Not yet! It’s not over yet!
As long as I have everyone’s support, Nekoneko will revive again and again!
*Note: It’s over now, so there will be no more revivals.*
And so, I’ve kept you waiting!
I took a slightly longer break than usual, but I’m back!
To be honest, updating this time was also a bit of a struggle, but I managed to make it in time!
(My apologies if there are many typos or misspellings.)
Whether you laugh or cry, there are only three more chapters!
From here to the finale, we’re going full speed ahead!!
“Life is like a dream of a single night,” who was it that said that?
Looking back, the events of the past few months feel like a dream.
“We’ve been through a lot, haven’t we…”
I, Sagara Soma, was just a regular student who loved games until a year ago.
But last July.
Through a strange twist of fate, I entered the world of a fictional game. There, I adventured with a cat-eared swordsman who was a game character, a stoic lightning mage, a fledgling adventurer, a masked master magician, and a slightly dangerous blonde researcher. Together, we defeated the Demon Lord and the Evil God, and I eventually became a Hero who saved the world.
However…
“That all ends tomorrow.”
Months after defeating the Evil God, we spent our days defeating monsters in various regions, bidding farewell to our companions, searching for new magic books in the library, and living fulfilling lives.
To be honest, I don’t want to part with my companions, and I still have endless things I want to do in this world.
But today is March 30th.
Since I arrived in this world on July 1st, just before Tanabata, it’s already been over half a year.
If I stay any longer, it will interfere with my life in my original world.
“This is probably the right time.”
I muttered to myself, glancing sideways at the clock on my desk.
– 11:55 PM.
The date will change soon.
Then, the last day I spend in this world will finally arrive.
What kind of farewells await us?
Whether we can safely return to our original world, I don’t know.
But, please, I wish…
“May tomorrow be the best day for everyone…”
I offered such a quiet prayer, closed my eyes, and drifted off to the dream world.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“Even though it’s our last morning, it’s surprisingly normal.”
I thought I might not be able to sleep last night, or wondered how I’d feel waking up tomorrow, so my own calmness was unexpected.
– 7:07 AM.
Waking up at what seemed like a fortunate time, I muttered to myself as I sat up.
I took a deep breath of the refreshing morning air and stretched.
“…Let’s go.”
Time is finite.
Especially on a day like today.
I quickly got ready and headed out of my room towards the dining hall.
…But.
“Ringo?”
As I took a step forward after opening the door, I stopped, spotting a familiar blue in the hallway.
“…I was waiting.”
From her sitting position in the hallway, she spoke. She was one of my companions.
The former Princess who wields lightning magic, Ringo.
“Do you need something?”
When I asked, Ringo shook her head slightly.
“…I want to go to the dining hall together.”
“I see.”
I had no reason to refuse.
Ringo is my companion, and I met her relatively soon after arriving in this world.
Strictly speaking, I met her after Mitsuki and Sahzan, but that doesn’t change the value of a companion.
“………”
“………”
The silence continued.
However, the silent time with Ringo wasn’t bad.
That’s precisely why feelings of regret that this time would end welled up.
– No, I’ve already made my decision.
As I renewed my resolve, we arrived at the dining hall at a perfectly timed moment.
“Good morning!”
A welcoming voice greeted me as soon as I entered the dining hall.
When I looked up, my companions were already waiting.
She’s a fledgling adventurer named Ena.
I met her in the town of Ramur, and we parted ways when I went to the Capital City, but due to various circumstances, we started adventuring together again.
“Good morning. Maki will be here after finishing some business at the castle,”
Maki, the cat-eared swordsman, said in a calm voice.
She’s a companion I’ve adventured with for a long time, and she boasts incredible swordsmanship.
“Good morning, Soma! Breakfast is ready!”
Furthermore.
Leyla emerged from the kitchen, saying that.
She’s also a companion I started traveling with by chance. She seems to like me, though her affection is a bit overwhelming.
Right now, she’s doing things like cooking for me, but originally…
“Speaking of which, isn’t Leyla’s real job studying ruins? I haven’t seen you at any ruins, is that okay?”
“Fufufu. I have the important job of watching Soma’s life from morning till night, 360 days a year.”
“R-I see…”
I broke out in a cold sweat at Leyla’s usual remark.
Ah, by the way, the fact that a year has 360 days is a characteristic of Nekoneko.
In the original world, months have 30 or 31 days, so a year has 365 days. The people who created Nekoneko likely thought there was no need to replicate that in the game.
Each month has only 30 days, meaning a year has 360 days, five fewer than in the original world.
At this point, I realized the most important member was missing.
“I heard. But where’s Sahzan?”
“Sahzan isn’t awake yet,”
Mitsuki’s words made me sigh.
Despite her capabilities, Sahzan’s weakness is that she’s not a morning person.
Sahzan is one of my companions, and considering when we met, we’ve known each other for a very long time.
Her original name was Mitia, and she was a priestess tasked with sealing a Fragment of the Evil God. However, with a tragic resolve, she embarked on a journey where she had a fateful encounter with us.
She always wears a Mask, which serves as a seal. Beneath it, her true face is that of a considerable beauty.
As expected of a priestess, her magical prowess is top-tier, excelling in fire and dark magic.
Furthermore, for me to return to my original world, I need to activate “Synthesis Forbidden Art: Death Flash,” which combines specific spells.
For that, Sahzan’s magic, “Stardust Flare,” is indispensable.
Besides that, I have other expectations for her…
As I let out a sigh, a thudding sound echoed, and someone burst into the room.
“Maki? You were supposed to be at the castle…”
“No time for that, Soma! I, I found something amazing!”
The one causing a ruckus is Maki.
She’s my cousin, who grew up in the same world as me, and a student who ended up coming to this world with me.
I’m doing my best to return to our original world, for Maki’s sake too…
“W-Wait, Maki! Is that…?”
Right now, there was something so shocking before my eyes that it made me forget all about that.
After all, what Maki had taken out was a familiar machine that shouldn’t exist in this world.
“It’s a VR machine!!”
It was the Game machine that was the cause of us being summoned to this world.
“S-So, where did this come from?”
“The castle’s treasury. And, I found five more identical ones! What should we do?”
What to do…
“If there’s a Game machine there, we have no choice but to play it!”
And so, we all decided to play games.
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
“I-It’s amazing! I can move my body just like in reality!”
Ena, who started playing games with me, exclaimed, but well, it’s not that surprising.
That’s what VR machines are for in the first place.
—VR Machine.
This is a dedicated machine for playing VR games, and by using it, one can enter the world of the game.
I’ll omit the detailed principles, but to put it simply, it’s a magical device that transfers only the consciousness to another world by sending a lightning-like magic to the head. That explanation should be easy for my companions to understand.
“…Hmm. The execution is quite good. However, I feel like the sensation is a beat behind.”
As expected, Mitsuki, being a master, seems to find that the machine can’t fully utilize her reactions.
However, most of us seemed to accept the world of VR games positively.
I also did a quick test, and it seems I could use all of Nekoneko’s techniques, including Godspeed Cancel Movement and other bizarre mobility techniques.
My equipment and probably my strength were the same as in the real world, and I could defeat low-level monsters walking around with a single blow.
“But, I wonder who made this machine.”
I think about it again.
…No, that’s a question I should have asked before starting the game, but when faced with a Game machine, my body tends to itch, and I end up playing before I can think.
“Perhaps someone recreated it with magic. You know, unlike Japan, this world hasn’t developed science but magic has.”
“I see, that’s a possibility.”
If Maki, who is the only one besides me who knows about VR machines, says so, then it might be the case.
Well, we can look into the details after enjoying this Game.
Thinking so, we explored the world of the VR Game…
“Seriously, this is astonishing.”
As a result, we discovered something surprising.
You could say it was a place where the worlds of Nekoneko and our world had merged.
After all, this game world even had my and Maki’s school, so we couldn’t help but be surprised.
While we were enjoying ourselves playing the Game like that…
“Ah, huh? It’s already twelve o’clock?”
Looking at the clock, the time was approaching noon.
We got so engrossed in the game that we ended up playing for too long.
“We have to hurry and leave to prepare to return to our original world! Everyone, to exit this Game, you just need to ‘log out’. Right now…”
I urged my companions in a panic, but for some reason, their reactions were sluggish.
“What’s w-wrong? Hurry, you n-need to… There are people waiting for our farewell…”
Even so, they all grinned and exchanged glances.
They showed no sign of moving.
And then, Maki stepped forward as their representative and said this.
“—Hey. Isn’t it okay to not go back to our original world anymore?”
The moment I heard those words, my mind went blank.
“M-Maki? What are you talking about?”
I’m trying to return to our original world for Maki’s sake.
However, without any regard for my feelings, Maki said with a smile.
“Because, we have our school here, and food and facilities from our original world, right?
With this Game, I think we don’t need to bother going back to our original world.”
“No, but, however…”
“Right? Everyone, you agree, don’t you?”
When Maki turned and asked,
“…Yeah. It’s as Maki says.”
“Indeed. That’s a profound statement.”
Ringo and Mitsuki nodded enthusiastically in agreement.
—What? What is happening?
My instincts were sounding an alarm.
Something, somewhere, is wrong.
“Hey. Soma. Let’s live in this world forever?”
“Soma-san. I, I like Soma-san, always…”
With somewhat vacant smiles, Layla and Ena approached me.
No! I can’t stay here like this!
I shouted, unable to stop myself, as my intuition told me.
“—Logout!!”
Then, the world went dark once more. My consciousness floated up…
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
I was relieved to see the familiar scene of the dining hall, not the game world, when my eyes opened. Looking around, my friends seemed to have logged out too, waking up one after another.
“Hey. Isn’t this VR machine broken? It feels kinda…”
As I started to speak to Maki, feeling reassured by their presence.
“Huh? What’s this…?”
I noticed my body was bound to the machine. I tried to stand up in surprise, but I was tied too tightly and couldn’t move at all.
“W-Why…!?”
Maki, who showed no surprise and was smiling, answered my question. She stood up, away from the VR machine, and let out a dramatic sigh.
“Ah well. This machine was so hard to make.”
“M-Maki…?”
“This VR machine. I asked the castle craftsmen and magic item shops to custom-make it for me. It was incredibly difficult.”
Words I couldn’t, and didn’t want to, understand. But they cleared the doubt that had been lingering in the depths of my heart. The concept of a VR machine shouldn’t exist in this world. Even with magic, it’s impossible to replicate something that isn’t even recognized. Moreover, it’s unnatural for our school to be in the game.
But if a Japanese person, who knew how it worked, was providing information to Maki, then it would be a different story. This VR machine was here because of that.
“W-Why would you do this?! I was going to return to the original world for Maki’s sake…”
“That’s why. I, we, decided to do this to prevent Soma from returning to the original world.”
I don’t understand. Even if I returned to the original world, Maki would be with me. Why would they do this to me…?
“But Soma! Soma, if you go back to the original world, you’ll just play games and forget about me!!”
“N-No, that’s not…”
I couldn’t deny it. But even so, to do something like this…
“W-Wait! Then what about everyone else…?”
“It’s the same for everyone. They don’t want you to return to the original world, so they made sure you’d stay here, even if it was by force.”
When I looked at them,
“I’m sorry, Soma.”
“I’m sorry.”
My friends apologized with remorse. But that, paradoxically, proved Maki’s words were true.
“R-Right! Sahzan! What about her? If it’s her…”
“Soma, you’re an idiot.”
Maki’s derisive laugh responded to my desperate plea.
“Hey. Why do you think Sahzan isn’t here right now?”
“Huh? Why, I mean, she overslept…”
As I repeated what Mitsuki had told me, Maki laughed gleefully.
“Wrong! The answer is… we made her disappear because if she was here, Soma would return to the original world!”
“Wh-…!?”
What nonsense are you talking about? The words stuck in my throat, unable to be spoken. I gulped.
“Well then, I’ll put you to sleep for a bit. It wouldn’t be fair to keep you tied up forever, Soma.”
“Wh-what…?”
“I’m just going to put you to sleep. …Sleep.”
As the magic was cast, my vision was shrouded in darkness.
—Ah. This is a bad dream.
Unable to resist, my vision fell into darkness…
—Please, wake me up if this is a dream…
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“—Hah!!”
I woke up then, gasping. My heart pounding, I leaped out of bed. I looked around, but there was no sign of Maki or the VR machine. And when I looked at the clock…
—7:02 AM.
Which means…
“Was that… a dream?”
As soon as I spoke, the memories flooded back. …Right. I fell asleep last night after checking the clock, and then I had a strange dream.
“…Haa. That scared me.”
But it made sense when I thought about it. Even if my friends didn’t want me to return to the original world, they wouldn’t resort to such drastic measures. Furthermore, I have resistance to status effects, yet the sleep magic worked. That fact alone made it undeniably clear that what just happened was a dream.
“Why did I have a dream like that?”
It seems I was just nervous because it was my last day in this world. Even if it was just a dream, I need to apologize for doubting everyone, even for a moment. Thinking this, I quickly got ready and went out of my room.
—Huh?
As I turned the doorknob, a brief sense of unease flashed through my mind, but I didn’t have time to ponder it.
“—Soma!”
Something black came hurtling at me from the hallway.
“Sahzan!?”
The one who tackled me was the girl from my friends who I hadn’t seen in my dream. And also…
—She’s not wearing a mask?
“Soma! I’m so glad!”
Caught by her teary eyes looking up at me, my heart skipped a beat.
—C-calm down. It’s Sahzan, after all.
Even so, once I noticed it, the flush on my face wouldn’t subside. Sahzan was originally a noble Priestess of Sealing, and an exceptionally beautiful girl. She was someone I, of my standing, shouldn’t even be able to talk to.
Moreover…
(It’s bigger than I thought…!)
As she clung to me, Sazhan’s developed chest, larger than I’d anticipated, pressed against my body.
Since she’s disguised as a man, I wonder if she usually binds her chest.
This sensation is undoubtedly stronger than Ena’s, Maki’s, or Ringo’s combat power!
Or so I thought, without a care in the world…
“Hurry! Hurry and escape, Soma!”
“Huh?”
Sazhan, who was clinging to me, started saying something incomprehensible.
“Th-those guys… they’re doing something terrible because you’re going back to your original world… Anyway, just run!”
A creeping sense of dread welled up within me.
Sazhan’s death was just a dream.
In this real world, such a foolish thing couldn’t possibly happen.
Even though I thought that, the bad premonition wouldn’t stop.
However, my words said the exact opposite.
“It’s okay. You’re joking, right, surely. They wouldn’t do anything that horrible.”
“B-but…”
“Besides, even if someone were to try something on me, what could they do? I have the strongest equipment… huh?”
It was then that I finally realized the cause of my unease from earlier.
That’s right.
The item I was sure I had last night was nowhere to be found…
“—Are you looking for this?”
A cool voice that struck my eardrums.
“Mitsuki…?”
Standing there was Mitsuki Hisame.
My trusted comrade.
Or so I thought.
But in her hand…
“Hehehe. It fell in your room, so I picked it up for you.”
“Lute Days Aster…”
It was Lute, a transformation of an Evil God, an equipment that bestows the strongest power upon its wielder.
And it was now in her possession.
“Mitsuki, you found it for me? Can I have it back?”
Why is that?
“You are the one at fault. For saying such absurd things as returning to your original world before our duel was over.”
“Mitsuki? You’re joking, right?”
As I panicked, Mitsuki, holding Lute and her katana, smiled charmingly.
“Of course. I’m always serious. Now, let’s have our final battle.”
My skin prickled all over.
If Mitsuki, armed with Lute, were to become my enemy, I would never win.
The decision was instantaneous.
“Let’s run!!”
I scooped up Sazhan and sprinted down the hallway in the opposite direction of Mitsuki using Godspeed Cancel Movement.
“S-Soma! Leaving me…”
“Don’t be foolish! It’s okay! Lute doesn’t increase speed. If it’s just speed, I’m faster…”
Just as I was about to say that to reassure Sazhan in my arms, she suddenly twisted her body.
“Soma!”
“What!?”
From the side, a lightning strike flew from the side of the hallway and hit me directly.
“Guh!”
It wasn’t enough damage to be critical.
However, that powerful lightning magic momentarily stunned my body, and we tumbled onto the hallway.
Tap, tap. A blue shadow approached me as I fell.
“N-no way… You too, huh?”
Lightning that could stop me, even for a moment.
There was only one person who could unleash such a thing.
“Ringo! Why you too!!”
Ringo, with a ghastly white face, slowly pointed her finger at me.
“…Kill Soma, and I will die too. Then we’ll be together forever.”
“Such… to that extent…”
Perhaps it would be acceptable to be killed by Ringo.
For a moment, I thought that.
“Whaaaa—!!”
A black shadow shot past me.
Sazhan had jumped at Ringo, who was about to unleash lightning.
“Go! Go quickly! I, I’ll… Whaaaa!!”
“Sazhan! Damn it!”
I stood up and tried to run again.
But…
“Guah!”
I couldn’t. A throwing knife that flew from somewhere pierced my leg.
“It’s your fault, Soma-san. For leaving your wife, who thinks of you so much, and saying you’re going back to your original world.”
“Ee-na…”
I didn’t even have the words to ask “You too?” anymore.
There was only despair.
“—Finally, I’ve caught up.”
No, the true despair was apparently yet to come.
Finally, my fated death had caught up to me in the form of the most formidable swordswoman, Mitsuki Hisame.
“Well then. This is the end.”
With movements that seemed almost leisurely, she raised her katana…
“NOOO—!!”
And then, a golden flash intervened.
“Layla!?”
Seeing me and Mitsuki raising her sword towards me, Layla ran towards me with a desperate look. Without fear of the raised sword, she ran straight towards me and…
“Don’t come! Run quickly… Huh?”
—She plunged a knife into my chest.
“Why…?”
As I let out a hoarse voice, Layla twisted the knife in my chest and managed a broken laugh.
“…After all. I decided that I absolutely had to be the one to kill Soma.”
At that utterly hopeless reply, I sank to my knees and collapsed.
—It’s over.
I’m not sleeping right now, nor am I using a VR machine.
In other words, this is truly, genuinely real…
“…………………………No. Wait.”
It was then.
A flash of inspiration struck my mind.
“Yesterday…”
Yesterday was March 30th.
And after sleeping for one night, today should be March 31st.
…That’s right.
If you think in terms of Japan’s calendar, with 365 days in a year, that should be the case.
……But!
However, this is Nekoneko’s, Game world.
I definitely heard it.
I definitely heard Leila say, “Three hundred and sixty days a year!”
“A year has three hundred and sixty days. If that’s the case…”
Nekoneko’s world fixes one month at thirty days to make it easier to understand the dates…
If March also ends at “day thirty” and there is no “thirty-first day”…
–The day after March thirtieth is April first.
Today is April Fools’ Day!
Which means…
“Everything up to this point was a lie for April Fools’ Day!!!”
Being stabbed, my friends suddenly turning on me, it was all a lie.
That makes sense.
Something like this couldn’t possibly happen in reality.
Ah, I’m glad, I touched my stabbed chest…
“…No, it’s not?”
Ringo’s voice freezing me in place.
As if to add insult to injury, Mitsuki, who had raised her katana, tilted her head.
“That’s a strange thing to say. A year has three hundred and sixty-five days. Naturally, the day after March thirtieth is March thirty-first.”
“No! Because I definitely heard that a year had three hundred and sixty days…”
“That—”
Mitsuki, who had tilted her head, wryly smiled,
“—Were you perhaps dreaming?”
With those words, I understood everything.
…That’s right.
My recognition that in the Nekoneko world, “a year has three hundred and sixty days” and “a month only has thirty days” was “in a dream.”
It wasn’t reality.
Why had I been mistaken?
Nekoneko is a Game with a calendar that perfectly matches the real world.
There was no way a month would have thirty days.
Still, clinging to a sliver of hope, I asked Mitsuki,
“H-hey! Then, is it really, today…”
“Yes. It is not April first.”
Her words, spoken with a gentle, even loving tone…
“Ah, hah. Hah hah…”
My spirit broke.
Along with the blood flowing from my body, strength left my limbs, and I no longer had the will to escape.
“It’s okay. We’ll all see you off.”
“…Goodbye, Soma.”
Mitsuki’s words and the coldness of the blades being thrust into me one after another felt like a salvation.
“Ah, gu…”
Like a mounted specimen, I was pinned to the floor.
I could no longer even move.
“A, h…”
I could feel the warmth leaving my body.
Facing the absolute premonition of death, only one thing crossed my mind.
It wasn’t hatred for my friends…
Nor was it any lingering regret for the real world…
–I wish I had believed what Sahzan said.
Gratitude and regret for the person I loved most, who remained my ally until the very end.
And,
“I’m sorry, Sahzan…”
With those words, my consciousness plunged into eternal darkness.
〈Only I and the Priestess know that this world is a Game – April Fools’ Special Edition〉 ~The End~
With that, I read up to that point and tossed the stack of papers aside.
With a faint rustle, the stack of papers fell onto the bedspread near my knees.
Then, as if sensing it…
“Oh! You finished reading? W-what did you think? This one is my masterpiece! I’ve been nurturing the idea ever since I heard you talk about this custom called April Fools’ Day! B-be grateful, okay? Considering I’ve chosen you as the main character, I’m giving you the honor of being the first to read it and give your thoughts…”
The culprit behind this situation—Sahzan chattered excitedly, and I watched with sleepy eyes.
I can overlook the fact that he wrote a novel starring me without my permission, a hundred times over.
I can even let the fact that I was portrayed as an idiot who can’t help but play Games without thinking slide as creative license.
The parts related to Japan, especially the VR Game parts, being so sloppy and full of errors… I will never forgive that, but let’s put it aside for now.
It’s fine to overlook the excessive settings related to Sahzan as a matter of samurai’s mercy.
The biggest problem is… why did he wake me up at three in the morning just to make me read this novel?
“For this one, I made it a bad ending with an emphasis on impact, but, well? I’m not a monster, and if reading this makes you reflect on your womanizing ways, I might even give you a classic happy ending where the mansion burns down after escaping with me and you…”
“—Just go to sleep!”
I can’t put up with this any longer.
I unceremoniously dunked Sahzan, who was still muttering something, into the futon and silenced him.
He thrashed around in the futon for a while, but when I kept him pinned down, he eventually stopped resisting.
With the intruder quiet, the peaceful early morning air returned to the room.
“…Haa. Now I can finally sleep.”
To enjoy the hard-won peace, I moved the novel from the bed to the desk and burrowed into the futon.
Sleeping in is indeed the best.
Perhaps it’s due to sleepiness.
Wrapped in the futon, which felt even warmer than before, I finally journeyed into the world of dreams.
Thought it was April Fools’?
Too bad! It was Sahzan’s (novel)!
Well, now that I’ve safely completed my quota, I will update the main story for three consecutive days to conclude it.
The next update is scheduled for April 2nd at 0:00.
