1 - Candid Camera Checkup

Akuto had no good memories of his physical checkups.

Of course, he still remembered the checkup he’d been given when he transferred to the school, when he’d been told he would become the Demon King.

“It’s weird that they’d just announce checkups without any kind of warning,” Hiroshi said. They were standing next to each other in the nurse’s office, both of them in their underwear.

“Yeah, it’s a little weird,” Akuto answered.

For some reason, everyone had been told this morning that there’d be an unannounced physical exam. The students didn’t know what to make of this, but they were undergoing the exams anyway. The boys were up first, and by now they were about halfway finished.

“Are they taking blood?”

The student in front of Akuto was offering his right arm to the teacher. The teacher had used a needle to take about half a test-tube’s worth of blood.

“Boss, do you not like needles?” Hiroshi grinned.

“Of course not. They hurt,” Akuto answered, completely serious.

Hiroshi hadn’t expected that answer, so he didn’t know what to say.

“Boss, you’ve ripped off your own arm and thrown yourself into a high-temperature plasma ball, right?”

“That still doesn’t mean I like pain.”

“What?”

And then it was Akuto’s turn. He offered his arm to the teacher, who stuck a needle in it. He grimaced.

“D-Does it hurt?” Hiroshi asked.

“It does,” Akuto said calmly.

Except for that one conversation, the boys’ checkups finished without incident.

“Man, I’m glad nothing happened. After all that’s been going on recently, I assumed that there was some kind of plot going on here.” Akuto had put his clothes back on, and was waiting outside with Hiroshi for the girls’ checkups to finish.

“Knowing you, Boss, I think anything could happen. Actually, it feels kind of like a shame that nothing happened.”

“I hate to say it, but I agree...” Akuto shrugged.

And then he saw a suspicious shadow out near the back of the school building. He turned his head towards Hiroshi, who nodded.

“I guess something’s gonna happen after all.”

“I hope not. But we can’t just pretend we didn’t see it.”

The shadow was moving from cover to cover, trying to stay hidden. It was moving from the bushes behind the school towards the building’s pillars. When Akuto looked closer, he saw that the shadow was actually two people.

Akuto and Hiroshi started to move, making sure the two people didn’t see them.

The two seemed to be wearing some kind of camouflage cape to keep themselves hidden. The cape couldn’t completely conceal their presence, but it could detect the surrounding area’s colors and blend in.

“I’ll go around to the other side. Once I scare them, you go ‘boom!’ and take them down,” Hiroshi whispered.

“I’m not sure what ‘boom!’ means, but I guess you mean we should make it so they can’t escape before we talk to them, so yeah, I’ll do that.” Akuto nodded.

Hiroshi headed around to the other side, taking a long detour into the bushes behind the school. Then he nodded at Akuto from a distance, and at the right moment, used magic to create the sound of a siren.

“Uwaaah!”

The pair in the camo cape screamed in surprise, and took off running in the opposite direction of Hiroshi. The cape changed color as they ran, making it possible to see the dim outlines of their position.

The two of them tried to escape, but Akuto stood before them.

“Wait. Don’t run. Who are you?”

The two of them panicked when Akuto appeared out of nowhere and started barking commands. They completely lost control.

“U-Uwah! It’s him!” they screamed, and fired bullets of magical light at Akuto without warning.

“Damn it!” Akuto raised his hand up without thinking.

Akuto was well known for having a bad habit of being unable to control his mana, and he was also the type to respond to an attack not by blocking, but by canceling it out with a bigger attack.

As a result...

There was a huge flash of light, and an explosion echoed throughout the whole area. Akuto’s own light bullet had caused theirs to evaporate, and now it was flying right towards them.

—Crap!

Akuto quickly caused the light bullet to explode before it could hit and injure them.

The two of them covered their faces. The bullet’s energy formed a ring around them, passing by them safely before the ring of energy struck the wall of the school and evaporated.

The pair stood frozen with their hands over their faces for a second. When they realized that they didn’t feel any pain, they checked and saw they were uninjured, and then gave out sighs of relief.

Akuto was relieved too. It seemed he hadn’t hurt them.

“I didn’t mean to scare you. But if you’re using a camo cape, that means...” Akuto said, but then he stopped. He heard a strange sound like an earthquake.

—Huh? What’s that...?

His question was soon answered.

The wall of the school came crashing down on the two of them. The ring of energy had succeeded in making a beautiful ring-shaped hole in the wall, and the part inside the ring had fallen towards them.

“Uwah!” The two of them jumped away as the wall landed with a crash. Both Akuto and the pair in the cape were shocked into silence, but it wasn’t over yet.

Dozens of naked girls appeared in front of Akuto.

Or no, that wasn’t right. It took Akuto a moment to figure out that they didn’t ‘appear,’ but that he’d destroyed the wall to the nurse’s office where the girls were getting checkups. And it took the naked girls some time to figure out what had happened as well. For a full five seconds they froze, making no effort to conceal their nude bodies.

“So that’s it... This was a bad attempt to be a peeping Tom...” Akuto finally realized what the two of them were trying to do. But that wasn’t the right thing to say now.

“Kyaaaah! Noooo!”

Dozens of screams shook the air. The girls started to throw objects at Akuto. He blocked them with his hands and tried to apologize, but he was cut off by an even louder voice.

“Akuto Sai! Why do you keep doing this?!” A naked girl wearing nothing but a jacket was pointing a wooden sword at Akuto. It was Junko Hattori.

“Listen, I can explain...”

“How are you going to explain blowing up a wall to see us naked?!”

“Hear me out. I wasn’t trying to be a peeping tom...”

“You just said, ‘This was a bad attempt to be a peeping Tom.’ You got so excited to see naked girls you forgot we’d see you instantly if you blew up the wall!”

“Listen, it wasn’t me who...” Akuto looked around. But the pair in the cape, who he’d hoped could explain things, had already fled. Even Hiroshi was gone.

“Huh? They’re gone...”

“Who’s gone? Are you trying to talk your way out of this?”

“I am not. They were right here...”

“No more talking!”

Junko swung her wooden sword, and Akuto couldn’t block. The magically enhanced sword created an explosion that blew Akuto high into the sky.

○

“I thought they’d be suspicious if we drew the blood first, actually,” Yoshie said. She was walking across the schoolyard, dressed as a nurse.

There was a doctor in a white lab coat next to her. Judging by the man’s completely ordinary face, it was probably 2V. Grinning, he tapped on the trunk he was carrying.

“Now we just need to escape, which should be easy enough. We’ve got what we came for, after all.”

“Keena Soga’s blood, huh?” Yoshie whispered.

“We were lucky that we were able to hold a physical at this time of year. It made things very simple. I’ll be heading back, and then I’ll send you the sample later,” 2V said.

Yoshie nodded, only to look back behind her. She’d heard an explosion.

“What just happened?” she asked, but 2V shook his head.

“Not smart. At times like this, you should only focus on your goal. Though I guess you only wanted to see what Keena Soga looked like, right? You really do like to see things for yourself, don’t you?” 2V thought for a moment, and then nodded and continued, “I’m leaving, but you’re free to do what you like. But please make sure you don’t tell anyone what we’re really here for.”

Yoshie nodded herself, and then walked in the direction of the explosion.

She was an intensely curious girl, which was one of the things that made her smart. And what she found out back behind the school was more than enough to satiate her curiosity.

A tall boy was lying in the bushes, smoke rising off his body.

“So, what exactly happened here?” she asked as she looked down at him.

Akuto raised his head to look at her.

“...It’s complicated. Just know that I’m alright,” he said, and then stood up. There were dozens of tiny scratches on his body, and a single, picturesque line of blood running down his forehead.

“You call that being ‘alright’? I’m not sure I’m convinced,” Yoshie said. But Akuto shook his head.

“I can understand why you’d feel that way, but my body is actually very tough.”

“Really?” Yoshie ripped off a part of her white lab coat and motioned for him to lean forward.

“There was no need to rip up your clothing...” Akuto said. But Yoshie nodded like nothing had happened.

“Lab coats are just tools. And this isn’t mine, anyway. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“I suppose that does make sense, huh?” Akuto answered. He leaned forward, and for the first time got a good look at Yoshie’s face.

He hadn’t realized it the first time he’d seen her, but her face was actually quite pretty. He’d failed to notice because no particular aspect of it stood out. It was the sort of face that was plain, but if you kept looking at it, you would notice its beauty.

There were goggles pushed up against her hair, which she clearly didn’t take good care of. In a world where mana screens could be deployed anywhere, not many people used display devices like goggles. It felt like it gave him insight into her personality. She was the kind of girl who liked to use things that were customized to her needs. That also explained why she seemed so much like a scientist.

Yoshie used the torn-off strip from the lab coat to wipe off the blood and dirt from his face, and then drew her head close to his.

“Um...” Akuto pulled away without thinking.

“Don’t move, please. I can’t get a good look.”

She grabbed his face with her hands and held it so that she could get a better look at him. She was close enough that he could feel her breath, but she didn’t seem to care at all.

“Wh-What are you...”

Just as he turned red and started to gasp, she shouted “Wooooaah! Ooh! Your wounds are healing!”

She ran her fingers along his face, tracing out the wounds as they disappeared.

“Wow, is this some kind of standard regen equipment? It’s amazing. Were you born with this?”

“I guess so. I’m just tougher than other people.”

“Wow, this is really interesting!” Yoshie stared into his face with shining eyes.

“You’re making me blush. Can you knock it off...? And what’s ‘regen’?”

“Oooh, I’m sorry. I just got a little excited. How embarrassing. Regen is something you see in video games, where your health comes back. Don’t you play video games?” She moved her face away and smiled at him.

“I never have, no. I’ve been pretty busy. Are they fun?” Akuto asked. She gave him a big nod.

“They sure are! Nobody plays them anymore, though. Games are an important part of our culture, if you ask me. There’s an old phrase, ‘Don’t play games for more than 24 hours in a single day.’ That’s how important they are.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means it’s a shame you can only play 24 hours of video games in a day. Because they’re so fun, you see.”

“I didn’t know that. Maybe I should give them a try.”

“You should. You definitely should!” Yoshie said loudly.

“I’ll remember that.” Akuto nodded. Yoshie nodded back, clearly satisfied.

“You’re the first person to say that, you know. Most people just get freaked out.”

“Freaked out?”

“You know, sometimes boys come up and talk to me. And then I start talking to them about video games, obviously. And when I do, they start moving away. Really, they just gradually start walking away. The worst are the ones who say things like, ‘From the way you look, I didn’t think you’d be that kind of girl.’” Yoshie began to describe these embarrassing moments from her past in an impassioned voice. Most people would think she was just talking about how weird she was, and even if they’d been listening to her until now, would try to quickly exit the conversation.

But Akuto nodded firmly.

“I know what you mean. I had the same experience in middle school and when I was working at a part-time job. Girls would come up to me, and then we’d talk for a while and they’d say, ‘I didn’t think you were like this!’”

“Wooaah! You’re the first person who really understands me! Hey, what’s your name?” Yoshie leaned forward.

“Akuto Sai,” he said, and she grabbed him by the hand.

“I’m Yoshie Kita! We should play an online game soon!”

“Sure, but when?”

“How about we start tomorrow and spend a whole week on it? Don’t worry, you can play it at work.”

Yoshie was asking for something crazy, but to her, it was completely normal. She always kept a game running in the corner of her screen. But, in this sense at least, Akuto was a normal person.

“No, I think that would be difficult. I’ve got classes and things to do. By the way, are you in a lab coat because you’re a nurse? That’s not a job that gives you a lot of free time, right?”

Only after he said that did Yoshie remember why she’d come here. She couldn’t tell him that she’d needed Keena Soga’s blood to alter virtual phase space. It wasn’t exactly legal, and she hadn’t bothered to get Keena’s permission. But she decided it would be better to tell a half truth about her job instead of lying.

“I’ve got a temporary job as a nurse, I guess. Normally I work at the Megis temple.”

Akuto looked back at her, impressed.

“I’m sorry, but you’re about my age, aren’t you?”

“I studied overseas. That’s why I don’t have the certification you need to be a priest, though. Going back to college is too much of a pain.”

“You’re really smart, then.” Akuto opened his eyes wide, truly impressed.

Yoshie blushed and chuckled.

“Stop it. In this country, if you don’t want to go to school, that makes you stupid, not smart. No, I’m probably not that smart outside of the Empire, either. In the end, if you only want to work on the things you like, you’re not welcome anywhere.”

“And what you like is video games?”

“That’s part of it, but I don’t like doing things that take a lot of effort. I don’t like people who are really eager to work, or who are really bossy and annoying,” Yoshie said as she scratched her head.

“I can understand that, I think. Like people who spend all their time or waste all their money on things that don’t matter at all, right?”

Yoshie’s eyes lit up even brighter.

“You really get what I’m talking about! That’s right! I hate it when people get all close with each other for no good reason at all. It’s one thing if there’s a reason, but I just don’t get the type who likes to commit crimes, or pick fights.”

“Come to think of it, in a world like this where nobody wants for anything, if you’re hurting someone it’s because you care about them, and want to see their reaction. I know what you mean.” Akuto nodded, satisfied.

Yoshie began to speak even faster.

“You understand! That’s why even if I’ve got a strong sense of curiosity, I’m terrible at small talk. Once I meet someone and introduce myself, what more is there to say? I mean, it’s one thing if you can talk about politics, but most people who want to be close with you are just ignorant.”

“I get that too. In other words...”

After that, Yoshie and Akuto talked excitedly with one another. Yoshie had never had a conversation like that before, and neither had Akuto. The way they spoke, the two of them seemed liked scientists without a lab, and the way their cheeks were slightly flushed, they seemed like boyfriend and girlfriend who didn’t want to say goodbye as they walked home from school.

The two of them seemed to have lost track of time. When the bell finally rang, they quickly looked around, and then looked back at each other and laughed.

“Man, you’re great. Call me sometime. I mean it.”

“Thank you. I had fun too. Anyway, I’ve gotta get going.”

Yoshie and Akuto exchanged a handshake. They each started to walk in a different direction, and only after walking for a while did they realize they hadn’t exchanged contact information.

—No, it’s probably fine. I have a feeling I’ll be seeing him really soon. After all, I’ve never met a person who’s interested me so much. I know we’ll see each other again.

Yoshie thought to herself, and nodded, satisfied.

○

“President, I’ve still got it in mah sights.” A voice with a strange accent came in over the telepathic line.

This was the Student Council President’s office at Constant Magical Academy, and of course, it was the Student Council President who was listening to it.

Lily Shiraishi — a small girl wearing a fashionable hat — nodded in front of her mana screen.

“Stay sharp. You’re tailing a doll. There’s no telling what kind of places it can go to, or what kind of tricks it has up its sleeve.”

“I’m usin’ a lot of mah bats as extra eyes. Can’t guarantee it’ll work, though.”

“Lose sight of it and I kill you,” Lily said in an abrupt, but very serious, tone.

“Please don’t...”

She’d been talking to the vice president, Michie Otake. Lily could see her on the mana screen. Right now she appeared to be in a city park. Michie had a pale, sickly complexion that resembled a vampire, and just like her looks implied, she excelled at controlling magical machines shaped like bats.

She’d been ordered by the president to tail 2V. At late evening no one would notice a bat flying in the sky, which made her perfect for the job.

“I don’t expect to find 2V’s base or anything, but we can at least find some kind of lead,” Lily said enthusiastically.

She’d only learned about the plan recently. Lily’s father was a priest of Megis, and was in a position to find out about the “plan” that 2V had taken to Yoshie. If 2V wanted to use virtual phase space in the Megis Temple, he would need the temple’s cooperation. And without the help of the extremists who wanted to kill the Demon King, the plan itself would be impossible. Working in the shadows was their specialty, but this time, that wasn’t a luxury they could afford.

When Lily had learned the plan’s details — using the unique frequency generated by Keena’s cells to seal Akuto in virtual phase space — she’d quickly set a trap by scheduling an emergency set of physical exams. 2V had fallen for the trap, and come in search of Keena’s blood. Lily didn’t know what he looked like, but all she had to do was follow whoever took Keena’s blood.

As of now, the plan was going splendidly.

“President, he’s gone inside a building,” Michie reported.

“Can you follow him inside?”

“Ah’ll do mah best. Um... It says it’s the Imperial City University Research Lab.”

“Find out which lab he’s going to, even if it kills you!”

“If it kills me...? Well, ah’ll do mah best,” Michie said, and ended the call.

“Now then... What happened to the other girl?” Lily whispered, and opened up another telepathic line. A girl with a face like a wild animal appeared on the mana screen.

“Oh, President. I tracked the girl who was talking with Akuto Sai to her home without much trouble-gyah.”

It was Kanna Kamiyama. She was one of the three other members of the Student Council, and she had the power to transform into a wolf. Right now she was using her bestial sense of smell to follow Yoshie.

“Good. But she’s not exactly a spy or an underworld agent. All we needed to find her address was to know who she was. Your job was to tell me if she did anything suspicious. What was she talking about with Akuto Sai? Was she trying to find out more about him?”

“It didn’t feel like it-gyah. It felt like they really did just meet each other for the first time-gyah.”

“So you’re saying the whole meeting was a coincidence?”

“I think so-gyah.”

“...Well, he certainly does stand out. And no one would be dumb enough to risk making contact with a target before the operation begins. I’m starting to think Akuto’s just got bad luck with women. I wish it would stop making life hard for me, though... Well, it doesn’t matter to me if he dies. I’m doing this to get my personal revenge,” Lily whispered, and her eyes narrowed.

○

“Is the data enough on its own?” 2V asked.

“I think I can make it work. A human body’s unique frequency is something that no two people share. I can make any adjustments to the machine’s values remotely. It makes way more sense for us not to meet in person, right?” Yoshie said.

She was on a call with 2V, who was now inside a lab with Keena’s blood. The lab contained the devices needed to transfer someone into virtual phase space, and Yoshie was working on setting them up.

“It’s like I’m casting magic through Keena. Her unique magic allows me to change virtual phase space any way I want to, you could say.”

2V could feel something like joy in Yoshie’s voice.

“Can I ask why you’re obsessed with being able to alter VPS?”

“If we can change that world to be anything you want, then we can all just live our lives there, is what I think. Life would be so easy if we did. You’d have to research a way to get nutrients... or energy, I guess you could say. But the odds that that can be automated are very high.” Yoshie ran her fingers across several mana screens she had open on her desk as she answered.

She took a quick break from rewriting the program to gulp down a beverage on her desk. The towel she used to wipe the sweat off her forehead, and the maintenance kit for her goggles, everything she needed was within reach of where she sat. She did her work alone, with the practiced hand of someone who was used to solitude.

“In other words, if we have a space where people can keep the insides of their brains constantly exposed to the outside world, it will actually be possible to create a world where there’s no need to be close to one another. And the way I see it, that might be the way to live that’s most true to who we are as humans. So that’s why.” Yoshie was ostensibly speaking to 2V, but eventually it started to feel like she was talking to herself.

“Really, I’m glad to have the opportunity to do this experiment. Everybody’s always been interested in my research, but most people ignore what I actually have to say. They tell me it’s ‘creepy’ or ‘unhealthy.’ You know, if we can figure out what’s possible in VPS, we can turn our lives into a video game. I’ve already tried giving the space certain laws in order to change it. Whenever somebody enters it, they turn into game data. Game data that’s capable of overwriting itself, though. That means that you’re able to will yourself to grow beyond your physical limits. You can be a character out of a video game! Once people experience that, I think they’ll understand what I’m saying.” Yoshie started to program even faster.

“I see, I see.” 2V smiled to herself.

It was 2V’s own body that was smiling. She was staring at dozens of mana screens, lying alone on the floor of a room that was empty except for rows of standing dolls. Even the rest of CMID-8 didn’t know about this condo, which was where she lived to conceal who she really was.

2V thought to herself that she and Yoshie were similar people. 2V herself was still in her early teens, and her incredible abilities had never been recognized by any authority.

—But it’s possible to make your thoughts into reality in this world too, you know. You don’t understand that. That’s why people say you’re unhealthy.

That was where their ideas differed. But the biggest difference of all lay in their ultimate goals.

—If I can have anything I want, I don’t want a paradise inside virtual phase space. I want to be in the real world, where I can be the formless king in a world without gods.

2V was about to betray Yoshie. The plan she’d told Yoshie was a lie.

—And the pleasure you get when betraying someone is much, much more exciting in the real world.

2V grinned, and ran her sickly thin fingers across her pale face.