on exposing us?”

It was a huge dispute.

Everyone’s naming sense just didn’t have any points that would match up that the conversation just couldn’t wrap up at all.

“I didn’t think that a simple guild house could cause this much discord…”

“That’s why I told you it was a huge problem!”

It truly has turned into quite the problem.

I’m actually fine with giving in to any proper suggestion but none of the things they said were proper at all.

“So how are we going to decide this?”

“Uumu, let’s see…”

Master looked over all of our faces and then suddenly clapped her hands.

“We have set our estimated budget for this housing to be 500M. However, this is of course just a prediction. It wouldn’t be strange for it to be worth a hundred times more when it actually gets implemented.”

“That much gold is just impossible you know?”

“But if you’re thinking about how much it could do for the in-game inflation, it seems quite possible right—”

True, I can’t deny that.

In net games, as long as you hunt monsters, you can pick up gold. And as long as you sell their drops, you get gold as well. Because of this, the value of in-game currency just plummets even further making inflation inevitable.

That’s right. The total amount of gold circulating in-game is increasing at an incredibly fast rate.

By having the management sell these lands to players, they will be able to take out gold from the player base on a such a huge scale that it could help restore the in-game market to its former healthy state. This is why it’s not strange for them to put as high a price as they want on the lands in the incoming update.

TL note: A little note about MMO gold inflation for those who still don’t get the above. Prices in MMOs rise because gold can be continually produced by players. This in turn, requires a gold sink on the side of management to ensure prices don’t get too crazy. By raising the cost of NPC related functions or adding more of them (gold sink), you can take out gold of the player economy which thus, lowers inflation because there’s not enough gold to raise prices. I figured I had to put this here because a large portion of the playerbase in numerous MMOs believe that sellers simply want to arbitrarily raise prices. That’s wrong. So don’t be a scrub and take in-game economy lessons from Rusian.

“For that reason, we need more gold. Enough gold that we would be able to purchase land, build the house, and purchase furniture no matter how high their prices get! Aiming for the minimum quota simply won’t cut it!”

I nodded as I completely agreed with Master on that point.

“That is why the one who contributes the most to this endeavor will be the one to hold the naming rights to the guild house!”

Squeaking sounds ran across the whiteboard as Master wrote down the words ‘Greatest Investor’.

“The one among us who contributes the most to the construction of the guild housing shall be the one to decide on its name. That is what I’m going for.”

“I see. That’s really simple to understand.”

‘That way, everyone would accept it no matter what it is!’, is what I said as I agreed to it however,

“Please wait!”

This time, a call for a pause comes from Ako.

“Is there anything you are dissatisfied with?”

“If I have to pick, I’m completely against this!”

There she goes saying something nonsensical again.

“I think this is unreasonable. A healer like me with no DPS can’t possibly hope to win this. I demand you to reconsider making it into an fair competition!”

“Mu, I suppose you have a point.”

“True, she might be at a slight disadvantage here.”

It’s not like she can’t farm just because she’s healer. She could get into a party or even do some quests. There’s a lot of options to take here.

However, if you think about the number of players online early in the morning, I suppose she’s really at a handicap.

We all though, ‘Well, what do we do then?’ when suddenly Master pointed her finger at me and said.

“In that case— all right, Ako I’ll hand over Rusian to you.”

“…Ha? Me?”

“I’m getting Rusian?”

No, I belong to myself. Don’t go turning me into your possession by yourself.

In addition, I wish you would stop invading my own inventory.

“That’s not what I meant. Being a tank, Rusian was originally at a disadvantage as well. And this is where pairing you up together would fix that handicap.”

“Oh I get it. So Ako and Rusian are going to challenge this together as a couple huh? That would make it fair then.”

“It’s for our home after all. It’s only natural that we fight through this together right?”

Segawa was the first to latch on to the idea. Ako actually seems pleased.

Eh? Uhh, is this already decided?

“Err, if we win, then it’s fine to call it the Stray Cats Gathering Hall right?”

“That’s if you can persuade Ako regarding that.”

What’s with that absurd condition?

I barely succeeded in any of my attempts in the past with that you know.

“Rusian, do you not want to live with me?”

“Guh…”

Ako was purposefully looking up at me teary-eyed.

You were just yawning earlier weren’t you? You won’t fool me this time.

You won’t fool me this time, but… It can’t be helped!

“I understand! I, together with Ako, will be building our love nest!”

“Rusian!”

“Oh, so you’ve finally come to clear decision about that huh? Isn’t that interesting?”

“That’s decided then.”

Master, brimming full of confidence, smiled as she declared,

“Well then, the deadline is two weeks from now until before the update! The ones who farms up the most gold in this period shall be the winner!”

For the sake of their comrades, these very comrades become their own rivals.

Our new battle had just begun.