episode_0033

“Then, Miss Suin, I will let you use this house.”

“That, do that. No, do it, Senior Saya.”

Suin awkwardly corrected her words.

Senior Saya nodded and focused her gaze into the air.

“Select the [Territory] menu, and select here in [Territory Designation]. Confirm and… Confirm territory… .”

Since it is an AR-format management menu that is visible only to individuals, it seems like they are explaining it one by one because they thought we might be curious.

The next moment, I too was presented with a system message.

《You have entered the Master’s (Saya) territory.》

《In the Master (Saya)’s territory, the rate of stat consumption due to actions decreases and the rate of recovery increases.》

“Something… I got a bunch of extra items.”

“Could you please summarize it for me? There might be something I don’t know.”

Without being asked, Suin brought a tablet and a pen and handed it to Senior Saya.

Senior Saya said thank you and started writing down the items she was seeing on the tablet one by one. It wasn’t much different from what I remembered. The explanation was the same.

“First, install a [Surveillance Platform] in [Special Facility]. Level 1 is fine, but instead, add [Range Expansion Level 1] in the options to make the effective range a 100m radius, and add [Concealment] so that you won’t be caught by someone passing by.”

“Yes.”

《You are within the area of the special facility [Surveillance Platform].》

“Let’s do the test like this.”

I made Suin order from a restaurant she doesn’t usually order from, no matter where, but with face-to-face payment.

About 20 minutes later, the delivery man came and pressed the intercom.

Ignore it.

After about a minute, the delivery man rang the intercom repeatedly.

Again, ignore it.

After about a minute, they started banging on the door.

I ignored it again. Then… .

I started hearing an intense siren sound in my head.

《[Watchdog]: There is a hostile entity within the territory. (Number 1)》

“Yeah, if you react to this much, there shouldn’t be a problem. Want to go out?”

Suin quickly opened the front door and ran to the front door. The siren sound continued to blare, but disappeared as Suin bowed her head.

《[Watchdog]: The hostile entity has disappeared.》

Suin came back with the coffee and donut set she had ordered.

Like everyone else, he looked quite curious.

“There was something like this… .”

“I heard you didn’t invest at all in the territory menu, but you didn’t even read it properly?”

“… [Music Creation] I’m all interested in the tree side… .”

“This isn’t a game with save loads, so isn’t it normal to check this and that when you spend points? Are you actually being very generous?”

Su-in seemed a little hurt, but she didn’t say anything because it was the truth.

I had no choice but to point to the T-shirt and provide further explanation.

“You should also think about why the guy who was supposedly hostile suddenly stopped being hostile. When you wear a baggy t-shirt like this and bend down like that, everything is visible.”

“What, what?!”

“You should be aware of how you look right now… Senior? Yuna? What’s with that expression?”

Yuna was openly laughing, and her senior was also laughing a little, though not to that extent.

“My junior also cares about that. Sometimes, I feel like he moves too coolly and it must have been difficult for the people around him.”

“When you look into the future, you were a man. Didn’t you want to be a man? Hey, is there a drug that makes you a man?”

It seemed like the first thing Yuna said to Suin today. Suin was also flustered, but after a moment of hesitation, she answered cautiously.

“Oh, there wasn’t any, Senior Yuna… . I also have a female transformation potion, so I thought it was strange why there wasn’t one. There are also potions that turn you into a slime or tentacle monster… .”

Of course I know the answer. It was because it was a night game and there was no need for it.

Later, a user mod called ‘Potion to Turn You Into a Man’ was released, but since only men could take this, it is a bit problematic to call it a male potion.

“Well, anyway, we’ve confirmed the performance of [Surveillance]. Of course, we can’t just trust this. It won’t work on someone who is mentally controlled and attacks without a sense of self, or someone who has great control over their own will. For example… Come here.”

“Huh? What are you going to do?”

I put my hands on Suin’s shoulders and smiled.

Then, the three people except me looked startled and looked at me at the same time.

“Junior?!”

“What?”

“Uh, uh… ?”

I counted to five in my head and took my hands off Suin.

“How was it?”

“The siren rang for about 5 seconds and a warning sounded, then suddenly disappeared… .”

“What did you do… .”

Yuna was dumbfounded. On the other hand, Suin was still shaking slightly after being released. It must be because she was directly exposed to the enemy that she felt differently.

“Now, it’s intentionally hostile, but on the other hand, there may be some who enter the territory while hiding, so you have to be careful. Why is that? Are you okay?”

“… Why am I the target! You can do it to other people!”

“How can you harbor hostility toward Senior Saya? And if you do that to Yuna, you’ll be counterattacked.”

“… Oh, I see.”

I’m a little upset.

I told you to be angry though.

“Then let’s build the next facility. [Training Room]. Level 1 is fine. Anyway, I can’t choose anything higher than that right now.”

“[Training Room]. Well, this is where the entrance is set.”

“Yeah. Let’s make it in the basement.”

[Surveillance Platform] is a device that does not require any actual space, but [Training Room] needs to be a space that can be entered, so it needs an entrance.

They moved to the basement together. The basement’s strange appearance seemed to perplex the senior and Yuna. Of course, they weren’t as perplexed as Suin.

“[Training Room] is a separate dimension, so if we make it like this, we can escape inside in the worst case scenario.”

It is a double shelter with an underground panic room and training room.

The senior created an entrance to the training room on one side of the basement wall. A translucent blue door appeared, and I concentrated and pushed myself inside.

《You have entered the [training room].》

《You can configure the detailed settings of the [Training Room] using voice or the tablet in the center.》

“Stage setting: Athletics stadium. Time: 9:00 a.m. Environment change: General.”

When we set it to voice, a track and field stadium made of natural grass and urethane tracks appeared.

The three people who came in after him looked surprised.

“Isn’t it okay? It’s a place where you don’t have to worry about noise, fine dust, or cleaning up. There are limited settings for now, but it’ll be enough for the time being.”

It was actually a facility that didn’t have much meaning in the game.

The best way is to secure characters with outstanding abilities and expand your power quickly. [Training Room] could be said to be a facility where you can put characters that are lacking enough to become the main force and forget about them.

But on our side, the story is different.

Yuna is a great force even in her current state. Suin is a great assistant.

However, the important Saya-senpai has no abilities whatsoever, and although I have gained a very small amount of abilities, I am still in a state of being an unawakened person.

So, to somehow increase power, training was necessary.

“As I said earlier, from now on, except in unavoidable cases, everyone will have to live in the training room. Of course, it goes for me and Senior Saya, who don’t have any special talents, and the two Awakened members also have nothing to lose by training their bodies.”

There seemed to be no disagreement.

I knew that Saya-senpai wouldn’t be dissatisfied. Yuna would listen to me until she felt that it was pointless.

The only problem was Soo-in, but the ‘you’re easy’ stimuli from earlier seemed to have had an effect, as her face was quite enthusiastic.

After changing into the gym clothes I had told you to bring in advance, we each stood on the track.

“Okay. Then for now… let’s run. The goal is until we can’t run anymore.”

Running isn’t the answer to everything, but there aren’t many things better than running.

5 minutes later.

Senior Saya, Suin, and I were all retching together.

“… .”

Only Yuna, who was completely fine, was looking at us with an expression that seemed to indicate that she didn’t know what to say.

“Don’t look at me like that… You, you run too… . Run with all your might… until you feel like you can’t run anymore… .”

After saying that, he fell to the floor.

I ran at full speed, ignoring all the signals to check the limit, but I was surprised to find that the limit was much faster than I thought.

Suin was in a similar state, but only Senior Saya was trying to move while shaking her legs.

“This, I have to clean this up… .”

ah….

“Stage reconstruction.”

In the blink of an eye, the stadium was reconstructed. The debris we had created had disappeared somewhere.

“Open, it’s convenient… .”

Senior Saya seemed to have relaxed and knelt down with a weak smile.

I was thinking that it was amazing that he didn’t fall down like Nana Su-in, but he somehow got up by hitting the ground and started running again, staggering.

“Mo, you’re going to do it until you can’t run anymore… ?”

“Ugh, yeah… .”

Senior Saya smiled.

“Thank goodness… . In the test, I was kicked out in the middle because I was too slow and it was a distraction… .”

This time I can do it till the end… .

It was too slow to say that he was running, but Saya-senpai was still running. He took a deep breath, looked ahead, and kicked the ground with all his might.

There are only two things on my mind: further ahead, faster.

Slow speed is just a consequence.

I raised my body. My shrunken lungs screamed just from that.

But, Senior Saya, who was running so slowly, had already surpassed the position I had given up on. It was impossible to just lie down and watch that.

“I have to chase after you… . Saya senior’s butt… .”

“… Hey?”

Su-in, who was getting up next to me, made a strange sound.

Why is that? Is it so hard?

I ran, wondering. I ran and chased after Senior Saya.

He corrected my form while I was running. He taught me how to maintain my stamina and become faster.

As I speak, I realize that I myself have forgotten such basics. I have been lazy in understanding my own body.

With such thin ankles and such a huge thing on my chest, it’s only natural that I’d get tired quickly if I ran like I used to.

“Since I’m not trying to measure lap times, there’s no need to go too fast. It’s okay to slow down, so it feels like testing your limits… .”

“You… Really… You’re so good at talking like that… . If you keep doing that, you’ll end up hitting your nose on my butt… .”

Suin passed me while looking at me in disbelief. Yuna was running along the outermost track without hesitation, and the sound of the wind chimes was creepy.

“After, junior… .”

I suddenly came to my senses when I heard Senior Saya’s voice.

I followed the buttocks of Saya-senpai running in front of me, and realized that I was running on all fours, with my back completely bent.

… I did it, but it was pretty amazing. I can’t help but be scared.

But, Senior Saya didn’t know that I was doing that and didn’t say anything.

Since I didn’t even look back in the first place, there’s no way I would know.

I just wanted to ask you a favor.

“Please go in front… . I like it if the junior is in front… .”

I obeyed.

I corrected my posture and quickly surpassed my senior.

I modified the physical information that was disconnected from my existing memories and thought of the optimal form that would fit the present. I created an appearance that my senior would want to see and imitate, and that my senior would want to follow.

I didn’t look back, but I could confirm my determination by the sound of footsteps coming from behind me.

†

I don’t know how many laps ago it was that I saw Yuna pull Suin out from the track.

I don’t know how many laps ago it was that I saw Yuna fall backwards after letting out a loud noise that went beyond the level of a cracking sound.

The limbs that were clearly beyond their limits simply wouldn’t move. The optimal form that I had created with great effort had completely collapsed.

My head was dizzy and I couldn’t see clearly. The sound of my pounding heart seemed to fill my head, but then suddenly disappeared.

The only thing that seemed to replace the sound of my heart was the slow, weak footsteps coming from behind me.

As long as I could hear that sound, I thought it wasn’t the limit yet.

So when the sound finally stopped, it was such a pity.

My body, having lost its motivation, gave up on maintaining balance and just collapsed onto the track. Because the speed was so slow, there was no need to fall.

I tried to take a deep breath, but my shrunken lungs only allowed me to take a tiny breath. Even that was not possible, so all I could do was make a strange wheezing sound.

But then I heard footsteps.

It was the sound of footsteps that had been following me.

I barely managed to turn my head and look up, and there was the figure of Saya-senpai, who had clearly retired before me.

From his face, which had turned pale from lack of oxygen, I could only sense pain. Still, when his blank gaze met mine, the corners of his mouth slightly twisted into something resembling a smile.

And then he came right next to me and collapsed on me.

“Senior… .”

“… ?”

His lips were trembling, but he probably didn’t have the energy left to speak.

I confessed to my senior who was looking at me silently.

“I like you, senior. I really like you. I love you so much.”

The senior couldn’t answer, but judging by the way his eyebrows were furrowed, it must have meant something like, ‘I know’ or ‘Me too.’

“… Excuse me for interfering… Can I give you this now?”

Suin’s hand suddenly came between me and Senior Saya.

In his hands he held two small flask-like glass bottles, each containing a blue liquid.

It was a restorative medicine that was created for Suin. It was not a medicine to heal trauma, but a medicine to recover from physical and mental exhaustion. … It could also be called a kind of stimulant.

Since Saya-senpai was in no condition to receive and drink it, I passed Saya-senpai on mouse-to-mouse.

I checked that it was slowly going down my throat, and after suppressing my regret and taking my lips off, I drank the medicine too.

The effect was amazing!

My body, which had reached its limit, instantly regained its vitality.

Senior Saya also came to her senses and opened her eyes wide. She seemed bewildered by the sudden change in her body.

“The effect is good. Thank you.”

I helped Senior Saya up and got up together.

“Where’s Yuna?”

“… The medicine is done, I’ll just rest.”

“You seem to be quite unlovable.”

“… Well, I guess so… .”

I checked out Yuna sitting on the other side of the track.

He wasn’t as exhausted as everyone else, but he looked pretty tired. I got some medicine from Suin and went to Yuna.

“You must have run pretty hard.”

There were clear footprints here and there on the track. The soles of Yuna’s shoes were tattered.

“Wait, you stopped not because you were tired, but because your shoes were a mess?”

“Similar. So the medicine is fine.”

“But you probably haven’t run this far before. I’ve confirmed that there’s no problem, so drink it. If you refuse, I’ll force you to drink it, but do you think it’s better to do it in front of him?”

Yuna glared at me with sharp eyes, so I responded with a smile.

Yuna, who had been staring at it for a while, finally gave up and took the bottle.

Everyone, including Yuna, whose condition quickly improved, gathers together to reflect.

The training room’s voice command checked the time and distance each person ran. Ultimately, it was confirmed that Senior Saya ran a longer distance and in a faster time than Suin.

“This isn’t a very meaningful piece of data, but it’s enough to know that this is my current limit. From now on, I’ll actively train while using this recovery potion.”

Taking this drug can greatly reduce the time needed to recover after exercise.

Of course, that doesn’t mean you can instantly break down and regenerate your muscles to become a muscle monster, and if you repeat hard training, your body’s functions will break down and your body will easily become a mess.

However, it is clear that if you adjust it appropriately, you can greatly increase your exercise ability with high efficiency in a short period of time.

If you are the persistent type like Senior Saya, it will definitely be of great help.

“The immediate goal is to learn how to escape from a crisis situation. How to run fast and long, how to use obstacles to shake off pursuers, how to avoid attacks in close quarters, and how to quickly subdue them when you have no choice… That’s about it.”

“They say to fight only when you have no choice.”

Yuna confirmed.

This is probably not a story that the belligerent Yuna would like very much.

“Actually, if you really feel like you have no choice, it’s better to surrender. If you can somehow subdue the opponent, then you can run away.”

“… Then when are you going to fight?”

“Only when we have the advantage and it is the fight we started first. Even if it looks advantageous, if it is not the fight we started, run away unconditionally.”

… In fact, is there anything scarier than a situation where we seem to have the advantage but the opponent challenges us to a fight?

anyway.

I put into words the first training content to achieve my goal.

“Okay, then let’s run.”

“… .” “… .” “Yes!”

Only my senior answered cheerfully.

No, there’s really nothing more important than running right now.

†

Training stopped around lunchtime.

It’s not because of appetite. Everyone reacted by saying they didn’t want to eat anything.

But I still had to eat, and more importantly…

“I need to wash my clothes… .”

“I just bought the shoes.”

“I ordered bottled water, so it will be here soon.”

These were the materials consumed due to intense exercise.

As I was sorting out the things I needed, someone’s cell phone, which had been left on one side of the playground, suddenly started vibrating.

Yuna ran over and checked her phone, then made a puzzled expression. Then she picked up the phone and held it in front of us.

It was Senior Saya’s phone.

Senior Saya was startled and picked up the phone.

“Oh, hey, you’re awake…?”

The senior walked away from us with quick steps and answered the phone.

After talking for about a minute, he turned off the phone and approached me with a troubled expression.

“Excuse me. I think I have to go and look for my mother.”

“Okay, okay. Okay, that’s it for morning training.”

““… AM?””

Yuna and Suin’s voices matched perfectly.

Their eyes met awkwardly and uncomfortably.

I told them both.

“Okay, you two go out and fill up the supplies. And while you’re at it, Yuna, pick out some clothes for Suin.”

“Huh?” “What?”

“None of the clothes I have now fit, and I need underwear, at least. Since Su-in won’t know anyway, let Yuna choose.”

Yuna kept her mouth shut.

But Suin was not convinced and argued.

“P, I don’t need it! And why this guy… Yuna senior! It would be better if you… .”

“You like the underwear I choose for you? Are you serious about that…?”

As he spoke with a very kind smile, Suin’s body trembled.

No, there’s no need to feel the chills. What were you thinking?

“You, what are you trying to do…?”

“Me? I should follow my senior. I was thinking it was about time anyway.”

“When…?”

He answered the puzzled senior.

“When greeting a senior’s mother.”

†

《Goal: Yumia.》

《Attribute: ???》

《Skills possessed: [???].》

《Difficulty: Impossible.》

《Special Note: Unable to conquer. Yusaya’s mother exists only in the setting.》

《Start Survive.》