Pandora of Fantasy And Reality Chapter 127

Clearing Start

――The World of Rage.

There were withered trees dotting the blackened ground. The sky was grey and gloomy. It looked like it might rain anytime.

The ground was horribly muddy and there was a river with flowing  something in it. No living creature could be seen there. There were only  monsters.

Running on such land was Noin who was swinging around an iron ball that had chain attached on it.

She was a half mermaid and a battle monk.

She swung around her iron ball and it blew away the monsters that appeared around her.

Several burst into red particles and vanished, but the remaining were only blown away before rushing back toward her.

「Geez! What a bother! Fran-chan, kill them!」

A dragonia――Fran who had purple hair and two horns sucked in a lot of  air that her large chest swelled up even more, and then she opened her  mouth and breathed out flame to the surrounding.

The monsters turned into red particles and vanished.

Ponsuke who was watching the fight put away his weapon and looked at the far away fortress.

「So the next clearing point is there.」

There were several fortresses in the World of Rage that had to be  taken down no matter what. The black fortress that was located on high  ground looked ominous from this distance.

Fran who had warrior class rested her sword on her shoulder while wiping her mouth.

「We finally find it. Even so, as expected there isn’t much information at the frontline. It’s troubling.」

Noin’s large breasts shook as she walked to Ponsuke’s side and stood there.

「Even the clearers are busy gathering information. We’re really groping in the dark here.」

The virtual world was vast.

They hadn’t even fully grasped the whole World of Rage.

Ponsuke took a photo and converted it into image data.

「Let’s notify everyone.」

He shared the information that hadn’t spread out much outside.

Sooner or later other players would also learn this information, but he had to notify his comrades first.

Fran was staring at the fortress while,

「It’s harsh that we can’t invade the capital before taking down that place first.」

The players had to take down the fortresses in various places before they could challenge the capital of the World of Rage.

In addition, only guild that had taken down a fortress would be able to participate in the capital clearing.

In order to obtain the qualification for the clearing, they had to take down one fortress without fail.

Noin had no motivation.

「I don’t want to see something like that fortress burbling up all  over the places. More importantly, what is the difficulty level of  taking down that place?」

Each fortress had its own difficulty level. The higher the level was, the more difficult it was to clear.

The shortest shortcut was to find a fortress with low difficulty level and took it down.

「The clearing forum has confirmed that there are four difficulty levels. We won’t know it unless we get closer.」

Were there five levels or ten levels of difficult level……even that wasn’t clear.

Several fortresses had been taken down but, there were also fortresses that had several guilds fighting over it.

「Let’s check it out.」

Ponsuke started walking. The other two followed behind him.

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Near the fortress.

It was overflowing with skeleton monsters wearing armor.

The monster type was also different from the monsters that they were facing before.

Ponsuke swung down his great sword. He then checked his status after defeating one monster.

His HP had been reduced by a third. Both Fran and Noin also looked like they were having a hard time.

(Let’s avoid death penalty.)

A signboard near the fortress had the name of the fortress and its difficulty level written on it.

(Twelve stars……I guess its difficulty level is 12 then?)

Ponsuke didn’t know whether that was high or low. There wasn’t enough information.

Noin got surrounded by enemies.

「Gyaaaaaa! Ponsuke save meeeeee!」

She was swinging her iron ball, but it got blocked or deflected.

Fran too was facing a powerful enemy. She was unable to split her attention to save Noin.

「Noin, I’ve been telling you over and over to rethink your build!」

「No way! I hate leveling up!」

Build――a player job and skill composition. A player wouldn’t be able  to progress far in the game if they didn’t think carefully about the job  and skill combination.

Just like how a rear guard wouldn’t choose vanguard job, there was the right build for each role.

Also fully immersive game――VR was greatly influenced by the player’s player skill, so the build must also suited the player.

Noin got blown away and burst into red particles.

「Noin-saaaaan!」

Ponsuke screamed.

The reason was because Noin should still have some HP left, but she  got done in with one attack, perhaps because her build was horrible or  it was the person’s own fault.

Fran clicked her tongue.

「We’re getting surrounded because of her. Can’t be helped……let’s go back by death.」

Fran analyzed her combat strength and saw that they wouldn’t be able  to escape at this rate, so she chose to die and get resurrected at the  shrine.

Ponsuke too was giving up.

(Well, guess this is impossible.)

The monsters kept appearing until they were everywhere.

(We got in too deep even though this is just scouting.)

For now he kept fighting till the end because it was frustrating to  lose. Ponsuke gathered as many experience point and item as he could  before he returned one hour later through death.

◇

――Morning.

Ponsuke――Akito had returned from the virtual world to the real world.  He was now letting out a deep sigh on a seat near the window of a  family restaurant.

His friend Rook――Riku spoke to Akito who was in such state.

「You’re already gloomy when it’s still morning. Don’t darken the mood.」

As expected Riku too would get a bad mood if Akito looked so gloomy even though he was with friend.

Akito apologized.

「Sorry. Actually yesterday――or rather today a lot of things happened in Pandora. I died and my level went down again.」

「You got defeated? Was your affinity with the opponent bad?」

「We found a fortress so we scouted it. And then we got surrounded.」

「……So you found one. I’m jealous. What’s the difficulty level?」

「……Twelve.」

「No way」

The reason that even Riku was surprised was because currently it was  thought that the highest difficulty level was ten. Difficulty level 12  hadn’t been discovered until now.

Akito talked about what happened after that.

「It was nice to find one but, after that my guild got split between  the choices of conquering the place ourselves or working together with  other guild.」

Riku must be recalling petite gnome with merchant spirit――[Lighter]. He was smiling wryly.

「Did that gnome say something like wanting to monopolize the reward?」

「There is that but, it looks like he want to take down the fortress and then selling the info.」

The two laughed while thinking about the gnome with powerful business soul. Then Akito looked at the clock.

「Ah, I need to go soon.」

「You’re going to gym?」

「Yeah. I was told to come today no matter what.」

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At the fitness club where Akito was a member.

An old man who was managing a dojo before revamped it into a fitness club in order to attract youths to become member.

Akito sat down on a bench after working up a sweat and looked around.

The summer vacation was going to end soon, so few people were coming to train.

Two women walked toward him.

「Ponsuke-kun, long time no see~」

Noin――Yumi had a bright and friendly air around her. She approached  him after working off some sweats. Her large breasts drew his eyes.

Beside her was Fran――Reona. Her breasts were also big, and yet Yumi’s breasts were even bigger.

「We also met yesterday.」

Reona looked exasperated. It made Yumi puffed her cheeks.

「It has been three days in real time! Besides, we also weren’t together for two days inside the game.」

The reason Akito came to the fitness club was because of these two.

They invited him to have lunch together after training in the morning.

(Lunch with girls……it’s something that I couldn’t even dream about not too long ago.)

Akito stood up.

「I also have finished just now. I’ll take a shower first before going.」

There was nobody else around them.

Akito was surprised when Yumi approached him.

Her nose almost touched his. She brought her face that close to sniff  Akito’s smell. Akito’s face reddened while his heart was pounding hard.  The two girls smiled seeing him like that.

「Aa~, your smell somehow feels super manly. As expected from a boy.」

「I-is that so? So I’m smelly?」

Akito looked troubled and tried sniffing himself, but he didn’t really smell anything particular.

Reona laughed.

「It’s hard to notice your own smell after all. Well, we aren’t calling you smelly though.」

「That’s good then.」

Yumi was smiling cheerfully.

She walked behind Akito and pushed his back, but then she intentionally pushed her large sweaty chest on him.

「I’m talking about the pheromone thing Ponsuke-kun. It’s fine, let’s just go already. The reservation time is fast approaching.」

「Is it a restaurant where you need reservation?」

Akito was surprised, but the two just dragged him away toward the shower room.

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(This restaurant looked far more expensive than I imagined.)

The restaurant that they visited for lunch had a very high class atmosphere.

A waiter wearing white shirt and black pants lined up the foods on  the table while giving explanation about each dish. That was also  something that Akito didn’t expect.

In the first place, the restaurant had the atmosphere of luxury.

The guests who came also had different atmosphere from the regular visitors of family restaurant.

He tried eating the dishes but he didn’t understand the taste.

「How is it, is it delicious?」

Yumi asked him with a cheerful smile. Akito put on a vague smile and replied.

「Y-yes.」

「Great.」

Reona held a dignified air.

「This restaurant is open for lunch and its atmosphere is also  somewhat relaxing. I thought it would be better to go to this kind of  place.」

(This place isn’t relaxing at all. Even the manager himself came to give greeting!)

When the three entered the restaurant, the manager went out of his way to greet them.

It was something that Akito never experienced before.

There was also how he went to family restaurant with his friend this  morning. The stark difference between that time and this time made him  felt dizzy.

「Leaving that aside, aren’t you going to buy the new device Ponsuke?」

The new device.

She must be referring to the new type of VR machine.

Akito shook his head.

「I can’t buy something like that with just my pay from part-time  work. I also need to get more qualifications, pay the tuition, and a lot  of other things……」

Yumi looked happy.

「Then let’s go buy one. That new type is really convenient. You can  login from anywhere using it. It’ll free you from the restrain of time  and place so it’s really convenient. It’s cheap so don’t worry.」

Akito noticed.

(……Eh? Is she planning to buy it for me? No, that’s no good.)

Just as he thought, Reona continued.

「If it’s money then don’t worry. We’ll pay for it.」

Akito firmly refused after he noticed the two’s intention.

「Err, that’s not good. If I’m going to buy it then I’ll use my own money. But I’m grateful for the kind offer.」

Akito firmly rejected the offer, but then Yumi clapped her hands as though she got an idea.

「Then, I’ll buy it for you as reward.」

「――Eh?」

「The two of us are going to stay in a hotel today. Come with us as  our guard. Like you know, a lot of flies will buzz around two girls who  come alone to that kind of place.」

She asked him to be repellant against playboys.

「B-but, making you two buy me something just for that is……」

Akito protested, but Reona doggedly persuaded him.

「That’s just how serious this task is. We want to enjoy this rare day  off, so we don’t want to get bothered by anything. Or what, are you  saying that you plan to slack off when doing our request?」

「T-that’s not what I’m saying but, even if you two don’t reward me like that I――」

He had no problem doing them a favor without getting paid with anything.

Akito tried to say that, but Yumi cheerfully continued.

「It’s to show our gratitude. An equivalent exchange. ……And then you can also test the new device in the hotel.」

The two kept insisting like that and dragged Ponsuke to the device’s shop.

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In the shop that was selling the new device.

The shop’s staff was taking longer than expected to register Akito’s VR terminal.

「Hmm~, the VR machine for business use you say?」

「Does it look impossible?」

The new device worked by registering the main device to it, so it  couldn’t be used unless the player also had the VR machine’s main unit.

The staff was taking longer than expected to do that registration.

Yumi sent a sharp gaze toward the staff.

「Do something about it. That’s your job isn’t it?」

「Even if you tell me that, if the main unit is the business use then  the procedure……normally it’s not even used anymore, so the prerequisite  Is different.」

The staff looked tearful from Yumi and Reona’s pressure. Akito pitied him.

Akito thought that it would be fine even if they gave up.

「If it’s no good then we can do it next――」

Then the staff’s expression changed.

He was looking bewildered but, the new device’s headset was showing reaction. It was definitely connected with Akito’s device.

Akito confirmed it. Certainly it was connected with the main device  in his apartment――the home screen that usually greeted him appeared  there. The password was also correct.

「I-it connected.」

Reona looked in exasperation toward the confused staff.

「It worked isn’t it? Here is the payment.」

「Y-yes!」

Akito accepted the new device, but the staff was still looking puzzled while he was finishing the payment procedure.

「Strange. Even though I still hadn’t specified the main device……how did it get connected even then?」

Akito thought that the staff must be bad with unexpected thing that  was outside the manual and stopped thinking any deeper about it.

◇

「Hmm~, so you were on the bed when you woke up eh.」

The location was the guild’s base.

Ponsuke was talking to Lighter about the recent strangeness in his life.

「Am I fatigued? I was on the bed too today.」

When he realized it he was already on a bed. His clothes were also different.

Lighter averted his gaze from Ponsuke’s face.

「I think fatigue played a part. You had lunch with those two today  before going to hotel right? You were tired from experiencing something  you aren’t used to. Surely that’s it.」

「Is that really the case?」

Ponsuke fell into thought.

(When I woke up at midnight, I was on the same bed with the two of them. That was a bit……)

He was sleeping on a bed with two women in their underwear sandwiching him.

Even now he was still sleeping in the hotel on the same bed with the two of them while logging into here.

Lighter wouldn’t meet Ponsuke’s eyes.

「M-more importantly, about taking down the fortress!」

Lighter diverted the topic, so Ponsuke talked about that.

「Can’t we work together with Rook’s guild? Our chance will be better  if we have another guild helping out. And Rook even said that he would  be fine with only getting a part of the rewards.」

Rook and his guild wanted to participate in taking down the fortress even while showing deference to Ponsuke’s guild.

And there would also be a lot more guilds who would want to participate if they spread the invitation.

Lighter was reluctant to agree, but,

「I wanted to keep the information among ourselves, but our chance of  success will be better that way. Hmm, it’s a waste of chance but perhaps  we should work together with several other guilds.」

He was listening to Ponsuke’s opinion.

「I’m surprised. I thought you would be more stubborn.」

「The fortresses are popping out like weeds. The information will  spread anyway even if we keep quiet, in that case it’ll be better if we  make other guilds become indebted to us. You know, the clearers aren’t  really fond of us after all.」

(……The responsibility for that also lies with you though.)

In the past Ponsuke’s guild succeeded in clearing a capital and liberating the world on their own.

The reward from that time was enormous. Ponsuke’s guild bought this floating island with that reward and obtained a guild base.

But, the other clearing guilds weren’t amused seeing that.

Lighter’s shoulders fell.

「The safe choice here is to cooperate with other guilds to increase  our ally. If not, we won’t even be able to join the next capital  clearing.」

「I’m surprised that you have such unexpectedly decent thinking.」

「What do you mean!?」

Ponsuke laughed even while apologizing.

「Then, I’ll talk with Blaze-san too. I’ll notify Rook after we decide it in the meeting.」

Ponsuke wasn’t the type who decided everything because he was the  guild master, so he sought the opinion of the people around him while  holding a meeting later to do a voting.

Lighter said something like 「I don’t think anyone will disagree though」. Then,

「M-more importantly, is your body alright?」

He asked about Ponsuke’s condition with a worried look.

(Lighter-san is unexpectedly kind. Well, but……it’s unimaginable from how he usually act though.)

「My body is fine. I’m feeling some fatigue but, somehow I also feel  refreshed I guess……hmm, there’s also this lethargic feeling though. I  can’t describe it well.」

Lighter moved his hand as though he was wiping tear from his eyes when looking at Ponsuke who was troubled of how to answer.

「I-I see. That’s good to hear. ……Take care of your body.」

「I’m alright. I often exercise and sleep properly to keep my health well.」

Lighter was looking at the laughing Ponsuke with a sad expression.

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