I’m not a fool.
That means I won’t repeat the same mistakes I’ve made once.
“Y-You know, I’m not going to the Haunted House….”
I said to Suzuha Koga and Yukari Akabane, who came on the second day of the Cultural Festival.
One time of that kind of spectacle yesterday was enough.
Before leaving school yesterday, when my classmates shot me looks that said they felt sorry for me, I really wanted to drop out….
“I was going to say you should wait outside from the start.”
“I heard everything from Ren yesterday.”
“…Huh?”
Oh, that’s strange.
I’m sure I promised it was a secret yesterday.
‘Is it, um, secret from others…?’
‘Hmmm. I’ll think about it!’
‘Okay….’
…Now that I think about it, Aki was the only one who gave me a clear answer.
I was tricked again….
“I knew Kayanoh didn’t like it, so I had no intention of insisting on going together even if I didn’t know.”
“Originally, Ren and Ruka were going to go alone yesterday, but Kayanoh couldn’t refuse a classmate’s request, so it turned out like this.”
“You need to learn to refuse what you really hate, Kayanoh.”
“Yes….”
“Then, I’ll be off.”
For some reason, it turned into a scolding atmosphere for me, but I could still feel relieved that I didn’t have to go back into that Haunted House.
About 10 minutes passed.
Click-clack, the back door opened, and Suzuha Koga and Yukari Akabane walked out.
“Uh, that was super scary…?”
Yesterday, Ayaka Utsumi and Aki said I couldn’t help being scared.
Even if Suzuha Koga and Yukari Akabane were the bravest in Star’s Flow, they couldn’t have been unfazed….
“They really did a good job.”
“The hands popping out from below must have been really scary for Kayanoh.”
…That was a thing?
“It really had a better atmosphere than the average high school cultural festival.”
Koga and Akabane, who started off this way, were wearing nonchalant expressions.
…Huh?
“W-Was it not scary…?”
“It was just generally fun.”
How could this be?
…Maybe our class’s Haunted House was indeed well-made, but it wasn’t scary to the point of trembling like I did yesterday?
That means my antics yesterday were truly incomprehensible to the others.
When I dropped by the class yesterday and received those looks, I thought, ‘Honestly, it’s your fault for making it too scary.’
I must have been at a truly pitiful level.
I mean, I was a guy in my previous life, yet I’m weaker than ordinary girls when it comes to scary things.
Of course, that’s a part you can’t categorize by gender, but it leaves me feeling a bit complicated….
★
I naturally planned to see the play today.
Even though I would watch it twice, I wanted Koga and Akabane, who came to enjoy the festival, to have as much fun as possible.
It was such an interesting play that I didn’t even mind seeing it twice.
However, Koga and Akabane rejected my suggestion.
“Actually, we came early this morning and saw it already.”
“…Huh?”
“It’s better for us to wait for Kayanoh while we watch it rather than Kayanoh watching it twice.”
I could only nod at their perfectly sensible logic.
“Were you wanting to see the play again, Kayanoh?”
“N-No.”
Just because I didn’t mind seeing it twice didn’t mean I wanted to see it again.
So, what can we do now…?
I thought we’d definitely be watching the play from 2 to 3:30 PM, so I hadn’t prepared anything else….
“…You didn’t prepare anything, did you, Kayanoh?”
“Uh, um, regarding that….”
“It’s okay. We just came to watch the play without notice, anyway. So, I actually made plans in advance.”
Koga said this and took out and opened a pamphlet.
“First, they said that class 3-C is holding a prize-winning game, so let’s head there.”
She was already skillfully planning our course, and it seemed she had expected this to happen all along.
…Well, who is she?
She’s the leader of Star’s Flow’s second generation, Koga Maman, after all?
She may be the smallest and look the youngest among us, but she’s always a reliable older sister….
“Huh?”
“I-I’m sorry….”
“…Sometimes, Yuyika scares me.”
Don’t worry, Akabane, I feel the same way.
★
The conclusion of the Cultural Festival is always the campfire.
It was the same last year, and it’s the same this year.
The campfire I saw last year was quite nice.
Except for the fact that I returned home completely exhausted, I think it was a rather good memory.
“…Shouldn’t we go see it again this year?”
“But I’m really, really tired…”
The problem was that I genuinely felt extremely exhausted right now.
No wonder; I had been wandering around the Cultural Festival for two consecutive days.
Last year, during the first day’s break, I could relax in the (former) science room, my comfort zone….
This kind of hard labor is too much for a fragile, delicate girl like me.
“…Then, shall we have dinner together?”
I quietly nodded at Akabane’s suggestion.
Of course, my body and mind were tired, but I could definitely manage to eat dinner outside.
It’s definitely not because of the hassle of preparing a meal at home or anything!
“Anything you want to eat?”
“Um, Yakiniku….”
This year’s Cultural Festival food included quite a few sweet treats, like crepes and donuts.
Of course, after being reincarnated, I’ve grown quite fond of such sweet desserts, but still, eating sweet things for two consecutive days made my stomach feel unwell.
Thus, it has to be Yakiniku.
I need to eat plenty of meat to wipe away all this greasiness.
What? Isn’t meat greasy too?
There’s a huge difference between being sweet and greasy versus greasy from meat, of course!
Anyone who says they’re the same would have to be one of those dimwits who think Coke and Pepsi are interchangeable because they’re both cola….
Of course, I’m a die-hard Coke fan!
“Is Yuyika okay with Yakiniku too?”
“Yeah. I’m fine with it.”
Thus, after finishing up the cleanup from the Cultural Festival, we headed for a Yakiniku restaurant.
“I-I’m stuffed….”
I could only eat about five pieces of Yakiniku.
I had eaten way too many desserts in the afternoon….
I hate that my body can’t take more….
★
[【Sky King】Become the Sky King for Me #Star’sFlow#KainohIzumi]
As soon as I got home after eating Yakiniku, I felt too exhausted to the point of collapsing, but I absolutely couldn’t fall over.
Today, I had promised the supportive players that I would clear Sky King for sure.
“…Did I finally come this far…?”
So, overcoming all physical and mental fatigue, I turned on the broadcast and started playing Sky King.
“Phew….”
And now, I had to admit it.
Sky King. This game is difficult.
It’s on par with or even harder than the Arcana Shooter’s hellish difficulty.
I asked the Star’s Flow members just to be sure, and excluding Aki, not a single member managed to challenge and clear Sky King.
Up until today, I had invested a total of 31 hours into this game.
Even for me, the TS cute girl you could call a cheat code in the game, it took this long, so you can imagine how absurdly hard this game is.
But now, it’s finally starting to show signs of completion.
-If I stay calm, I’m sure I can clear it.
-Just a little more calmness.
Since even the abusive faction knew I hadn’t focused this much on a game in a long time, they were endlessly supporting me.
And my current position is the summit of the fifth area, ‘Ice Desert.’
If I pass this, I will finally arrive at the last area, ‘Sea of Flames.’
Although it’s my first time visiting this area, I don’t feel scared because I’ve already learned the controls of this game to a certain extent.
If I don’t get nervous and proceed slowly and calmly, I’m sure I can clear it.
I was confident in that.
“Phew….”
However, suddenly, I became anxious, and my hands started to sweat.
And my instincts shouted in my mind.
If I play like this, my hands will slip, so make sure you settle down to properly proceed in the game.
“B-By the way… there’s a group collaboration next week, right…?”
Trusting my instincts, I wiped my sweating hands and started chatting with the supportive players.
-Jelly Killer?
-I’m really looking forward to the group collab.
-Mei-chan will probably play the role of being eaten in Jelly Killer.
“I-I’m going to win it all…”
Starting a discussion about next week’s group collaboration with all the members of Star’s Flow, I took a moment to catch my breath.
About five minutes passed.
My heart, which had been racing wildly, finally calmed down, and I stopped sweating.
[Natsune Nanase: Are you okay? If you’re having a tough time, let me know. I’m your senior, so I’ll do my best to help you!]
Taking a final deep breath to calm my nerves, I placed my hands back on the keypad.
“Anyway, everyone is looking forward to it… Now, shall I slowly start moving again?”
Without getting excited, slowly.
After deriving the perfect answer based on my experiences so far, I pressed the keypad.
[Beep!]
With a light sound effect, the masked man jumps.
And he leaps over the Ice Desert, arriving at the Sea of Flames.
“I did it…!”
The thrill of successfully moving to the next area.
The tension felt, thinking it’s finally the last area.
Ah, I see.
This is why Sky King is so popular…!
I’ve had this realization.
-Finally made it here!
-This is the last area, so don’t get too excited and stay calm!
-If it’s Mei-chan, she can surely do it.
-It’s not over yet.
The supportive players’ congratulations poured in through the chatroom.
Of course, as some supportive players pointed out, the game wasn’t over yet, but arriving at the last area after a more than 30-hour journey was indeed significant.
“L-Let’s stay calm…. Yeah…. It’s not over yet….”
After catching my breath, I looked back at the screen.
The last area, the Sea of Flames.
Until now, every area in this game, except for the first area, the Thicket Forest, had imposed additional penalties every time I jumped.
Just moments ago, in the Ice Desert area, the floor was slippery, so I had to control myself very precisely, or I would fall off.
In other words, there must surely be something here as well….
What? Can’t I just look up a guide?
As a real man, I wouldn’t resort to such cowardly tactics.
Isn’t it only natural to experiment with everything myself?
First of all, the flaming platforms in the upper left are clearly ominous, so I’ll pass on those.
So I should naturally approach the platform on the upper right, right? Should I press the movement and jump buttons both at a moderate level?
With that calculation in mind, I calmly pressed the keypad.
[Shahhhhh—]
As the masked man jumped, a massive wind effect emerged from below.
“…Huh?”
-Ah!
Instantly, the masked man was thrown outside the castle.
He started to fall down, and I returned to the starting point after 24 game hours.
I guess I literally came back after a whole day….
-This really was a bust this time…
-The Sea of Flames really has such an ending.
-Time has stopped.
-Are you okay?
“….”
Numerous messages of comfort from the supportive players poured in, but I quietly exited Sky King and switched the broadcast to ending credits.
-Bye-bye, Zumi!
-I guess it couldn’t be helped…
-I’m heartbroken.
-It’s been a while since it ended like this.
Luckily, there weren’t any spawn rates when this broadcast ended.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.