Kono Sekai ga Game da to, Ore dake ga Shitte Iru (WN) – Chapter 39

The Magic-Sealed Ship finally reached Richter (Capital City) without any major incidents, despite a few close calls.

I’d chosen the safest route available on the ship for the past while, so even if it had crashed, I probably would have survived. Still, I should be grateful that I didn’t have to deal with any trouble.

There was just one thing.

There was a slight element of regret that we had arrived so precisely.

That was…

“…You’re quite late. For me to have to wait for the same opponent twice in the same day is a first, even for me.”

Hisame was standing defiantly at the Magic-Sealed Ship’s landing dock in Richter.

“Judging by your expression, you read my letter.”

Her cat ears indicated she was angry with me, but she didn’t immediately try to attack. If she thought I had simply stood her up, she wouldn’t be this calm. This was proof that she had indeed read the letter.

For reference, the letter I handed her in front of the church read something like:

“I told you to come to the inn five minutes before 9 AM for our match, but I never specified that the match would start *at* the inn. Teehee☆”

Of course, I didn’t actually write “teehee.”

To be clear, using the Magic-Sealed Ship to win this match against Hisame was something I had considered from the moment I proposed the duel. Everything was proceeding according to my plan so far.

— This was back when I proposed the serious match to Hisame and we had to decide on the rules.

I thought about what would be best for me, and the first thing that came to mind was:

(I just want to be free from this troublesome business and be alone already…)

A completely pathetic loner’s thought.

However, this duel was born from that sentiment. In other words, the idea was, “Can I use this duel as an excuse to escape from Ena?” That was the starting point.

If I tried to go to the capital normally, Ena would surely object and might even try to come with me.

But what if it became a situation where I absolutely had to go to the capital because of a life-or-death duel with Hisame?

Since Ena was responsible for this whole situation in the first place, she probably wouldn’t be able to push back too hard against me. And if it was to win a life-or-death match, she would likely understand me going to the capital.

Plus, traveling between the capital and Ramur carried significant risks for a player in the early game, so she probably couldn’t ask me to return.

I know, I know. This is a completely underhanded act that exploits people’s goodwill, and I know it’s the lowest of the low.

But honestly, I think Ena would be happier living without me. And considering the adventures in the capital, taking Ena with me, who faces a high risk of death, would be a greater burden on me.

Since I would eventually have to go to the capital, this separation was simply a matter of opportunity and timing.

Once that was decided, everything else was simple. The next morning, there was a Magic-Sealed Ship headed for the capital via a relatively safe route. If I could set up the duel so that winning this would mean I succeeded, I could escape from both Ena and Hisame.

That’s when I thought of “Tag” as the method of victory.

No matter how fast Hisame was, she couldn’t beat the Magic-Sealed Ship, a testament to human intellect and ingenuity. It was obvious, but the fastest thing in Ramur Town wasn’t Hisame, it was this ship.

A high-speed transport that traversed the distance between Ramur and the capital, which would take even me in my prime two full days, in a mere few hours. Once it departed, no matter how hard Hisame tried, she wouldn’t be able to catch up. The Magic-Sealed Ship was a safe zone in the game of Tag.

However, no matter how fast the Magic-Sealed Ship was, simply escaping to another town on it would result in her catching up by Transfer Stone. Therefore, I needed to create a situation where “me being on the Magic-Sealed Ship during the match wouldn’t count as a foul loss.”

The next available ship would take about three hours to reach Richter. So, I set the match time to be one hour after the ship’s departure, ensuring I would be in the air. For the starting location, on the other hand, I deliberately avoided being specific. As I wrote in the letter, “When the match starts, it wasn’t specified where I had to be, right?” It was a way to escape.

Whether she would agree to these conditions was honestly a gamble, but if I got past this, it was as good as a win.

Ena dislikes Magic-Sealed Ships, and Hisame has acrophobia. The chances of them boarding the ship were low. Just in case, I asked Ena to come to the inn at my departure time, and for Hisame, citing her distrust of me, I set the rule: “If you get within three meters of me, you lose.” The Magic-Sealed Ship is small. If Hisame boarded, it would almost automatically mean her loss.

Then, all that was left was whether I could board the Magic-Sealed Ship safely. I didn’t dwell on that, and instead, I used my last day of grace to say goodbye to the people I’d befriended and do things that could only be done in this town.

Specifically, I handed Torch Sisyo to Ena, went to get another Torch Sisyo for myself, bought a staff I couldn’t afford before, met with old acquaintances with it, went to Marimite Dojo to learn useful skills, and was incredibly busy.

Especially the last item: the Marimite Dojo, or rather, the confessional. It’s not in the capital’s church. I thought learning the handy skill “Shukuchi” here would be useful later, so I pushed myself quite a bit. Whether it’s a game or real life, you shouldn’t pull all-nighters.

“—That was the most unpleasant letter I’ve ever read. How dare you try to win by such trickery?”

Hisame’s cold words pierced my mind on that morning after an all-nighter. Her face was calm, but her cat ears were clearly angry.

To be honest, her waiting here was a little unexpected. I thought she would just continue her journey without minding that she had been tricked. She chased after me using her precious Transfer Stone, so she must have been quite angry. It was perhaps fitting for her pride and strict adherence to duels.

“But, judging by how you’re talking, you admit I won this time, right?”

Because she’s strict and proud when it comes to duels, she has no choice but to admit her defeat.

“…Yes, that’s right.”

There was a slight pause before her answer, but she replied. Hearing that, I did a mental fist pump.

However, Hisame’s gaze, as she looked at me next, held a strong intensity, and I cautioned myself to remain focused. As if channeling that gaze into words, she made a new proposal.

“I admit defeat for this match. However, I cannot accept things as they are. Let’s have another match…”

“But, a victory is a victory, so you’ll fulfill your promise, right?”

Sensing this was going south, I quickly cut her off and took the initiative.

“A promise? No, you didn’t make any demands… ah.”

She seemed to realize. This was all part of my plan, my strategy. There might be many loopholes, but I thought I could still push through.

“We’re not having another serious match, are we? That was the promise, wasn’t it?”

“Ugh…”

This was my final move. Well, to be precise, it was something I thought of on the spot when Hisame asked about the conditions of my victory, but it should serve as a practical final blow.

I believe I said something like, “If I win, I don’t want you to accept such serious matches.” Or rather, there are excuses like “don’t accept” means I can still initiate them myself, but I didn’t expect her, with her pride, to choose such a loophole as “winning by trickery.”

“Ugh…”

She must have been struggling with various conflicting thoughts. I couldn’t see her expression because she was looking down, but her rapidly moving cat ears, sticking out as if in distress, made her look flustered. Flustered cat ears, how novel.

(…Oh?)

Then, it suddenly stopped. Perhaps she had reached a conclusion. Her cat ears, which had been moving busily, suddenly became still.

“…Ba”

Looking down, she uttered something. But her voice was too quiet to hear clearly. As I leaned closer, wondering what she said…

“BAKA—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The sheer volume made my ears ring. While reeling from the immense sound and the drastic contrast to her usual demeanor, she dashed off somewhere without looking back and quickly disappeared.

It was terrifyingly fast. It might have even been faster than the Magic-Sealed Ship.

“Geez. Like a grade-schooler…”

I muttered a curse, but inside, I was filled with relief. I had managed to narrowly avoid a double crisis.

From the explanation so far, you might think I used a despicable method to grab an easy victory, but this “way of winning” was actually the part that caused me the most trouble. The fact that I won through a dishonest means, unrelated to my actual strength, is actually the most important thing.

As I’ve said before, this one-on-one event with Hisame. If I clear it at this point, I will almost certainly be killed by a subsequent series of events. It might be possible to overcome it if I tried hard, since it’s not exactly like the game, but honestly, it’s safer not to trigger any Hisame-related events.

This game has a free-scenario system, so essentially, you’re free to accept or reject any event or quest. There are events that must occur for the story to progress, but you can generally choose the timing. However, some events start automatically when certain conditions are met, or you’re practically forced to accept them. The derivative events from Hisame’s one-on-one are a prime example of the latter.

If you win against Hisame in the one-on-one, she’ll say something like, “According to the Hisame family’s motto, I cannot choose a marriage partner other than the one who defeated me, but no one has ever defeated me before. Whether I marry him or not, I need to report this, so please meet my father,” and a rather cliché and foolish templated rom-com story begins. The entry point, the “Hisame Household Visit Event,” is unavoidable.

Its compulsory nature is immense; while your body won’t move on its own, no matter who you ask or what you ask, they’ll only talk about information related to Hisame’s family, forcing you to go to Hisame’s house and finish the event. It’s so forceful. Furthermore, decent conversations with NPCs become impossible, making not only weapons and item shops but even inns unusable. You can’t accept other quests, and if you try to complete a quest you’ve already accepted, it won’t be acknowledged. Even if you try to give instructions to your companions, if you talk to them, they’ll say, “Right, aren’t you heading to Hisame’s house? I’ll wait here, so hurry up and go,” even in front of monsters. And eventually, even infants clearly only a few months old in the town will say, “Isn’t it better to go to Hisame’s house? Hisame’s house is west of the capital.” It’s far beyond comical; it’s in the realm of horror.

Then, the place you’re taken to is a sword dojo. Hisame’s father, the dojo master, and nine disciples are waiting. “I hear you’re a skilled individual who defeated Mitsuki. Would you be willing to spar with us all?” he proposes.

While it’s a proposal, it’s almost a forced event. You can’t leave the dojo systemically until you spar, and they’ll keep asking until you agree. However, if you refuse ten times, there’s a change: “I see, you find this insufficient. Mitsuki! Join him for a spar!” This results in an 11-on-1 situation with Hisame added, and at this point, you can’t refuse. Truly, thorough service befitting “Nekoneko.”

In other words, you’ll end up fighting, but of course, you can’t activate the Duel system in a 10-on-1 situation. Therefore, Hisame’s father says, “Don’t worry, we’ll use the blunt side,” and reassures me by showing how he’ll turn his blade. But the problem is that everyone from the father down to the disciples has a blunt-edged sword. It’s not about hitting with the blunt side; it feels like they intend to kill you by accident (?). The fact that they gathered ten blunt-edged swords just for this purpose is almost insane.

From there, there are countless events where “the development is the same as any typical rom-com manga, yet there’s always a threat to life,” and honestly, there’s no way I could survive it right now.

It was literally a situation of “hell if you win, hell if you lose,” but it seems I managed to overcome it.

…Well, whatever the case.

With this, I’ve gained temporary freedom and time to become stronger. In this new city, I will finally enjoy my loner life, acquire the power to counter “Nekoneko’s” malice, and search for a way to return to my original world.

My adventure has only just begun! First part complete?

It’s planned to continue normally.