A giant monitor glowed in a dark room.
The screen on that monitor showed a girl.
When the black-haired girl, who had been keeping her eyes closed, opened them, the golden irises hidden behind her eyelids were revealed to the world.
“······?”
The first thing the girl felt the moment she opened her eyes and looked at the world was confusion.
“Here··· is····?”
It was a question about the place where she existed.
In front of the monitor where the girl was displayed stood a man and a woman.
A woman in a black suit with pale blond hair, and a slender-looking white-haired man who had spread both arms wide to either side as if delighted.
Among them, the white-haired man answered the girl’s question.
“――.”
“·····Why was I born?”
“――. ――――.”
“What······ am I supposed to do?”
“――――!”
“······Something I like?”
The conversation between the man and the girl continued, and this time the girl asked the questions.
“······I want to know. If I do that, can I meet them?”
“······This sky-blue prison of a world. Can I get out of here?”
“―――.”
“······Then that’s fine too, if it’s my purpose······.”
“――. ――――.”
“······Why? I want to know what it feels like to touch someone.”
“―――. ――. ――――.”
“······Yes. I want to know everything about my own existence······.”
“―――――.”
“······Promise me.”
The conversation ended there.
When it was over, the girl closed her eyes and murmured softly.
“······Yes, I just want to know······”
*****
It was a peaceful everyday life······ though calling it that felt a little off.
“You’re going on a date with me today, Shido!”
“No. Shido should be going on a date with me, his girlfriend.”
“Ah, haha. You two, how about calming down?”
“What a mess.”
Tohka and Tobiichi were still fighting today, and Rinne was mediating, so there was no way it could be anything but a mess.
Shido-kun and Rinne looked pitiful, having to deal with those two all the time.
“Hieta. I don’t think you’re in any position to say that while looking at Shido, though? So, decide who you’re going on a date with among us!”
“Persuasion. If you go on a date with me, you’ll have fun.”
“Dar~ling! Unlike the others, I don’t get to spend much time with you, so you’ll go with me, right~?”
“Eek!”
“Miku···. First, take your hand off Sachi’s chest before you speak.”
Mm, this side was a mess too.
I had no idea why these people were suddenly acting like this.
Still, I understood that once one person asked for a date, everyone else had apparently smashed their brakes and started flooring it.
“Ah, haha. Everyone, I’m not really planning to go on a date, though···?”
I had no intention of dating.
We were students, after all. Shouldn’t we be focusing on studying rather than romance?
But there was no way my opinion would work on them.
“Heh heh heh. Hieta. You’re far too soft! We already possess supreme knowledge, so we needn’t worry about school grades!”
“Mockery. Pfft. Kaguya barely scraped past failing.”
“Yuzuru!!!”
“I’m an idol, so it doesn’t really matter to me~?”
“Miku and I are actually pretty good at studying.”
“That’s right.”
Except for the Yamai sisters, everyone had a reason that was at least somewhat understandable.
In other words, there wasn’t a single opening left for me to refuse.
“Uh···. I mean, I’m not very good at studying. So I don’t think I can.”
“Huh? You don’t care about studying anyway.”
Ah, I’ve been found out.
To be honest, she was right. I didn’t really have any strong feelings about studying.
I just had the mindset that I should do it like everyone else, so my grades were neither good nor bad.
That was why Miss Mayuri was saying that.
“Now! Hurry up and choose!”
Under Kaguya’s pressure and everyone else’s, I was finally forced to face the situation where I had to choose one person.
I couldn’t even ask Shido-kun for help, because he was currently being grabbed by three girls and forced into a date, which made this even more of a headache.
Honestly, I’m a guy too, so of course I’m happy.
I am.
But if I chose one person here, it was obvious the others would feel bad. How was I supposed to pick?
“Hmm···.”
That was why I was thinking.
How could I get out of this situation?
While I was running through all kinds of scenarios in my head and turning my brain as hard as I could,
ding!
A text message arrived.
After asking for permission and checking it, it said the commander had something to show us and told us to come to [Fraxinus].
The moment I looked up after reading it, I made eye contact with Shido-kun.
And in both our gazes was the clear joy of having found an escape route.
Shido-kun and I, having found the only way out of this situation, nodded slightly.
“G-guys! Kotori called me, so I think I have to go!”
“I-I’ve got something else to do too, so I’m heading out!”
As Shido-kun and I slowly backed away and measured our timing, we said that and immediately turned around and ran.
“Kotori!”
“Commander! We can see you’re watching, so hurry up and retrieve us!!!”
Whether the commander heard our cries or not, we were engulfed in light and retrieved to [Fraxinus].
“Phew···. Thank go—kuh!”
“Shido-kun!?”
“Why are you shouting so loud and causing a scene!”
The commander’s Rider Kick landed on Shido-kun the moment he was retrieved.
Shido-kun took the kick to the stomach and doubled over, collapsing forward.
“W-why only me···.”
“Hiki doesn’t have enough impact.”
“Am I some kind of punching bag!?”
Sorry to say it to Shido-kun, but honestly, he does have the most satisfying reaction when he gets hit.
“So, Commander. What is it you wanted to show us?”
“Ah, that? Follow me.”
We followed the commander and arrived at a place where Miss Murasame was waiting for us.
“Reine. I brought them.”
“Ah, you’re here. Shin. Hiki.”
“I heard you had something to show us. What is it?”
“I made a new game.”
“A··· game?”
At the words new game, I got a very bad feeling.
You know, the game Shido-kun and I played before, “My Little Shido,” was also something they made themselves.
They made that bizarre game, and now they’d made another one?
There was definitely something going on.
“Why are both of you making that face?”
“···Good faces. Both of you have sharp instincts.”
When I touched my face, it really was stiff.
Looks like what I was thinking had shown on my face.
I felt cold sweat running down my back as I asked Miss Murasame, “Um, Miss Murasame. This game of yours isn’t related to ‘My Little Shido,’ is it···?”
At my question, Miss Murasame spoke in her usual tired-looking, indifferent tone.
“Correct. I made a sequel to the masterpiece ‘My Little Shido,’ which I created back then to train you all.”
“I knew it···!”
Looks like Shido-kun had the same thought I did.
We were both shocked that a sequel to that bizarre game had been made.
“No, how did you even have time to make something like that while working as an analyst!?”
“Why would you make another game like that···!”
“···Mm. We pulled all-nighters to make it.”
That one line wiped out our protests instantly.
They said they made it while staying up all night, so if we said anything more than that, we’d just be garbage.
“Now, come this way.”
Miss Murasame fiddled with something in place and led us somewhere else.
And there were Tohka, Rinne, Miss Yoshino, Miss Kaguya, Miss Yuzuru, Miku, Miss Mayuri, Miss Mana, the Fire Keeper, and several other crew members.
“If you called the others too, not just us, you could’ve said so from the start.”
“······Ah, sorry. I was about to say it, but I forgo—”
“Miss Reine?”
“······Surprise success.”
She was definitely about to say she forgot, right?
“Anyway, the reason I called you here is for the demonstration of [Ratatoskr]’s new release, ‘Love Me, My Little Shido 2.’”
“Putting aside why you even made it to 2, if this is a game demo, do we really need to come all the way to [Fraxinus]?”
“Not necessarily.”
“What do you mean? Kotori?”
In response to Shido-kun’s question, the commander said this game was a “super simulated reality dating game.”
“No, what are those weird modifiers in front of it?”
“For the sake of Hiki, who’s bad with words, let me explain it simply: it’s a virtual sensory game.”
“······.”
I had a lot I wanted to say, but I just didn’t say it.
The commander saying things like that wasn’t exactly a first.
By now, I was used to it.
“Because the processing is complicated, a normal computer can’t control it. That’s why we need the supercomputer installed in [Fraxinus].”
“A supercomputer just to play a dating sim···. Don’t waste such good technology on something like this···.”
I fully agreed with Shido-kun.
Using a supercomputer just to play a dating sim was a bit much.
“···This isn’t just any dating sim. This game lets you experience a virtual space that perfectly recreates Tengushi City—in other words, it sends only your consciousness into another world.”
“So, again, why are you using such amazing technology to make a dating sim···.”
Why make a weird dating sim with that level of technology?
“But that isn’t dangerous or anything, right?”
“Hiki. Things like this, you know. You don’t know until you actually try them. Today’s test includes that too.”
“That just makes us experime—”
“You’ve got a lot to say, huh! Hurry up and get in there and try it!”
“W-wait a second!”
The commander pushed me forward and moved me toward a place with strange machines and chairs.
“······Wow, this setup is insane.”
“This room is for ‘My Little Shido 2.’ We expanded the equipment for it.”
“···You really do work ridiculously hard in the weirdest places.”
Listening to Shido-kun mutter, I looked around the room and had to admit it was impressive.
How much money had they poured into this thing?
“All right, now we need to decide who’s sitting down.”
“Huh? Decide what? Can’t we all just sit down together?”
At my question, Miss Murasame, who had been operating the device, poked her head out and said, “······This game is single-player, so we can’t activate each device separately.”
“Then why are there so many chairs···?”
“······Those are there so we can watch you all get all giddy over a dating sim.”
“No, no. Did you just throw our dignity in the trash!?”
Thanks to Miss Murasame’s words, I lost all motivation to do this.
But Shido-kun was no different.
In the end, we decided to settle it with a fair and square game of rock-paper-scissors.
“All right, if you don’t show, you lose!”
“Rock! Paper! Scissors!”
Shido-kun threw rock.
I threw scissors.
“Nooooooo!!!”
“Niceeeeeee!!!”
Our fates split cleanly in opposite directions.
I could only sit down in despair and put on the device.
*****
“······Hm. What is this···?”
Reine, who had been operating the device, sensed something strange.
“What is it, Reine?”
At Kotori’s worried question from beside her, Reine shook her head and murmured, “······No, the system seems normal. It’s probably just my imagination···. Then, shall we begin.”
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