Chapter 1182 - The Actors Who Passed Their Free Time
A dreamscape where you can become the self you want to be, the virtual world Arcadia.
Things like behavior, or ways of being. Roleplaying in those kinds of internal aspects is also a real thrill, but more than anything else. You can more directly become a 'different face'... not designing an alter ego like in existing games, but yourself being reborn and becoming it.
It was not a matter of being merely immersive; one could dive into a second world indistinguishable from the true reality and live with a face of their liking. The Kokumyo of the virtual world, how many people did just that one element attract—but, in truth, humans are extravagant creatures.
Once they actually donned the shell of 'the strongest me I envisioned' or 'the greatest me of my dreams' and dove into the fantasy world, it is said that many people obtained a similar impression.
Ah, is that all it is.
Even if one became a cool 'me', a cute 'me', or a robust 'me', it was entirely reasonable that everyone, being under the same conditions, would get buried in the crowd. Looking around, all that entered one's eyes were beautiful men and women, to the point where appearances completely dedicated to being a joke or realistically plain faces stood out more instead.
If so, naturally, 'appearance' in the virtual world Arcadia took a sudden plunge, its importance as an index representing the value of a 'human (player)' significantly decreasing compared to reality.
Of course, it was not completely worthless.
If one considered it strictly inside a game, it was a question of whether there was any disadvantage to the faces entering one's sight being uniformly beautiful. That itself was equal to the people (characters) in creative works being nothing but good-looking, and most people adapted without any sense of incongruity to the actual image of a dream world existing as it should exist.
And, that being that, elements other than the face that anyone could adjust as they pleased... namely, the unchangeable 'voice' rose as the primary element of popularity for first impressions, and furthermore, the person's own 'personality' and 'character' came to be emphasized even more than in reality.
Needless to say, one's ability as a player was also a massive element in gathering popularity... but in any case, since the start of the service, the human values of Arcadia had long been fixed with that.
With the unrealistic value that 'faces' were just a bonus—but, however, it was. After a 'new element' was added to the dream world at one point, the standard of value fluctuated once again.
In short...
"Oh, this unreliable feeling. That of the nostalgic original best clothes."
Unwillingly, or rather, despite not particularly seeking it. A prime example is how I gathered a terrifying amount of 'wahs' and 'kyas' from all over the world with my second face.
Rather than a made thing, a received thing face.
In other words, an appearance received from God, just like the appearance received from one's parents.
Namely, as a virtual yet true 'real face' that cannot be faked, even more so than in reality.
To repeat, it is extremely unwilling. From the very trigger of seeking this virtual world (this world), saying that my desire for transformation was zero from the start would admittedly be a lie, but...—well, yeah, yeah.
Putting aside the present, which does not go as wished.
After a slightly different, longer 'loading' than what I was used to. Waking up in a grassland where a gentle wind blew, I lightly laughed while muttering at the 'unreliableness' wrapping my body.
Rustling and swaying in the wind were not only the grass leaves sparkling in the sunlight, but also the long, long, long, long, and too long pure white silk threads that covered almost my entire field of vision.
If so, while parting the grabbed hair (that) and exposing my blue eyes...
"... Haru—wah!?"
Visually confirming the clothing I had only verified by sensation. Once again, the nostalgic original best clothes... since it was strictly for women, the make was different from what I had worn myself, but as I was gazing at the initial costume I was used to seeing on my partner. A voice rose from right next to me.
A breath of waking, a voice calling a name, and a cute scream shouting in surprise.
Standing and walking, to the extent of barely not scraping the floor. As I directed my gaze while parting with both hands the stupidly, idiotically long white hair that I constantly kept thinking, 'Is it really not okay to cut it???', what was there was...—yes, today as well, she is the cutest.
"I-I thought you were a ghost..."
"I get it, I get it, there are yokai like this, right?"
Sora, who had grown white ears and a tail, blinked her Amber Eyes as she looked at me buried in my own hair. The movement of her ears, swaying in unconscious synchronization, looked like it could take over the world.
—Thus, after we brought the second act of the 'Green Connect' conquest to a close with our own hands. In the midst of Arcadia's newly born world, tentatively named the [Second World].
Trance, or forced fixation to the Trance body.
And the inability to bring in player specs from the [First World].
Namely, in a form further turned inside out from 'the other me'. With physical abilities not much different from the real world, and in a bare state without a single superpower or piece of equipment.
Somehow, as we stared at each other while being blown by the wind...
"—Senpai, you look like a new species of enemy. Why don't you tie it up?"
"If I could tie it, I'd want to tie it, you know?"
It wasn't like we visited this place for a date with just the two of us.
"Seriously, I don't have anything. Isn't there a hair tie lying around somewhere?"
"Just weave some grass around there and make one."
"Ehh..."
A third voice. Turning around to trace the words spoken from nearby again, contrasting with Sora-san who was basically dazzling with gold, amber, and white, a pitch-black—
"By the way, are you okay, Tetra? You're not black, though."
"It's not like I have a disease where I'll die if I'm not dressed in all black."
...not a soot sprite dressed in all black.
This one was wearing the same male initial clothing that I used to wear in the past, in other words, a fantasy villager-like outfit with a hemp-like texture, a self-proclaimed Junior No. 1 whose sense of incongruity was crazy.
Although his long black hair, which he usually tied and let flow at his neck, was released just like mine, unlike me, he had a sensible amount of hair, so it ended at the level of 'Oh my, how fresh'.
His avatar's appearance was originally androgynous, but somehow he looked even more girlish than usual. The black cat ears and tail added during 《Trance》 suited him well too—well, anyway,
"Now then,"
"What..."
"Will happen, I wonder."
Up to here is the already existing. In other words, the fun starts from here.
Early March, Saturday noon.
Regarding the matter of that great whirlpool where my non-participation was decided after I succumbed to trauma, the notorious 'Please feel free to drown' also known as the [Deep Realm of Blue Source], but it wasn't only me who got free time.
I don't know the details, but as a result of a strict meeting of the leadership, our clan [Soten] had all of its members successfully (?) excluded from the selection for the conquest force.
Honestly, I thought Ui-san... my master, the [Sword Saint]-sama, would be a confirmed slot as an absolute combat force, and my pride-and-joy partner O-Sora-sama would also rise as a candidate for an all-rounder slot far surpassing me, but
perhaps some nepotistic bias had unconsciously entered into it to some extent.
Once I was informed of the finalized six-member breakdown of the unit, it was a lineup I had no choice but to accept. Including my friend [Peerless], who would probably be forced to shoulder the role of the troubleshooter as well, once it was shown to me, it ended with a single agreement of 'Yes, this is optimal'.
And so, that was how all members of the clan [Soten], including those with ranks, ended up with free time.
—In that case, since we have the chance, there's no way we shouldn't deepen our bonds as a family, right?
That was the natural flow of things, and without letting our guard down, there was no waiting to set out into the sky while grabbing the scruff of the neck of Junior No. 2 (Kanata), who was immersed in solo play, whether he liked it or not.
If so, my Angel partner-sama and my gentle master-sama, those two who are basically super sweet to me, willingly keeping me company was a given. When Junior No. 1, who knew that shaking his head at me once I started moving with momentum was meaningless, also nodded with a sigh...
The clan [Soten] friendly picnic, successfully established.
Above the clouds, on the back of Sapphire, when I asked for destinations after departure, I obtained the outrageous information that my master and Kanata-kun had left the 'Trance system' neglected, so we blasted all the way to [Key Tree City] with the accelerator fully open at a subjective near-subsonic speed—that was how it went.
Now then, once again, it's 'fun' time.
Come to think of it, I haven't been shown Nia's Trance body, Dragon Nia-chan, yet, but I wonder when on earth permission to have an audience with it will be granted... as I was thinking such things, my ears—
"Oh,"
"Ah,"
"They're here."
Two people's worth.
As was usual for those who hadn't acquired Trance and were entering for the first time, I heard the teleportation sounds guided in slightly late.
Yes, Zubahn!!! (A heartless cut sound)
Well then, Chapter Six, Section Three, let's go with high spirits.