Estimated reading time: 6–8 minutes
Chapter 23
Let me summarize the situation. After talking for a while, I logged in and suddenly a grown-up Reina was in front of me, hugging me tightly. Before I can think about how lucky I am, some questions pop up. First, why am I suddenly in this unfamiliar, inorganic forest right after logging in? The answer is simple. Just like last time, location changes can occur after updates.
Back then, all of us were in the ruins of Old Osaka City after being launched into the sky. However, I don’t see any other players around this time. In other words, it’s natural for only me to be here in this situation. I can also interpret it as my respawn point having moved here.
Looking under the hammock, I see my beloved AP. I see, so that was my respawn point. That’s why I ended up here. Huh? Could it be that my AP didn’t disappear even when I logged out!? Isn’t it normal for games to make unattended vehicles disappear or become unmovable to prevent theft?
「You must have stolen it, didn’t you?」
「I didn’t!」
So that settles it. She must have stolen what should have been at Kōmitsu Solutions and brought it here, though I don’t know how. As a result, my respawn point moved here.
「But if that’s true, should’nt my login be in the cockpit?」
「I carried you here really quickly.」
「There’s that beastkin strength.」
So that resolves the location issue. Next, I should think about this place. Considering she stole my AP, she probably couldn’t have taken it too far. I don’t know where we are, but it’s probably not far enough to escape.
And with that, I quickly reached my final conclusion.
「Hmm?」
So, the Reina right in front of me. Judging only by her face she should be around 20, but her eyepatch, countless old scars on her body, prosthetic arms and feral aura make her look much older. If she’s the same Reina from before, she should be around 38, but like Momiji, there’s no hint of aging at all. As I’m pondering this, Reina flashes a lewd grin.
「Oh, is it built up?」
「Shut it, I wouldn’t think of such things with a petty thief.」
「Just kidding. Well, unlike Momiji’s case which used that famed negative mass matter tech, this face is thanks to my beastkin traits. We’re made to stay in peak condition for 100 years without adjustments, so there’s no way some 20 years would leave me full of wrinkles.」
Ah, but she says there may be some connections at the technical roots. That pained smile of hers was pitiful. Of course, it goes without saying that this Reina, having replaced a real person with the setting of being a beastkin, is an NPC created by the devs. What bothered me most was her jaded face. I recognize that expression – it’s the same as when I first met Reina in the VR Western.
If I had to express the Reina of those days in one word, it would be “void”. She was a player who appeared when I had played that VR Western for about a month and was considering retiring. Despite appearing with a male default avatar, that player handled combat with overwhelming reflexes and easily rose to the #1 ranking, as if it was nothing more than menial work.
「As expected, this is boring too.」
Even with her default avatar, I could clearly see she was utterly bored as she racked up 50 consecutive wins against me. I don’t know what had happened to her during that time. But to summarize, after being driven mad by her, I used bugs – a remotely detonated bomb (normally impossible in a VR Western) and poisoning (making her absorb a bugged object from the corner of the map to crash her game) – to lower her win rate to 70%. And by then, the boredom had vanished from her face.
But right now, her expression is the same as when she had given up on everything. The only times I see a glimmer of life is when she peeks at me, but the cheerfulness from those days is gone.
The lost arms and eye, gashes carved all over – this Reina had changed after 20 long years.
But well, her core hasn’t changed from the person I know. I can only be amazed at the devs’ profiling ability and their blatant disregard for privacy.
「Where is this place?」
「My bosom.」
「They’ve grown pretty big.」
「Sexual harassment.」
「If you see it like that, then don’t shove them at me. Hey, don’t wrap your legs around me or grab my hand. I’m asking about this forest. I’ve never seen it before.」
「The location is a secret. Now then, can you escape from my devilish hands?」
Reina goes into full lockdown mode. Her legs coil around me spider-like while her hands grip mine in an inescapable lover’s hold. Even exerting all my strength, her grip doesn’t budge at all. Rather, my face gets buried even deeper in her chest as a result.
Despite the somewhat sweaty body odor and how disturbingly pleasant her skin feels, a question pops up in my head to calm me down before things get out of hand. If I remember correctly, Reina used to get handsy a lot, but never went this far. In other words…
「What happened to the people you know… say, what about me?」
「….I think it’s better not to worry about it. Let’s enjoy ourselves, just the two of us, for a while, in many ways.」
「A total wipe out, huh.」
「….Yeah.」
I figured as much. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be acting like this. For a moment I entertained the notion that Reina and I were lovers, but if that was really so, out of consideration she wouldn’t cling to me like this when there’s the NPC me still alive somewhere. …Yeah, don’t get ahead of yourself.
Anyway, the situation is coming into view. Then the last thing I need to ask is:
「….What do you want to do from here on?」
「I’m not gonna do anything. Let’s just take a nice nap together. To avoid trouble from updates, I’ll chase away the Strain when needed, but in the end nothing changes and we get to stay together forever. That way, as long as there’s no influence from other servers, we’ll always be together.」
…This is getting scary. I quietly open the system menu to try logging out, but her iron grip on my hands doesn’t budge one bit. And with that I can’t reach the logout button–!
「Don’t run away. This is my last bit of entertainment. I won’t let you escape until you get forcefully logged out from the safety feature. And even if you come back I’ll catch you again…. Please.」
I try to bring up the system menu again within reach of my hands, but she reads my gaze and moves my hands out of reach…. Seriously, what’s with sealing off the ability to logout. I’m seriously stumped here. I have three days left before “UYK” comes, you know.
『Overseas Server』
Commonly called.
In typical MMORPGs, even if the servers are different, starting locations and such don’t change. However, interactions and item sharing between servers is impossible (or requires real money payment) due to system load and latency issues. The goal is to minimize delays by segregating users.
On the other hand, in HAO the starting locations already differ – France has old Paris, Britain has old London, and so on. The equipment you can obtain also changes based on your starting point. And although only theoretical, since it’s the same world you could even fly an airplane from your starting point to the ruins of old Osaka. So while they are more accurately called starting points, issues with languages often make them de facto distinct, isolated servers.
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