Kono Sekai ga Game da to, Ore dake ga Shitte Iru (WN) – Chapter 152

Before getting up from my seat in the Barrier room and leaving, I asked Shizun-san to raise his head.

“Ah, wait a moment.”

An idea suddenly struck me, so I used my sword to scratch a mark on the edge of the floor to serve as a reminder. With Shiranui’s precise movements, I managed to create a somewhat clumsy character, “未”. Satisfied with my work, I gave a small, silent victory pose.

“…Soma?”

Ringo looked back at me with a puzzled expression in front of the door. I shook my head and told her it was nothing, then was the last to leave the room.

Waiting for me outside was Mitsuki’s gaze, full of suspicion.

“……What were you doing?”
“Huh? Ah, yes. Just making a little mark on the edge of the room. It was just a sudden idea, it doesn’t really mean anything significant, you know?”
“Is that so. A mark?”

Mitsuki nodded as if convinced, but her eyes continued to fix on me coldly. After a while of maintaining this intense stare, making me feel incredibly uncomfortable, Mitsuki finally spoke.

“That ring called the ‘Ring of Immortality’ seems to grant resistance to instant death, doesn’t it?”
“Ah, yes. It seems so.”
“In other words, with that ring, you wouldn’t have to fear Layla anymore. I can hardly believe it, but perhaps you were thinking that if it was going to be stolen anyway, you might as well be the one to take it…”
“D-Don’t say such reckless things!”

I hurriedly stopped Mitsuki before she could utter something dangerous. Shizun-san, who was walking ahead, looked back curiously, but I managed to brush it off with a full-blown smile. Once I confirmed Shizun-san had turned back around, I protested to Mitsuki in a low voice.

“Let me tell you! Even with that ring, it won’t prevent instant death from Layla’s attack!”
“…Is that so?”

Layla’s “To the Disloyal, Death!!” is not a special attack or skill, but something more systemic. If resistance to instant death were enough to prevent it, she wouldn’t be so feared.

“Besides, if I took the ring from there and made it my own, that would just be plain old theft, wouldn’t it? Don’t worry, I wouldn’t do anything so foolish.”

If I were to be honest, I wanted that ring. With the game becoming reality, there was a non-zero chance that the specifications had been changed to prevent instant death from Layla, and even without that, being able to prevent instant death was a welcome benefit. While losing resistance to other status effects would be tough, with the current availability of accessory slots, it wouldn’t be an insurmountable problem.

For example, aside from instant death, the most high-priority and dangerous status effect is Petrification. Petrification, which completely immobilizes you and is difficult to recover from naturally, is something I’d want to prioritize dealing with anyway. However, the problem could be solved with just one piece of counter-equipment, the ‘Ring of the Gargoyle,’ which allows you to move normally even while petrified.

So, I wanted the ring. I wanted it, but… more importantly, there was something of greater value.

“–Because if I did that, that ring would become stolen goods!!”

If you steal someone else’s item, it gets a stolen goods mark. And if it’s discovered that you possess an item with a stolen goods mark, you’re on the fast track to becoming a criminal. I couldn’t afford to take such an unnecessary risk.

“…I finally understand.”

Mitsuki nodded, though she looked displeased, her cat ears twitching. Relieved from her suffocating gaze, I let out a sigh of relief.

Perhaps because of that, Mitsuki’s next question was:

“In other words, even if you had the intention of taking that ring, the ‘Game’ would prevent you from doing so, correct?”
“Huh? Ah, no. There’s also a loophole where if you steal it from the culprit after they’ve stolen it, it won’t be marked as stolen goods.”

I accidentally let my tongue slip.

“As I thought, you are…”

Faced with her renewed suspicion, I quickly shook my head.

“No, no, no! This time, I’m prioritizing the quest completion!”

It was true that in the very early stages, some ‘Nekoneko’ players thought it was better to obtain the ring than the crest, whose use was unknown. They would intentionally not solve the incident, steal the ring from the culprit, and simply escape. However, that was only at the very beginning. The moment it became known that the crest was necessary to open the Hidden Dungeon, the importance of the two items reversed. No one chose the inconvenient cursed ring anymore. While I didn’t particularly feel the need to go to the Hidden Dungeon right now, if I had to choose which had higher priority, it would be the crest.

Besides, the root of the problem wasn’t there. For the first time in a while, I looked Mitsuki directly in the eyes, not at her head, and earnestly pleaded.

“Think about it. Even though it’s become a source of conflict, we would be taking away their treasured family heirloom. Do you think I could use it with pride, carrying that sense of guilt?”

Mitsuki probably misunderstands me. Among ‘Nekoneko’ players who would choose any means to achieve their goals, I am on the moderate side. I am not a despicable person who delights in hurting others.

“…Indeed. Those are very persuasive words.”

However, Mitsuki replied in her usual cold voice and shifted her gaze to the side.

“…Hm?”

Her gaze fell upon Ringo, who was tilting her head. At her waist, a wakizashi was securely sheathed (though its contents were the Hisame family’s heirloom, ‘Kongou Toshi’). Unpleasant sweat began to trickle down my forehead.

“N-No, while there might be exceptions sometimes, generally I’m working hard to make everyone happy, you know? Even when I went to Mitsuki’s house, it was with the consideration of not letting anyone die…”

As I desperately tried to make excuses, Mitsuki suddenly chuckled and her expression softened.

“Mi-Mitsuki…?”

Confused by her abrupt change, Mitsuki gave a small bow.

“I apologize. The situation was too perfect, so I couldn’t help but suspect you. However, I know best that you are someone who always strives to achieve the best possible outcome.”
“Ah…”

It seemed Mitsuki didn’t actually believe I would do such a thing and was just testing me. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’m relieved. If you had been considering straying from the path, I would have stopped you by any means necessary.”

As she said this, she inexplicably stroked the hilt of her katana, and cold sweat, which had stopped, began to flow again.

“Ah, I’m just glad you’re relieved.”

Come to think of it, Mitsuki was a character with deep emotions, capable of remaining a player’s ally even if her father were killed or the entire world turned against her. I doubted she would kill me like Layla if I messed up, but escaping her would not be easy. Mitsuki possessed superior investigation skills, combat power, connections, wealth, and cat ears compared to Layla.

…Perhaps the strongest yandere-in-training was right beside me.

“Um, is something wrong, you two? Shizun-san said he’d go ahead and explain the situation to the household staff, and then he left.”

While I was trembling alone at the terrifying future, Ena and the others, who had gone ahead, returned, looking worried.

“Is that so? I made Shizun-san feel obligated.”

Perhaps he had excused himself thinking we might have a private discussion. If that were the case, I felt a little bad, but maybe I could use it to my advantage.

“This time, I don’t intend to restrict anyone’s actions. However, there is one thing I absolutely need you all to be careful about.”

As I began to speak in a serious tone, perhaps sensing the sincerity of my feelings, everyone else adopted a serious posture to listen. Even Maki, who had been deep in thought and silent until now, looked up. I confirmed this before continuing.

“Please, absolutely do not linger in that room for too long. In particular, waiting there to ambush the culprit is the worst possible thing you can do. If you do that, and if you’re unlucky…”
“U-Unlucky…?”

I met Ena’s frightened gaze and clearly declared.

“–You’ll disappear. From this world.”

The moment I uttered those words, Ena gasped, Maki frowned, Sahzan exclaimed, “V-Vanishing the World!”, and even the usually expressionless Ringo and Mitsuki showed a flicker of surprise.

However, this information was not false. This was the danger added later to the “Arken Family Ring” quest, which was known as a safe, easy, and convenient quest: the “Room of Sudden Death.”

In reality, this quest had few disadvantages and was easy to resolve. Directly searching for the culprit on their turf was not the style of a well-trained ‘Nekoneko’ player. Although the event’s flow prevented players from entering the room during the time of the threat and the Barrier room was locked, this was powerless against the wall-penetration bug. The most common solution to this incident was to easily enter the room with an Illusionary Mirage, hide oneself using a random skill, and stake out the culprit until the appointed time.

There were other methods as well. Players would set up a Video Recorder before leaving the room to perfectly record the moment of the crime, or set traps and monsters inside the room to kill the culprit, or block passage with skulls. While not all of these methods were successful, the quest was so underestimated that it was even written on the wiki as “one of the easiest quests in this game.”

This enraged the ‘Nekoneko’ staff. With many bugs still remaining, they made the incomprehensible change in the latest patch to “increase quest difficulty.” Numerous fixes were implemented, such as prohibiting the use of skills within the mansion to prevent the wall-penetration bug. However, the most significant change was undoubtedly this “Room of Sudden Death.”

This was a post that became a topic of conversation for a while after the patch was introduced. A player reported that while staking out the Barrier room, their vision suddenly went black without any warning, and then they found themselves back in front of the last Monolith they had visited. This was clearly a death animation, but the cause was unknown.

There were no monsters around, no NPCs or traps attempting to kill the player. So why did the player in the Barrier room die? The answer was in the patch revision history.

“Fixed to reset any irregular interference that obstructs the original event progression in the sub-quest ‘Arken Family Ring.'”

Although the explanation was incomprehensible, the reality of this was revealed through verification using this statement as a hint. It turned out that an adjustment was made to delete all foreign objects in the Barrier room just before the culprit made their move. To be precise, it could be called an initialization and regeneration of the map on a room-by-room basis. Anything that shouldn’t have been in the room or had been altered was reset just before the crime, rendering most of the “cheat” solutions that ‘Nekoneko’ players had been using meaningless.

This was particularly fatal if the player was directly staking out the room. Players had no means to resist this systemic process. No matter how powerful their character was, or how much instant-death resistance they had, they were no match for a deletion. Players who waited here met a sudden death.

“–So, absolutely do not try to ambush in that room.”

After I finished my detailed explanation and looked at my companions’ faces, they all nodded with solemn expressions. I had worried if they would understand a game-related explanation, but since it involved life and death, they all listened properly.

For your information, this is a side note but the ‘Nekoneko’ players were naturally outraged by this change, which could be called a “retrogression.” …Or so one might think. However, perhaps due to over-tinkering with the quest, flag management became neglected, and a bug was discovered where the same quest could be accepted again after clearing it, called the “Forgetful Knight Commander” bug. The players were overjoyed. Unfortunately, since there was no way to apply the patch, and this world was apparently after the latest patch, this bug couldn’t be exploited. But if this quest could be done twice, by snatching the ring from the culprit on the first run and then normally solving it on the second run to receive the crest, players could obtain both items without effort. It was truly typical of ‘Nekoneko’ for a modification intended to torment players to end up benefiting them.

“Don’t worry! You don’t need to worry about that!”

In the somber atmosphere brought on by the sudden talk of mortal danger, Maki spoke up energetically. As if she hadn’t been silent all this time, she started talking enthusiastically.

“Besides, I think those ‘Player?’ people who tried to solve the mystery in such a roundabout way are to blame! Let’s honestly figure out who the culprit is!!”

Saying this, Maki clenched her fist and showed determination.

“Y-Yes. Cheating is wrong, isn’t it, cheating!”
“Hmph. Without resorting to trickery, nothing can escape my Demonic Air Eye.”

Ena and Sahzan agreed. And it was Mitsuki who began to channel this enthusiasm into concrete action.

“Indeed. As for how to find the culprit, there are six potential suspects, and we are also six in number. How about we each closely monitor the person we suspect the most, and conduct one-on-one surveillance?”

For the first time, a practical plan was proposed. To my surprise, Ringo was the first to agree.

“…Understood. I absolutely won’t take my eyes off you.”

She said this with an unusually strong tone–

–and then firmly grabbed my arm, who was nearby.

What… does that mean?

As I looked at her with a questioning gaze, Ringo looked back at me.

“…Soma is the most suspicious.”

She said so nonchalantly. Not only that, but…

“W-Wait, wait, wait! No, that’s absurd! This is a proper incident, and the culprit is likely a normal person…”

Despite my desperate protest, Ringo looked at me with an even more serious gaze and declared.

“–I will turn Soma into a puppet human!”

Whether I should be concerned about being treated like a good-for-nothing, or relieved that I was finally being treated like a human… But before I could answer,

“Noooo!!”

Maki arrived and pulled Ringo away from me.

“…Maki?”

As I was bewildered by Maki’s sudden erratic behavior,

“U-Um, it’s not that sticking to Soma is bad, though that’s also bad, but… I don’t agree with Mitsuki’s idea!!”

Maki, with her eyes spinning, pointed at Mitsuki and started speaking. Mitsuki, the subject of discussion, widened her eyes as if to say, “Huh? Me?” Maki cleared her throat and, after firmly moving Ringo away from me again, began to speak like a machine gun.

“I hesitated a little too, but I still think that plan is no good. Because, you see, if you just want to solve the incident, it’s easy? Mitsuki can round up everyone in the mansion and force them all out for the night, or she can take that ring out of the Barrier room and have it, you know, gulp, and store it in her stomach. If you want to catch the culprit, it’s the same. Mitsuki can rough up the household members a bit and make them confess quickly. But that’s not a mystery at all!?”
“No, putting aside the content of the conversation, why am I the one slated to do all the dirty work?”

Mitsuki, who had been brought up, was indignant, while the others were generally taken aback. But Maki, whose love for mystery novels had taken over, was unstoppable. Ignoring Mitsuki’s protest, she continued her own theory.

“You know, Mitsuki-san, in mystery novels, sometimes everyone holds hands in a circle in front of an item with a theft notice, or they make very unreasonable preparations that clearly indicate a trick, right? Do you know why?”
“Well, that is… I cannot say.”

Even Mitsuki seemed unsure how to deal with such an opponent. Maki nodded as if she had found her point, seeing Mitsuki falter. And then,

“–It’s the spirit of fair play!!”

She declared something nonsensical with utter confidence.

“Mitsuki-san, when you have a duel, don’t you want your opponent to fight with all their might? It’s the same! First, you stand on their ground, and then you crush the trick they set! That’s the essence of mystery that has been passed down since ancient times!”
“Is… is that so?”

No, I’m absolutely sure that’s wrong. But no one could hear my inner thoughts, and Maki’s speech continued.

“That’s why a detective, knowing that the person proposing such unnatural countermeasures is likely connected to the culprit, still adopts those countermeasures. But to do something so sneaky like a sweep is out of character for you, Mitsuki-san! That’s paltry! That’s cowardly!”

With her heightened emotions, she tried to persuade Mitsuki all at once.

“Uh, am I… cowardly?”

Mitsuki showed her rare confusion and looked to me for help with just her eyes. But I shook my head. It wasn’t easy to stop Maki once she got going. Besides…

“–Understood.”

My response must have been the final blow. Mitsuki’s ears drooped sadly, and she said, “…Then shall we abandon this plan?”
“Hooray!!”

Maki declared victory. It seemed even Mitsuki couldn’t win against tears and Maki. Watching the rare pairing of a dejected Mitsuki and a jubilant Maki, I couldn’t help but smile.

And so, having provisionally decided on a vague basic policy of “going with the flow,” we finally returned to the room we were initially led to, the living room of this mansion.

–We were greeted by seven men and women.

“Ah. You’re late. Everyone else is already here.”

Shizun-san, the master of the house and a portly middle-aged man.

“……”

A middle-aged butler, who had been watching the Barrier room, bowed silently.

“A-A-Ah! To our esteemed guests, today’s occasion is most auspicious…”

A maid, flustered, was pouring tea into a vase.

“Tch. You guys are Spark Hawk’s representatives? You guys are actually useful, right?”

A crude-looking man with bright red hair.

“I implore you. That ring will eventually be mine.”

A haughty woman with long, deep blue hair flowing behind her.

“Hah! Don’t make me laugh! That ring is mine!!”

A selfish-looking boy happily bouncing his blond hair.

“U-Um, I believe fighting is not good…”

And a frail-looking girl with short green hair swaying nervously.

–They were a collection of suspicious characters that could be presented as a showcase of a dysfunctional family.