My name is Seigo Konoe. I am a high school student who just started the second year of high school.
After the first day of school was over, I was locked in a torture room called the Life Guidance Room, and my teacher was severely pissed off. The reason for this was that I had fallen ill from working too many part-time jobs during spring break. I didn't expect to collapse after only working for 24 hours straight during the entire spring break.
Speaking of which, that's not even an excuse. There was no way I was going to say something like that, as it would only cause them to scold me longer. This sort of thing would be over soon if I just apologized properly.
So when I was finally released and I returned to the classroom, my close friend Kaito Manaka approached me with a smirk.
"Hey brother, thanks for your hard work."
It's important, so I'll say this again; I have been friends with this guy since my freshman year. We were by no means related by blood.
"Shut up, Monaka*."
"My last name is Manaka! Don't turn it into ice cream, sheesh."
"Don't just associate it with ice cream. It's essentially a traditional Japanese pastry. At least I'm better informed than you are."
It's sad. I can't believe he associates monaka with ice cream right away… when the Japanese pastry monaka is tastier.
"No, no. Even if you associate my name on the level of such a product, that's still messed up… Rather, how did it go with Senko and the others?"
"They were in extreme rage mode. I recorded it on my phone though. Wanna listen?"
"You recorded it… You know, I've been friends with you since freshman year, but I still don't know what goes in that head of yours."
"If they beat me up, I can demand money after all."
Well, the teachers understood that assaulting their students was enough grounds to get fired, so they just yelled their heads off.
"That's scary! That's not how high schoolers think, you know!"
"Is that so?"
"Of course, it is. Rather, what about your part-time job?"
"For the time being, I'm not allowed to take on any."
Well, even if the school hadn't told me, my family had already banned me from taking part-time jobs anyway.
"Well, that is a given. I mean, how many part-time jobs did you have to be brought to the emergency room because of overworking?"
"I worked up to four jobs, 24 hours a day, with no breaks, and then I collapsed."
To be precise, it wasn't because I was working hard, but because I didn't take any breaks. It was just so I could head to my next part-time job right away.
"You… you're an idiot."
Oh crap… Even Kaito called me an idiot.
"I respect you for having the balls to call me an idiot even though you know that I'm academically smarter than you are."
"Nggh… I don't have a comeback for that since you always let me copy your homework."
"But now that I don't have a part-time job, I have nothing to do. I wonder what I should do instead?"
In fact, I could say that I currently have nothing to spend my time on. I dedicated all my spare time to do part-time jobs before, after all.
"Oh! If that's the case, why not play a game? A VR one."
"Aren't VR games those things that I see on the news all the time?"
I've heard stories of people dying from dehydration after diving for twenty-four hours straight, of people being stalked by real criminals, or of people getting in trouble with video games that often lead to murder.
"Those are bad examples. The government and the people running the game are taking a lot of steps to make sure it's okay."
"Heeh, I didn't know that. So what kind of game is it?"
"Oh, you wanna know?"
"I am free anyway. There's nothing wrong with using games to kill some time, is there?"
Well, I don't have any good memories of playing VR games, but I guess it's fine to try it again after so long.
"I know how that feels. So this is what I'm recommending!"
Kaito showed me his smartphone and the title Elysion Online was written on the screen.
"Elysion Online?"
Now, where have I heard of this…? I wondered if it was from that time when I worked at a manga cafe?
"Yeah! There are many MMORPGs out there, but this game has a reputation for being fun and interesting, with the player being a human and having various professions. Most importantly, it's focused on realism. There is no lag in the battles, and the NPCs that appear in the game are very cute. The conversations also seem to be very natural, you know? Apparently, it's so complete that some beta testers thought it was like being transported to a fantasy world."
"So you're just after the cute NPCs, huh?"
"Of course. I get to play with cute girls, after all. That's what VR games are all about, man!"
From what I've heard, it sounded like a pretty good game, but I have a problem.
"Hey, Kaito."
"What?"
"I.. don't have a VR game console nor do I have the software either."
Kaito was at a loss for words.
—–
On my way home, I seriously thought about what Kaito told me to buy since I had the money to spare, and before I knew it, I had already arrived home.
My house was an ordinary two-story house. I currently live here by myself. The reason for this is because I lost my parents in an accident when I was in the sixth grade.
The shock of losing my parents caused me to have a lot of negative thoughts at the time. I don't know if I was undergoing a rebellious phase or developing Middle-school 2nd Year Syndrome**, but it was so bad that I thought everything I saw was garbage.
I was in such a mentally dangerous state, and the only person who was able to keep me alive back then was my grandfather. Rather, it's thanks to my grandfather and my sister-in-law that I am still alive today.
I don't need to tell you the details, but I lived with my grandfather until I was in elementary school. Later on, I was adopted by my sister-in-law's family, the Konoe family, and I lived with them until junior high school.
After that, at the advice of my sister-in-law's parents, I came to live by myself at the same house where I previously lived with my real parents.
My parents left me some money, but I found it hard to spend, so I took on some part-time jobs. As a result, I was sent to the hospital and was lectured by my sister-in-law's parents. I heard that they had a close relationship with my parents, so maybe they had a right to be angry.
A strange car was parked in front of my house. I was alarmed, but the person who got out of the car was someone I knew.
"Koyanagi-san."
"Long time no see, Seigo-kun."
Koyanagi-san. He was a debugger at my part-time job during the winter of my freshman year who was in-charge of training me.
"What's going on?"
"I came here today to give you a present, Seigo-kun."
"A present?"
What's this? My birthday was a long time ago though…
"The game you helped develop will be released tomorrow. To thank you for the successful release of the game, I'm giving away a limited edition of the game to those who worked on it."
The game that Koyanagi-san brought out was Elysion Online. Eh? I had something to do with this game?
"Ummm… I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't have any VR gaming equipment."
"Sadly, I couldn't give that to you as a gift… Well, it's fine if you want to sell it too. I'll let you be the judge. Personally, though, I'd love for you guys to get a taste of the game world you were involved in."
Since he said it like that, I guess I have no choice but to buy one then…
"Well, I'll take my leave then. I hope you can come back as a full-time worker next time."
"I'll think about it."
And then, Koyanagi-san went back to his car and drove away. After that, I changed my clothes, grabbed my wallet, and headed out to buy some VR game equipment