MSR-V3-1

——Somewhere at midnight.

“So, Akira. What are you doing in a place like this?”

“Not much. Just a place I used to like.”

They were on the roof of a relatively tall apartment building. For some reason, Akira had brought XX along to gaze down at the sea of lights that stretched over the horizon. Naturally, they were trespassing, and there were no railings on the rooftop, only a water tank.

“Are you going to ask me out? Should I make a save file real quick?”

“You really are...” Akira turned around, chuckling. XX joined in with the grin of a mischievous cat, which soon vanished after hearing Akira’s response.

“Yeah. I want you to... make that save file.”

While the countless constructions of the city gleamed like gems in every color of the rainbow, their silhouettes alone flickered like a mirage.

—Epitaph, Finale

## Raising Sim

In short, the place was a pile of trash. While that might have been an exaggeration, that was how Akira saw it. So, he expressed his impression without reservation. Back in those days, he was young. His emotion superseded his thoughts and concerns.

“Hey, XX. There’s no space to walk in here.”

“Yeah, just kick stuff out of the way. As long as I can get to my bed and

PC, I’m good.”

“Empty cans... And change on the floor? What is your room, a donation box?”

“Hahaha! You’re funny, Akira!”

“The funny thing here is your place.”

XX didn’t show any sign of disdain in response to his comments, but booted up the PC and began typing. Unable to stand the state of the room any longer, Akira began throwing one thing after another from the floor into a trash bag.

“Hey! That’s a treasure of mine!”

“Listen. Anything left on the floor next to a bag of chips is not a treasure.

That’s why I’m throwing it out. It’s more important to make a comfortable space for me.”

“Oh, wait. Those are the beer bottle caps I was collecting!”

“And? So, what?”

Akira didn’t stop. He kept tossing junk into the trash bag. While Akira wasn’t a neat freak or anything, he didn’t feel like sitting on a floor literally covered with junk.

“You really are self-centered, Akira. Can’t believe you’re just doing your own thing at someone else’s place.”

“I can’t believe you live in this place! Here, I’m opening the curtains. Get some fresh air in here! There we go, let the good air in... Put away the things you never use...”

“Stop! The morning sun would melt me! What are you thinking, putting a

NEET in sunlight? You trying to kill me!? I want to live in darkness.”

“The tragic thing is, I’m not a NEET. I’m a part of the workforce. On top of that, I’m a genius with unhidden talents basking in sunshine.”

“...You’re already drunk, Akira?”

“I haven’t had a sip!”

After almost an hour of wrestling with garbage, the room seemed impossibly larger than before. Albeit, all Akira did was move the pile of stuff into garbage bags and into the kitchen.

“Didn’t expect to walk straight into a landfill... Why am I cleaning on vacation?”

“Wow, my room seems bigger somehow! I didn’t even know it looked like this.”

“Don’t act like you weren’t on your PC the whole time. What were you up to, anyway?”

“Following in your footsteps, Akira. Tried making a game myself.”

“Oh yeah? Show it.”

On the screen was an aquarium in which green, spiky, saw-like fish swam. XX moved the mouse to throw a cartoonish chunk of meat, placed at the right of the screen, into the tank. The green fish all started toward the piece of meat and chopped away at it.

“What is this, a fish raising-sim?”

“Nah, just something random I made up. Cool, right?”

“Nope, this is definitely crap.”

“For real...? You don’t get how cool this is? Okay, old man.”

Laughing, XX threw all sorts of things into the tank. An umbrella, a car tire, a wardrobe... the fish chomped at them all, devouring every last one of them. A strangely surreal scene. Next, XX threw in... a human being. Immediately, something about the fish changed. They had been only leisurely nibbling away at the objects, but as soon the human being entered the water, the fish approached with incredible speed, and gnawed away in a mad rush.

“Hey, XX? Why is it weirdly graphic and stuff when it’s a human?”

“Hilarious, right? Look at the fishies go, LMAO.”

“Jeesh, all that blood...? And they actually leave the bones? Why’d you put so much effort into this part? Oh, the bones sink to the bottom of the tank, too.”

“Right? This part took a lot of work, let me tell you. But if you throw this guy in, it cleans up the bones. Well-thought-out stuff, here.”

“Wow! A red fish started eating up the bones on the bottom! So, what’s the point!?”

“Ow!”

Akira smacked the back of XX’s head hard. At the time, there were a few games here and there that simulated raising fish or other pets, but this wasn’t one of them. Who could tell what the point of the game was, at this point?

“How do you beat this game, anyway? What’s the ending?”

“There isn’t one. You just keep feeding the fish.”

“Stupid. You’re stupid.”

“Why’d you say it twice?”

“So stupid.”

“Triple attack!?”

Distancing himself from the bizarre game, Akira turned to take a drink. Even as he complained, he had a smile on his face, and seemed to be having fun, after all. XX turned away from the PC, chugging a can of beer.

“Ahh! But, man, is this life boring. Maybe Shibuya will just blow up, or something.”

“Get a job.”

“If I work, I lose! I don’t want to be a loser!”

“See, the definition of a loser, is...”

“La la la! I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you!” XX shouted, hands over ears.

In 2004, Akira Ono’s game had steadily grown, acquiring a large number of players. A huge hit, to say the least. As he was basking in the golden era of his creation, he received a particular email.

*Dear Mr. Ono, would you be interested in running your game as a largescale MMO at our company?*

The letter was signed “Mickity☆,” an OG player who had been playing the Game from its inception back in 2001. The next day, the world Akira Ono had created would come to a major turning point.

## Chapter 5: The Labyrinth of Love

### The Empire and the Fantasy World

—Dive into the Infinity Game—

In the world of the Empire, a select number of humans have awakened with a special kind of power, skill, or ability.

In the world of the Empire, everything is quantified. The world of the Empire is unlike our own — a future that was never supposed to come.

The Empire invaded the nations of the world with great success, conquering 60% of the world thanks to their overwhelmingly advanced technologies, as well as the large number of Wielders born with new powers within their borders. Their technology and their Wielders became the legs of the Empire, guiding them in a direction of insanity. As a result, the cruelest, most despicable, and most extravagant nation in the history of its world, simply known as “the Empire,” was born.

However, the expansion of the Empire halted once they had conquered about 60% of the world. They had simply grown too large. Naturally, not many of the colonized nations would allow a takeover without resistance. Terrorism and coups stormed the world. In addition, the civil conflicts over the various profits to be gained within the Empire had rendered the dominating nation as motionless as a beached whale. Above the never-ending storm of revolt and tumult, high-ranking officials gathered day after day with no sign of progress.

Then, one day, a man proposed something to the higher-ups of the

Empire... A very entertaining game that would bring happiness to the Empire. It would put smiles on the faces of God’s People, the residents of the Empire, and even offer salvation to the citizens of conquered nations. The Empire, with their preference for extravagance in everything, decided to use the Game, rather than barbaric oppression or massacres, to strike down the insubordinate conquered nations and solidify internal structure. The contestants of the Game would not only be selected from citizens of conquered nations, but also from central figures and high-ranking officials who had fallen from grace in some way. One wrong move, and yesterday’s victor could be headed for the guillotine. There was no room for mercy anywhere on the ladder. A hellscape in camouflage. The man who drew up this proposal was Hakuto Kunai, later known as the Demon Lord of the Empire.

——Near a point along the border of Holylight.

(I was sleeping... I haven’t had a dream about those times in years.)

“Hey, why is she sleeping on my lap...?”

“How should I know?”

Yukikaze was sound asleep on the Demon Lord’s lap, and her quiet breathing could be heard in the carriage.

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