Chapter 42

The streets were desolate, yet not quite. There were more cars passing by than usual, but no pedestrians, creating a strange atmosphere. Normally, this would make it difficult to chase Doyugeon, but since I can sense magic power, I comfortably kept my distance.

Following someone like this isn’t exactly polite. We’ve known each other for quite a while now, so even if I get caught, we could laugh it off. Still, because we’ve known each other for so long, there’s a line that should be respected, after all. Once school resumes after the break, I could easily corner him and ask questions then.

But the reason I’m doing this now is because Doyugeon almost died that day. If I hadn’t intervened when the Orc Shaman attacked him, something bad might have happened. For some reason, I can’t help but worry about him, though I don’t want to let that feeling overwhelm me. It’s unsettling just sitting around doing nothing.

Passing by shops with their doors occasionally closed, Doyugeon arrived at a two-story cafe. He really did come to a cafe. What a time to visit one.

I felt Doyugeon head upstairs, so I quickened my pace and entered the first floor of the cafe. After gauging the magic present on the second floor, it seemed there was only one customer: an adult male. I assumed he might be the person Doyugeon was waiting for, but then Doyugeon approached him and exchanged greetings. What is going on? Is he up to something strange again?

Since I couldn’t hear their conversation using magic, I carefully and quietly ascended the stairs leading to the second floor, keeping low to avoid being noticed. I could feel the curious gaze of one of the part-time workers on the first floor. Hmm.

“Phew, I was worried. After all the deaths during that incident, everyone said they couldn’t continue.”

“It’s understandable. I even had nightmares about it.”

“Really? Yet you’re still willing to continue? Wow, you’re pretty brave. Back when I was your age, I was such a coward. You’re impressive.”

“Not really, sir. You’re making it sound more significant than it is.”

“No, you really are impressive.”

The voice seemed familiar. Though this person doesn’t seem to actively use their magic much, they’ve certainly grown in magical ability. Still, I can’t distinguish faces by magic yet. Peering slightly upwards, I saw it was the Fire Mage. Ah, from the start, this person has always left a bad impression, and now they’re involved in this situation. Should I have distanced Doyugeon from them sooner?

Yet, Doyugeon said he doesn’t know this person, but clearly, they do. How can he so casually lie to me like this? Is this too much?

“The Orc Shaman was really strong, wasn’t he? We can beat the Goblins guarding the Rifts if we organize properly and invest time. You’ve experienced that yourself, right?”

“Well, I just peeked and ran away.”

Is he saying that they caught the Shaman while he claims to have run away? Though, if he’s going to say they caught him, he’d either have to lie or mention me.

“Our party managed to catch the Shaman without losing anyone, but other parties didn’t fare so well. Many people who were treating it like a game withdrew, and their families pressured them to stop. That left us with a severe shortage of manpower.”

“You must be having a tough time continuing to prepare.”

“That’s right. But now that you’ve joined us, the urgent problem is resolved.”

“Haha.”

Too much flattery, it’s too suspicious. What’s the Fire Mage planning to do with Doyugeon? Is Doyugeon actually useless to him?

Since it was uncomfortable standing on the stairs, I looked around the second floor to see if there was a good place to hide. The arrangement on the second floor was quite open, but I could hide behind the central pillar. A low partition near the staircase suggests that if I crouch low, I can stay hidden. So, I quietly crawled to the pillar, silently dusting off my clothes after arriving.

“I met the Exploration Guild Master, you know. The system in the game suddenly ended its closed beta phase, which threw the distribution system into chaos. The Guild Master mentioned something important when he was briefly gathering people for a quick meeting.”

“What’s that?”

“There’s going to be another Rift, not just the ones we’ve seen so far. These Rifts will appear temporarily, spawn monsters, and then vanish again.”

Where did the Guild Master get this information?

“Stories like that are always circulating as rumors.”

“I know. But the Guild Master said the person he arranged for us to meet has evidence, so we’ll know if it’s true or not once we meet them. Assuming it’s true, our job is to explore these Rifts when they appear.”

“Ahhh, so that’s why you’re gathering people now?”

And why didn’t Doyugeon follow my advice from kindergarten days to avoid suspicious characters?

“By the way, will exploring these Rifts be profitable? I mean, I entered one, but it was just a forest.”

“To explain, it’s a bit long. Originally, when people logged into the game to hunt, they could pick up rocks or chop down trees, but they couldn’t carry anything out when they logged out. Corporations installed equipment in preparation areas and conducted various researches. Over the course of a year, they accumulated research results but couldn’t actually utilize them. But since you can bring items out of the Rifts, the situation has changed. There are promising fields to explore now, and we’re planning to focus on pharmaceuticals.”

“So, we’ll gather herbs inside the Rift, make medicine, and sell it?”

“Something like that.”

Do they still make medicine this way these days?

“An expert will be here soon; you can ask them for more details. I’m not very knowledgeable about this area, haha.”

After that, the conversation continued with trivial topics.

I leaned against the pillar, squatting. Why am I here now? Because of Doyugeon. Though, I can’t quite figure out what I’m doing either. I quietly opened my cookie bag and ate one. It tastes good.

When I noticed an approaching sound from the stairs, I adjusted my position slightly to remain hidden. As someone walked in, the Fire Mage greeted them warmly. They seem to be a pharmaceutical company researcher. Peeking slightly, it was the Necromancer, someone I’ve encountered at every offline gathering. Why do all these people know each other? Is it bad karma?

“You’re right about gathering herbs, but what we’ll sell isn’t medicine.”

“Then what?”

“Health supplements.”

“What?”

“Health supplements. Since only a year has passed since the Fantasy Phenomenon began, clinical trials for first-phase drugs haven’t been approved yet, so the things you might think of as ‘medicines’ are really just health supplements.”

That makes sense. I peeked to see Doyugeon’s reaction and noticed he was hesitating, unsure whether to be excited or cautious.

“Does the health supplement really have remarkable effects?”

“If it had remarkable effects, it would qualify as a drug. We’re selling something less potent: a health supplement.”

“But if that’s the case, isn’t it risky to explore the Rifts?”

The Necromancer laughed.

“The effectiveness of the product is less important than whether it’s marketable. From my perspective, it looks like this product will sell. People these days go crazy for concepts like new materials, unknown realms, magic, and the cutting edge of science.”

“Absolutely. People are obsessed. I take one myself.”

“Our goal is to make money by leveraging the public’s fantasy.”

“Yeah! That’s it! I see cash already!”

The Fire Mage and Necromancer high-fived.

Are they fraudsters?

The Necromancer continued.

“But are these Rifts even real? I’m skeptical.”

“The Guild Master gave us reason to trust this. We’ll find out more when we meet the person arranged for us.”

“And who’s that?”

“A Magical Girl.”

Eh?

“Haven’t you heard? They’re the delinquent youth featured a few times on the news.”

“How would they know if Rifts are going to appear?”

“Who knows? We’ll find out when we meet them.”

Something about their calm explanation confused me since I’d never heard of this. Is ‘Magical Girl’ now a term we use casually in daily conversation? When did this even appear on the news? While I don’t have a TV at home or keep up with the news, still, isn’t that a bit extreme? Could avoiding the internet while focusing on reading a pile of books be problematic?

Pulling out my phone, I checked the news. After the event, there were indeed a few weeks when articles about Magical Girls briefly surfaced before disappearing again. Why didn’t Doyugeon tell me about this? Well, it is an embarrassing topic to bring up.

At this point, when business talks were well underway around me, a Magical Girl appeared on the second floor. As discussions about experimental requests buzzed around, I was quietly eating my cookies when suddenly a magic circle unfolded near my spot, and a girl descended from the air. Though she didn’t have a magic wand or a frilly dress, something told me instinctively that this was a Magical Girl. She was as tall as me, appearing to be about a middle school first-year. Too young.

The Magical Girl looked at me sitting on the floor in an awkward position, tilted her head, then walked over to the ongoing business talk.

“Sorry for being late. I was busy recruiting other Magical Girls. No complaints, please.”

The Magical Girl sat down naturally, causing the Fire Mage to stutter.

“Erm… So, you’re the Magical Girl?”

“Yes.”

The girl opened her binders and waved her finger, conjuring a magic circle that changed the position of the coffee cup. This was an unusually quirky effect.

She proceeded to explain matters such as the upcoming system open-beta and the timing and locations of the Rifts’ appearances, then handed over a contract.

“Sign with your blood. And remember, there will be consequences if the contract is broken.”

When the blood signature was completed, a blood-stained magic circle formed, activating the magic.

The world has truly gone mad.

*

I boarded the subway as usual. Even though school resumes, it seems there will be some empty seats, but the break is finally over.

While I was staring absentmindedly, Doyugeon boarded the train. It looked like his mood was low, perhaps because he hadn’t seen him in a while.

“Are you sleepy?”

“School always makes me sleepy.”

“That’s true.”

I thought for a moment about how to start the conversation. The day I followed Doyugeon and hid, listening in on their conversations, felt exhausting, and I was irritated, so I went home right away. I didn’t want to initiate a conversation that might result in venting my anger.

“Is there anything you’re hiding from me?”

“No.”

Ah.

“…Oh, really?”

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