Prologue A Certain Mom’s Progress Report
Have you gotten closer to your son or daughter?
I Feel The Gap Between Us Is Closing Little By Little.
Have you had more opportunities to talk to your son or daughter?
Quite A Lot More Than We Did At Home. I’m Delighted.
Has your son or daughter said anything that made you happy?
I Was So Glad When He Said, “Yeah, My Mom’s The Best.”
Has your son or daughter said anything that made you unhappy?
Nothing, Really. (Although There Were A Few Things He Said That Made Me Sad Or Lonely.)
Where have you gone with your son or daughter?
Different Cities And Towns, A School, And Some Fields, Too!
Have you learned what your son or daughter likes?
I Suspected It All Along, But It Seems Like He Definitely Loves Me.
Have you learned what your son or daughter dislikes?
He Especially Seems To Have It In For Monsters That Do Strange Things To Me.
What are your son’s or daughter’s strong points?
Everything.
What are your son’s or daughter’s weak points?
If I Must Put Something, I Suppose He Can Be A Little Rude.
How is your adventure with your son or daughter going?
Every Day Is A Delight. I Would Recommended This Experience To Anyone.
(Optional) If there are any products or elements you’d like to see added to the game, please list them here. These will assist us with future development.
I Think It Would Be Lovely If There Were Digital Cameras. I Would Love A Way To Preserve My Son’s Actions Forever. It Also Seems Like My Son And His Friends Sometimes Really Miss Cheap Snacks, So I Think You Should Add Convenience Stores To The Towns.
She finished filling out the survey.
“Well, that’s that. I hope that’s what they’re looking for…”
Mamako was staring at the pop-up window screen, her head tilted to one side.
The survey was about the mystery-technology-fueled full-dive MMORPG known only MMMMMORPG (working title), played by pairs consisting of one parent and one child. The results were being collected by the Japanese government, who ran the game, so it would never do to rush through them.
Was this good enough? Mamako checked over her entries again. As she did…
“Now! Hah! And for the finish! Highest Sky-Save! Gooooooo! Splat! …Heh, nailed it.”
…she heard her beloved son shouting. She glanced that way and saw Masato in the yard behind the inn. He seemed to be doing some sort of sword training. It happened to include dramatic posing after every attack. He was really getting into it.
She didn’t want to interrupt, but she also felt like this was the perfect place to ask her beloved son’s advice, so Mamako called out, “Hey, Ma-kun! Do you have a minute? I have a favor to—”
“Auuuughhh!! M-M-M-Mom?! Since when are you…? Have you been there the whole time?!”
“Mm? Y-yes, I have… Why is that such a surprise?”
“It…it isn’t!! I’m not in the least bit surprised just because I thought I was alone and practicing my original (mega-cool) ultimate move, yet it turns out you were watching me the whole time!! …So, uh, wh-what is it? Let’s get this over with!”
“R-right… Well, to be honest, the government sent me this survey, so I filled it out, but…I’m just not sure about the whole thing. I was hoping you’d check it over for me. Do you mind?”
“Check a survey for you? …Is that it? Geez… Okay, sure, whatever.”
Making a big show of reluctance, Masato abandoned his training and came over to Mamako. The sweat glistening on his brow was awe-inspiring and secured his place as the world’s coolest son (in Mamako’s highly subjective opinion).
If she called out to him, he answered. If she asked him for a favor, he said yes. This alone made Mamako highly emotional, and her joy overflowed into a beaming smile.
Meanwhile, Masato glanced over the survey entries and scowled. Embarrassment and anger left him beet red.
“Moooooooom?! What the hell is this?! You just wrote a bunch of lies!”
“Huh? But everything I wrote is the truth!”
“It is not! When did I ever say, ‘Yeah, my mom’s the best’?! That’s a blatant and utter lie!”
“Oh my… Perhaps that was a bit of wishful thinking…”
“This is an official government survey, so take it seriously! And why are you capitalizing every single word?! Gah, I can’t take it! Please just fix this! For the sake of my sanity!”
“A-all right, I’ll fix it. Now, where is that EDIT button? …Oh, is this it?” Mamako absently pressed the SUBMIT button. The survey was successfully submitted.
Masato just gave her a look.
“Why’d you just…submit it like that…? Don’t just hit random buttons, pleeeease…”
“O-oh? …Gosh! Mommy can be such a ditzy little thing sometimes! Tee-hee!” She stuck her tongue out.
“I told you never to do that! And you’re not little, either! Arghh! Arghhh! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”
What her son needed was not levels or skills but endurance.
Once again, their family adventure was off to a great start.
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