Chapter 65

Ｒｅａｄ ｏｎ ​Ｋ​ａ​ｔＲｅａ​ｄ​ｉｎｇＣ​ａｆｅ

V-Spe Gamers! (3)

“Alright, time to cut to the chase! Today’s game is—”

“Lethal Company! Yaaaay!!”

– Oh, finally, huh? lol
– I’ve been waiting for this, seriously lololol
– Can’t believe the day has come where all four of them play Lethal Company together
– Making a Gamers unit was such a great idea
– So they’re gonna keep playing this game together for a while?

Lethal Company?

I tilted my head, hearing the game’s name for the first time.

Well, I guess that’s only natural. I haven’t exactly been watching game videos or keeping up with the latest releases lately.

Still, seeing the slightly excited looks on Inari and Toya’s faces as they smiled at me gave me a strange sense of anticipation.

‘More than anything, I really like the name of the game.’

I don’t know—maybe the words just hit me in the chest somehow. I had no idea what kind of game it was yet, but something told me it was going to be fun.

Especially since both Toya and Inari had good taste in fun games, so… yeah.

“So, what kind of game is it, exactly?”

“Great question, Natsu-chan!”

Clap clap! Toya clapped her hands and started a quick explanation.

1. You go to a planet and gather items worth money, meeting your quota within a set number of days.

2. If you don’t meet the quota, you get thrown out into space.

3. There might be dangerous creatures on the planets, so be careful!

That was Toya’s explanation, but… don’t you think that’s a little lacking?

I gave her a look that said as much, and she just pushed me forward, saying I’d understand better once I played.

Well, she’s not wrong. Games are meant to be learned by doing, after all.

“Come on, come on, let’s get in our seats~”

“Wah!”

– She kinda sounds like a cat lol
– Natsu flopping her legs like that is too cute
– Are we sure she’s not actually a cat?
– Her body stretching like that makes me think she’s still growing
– Wait, is she gonna grow taller?? lol
– lmao

I really need to buy myself a footrest one of these days. Tch.

After Toya set me in front of the computer, my model synced up and Ichinose Natsu’s upper body appeared on screen.

Oh, cutting-edge tech. We’re probably not far off from full-on VR, huh?

As soon as Natsu’s model showed up, the screen filled with the Lethal Company title.

“Heh heh, just stick with me and you’ll be fine, Nacchan~”

“I don’t know if I can trust you, Inari…”

“Even I can’t deny that.”

“Et tu, Nagisa?! Ugh, is no one on my side here?!”

Honestly, it felt safer figuring out how to survive on my own than trusting Inari.

When even Nagisa sided against her, Inari turned pleading eyes to Toya—but of course, Toya wasn’t going to back her up.

I mean, not that Inari was completely unreliable, but she didn’t exactly inspire confidence either.

If I had to describe her… maybe “fun to play with”? Though she could be a little too clingy sometimes.

“Well, let’s just get started and learn as we go!”

“Controls feel like a standard FPS.”

“Oh, there’s a gun.”

“There’s a gun? Really?”

Oh right, they did say there might be dangerous creatures on the planet.

As I looked at the characters in those weird hazmat suits, a thought struck me.

Maybe you actually kill monsters and sell their parts for cash?

Anyway, the first round was going to be on an easier planet.

Toya and Inari had played before, but Nagisa and I hadn’t, which was why we agreed to start simple.

“I can really trust you, right? You’re not gonna throw me into some weird trap or anything?”

“No way! We’re total pros at this already!”

“Suure…”

“Your voice has no trust in it whatsoever!”

– lmao
– Wouldn’t “experienced artist of death” be more accurate for Inari?
– I watched Inari play Lethal Company last time and it was a disaster lol
– She was so bad it was hilarious
– We apologize on behalf of Inari…

…It was that bad?

Even Inari seemed a bit flustered by the chat and averted her gaze.

She tried to say she’d gotten better, but her voice was so soft I couldn’t believe her.

It wasn’t that she got better, more like she just got used to dying.

I moved behind Toya’s character to avoid Inari’s, and Inari’s character started jumping around in protest.

“Too mean! I can be good at this too! Besides, Toya’s not even that good either!”

“That just makes me want to stick with Toya even more.”

“What?!”

It’s always safer to pair up with someone more experienced in games like this.

Of course, I wasn’t planning to leave Inari out—we were playing as a team of four, after all.

It’s just… I kinda wanted to hear Toya’s voice more.

At least Nagisa stuck with Inari. That made things feel more balanced—two and two.

[Ship landing soon!]

“They call this a ship? For four people?”

– It really is small lol
– It never gets bigger even as you progress
– Honestly, it’s more like a space helicopter
– Well, it flies through space, so I guess it counts
– Looks like Nacchan just joined a black company too lol
– lmao
– So V-Spe really is a black company huh lol

The spaceship shook slightly, and the hatch in the back opened up.

Ooh, so this is another planet?

Just as I hesitated to step out, Inari’s character pranced forward and immediately dropped through the hatch.

Wait, is it really okay to just walk out like that?

As I was wondering that, Nagisa followed her and jumped out too.

And then—

“Waaahhhh?!!”

“Kyaa?!”

—both of them vanished below the terrain.

“…Was that a bug?”

“Excellent question, Natsu-chan! That’s actually a terrain feature called a ‘swamp’!”

“Swamp?”

“In other words, fall in and you’re dead~”

“I see.”

– These girls are way too casual about people dying lol
– Perfect hire for a black company
– Isn’t it gonna be way harder with only two left at the start?
– First round is for learning anyway lol
– Can’t wait to see how Nacchan dies lol

Can two people really finish a four-player game?

Well, as long as we hit the quota within the deadline, I guess one failed day doesn’t mean game over.

Whatever, it’s the first try—might as well take it easy.

We’ll manage… somehow.

“Natsu, let’s go down this way!”

“Got it.”

Instead of jumping out of the center hatch, we dropped onto a slightly different colored patch of ground off to the side.

I looked around—just empty wasteland and a run-down building in the distance.

Felt more like a dystopian wasteland than outer space.

“See that building over there?”

“Yeah.”

“We go in and grab whatever valuable items we can find. Oh, and be careful of cliffs! Also, if you fall into water, you’ll drown ‘cause of the suit, so stay away from the shore, okay?”

“…Okay.”

– This sounds like a parent worrying about their kid…
– Guess Toya has no choice but to hold Nacchan’s hand the whole time lol
– Isn’t this supposed to be a collab stream? Why does it feel like a date for two lol
– I, too, hate foxes now…
– Fox-lover turned fox-hater lol

They might come back soon, so it was probably best to get a move on.

Let’s head into the building first.

As the old building loomed closer, I found myself swallowing nervously.

Why am I getting so worked up over this?

“Natsu, we’re here! Just pick up anything you see!”

“All of it?”

“Well, you can only carry up to four items, so prioritize the expensive stuff!”

“I’ll take the left side, so you go right!” Toya said, vanishing into the building.

Wait, doesn’t that defeat the point of us coming in together?

But Toya was already gone.

I turned toward the left path. A narrow hallway stretched out ahead with only a faint light at the end.

…This looked straight out of a horror game.

“…Nothing’s gonna pop out, right?”

– Warning: Dangerous creatures may appear.
– Well, there has to be something or you couldn’t make money, right?
– Are we finally going to hear Nacchan’s real scream? lol
– It’s the easiest planet, so she should be fine… probably

“Oh, a cube.”

[Cube: $28]

Is $28 a lot?

When I checked the total required this week, it said we needed $50.

Wait, I already got over half the quota with this one?

Then maybe we can just head back and finish the rest tomorrow.

Toya might even find another cube.

[¥1000]

– You’re not seriously gonna leave with just that one item, right? You still have three inventory slots! Seriously~ lol

Ugh, you can’t just throw out a challenge like that and expect me not to rise to it!

Turning the character around, I headed deeper into the building.

Just you wait. I’m going to load up every single slot with the most valuable stuff I can find!