Estimated reading time: ~9 minutes
Chapter 46
As soon as Isamu sends the chat message, he immediately receives a reply.
It’s from Leon, saying 『In that case, let’s meet up now!』
After exchanging a few more messages, they agree that Leon will come to meet Isamu.
Grateful for the offer, Isamu sits on a bench near the fountain. While waiting, he responds to chat messages about joining the official player group and chats with some former students who pass by.
「Yo! It’s been two days!」
「Yoohoo!」
「Good evening! Sorry to keep you waiting!」
Kaito, Emi, and Leon approach, calling out greetings.
「Oh, Kaito, Emi, Leon! Good evening! Sorry for the sudden invitation. And thanks for coming all this way.」
「Hey! So what’s up? Did something happen?」
「No, nothing major. I just wanted to thank you three.」
「Thank us? What for?」
「Well, you see, I actually—」
Isamu explains that he initially started playing the game to grief newbies, and that his original intention in approaching the three of them was for that purpose.
He’s only ever told Destroy, who was in a similar situation, about his plans to grief newbies.
So he feels a bit anxious about telling them now.
He worries they might be disillusioned and distance themselves from him.
But he tells them anyway.
Because otherwise, his words of gratitude won’t truly reach them.
「Old man, I can’t believe you were thinking that!」
「That’s so mean!」
「How awful!」
To his surprise, the three of them laugh it off.
Isamu feels relieved that they’ve accepted him despite this, and bows his head.
「I-I’m sorry!」
「It’s fine, it’s fine! You ended up teaching us kindly in the end!」
「Yeah! If you’d actually done it I might’ve been seriously mad, but you didn’t!」
「That’s right! …But, how does that lead to you thanking us?」
Leon tilts his head as he asks.
They probably don’t realize they’ve done anything for Isamu.
So Isamu explains.
He tells them how their straightforward 「thank you」 and 「let’s be friends」 were what made him change his ways.
「—That’s why, thank you!」
「Oh, uh! I don’t really get it, but I’m glad we could help!」
「Yeah! It’s kind of embarrassing though!」
「You’re welcome! But if anything, I should be the one thanking you…」
「Oh, that’s right! Old man, thanks again for back then!」
「Thanks from me too!」
「Thank you so much! I’m able to enjoy the game now thanks to you, Sieg.」
「Huh? Oh, y-you’re welcome!」
Isamu fumbles for words in response to their sudden formal thanks.
The three smile, and Isamu finds himself smiling along with them.
After that, the conversation turns to Isamu becoming an official player.
As Isamu is explaining how he was hired by the game admins, as much as he’s allowed to say—
<You have one new message>
Suddenly, a system message appears in front of Isamu’s eyes.
「Ah, excuse me for a moment.」
Isamu pauses the conversation to read the new chat message.
『Good evening. I heard from Shuka! We’re at the guild home right now, so please come if you’d like. Everyone’s gathered and they want to meet Tutorial Guy! Oh, the room number and password are—』
It’s from Nana.
It seems she sent it on Shuka’s behalf, and they’re willing to meet now.
It doesn’t have to be today, but with everyone gathered, this is an opportunity he can’t miss.
「…Sorry, you three! Actually, there are some other people I want to thank. They’ve agreed to meet me now, so is it okay if I go?」
「Of course! Go, go!」
「Sorry for making you come all this way. Let’s meet up again soon!」
「Sure thing! I’ll invite you out again!」
「See ya!」
「Sieg, catch you later!」
After saying goodbye to the three, Isamu leaves the plaza and heads towards the teleportation magic circle that leads to the guild home.
Along the way――
<You have one new message>
Another chat message arrives.
Isamu stops for a moment and opens the chat screen from the menu window.
『Good evening! Did something happen? I’m in the middle of streaming right now, but I’ll be done by 11 PM, so we can talk then if that works! I actually have something I want to talk about too!』
It’s from Elena.
It seems Elena is also willing to meet today.
It’s not urgent, but since she has something to discuss too… Isamu sends a reply saying 「Let’s meet at 11 then,」 along with an apology for interrupting her stream.
☆
After activating the teleportation magic circle, Isamu is transported to a pink-themed, fairytale-like room.
It’s the guild home of Shuka and the others’ guild, [Happinesstrong].
「Ah, Uncle!」
Noticing Isamu, Shuka smiles and toddles over to him.
A moment later, Nana and the other members also approach, surrounding him.
After exchanging greetings, Nana speaks up.
「By the way, Tutorial Guy. I heard you had something to talk about?」
「Oh, yes. I came to thank everyone today.」
「Thank us?」 「For what?」 「Did we do something?」 Various questions fly around.
Once things settle down, Isamu takes a deep breath and begins to speak.
「The truth is, I—」
Isamu tells them, as he did with Leon and the others, about how he used to be a terrible person.
He explains how their 「thank you」s helped him decide to continue being Tutorial Guy.
After expressing his gratitude, they all respond with 「Thank you too!」 and 「You’re welcome, even if I don’t really understand!」
—All except one, the main person responsible: Shuka.
She probably doesn’t understand the content of the conversation.
Shuka has been tilting her head the whole time, looking a bit lonely, perhaps feeling left out.
So Isamu kneels down to meet her eye level and explains in a way she can understand.
「Shuka. You know, Uncle used to be a really bad guy.」
「Eh? Uncle isn’t bad. You’re super nice!」
「No, at first I was a bad guy who was trying to cause trouble for people. But Shuka, you changed me.」
「I did?」
「Yes. Shuka, you defeated the bad guy inside Uncle. Thanks to that, Uncle can be friends with everyone like this now. So, Shuka. Thank you so much.」
「…Mm! You’re welcome!」
Shuka answers with a beaming smile.
Influenced by her smile, everyone, including Isamu, relaxes their expressions.
Afterwards, they all enjoy reminiscing about when they first met and discussing Isamu becoming an official player.
☆
The time is just before 11 PM.
With his appointment with Elena coming up, Isamu bids farewell to the members of [Happinesstrong] and leaves the guild home.
Right after, he sends Elena a chat asking 「Where are you now?」 and receives a reply after a short while.
(Let’s see… 「I just finished streaming! I’m at the guild home, so you can come here if you’d like?」 Alright, then I’ll head straight there.)
Isamu stands on the teleportation magic circle again and opens the chat message he received earlier.
The moment he finishes entering the room number and password listed there into the panel, he’s transported to a cute, predominantly white room.
It’s the guild home of Elena’s guild, Strawberry Montblanc.
「Oh, Sieg! Hey there! You’re early!」
Elena, noticing Isamu’s arrival, walks over to him.
Elena is the only one in the room.
It seems Mew and Cocono aren’t logged in today, or have already logged out.
「Hey, Elena! Thanks for having me. Yeah, I happened to be near a guild home teleportation circle.」
「I see! Oh, right right. Sieg, you’re becoming an official player, aren’t you? Congratulations again!」
「Thank you! It’s all thanks to you, Elena! I wanted to meet today to thank you in person for that.」
「Thank me? But I didn’t do anything?」
「No, you did. The reason I am who I am now is partly thanks to you, Elena. …Actually, I—」
Isamu explains his initial motivation for starting the game and how Elena talking to him prevented him from griefing newbies.
Yes, it was on his second day of playing the game.
Isamu had a bad experience at his part-time job and was looking to take it out on someone by killing a newbie, anyone would do.
At that moment, Elena spoke to him, which resulted in him not griefing newbies.
Of course, Elena probably approached him for her own reasons, but that doesn’t change the fact that she saved him.
「—So, thank you!」
「Um, you’re welcome… I guess? It feels weird to be thanked when I’m the one who’s been helped, though…」
「Well, I did think I was getting involved in something troublesome at the time.」
「What? That’s mean! You smiled and said ‘sure’ back then, but you were thinking that?」
「No, that’s… A-Anyway, I am who I am now thanks to you, Elena, so I wanted to thank you!」
Isamu hastily covers up, unable to say 『Your fans are troublesome, and I didn’t know what they might do if I refused.』
Elena crosses her arms and thinks for a moment, then smiles and says:
「…I understand! Then I’ll graciously accept your thanks! You’re welcome!」
「Yeah, thank you! …So, what did you want to talk about, Elena?」
「Oh, right. Actually, I’d like you to appear on another livestream!」
「Oh, is that all? Of course, I’d be happy to!」
「Yay! Thank you so much! So, which days would work for you?」
「Let’s see—」
☆
Several tens of minutes later.
Elena says she’s about to log out, so Isamu bids her farewell and leaves the guild home.
Just as he’s about to open the menu window to log out himself—
<You have one new message>
A system message appears.
Isamu casually opens the chat to find it’s from Takashi.
The message congratulates him on becoming an official player.
(That’s right, I need to thank Mr. Takashi too.)
On his first day playing the game.
He met Leon first, then Kaito and Emi afterwards.
By that point, his desire to grief newbies had diminished somewhat, but he was still fully intent on doing it.
Then Takashi called out to him, and his hardened heart was soothed by the man’s parental love for his son.
That’s why he was able to end his first day of gaming without griefing any newbies, and why he is who he is now, thanks in part to Takashi.
So Isamu sends a chat message to Takashi saying, 『I have something I want to talk about, so I’d like to meet again when you’re free.』
He quickly receives a reply saying, 『In that case, let’s meet now if you’d like.』
「Alright!」
Isamu closes the menu window and starts walking towards the fountain where Takashi is waiting.
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