Chapter 2: Paladin-Sama Wants to be Overpowered
Translator: Skythewood
Editor: Hiiro, Angupesa
After sacrificing many lives and blood, the dragon was sealed.
The people declared that the era of peace was finally upon us.
But they were wrong.
The dragon still lives, and was building up its strength for its reckoning!
The side of sacred holiness and the faction of evil darkness; the alliance that protects the Kingdom and those who seeked its destruction.
If you wish to live with pride, then you must never lose.
This is the era of war!
The ones who fall first lose.
Shuchin Private Academy
Founded as a Magic education facility to seal the dragon tyrannizing the world, it’s a prestigious Magic school with an honorable and ancient history.
With the abolishment of the old magic practices, the seal had grown weaker, and the powerful dragon stirred from its slumber.
—— And naturally, no mere mortals would be strong enough to defeat the dragon.
After reading this far, Shirogane asked bafflingly:
「Erm, do I really need to read all this?」
Fujiwara was wearing decorative spectacles and held a pointer in hand. Dressed like a teacher, she refuted:
「What are you saying!? If you don’t remember the setting, you can’t participate in the TRPG. I won’t ask you to memorize all the nitty gritty details, but buying the official rule book is basic courtesy. Since this is made by the TG club, so you don’t have to pay. But at the very least, read through the player’s guide.」
「But, the seal weakening because of old magic being abolished is too abstract, I have no idea what it means…」
「Hold on, President. In that case, here is the terminology guide. It has pictures and detailed explanations too. Oh, Fujiwara-sempai must have drawn this. The style is similar to the graffiti on the whiteboard of the Student Council room.」
Besides Shirogane, when he heard his complaints, Ishigami handed him over a few dozen page thick booklets.
「Ughh—— That looks like a pain to read.」
「Don’t say it’s a pain without even reading it! Besides, you were the one who said you were interested in a TRPG, President!」
「That’s true, but this is going too far…」
Shirogane retorted Fujiwara, but someone stepped in and supported her.
「Don’t say that, Shirogane-kun. Setting the mood is important for things like this. Just read the guide made by Fujiwara-san.」
「That’s right, President. How much you can self insert into your role before the game starts is also a test of the player’s ability.」
The ones soothing Shirogane were Nagisa Kashiwagi and her boyfriend. The two sat closely together, and they were reading a single book together for some reason. Their faces were almost touching.
「Oh. Nagisa, look here. It says 『the ones who defeat the dragon would be entitled to any reward』. What should we do? What would you want after we defeat the dragon?」
「Ehh? Well, what should I get——」
The Kashiwagi couple who had made their relationship public were still soothing Shirogane two seconds earlier, but they were completely in their own world now.
When he saw them like this, Ishigami’s eyes turned gloomy. A moment later, Ishigami took out toilet paper from somewhere, holding it to the side of his face in a Hassō-ni-kamae stance. It was a well rounded stance great for offence and defence, and also the stance adopted by the assistant of someone performing Seppuku.
「Ishigami! The game, focus on the game! alright!? We are on the same team!」
Shirogane felt Ishigami’s killing intent, and restraint his underclassman desperately.
—— That was correct. Shirogane, Ishigami, and the Kashiwagi couples were now teammates with bonds thicker than blood.
Their goal was to defeat the ancient dragon slumbering in the old campus building.
If the four of them failed, the powerful dragon would wake from its thousand year slumber, and plunge the world into a sea of flame.
Their mission was to defeat the dragon before the seal was undone.
The fate of the world was now in the hands of these four brave heroes.
♂♂♂
It all started from a casual comment by Shirogane.
This happened on the third day after Ishigami and Kaguya started pretending to be dating.
They failed to propagate the fake news of them dating. It wasn’t because their acting was bad.
According to what Fujiwara learned from others, in the eyes of the student body, this just looked like Kaguya educating and instructing Ishigami.
The plan failed, but it was unexpectedly effective too. Maybe the sender was spooked by how Kaguya was dragging the reluctant Ishigami all over the place. The mails stopped.
Although the plan didn’t perform as intended, everything worked out fine.
Ishigami was safely liberated from these terrifying times, and was playing games happily in the Student Council room. He didn’t have to be fake lovers with Kaguya anymore. Shirogane looked at Ishigami who was the same as ever, and suddenly remembered a game where the players roleplayed as specific characters.
「Ishigami, have you ever played a TRPG before?」
「I have, if you mean the sort done through internet chat rooms.」
「It seems to be getting popular again.」
「I see. Oh, President, if you are interested——」
The moment Ishigami said that, someone made a strong appearance as usual.
「I heard everything you said! If you are interested in TRPG, then you should try it for yourself. I just happen to have a script that uses the Shuchin Academy as the stage.」
And of course, that person was Chika Fujiwara.
Fujiwara was holding a stack of copy paper, and wore a white sash diagonally across her shoulder. Ishigami pointed at the words on the sash, and said in surprise:
「Oh! 『TG Club』! It says TG Club! Fujiwara-sempai is actually wearing a sash that’s truthful. Or maybe, the person itself is fake?」
「Hmmp… If you want to know if I’m a fake, then use your wits and knowledge to determine that!」
Fujiwara showed a fearless smile, and handed a stack of copy paper to Shirogane and Ishigami each.
Shirogane took it on reflex, and asked:
「I am interested, but are we going to play right now? Shinomiya and Iino are tied up with their clubs, so they won’t be coming. Can we play this game with three people?」
「Yesterday, our three members in the TG Club already play tested this game, so don’t worry. But it will be more fun with more people. Then I don’t have to be a player, and can concentrate on my role as a GM. I will find more people, so use this time to read the guide.」
Fujiwara then ran out of the Student Council room. After 16 minutes, she brought the Kashiwagi couple who were walking along the corridor back to the Student Council room.
Shirogane, Ishigami and the Kashiwagi couple started creating their characters.
「Please select a job from this list.」
Fujiwara showed the character list with a smile. However, Shirogane didn’t know what to pick.
He could understand 【Swordsman】 and 【Mage】 . But 【Hanging Corpse】 and 【The MC’s friends who can share how much the heroines like him】 were enigmas. Those couldn’t really be called jobs.
As Shirogane felt troubled over the large variety of jobs,
「Then I will choose, 【Witch Doctor】.」
「In that case, I choose 【Spacetime Navigator】.」
The heir to a hospital and the daughter of a ship building company gave their answers.
Seeing them decide on a job so easily, Ishigami who was at a lost raised his head as if he had figured it out.
「If we are choosing jobs that way, since my father is in the toy manufacturing industry, the closest job would be 【Playing around bum】…」
「Well, my Dad doesn’t have a stable job… I shall pick 【Playing around bum】…」
<TL: 遊び人>
The moment they said that, the atmosphere around Ishigami and Shirogane turned gloomy. On the other hand the Kashiwagi couple were rolling dice to determine their stats, and their laughter echoed in the room.
Shirogane’s mood turned dark, and it was showing on his face.
Seeing Shirogane like this, Fujiwara shot him a fierce gaze.
「Hey, this is just a game. Don’t get depressed over strange things. Let me give you some advice. Witch Doctor is a healer, while Spacetime Navigator has a large number of maneuvering skills. I think both of you should pick combat type jobs to balance the party.」
「Fujiwara, aren’t you going to choose?」
「Right now, I’m not a player, but the GM who will facilitate the game. So you four please work hard to defeat the evil dragon.」
Shirogane chose 【Paladin】, Ishigami picked 【Dark Mage】.
They needed to determine their stats next. The dice were rolled to determine abilities like intelligence.
「There’s no need to keep rolling the dice, we can just generate random stats on the internet with a touch of a button.」
When she heard what Ishigami said, Fujiwara put her hands on her hips and sighed.
「You don’t get it. Rolling the dice is the fun part of playing TRPG. I will even go as far to say that the point of playing TRPG is to roll the dice. Isn’t it stupid to replace the dice with mouse clicks?」
Fujiwara was adamant about that, so the sound of dice rolling echoed in the Student Council room for quite some time.
After the four of them determined their stats, Fujiwara showed an expression that said 「It’s finally time」, and took something out.
「Uwah!? It’s big!」
Four giant six sided dice that had to be picked up with two hands. They were occasionally featured on a variety of television shows, where celebrities would roll them. But normally, people wouldn’t really buy them.
「Since this is a game that is played while moving around the school, it will be inconvenient if they aren’t this big. Alright, let’s go into the movement phase. Everyone please roll one die each.」
「Wait, GM Fujiwara. Sorry, but I’m a fresh beginner, and don’t really understand what the stats we determined earlier ared used for in the game. Can you explain?」
「Ah—— President, you are the type that will read the manual carefully after buying a game. Personally, I think that’s great, but for this game, I think it’s easier to explain as you play it. Relax, you can only go on an adventure without knowing once in your life, so please cherish this experience.」
「But… never mind, I get it.」
Shirogane could only nod at Fujiwara who was all smiles, but he wasn’t actually convinced.
So far, Shirogane had just been forced to read through a weird world setting, rolling dice repeatedly, and recording his stats onto his character sheet.
Shirogane didn’t understand what was so fun about that. The Kashiwagi were lost in their own world, and Ishigami was staring silently at his character sheet with a rare serious face. Shirogane found it hard to speak in such a mood.
Shirogane understood what Fujiwara was saying, but he still felt that this was too unfriendly for a total beginner like him.
It looks like I won’t be able to ask...
Feeling really alienated, Shirogane picked up a large die.
「Let’s begin… One— Two!」
On Fujiwara’s cue, Shirogane tossed out the die in his hand.
However, contrary to his expectations, the other three flung their dice up high.
Shirogane followed the rising dice with his eyes, and as he watched them fall, he noticed the sparkling in Fujiwara’s eyes.
Her face was that of someone who had tossed aside everything and was completely engrossed in something.
The dice bounced under the child-like gaze of Fujiwara, and slowly rolled to a stop——
At that moment, the gate to another world opened.
◇◇◇
Tabletop Role Playing Game, commonly known as TRPG.
Where RPG video games, a heavy hitter in the computer entertainment industry, originated from.
Basically, unlike video games where the computer would generate and calculate the results of dice rolls, all these were done manually in TRPG.
For example, when they encountered an enemy, they would roll the number of dice equivalent to the enemy’s dexterity, then roll the same number of dice as their own dexterity. If the sum of their dice roll was bigger than that of the enemy, then they would have the right to make the first move.
And the most interesting part of this game, was that the player was free to decide on anything else.
After rolling the dice when you encountered the enemy—— you could choose to set fire to the surrounding to give you the advantage in terrain; or you could scatter gold coins to distract the enemy. Just like reality, the player had an infinite number of choices.
The GM facilitating the game would then judge if these actions were logical by running it through the rule book. The rule book wouldn’t be able to list everything out in detail, so the GM would need to improvise, such as, 「Please roll a die according to your luck stats—— Unfortunately, due to a sudden change in wind direction, the fire burned around you. The enemy took one damage, and you took three damage.」 「The enemies are goblins. They don’t understand the value of gold coins, and they launched a preemptive attack against you instead.」
Unlike video games, this analog game had all sorts of restrictions. It couldn’t be played without enough players, and you couldn’t save at any moment you liked, and if one of the team members was self centered, then the game couldn’t even progress.
However, it was these constraints that brought out the charm and freedom of the game.
In this era when the gaming industry is booming, those who have never tried analog games might think it isn’t fun.
Roleplaying is also a form of acting.
The difference between TRPG and other games is the feeling of immersion it entails.
Once you have experienced the charm of this sort of games once, the dice will become the key to another world.
Choose! Whether you open the door with this key or not, it’s up to you——
♂♂♂
「Alright then, let me explain the game again. This is a TRPG that spans the entire campus. The final goal is to defeat the ancient dragon sleeping in the old school building. The first half of the game is the adventuring phase to collect secret treasures, and the second half is the final battle against the dragon.」
Fujiwara lifts up a finger and started explaining after they made the dice roll.
She confirmed the numbers on the dice scattered around the Student Council room, opened the paper in her hand, and then said: 「Four, four, two, one. Please use this map when you are moving. Going alone is prohibited, so everyone please decide on where to go before moving.」
It was a hand drawn map that divided Shuchin into squares. Shirogane rested his chin on his hand, nodded and then asked:
「It adds up to 11. So that means we can move 11 spaces, right?」
That was what he thought, but Fujiwara made a large cross with her arms, signalling that was wrong.
「In—— correct. It has nothing to do with the sum of the dice. When moving in the campus, each zone is assigned different difficulties. The corridor is two, the field is three, they are distributed like this carefully. There are three dice greater than two, so you can move three spaces in the corridor.」
「How troublesome.」
Ishigami said immediately after Shirogane complained,
「Don’t worry, there are many games with similar rules. I will tell you where we can go in the beginning. I’m sure you will get the hang of it in no time, President.」
「I see, I hope you’re right——」
Shirogane sighed in relief, and Fujiwara suddenly leaned in from the side and said:
「Oh by the way, according to the setting, when a six is rolled, one of Japan’s prefectures would be swallowed into a temporal rift and vanish, so please be careful. As the dragon’s seal is undone gradually, the Scale Maiden won’t be able to use her energy to stabilize the timespace spectrum. The prefectures might also disappear if the players take specific actions too, so please keep that in mind. Also, if the 46 prefectures other than Tokyo disappear, then the dragon will be revived before all the secret treasures are collected. Your team will then be forced to fight at a disadvantage. So take care to leave at least one other prefecture during your adventures.」
「—— My apologies, President, I retract my earlier statement. The rules set by Fujiwara-sempai is more chaotic than I expected. I’m sure that we will encounter many unreasonable things.」
As the cheerful Fujiwara introduced seemingly random rules, Ishigami looked at her with a face of a daughter in puberty listening to her own father telling lewd jokes.
「I-In any case, let’s start moving. How about the 【Library】, isn’t that the closest from here?」
Kashiwagi said in a chirpy voice to sooth the atmosphere.
「That’s true. I can’t think of any good answer, so I agree with the 【Library】.」
「If this is a normal game, then the zones nearby will normally be set to a lower difficulty to accommodate beginners. I think we can go to the 【Library】, assuming that this is a normal game, of course.」
「Since Nagisa already said so, I don’t have any objections either.」
The other three concurred, so everyone headed for the Library. They followed the spaces drawn out on the map and moved three squares, then rolled the dice again. After repeating this for a few times, they walked pass a male and female student walking shoulder to shoulder.
「Oh, it’s the President. Hello——」
「Yes… Hello.」
The two of them smiled and nodded at Shirogane as they passed by, and Shirogane returned the greeting as he hid the dice behind him unconsciously.
He was breaking out in cold sweat, afraid of being treated as a suspicious person for playing some strange game on campus. In that moment, Fujiwara suddenly shouted:
「Okay—— encountered a couple! Everyone, please roll your dice!」
「Ehh? But why… whatever, here.」
Fujiwara counted the dice rolled by Shirogane and the others, then shouted:
「The sum of the dice rolls is ten. If you roll less than twelve, one of the prefecture will vanish because of the lovers’ taunt. Tokushima Prefecture is lost in the temporal rift this time.」
「The lovers’ taunt is too powerful!?」
4,000 km2 of land and its 750,000 residents vanished because of the couple’s taunt. It might just be a game, but that still sounds unpleasant.
「There’s probably an encounter whenever we pass by anyone. It might be a better strategy to pick routes with lesser people, instead of heading straight for the destination.」
Ishigami analyzed the game calmly. He picked up Shirogane’s and his dice, handed one to him and said:
「But we are just two spaces away from the Library, so we should continue. Let’s think about the next destination and route after getting the first secret treasure.」
「Yes, that makes sense. There might be a specific order and condition to gather the secret treasures, we have too little information. In any case, let’s carry on without changing course.」
「I think so too.」
The three of them accepted the sudden change readily, and Shirogane felt alienated again.
「O-Okay…」
The game continued without any regards for his thoughts.
「Oh, we can get a recovery item in the nurse’s office, shall we go there?」
「Nurse's office!?」
Ishigami’s shoulders shook violently.
「What’s the matter, Ishigami?」
「No, it’s nothing, but can we not go to the nurse's office…?」
「Considering the final battle at hand, shouldn’t we get that recovery item?」
Kashiwagi stated her opinion readily.
「Well, actually——」
Ishigami told them what happened on that day.
He had a strange dream, and when he woke up, he found someone tending to him. On closer look, the face of that person was——
「Oh I see. You are saying that the one tending to you is a set of bones, huh.」
「I definitely heard Shinomiya-sempai’s voice. But when I opened the curtains…」
A set of bones were standing there.
Shirogane felt a shiver just from recalling that scene.
「That sounds like the 【Visiting Skeleton】.」
Kashiwagi clapped her hands and said. Shirogane asked after hearing that:
「Visiting Skeleton?」
「Haven’t you heard of the seven mysteries of this school?」
The moment Kashiwagi said that, Fujiwara raised her hand and answered happily.
「I know that too〜【Moving Painting】, 【Invisible Piano Sonata】 and stuff like that.」
「There’s also the 【13 stairs】, 【Suicide Tree】, and the 【Wish Fulfilling Ring】, I think.」
The two girls counted the mysteries with their fingers cheerfully.
It seemed that most schools would have seven mysteries, but Shirogane had not heard of them before.
「Hmm—— so there are such things too. I never heard of it.」
When she heard Shirogane’s mumbling, Kashiwagi smoothed the atmosphere for him:
「President joined from outside after all.」
「I didn’t know about it too…」
Ishigami said in a lonely tone. He probably didn’t learn about such rumours in school since he doesn’t have friends, and he was getting depressed over it.
Shirogane asked the girls in order to divert Ishigami’s attention:
「By the way, I counted only six, what’s the last one?」
「Hmm hmm, do you want to know?」
Fujiwara snickered with her hand over her mouth.
She was teasing him instead of telling them the last mystery.
Sensing that Shirogane was getting irritated, Kashiwagi said:
「Those who encounter the six mysteries will fall from the roof and die… something like that.」
「Be careful, Ishigami-kun, you have five left♪」
「Give me a break…」
The pale Ishigami answered gloomily.
Shirogane wanted to divert Ishigami’s attention, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
In any case, it would be bad to continue talking about these spooky mysteries.
「Well… since there’s a skeleton in the nurse's office, we will be drawn into an unnecessary battle, which makes taking the recovery item a moot point. Let’s skip it this time.」
Shirogane suggested a little forcefully to stay away from the nurse's office, and there were no objections.
♂♂♂
After successfully getting the secret treasure in the Library, Shirogane’s group headed for the rooftop.
As for the key to the rooftop, there’s one in the staff office, the principal's all access key counts as one, and the head of the astronomy club probably made a spare one too… so there were three keys.
The game zone extends to the roof, but without a key, they had to use the platform at the staircase leading to the roof as a substitute instead.
The rules at a staircase were: everyone rolls a die, and the sum of the rolls was equal to the number of steps they could climb.
「Let’s roll, one—— two.」
Everyone rolled the dice on Shirogane’s cue, and the sum was twelve.
「Ch—o—co—la—t —e—」
<TL: Guriko game https://jpninfo.com/27526>
Despite being the GM, Fujiwara was walking in front as she skipped up the stairs.
Followed by Shirogane and the Kashiwagi couple.
「Okay, this is the second checkpoint. There’s an item called the 【Small stool】 on the rooftop—— hmm?」
Fujiwara turned back in surprise.
「…Ishigami-kun, what are you still doing there?」
The others were already on the platform, but Ishigami stopped one step lower for some reason.
「Huh? Because the dice roll was twelve, so we can only advance twelve steps, right?」
「……」
Fujiwara was quiet for a moment, then said to Ishigami with a smile:
「Really now, Ishigami-kun, don’t crack such bad jokes.」
「No, it’s you who counted wrong, right? I basically can’t mess up when I deal with numbers.」
Ishigami refuted with a stiff smile.
However, Fujiwara made a serious face:
「Yes, it’s hard to imagine Ishigami-kun making a mistake in counting… so I thought you were joking.」
「Like I said, you are the ones who counted wrong…」
「That’s impossible.」
Fujiwara denied firmly.
「Because, there are only eleven steps in this stairs.」
「Huh?」
「The dice roll was twelve, so you can climb up even if you miscount by one. But Ishigami-kun, you are standing on the tenth step. If you miscounted, that means… you are off by two?」
Ishigami and Fujiwara stood face to face.
Because they were one step apart, their height was the same.
「Let me ask you again.」
Fujiwara looked straight at Ishigami.
「You are joking, right?」
Time seemed to freeze right then.
A short while later——
「O-O-Of course——! I was just thinking about toki soba and didn’t count p-p-properly!」
Ishigami who was obviously getting distraught climbed the last step—— the thirteenth step.
Kashiwagi muttered quietly: 「That’s the second mystery.」
♂♂♂
「Ahh—— a wild monster appeared!」
Fujiwara said and pointed to the maths teacher.
The maths teacher said 「Who's a monster!? I’m the one being harrassed by monsters, that’s me!」 and left.
It seems that meeting teachers would be treated as encountering monsters. The battle couldn’t be avoided even if the teacher left. Fujiwara furrowed her brows, and explained loudly to stir up the fighting spirits of Shirogane and the others:
「Since the dexterity of Zama-sensei is one, the players can make the first move. Please move in the order of highest to lowest dexterity within your team. First will be the Spacetime Navigator.」
「Oh, I’m up.」
Kashiwagi who got named by Fujiwara checked the guide a little panicky.
「In battle, roll the number of dice equivalent to our own combat stat, right… Let’s see, my combat stat is two, so lend me your die.」
「Do your best, Nagisa——」
Kashiwagi borrowed a die from her boyfriend, then tossed the dice with all her might. However, the results were one, one.
「Oh, it’s a fumble… but this game doesn’t have such a setting, so this is just a normal failure. Zama-sensei defended the Spacetime Navigator’s attack with his set square, and took no damage.」
「Ahh… I’m sorry, everyone.」
Kashiwagi put her hands together and apologized cutely.
「Don’t worry, Nagisa. The Paladin will be up next, he will definitely cut the monster down in one hit.」
「Ehh, by Paladin, you meant me right? So I just have to roll the dice? The same number as my combat stat…」
Shirogane wanted to check his character sheet, but it took a lot of effort. There were too many pages in the guide, which obfuscated his search. Fujiwara couldn’t stand it anymore and said:
「President’s combat stat is five.」
「Five… I can’t hold five, the dice are too big!」
「Then roll them two times. Roll three of them first.」
Shirogane followed Fujiwara’s instructions, and borrowed the dice from the Kashiwagi couple. Including the one he had, that was three. Shirogane’s hands were full with just that.
Ishigami couldn’t hand his die to Shirogane, and fidgeted with his die and muttered:
「It’s too hard to play 5D6 with such big dices. If you want to retain the flexibility of setting a character’s combat potential, wouldn’t it be better to set the smallest unit to 1D3 or 1D2, instead of 1D6??」
「That’s unnecessary! If we use 1D3, that means the result is the same whether you roll 3 or 4! The idea of simplifying the gameplay is good, but if we do that, then what’s the point of the six sided design of the dice? And in this sort of game, it’s more fun to roll more dice!」
「… I don’t get what you are arguing about, but I’m going to roll.」
Fujiwara and Ishigami squabbled as usual, and Shirogane who couldn’t follow their pace let go of the dice and allowed them to drop. Even with that, the dice pumped full of air still bounced all over the place.
「Ah!」
Fujiwara’s eyes that had turned triangular from being mad at Ishigami, reverted back to a smile when she saw the result of the roll.
「Six, six, four! That’s a double critical hit, President!」
「Erm, won’t the prefecture disappear?」
「A temporal rift will only happen during movements. When you roll a six during combat and evasion, it will be counted as a critical hit, giving you one more dice roll. So President, you can roll four more dice.」
Kashiwagi clapped her hands and said:
「Oh, Shirogane-kun, you are amazing!」
Including Ishigami’s die, Shirogane picked up four dice this time.
「Uwah, that’s too many, I can’t carry all of them!」
「Just roll with it. Rolling dice is a matter of guts!」
Cheered on by Fujiwara, Shirogane rolled the dice. Some female students who just happened to be passing by were surprised by this scene. Shirogane nodded at them and apologized, and heard Fujiwara yell: 「Another six!」
「President, you can roll one more.」
The grumpy looking Ishigami, smiled when he saw Shirogane’s dice roll. It was a rare cheerful smile, not an expression that Ishigami would normally make. The lanky Ishigami had a face that looked younger and gentler than his actual age.
In the end, Shirogane rolled many dice cluelessly.
However, Shirogane experienced a completely different feeling from the character creation.
Shirogane rolled eleven times, and the sum was 48.
After taking this blow from the paladin, the lowly maths teacher was reduced to dust.
Shirogane’s performance motivated his companions greatly.
「That’s amazing〜. The main attacker of our team is Shirogane-kun after all.」
「President, you really went all out. Hold back a little next time, so I will get a turn too.」
Kashiwagi and the others showered Shirogane with praises, while Ishigami clapped quietly behind them.
「… So we won, huh.」
Frankly speaking, Fujiwara didn’t clarify the rules or world setting at all, and Shirogane didn’t understand what was so fun about TRPG—— until this moment.
Shirogane looked at the dice that were shoved to him earlier.
For some reason, he felt the urge to roll those dice once more.
♂♂♂
If you listened to the explanation without knowing anything, the rules would seem very complicated.
But after playing for a while, you would slowly grasp the rules, and could decide on what direction to take, and you would have more freedom in your actions.
Breaking through the various obstacles, recalculating your expected values, and your mood swinging because of the unfathomable dice rolls—— the adventure continued.
Shirogane has always been a sentimental youth who loves the stars, and cries over shoujo manga.
TRPG was designed to ensnare the hearts of youth, and the fact was, many old kids were still mesmerized by it over decades. There was no way the sentimental Shirogane could avoid getting engrossed in this game!
Furthermore, Shirogane was playing a special role this time.
Paladin—— a term that would make a youth in his second year of middle school excited, and even boys who were older would get worked up.
In this game, the Paladin’s prowess was in a different league from the others.
Spacetime Navigator could use movement skills, Witch Doctor could heal, and Dark Mage had access to summoning spells and some special skills. In contrast, the Paladin didn’t have that sort of unique skills, but its basic stats were on a different level from the other jobs. Especially a leveled up Paladin, which was strong enough to call it overpowered.
Shirogane needed Kashiwagi and the others to help him at the start, but after gaining experience points and leveling up, he slowly became the powerhouse of the team.
<TL: the raw said Fujiwara instead of Kashiwagi, but whatever.>
Shirogane had the talent to comprehend things quickly, and understood the rules in no time. He could calculate the expected value swiftly, so he could make clear decisions easily. Most important of all, he could tell what GM Fujiwara was thinking from her subtle actions, allowing his team to avoid traps. He was now the pillar of the team.
「Shirogane-kun is amazing! We did it again! Now we can get the Principal’s private cash stash!」
「Even though we didn’t need that much money.」
「Oh no—— we ran into the Saha club’s recruitment again. Huh? We evaded because of the wisdom of the Paladin? That’s awesome!」
「Huh? What did I do?」
「Well, when we were moving in the corridor of the third years classroom, if you don’t greet people you run into by a ratio of 1:5, you will take damage. Oh no, Ishigami-kun lowered his head immediately. If this goes on—— President?! Too strong! The way you greet everyone has already surpassed a Paladin, and is in the realm of a hero!」
「I don’t want to be too prominent though.」
Shirogane kept adventuring and growing. Shirogane would get praised by his comrades whatever he did, which made him immerse deeper into his adventure.
——Overpowered reincarnation.
The joy of cutting down the enemy with the swing of his sword, and the solidarity of the compliments from his comrades. The double dose of dopamine made Shirogane feel like he was reborn and unstoppable.
Especially his ‘Mail Order’ skill that he thought was unnecessary in the beginning, which had a cheat-like effect now. It allowed them to breeze through the game without any worry for money.
The LED lights on the ceiling looked like flickering torches, and the cheers from the club activities sounded like the chant of cultists.
After much trials and tribulations, Shirogane’s team reached five checkpoints and collected five secret treasures.
And now, they headed for the old school building to attack the slumbering dragon.
However, the temporal rifts had taken its toll on the isle of Japan, and Japan was on the verge of disappearing completely.
Aside from Tokyo, there were only two prefectures left—— And Shirogane’s team was 15 spaces away from the old school building.
If they rolled six twice before walking 15 spaces, they would be forced into a battle with the dragon.
♂♂♂
「Ahh! I’m really sorry!」
Kashiwagi—— No, the Spacetime Navigator cried loudly.
She rolled a six—— and the Wakayama prefecture vanished beyond the horizon of karma. The only prefectures left were the Toyama prefecture and Tokyo.
<TL: 因果地平の彼方, a term used in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Runaway_Ideon>
Shirogane consoled the Spacetime Navigator with a cheerful voice.
「It’s fine, the dragon is right before us, we just need to move steadily forward.」
「That’s right, it’s not your fault, Nagisa.」
The Witch Doctor gently patted the head of the Spacetime Navigator to soothe her.
「Argghhh——…… I can’t suppress the urge to cast explosion magic——」
The Dark Mage said with gloomy eyes that matched his title. However Shirogane could empathize with him.
「If it’s just this much, just turn a blind eye. The final battle is upon us. We are comrades, so it’s better to not dampen the mood.」
Shirogane put a hand on the Dark Mage’s shoulder, who nodded after a short silence: 「… You have a point.」 Shirogane tapped his shoulder and said:
「I’m counting on you, Dark Mage.」
—— Right now, Shirogane was completely immersed in the game. Even though Ishigami and Kashiwagi were wearing their usual school uniform, in Shirogane’s eyes, they were wearing a dark cloak and a white robe respectively.
The familiar field was now an endless plain, while their destination, the old school building had morphed into an ancient castle where the sleeping dragon laid.
Shirogane who was seeing the world in a different light didn’t let down his guard against the teachers, but he noticed the presence of something slower than Ishigami.
「Hey, look! Is that a couple over there!?」
He followed the Dark Mage’s finger, and saw a couple sitting intimately on a bench.
This was bad. Since that place was occupied, the GM would make them roll for an evasion when they pass by. If they fail, then the Toyama prefecture would be lost, and they would be forced into a fight against the dragon.
They couldn’t avoid this by taking the long way around either. The path to the old school building was paved, so they just needed to roll a two to advance along this route. However, if they went around the couple, they would need to pass through the field, and would need to roll three and above. This made a huge difference.
As Shirogane was troubling over which route to take, he noticed something.
「—— Wait, are they really… a couple?」
He observed the two people on the bench carefully. They didn’t dye their hair or wore any accessories. Compared to the Kashiwagi couple when they just started dating, this couple was much more reserved.
He listened in on their conversation.
「What about November 11th, 2044?」
「Friday!」
And realized they kept talking about dates and days of the week.
Shirogane and Ishigami looked at each other, and discussed:
「They aren’t lovers, right?」
「Now that you mention it, it’s hard to gauge. To me, they can just explode. Whether they have feelings for each other or not, they are obviously lost in their own world.」
「The question is, what will the GM say?」
They peeked at Fujiwara, and she was waiting for them to make a decision with a giggly smile.
「There is a clear standard for deciding who are couples. And of course, I can’t tell you.」
As expected, she didn’t give any hints.
「Why don’t we try our luck and charge right through?」
It was rare to see Ishigami say something with such an aggressive face.
「Well, I don’t really want to risk it. If only there was a way to determine if they truly are a couple…」
「If it’s identifying lovers, I do have a way.」
Witch Doctor declared confidently.
Shirogane opened his eyes wide in surprise, while Ishigami refuted agitatedly:
「If there were a way to identify lovers, then 50% of the one sided crushes would be prevented! It can’t be done, that’s why people keep repeating the same tragedy!」
「Heehee, calm down first. This is a method I discovered with my friends shortly after enrolling in High School.」
Witch Doctor flicked his blonde hair and took out something.
「A set square?」
「Correct. They seem to love maths, since they are playing a game of determining the day of the week for a given date… And set squares are a holy item for those who love maths. If they see this by their feet, they will definitely pick it up. Like so!」
The Witch Doctor threw the set square out like a frisbee.
And then, the set square landed to the left of the bench—— on the side of the male student.
The Witch Doctor watched them closely and continued explaining to Shirogane and Ishigami:
「Watch carefully. If the set square is in that position, it will be easier for the male student to pick it up. However, since they are sitting beside each other on the bench, he will run into a problem.」
「A problem?」
The Spacetime Navigator didn’t understand what he meant, and tilted her head cutely. Shirogane and Ishigami knocked their fists onto their palms and said enlightened: 「That’s it!」
「I see! If the guy bent down to take the set square in that position, he would definitely end up peeking into the girl’s skirt! That’s the law of nature!」
「He isn’t trying to peek under her skirt, it’s an inevitable series of events! That’s right, it can’t be helped!」
Shirogane and Ishigami expressed their agreement and accepted his argument. The Witch Doctor bowed to them politely, informing them that they were correct.
「Exactement.」
<TL: It’s English in the raws>
The Spacetime Navigator looked at the three boys coldly. It was like she was looking at walking garbage. But the trio didn’t notice and continued their discussion:
The Witch Doctor lifted up a finger, and said cockily:
「Which means, the key is the moment he accidentally peeks under her skirt. If they aren’t lovers, the girl will be disgusted or will avoid him by switching her posture ahead of time. But if they are a couple——」
「If they are a couple?」
Shirogane and Ishigami gulped. If someone were about to peek under their skirt, the female members of the Student Council would be disgusted or switch postures, that was the law of nature.
However, what would be different for lovers? Shirogane and Ishigami clenched their fists tightly, and waited for him to continue.
When everyone thought that the silence would last forever, the Witch Doctor opened his eyes.
「If they are lovers—— then the girl will say with blushed cheeks, 『Geez… XX-kun you horndog!』, and the guy will be forgiven!」
Shirogane and Ishigami felt as if they were struck by lightning.
「That’s true!」
「Oh, I heard that line before! Damn it, I thought only hot guys would be forgiven, so it applies to lovers too!? Damn it ahh!」
「… Hmm, if it were me, I would just get mad either way.」
The three of them suddenly felt the temperature plummet by several degrees.
In contrast to the hyped up trio, the Spacetime Navigator had an icy expression.
「Ara, Nagisa. No one will do that to you. Everyone knows that the two of us are a couple.」
「Sigh—— yes, yes, that’s true…」
The Witch Doctor hugged her shoulder intimately and soothed her, and the scary expression vanished from the Spacetime Navigator’s face.
The angry girlfriend reverted to her usual gentle face with just a few words from her boyfriend.
「I see, so that’s how lovers are…」
「Their taunt feels strong enough to make a prefecture disappear, even if they are our allies.」
Despite overcoming various trials and tribulations, Shirogane and Ishigami felt a sense of failure like never before.
「Enough about this, the problem is with those two. So what’s the conclusion?」
The Witch Doctor pointed to the couple at the bench.
The set square by the bench was——
「Huh?」
「… No reaction.」
No matter how long they waited, the couple showed no intention of picking up the set square.
They didn’t seem to realize that the set square was right there.
「What should we do about this?」
「Ughh, what to do…」
Witch Doctor was at a loss as he scratched his cheeks. At this juncture, Ishigami shook his head and said: 「There’s no other way.」
「President, those two are definitely lovers. Because they are lost in their own world, and can only see each other. To be safe, shall we make a detour?」
「——No, I got it now. Let’s continue on this path.」
Shirogane made a firm decision, and everyone prepared to roll their dice.
「Let’s go!」
They moved smoothly without rolling any sixes. When they reached the space where the couple was, Fujiwara declared cheekily:
「Alright, because you encountered——」
「No, wait, GM Fujiwara. The prefecture will only vanish from a lovers taunt. In this case, they didn’t even notice that we are here. So there isn’t any taunt, or a need to roll the dice for evasion.」
Shirogane’s unexpected words made the Witch Doctor and Spacetime Navigator gasp at the same time.
「Ohh!?」
「Will that work, GM?」
All of them looked tensely at Fujiwara, and she slowly made a cross with her arms——
「Safe. President’s proposal is accepted.」
Ding ding—— She made a large circle with her arms.
Cheers erupted.
「Great! Let’s roll the dice right now!」
And luckily, there weren’t any sixes this time either, and the group made it through the courtyard.
When Shirogane passed them by, the couple on the bench were saying:
「… Which means Kronecker didn’t know how to solve the question he raised in 1877. Given how much time has passed, there must be countless people who tried their hand on this problem.」
「How romantic… After all, he even called this problem the 【Dearest dream of his youth】. This 【liebster Jugendtraum】 of his pulled in so many people around the world, and who knows how long it will take to be solved, and how big a stir it will cause.」
Shirogane didn’t understand what they were talking about, but he had no intention of disturbing the couple lost in their own world. He left the courtyard hurriedly.
♂♂♂
In a time of universal deceit, only the roll of the dice is truly honest——
「Ahh!」
「Hyaa—— Sorry! It is me again.」
Spacetime Navigator cried with tears in her eyes.
The die she rolled landed on six. Shirogane rolled a three, but that didn’t matter.
They were four spaces away from the old school building, and if they were lucky, they could get there in one turn. However, tragedy struck. As a result, the entire isle of Japan except for Tokyo was drawn into the temporal rift. The seal on the dragon was broken at this instance.
「—— We are just one step away. Ahh, I’m not blaming you, Spacetime Navigator. It’s fine, we did well by getting so far.」
「That’s right. If we can’t take the dragon by surprise, we can just take it down in a straight fight.」
「… A Dark Mage can’t show his true powers when fighting mobs after all. Just watch how my combat specialized job makes quick work of the Boss fight.」
「Thank you everyone…」
The Spacetime Navigator bowed to thank everyone for their words of encouragement. And this was really a trivial matter anyway.
With the battle with the dragon coming, no one had any intention of blaming her. After going through this journey together, the Shirogane Squad were now true companions. This made them really proud.
Shirogane braced himself, then swept the surrounding cautiously.
「And so? The dragon has awaken? Should we roll for detection?」
「No need, as this is a forced battle because all the prefectures vanished, the dragon will possess a human and revive. So the next person to appear before us will become the dragon. Its hit points and combat prowess will depend on this person.」
In response to Shirogane’s question, GM Fujiwara answered with a face that was saying 「I thought you would never ask」:
「Age would determine hit points, combat prowess depends on the club. Sensing and charm don’t matter, so the numbers won’t be reflected. And if the dragon is someone we know or is famous in school, it will have special defences. Hailing from a family with a deep history is an important factor. For example, the son of a IT company owner won’t be that powerful, since IT is a new industry.」
Fujiwara smiled cheerfully, and Shirogane asked:
「What about teachers?」
「That depends, but their hit points will be high, so they will be very strong. For example, the Judo club advisor will spawn a 45 year old, single, brawns and no brains dragon!」
After that, Shirogane’s squad waited tensely for someone to pass by.
It wasn’t clear if they were fortunate or not, Shirogane’s squad was on the path to the old school building. This was a path that was seldom taken, and after waiting for some time, no one showed up.
The alarm on her phone rang, and Fujiwara announced:
「Special rule triggered. We will wait three more minutes, if no one shows up, you can roll the dice for movement. If no one shows up after another three minutes again, you can roll again.」
「Don’t come don’t come don’t come. Only people from gardening clubs or something will take this path…」
The Witch Doctor put his hands together in prayer. Shirogane could empathize with his urge to pray.
However, Shirogane refuted that in his mind, because the gardening club wasn’t the only one which would use this road. At the end of this path was a building that had nothing to do with normal students, where non club members wouldn’t go near—— the archery range.
「Ehhh!?」
Ishigami shouted.
Following his gaze, Shirogane saw a figure he was very familiar with walking over.
「Ah, it’s all over now—— GG.」
The light disappeared from Ishigami’s eyes because of despair.
Under the watchful gaze of Shirogane’s squad, that figure walked towards them, then asked puzzledly with her head tilted:
「Fujiwara-san, Ishigami-kun, and even the President… what are you doing?」
It was a member of the archery club, and the Student Council Vice President——Kaguya Shinomiya.
She was famous in the school and everyone knew who she was, the daughter from the main house of the Shinomiya family, which had a long history of supporting the nation—— in other words, the strongest and most terrifying ancient dragon had awakened.
♂♂♂
「Everyone, please get ready for the final battle. Defeat Kaguya-san to save the school!」
「Wait, Fujiwara-san...? What’s going on here?」
Kaguya stared at the giant die that Fujiwara shoved into her hands.
It was the die that Fujiwara took out of her pocket, and pumped full of air. It was about the same size as Shirogane’s and the others’, but it had one difference.
Unlike a normal white dice, it was crimson red.
It was a beautiful and terrifying dice, just like the violent and ominous side of an evil dragon.
「Is this a TG Club activity? Even the President is playing along too?」
Kaguya asked Shirogane. The sight of her petite figure holding the large dice was incredibly cute, but in Shirogane’s eyes, it was like this:
—— the crimson part of the dice was the same color as her skin. She still had her wits about her to make conversation, but would go berserk at any time.
As Shirogane’s mind was in a daze, Fujiwara’s explanation barely registered with him.
「Kaguya is born in January, so she is still 16. Her hit points are 16 then. The different parts of the dragon’s body have different defensive stats, so you have to choose where to attack, like the head, chest, stomach or wings. The dragon also has a weak point, so try attacking different parts to find it.」
After Fujiwara finished her explanation, Shinomiya morphed into a huge dragon in Shirogane’s eyes.
「——Shinomiya ……」
『Pwezzz?』
Like the voice of a kidnapper in detective shows—— Kaguya sounded to Shirogane like she was speaking through a voice changer, which made his heart ache.
Kaguya’s beautiful voice and her adorable eyes had turned into this.
—— Even so, Shirogane still couldn’t make up his mind.
「In order to protect the school—— I have to turn my sword towards Shinomiya?」
『Ehh, soordd?』
「I have to fight… Paladins have to prioritize their duties at all times… But… But…」
The dice which was as light as air, somehow felt really heavy in his hands.
With no regards for Shirogane’s confusion, the GM said cheerfully:
「Alright, this is the final battle. The dragon will roll first for every turn. Anyone whose dexterity is below that roll won’t be able to move.」
「Ehh, but my dexterity is just two.」
Witch Doctor wailed, and Fujiwara looked at him with a gentle gaze.
「If your turn is skipped, your dexterity will be accumulated for the next round. Which means the Witch Doctor will have four dexterity in the next round, and six if you get skipped again.」
「That’s tough too… So I can only move once every two or three turns, huh.」
「Well then, Kaguya-san, please roll the die.」
『… Butt, I neeber saaiid I whale pwwayy…』
Spacetime Navigator asked, drowning out Kaguya’s words:
「What if Shinomiya refuses to help us?」
「Then the dragon will go berserk, drastically increasing all its stats.」
Shirogane reverted back to normal in an instant.
「Please, Shinomiya, just for ten minutes or so.」
「… Alright then, if it will just take that much time.」
The moment Shirogane made his plea, the terrifying dragon disappeared in a puff of smoke, and a slightly displeased Kaguya appeared in its place.
Kaguya mumbled something as she rolled the die.
The result was six.
「Okay, a critical hit from the dragon. Moody from just waking up, the dragon flapped its wings intimidatingly, stopping anyone from drawing near. The entire party can’t move for this round, and takes slight damage. Those with defensive skills can use it to reduce the damage though.」
「No way! Right from the start!?」
The Spacetime Navigator screamed, and Shirogane groaned in pain.
「… Oh right, I forgot that we are facing Shinomiya.」
When the Student Council played a board game with Fujiwara in the past, Kaguya won the game.
Life didn’t treat everyone equally.
「Well then, please roll one more time, Kaguya-san. This will determine the attack.」
「… But I don’t understand the rules of the game at all.」
With an unfathomable face, Kaguya rolled the die again. She was still very sporting.
And it was six again.
「Uwah! Another critical hit! Kaguya, your target is——」
「Speaking of games, Ishigami-kun, can you explain…」
Fujiwara and Kaguya spoke almost at the same moment.
With a look of surprise, Fujiwara pointed at Ishigami.
「Ahh, Ishigami-kun, you are already dead. When a dragon performs a critical hit, it will kill with no regards for hit points.」
「Are you kidding me!? I was planning to strut my stuff for the boss fight!」
「Ishigami ahhh!」
Shirogane reached out for his comrade that was fighting beside him just moments ago. However, he couldn’t reach no matter how hard he tried.
The Dark Mage was turned to ashes under the fiery breath of the dragon.
The man Shirogane depended on more than anyone else, was the first to fall after this attack.
「Ok, time for the next round’s dexterity check for Kaguya. Please roll the dice」
「President… Please do your best for my sake too…」
Ishigami’s spirit remained in the mortal world, as if he was guiding his comrades who went through thick and thin with him.
Ishigami who had a halo on his head watched over Shirogane’s squad as they battled the dragon.
『—— Whyy mm I thee onnee wan trolling thee dicee?』
Her lucky streak was broken, and Kaguya only rolled a three. Because their dexterity accumulated from the previous round, Shirogane’s group of three could all act.
「I’m up first. I won’t attack, and will use a skill instead, switching the Spacetime vessel from cruising mode to static defence mode. We should be able to withstand the dragon’s attack for a few turns. While I’m defending, Shirogane-kun, please attack with everything you got.」
「I-I got it…」
The Spacetime Navigator who had the highest dexterity opted to use a skill. The dragon had struck terror into the hearts of the squad in just a few minutes, and using a defensive skill was a godsend.
The Paladin had the next highest dexterity. He was still a little reluctant about attacking Kaguya, but since his task has been decided, he cleared the doubts in his mind.
Shirogane rolled five dices in two batches. The sum was 18, which included a six, which was a critical hit. He rolled again.
「Good, it’s a four. That will be 22.」
「Please choose the parts you will attack. If it exceeds the dragon’s defences, you can damage it. If you attack the weak point, your will deal three times the damage.」
The total was 22—— with such a high attack, attacking any part would do.
Shirogane concluded, and decided on hitting the stomach.
「Sorry, Shinomiya——」
As he apologized, Shirogane thrust his holy sword at the dragon’s stomach with all his might. However——
♀♀♀
Kaguya Shinomiya sighed.
She had been dragged into a strange game by Fujiwara again.
In Kaguya’s memories, nothing good would come from playing Fujiwara’s game… But that wasn’t important. She was more concerned about Shirogane looking weird.
He seemed to be more lively now—— but isn’t he too energetic?
Kaguya peeked at Shirogane.
There was a light she had never seen in Shirogane’s eyes before.
President’s eyes… I think I did see them before. It was … after summer vacation——
The night of the full moon in mid autumn.
Shirogane did all sorts of things to Kaguya, it was an unforgettable night for her.
Her cheeks turned hot from recalling it.
… Well, President was just engrossed in the stars that night. Which means, the President is engrossed in this game right now?
There was too little explanation, so Kaguya didn’t even know the rules to this queer game. But Shirogane was completely engrossed in it?
Kaguya continued the game with this question in mind.
「Unfortunately, the defence points are higher. President, your attack didn’t work.」
「It can’t be!? That’s 22 points!」
For some reason, it seemed that Kaguya blocked Shirogane’s attack. Although Kaguya didn’t think she did anything.
Kagua felt really happy that she won against Shirogane. Even though Hayasaka always cautioned her 「Why bother winning such baffling games? Girls who relax their guard a little are more popular」, but she wouldn’t budge on this point.
‘Love is war’. There wasn’t any shame in losing to smoothen relationships, but if she didn’t win in such an important match, it would tarnish the Shinomiya family name.
Aside from Shirogane, there was another person reeling from Shinomiya’s intimidating aura, and screamed.
「Ehh, Vice President, your guard is too tough! To think that the President’s serious attack didn’t even make a dent, that’s as tough as steel?」
「Guard is too strong!? Tough as steel!?」
These words from Kashiwagi’s boyfriend dealt a critical attack to Kaguya’s heart.
However, no one noticed that Kaguya took damage to her soul, and the game continued.
「I will cast heal on the whole party. We can then recover the damage we took earlier.」
「Kaguya-san’s attack is blocked by the Spacetime vessel. Let’s start with the next round’s dexterity check. Kaguya-san, please roll the die.」
On Fujiwara’s urging, Kaguya looked at the die in her hands.
「Hah… By the way, how do you end this game?」
「Kaguya-san defeating President’s party, or the hit points of the dragon fall to zero.」
「Is there something being wagered like usual?」
「No, we didn’t make any bets this time.」
「Is that so, then——」
For Kaguya, defeat didn’t mean humiliation. To avoid being ostracized by others, she would normally use 『60% of her full power』 at whatever she does, and treats failing as a part of life.
「The die says five. The Spacetime Navigator can move.」
「I will use my skill again. If the Spacetime vessel can take it, we should be able to tide through this…」
Kaguya didn’t understand what Kashiwagi was saying, but she still rolled the die on the prompt of Fujiwara.
She then turned to Ishigami besides her to seek an explanation of the rules. The moment she spoke—— it might seem like a coincidence, but it was actually timed carefully by Kaguya.
「Ishigami-kun—— oh, I rolled a five. Ishigami-kun, this game is…」
「The dragon chose to attack Ishigami-kun. But since he is dead——」
Kaguya smiled in her heart, without anyone realizing what just happened:
Fujiwara-san is very strict on the rules of the game. Just now, the person I spoke with after rolling the die is designated as the target. It seems to have nothing to do with the intent of the one speaking.
Kaguya called Ishigami by his name to pretend that she was clueless about the game’s rules, so her attack would fail because she targeted a dead character.
They had been saying that her defence was too tough and sturdy, which weighed heavily on Kaguya’s heart.
I’m used to being feared by people I didn’t know, but I don’t want the President——
It was fine for him to respect her, admire her and fawn over her. But if he felt fear towards her, then the distance between them would grow—— and Kaguya couldn’t accept that.
So Kaguya decided to lose this game.
There was no downside to losing, she just needed to pretend that she was a girl who was bad at games, and use the chance to launch her attacks against Shirogane.
President likes to teach others—— if I pester him to teach me after the game is over, he will drone on and on about it—— That’s right, just like that night in mid autumn——
Kaguya was thinking about that night when she rested on the President’s arms, and the two of them leaned together to watch the stars.
There were still a lot of students still in school for club as well as practice for the sports festival, but that’s not important. The important thing was the gym storage room—— she had to stay away from that ominous place.
Ughh… just thinking about it makes my face——
Kaguya touched her left cheek with her right hand. This was the skill she obtained after being trained by Hayasaka—— a routine. This allows Kaguya to regain her composure.
This will work. I can think about my attacks against the President slowly. There’s still a few rounds left before the dragon’s hit points get reduced to zero.
As Kaguya kept scheming in her mind, Fujiwara read from the rule book in a panic:
「—— Hidden command activated. The dragon ate the corpse! After eating Ishigami-kun that had been cooked just right, Kaguya’s power is enhanced. From the next round onwards, the dragon’s attack will be doubled!」
「Ishigami ahhh!」
The pale faced Shirogane reached his hand out towards Ishigami, in an attempt to pull his underclassman back from the depths of hell.
Kaguya wanted to scream too.
Why did something that will lower his affection points towards me happen!? Geez, the games designed by Fujiwara-san always end up like this!
「I never thought that this hidden command will ever be uncovered. As expected of you, Kaguya-san!」
When he heard what Fujiwara said, Shirogane showed a disillusioned face.
Please don’t look at me with that expression. I didn’t mean for this to happen!
「Becoming the tool that increases the prowess of the enemy after getting killed instantly… Sorry everyone for holding you back.」
No no no, Ishigami-kun, you don’t have to apologize. Everything is that woman’s fault. She’s desperately trying to lower the affection points the President has for me, while she watches from the sidelines without participating in the game…
Kaguya stared at Fujiwara with eyes that you must never show a friend. Fujiwara seemed to be enjoying the game wholeheartedly, as she read the rule book with a child-like smile on her face.
Kaguya cursed Fujiwara repeatedly in her heart, then used her routine.
… Calm down and think. If I waste my turn and don’t attack like just now, it will look unnatural—— but if I do anything unnecessary, I will get drawn into Fujiwara-san’s rules and make the dragon more violent.
In any case, Kaguya rolled the die for the dragon’s dexterity.
The die bounced and spun. In the end, the crimson die landed on six. Even though Shirogane and Kashiwagi’s boyfriend’s turn were skipped the previous turn and their dexterity doubled, the dragon had a preemptive move this turn. And everyone took slight damage from the critical hit.
Shirogane’s party screamed in terror. Either the dragon was too strong or the Vice President was too brutal, their screams echoed out loud. Kaguya wanted to scream too.
Next, she would roll for the dragon’s attack. It seems that Kaguya had been the only one who had been rolling the dice.
Shirogane only rolled once after Kaguya joined the game, but even then, he was completely immersed in the game as he alternated between shouting in joy and screaming in pain.
… What’s going on here? Is this game that interesting? I don’t get it. I want to lose quickly… Everyone thinks I’m a merciless monster. Aren’t you people just too useless!
She rolled a three for attack. Kaguya thought about who she should target.
I will leave the President for last of course, and Kashiwagi said she will defend, correct? Then the only answer is——
Kaguya suddenly opened her eyes with her target in mind.
「Kaguya-san, please choose your attack target.」
「… Then, I will choose Kashiwagi-san who is closest to me.」
If Kashiwagi was defending, then she wouldn’t be taken out instantly—— that was what Kaguya thought.
「Oh, you picked me? Then I will defend with the Spacetime vessel——」
「Wait!」
When the attacked Kashiwagi was still speaking, her partner interjected. He brushed his fingers across his ear studs, closed his eyes troublingly for a moment, then opened his eyes and shouted:
「I choose to protect Nagisa—— No, I choose to protect the Spacetime Navigator!」
「W-Why? I can defend with the Spacetime vessel…」
In response to the baffled Kashiwagi, her partner answered with a sheepish expression:
「I don’t care about that. I’m a doctor, so I won’t stand idly by and watch my companion get hurt!」
「Witch Doctor…」
The two of them looked at each other passionately.
At the sight of this scene, it wasn’t just Kaguya, Shirogane and Ishigami, even Fujiwara looked at them with cold eyes.
「… Then the Witch Doctor takes 6 points of damage. Well, he’s barely clinging to life. She will be moving consecutively, but it’s still Kaguya-san’s turn.」
Kaguya’s plan failed again. If Kashiwagi took the hit as planned, then there would be zero damage, but her show off boyfriend just had to butt in and ruin everything.
What’s wrong with this game!? Anything is fine, just end it already.
It was the dragon’s turn again. Kaguya rolled the die with stiff mechanical movements.
It was a one.
Kaguya’s goal was to lose the game, so this was a good roll. After finally letting go of the die, she could finally use her routine. Thinking about it with a composed mind, Kaguya felt it was a good roll.
After two rounds, Shirogane finally got his turn. At this moment, his dexterity had reached its peak.
Even though Shirogane’s mood was dampened by what the Kashiwagi couple did earlier, he cleared his throat to refresh his mindset, and shouted with hot blooded eyes:
「I won’t let Shinomiya have her way anymore! Howl, holy sword!」
… Is President the type who will get engrossed in special effects film if he has a son, and will buy and collect expensive figurines and toys?
Seeing how immersed Shirogane was in the game, Kaguya felt uneasy about the future.
Shirogane rolled one or twos, for a total of ten.
「… Ughh, just ten huh… Alright then, I will attack its chest!」
Fujiwara flipped through the rule book to check something. During this time, Kashiwagi picked up Kaguya’s die and handed it to her, sealing her routine again.
「… Done. The attack was super effective, the dragon took 3 points of damage.」
「Alright!」
When he heard what Fujiwara said, Shirogane swung his fist elatedly.
President… is just like a kid—— Well, I seldom see him act like this, so it’s quite a precious moment—— Fufu, he looks like he is shadow boxing, how cute.
If it were the usual Shirogane, he would be overwhelmed with shame at the sight of Kaguya covering her mouth and laughing at him. However, Shirogane was a Paladin today.
He shouted loudly to boost his achievements and encourage his surviving comrades:
「Shinomiya’s chest is thin! Her chest is the weak point!」
「—— Whose chest are you calling thin!」
Unable to use her routine, Kaguya couldn’t help yelling, and she flung her dice away accidentally.
「Oh, a special move. The dragon has one chance to act with no regards to the round. The condition is the dragon rolling the dice when it is not its turn. The roll is two. It won’t be doubled as this is an out of turn attack. President took two points of damage… Kaguya-san is amazing! You don’t even know the rules, but you kept on activating the hidden commands.」
「I don’t know what you are talking about.」
Fujiwara complimented her in a cheerful tone, but Kaguya wasn’t happy at all.
♂♂♂
Even for the Paladin who had gotten used to battles, this fight with the dragon was a disaster.
The Dark Mage died on the spot, the Witch Doctor only had a slither of health left. The Spacetime vessel sheltering them was in shambles, with no telling how many more attacks from the dragon it could withstand.
The party was falling apart—— but even so, he didn’t falter.
With his honor as a Paladin on the line, he had to save the world that was on the verge of destruction… Or that should be the case.
「To me, you are more important than the world. That’s what I learned during our journey. I might be a doctor, but I have contracted an incurable disease too...」
「I know what you are saying… But, we still have the duty of defeating the dragon…」
「I know! So I want to protect you and protect the world too! In order to safeguard the days we spent together, I will defeat the dragon!」
The Witch Doctor and Spacetime Navigator held each other's hands and got hyped up for some reason.
A slight distance away from them, Shirogane rolled a die.
「Ah, a critical hit. Please roll again.」
Because he rolled a six, Shirogane rolled once more. So far, his friends would pick up the dice that had fallen near them, but because the Witch Doctor only had eyes for the Spacetime Navigator, he didn’t even look at Shirogane’s dice beside his feet.
「… Then, I choose to attack the chest.」
「Understood. Accounting for the defence points, the Paladin dealt 6 points of damage to the dragon. As the hit points of the dragon is now halved, it changed into its second form.」
「Second form?」
When she heard Shirogane ask that, Fujiwara nodded seriously:
「The tough dragon scales gradually peeled off. On closer inspection, they were all shaped like the prefectures. Only the last Tokyo shaped scale remained on the dragon’s left breast.」
Fujiwara’s even mannered words drew a clear picture in Shirogane’s mind.
The vicious dragon squirmed in pain, and after taking a hit from Shirogane’s party, its scales fell off one by one. It roared with a volume that was a hundred times louder than a dog’s bark, and spew flames into the sky.
「The dragon slowly turned smaller. That’s because the power from the prefectures lost in the temporal rifts had been drained from the dragon. However, the violent nature of the dragon doubled its attack.」
「Ohh, so that’s how the temporal rifts worked…」
Shirogane was impressed. He never thought the adventure they went on to take the private cash stash from the principal’s office was actually a foreshadowing. He thought it was just a weird settings by the TG Club, but to think the temporal rift was related to the protective shell of the dragon——
His passion towards the game that was dampened had started burning in Shirogane’s heart again.
「From the next attack onwards, the players can only choose to attack the remaining scale or the dragon’s head. Please think carefully before attacking.」「… GM, I want to confirm something. What’s the condition of the scale that had fallen to the ground? Can we check the status of Saitama, Chiba, and the other prefectures?」
Fujiwara showed a 「good question」 face and smiled at Shirogane’s question.
「Yes, you can check them. Since the Paladin’s party had obtained the magic mirror from the King, that’s how you know which prefectures had vanished from the temporal rifts… By using the magic mirror, we learned that the other 46 prefectures had all returned to normal.」
「I get it. If we don’t scrape off the Tokyo scale before defeating the dragon, we might die together with it——」
「It will be fine, Nagisa. Let’s use that skill together.」
「But, that’s a forbidden Spacetime magic! We might die!?」
That couple cut off Shirogane’s monologue again.
They held hands as they faced each other, and spoke to each other with misty eyes:
The battle against the dragon was at its climax. The fire burning in Shirogane’s heart withered away when he saw the two of them acting like this.
「The skill 【Rampage of the Spacetime vessel】 can only be used with everyone’s help, and there are terrible consequences if it fails! Even so, you still——」
「Yes, I want to use it. Because… Because that is the only way for us to survive!」
「… No, the dragon doesn’t have that much hit points left. Unless we are really unlucky, we can win the fight if we continue like this.」
For some reason, the Witch Doctor was adamant about forcing the party to the brink. Shirogane protested against the Witch Doctor, but the couple blinded by love didn’t seem to hear him.
「GM, I declare that we will use her skill 【Rampage of the Spacetime vessel】. This is our last bet!」
「Kaguya-san, this is the final clash!」
「… Yes, whatever, can you hurry up and end it?」
Shinomiya touched her cheek with her hand, and looked at them with an icy gaze.
The Witch Doctor handed a die to Shirogane and said:
「If our dice rolls adds up to 14 and above, then the Spacetime vessel will ram at our target at full speed. No matter how much defence the dragon might have, we should prevail.」
「No, like I said, the scales had fallen off so its defences is… Ah, he’s not listening.」
「Let’s go, Nagisa!」
「Yes, for the future of both of us!」
The couple ignored Shirogane’s line and rolled the dice. Shirogane had no choice but to follow suit.
「The total is—— 14!」
「We did it!」
They high fived each other, and the Witch Doctor looked to the sky in an attempt to stop his tears of joy from falling.
The condition to activate it has been fulfilled, so they just need to state the target that the Spacetime vessel should ram.
But the Witch Doctor seemed to be reminiscing about the battles so far, and said with his head held high:
「This has been a long, long journey… We experienced the explosion from a temporal rift, and even made a deal with the Saha club to understand the writings in the forbidden tome that were found in the Library.」
「The dice roll is successful, please choose your target〜」
Fujiwara gave a reminder, but it didn’t seem to register with the Witch Doctor, as he continued recounting their experience so far.
「In order to infiltrate into the Principal’s office and break into the vault, we had to cut either a red or blue wire… That was a close call.」「Yes, I never thought there would be a third option. Normally, no one would even notice.」
「We managed to come here because of all sorts of miraculous help. But the biggest miracle was something else.」
「What is that?」
「That is—— Meeting you.」
「I’m so happy…」
「Please choose your target~」
Fujiwara was smiling at the couple hugging in front of her, but if you observe closely, her eyes were not smiling at all.
They probably felt a subtle intimidation from Fujiwara, and looked towards Kaguya who was playing the role of the enemy.
「Then on the count of three, let’s choose it together.」
「Yes, it will finally end…」
「Alright, one—— two——」
During this fateful moment, the Kashiwagi couple took a deep breath, but at the same time——
Shirogane knocked his fist on to his palm, seeming to recall something important.
「Oh, Ishigami, I don’t see them selling bubble gums at stores anymore, are they still sold somewhere?」
「The bubble gums manufactured recently are really strong. I think there’s a guinness world record——」
There was a flash in Fujiwara’s eyes.
She announced mercilessly:
「Okay, the target is Ishigami-kun. The Spacetime vessel exploded with Ishigami-kun’s body as the epicenter. The players around him, which are the Paladin, Witch Doctor and Spacetime Navigator, will all take 22 points of damage.」
Taking 22 points of damage was instant death. Shirogane shouted when he heard that harsh announcement:
「Sigh〜 How can this be〜 it’s over〜 was it my fault〜」
「Damn it〜 We fought so hard to get here〜 Even though I’m already dead〜」
Shirogane and Ishigami said in a monotonous tone. They had complicated expression, and it was hard to tell if they were smiling.
They didn’t choose victory, and opted to destroy the world. The world setting states that the prefectures would vanish because of the taunt of lovers. This doesn’t apply to party members who were lovers, but in its place, their sense of righteousness would get drawn into the temporal rift instead. However…
「Nagisa… Even if the world ends, we will always be together.」
「Yes, forever and ever… Even if Spacetime disappears, we will always——」
The two of them hugged each other happily.
「Ah, damn it! Those two don’t care about anything, and are just bent on twisting the story to their convenience! GM, please allow me to roll for my intelligence! I want to check if their love is true! No, before that, I want to break them apart physically!」
「Calm down, Ishigami, your magic staff lacks attack power! Here, you can have my sword!」
Shirogane and Ishigami started yelling, but the strong bonds between lovers couldn’t be severed, even if you used the legendary holy sword——
♀♀♀
「—— Therefore, the last warriors who could defeat the dragon killed themselves because of the spacetime vessel exploding. The dragon was left alone in the ancient castle, and it placed the scales on the ground back onto its body. After reviving completely, it took in a big breath, and blew out an enormous flame. Seeing that the entire Japan had been reduced to ashes, the dragon spread its wing and took to the sky. Its next destination is on the other side of the ocean. As it flew towards the faraway land, it let out a deafening roar.」
Fujiwara read out formally, and closed the rule book.
She showed the satisfied face of someone finishing a book, then grabbed the hand of the victor and raised it up high.
「And so, the game ends with the destruction of Japan, and the dragon winning. Congratulations, Kaguya-san.」
「… I don’t feel happy about that at all.」
As her right hand was held by Fujiwara, Kaguya couldn’t use her routine to hide her begrudged gaze towards her friend.
—— Result of today’s battle: Dragon Kaguya wins.
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