3 - Noble Son, Make a Phone Call

“We’re coming in!” Asuha’s cheerful voice echoed through the Tsuwabuki residence.

“We’re here,” Sera added shyly.

Sakurako Ogi ran down the hall to greet the two of them. “Oh, come in, come in! Thank you for coming!”

That was a close call, Sakurako thought.

She had known that today was the day Asuha and Sera would be coming in, but with all the business about Ichiro’s account being hacked, it had completely slipped her mind. She had only remembered when she’d seen King’s face in the game. He had muttered “See you later,” in cold tones, then logged out. Judging by the time frame, that might have been just as they’d arrived in Tokyo.

“Asuha, you’ve gotten so big!” Sakurako said, perfectly hiding her panic to pat Asuha on the head.

Asuha laughed shyly.

Sakurako turned her eyes to Sera Kiryu.

Sera, having deposited a travel bag on the floor, stared at Sakurako for a moment, then said:

“I knew you were a woman.”

It seemed that in an instant, the gamer had matched her up with Kirschwasser.

“And you are...” Sakurako looked Sera up and down carefully. Shorter than Asuha, with short hair and slightly long bangs, and glaring eyes. On the scrawny side, pale, without a trace of outdoorsiness.

“There was that movie, Summer Wars, not long ago,” Sakurako murmured. “There was a gamer character in that who had me guessing about their gender right until their name was said.”

“I know that one,” said Sera. “I hear the director likes that kind of thing.”

“That’s true, and I support that. Anyway, you girls make yourselves at home.” Sakurako couldn’t tell Sera’s gender at a glance, so she just decided to go for it.

Sera was probably a girl, she thought. After all, Asuha’s parents had allowed them both to stay overnight, and she doubted they would allow a girl and a boy of middle school age to travel together alone... or would they? Would they make an exception, knowing that it was Ichiro they were staying with?

Sakurako also remembered how King Kirihito had avoided looking directly at her after “Yozakura” had done her cast-off during the fashion show. That seemed like a boy’s reaction... or was it? Could it have just been the standard prudishness often displayed by girls around that age?

Ah, but enough of that; she would think of Sera as a girl, regardless.

“I’ll take that luggage,” Sakurako said. “Your rooms are this way.”

With Asuha’s suitcase and Sera’s travel bag in either hand, Sakurako showed them to the guest rooms. There were a number of open bedrooms, all prepared to receive company. It was rather like a miniature luxury hotel. When they reached the rooms in question, even the otherwise stoic Sera had to gasp.

“It’s so big...”

“I know, right?!” Asuha acted proud, for some reason.

Once they’d set their luggage in their respective rooms, Sakurako began walking them towards the living room.

“Have you two had lunch yet?” she asked.

“Not yet.”

“I have just the thing, then. Delicious curry.”

“Curry again?” A strained smile appeared on Asuha’s face.

On their way to the living room, Sera peeked into a half-open door, then stopped. Before Sakurako could ask what it was, she realized it must be the game room. It was full of all kinds of video games, beginning with the Miraive Gear Cocoons.

“Would you like to see?” Sakurako asked.

“Yeah,” Sera said after a moment’s hesitation. It was certainly an impolite reaction, but the closer Sakurako looked, the more she recognized it as a child discovering a mountain of treasure.

She must truly love games, Sakurako thought, smiled brightly, and opened the door.

Sera let out a noise of astonishment. It was even bigger than the last set of rooms.

“Wah...” Asuha seemed shocked by it, too. “What is this, Sakurako? Was this here last year?”

“It was not. We added all the game machines this year.”

Ichiro hardly ever played anything except for the commercial-grade Miraive Gear Cocoon, which he used for VRMMOs, but Sakurako still kept it all carefully maintained every day. Most of them were fighting games, in accordance with her own tastes, and there were also rhythm games, shooting games, and crane games here and there. He had bought them cabinets and everything.

“Wow,” Sera said with unreserved enthusiasm.

“Would you like to play them later?” Sakurako asked.

“Can I?”

“Yes, they don’t require money to play.”

Despite an expressionless appearance, Sera was clearly overjoyed. Children their age likely didn’t have money to go to arcades. It was a surprise to see a child interested in arcade games, in this era when consumer games ruled. Perhaps the future of Japan’s gaming world was still bright.

As Sakurako reveled in it, Sera muttered, “We only have an SFII cabinet at home. A secondhand one.”

“Ooh.”

“My mom plays it.”

Ah, Sakurako thought, so it was an inherited genius. She found that perfectly understandable; she too had become the otaku she was today as the result of her older brothers’ influence.

“Kiryu’s mother is really amazing,” Asuha said with a grin. “I’ve only heard stories, but they say she used to be the terror of the local arcades! There was no one in the Osu Shopping District who ever beat Kiryu’s mom!”

Sakurako grinned. “Oho. That takes me back... We made quite a name for ourselves in our old neighborhood, as well. We were called the PPC Siblings...”

Sera and Asuha both froze at Sakurako’s words.

“Umehiko, Momotaro, and Sakurako. In other words, Plum, Peach, Cherry... PPC. We trawled arcades all over Japan, afraid of nothing... What’s wrong?”

For some reason, as Sakurako spoke, the two had leaned in close to each other and started whispering. But when she asked them, they both responded with full force denials.

“It’s nothing!”

“Yeah, nothing.”

“Oh, really?” Sakurako asked.

Well, if they claimed it was nothing, she wouldn’t try to interrogate them further. Sakurako led the two on to the living room.

“That reminds me, it sounds like there was a pretty big commotion today,” Asuha said, consciously changing the subject.

Needless to say, she was referring to the account hack. Ichiro had left the house around noon because of that, and still hadn’t returned. Asuha and Sera both must have wanted to meet him soon. Some people really did have the worst sense of timing.

“I wonder what was up with that.” Sera nodded in agreement with Asuha’s words. “I’m sure the old man had proper password security.”

“Old man?” Sakurako’s eyebrow twitched upon hearing that appellation, and she turned around.

“Oh... ah, I mean...” Sera seemed vaguely panicked.

Sakurako leaned in close and continued. “Listen, Sera. Ichiro-sama is currently 23 years old.”

“R-Right.”

“I am 26 years old. If Ichiro-sama is an old man, what does that make me?” As an unmarried woman, there were some lines she would not allow to be crossed. She wouldn’t expect a middle school student to understand, but she still could not allow it.

Sera looked around nervously, then to Asuha for help, and then finally, as if begging for mercy, whispered: “A young lady.”

“Correct. Well done.” Sakurako “Young Lady” Ogi grinned and urged them both to join her at the table.

When it was just Sakurako and Ichiro, they usually used a small table, but for today she had joined it up with another one to create a larger space.

“Ichiro-sama is very strict with his security, both online and in real life. Even the walls of this apartment were created to withstand a direct hit from a stinger missile.”

“Was he expecting to fight something?” Sera asked.

“Are you curious? But the story could take a while. About five years ago...”

“Anyway, that means that Itchy getting his account stolen is pretty shady, huh?” Asuha smoothly interrupted Sakurako before she could begin her long story. She had grown stronger in the time since Sakurako had last seen her.

“That’s right,” said Sakurako. “So we’re not sure exactly how the account was hacked.”

“But it’s been suspended, right? So there’s no need to worry, is there?”

“Yeah,” Sera said gravely. “In most cases, there wouldn’t be.”

There was a hidden meaning behind Sera’s reply to Asuha. Sakurako caught the implication and nodded gravely.

In most cases, there wouldn’t be... But this incident might not fall into the realm of “most cases.” They didn’t know why the user had stolen Ichiro’s account, or how they had done it.

Ichiro had unique passwords for all of his cards and SNS accounts, and he didn’t even write them down. His security was flawless. She couldn’t think of any way for the account to be hacked other than for the information to have been leaked from Thistle’s own servers.

If that was true, the situation was even more serious. There was a chance the person could hack into his account again the same way, and the lack of knowledge about what he wanted added to the creepiness of it all.

The three were just sinking deep into reflection when an e-mail arrived.

“Oh, my. I’m sorry.” Sakurako thrust a hand into her apron pocket and pulled out her smartphone. The message had been sent using the Mirai Network’s messaging service, the one used to send e-mails from the game in emergency situations. It seemed to be an urgent message from Iris to Kirschwasser.

As she read through the contents, Sakurako’s expression grew more and more severe.

Asuha leaned forward to inquire. “Sakurako? What? What is it?”

“Duplichiro-sama is back.”

“Huh? What the heck?”

“She means the old man’s account was stolen again,” Sera said clearly, stood, then left the living room and headed for the hallway.

The young gamer’s plans were comprised of one phrase:

“I’ve gotta stop him.”

“Wait, Sera,” Sakurako said. “This is unconfirmed, but it appears that Duplichiro-sama now has the ‘Immortal’ status.”

Sera’s eyes narrowed at the words.

Asuha was left confused, looking between the two of them. “Huh? What? What do you mean?”

“Immortal status,” said Sakurako. “Invincibility. It’s a Skill that prevents you from taking damage from the attacks of others.”

“That’s cheating!” Asuha burst out angrily.

Indeed, it was cheating.

It was a special Skill usually only given to GMs or special avatars created by the devs. In other words, the player behind Duplichiro had some control over the game system itself.

The situation had gone far beyond the level of a prank, now. It was really serious.

“Don’t worry,” Sera said clearly. “He’s not the old man, but he’s consciously trying to imitate him. He enjoys wielding the power of the invincible Ichiro Tsuwabuki. It’s a pathetic mimicry. That’s why he’s using Immortal status, but there is a way to stop him.”

“H-How do you know that?” Sakurako asked.

“Because I was the same way, once.” Sera Kiryu spoke clearly. “It’s okay. Don’t worry.”

Sera turned and spoke with a confident smile, one more time.

“Someone like that will never beat me. King Kirihito will never lose again.”

Edogawa and Ichiro ended up having to return to Thistle immediately.

The call Edogawa received had come straight from President Azami; apparently things had exploded in the office. She had a tendency to omit crucial information when she spoke, so it took him some doing to find out exactly what had happened. He eventually managed to figure out that Ichiro’s account had been hijacked again.

Edogawa didn’t even have to wonder whether he should tell Ichiro about it; it seemed the man had inferred the entire situation on his own.

“It’s a shame, but I suppose we should be going,” Ichiro said, quickly paying the bill with his credit card.

Of course, Edogawa pulled two 1,000 yen notes from his wallet and shoved them at Ichiro. He had also eaten all of his curry.

“Ed, does the fact that they called you suggest that the system’s been compromised?” Ichiro asked.

“I really hope not... but either way, it’s looking like an all-nighter for me.”

“For your sake, I’m sorry to hear it, but it might be good for President Azami to have a third party with technical knowledge around.” Ichiro explained how companies faced with a scandal would usually form a third party committee, a team designed to decide who was responsible while maintaining transparency and objectivity. It would consist mainly of lawyers and investigators, but of course, specialists on the subject at hand would also be needed.

“You’re saying I’m going to end up on that committee?” Edogawa asked.

“I don’t know,” Ichiro said. “It’s up to President Azami, but I think there’s a high possibility that System Ajax, as an outsider firm of specialists, might be asked to join. Especially since you deal with internet security.”

Edogawa really didn’t want to do any more work that required interpersonal relations. He wasn’t suited to being a systems engineer; he’d much rather be sitting in a room by himself, picking away at programming code.

They arrived in Jinbocho and rushed for Thistle headquarters, only to find there was no one at the reception desk.

“Given the situation, should we just go straight to the office?” Edogawa asked.

“Nonsense. It’s important to obey rules of etiquette.”

There was a microphone and speaker at reception with the words “If staff isn’t present, press this button” written on it. Ichiro politely followed these instructions. The door to the second floor office opened with a clank, and a voice called out, “Come in!” Things must really be hectic up there.

“I’m back,” Edogawa murmured as he entered. “Thanks for covering while I was gone...”

Once inside, he could see that indeed, the mood was intense. There were fewer people there than before, which suggested a few of them must be in the server room looking directly at the machines.

“What happened? Was Mr. Tsuwabuki’s... account stolen again?” he forced himself to ask after casting a glance at Ichiro.

Ichiro shrugged, as if to say, “It stands to reason.”

“The account management server isn’t responding to our commands” was the response.

The words sent a chill down Edogawa’s spine. If the system had been directly hacked, there was a chance that his security program had been breached. His first job, then, would be to check the system logs for signs of compromise.

“President, I thought the account server couldn’t be controlled from outside the company building,” he said.

“Ah, um... Right. Account suspension/reactivation and information viewing can only be done via the company’s internal network.”

That all but confirmed that it was a hack from the outside. Depression was coming over him. So, it wasn’t that information, including the maintenance password, had been leaked from the inside. Although that would have been its own problem, at least it wouldn’t have been his fault...

Ichiro Tsuwabuki’s account was in use again. The person behind it could change the password, recompense items, and unlock an account freeze at any time. They’d acquired information about the company somehow and cracked it from the outside. Could somebody like that even exist?

“What do you mean, it isn’t responding to your commands?” Ichiro asked.

“We can’t actually get into the system...”

“Huh?” Edogawa’s fingers, tapping across the borrowed keyboard, stopped suddenly. He finally realized why the president was looking so pale.

The male employee continued to speak in her place. “I think he just changed the passwords, but the result is that we can’t fully manage accounts from here.”

“The accounts have everyone’s credit card and virtual currency information, too, right?” Edogawa asked, feeling ill. If the hacker had that in his control, they had to take action immediately. “Have you contacted the police?”

“Well...”

“Do it! Now!”

The moment the illegal access first happened, the company should have known they’d have to contact the police sooner or later. But if things had come to this, they couldn’t afford to hesitate any longer. The longer they refused to act out of fear of societal backlash, the worse their position would become. Surely these people knew that.

“Ed, please, calm down.” Ichiro tried to soothe Edogawa, who had accidentally lost his temper, then pulled out a business card and handed it to Azami.

“You will want to call the police, but first you’ll want to talk to a lawyer and discuss your ideal course of action from here on out. If you don’t have one of your own, I recommend the one on the business card. He has an awful personality, but he’s sharp. If you tell him I sent you, I’m sure he’ll do his best for you.”

“And here I was convinced you were a lawyer, Mr. Tsuwabuki,” Edogawa muttered sarcastically, unable to fully conceal his annoyance.

“Ah, well. I do have the qualifications for that, but I’d prefer to maintain my position as a user and nothing more.”

It was only afterwards that Edogawa realized that he wasn’t being sarcastic.

“If you can’t view account information, does that mean you also cannot identify the IP address that is currently using my account?” Ichiro asked.

“Well, it’s the same as the last two times. Um, America...” Edogawa replied as he checked the security log. He couldn’t view the account itself, but he did have a list of IP address accessing the management server from an outside network through traditional channels. It was a route players used to access their information and log in, but there was only one foreign address among them. Edogawa gritted his teeth. If only it had been inside the country...

Ichiro peered over his shoulder at the IP address. Normally—depending on how well they could interpret the information—it might be against illegal access laws for someone unauthorized to even look at it, but Edogawa didn’t have the mental fortitude to argue about that now.

Was it possible to use traditional channels to hijack authority of the management server? He couldn’t find any signs of the address using Ichiro’s account going through any illegal channels.

Edogawa ran a hand through his hair. It was strange. No matter how he checked the log, he couldn’t find any traces of illegal access.

“After President Azami calms down, you should consult with the lawyer on the business card I gave her,” Ichiro said. “Then I think it would be advisable to set all engineers on working together to take back the system. Ed should continue to check the security log... and check all computers in the company for traces of data being illegally leaked.” Ichiro continued to leisurely give orders under the guise of suggestions.

A male office worker spoke up hesitantly. “Um, what about you, Mr. Tsuwabuki?”

“Mm, I’m going home,” he said entirely casually. “At the end of the day, I am no more than a user of your services. If I were to get any more deeply involved, the problem would just get worse, and I’m keeping my visitors waiting as it is. There’s no need to worry. The lawyer I’ve recommended to you is excellent, and he’ll come right away... though he really does have a wretched personality.”

Ichiro’s words had a certain logic to them, but they were also ridiculously selfish, Edogawa thought as he glared at the display. If he thought about it objectively, Ichiro was actually behaving quite rationally for someone who had just had his account stolen, and it was kind of him to recommend a skilled lawyer for them. He was showing a lot of consideration for a company unaccustomed to dealing with social trouble. He had done more than most “mere users” might do. No one had any right to complain about him leaving now.

Even so, Edogawa couldn’t restrain his irritation, which he expressed thusly: “Mr. Tsuwabuki, I really don’t think I’ll ever like you.”

“I see... although I do like you.” Ichiro waved a light goodbye through the dire atmosphere of the office.

Edogawa couldn’t afford to keep thinking about Ichiro once he was gone. He pushed the man out of his mind and focused on the task ahead.

Because of that, he didn’t notice that Ichiro immediately called someone the moment he stepped outside.

“Hello, Sakurako-san? It’s me. Yes. Could you apologize to Asuha and King for me?”

No one was responding to the GM Call. It was possible that the developers were just as confused as everyone else was.

Duplichiro’s rampage through Martial City Delve continued. Players, mostly from the Knights, came together to try to stop him, but morale was very low. After all, their opponent had “Immortal” status—knowing that they couldn’t possibly beat him slowly eroded their will to fight.

The thought that it was just a game, anyway, just decreased their desire to take part even more. What was the point of taking it so seriously? It felt stupid to stick to a game and its rules in the face of an honest-to-goodness cheater. One player after another logged out, acting like their fun had been spoiled.

“This bodes ill,” Sorceress said.

“Yeah, it’s not good at all,” Amesho agreed.

“What do you mean?” Iris asked. She and Nem had arrived in Delve, led by the Kirihitters. Just as they thought the account hack incident had been resolved, Duplichiro had reappeared. It was natural that they wouldn’t be able to stay away.

Kirihito (Leader) answered Iris’s question. “Users are going to start abandoning NaroFan if this keeps up.”

NaroFan was a game—it was a place to have fun. There were certainly complaints about the questionable combat balance, and the term “crappy” was thrown around a lot, but nevertheless, everyone obeyed the rules and enjoyed themselves in more or less the way the developers wanted them to.

But what if some cheating jerk arrived, stole an account, and started powergaming his way through? It was only natural that they wouldn’t want to have anything to do with that. No one was so attached to the game that they would hang around after the fun had died. And once that passion had cooled, it would be hard to restore.

Duplichiro was actively undermining Narrow Fantasy Online itself.

“Do you think that’s what Duplichiro was trying to accomplish?” Nem asked.

“I’m not sure,” Sorceress replied, tilting her head. “It doesn’t look to me like he’s thinking that far ahead. Right, Amesho?”

“Yeah.” Amesho nodded readily. “It looks to me like Duplichiro is just having fun. Just playing around with the power he’s found. Right, Sorceress?”

“I can’t help but feel like you’re trying to imply something...”

The petite Anthromorph just giggled and replied, “Nah!” She was a hard person to get a read on.

Iris tilted her head. It was impressive that she could even have Sorceress in the palm of her hand. All she could think was that she’d better not show any weakness in front of her.

Back on the front lines, the commanders of the Red Sunset Knights were fighting with Duplichiro.

But...

“Ngh, damn!” Stroganoff shouted.

“What’s wrong, boss?”

“I forgot I have a group reservation for this afternoon! Gazpacho’s going to yell at me if I don’t get back soon! Tiramisu, command is up to you!”

“Yes, sir!”

With that, Stroganoff logged out.

It seemed he ran a small restaurant in Yamanashi. They were living in sad times when a man like that could become the leader of one of the game’s biggest guilds.

“Parmigiano, Gorgonzola, we must hold the line with our lives!” Tiramisu called.

“Right!”

“Counting on you. Let’s show everyone just how cool we can be.”

It seemed no one had to worry about the Knights losing morale or the will to fight, at least. They really enjoyed the roleplay.

“Parmigiano, attack with ‘Barrier Piercer.’ I’ll push back harder with ‘Judgment!’”

“I don’t have a very high Arts level with that, though!” Parmigiano called. She was referring to attack Arts that pierced through damage nullification effects. They had extensive cooldown times, and stacked on fatigue quickly, so most players didn’t put in the work to raise them.

Of course, even with piercing properties, there was no getting through that Immortal status. Their struggles were pointless.

“Gorgon, support us with debuffs.”

“If I must.”

Tiramisu readied her Celestial Sword and struck out at Duplichiro. At the same time, Parmigiano unleashed Barrier Piercer.

Duplichiro just grinned and stood his ground. He blocked the arrow unleashed by the bowgun with Weapon Guard. Why would someone who was already Immortal bother guarding? There was no reason, clearly; he just wanted to mock them.

Duplichiro slipped in close to Tiramisu and performed a barehanded “Bash.” It unleashed faster than Judgment, and his fist caught Tiramisu right in the throat.

“Ah...!”

It was a perfect counter, unleashed just before the damage calculation. Duplichiro held on and lifted Tiramisu up by the neck.

“Tiramisu!”

Gorgonzola activated “Paralyze.” It was a foolish move—status effects wouldn’t work on Duplichiro, either—but this was the instinct of a player using a spell he had prepared to try to save his comrade. Duplichiro wielded Tiramisu like a shield, causing the paralyzing debuff to hit her instead.

“Eek!”

The spectators gasped. The relaxed atmosphere was now completely gone. Duplichiro had gone too far for this to be enjoyable, even as losing-side roleplay. Now it was just uncomfortable to watch.

Still holding Tiramisu by the throat, Duplichiro began to run recklessly forward. He broke through the ring of Knights and spectators around him, kept running, and slammed the “Saint” against the wall as hard as he could. The effect of “Break Object” sent large cracks spreading through the surface of the wall.

“Ngh!” Tiramisu, paralyzed, could not react. Duplichiro kept her pressed against the wall, then raised one foot and mercilessly slammed his knee into her.

One hit, two hits, and more... Had he activated the “Kick Mastery” Skill? The merciless strikes from his knee pierced through Tiramisu’s usually solid defense stats and shaved away at her health.

The Knights quickly moved to help her, but all of their attacks were rendered meaningless by his Immortal status, producing only empty zeros above his head.

When he was done, Duplichiro slammed Tiramisu onto the ground. Her health was drained to its dregs, and she struggled to move despite the paralysis effect that had hold of her. He stomped down on her, holding her there as sparks of fire magic began to flicker in both of his hands.

The spectators’ reactions were varied—gasps, aversion of eyes, cries of Tiramisu’s name—but then, a moment later, a black whirlwind of blades came ripping through the crowd.

An unleashed Bash strike traced a wide arc and struck Duplichiro in the arm, a “Counter Cancel” timed to hit just before the spell’s activation. Flipping the blade of their straight sword, the intruder spun around and struck at Duplichiro’s abdomen.

Another Bash.

Though this chain formed from what was typically the most basic of attack Arts didn’t produce any damage, it still trumped Duplichiro’s reaction time and kept him on the defensive. The grin disappeared from Duplichiro’s face. Tiramisu was freed from the leather shoe pinning her down.

The one who had slammed onto the battlefield with the force of a cannonball was a young man. He glared at Duplichiro now, his black Accel Coat fluttering in the wind, the tip of his XAN lowered.

“Is that...”

It was a requirement at this point, so they all cried out as a group, “King Kirihito!”

But there was no joy or exaltation in their voices.

He was the game’s second strongest player, the man who had once gone toe-to-toe with Ichiro Tsuwabuki. But everyone was thinking the same thing: Not even he could hold down Duplichiro. On the contrary, they all expected to see King suffer a humiliating loss to the cheater. A sense of tragedy hung over the scene; nobody wanted to see that happen.

Tiramisu, on unsteady legs, returned to the crowd of onlookers, as Gorgonzola and Parmigiano did the same. Sorceress began to cast healing spells on her.

“How did it feel to play the jobber?” she asked.

“I never want to do that again. It was genuinely terrifying...” Tiramisu said, looking like she was on the verge of tears. Amesho said, “There, there,” and soothed the much taller woman.

Now, back to King and Duplichiro... Iris looked at the two men facing off and screamed, “King, you can’t fight him! He’s got Immortal status!”

“I know.”

“You know...?”

His casual tone caused everyone watching to fall silent. He knew, yet he was still going to fight? It was hard to believe King Kirihito felt like jobbing, too.

But, in defiance of the atmosphere of doubt hanging over the group, one man called out, “No, King won’t lose!”

It was Kirihito (Leader). The Kirihitters all nodded in agreement.

“Yes, King can win!”

“He has some amazing secret plan we don’t know about!”

“That’s our King! He’s so cool!”

“Excuse me, but could you please shut up?” Iris snapped.

“Yes, ma’am!!!” they responded in chorus.

King just stared, unsmiling, at Duplichiro.

Despite The Kirihitters’ passion, the mood among the onlookers remained tragic. No matter how strong a player King was, the system was absolute.

How could he possibly hope to deal with such an opponent?

But then, King Kirihito whispered softly, as if intoning the words of a spell, “King Kirihito doesn’t lose.”

It was Duplichiro who charged first, dashing swiftly across the ground to bear down upon King Kirihito. King lightly dodged his closed-fist strike, then swung his sword back. The strike, which invoked no Arts, struck hard against Duplichiro’s neck, but the result was another empty “0 damage” visual. Groans of disappointment could be heard from those around them.

King continued with a series of strikes, fluidly chaining together one, two, three... but not one of them dealt any damage to Duplichiro. If Duplichiro hadn’t had “Immortal” status, his HP would surely have been close to zero right now. Everyone watching gritted their teeth.

“Wait,” Sorceress murmured suddenly as she watched the battle. “He’s not using any Weapon Guards.”

“Because he doesn’t need them, right?” Iris asked.

“Of course he doesn’t need them,” she said. “But he’s trying to block the attacks, and he’s failing.”

None of them understood what she was saying, but Sorceress just giggled, twirling her parasol.

“The difference between not doing it because you don’t need to, and trying to do it but failing, are like day and night. It must really be getting under his skin.”

It seemed her comment was right on the mark. King Kirihito’s blade struck hard against Duplichiro’s body over and over again. Each time, Duplichiro tried to block with his hands, and each time, he failed.

King’s blade seemed to taunt him, as if saying to Duplichiro, You’ve already died five times.

In concrete terms, of course, it accomplished nothing. It was just a nonsense provocation, which meant nothing if Duplichiro just ignored it. Yet it clearly was working.

“He was trying to use Immortal status to act like a god-moder, but King’s using it to prove his own superior pwnage. That’s our King.”

“It sounds pretty gross when you put it that way.” There was no malice in Kirihito (Leader)’s description, but Iris still shot him a cold glance.

Soon enough, Duplichiro stopped even bothering with Weapon Guard. He just stood still and let King hit him. He just grinned as if to say, “Hit me as much as you like; it won’t work.”

“It’s working! It’s working!”

“The pitcher’s scared! Hey, hey, hey!”

As the onlookers began to clap their hands and jeer, Kirihito (Leader) continued to explain. “Miss Iris, in shonen manga, the one with the cooler fighting style wins.”

“R-Right.” Iris couldn’t really understand what he was trying to say, but she offered a vague note of agreement anyway.

“Just like Galactica Phantom is stronger than Galactica Magnum because it has a cooler visual.” It was Tiramisu, of all people, who backed the young man up.

“But this isn’t some shonen manga,” Iris said, though she was starting to understand.

The system’s restrictions were absolute, but it wasn’t the system that controlled the avatar; it was the player. If they were human, they had feelings. They liked appearing cool, and they didn’t like being humiliated. Such things could have a big influence on whether or not they kept playing.

And right now, Duplichiro was truly being humiliated!

While “Immortal” let him drag things out to a ridiculous degree, he still couldn’t do a single point of damage to King Kirihito. He was just getting hit, over and over again. Attempting to stand there and look smug after all that made him look even less cool, and King Kirihito was fighting in a manner designed to highlight that.

“He’s truly terrifying...” Iris whispered.

“If it were me, I’d die from embarrassment,” Tiramisu murmured.

“I suppose Taker felt the same way. The strategy works really well on people like that,” Sorceress agreed with an inscrutable whisper.

As Duplichiro just stood where he was, King made a move to sweep his leg.

“Ah.”

“Ah.”

Duplichiro fell right over.

King wasn’t employing a Skill nor an Art, just an exploitation of the game’s laws of physics. Duplichiro had been standing there with eyes closed and arms folded, which meant that if he lost his balance, he’d topple right over. It was the ultimate show of lameness.

“So? Want to keep going?” King asked as he stepped on Ichiro’s head. It was nearly the same position he’d had Tiramisu in before.

“Aah, what should we do?” Nem seemed to be in a flustered panic. “What should we do, Iris? Ichiro is... Well, it’s not Ichiro, but still! His head is being stepped on!”

“Does that make you uncomfortable, Nem?” Iris asked.

“It’s awful. I don’t want to have to look at it.” Nem covered her face in both hands.

Iris stood with her hands on her hips, watching with great interest. “Really? I find it extremely refreshing.”

Sorceress nodded. “I know, Iris. I do, too.”

Iris and Sorceress exchanged a firm handshake.

“I just wish it were me, making the real young heir eat dirt like that...”

“I know, Iris. I do, too.”

Iris and Sorceress exchanged a fistbump.

King kept his foot on Duplichiro’s face, as laid-back as he could be. “You realize you can’t beat me, right?”

“Are you so sure about that?” The unexpected voice sent a murmur through the crowd.

It belonged to Ichiro... or rather, Duplichiro. He was speaking for the first time from underneath King’s foot.

“King, you must have worked up some fatigue during the fight,” said the hacked avatar. “Meanwhile, I can always use my GM privileges to wash away all of mine. And not just that... I can manipulate my hitbox and damage dealt, destroying everyone in the area at once.”

A murmur ran through those around them. It was true; if Duplichiro put his mind to it, he could kill everyone there. No matter how superior a fighter King was, Duplichiro might even be able to manipulate his stats if he wanted to.

“Then try it,” King said evenly. “You’re using the old man’s avatar. You’re using his account. If you can do that, go ahead and try.”

Duplichiro and King glared at each other in silence. They could feel a quiet fury behind King Kirihito’s words.

“If you thought you could do an imitation of the old man with your cheap Immortal status, you’ve got another thing coming. I don’t know who you are, exactly, but you should realize that by now.”

“That’s right!” The one who broke the silence with a cry of agreement was, naturally, the leader of the Kirihitters. “It’s not appearance or ability that let you become someone completely. It’s the soul!”

“The passionate desire to be someone else will naturally lead you to the perfect imitation!”

“All you’re imitating is Mr. Tsuwabuki’s strength!”

“Sorry, but could you please shut up?” Iris snapped.

“Yes, ma’am!!!” they responded again in chorus.

Iris tilted her head, considering the situation.

Imitation?

Was he really just trying to become the young heir? Was that the only reason he’d stolen the account? He admired Ichiro Tsuwabuki’s dominant power, and he wanted to wield that power for himself? She couldn’t understand it. She found herself clutching her head in her hands.

King and Duplichiro’s staring contest continued for a while, until at last, Duplichiro lowered his face with a glare, spread the Dragon Wings on his back, and flew off. King was thrown off, but he regained his balance without difficulty and watched Duplichiro disappear into the sky.

He’d run. He hadn’t been defeated, but King had at least succeeded in driving him off.

A cheer echoed through Martial City Delve. Cries of King’s name rang out, while the Kirihitters were crying with emotion. King put one hand on his hip, ran another through his hair, and let out a sigh.

“King, um, good job, I guess,” Iris said.

“Ah, sure.” King sheathed his sword and nodded.

“I wonder if Duplichiro will back down now,” Iris whispered as she gazed up at the sky.

“I doubt it,” King responded, dumping water on her hopes. “If he’d really admitted defeat, he’d have given up the account right then and there. He still has GM privileges, so he’ll probably try to do something else.”

His words caused the tension in the air to grow thicker. The fight wasn’t over yet. What exactly were they doing at the Thistle Corporation headquarters? The players all looked at each other, murmuring about not logging in for a while until the heat died down.

“Oh, how wonderful!”

Through the nervous atmosphere rang the discordant sound of applause.

They looked together and saw Matsunaga standing there. He hadn’t spoken up once during the battle, but he may yet have been there the whole time.

He was smiling.

“Duplichiro isn’t finished yet. He’s going to use his GM privileges to try something else. But he likely won’t use Immortal, or max out his stats, or any other such foolish cheats! Right, King?”

“Yeah, probably not,” King responded ambiguously to Matsunaga’s strangely excited exclamation.

“Good, very good,” beamed Matsunaga. “That’s excellent. You’ve set the table perfectly, King.”

“I didn’t do it for you, Matsunaga.”

While the others stared in astonishment, King alone seemed to have caught on to Matsunaga’s train of thought.

Ah, but Iris and the others knew, too... This was surely the kind of situation Matsunaga had been seeking. The cyber criminal who had hacked Ichiro’s account, and probably the Thistle Corporation’s servers themselves, could now be fought within the game. It was like a situation from a certain anime movie.

“Don’t push this on us.”

“Do it yourself.”

Anyone could have said such things to him, but nobody did.

They were all eager to punch Duplichiro.

“Are you going to participate, King?” Matsunaga asked.

“Um, no, I’m on a trip right now. Do whatever you want,” King said, then immediately logged out.

“Welcome back, Kiryu! It’s an emergency!” Those were the first words out of Asuha’s mouth as Sera woke up and removed the Miraive Gear headset.

Sera was sitting on the bed provided, having logged into the game on the familiar Miraive Gear headset. Sakurako had offered a Cocoon, but Sera was more used to (and more comfortable with) the home console version.

Sakurako stood in the room with... not quite a severe expression, but certainly a troubled smile.

“Ah, but well done, Sera,” she said.

“Ah, sure.”

She must have heard what had happened from Iris, that King Kirihito had transcended Duplichiro’s Immortal status and dragged him down to their level. Sakurako seemed honestly impressed by King Kirihito’s achievement.

It had all been the result of thinking about Duplichiro. No one had known what he might resort to if he’d decided to abandon all of his pride, but Sera had realized that wouldn’t happen.

Essentially, a game was a collision of pride versus pride.

To abandon your pride as a gamer to cheat and step on others might feel good, but that was all it would get you. Eventually, your opponent would get bored, disappointed, and leave the game after one last reproachful look.

If anyone were shameless enough to declare that a victory, then that person would not be a true gamer. They would just be a child.

From what she could see, Duplichiro did count, just barely, as a gamer. At the very least, he believed himself to be a gamer; he had borrowed Ichiro Tsuwabuki’s account in order to bank on his gamer image. That was why Duplichiro was unwilling to rewrite any more data in order to cheat.

“So, miss...” Sera asked Sakurako. “Tsuwabuki, too. What was the emergency you mentioned?”

“Ah, well, you see...” Sakurako’s awkward smile did not falter.

Asuha answered for her. “Itchy says he’s going to America right now!”

What the heck? thought Sera.