2 - Let’s Go to a Game World

“Ackie, fantasy is great, isn’t it?” Keena said suddenly.

This statement had come out of nowhere, the reason being that this was Akuto’s room. Keena had snuck in at some point, and was now scooping rice from a bowl into her mouth with a ladle.

“I don’t follow,” Akuto said, sitting up in bed. He didn’t seem at all surprised by this sudden red-haired intruder, who was crouching on the floor of his room and eating rice. At this point, he was used to it.

“Fantasy, Ackie. You know, like swords and sorcery!” Keena declared as she scooped up the rice.

“We’ve already got both of those things,” Akuto said with a shrug.

But Keena waved her ladle from side to side.

“Tch-tch-tch. That’s not what I mean, Ackie. Fantasy is about heroes from other worlds, and trapped princesses.”

“Well, I guess those don’t exist in reality,” Akuto said, continuing the conversation even though something seemed wrong. But then a voice came down from above.

“Those are the words of someone who doesn’t understand how special he is.” Korone the Liradan came down from her usual spot in the cabinet above his closet. Her job was to watch Akuto for the government, and so she lived in the same room. But lately it felt like she was ignoring him.

“That’s true, but she’s probably getting this out of another old book she read or something,” Akuto said. But Keena shook her head.

“Nope. There’s this really neat video game I just found out about...” Akuto thought to himself that he was hearing a lot about video games lately.

—Come to think of it, I never got her contact info... If I start playing video games, maybe I’ll run into her.

“What kind of games are there? I’m interested, but I’ve never tried one.”

“This is the one I played.” Keena pulled up a game on her mana screen. The game’s author was listed as “Yoshihiko.”

“See? It’s interesting, like rice,” Keena said, as she began to play. Games in this era were three-dimensional images, but their stories and gameplay hadn’t evolved in a long time. The sorts of things that humans enjoy don’t change that easily.

“I’m not sure what ‘interesting like rice’ means, but... Does that mean it gets more interesting the more you chew on it?”

“Aww, no. Rice is really interesting!”

“...N-Never mind. What kind of game is it?”

Akuto peered into the mana screen. It was an online fantasy RPG, but what made it special was that you could lead an army to fight wars. There were lots of other soldiers besides the players, and as your character grew you could expand your armies.

“It looks like a war game.”

“Yup. But you don’t have to be the commander. You can be the kidnapped princess, and all you have to do is stay kidnapped and the army will come and rescue you.”

“That’s an amazingly strange concept, but well, it’s a game, I guess. Wait, does that mean that war starts because you’re kidnapped?”

“Yup.”

“And that’s what makes it interesting, huh?” Akuto nodded in understanding.

“It’s also kind of amazing that you’d come here this early to talk about video games,” Korone said. Keena clapped her hands together like she just remembered something.

“Oh, right! The Student Council President says she won’t be in early this morning. So she wants you to take over for her. That’s what I came to tell you.”

“She’s got her trio, right?”

“Well, the trio’s gone too. All of them. Hiroshi’s gone as well. All of them were called out somewhere late last night.”

“I guess I don’t have a choice, then. I’m a little curious what happened, though.” Akuto stood up and was about to tell her to leave so he could change, but then he realized something.

“But why are you coming to tell me this?”

“I was up all night playing video games. So I ran into the Student Council President just as she was about to leave this morning.”

“...I see. You don’t need to sleep?”

“I’m fine. If I eat, I can go a little while without sleep. And if I do get tired, I can just skip class.”

“You’re as much of a free spirit as ever, huh?”

Keena went outside after that, and Akuto took off his pajama top.

Suddenly a voice interrupted him from behind.

“I didn’t expect to be sexually seduced like this.”

“Uwah!” He turned around and Korone was right there.

“Th-That’s right. I forgot to ask you to leave.”

“At this point, it’s like it’s natural for us to be together. We’re like husband and wife, you could say.”

“Don’t be silly... And don’t you always leave on your own when I’m about to change?”

“Yes, but there was something in that conversation that is bothering me.” Korone normally never intervened in his daily life except to tease him, so it was rare for her to say something like this. Akuto’s face suddenly took on a serious expression.

“Something bothering you?”

“Yes. My job has put me in a rather delicate position, but I am able to inform you that you’re the target of a certain plan. However, I am forbidden to tell you what the plan is, or to stop it.”

“That’s... a problem, isn’t it?”

Akuto immediately understood the seriousness of the situation. Korone was a Liradan, who was following the government’s orders. And the government was divided between the extremists, who wanted Akuto dead, and the pacifists who wanted to wait and see what he did. There were probably a lot of places where orders from one faction contradicted those from another.

“Yes. But be careful. I’ll do the best I can to help.”

“Thanks. I get it. So that’s the reason the Student Council President left,” Akuto said. He went to take his pajama bottoms off, but realized that Korone was staring.

“...I almost took them off with you standing right here. Can you leave me alone for a second?”

“No, I can’t leave your side even for a moment,” Korone said, with a completely serious look on her face.

But Akuto had known her long enough to know that she was joking.

“Seriously, don’t make jokes like that...”

○

Lily had woken up early that day, and was staking out the area near the Imperial City University Lab with a bean jam bun in one hand and milk in the other. She was watching the room that Michie had ID’d earlier.

The lights were on inside the room. It was still before sunrise, and that room was the only one with lit windows.

“I’d love to bust my way in there while the place is still empty...” Lily whispered.

“Huh? You got permission first, right? Did you just say bust your way in..?”

Next to her was an extremely doubtful Hiroshi, who she’d forced to come along. He was standing next to Lily, nibbling on a cream bun, and his eyes had gone wide with surprise.

“If I had permission I wouldn’t be hiding. The plan was always to do this the violent way. My trio is investigating the area around us. Once we’ve got a good handle on the situation, we’re going in.”

“G-Going in?”

“Going in, finding the guy inside, and knocking his lights out. It’s as simple as that,” Lily said.

“W-Wait! Why did you bring me then?” Hiroshi started to panic.

“Oh, right. I never told you, did I?” Lily nodded to herself as if she’d only now remembered.

“I’ve got information that Boichiro Yamato’s servants are plotting something.”

“Huh? Boichiro Yamato...?” Hiroshi’s words caught in his throat.

The Anti-Demon-King combat suit that Hiroshi had once used was given to him, through a fairly involved process, by Boichiro Yamato.

“That’s why I called you. Not because I expect you to fight, but because you might know something, or they might want you for something.”

“Huh? I don’t know anything.”

“I know that. But there’s a chance you might remember something. And if it turns out you’re important to them and you don’t know it, I can use you as a hostage.” There was no sign on Lily’s face that she was joking, so Hiroshi went pale.

“W-Wait, you’re kidding, right?”

“Nope. If I want to kill 2V, I need to be prepared to make some sacrifices.” Lily’s eyes were dead serious.

“W-Wait, you just have it out for him personally, right? ...R-Right! What’s this plan about? We’re here to stop it, right?”

“What’s wrong with having it out for him personally? We’re not here to stop the plan at all.”

“Huh...?”

“The plan is to seal Akuto Sai away in Virtual Phase Space. Most likely they want to either lock him away from the outside world, or just kill him inside.”

“A-And you’re not going to stop it?”

“Nope. That’s his problem. As long as the majority of the students are safe, it doesn’t matter to me at all,” Lily said, just as a telepathic call came in. It was from the Trio.

“President, we’ve got things secure here. If you move now, nobody will be able to leave.”

“Okay. I’ll tell you when to bust in.” Lily threw her bread and milk carton to the ground. And then she grabbed Hiroshi’s hand and started to walk.

“W-Wait, President, I’m not ready...”

“I’m not waiting for you. If we don’t get going, people are going to notice us, and then we’ll have a real mess on our hands.” Lily dragged Hiroshi by the hand onto the laboratory grounds.

Imperial City University was open to the public since the labs received regular visitors from the outside. Lily was able to head right to the door she was looking for.

There were no traps, and she’d seen no resistance up until this point. She cautiously put her hand up to the doorknob, and flicked her head towards Hiroshi.

Hiroshi assumed he was supposed to respond somehow, but before he could answer, Lily kicked open the door.

“Wh-What the heck, President?”

But Lily didn’t answer. As soon as the door hit the ground, she was already inside. That wasn’t how you opened the door to a university lab, it was how special forces broke into a terrorist hideout, or a gang launched an attack on a rival.

Lily dropped down low, holding her arms out in front of her. Her fighting style involved extending out her arms, and she could fire them off at the speed of bullets. As long as she could see someone, she could knock them flat in an instant. But that only worked if she had a target.

“What...?” Lily’s face tensed up in surprise.

The lights were on in the room, but nobody was there.

There was no place to hide, either. The room was crammed with shelves and research equipment, but there was barely a place for a single person to stand.

“They escaped? How?” Lily contacted the Trio via telepathy, but they sounded as surprised as she was.

“Huh? Ain’t nuthin’ happened out here.”

“Ugah.”

“Yoshie Kita hasn’t moved at all.”

“Look closer! We may be being tricked!” Lily screamed. But just then a single ray of light appeared on the lab’s desk.

Lily tensed up, but it was only the light from a mana screen. The face of a very ordinary man — 2V — appeared on it.

“You!” Lily howled, but the video wasn’t from an open line. A pre-recorded message began to play.

“Glad you could make it, little one. I’m afraid I found out about what you were up to, and made the first move on my own. The plan has already begun. You were just a little too late. I look forward to our next meeting, though! Oh, but I guess there won’t be a next meeting. This room is going to self-destruc...”

Before 2V’s sentence finished, Lily had jumped backwards. She grabbed Hiroshi, who was simply standing there in shock, and leapt outside of the room.

“Or rather, it was going to self-destruct, but that wouldn’t be a nice thing to do to the other researchers, would it? Anyway, have a nice day.” 2V’s mocking voice echoed through the room.

“Y-You bastard!” Lily screamed, as she began to pound her fists into Hiroshi’s head.

“Aah! Stop it! President! Calm down, please!”

○

“Is this really the right way to do it?” Yoshie asked. “Something doesn’t seem right.”

“It’s fine. Well, it’s going well at least,” 2V’s salaryman-like doll answered.

Yoshie and 2V both got started as soon as their preparations were ready. As soon as the VPS-control device was finished, they teleported near the school and hid.

The two of them had beaten Lily because of Yoshie’s incredible programming abilities, and the fact that they’d used teleportation to escape. Teleportation wasn’t cheap. If you wanted to use it, you needed a good reason.

“They underestimated how serious we were about this. Even if we’re doing this in secret, it’s still a government project.”

“I suppose I should be grateful that I can have that kind of backup when I’m doing the research I love. But why did we have to come all the way out to the school? We’re just doing a control test for the VPS system, right?”

“I guess I never told you.” 2V laughed. He pointed towards the Constant Magical Academy courtyard, where the morning assembly was being held. 2V and Yoshie were standing in the place where 2V’s tent had been during the huge battle at the school.

“We’re going to seal him away,” 2V said, as he pointed towards a young man standing at the lectern. When Yoshie saw who it was, her eyes went wide with surprise.

“Him? I just talked to him.”

“You talked to him? You didn’t know he was the Demon King?” 2V said calmly.

“Wooaah! I’m really surprised. I had no idea. Hmm? You’re going to seal him away?” Yoshie suddenly raised an eyebrow.

“That’s right. If we seal him in virtual phase space, he’ll have no more power than an ordinary human. There’s a lot of people who’d like to kill him without harming the people around him.” 2V grinned.

“K-Kill him?”

When he saw her panic, 2V tried his best to stifle a laugh.

“That’s right. That’s what this government project is for. I’m sorry I never told you, but you’ll never be prosecuted for this. So don’t worry, and please continue. I think every human should play a part in a murder plot at least once in their life.”

Yoshie covered her face in shock.

“I-I... I can’t accept that. Listen, can you rethink this?”

“I’m afraid I can’t. I’m not trying to threaten you, but I do need you to do this, so there’s a warrant out for your arrest. Hahaha. Funny, isn’t it? If you don’t do it, you’re a criminal. But if you do, you’ll never be prosecuted. You’ve only really got one choice, don’t you?” 2V couldn’t contain his laughter anymore.

Yoshie bit down on her lip.

—What do I do...? No, maybe there’s a way to fix this. Maybe there’s a way to make this right. Calm down... Just stay calm.

“A-Alright. I don’t want to do it, but I guess I don’t have a choice. I just need to adjust the machine to do that, right?”

“That’s right. Glad to see you’re cooperative.” 2V let out a laugh, satisfied that he’d won.

“Seal him away as a normal person. That’s your order, right?”

“Correct. Don’t get any ideas.”

“Sure, I get it. I’m not going to do anything crazy. I understand.” Yoshie knelt down over the VPS control device.

The device was a 50-centimeter square box, with a control panel, keyboard, and monitor built into the side. Yoshie began to tap at the keyboard.

“How does it feel to help kill someone you’ve spoken to?” 2V asked cruelly.

Yoshie couldn’t help but let her displeasure show on her face, but her answer was calm.

“It hurts. He and I had a lot in common. But I think he’ll probably understand.”

“Hmph. I see. I have no idea what you think he’ll understand, but I suppose if you want to do this, you have to think that. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Your best option is to work hard, even if it means lying to yourself.”

“I agree. But in the end, humans are made to only be able to do the things they want to do. I only talked with him a little, but I feel like he and I understand each other. So I think I understand what it is he wants to do too. Which means that I’ve got a feeling he’ll be able to overcome this, as long as he has a chance.”

“A chance? What are you talking about?”

“Heheh. I’m talking about this.” Yoshie was extremely calm, but passionate, as she spoke. She activated the device of her own will, without 2V’s orders.

“Wh-What are you doing?!” For once, 2V began to get scared. Even a brilliant mind like 2V’s hadn’t seen this coming.

“I’m activating the device. I’m about to send every person and every thing in this area into virtual phase space. Just so we’re clear, I did exactly what you told me to,” Yoshie said. The VPS control device had come alive, and was giving off a low moan.

“Every person and every thing?!” 2V gasped, and then reached out a hand to grab her.

“It’s too late,” Yoshie whispered.

2V’s hand failed to reach her. Their vision was already blurred. The space around the two of them had started to glow as it sank into the ground.

“I’m teleporting the whole school, me, and this device into Megis’s virtual phase space.”

“The device itself...? That’s insane! You don’t know what will happen!”

“True. The device only works properly if it’s outside the space. But if I don’t take it inside, you’ll be able to control it, right? And what’s more, I’ve put in some things you didn’t expect. I’ve used my own game program to define the rules of that world, which means that he can handle the rest. I believe it.” Yoshie was calm, even as she sank down into the ground, holding the device in her hands.

“Tch! You thought of all that in this single moment? But... I’m going inside too!” 2V stretched out his right arm, and then grabbed it at the elbow with his left. And then he ripped his right arm out at the elbow. It was the kind of thing that only a doll could do.

And then he threw his right arm at the device. Yoshie covered it with her hands, but it managed to grip onto her own hand tightly.

“I’m sending my hand with you, at least!” 2V screamed.

And then the whole world around her sunk into “the other side.”

○

Moments before the device activated...

Akuto was standing on the podium, unsure of what he was supposed to say.

He was leading the morning assembly today, in front of the entire student body. The student council president and her trio were both absent, so the job had fallen to him.

At Constant Magical Academy, the principal only led the morning assembly on special occasions. It was up to the student council president to warn the students not to get too out of hand, or tell them when there was something they had to know. But today, that was Akuto’s responsibility.

“Our theme for the week is ‘Keep the school clean,’ but I need you to all understand that this goes beyond simply picking up trash.”

After announcing that he’d be doing the assembly today, that was the first thing Akuto had said. In retrospect, this was a mistake. He’d decided he didn’t just want to read words off a page, but to tell everyone about his own interpretation of the meaning behind them, and hopefully bring about a constructive debate. This, however, was not a good idea. The more he talked, the more his speech started to go in a strange direction. He was having a progressively harder time explaining what he was getting at.

“...Filth builds up in places where things get out of control, like dust building up in the gaps between a tangled mess of cables. If you want to clean it up, you need to unhook and untangle the cables. If you want something to be truly clean, you need to break it down. And ‘keep things clean’ applies not just to the world around us, but to your minds as well. The filth in your minds builds up because they’re out of control. They’re a mess. I’ll go back to the example of the cables I just gave. Cables are a useful way to transmit information, but they’re also a fixed, immobile system. Doesn’t that mean that it’s important to break down the fixed systems in your minds?”

Akuto was trying to talk about himself, but he’d totally lost control of what he was saying. And his words were starting to freak out the students.

“I don’t get it. Is he telling us to doubt what we know?”

“No, he’s talking about fixed systems in our minds... So he must be telling us that we need to go insane.”

“...I see. I guess it makes sense that the Demon King would give such an abnormal speech.”

—No, that’s not what I meant...

Akuto didn’t know what to do.

“What do I mean by ‘systems’ of the mind? I mean the systems we use to recognize the world around us. In order to reduce the load on our brains, humans are made to have a simple understanding of the world around us. It’s this simple understanding of the world that makes you do things like come to school. Going to school is not the same thing as studying. It’s just a system. And you need to remember that it’s these fixed understandings that connect to the system of society itself.”

The students started to panic even worse.

“So he’s not talking about madness. He’s talking about proactively destroying the systems of society!”

“Anarchism! And during morning assembly, too!”

“And he’s only even here as a stand-in!”

—What’s happening here?

Akuto wracked his brain to come up with something else to say.

“...No, I’m just saying that our school beautification movement needs to be turned towards these fixed ideas as well. Eventually, these ideas will start to drain the life from us. If we understand that our job is to be pillars of society, then we need to proactively involve ourselves in difficult battles for the sake of a new era...”

“Wow! He’s turning the morning assembly into a riot!”

“A battle for a new era... That’s just what a rioter would say!”

“We were only listening to you because you were giving the morning assembly speech! But we won’t let you get away with this!”

Now there was no way he could calm them down. They were starting to boo and scream at him.

—Oh no... I need to come up with some way to talk my way out of this...

“Be quiet! You can yell, but I’m right! My words are nothing to be ashamed of! You shouldn’t care about who’s saying them, only the words themselves! And if you’re not willing to listen to them, it means this entire school has lost sight of what’s right! And the punishment for that is...”

Only after the words were halfway out of his mouth did Akuto realize what he was saying. His tone gradually began to drop, but the students didn’t notice. Before he was finished speaking, the entire school began to “sink.”

“Wha...?!”

“Kyaaah! What’s going on?”

“Is it the Demon King’s power?”

“Aaah! Are we going to hell?”

The schoolyard was filled with screams. But even the screams vanished as the school was swallowed up.

—I know this feeling!

It was what Akuto had felt when he’d gone inside that book.

—Does that mean...?

Instantly, he suspected Keena. But when he picked her out among the crowd of students, she was standing with Korone and looking as shocked as everyone else.

—What the hell is going on here?

○

Junko was one of the few other people who understood what had happened.

“This is virtual phase space, isn’t it?” she said to Fujiko Eto.

“No doubt about it. Not that I’ve ever been inside.”

Fujiko was trying her best to keep the girls around her calm. Her personality was much more demonic than Akuto’s, and she was a worshipper of black magic to boot. But the rest of the student body hadn’t figured that out yet. The female students especially looked up to her as an object of admiration.

When she spoke, the sobbing girls raised their heads and turned towards her.

“Do you know what’s happening?” they asked.

“Yes. This is most likely virtual phase space, the space we move through when we teleport. I’ve seen something similar once before.” Fujiko looked around her.

Constant Magical Academy was inside a forest. The school had always been surrounded by nature, but the forests around them hadn’t been near as deep as this. It was like a jungle had grown its way right up to their doorstep. They were clearly someplace they hadn’t been a moment ago. The plants and trees were different from the ones that grew in the island nation of the Empire.

“It seems the whole school was teleported, huh?” Fujiko turned towards Junko. Junko nodded.

“But Fujiko, the school building is...” Junko pointed towards the building.

It was definitely the same school building, but something was different now. One of the other students in the yard was the first to figure it out.

“A fortress... It’s a fortress! This is what the school looked like when it was a fortress!”

The building had very few windows, and those it did have were located high up on its walls. Those windows were thin and narrow, with room to fire a gun out of them and not much more. The walls were flat and unadorned, with no easy way to climb up them, and the front gate was locked with a heavy door.

“I heard... that the school was made from what was once a fortress during the first Demon King war,” Junko said. The other students around her began to murmur amongst themselves.

“Then does that mean we’ve gone back in time?” one asked. Fujiko shook her head.

“No. If that were the case, then somebody would be inside the fortress. We haven’t traveled through time. We’ve been moved to a world that’s been changed in accordance with some set of rules. And that world is virtual phase space.”

“A world that’s been changed according to a set of rules?” one of the female students asked. This time, Fujiko nodded.

“Yes. In other words, we can assume we’re inside a story, or inside a video game!” Fujiko said, basing her statement on her earlier experience.

And then suddenly, a voice answered her.

“That’s correct. I’ll explain what’s going on here. And also, I’m afraid I need to apologize.”

It was the clear voice of a man. Everyone turned to look at the source.

A young man, with a delicate but noble air about him, had just come out of the jungle. He had long hair, and wore an ancient style of armor.

“My name is Yoshihiko. And I need you to hear me out.”

Yoshie wasn’t surprised at all to find that her body had changed. She was the one who’d set up the virtual phase space so that would happen.

—I’m glad I loaded that game data just in case I needed it...

In order to escape from 2V, she’d set the rules for the VPS to match the game she’d created. It was the fantasy war game that Keena had been playing, an imaginative reinterpretation of the first Demon King war.

—I can remember the exact rules of the game later. The first thing I need to do is figure out what my first move is.

Yoshie calmly went over the best ways to fight back against 2V’s plan.

She’d escaped into VPS to protect Akuto. She had the control device, and it couldn’t be accessed from the outside. 2V’s hand was somewhere in here with her, but she hadn’t found it yet. That said, it probably didn’t have that much power on its own.

—But if they can alter the game’s program, I’ll have a big problem on my hands. However, any major changes would put the school’s students in danger, which means they would be off-limits.

Even 2V wouldn’t want to cause a massacre. The one thing she knew about him was that he was involved with the government somehow.

—So my goal is to get to the Demon King, and if I can get rid of 2V’s hand before then, even better. I suppose that’s all there is to it.

Once she’d settled on a course of action, Yoshie decided to reveal herself to the students. In the long run, it would be a bad idea to tell them the truth about the plan, but she needed to take responsibility for getting them caught up in this.

—But they should be basically safe. The game’s rules are keeping the world stable. And I was the one who designed it, so I know it better than anybody...

“Yes. In other words, we can assume that we’re inside a story, or inside a video game!”

As soon as she exited the jungle and came out into the courtyard, she heard a pretty voice speaking.

—Wooaah! Somebody’s already figured out what’s going on, huh? I heard this school’s students were pretty smart, but that’s amazing...

Yoshie took a step forward, impressed. And then she realized she had no idea how her male avatar was supposed to talk.

—Oh, crap. I’ve only ever done text chat with this character. How am I supposed to talk if I want to sound manly? Hmm... I know. I’ll talk like one of those boys in an otome game.

An otome game was a game for girls to enjoy a simulated relationship with handsome young boys. Of course, these games only ever had the most handsome of boys. Yoshie didn’t have many samples of boys to choose from, so this was the best she was likely to get.

“That’s correct. I’ll explain what’s going on here. And also, I’m afraid I need to apologize.” It was a little weird to be speaking in a man’s voice, but Yoshie was satisfied that she did, in fact, sound like an otome game character.

“My name is Yoshihiko. And I need you to hear me out,” Yoshie said.

“Explain? Apologize?”

The students began to bombard her with questions. Everyone was staring at her. Normally, Yoshie wasn’t good at speaking to others, but she was happy to find that with a different face she was able to do so.

“You are currently inside a virtual phase space control experiment. The experiment was supposed to be done on a smaller scale, but due to an error, you were caught up along with it.”

The students began to shout at her in anger and terror. Yoshie’s expression clouded with fear.

“Wait. We should hear her out.”

One of the students interrupted them. It was a handsome girl with short hair.

“I’m Junko Hattori. Please continue,” the girl said. Yoshie nodded and smiled at her.

“Thank you.”

But then Junko turned away. It was a little upsetting to find her gratitude ignored, but for now, she needed to continue talking.

“...That’s what I needed to apologize for. But don’t worry. This is a control experiment for a virtual reality game. As long as you keep a few things in mind, there’s no danger at all.”

“A few things?”

“The rules of the game. First: If you can’t get back to the real world within one week of game time, you might really die.”

“What? How is that not dangerous?!”

“I-I’m sorry. I’m just trying to keep you safe. The longest period anyone’s been able to stay in VPS before is a week. This time the area is under my control, so you can probably stay longer, but no food is being brought in from the outside. A week of game time is around twelve hours of real time. Your physical bodies should only be able to endure that level of hunger and thirst.”

“...I see.”

“Second. If you die in the game, you return to the real world. That means you can always get back by dying.”

“What?”

Everyone was surprised to hear that.

“It’s hard to believe that...” they all said, and frowned.

—Yeah, I can see why they wouldn’t believe that. Hmm... What to do? I know!

“Are there any animals around here? Does the school keep any as pets?” Yoshie asked. One of the students pointed towards a corner of the school building. There had been a chicken coop there before, but now it was gone. Instead, there were several chickens wandering around.

“Huh? The coop’s gone, but the chickens are still there...”

“Watch that chicken.” Yoshie took a dagger out of her armor and flung it at the bird. The sharp blade sliced the bird’s head clean off.

“How could you do that?!”

Some of the female students screamed and covered their eyes, but the students that kept watching began to gasp in surprise. The headless chicken took a few steps forward before blurring and vanishing into thin air.

“Huh?” Everyone began to gasp.

Yoshie smiled to herself.

—Wooah! This really is a game. Normally I couldn’t hit anything with a dagger, but this time it worked perfectly. I haven’t had time to really think about it, but maybe being inside a video game is more fun than I thought... No, I need to focus on explaining this.

“But any creatures that were born within VPS...” Yoshie picked up the dagger, which was now perfectly clean even after having been covered in chicken blood, and then turned her eyes towards the jungle. She found the animal she was looking for: a rabbit.

“Watch that rabbit.” Yoshie raised her dagger again.

“This one? It’s cute! Do you want me to catch it?” One of the female students near the rabbit started to walk towards it. It rounded its red eyes and perked up its ears as it hopped towards her.

“Watch out!” Yoshie shouted.

“Huh?” The girl froze.

And then, the bunny leaped.

This time it wasn’t a cute little hop, but a fierce leap towards the girl’s throat, clearly intended to kill her.

Hissss! The bunny let out a strange howl, as it bared fangs that looked closer to sharp daggers than teeth.

“Kyah!” The girl covered her face with her hands. But the bunny was aiming for her throat; it was going to bite open an artery and kill her on the spot.

But just before the rabbit struck, Yoshie’s dagger sliced off its head.

There were two wet thud sounds as the bunny’s torso and head hit the ground independently. The blood from the wounds dripped out and spread along the ground. The dagger, now embedded in the ground, was covered with blood as well.

“It’s still here...?” the girl whispered.

“What you just saw is a Head-Hunting Murder Bunny. Now, I assume, you understand that it’s a game, as well as what happens if you die here. This body will disappear too, after a time, but it will remain here far longer than any living thing brought from the outside.”

Junko interrupted her explanation.

“I don’t know about killing ourselves to go home, though... I’m not saying you’re lying, but there’s a chance it won’t work right, and of course, mentally it’s a hard thing to do. Is there a better way?”

A pretty girl with long hair answered before Yoshie could.

“If I remember correctly, the way to escape virtual phase space is to allow the space to complete its purpose.”

It was Fujiko. The same girl who’d made the sharp-witted observation from before, Yoshie remembered.

“Correct. Finishing the game is also a way to escape. So first, I’ll explain the game’s rules. Everyone has been given a different role here, based on your personality. By fighting and winning battles here, you’ll gain experience and level up. And thanks to the fact that we’re in virtual phase space, any combat magic you learn here will remain with you even after returning to reality. This works because your brain remembers the movement patterns. It’s like a bicycle. Once you learn it, you never forget it.”

Some of the smarter students started to shout with joy when they heard this.

“That’s great. If we can keep defeating things like that rabbit for a solid week, we’ll learn all kinds of combat magic that we couldn’t get in the real world, huh?”

—Now they’ll be able to enjoy the game, I bet.

Yoshie nodded happily. “Now, please call up a mana screen, like you would in the real world when you wanted to read the internet,” she instructed them.

All the students used their student notebooks to call up mana screens. The screens listed off a number of stats, as well commands that could be used inside the game.

“You’ll see your stats there, as well as commands concerning the rules. These may change, so be careful when you’re about to do something. One of the things that makes this game unique is that an individual can command an army of NPCs. Each time your level goes up, your army will grow, so make good use of them.”

Fujiko had a question.

“So how do we beat the game?”

“To beat the game, you need to defeat the Demon King,” Yoshie said. Instantly the atmosphere in the schoolyard changed.

“Defeat...”

“The Demon King...?”

The students began to murmur to one another and look around.

“That’s right. Akuto Sai’s not here.”

“Keena Soga and Korone are gone too.”

—That’s a strange reaction. Do they not like him because he’s the Demon King...?

Your role in the game world was chosen based on your personality, which meant that Akuto was likely the Demon King.

Yoshie could feel that the conversation was going in a strange direction, and the atmosphere in the courtyard was turning more and more dangerous.

“I love it! If we want to get out of here, we just need to defeat the Demon King! This is our chance to get even with him for all the stuff he puts us through! And of course, if we beat him, we’ll get a ton of experience points right?”

“And there’s no risk of us dying, huh? Not that I’m planning on committing suicide.”

The students began to cheer as the news spread through the crowd.

—What? This is getting weird... Um, what do I do? I need to find some way to calm them down...

Yoshie was worried. There was still 2V to think about. He was the wild card here, and there was no telling what he’d do.

—I’ve still got this armor as a last resort... But it will only work as a reset switch, I bet. I need to find a way to get the students to let me be in charge, and then get everybody home alive...

Yoshie ran her hands down the armor she was wearing. That was the form the VPS control device had now taken.

○

“It seems that the world contains some kind of element that changes in response to human will,” Korone said as she looked at her mana screen.

“It was the same last time. We were able to exert a degree of influence over the story.” Akuto nodded.

“We’ve been given roles appropriate for the game world, and by finishing our jobs we can leave. That’s the same as last time, too.” Korone had thought to use her mana screen early on, and by reading the included manual had learned most of what Yoshie had explained.

“Roles appropriate for the game world, huh...” Akuto sighed.

Akuto, Korone, and Keena were in the hall of a huge castle. They didn’t know what castle it was. The room was dimly lit, and near the back of it was a fancy golden throne atop a long red carpet.

Akuto was sitting on the throne, wearing an overly complicated suit of armor, with clawed gauntlets and spikes on the shoulders. He was dressed exactly like you’d expect a final boss to dress.

“Ackie, you look really cool!” Keena was the only one who was excited. She was wearing a robe, and seemed to be some kind of priest.

“I wanted to be a princess, but that would make it weird if you came to save me, since you’re the Demon King. I guess this will have to work.” Keena pulled up her mana screen and displayed her stats.

Class: Priest Level: 10 HP: 20 STR: 6 MGK: 18 Army: 10,000

“Army?”

“Remember how I said this game gives you your own army?”

Keena snapped her fingers, and rows of soldiers in white capes appeared in the throne room.

“I see. It’s a war game, huh?” Akuto nodded in understanding. But then he realized something unpleasant.

“That means everybody’s going to come try and defeat me, right?”

“Most likely, yes. By the way, doesn’t one normally start a game at Level 1? Are we getting special treatment because we’re the enemy?” Korone asked.

“Maybe we are,” Akuto said as he pulled up his own mana screen.

Class: Demon King Level: 99 HP: 9999 STR: 25 MGK: 25 Army: 200,000

“They’re all maxed out, huh?”

“The manual said that the maximum stats for human strength and magic are 18,” said Korone as she and Keena looked over Akuto’s stats.

Akuto wasn’t sure how to feel about this.

“If I’m this strong, everybody will come to defeat me at once, I bet. But if I just let them beat me, the game will end, right? Isn’t that what we want?”

“Huh? You can’t do that, Ackie! You need to enjoy the game!” Keena complained, but Akuto saw no reason to care.

“If we don’t end this in a week, everyone might be in danger. We need this over as soon as possible. Maybe I should just kill myself here...”

“Wait,” Korone said. There was a serious tone to her voice. No, her voice was always serious, but this time there was an urgency to it.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve looked at all the data I can view from the inside, and it seems that there’s a dangerous element here as well.”

“Dangerous?”

“Yes. It seems that there are three elements influencing this world. They’re all interacting with each other, and causing results beyond what the program itself allows for.”

“Three elements?” Keena asked.

“One is Keena Soga. You.” Korone pointed to Keena.

Keena stood there in shock. “Me?”

“It seems that what happened to this world was only made possible by your mana’s unique frequency. It’s likely that you can change the rules of this world with a thought.”

“Change the rules? I’m not going to do that. I already know this game,” Keena said, and laughed.

But Akuto just nodded and said, “That’s right. When we went inside the book, it was because of Keena’s power. So the reason we were able to get inside this world so easily was because Keena knew the rules from the start?”

“Most likely.”

“But that still means we’re safe, right? Once Keena’s had some fun with the game, we can leave.”

“No. There’s also the second element. The fact that the VPS control device was brought into this world itself.”

“Normally you’d leave something like that on the outside, right?”

“Yes. There must have been some kind of mistake. Now the control device is capable of interfering with itself. If we’re unlucky, we may end up unable to control anything.”

“That sounds serious... But is there more?” Akuto gulped. It felt like the game wouldn’t be as much fun as he’d thought.

“The third element is this: There’s something inside the space that is not obeying the rules.”

“Huh? That can’t be right. The rules are what created this whole place, aren’t they?”

“I don’t know why. But analyzing the data shows that there’s someone who isn’t obeying the rules.”

“Got it. Let’s say you’re right; what problems does that cause?”

“It’s impossible to say for certain. But the biggest problem is that anyone harmed by this person will suffer real damage, not simply damage within the game.”

“That’s... dangerous.” Akuto understood the seriousness of what he was hearing. Someone was lurking out there who didn’t follow the rules, and if that someone killed him or another student, they might die for real, not just in the game.

“And this person who’s not following the rules... where are they?”

“I don’t know. It’s impossible to track them. We don’t even know if they mean us harm. There’s a good chance the accident I’m worried about may never happen. But if this person means us harm, the students may die while still believing it’s a game.”

“Got it. Either way, there’s no time to have fun. We need to find a way out of here as soon as possible.”

Akuto went to sit up from his throne, but Korone stopped him.

“You can’t do that. The game’s rules don’t allow the Demon King to commit suicide. If you kill yourself, the program will just make a new NPC to take your place as Demon King. You’ll survive, but the other students will remain in danger.”

“Oh...”

“So either way, the safest way to fix this is for the game to end as soon as possible.”

“So there’s barely anything I can do, then. The most I can do is let them kill me without really struggling.”

“No, there’s a simpler way.”

“A simpler way? That can’t be right,” Akuto said, shaking his head.

But Korone looked at him seriously and said, “Kill them all.”

“Huh?”

“Win by killing them all. If the Demon King attacks the adventurers and wipes them out, the game ends.”

“W-Wait, are you saying...?” Akuto stammered.

“What are you afraid of? The more time passes, the more uncertainty you have to worry about. And as time passes, their levels will go up. The safest way to ensure their survival is to give them all a quick death,” Korone said coldly.

She was right. Absolutely right. There wasn’t a single flaw in her argument.

“But...”

“No buts. You need to hunt the adventurers while they’re still inexperienced. Bring down a rain of blood on them. No, the most efficient way would be to capture them, gather them all in one place, and bury them alive. What’s important is to kill them in the most efficient way possible. That’s the final solution.” Korone brought her face right up next to Akuto’s. Her eyes were serious. Of course, she was always serious. But this time she was extra-serious.

“...Don’t tell me you’re excited about killing them? Since this is a game.”

“Not at all. Oh, one option would be to gather them on top of a cliff, and then send a herd of stampeding bulls to knock them off. It would be efficient, and quite the spectacle as well,” Korone said, and then she knelt at Akuto’s feet. “Just give the order, and I, Demon General Korone, shall slaughter these rebels down to the last man.”

“...No, you’re definitely having fun with this.” Akuto sighed. But Korone’s jokes aside (assuming they were just jokes), she was right. It was the safest way.

“Alright. I’ll leave it to you.”

“You honor me, sire. I swear I shall bring you victory. Glory to the Demon King! Glory to evil!” Korone raised a fist, and Keena gleefully did the same.

“Glory to evil!”

“Glory to evil!”

More voices began to join in. The hall was now filled with soldiers in black armor and hideous demon beasts. They raised a shout like a hurricane and stomped their feet like an earthquake, swinging their arms up towards the ceiling.

“Glory to evil! Glory to evil! Glory to evil! Glory to evil!”

—This is... even if it’s a game, it’s still pretty crazy.

Akuto sighed to himself.