Chapter 58 - Difficulty Level
When I entered the coffee shop, I headed for a seat by the wall.
If I remembered correctly, the meeting place was supposed to be around here.
As I was looking left and right, wondering where the two of them were,
"Over here, over here,"
a girl's voice called from diagonally behind me. It was Rio.
Looking over, I saw her leaning forward from her seat, beckoning with a small wave of her hand.
She was, unusually, in casual clothes.
She wore a white knit sweater, with a dark navy muffler wrapped around her neck.
It was hard to see since it was hidden by the table, but she was probably wearing a flared skirt underneath. The color matched the muffler, tightening the overly sweet impression of the sweater from both top and bottom.
The single leg sticking out into the aisle was clad in jet-black tights. Her knees were faintly visible through them, strangely alluring.
It was exactly like an outfit introduced as a "Coord Guaranteed to be Popular with Guys" in a teen fashion magazine I had bought for Angelica.
From top to bottom, it was identical to what the model had worn.
...I could feel a fighting spirit, a determination to win a man over...
And naturally, that man was me.
I deliberately tried not to focus on that, and turned my gaze to the other person.
Sitting next to Rio was a girl wearing a hat pulled down low over her eyes. Sunglasses on her face.
It was none other than Kana Saeki, the "Split JK" who had recently caused a stir in the public eye.
She had even wrapped her body in a thick long coat, being so thorough that you couldn't even tell her figure.
She had the appearance of someone who was clearly in disguise, which I thought might actually make her stand out more.
As I pulled out a chair, Kana spoke in a hushed voice.
"Why didn't you come with your face hidden? There's no point if I'm the only one sneaking around, is there?"
I sat down in the seat facing Kana.
"A plain face like mine is less noticeable if I act normal. I think the same goes for you."
"...You're really rude, you know that?"
"That's so nice," Rio murmured. I couldn't understand at all what point in that statement there was to envy.
From the perspective of Rio, who had a more conspicuous appearance than most, did she perhaps admire a mob-like face?
"Do you always get Nakamoto-san to badmouth you like this, Kana? Isn't that unfair? That natural way he just dissed your face, that's totally a play, no matter how you look at it."
Kana looked bewildered. Is this what Rio's really like? her expression seemed to say, her mouth twitching.
Apparently, Rio lived her school life as a cool, top-of-the-hierarchy girl, so for Kana, who only knew that side of her, it was no wonder she was flabbergasted.
Even I was startled by her making such shameless remarks in broad daylight.
A woman who toys with two Summoned Heroes using only her words.
In reality, Rio probably didn't realize she was achieving an incredible feat right now.
"Let's get to the main topic,"
I said, pulling myself together and addressing Kana.
"You're going to tell me, right? About that other world."
"Yeah. So treat me to the coffee here."
A strange laugh escaped me at how shrewd she was.
"I don't mind, so tell me everything you know."
It was an expense of a few thousand yen at most. To me now, that was pocket change.
I called a waiter and ordered drinks for the three of us.
I also didn't forget to order the recommended cake of the day for the girls.
It wasn't to show off. I judged that this would make Kana more talkative.
I pulled the receipt the waiter left towards me.
A sign that I would pay.
Kana had a "Well, of course" look on her face, but Rio's face was flushed.
"Don't tell me you intend to treat me too? It's fine, really."
"It'd be more pathetic for an old guy to split the bill with teenage girls. Just shut up and let me treat you."
"...Okay."
【Rio Saito's Sexual Arousal has reached 70%】
【This is a value at which consensual sexual intercourse is possible. Proceed with execution?】
【If executed, there is a certain probability of conceiving a child】
【A born child will inherit the parents' status tendencies and some skills, and sharing of equipment and items will also be possible】
【Furthermore, class transfer to the child will also be possible】
Just showing a little generosity makes it turn out like this?
Aren't you way too easy?
Rio, whose face already stood out, was melting it into a shamelessly soft expression, breathing heavily.
She was standing out so badly it threatened to ruin Kana's disguise and my plain-face camouflage.
It had the power to make me think carelessly, maybe I should just use Concealment Magic.
"Let's just exchange information quickly and then break up."
"Let's do that."
Kana and I leaned in close and talked in hushed tones.
"First, I want to ask about the origins of the otherworlders. You said they were made by splitting up Earthlings. What does that mean?"
"It means exactly what it sounds like. Apparently, that world originally only had plants and insects. Dimensions with vertebrates seem to be pretty rare. So they cut up Earth's, multiplied them, and brought one half over, right? After that, they probably just let them breed as they pleased?"
"Rare..."
"That doesn't explain how they made the monsters, though. I was told it's better not to ask about that kind of thing, and I wasn't that interested anyway. ...I mean, didn't you go to the Reverse Dungeon? Didn't they teach you all sorts of things there? I was taught that every other world is set up that way."
"Reverse?"
Kana raised one eyebrow, looking exasperated.
"Do you really not know anything? After you defeated the Demon Lord, a new dungeon appeared, right? You didn't even have that?"
"...That's the first I've heard of it. A Reverse Dungeon or whatever never appeared where I was."
"Hmm? Well then, doesn't that mean you haven't properly cleared that world yet?"
The coffee was brought over.
I took the smallest cup and drank just one sip.
Kana dripped milk into her cup and stirred it around with a spoon.
"So in this Reverse Dungeon of yours, there was someone kind enough to tell you even the hidden backstory of the other world? Who was that? The boss there?"
"Right after I entered, there was a guide. That person just started talking on their own. ...And what's more, that person had Yuta's face. Apparently, it was supposed to look like the person I most wanted to see, so its real appearance is probably completely different."
"That's a troublesome trait. Isn't that meant to make you hesitate to attack?"
"Why can you only come up with pessimistic interpretations? ...So, I went deeper into the dungeon with the guide, but it felt kind of strange. It looked like a ruin-style place made of stone. There were murals painted everywhere. The solar system, humans, spiral-like patterns. That spiral, now that I think about it, might have been DNA."
The solar system, and DNA.
In a medieval European-style other world, there shouldn't have been the scientific technology to observe other galaxies or the microscopic world.
It felt out of place with the world's setting. That was the impression I got.
"The Reverse Boss was weak. The Demon Lord was much more of a challenge."
"Excuse me," a waitress called out.
She placed plates with chocolate cake in front of Kana and Rio.
Kana's eyes lit up as she grabbed a fork, saying cheekily, "Thanks for the food!"
"Wow. This is super delicious. ...I mean, was it really okay to talk openly about this inside a shop?"
"Even if someone overheard, they'd just think it's about a game."
"Yeah, I guess so."
Kana agreed, chewing her cake with puffed cheeks.
"I wonder why the other world is so game-like."
"Who knows? Who cares, it was fun. Well, I was freaked out at first too. When text like an RPG suddenly popped up in front of my eyes, I thought I'd gone crazy."
"Ah... yeah, that'll do it. When I saw the system messages, I despaired, thinking it was a mental illness."
We both nodded in agreement, as if to say, "Been there."
A tale of hardship shared only by Summoned Heroes.
Seeing us like that, Rio frowned, looking displeased.
"Was the other world artificially created by someone? From what I'm hearing, that's the only thing I can think."
"Probably, right?"
"Who do you think made it?"
"Aliens, God, whatever. It doesn't matter to us anymore."
"It does matter, actually. ...I'm being targeted by people from the other world. They might send something weird over here again soon."
"...Huh? Why?"
"How should I know? I hear they see me as a threat because I got too strong, but that's a hell of a grudge to hold."
"...A grudge, huh. What was the name of the world you were in, Nakamoto-san?"
Kana looked at me with probing eyes as she wiped around her mouth with a paper napkin.
"...I don't know. Do other worlds even have names in the first place?"
"Hmm. The world I was in was called Aqua, and for some reason, watery words were used a lot in the place names. Your world had a trend in its naming conventions too, right? Can't you tell me about that? I can mostly figure it out from that."
Ah, I said, spreading out a map in my head.
"It was the moon. My place had a lot of towns with moon-like names. The royal capital was even called Lunatius."
"You have my condolences. ...That's the highest difficulty level."
Kana looked at me with pity. It was the first time I'd seen her make such an expression.
"...What do you mean?"
"Other worlds apparently have three difficulty levels. First, the easiest one. Easy Mode worlds have names crowned with water. The inhabitants are friendly to the Hero, and the monsters are weak. Any information is easy to get, and if you walk through town, obedient, beautiful men and women will cozy up to you. Normal Mode worlds have names crowned with earth. Everything about them seems average. Earth seems to be included in this category too. ...And the worst one is the world granted a moon name. The people hate the Hero, the monsters are vicious and cunning, and even if there is someone who loves the Hero, they're isolated somewhere and you can't even meet them."
Isolated. The moment I heard that, the faces of Elsa and Angelica floated into my mind.
The Slave girl locked in a goblin den, the Holy Maiden who couldn't take a single step outside the temple.
"The Demon Lord of a moon world can't be defeated by normal means. Unless you offer up what's most important to you, you can't even inflict a scratch. That's the rule. ...Hey, Nakamoto-san, what exactly did you sacrifice?"
"I have no obligation to tell you."
"Oh, okay. ...I've heard that if there's a Hero who managed to clear that world, they're no longer human. That they must be broken somewhere. That's scary, so can I go home now?"
"What?"
Kana put her hand in her pocket and rummaged around.
"I don't want to get close to someone who cleared a highest-difficulty other world, it's way too scary. Here."
Saying that, she took out a coin-like object and held it out to me.
"...What's this?"
"When you get home, try pressing the bump in the middle. A video will play, so don't do it in front of people. Well, I'm going now. Thanks for the meal today."
Kana stood up and hurriedly headed for the exit.
She'd said her piece and just tossed this at me.
"I still have things I want to ask, though."
Left behind with a feeling of incomplete digestion, I placed both hands on my neck and stretched my chest out.
Rio was slowly dismantling her cake, watching Kana's back with a bored look.
"Once you finish eating that, we should head home too... hmm...?"
Just as I started to say it, I noticed something strange.
Something smooth was poking at my ankle.
Soon, it slipped in through the hem of my trousers and crept up towards my shin.
What is this?
I hurriedly peeked under the table.
Then I saw a woman's leg stretching out from the seat diagonally in front of me.
...What is this girl thinking?
We're in public, you know?
Unbelievably.
Rio had taken off her shoe and was messing with my leg with her toes.
Poking me with the tip, gently stroking around.
Eventually, she even touched my inner thigh with her big toe.
I quickly brought my face back above the table.
I stared straight at Rio.
"...It's just the two of us now."
Rio's face as she whispered was completely flushed.