The conversation with Aoi-chan, which included stories from the past, as expected, ended up leading to the topic of MMO. She had actually been playing for quite a long time, and even though her daily log-in time was short, she had many fond memories of the game.
[Come to think of it, I was busy during that gathering event. I logged in so little time that it was hard for me to narrow down what I wanted and collect the requisite number of materials.]
[I tried to give you mine because they were transferable, but you adamantly refused.]
[At first, I refused because I thought it would bother Kaito-san, but once we went gathering together, I learned the reality of the situation. By the time I gathered 10 pieces, Kaito-san already gathered 1000.]
[I was playing quite a lot at that time, so I had all the latest equipment. I also had a lot of time to waste, so I was able to collect the number of items needed to trade for the main items in 2 or 3 days.]
[However, you know what? My character is far stronger than yours now.]
[Well, after a few years, what I know about the game would become outdated.]
As is the case with MMOs, inflation in online games is considerably fast. Of course, it's meaningless if new equipment is weaker than past equipment, so new equipment is made stronger little by little while making adjustments.
Even if changes within 6 months or so don't look like much of an inflation, if you compare it to equipment from 2 years ago, it's obvious that the damage wouldn't be the same.
[Speaking of which, I don't know much about the latest news regarding that game.]
[Nowadays, you can easily hunt Raid Bosses from the past by yourself. Compared to when Kaito-san was playing, the amount of damage dealt isn't only one, but two orders of magnitude higher. Well, that still depends on your Class.]
[Hearing all these information makes me want to play again, but playing it... I wonder if that black box also has that MMO...]
[No way... is what I'd like to say, but it's made by someone whose human common sense doesn't apply to, so there might be a possibility that that is the case. Let's try it next time!]
[O- Ohh, you're quite motivated.]
If just as Shiro-san said, I could play all kinds of games from that thing, it wouldn't be surprising if I could play that MMO as well. I couldn't help wondering how we could play that here in another world, but just like Aoi-chan said, the one who created it is someone who can probably do anything.
However, Aoi-chan snapped on this topic quite hard. I mean, her eyes were sparkling.
[...Ahh, errr, ummm... Actually, you see, I still have the equipment Kaito-san... Ciel-san had given to me...]
[Eh? The equipment I gave you at that time? With that amount of items, wouldn't your storage space be insufficient?]
[I thought about creating a separate account and storing your items there, but after Kaito-san retired, the expansion of the warehouse system came a little later, so my storage space turned out enough.]
[...Or rather, you could have just sold them.]
At that time, those were peak-class equipment, but now that many years had passed, it wouldn't be strange if those pieces of equipment ended up being sold anywhere for dirt cheap. Aoi-chan, who was a Mage, shouldn't have been able to use most of my equipment, which are oriented for vanguard Classes. I was thinking she could sell it and help her out with the money to buy new equipment... but for her to have actually stored them instead...
As I was thinking that, Aoi-chan, looking a bit embarrassed, muttered.
[...After all, if I sold it, I felt like that would be admitting that Ciel-san won't come back anymore... and I didn't want that so...]
[Were you waiting for me to come back?]
Frankly speaking, when I passed my exams, went to college, and got used to my new life, I felt the urge to play the MMO again and even thought about returning.
However, after saying goodbye to everyone I knew, giving up all my equipment and retiring so that I wouldn't have any lingering attachments, I felt like it would be shameful to go back, so I ended up not playing again.
[...I was waiting for you. To be honest, I really didn't want you to retire, and wanted to ask you to stay.]
[Is that so... I was under the impression that you had consented to my decision, but that wasn't actually the case huh.]
[Well, saying such a selfish thing would be troubling you... But well, I was actually crying quite a bit back then.]
[Urkh. I'm sorry, I didn't realize that.]
[Fufu, as expected, even Kaito-san wouldn't be sensitive to the subtleties of emotions of players in an online game.]
I didn't think she looked up to me so much that she waited for me to come back. If I had realized that, I would probably have played the game again after getting used to college life, so I couldn't help feeling apologetic. So that's why she clung that strong just now when I mentioned wanting to try playing that MMO again...
However, how should I say this... It seems like Aoi-chan had fun when we were playing. That "I was actually crying" like just now was said while smiling happily, so even though she said she was crying, it felt as if that time was a good memory for her.
[...Speaking of which, I'm going to change the subject but... Kaito-san. Do you remember what Hina-chan just said a while ago? You know, about my first love and how I haven't been able to forget about him?]
[Ahh, she certainly mentioned that earlier.]
[...Now then, here's a question. Who is my first love?]
[Eh? Why are you suddenly...]
[Please guess. Don't worry, I would properly given you hints after all...]
Aoi-chan, as she said that, looked somewhat mischievous, yet with a truly joyful smile on her face.