Chapter 123: Embracing the Light of Ambition Part 9 Part 2
Translator: Kurehashi Aiko
Looking back, Saiga-0 witnessed a very peculiar sight…… A person stood there wearing an outfit in a toned color scheme and revealing both knees and elbows, most probably designed for the ease of movement and sneaking around, and with a fox mask for some reason. Certainly, masks like that weren’t counted as headgear but accessories, and it was not unusual for players to wear them on top of helmets purely for fashion reasons. Sometimes the effects could have been hilarious.
Looking over the person’s head, Saiga-0 could see the Player ID: Akitsu Akane. This led Saiga-0 to some truly bizarre brainstorming session about the origin of that name. If she recalls correctly, “Akitsu” was the old way of Japanese people to call a dragonfly, and adding its color, which was called “Akane”, you’d receive “Akitsu Akane”. There were so many things wrong with that name that Saiga-0 didn’t know where to start.
「Now, I do believe that some proper introductions would be in order!」
「U, Um!!!」
She knew that she shouldn’t do that at such a time. However, for Saiga-0…… there was something she needed to ask right now. Something that was coming from the very depth of her heart, a burning desire to know.
「Umm, what kind of…… relationship do you happen to have with Sanraku-san?」
「Hmm…… He’s a precious Senpai of mine that I really respect!」
Seeing the beautiful form of Akitsu Akane, Saiga-0 barely managed to ask that question with trembling lips.
「Sen…… pai……?」
Somehow, those words sounded really dangerous.
First is Hop! Then is Step! And what comes after that? It should be obvious! Of course it’s Jump!
The moment I saw Luukan closing in on Rei I honestly thought “Oh fuck, it’s all over”. But surprisingly enough, Rei was saved by someone who appeared on the battlefield at a tremendously high speed. And their speed was almost inhuman. If it was Katsu or Pencilgton, I could understand.
However, it was a player I didn’t know. So I don’t understand how a feat like that was even possible. As I approached them, a whole lot of question marks were floating around in my head, soon to be turned into exclamation marks upon seeing what the name of that player actually was.
「Akitsu Akane…… What the hell!? Akitsu Akane!?」
When I was thinking about this guy, my mind was filled with words such as “ephemeral enjoyment”, or “strategic thinking, creating the image of a seasoned veteran who knew what he was doing. But what I saw right now hit me in the jaw even stronger than an uppercut with a fucking sledgehammer would.
Akitsu Akane. The name of the player that was one of my biggest concerns right now. The one after which I sent Emul in the hopes of intercepting him. I never would have thought that we would meet here in such a place. Seeing him approaching us fast, even god damned Luukan seemed confused. Honestly, I know how it must have felt, but sorry, it was an opportunity that I simply wouldn’t waste right now.
I leave Luukan some bait to play with and then escape the range of its attacks. Then I joined Akitsu Akane, who even though he had a mask on his face, I could feel the atmosphere of sheer happiness emanating from him.
「Eh, why, what the hell are you doing here of all places!?」
「It’s so nice to finally be able to see you! Listen, I’ll cut to the chase right away! Have you ever played “Berserker Passion Online” before?」
「Why are you bringing “Crap” in here all of a sudden!?」
Bringing that up was like dropping vanilla ice cream right in the middle of the plate full of spicy curry. But he must have been the real deal to mention a name of such a cursed sh*tty game right in the middle of a truly godly game like that. But that seemed to be more than enough for Akitsu Akane, whose eyes must have been sparkling with joy as he gained a conviction of some sort.
「I knew it! I knew that you must be that “Sanraku” after all!」
「Eh? Well, basically I go with that name in a bunch of games, but……」
「It’s me! Dragonfly! You helped me out quite a bit last time!」
Suddenly there was a silence that lasted for an awfully long amount of time. It took me ages to finally remember the player who demonstrated me a whole new bug that I was previously unaware of.
「Dragonfly!? As in, that Dragonfly from that time!?」
「Yes! Who would have thought that we would meet up in a different game!」
Dragonfly, Akitsu Akane…… I see, so he’s someone who picks a theme for his name, just like Katsu does. And no matter how ready you thought you might be, the power of that revelation was always formidable. I never would have thought that he was in fact someone I had met on a chance occasion like that.
Akitsu Akane, wearing a mask with an image of the fox, was jumping up and down in place as if he couldn’t possibly contain the joy of our encounter just now And the muffler he was wearing around his neck was shaking strongly in sync with his jumps and leaps…… shaking……?
Oh, won’t you look at that? I thought it was a muffler, but it’s actually a bunny.
「Kyuh……」
「Emul!?」
「Ah, that’s right! It’s been a while since we’ve last met!」
No, no, no, don’t give me that “It’s been a while!” crap! And what’s up with you, anyway? Emul looked really groggy for some reason, as if he was shaking constantly for quite a while. Also, if it wasn’t for that squeal right now, I would never guess that he wasn’t a genuine muffler.
「No, wait, wait, wait! How come you’re actually here right now!?」
「Right! Since I have never before visited this region I thought it’s a good time to change that…… Yes, I really did my best here…… You might not want to believe it, but I came here all the way from Thirdrema while running……!」
Now then, I didn’t think it would be possible, but apparently I’ve just met someone whose “stupidity” was even greater and different from that of Katsu and Pencilgton.