Stuffed Animal

 

「Wow… after the ominous clouds, this is magnificent!」

「Even though it’s a sky we’re used to, it’s beautiful.」

 

Alto muttered while gazing up at the sky.

 

「We somehow managed to take it down…」

 

Geez… that was one hell of a hidden boss.

It was definitely not on the level of a Soul Eater, and far more difficult to defeat than the Dragon Zombie.

It wasn’t an opponent that could be handled with just Tsumugi and Shouko’s combat skills.

Defeating it with Energy Blades would have been… really difficult, I’m sure.

Even if we could, it would have been the last resort.

 

「Well then, since we defeated the boss, should we dismantle it?」

「You mean Brave Peckle?」

 

…True, it’s just that Brave Peckle has reverted, not a corpse per se.

Damn, no materials dropped from the boss?

As I approached the fallen Brave Peckle, I noticed something had dropped nearby.

 

「Another mysterious red-haired doll?」

 

As I approached what seemed to be the root cause, it was… what is this?

A stuffed animal?

 

「Ah, how cute! A raccoon stuffed animal? Or a raccoon dog?」

 

A stuffed animal with an unusual design that looked like neither a raccoon nor a raccoon dog was lying near Brave Peckle.

I’ll pick it up for now.

 

Rough Stuffed Animal – Brave Peckle Exclusive Accessory.

 

An accessory?

Ah, there’s text?

 

A stuffed animal modeled after an existence Brave Peckle treasures.

As long as this stuffed animal is present, Brave Peckle will never succumb to wrath.

 

「I feel so refreshed-pen!」

 

Brave Peckle woke up and started talking while looking at me.

Refreshed… refreshed, huh…

 

「You really went on a rampage, didn’t you?」

「I won’t let you show that woman again-pen!」

 

Ah, so he retains memories to that extent based on his AI settings.

And Brave Peckle is staring at the stuffed animal I’m holding.

If I tease him with it now, it could be entertaining in a way.

In a brotherly way, like Tsumugi.

No, I won’t do that… more like a comedy duo.

 

「Kizuna-san, that stuffed animal…」

「According to the text, if he equips it, he won’t succumb to wrath.」

「Kizuna-kun, could you have him try equipping it?」

「Hm? Sure.」

 

I hand the stuffed animal to Brave Peckle.

Brave Peckle then gently embraces the stuffed animal with a tender smile before strapping it onto his back.

 

「Oh…」

 

Immediately after, Alto exclaims.

 

「Brave Peckle’s skills and stats increased by 30%. It’s an extremely powerful exclusive accessory.」

「So this is the event reward?」

「It seems a bit excessive…」

 

Well, just having Brave Peckle back may be enough of a reward.

 

「Not at all! Just having Brave Peckle back is more than enough of a harvest!」

 

If Alto thinks it’s fine, then I guess it’s fine.

In Alto’s view, at least.

 

「Alright! Let’s get back to work! Yamikage-kun, you should experience that formidable strength in an Instant Dungeon or something.」

 

Alto, who had only been observing during the battle, is now taking on a mysterious leader role.

Well, I did leave the Peckle-related matters to him.

 

「I’ve already experienced it sufficiently in the previous battle…」

「Well then, I shall guide you around Yamiko-san.」

 

Shouko says and starts guiding Yamikage.

Yamikage has become a hero overnight.

And her performance was befitting of that.

 

「Yami-chan, let’s explore a dungeon later. With you around, it’ll be easy! Probably.」

「Oh! You two should go. I’ll be doing my own thing.」

「You really go at your own pace, Kizuna-san.」

「That’s not a compliment.」

「Yes, you’ll be fishing again, won’t you?」

「Of course, this time I’m planning to target the deep offshore areas.」

 

I mustn’t forget that I joined this game to fish.

I want to catch something like a bluefin tuna.

I should ask Sheryl if trolling is possible.

 

「That’s just like you, Kizuna-san. Let’s go fishing together sometime.」

 

Come to think of it, we haven’t done that recently.

Well, in Shouko’s case, it may just be to accompany me.

 

「Anyway, let’s have Romina, Sheryl, and Alto each work on their own tasks. Even helping with castle construction would be fine.」

「Yeah… It’s about time I improved my skills, and I want enough strength for thorough enhancements. There are so many things I want to do that it’s overwhelming.」

「…I see.」

 

And so we continued with our respective tasks.

Incidentally, something that became apparent immediately was that the stuffed animal drop from Wrath Pengu was quite powerful, as Alto said.

Not only did it increase all stats by 30% and halve stress gauge increases, but it also had a safety effect that automatically put Brave Peckle into a resting state if his stress gauge reached over 70%.

It also had the added bonus of reducing the stress gauge increase for any Peckles near Brave Peckle.

 

To give you an idea of just how amazing this was, even if we made accessories for Brave Peckle and had him command the Peckles while wearing them, the effects would only last for a while.

Apparently, the castle construction speed doubled.

To top it off, Brave Peckle would occasionally cook and offer us meals.

 

These meals would relieve Peckle stress and grant a significant stat bonus for a set duration.

Apparently, even humans could benefit from the effects, which is just terrifying.

The downside is that the frequency of receiving human-sized portions was extremely low.

It was an incredible reward.

 

†

 

「…」

 

Late at night, as usual, I was night fishing.

Shouko was with me until a little while ago, but she went back to take a nap since she was getting sleepy.

Well, Shouko is popular, so she’s busy.

She’s been quite diligent, hunting in Instant Dungeons with Tsumugi, helping with castle construction, so it’s no wonder she got sleepy.

I was the one who suggested she take a nap, after all.

 

Regardless, just like when I was fishing in the Underground Lake, I quite enjoy fishing while lost in thought.

Of course, it’s not because I feel confined when I’m with Shouko and the others.

Being with everyone is fun.

But there’s a different kind of enjoyment in fishing alone, listening to the sound of the water.

 

「You’re as nonchalant as ever, Kizuna-dono.」

「Yamikage?」

 

When I turned around, Yamikage was standing there.

It’s rare for her to be alone this late at night… or is night her prime time as a ninja?

She was also active at night when we first met, so maybe he’s a night person by nature.

 

「What’s up? Couldn’t sleep?」

「I… no, since I’m still new to this island, I was exploring.」

 

At this hour?

Perhaps there’s something she doesn’t want to talk about.

If she doesn’t want to say, that’s fine.

Come to think of it, even though her mind should have recovered, her character is wavering between ‘sessha’ and ‘jibun’.

 

「You’re fine with nights despite being afraid of ghosts.」

「It’s because there are fewer people at night.」

 

So she’s afraid of people too, not just ghosts.

She may very well be a shut-in, after all.

Now that I think about it, I’ve heard stories of reclusive NEETs who aren’t afraid to go to convenience stores late at night.

Could Yamikage be that kind of person?

 

「I see… want to grab a midnight snack?」

 

I changed the subject.

It wouldn’t hurt to showcase the cooking skills I honed at the Underground Lake.

Well, it’s just fish though.

I’m sure Yamikage understands that.

 

「I’ll have one then.」

「Got it. Wait a moment.」

 

Tilefish would be good for a hot pot, but I don’t have any in stock, so it’s just regular fish.

So, grilled fish.

Being a game, the cooking skill effect is significant, so even plain grilled fish will be different.

There are also factors like grilling time, ingredients used, cooking methods, and so on.

 

「Come to think of it, sorry I was late in calling you.」

「You’ve already apologized for that, haven’t you?」

 

Ah, the bungee jumping without a rope.

The one where I dragged Alto and Tsumugi along and jumped.

Well, I don’t dislike that kind of joking apology.

It’s like apologizing in a friendly, comradely way.

 

「I know I’m bringing it up again, but I did want to properly apologize.」

「I have already forgiven you. To begin with, you just utilized the game system, so you can’t really be blamed too harshly for that.」

 

Yeah, I can’t deny that.

I didn’t blame Tsumugi too harshly for the red-haired doll incident either since it was part of the game’s settings.

It’s a gamer’s nature to want to try various things when unusual phenomena occur.

 

「…Besides, being actually banned would have been truly scary.」

「Yeah…you’re right.」

「In that sense, I’m relieved everyone is safe.」

 

…?

That phrasing seemed to carry some implication.

But rephrasing it in my head, there’s no sense of discomfort, so it must have been my imagination.

 

「But…there are still things you can’t brush off just because it’s a game, right?」

「That’s why I was scared…」

 

But Yamikage is the one who should be complaining.

From Yamikage’s perspective, it would be scary if the strange rumors turned out to be true.

…Let me continue.

 

「Well, as for me, I’m glad everyone I called to this island turned out to be good people, including Yamikage.」

 

I called Shouko first, then the others, and Yamikage was the last.

It’s also good that everyone is the type to adapt to the game.

This game has an unusual format, but we each have our own playstyle that we won’t compromise on.

And yet, everyone accepted it.

So I’m fortunate.

 

「…Kizuna-dono, you’re being strange.」

「Sorry, I’m not good at being sentimental. Here you go.」

 

Saying that, I handed her the grilled fish I had prepared.

As Kurokage received the grilled fish, I resumed fishing.

 

「Is today a day for having such a conversation?」

「Hm? Well, we are surviving on a southern island, and the moon is beautiful, so a day like this is fine too, isn’t it?」

「I suppose so…」

 

Prompted by my mood, Yamikage also starts to exude a calm atmosphere.

To be honest, since she’s usually a high-energy ninja character, I can’t imagine how this will unfold.

 

「Actually, I was in a bad mood when I started this game.」

「Oh? Why’s that?」

「The person I was supposed to play with had something come up and couldn’t join.」

「Ah, I can see how that would put you in a bad mood.」

 

Being stood up like that… could that be related to her being socially awkward?

If you were planning to play with a friend and they ditch you at the last minute, you’d feel terrible.

…But this game requires a considerable amount of money to participate in.

To cancel because something came up, that’s unthinkable to me given my financial sense.

If it were me, I’d participate even if I were on my deathbed.

 

「But now, I’m enjoying it.」

「I see, that’s good.」

「I like fantasy in games, and it’s nice that there’s magic too.」

「I get that feeling.」

「But when I learned that Spirit were a weak race, I was devastated.」

「Well… you did come up with the Drain combo for Spirit, though.」

 

At first, I thought Drain and the like were just basic RPG spells for small fry, but they turned out to be quite powerful.

Of course, other elemental spells seem to have higher raw power, but when combined with the Spirit race, it changes the dynamic.

In fact, Yamikage’s playstyle is to boost her abilities by using his high energy reserves for powered-up Drains to deal damage.

Probably focusing more on mana production than energy production, I’d assume.

It’s an approach that wouldn’t occur to you if you didn’t carefully consider race and skill composition.

 

「But deviating from templates is a downside.」

 

In online games, there are always standard party compositions.

It’s even more so for games that emphasize roles.

This job uses these skills and equipment, these stats, and so on.

It’s common for people to not accept compositions that deviate from that.

 

In the case of Dimension Wave, it would be skill composition.

Well, to an extent, it can’t be helped if efficiency is prioritized.

In that sense, Yamikage and I have deviated significantly from the templates.

 

「Don’t worry about it. I know it’s rich coming from me, but in games, the one who has fun wins. Besides, I rather like Yamikage’s playstyle.」

 

Drain… or rather, the dark magic + stealth skill composition.

It has a chuuni vibe that’s fun to watch.

It’s full of memes, yet practical, with a cool factor that makes me want to cheer her on.

 

「I think that aspect of you is good, Kizuna-dono.」

「Right?」

 

It’s a cliched sentiment, but I don’t think it’s wrong.

Playing the game with rigid compositions can be fun, and going for meme builds can also be fun.

With all the different game genres out there, there are countless ways to enjoy them.

In that sense, this game has a wide appeal.

There are many games where playstyles deviating from the developer’s intentions are immediately patched out.

 

「…Living with someone in the game world doesn’t seem so bad.」

「Yeah… I’ve heard it described as a unique VR sensation.」

 

It’s a special environment different from reality, so you can develop those feelings.

Moreover, this game is part of the Second Life Project.

Being logged in for extended periods also evokes a sense of adventure, I think.

Well, we’re paying a considerable amount of money to participate, so it better be fun.

 

「That’s why I enjoy spending time with Kizuna-chan.」

 

Yamikage suddenly changes her way of speaking.

…It’s startling when someone who usually roleplays speaks in their natural tone.

Enjoying moments like this must be part of the charm of online games.

 

「W-Well then, I shall return to the ninja world!」

「Hey, even you’re embarrassed by what you just said.」

「Dr-Doron!」

 

Yamikage uses a stealth skill to conceal her presence.

 

「If you can’t sleep or get bored, come by again. I can at least keep you company.」

 

…No response.

She may have been more self-conscious than I thought.

She did call herself socially awkward, so that kind of personality seems likely.

 

Come to think of it… Does Yamikage refer to me as Kizuna-chan in her head?

Now that I think about it, I feel like she’s called me that before.

I should probably repeatedly explain that I’m a guy in real life.

…Not that it really matters though.

 

Well, I’ll resume fishing.

And so the night wore on.