42 I Don’t Need a Hero
“Enka was trying to make you do reckless things to make you a hero, right? Then, she should have been provoking you. But she never did anything like that.”
“Ah….”
“If Misato hadn’t been there, you might have been seriously injured. Well, it’s just a theory.”
“Since she’s here, let’s ask her. Hey, Enka. Is what he said true?”
I asked Enka, who had been silent.
Her white skin turned even whiter, and she looked anemic. It was no wonder, since she was being made to face her own evil deeds.
“Uh…”
Her lips trembled slightly, and after a while, she spoke.
“……It’s true. There were a lot of things I wanted Tanuki-kun to do, but Misato-chan said, ‘Tanuki-kun is broken right now. You shouldn’t make him do it.’ At that time, he had been beaten up by Aira-chan and the others, and even if he tried to stand up to them, his legs were shaking…”
“Ah. But Double Suit said that Makoto was holding back his violence just enough so that I wouldn’t completely break.”
“The intentions of both of them saved you.”
“If it had been just one of them, I might not have been able to recover…”
“But…Misato-chan made a great point. Thanks to her, Tanuki-kun was able to rise up and defeat me.”
“No, you could have won any number of other ways. In fact, your level was quite high. But you couldn’t have won with a victory based on such a difference in power.”
“When I found out that Tanuki-kun was the possessor, I thought this was my chance. If I became the last boss, Tanuki-kun would surely become a true hero…”
“But I crushed all your plans.”
“You wouldn’t listen to anything I said……That’s what it was like. But…”
“Huh?”
“You didn’t listen to the sweet words of evil, you stuck to your own opinions, and you aimed for the most peaceful solution….That’s right. That’s what it means to be a champion of justice!”
Ryugo was getting tired of her inappropriately upbeat mood.
“How long are you going to keep talking? That’s enough. More importantly, tell me what level I need to be to restore my memories.”
“About….’100′, I think? Normally, there’s no level consumption for release, but this is a permanent state release, so it’s necessary. It’s like a penalty fee.”
So far away…
Ryugo checked his own level. “70”…30 more to go…
It’s not impossible, but it’ll take a while.
I can’t afford to have the Double Suit start moving in the meantime.
If I regain my memories without any extra levels, I’ll be forced to fight with a level of just 1.
I’ll need some extra levels for that.
“What do you want to do, Raccoon?”
“…Misato?”
“It’s time to decide when you’re going to recover your memories. Right now, or later? We don’t know how much the Double Suit will do to give up.”
“I’m worried that my level isn’t high enough even if I do it now.”
“But it’s also scary to put it off. I’ve learned my lesson about how unexpected things can happen.”
“But it’s not good to just keep hesitating. I wish there was some way to know what to do…”
Just then,
“There is, isn’t there?”
Koki said, frowning in dissatisfaction.
“There is?”
“Just call Miss Bunny Suit.”
“Oh! I forgot!”
“Forgot, you say!?”
“Whoa!?” I turned around in surprise at the shout from behind me.
There stood a loli…a girl in a bunny suit.
“I’ve been waiting and waiting for you to call me…and you forgot?”
“Um…but I don’t have anything to ask a loli…”
“Did you forget that if you win the game, I’ll grant you one wish!?”
“Oh…”
“How can you sound so indifferent?…Aren’t you a little too unmotivated?”
“Can’t I put the wish on hold?”
“You can, but then I’ll have to stay by your side the whole time. I won’t be able to go home, and I’ll have to wait all alone…”
“I’d feel really bad about that…”
“I thought so. Then–“
“I’ll put it on hold.”
“Were you even listening!?”
“Why are you so mad?”
“Because nothing has gone my way since I got here!”
“It’s been tough because of what the Double Suit has been doing. Flying around, interfering with the game, and helping you out when you were about to lose…”
“And now it seems like they’re trying to turn the whole game upside down.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It’s not. Once the outcome is decided, we can’t interfere with the results. That’s an absolute rule that we set. It can’t be overturned.”
In that case…what’s their goal?
“And another thing you seem to have forgotten…the ownership of the app.”
“Forever, huh? How long is that, really? What if I delete myself?”
“In that case, you will cease to exist.”
“What if someone else deletes me?”
“No one but the owner can delete you. And I assure you, no matter how much the terminal evolves in the future, or what unforeseen circumstances may arise, you will always remain.”
“That’s a relief.”
“As a bonus, assuming you win the game fairly, I’ll give you about 30 levels. That should bring you to 100.”
“Is that okay?”
“Double Suit has been nothing but unfair to you. I think I can afford to lend you a little help. Besides, the outcome has already been decided.”
“Then why not give me even more?”
“There are limits. I put my own energy into the app, so if I use too much, my body won’t be able to handle it.”
“So you’re not all-powerful, huh?”
I open the app to check what I’ve acquired.
First is ‘Attitude’: ‘Soldier’, ‘Pet’, and ‘Parent’.
And then there’s Command Level 4.
“With Command Level 4, the consumption for questions is zero. The required levels for everything else are also significantly lower. And as long as it’s not physically impossible, all commands become possible.”
“Hmm. Can I make people float?”
“Were you even listening?”
“Not really. But this last one is crazy. Maximum number of people I can hypnotize… five.”
It was an outrageous number.
If I can hypnotize five people at once, then anything becomes possible. The despair I felt when I heard Enka’s story would be completely reversed.
But there’s no way I’ll ever have to use it… probably.
“Thank you, Bunny Suit.”
“Feel free to call on me whenever you need anything. I have plenty of time on my hands.”
“I figured as much. You seem to have enough free time to come up with games like this.”
After confirming that Bunny Suit had disappeared into thin air, Ryugo stood up.
“I’ve had enough for today. Guess I’ll just grind some levels for now.”
“Tanuki-kun,” Enka said, raising her hand.
“Do you know an efficient way to level up?”
“Should I just copy what you’ve been doing?”
“That would work. But since it’s summer vacation, you can’t help out at school.”
“Guess that leaves volunteering.”
“Have you done anything like that before?”
“I’ve cleaned up the beach before.”
“That’s inefficient. Leveling up is much faster when you interact with people.”
“But I leveled up quite a bit, didn’t I?”
“You were at it all day, interacting right? If you had been with people, you would have leveled up almost twice as fast.”
“Is that how you’ve been leveling up until now?”
“Yep. Otherwise, there’s no way I would have been able to get to level 300 or higher.”
She must have been searching for patterns as well.
If I had got the app before the exam, I would have had more than half a year. It wouldn’t be strange for me to be familiar with the specifications.
For now, I’m going to trust this information.
There’s no point in lying now.
“So…”
Enka hugged Ryugo’s arm.
“Let’s level up together. Raccoon-kun.”
“Stop it… You’re too clingy…”
Then Ira came flying in and pulled her body away, saying, “Let go!”
“I was here first! Raccoon hasn’t heard Ira’s request yet!”
“Huh? What are you talking about…”
“When you fought Enka, you prostrated yourself before Ira and said, ‘I’ll do whatever you say!'”
“I don’t remember that.”
“It’s no use pretending you don’t remember…”
Her arms slithered around Ryugo’s body and she hugged him tightly.
The feel of her ample breasts against his back made him feel warm inside.
“Raccoon is Iraq’s, you know.”
“W, why do I have to be yours…”
“I’m not letting you go…”
“Kouki, Misato… Help me…”
He asked his best friends for help, on the verge of tears.
Normally, he would welcome the situation of being loved by two beautiful girls, but knowing their personalities, he couldn’t be happy about it.
Getting involved with either of them would lead to nothing good.
As for Kouki,
“If you can control Iraq, the school caste system will disappear. Do your best.”
He said irresponsible words with a half-smile, as if he was enjoying the sight.
And Misato, with a sullen face,
“You reap what you sow.”
She coldly brushed him off.
In the meantime, Enka and Ira’s fight was heating up.
However, since Enka had her usual cool-headed class president face on, while Ira’s face was bright red, it seemed like only Ira was getting worked up.
“Uwaaa! I’m so mad!”
“Ira-chan can’t do anything without Makoto-kun, huh?”
“~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~!!”
Ira’s maddened screams were right next to his ear, and his ears hurt.
Please let me go home…
As he was thinking that, his arm was suddenly pulled.
“Let’s run away, Raccoon!”
“Misato!?”
It was Misato who had come to his rescue. Then, Kouki also pulled his arm.
Behind them, Ira and Enka screamed, “Aahh!!”
Putting on my shoes in a hurry, I rush outside.
“Hurry, hurry.”
It’s almost seven, but the sky is still bright. The slightly purple sky doesn’t change much, as if it refuses to become night.
Pulled by the two of them, I run with all my might.
I look back, but there’s no one there. Even though I know that Madoka and the others aren’t chasing us, I can’t help but feel like a shadow is clinging to my back.
Even so—
“Ahahahaha!”
Watching Misato laughing so cheerfully, my gloomy feelings start to fade.
…Before I lost my memories, did I also laugh like this with them?