Episode 15 — Life Is Something That Continues

A downtown district somewhere in the Japanese region.

The capsule cover in the small room adjoining the bedroom of an apartment slid open, and a woman with long black hair stepped out unsteadily.

"Ugh... tired. Coffee first..."

Still half-asleep, she went hunting for coffee first, but once her mind cleared a bit, she figured she should eat something too and started rummaging through the fridge.

The woman who fought in-game under the alias Mist Shadow had, until not too long ago, been an ordinary office worker — a receptionist at a tourist guide company in Kyoto. At the same time, she was also the sole heir to Kirikage-style ninjutsu, a technique passed down exclusively through the women of her family, one line at a time — though in an age like this, there was rarely any occasion to actually use it. It had been nearly three years since she'd switched to being a full-time dark gamer, having finally found a use for the ninjutsu skills that had been going to waste otherwise.

"Nnh..."

She finished off a quick meal — a simple sandwich with fried egg, bread, and sauce — then downed her coffee as if she'd been waiting for it.

"Haah... my head's finally starting to clear."

Ever since switching to being a dark gamer, she'd genuinely neglected eating and sleeping almost entirely, throwing herself wholeheartedly into the game. That was how brutal being the only ninja in Worst Field had turned out to be. Lately, though, watching the Professor's habits and taking cues from his daily rhythm, she'd been shifting toward making sure she at least ate breakfast properly.

"Oh, a message came in."

She tapped the blinking notification on the kitchen device to check it.

"Hmph... looks like my friend's still working."

Most customers weren't too bad, but the customer service job still had no shortage of the occasional impossible client — somehow, her friend was still hanging in there.

After finishing her coffee, she set the cup down in the sink and realized she hadn't done the dishes in days, so she made quick work of them.

"I wonder what he's up to right now..."

She stood at the window, sunlight streaming in, lost in thought. Was the Professor off attending to that "prior engagement" of his in reality right now?

Among her close acquaintances in the Roaring Dragon Society, and even within her current mercenary team, she was the type to take her mask off. But the Professor stubbornly kept his helmet on even in front of his own teammates. Given how naturally curious she was, she found herself far more interested in why he was so relentlessly committed to keeping that helmet on, rather than in whatever face lay hidden beneath it.

"Hnnh—!"

She stretched vigorously, ran through a few basic martial-arts forms as a warm-up, and took a deep breath to fully wake her body up.

"Well, since I'm up — might as well go shopping."

Something occurred to her, and she dashed over, grabbing the device charging by her bedside, and opened her banking app. Between wanting to reward herself after the ordeal with the Roaring Dragon Society and needing to cover the cost of the new gear Cuticle was making her, she'd been working diligently lately — busy enough that she'd honestly lost track of how much she was actually earning.

"...! No way! This much?!"

In roughly three weeks of real time, her account balance had surpassed two years of her old salary! And that was just counting the amount paid out in credits — factoring in the smaller contract payments she'd received in in-game points as well, it would come to nearly double that.

"Joining this team really was a good call."

Clutching the device, she flashed a triumphant grin. Now all that was left was to gather whatever information she could about the Professor. That would be the key to gaining the upper hand in her relationship with him going forward.

"Honestly, it'd be a lot easier if he wasn't such a stone wall in that helmet..."

Kirikage-style ninjutsu was called a ninja's art, but strictly speaking, it wasn't confined to such a narrow definition. It was deeply rooted in a whole philosophy of living — worldly wisdom, social navigation, something like a family creed handed down through generations. And naturally, among those techniques, seduction claimed its own proud place.

The Professor's real voice was hidden behind a voice changer, but between what Cuticle had said and his overall build, he was clearly male. It was just — the way he never reacted at all, no matter how subtly she tried appealing to him—

"Nah, no way..."

She shook her head, trying to dismiss the thought, but a strong suspicion had already taken root regardless. Next time she got the chance to actually talk to him, she figured she'd ask, casually.

After getting ready and heading into the large shopping mall right next to her apartment building, the first thing she saw was the WFN channel playing on the big advertising screen.

[This incident really did deal Gaia Legion a heavy blow, it seems.]

[Yes. Stocks in companies affiliated with Gaia Legion actually dropped somewhere between 2 and 4 percent, apparently.]

Shadow — or rather, Kirikage Maika — felt an inexplicable warmth creep up her cheeks and forced her eyes away from the screen. Was this the kind of feeling he experienced all the time?

[Honestly can't believe the Professor of all people formed a full team to pull this off — gives me chills, honestly.]

[What's surprising to me is that the Roaring Dragon Society hired his entire team, all at once, given how they charge premium rates across the board.]

[Sure, they're known for being flush with cash, but spending that kind of money on outside contractors like this is still a bold move.]

Footage of the incident — filmed by who-knows-who — played on the screen. A shot of the Professor holding the engine room, firing that anti-materiel sniper rifle. Then one of her, gracefully kicking a Legion user's jaw, slamming his head into the train window.

"—!"

Face flushing, she quickened her pace toward the grocery section, trying to get away.

[Wait a second. I feel like I've seen this user somewhere before...]

[Oh, I've seen her too! Pretty sure she used to be with the Roaring Dragon Society!]

"Kuh—!"

Praying no one would recognize her, she picked through the vegetables, keeping her head down, hyperaware of the eyes around her. Without thinking, she grabbed something at random.

"Ah."

Realizing it was a bell pepper, she set it back down carefully.

"...Don't need peppers. Don't need those..."

Finally finishing her shopping while managing to avoid attention, she collapsed onto her sofa the moment she got home. She was starting to understand, just a little, why the Professor insisted on wearing that helmet everywhere.

"Right... the Professor's been shooting at users from every faction, after all..."

Trying to settle in-game grudges in real life was still a thing that happened, even now. Though it usually ended with the offender getting nabbed by the public safety officers and dragged off after a good beating with a baton.

"Should I do something too? Though I guess it wouldn't matter much either way — the ones I know in the Roaring Dragon Society already know my face."

After putting away the groceries, she glanced toward the bedroom again. Thinking she might as well log back in, she was just stepping through the door when her device chimed with an alert.

"Hm?"

She walked over to the kitchen device to check the sender, and her expression twisted. It was a man named Uchida — her old boss at the customer service call center, and someone she'd crossed paths with a few times within the Roaring Dragon Society too. Rumor had it he'd developed a bad reputation for putting his hands on female employees during drinking parties. Fortunately, she'd been low enough on the totem pole that she'd had little direct contact with him.

Half-tempted not to answer, she decided to at least hear him out and tapped the screen.

[Hello there, Miss Mist Shadow.]

"........."

[Ah, you did pick up, right? This voice-only thing is quite the inconvenience. Why not set it to video? Been a while, I'd like to see your face again...]

At his brazenly suggestive tone, she shook her head, already reaching for the end-call button—

[Say, the Roaring Dragon Society already knows about this, right? Hm?]

Something in the way he said it — like he was holding some card over her — made her eyebrow twitch.

"...What business is it of yours?"

[Oh, nothing, really. Just wondering whether the higher-ups at the Roaring Dragon Society have noticed yet, that you "betrayed" us and went off to work under some nobody...]

She sighed inwardly, thinking how pathetic he was.

"That's a strange way to put it. Betrayed? I consulted properly with an officer before leaving, you know."

[Sure, sure, I heard about that too... But look, quitting on its own would've been fine. Going and joining up with some rando like that afterward, though? That's a problem. A real problem.]

"I'm not exactly hostile with the Roaring Dragon Society. And my last contract was for you all, anyway."

The man, apparently unwilling to let it go, kept pressing on in that same slimy tone.

[Right, I did hear that last job was something else. Impressive stuff, sure. But that Professor guy, or whatever, whatever — dude's just some thug who'll shoot anyone, anywhere, as long as he's getting paid, right?]

"It's Professor. And he's selective about the jobs he takes. He's not some third-rate hack who'll accept anything thrown his way."

[Hmph... still going to deny it to the bitter end, huh.]

"I don't care what accusations you make up. And I don't particularly care if the Roaring Dragon Society believes them and decides to go after the Professor either."

[Ho-ho! Quite bold of you. That much faith in the man, huh? Don't tell me — you two an item, perhaps?]

At the man's slippery tone, she found herself pausing for a moment. Liking him? Her? No way. But trusting him — that much, at least, she was certain of.

"...Who knows. But I can say one thing with certainty."

[And that is?]

"A few years back, the Overlords decided they were going to take him down."

[...Huh?]

"Look up what happened as a result. Then we can talk again."

Uchida, apparently thrown off by her steady confidence, stammered before his voice dropped low.

[You... you're serious about this?]

"Whatever you decide to do or not do, nothing about that changes."

[Grr—!]

The call cut off first, a faint sound of grinding teeth audible in the last second. She let out a short, satisfied laugh.

Team Absolute Solution was currently, without question, the strongest mercenary team around. The Professor had already held his own against the Overlords single-handedly — now he had three formidable women at his side. There was no faction left that could afford to dismiss them anymore.

"All right. Time to log in, I suppose."

Shaking off the last of her irritation, she approached the capsule.

Logging in brought her into a room that had grown familiar to her over these past few months — the second-floor room, closest to the stairs, that the Professor had given her.

Just as he'd told her — the room was hers entirely, to do with as she pleased — she'd since transferred over every belonging from her old room back at the Roaring Dragon Society. She'd decorated it here and there with cute stuffed animals, mounted three katanas of varying lengths on one wall, and set up an equipment wardrobe against the opposite wall, with a TV screen right beside her bed next to it.

She opened her door and ran down the stairs, where — as always — Mrs. Cuticle, muscle-bound and dressed in his maid outfit, greeted her.

"Oh, back already, Shadow?"

"Just had a quick meal and did some shopping. By the way, where's the Professor?"

"Hmm... probably won't be back until evening, real-world time, today. He usually has a day like this once every couple months."

"Really?"

"Yep. I've been with him long enough to know the pattern."

As always, when it came to digging up information about the Professor, Cuticle was a far more effective source than the man himself. She accepted the plate of pancakes he offered and sat down across from him in the parlor.

"So do you know what he's actually doing?"

"That, I've never asked about."

"Ehh..."

"Even if I did, I'm pretty sure I already know what the answer would be."

At his shrug, she let out a small sigh. Despite having known the Professor for so long, Cuticle himself didn't seem to know much about him either.

"Come to think of it, you seem unusually interested in the Professor, Shadow."

"Huh?"

Startled, her eyes widened, and Cuticle wagged a finger at her, pressing further.

"Why are you so curious about him, anyway? I mean, you're probably curious about the face under that helmet, but..."

"Ah— no, it's not really that..."

Waving a hand dismissively, she chewed on a bite of pancake before answering.

"I'm just curious why he's so thoroughly committed to hiding his identity, even in the game of all places."

"Ah, fair point."

Cuticle nodded, seeming to understand. She looked at him and asked another question.

"Then why haven't you ever asked him about it, all this time?"

"...Wasn't particularly interested, I guess."

"Huh?"

Cuticle chuckled, drizzling more syrup over Shadow's pancakes, and began telling her a story.

The story of how the two men had first met.

—To be continued—