Chapter 254: Vol. 1

“Then, I’ll move to the next question.” (Naofumi)

“… Yes?” (Itsuki)

The current Itsuki seems to be incapable of lying.

I should take this opportunity to thoroughly interrogate him.

This way, it’ll be too late for him to lie when his curse clears.

“What nickname did you go by in the Coliseum?” (Naofumi)

“Perfect Hidden Justice.” (Itsuki)

“Fu-” (Naofumi)

Ah, I almost started laughing.

He said it expressionlessly without any tone in his voice.

“And why did you go with that name?” (Naofumi)

“Because Justice helps people even when they don’t realize it.” (Itsuki)

“Are you an idiot?” (Naofumi)

“Perhaps I’m an idiot to you. To you.” (Itsuki)

“… What was that?” (Naofumi)

Wait, this guy is just saying whatever pops into his head.

He’d usually refrain from making such comments.

But the fact that he thought such a thing pisses me off in itself.

… It’s fine. I’ll find out why he’s so fixated on justice later.

Or else I’ll run out of patience.

I have quite a short temper.

And I don’t care about this one’s sense of justice whatsoever.

“… You said that this world was ridiculously close to a game you knew of, correct?” (Naofumi)

“Yes. I thought this world worked in a similar fashion to the game Dimension Wave.” (Itsuki)

Past tense?

That implies that he thinks differently now.

So his game sense has weakened from the curse?

“Then here’s the question. Why did you challenge the Spirit Turtle?” (Naofumi)

“Because if you don’t defeat it quickly, you’ll have to fight it anyways in a Story Mission. But that is…” (Itsuki)

I’ll omit the rest.

Most of his explanation overlapped with Ren’s.

The conversation’s pretty much going as expected.

“Next is Houou, right?” (Naofumi)

“Yes.” (Itsuki)

“Fumu…Next Question. For this Dimension Wave game you played… What was the ending?” (Naofumi)

This is the fundamental difference between the games Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki played.

Ren played VRMMOs, and Motoyasu played MMOs. Itsuki was on console.

Itsuki’s the only one who could play the game to the ending.

“After you beat Ouryuu, the first part comes to an end. After that, it’s a free world, and you can do side quests.” (Itsuki)

“What!?” (Naofumi)

This is bad! Itsuki’s info has proven itself to be useless.

And what does he mean by ‘first part’?

There are games that come in multiple parts to make you have to buy the sequel.

Was it something like that?

Cut me some slack here. Finish the damn game before you get sent to another world.

“What sort of game was it, anyways?” (Naofumi)

“If I were to categorize it, it would be Hack and Slash. The game itself was made about 30 years ago in my world. An unnamed demo version was packaged with an Ero Doujin Game. It required 2TB of hard drive space to run, but it instantly became a sensation.” (Itsuki)

“Hah?” (Naofumi)

He suddenly starts speaking eloquently.

In the first place, Itsuki’s world had 2 Terabyte hard drives 30 years ago?

I thought his world was the normal one here. Even if he wasn’t as technologically advanced as Ren, he was still from the future.

No wonder I wasn’t able to get across to him.

Does that mean Motoyasu is the one whose world is closest to mine?

No, he must come from a world straight out of a Galge. Definitely.

Though, it might just be a Galge for him.

“And?” (Naofumi)

“This game was released without a known manufacturer. Eventually, the rights to manufacture and sell it were bought by a single millionaire under house arrest who gave up all his assets to obtain ownership of it. It was quite a famous event and was all over the news.” (Itsuki)

“… Please say it in a way I can understand.” (Naofumi)

“It happened before I was born, so I only have info from the internet. The rights to sell and manufacture it were bought at a very high price, it seems.” (Itsuki)

“Hmm… And?” (Naofumi)

“As soon as he obtained the rights, that millionaire went missing. Though, he did leave behind his name in the history books. The items he left behind were investigated.” (Itsuki)

“O-okay. What does that have to do with this Dimension Wave?” (Naofumi)

“It’s greatly connected. As a result of the analysis of the unnamed, unfinished gaming platform he left behind, the game Dimension Wave was born.” (Itsuki)

According to Itsuki, Dimension Wave was a game where anything was possible if you tried it.

Hero, Villain, Saint, Merchant, King, Lord of the Night. (TL: Yes, in that sense)

The amount of characters that could be created were endless. That was the game’s main appeal.

But, all classes were connected in that they had to complete the World Quests. They had to combat the waves of disaster.

This aspect was different from the original, in that the map wasn’t as large. Not that I really needed that information.

Most quests could be redone besides these ones.

Anyways, it was pretty much a free form game.

And Itsuki came to this world after completing Volume 1. He convinced himself that he was a Hero playing a game.

In his game, you were able to finish off the Spirit Turtle quickly in order to prevent casualties down the road.

“So you don’t know what comes after Ouryuu?” (Naofumi)

“No.” (Itsuki)

This is useless…

“… Next Question. There was a blue hourglass inside of the turtle. Do you know anything about it?” (Naofumi)

“There was one in the game, but it was in a different location to the one Naofumi-san found.” (Itsuki)

“Where was it?” (Naofumi)

“It was in the center of the town where it was sealed.” (Itsuki)

“Fumu…” (Naofumi)

Was it treated as a background object?

It has to mean something, but the mystery will probably clear itself up next time.

Since it was only volume one, there must have been some sort of level cap.

“What was the max level?” (Naofumi)

“100.” (Itsuki)

Uwah. This isn’t helping me at all…

And how dare he call me a cheat when he only had this much info on the game.

“I’m surprised you went off to fight the Spirit Turtle like that.” (Naofumi)

“It was supposed to be an easy enemy at level 60.” (Itsuki)

“What about Houou?” (Naofumi)

“70.” (Itsuki)

“… Kirin?” (Naofumi)

“75.” (Itsuki)

Again… it seems I can’t expect much from this.

This guy lost easily at level 80.

“Is Houou strong?” (Naofumi)

“He’s not particularly strong. You have to deal with two of them, and the fact that they fly is annoying. But, I always used a bow to take them out easily.” (Itsuki)

“Is that why you got the illusion that you were the strongest?” (Naofumi)

“Yes. Dimension Wave was a Hack and Slash on the surface, so most people didn’t realize how powerful the long range weapons and skills were.” (Itsuki)

“What do you think now?” (Naofumi)

“The Bow has some pros and cons.” (Itsuki)

Well, I guess he would realize it after we continuously beat him up.

Or perhaps he had realized it, but he was simply denying it.

Right now he can’t lie, so he’s saying whatever he thinks.

“Fue… What are Itsuki-sama and Naofumi-san talking about? I can’t follow the conversation at all.” (Rishia)

He never even told his comrades about his world?

Just how secretive does he have to be?

“I still have more to ask you. What led to you being held in that building?” (Naofumi)

“I was bounty hunting in the Zeltburg Coliseum, and princess Malty invited me over saying she wished to grant me power.” (Itsuki)

Princess Malty… is it?

It seems Itsuki actually doesn’t know.

“From here on, you are forbidden from calling the first princess by anything other than Witch. Of course, without honorifics.” (Naofumi)

“Yes. Then Witch explained all of Naofumi-san’s wrong doings, and I… agreed to assist her. When I followed her, she brought me to that building where I found Mald and all the others who used to work with me. They were all plotting schemes against Naofumi-san.” (Itsuki)

“I see. Continue.” (Naofumi)

“Mald and his companions explained to me that their previous treatment of me was in order to grant me an opportunity to mature. Witch and some researchers handed me some sort of weapon fragment. I inserted it into my bow, and I got a new power.” (Itsuki)

Fumu… up ‘til this point, the story shares some similarities with common Robot and Battle animes.

Upon receiving a strange power, one obtains a duty to fight for world peace. Unbeknownst to the public, they must destroy evil. After losing to a strong enemy, the group dissolves for a while.

But, the leader continues to fight his own battle. Eventually, his old comrades join him again, and he teams up with the princess driven out of her own country. Together, they defeat a great evil.

What’s more, the former princess led him to discover greater power.

With a situation like that, I guess I can understand why he came to believe he was the main character… or can I?

The new power placed too much of a strain on his body, so he had to sleep in a test tube until the right time came.

I might actually watch an anime like that.

“Let me say this first. Those people were only using you. I’ll show you the evidence later.” (Naofumi)

“… Is that so?” (Itsuki)

When the curse clears, he’ll go back to normal. I better clear this up while I can.

It’s not like he lost his memory. If his curse starts weakening, he’ll be able to think for himself.

“Do you still think that what you’ve done isn’t wrong?” (Naofumi)

“… I don’t know.” (Itsuki)

He really has lost his power to make decisions.

Though, he does answer questions honestly.

‘What do you think about…?’ ‘Which is right?’

He can’t answer questions like that.

“Itsuki-sama…” (Rishia)

“Then, you don’t know what sort of item the Heroes’ weapons are, do you?” (Naofumi)

“No.” (Itsuki)

He really isn’t useful.

It’s not like my expectations were that high for the people who lost to the Spirit Turtle though.

Even so, the fact that I can’t get any useful information is depressing me.

“… Is there anything else? Anything that changed?” (Naofumi)

“Now that you mention it…” (Itsuki)

“What?” (Naofumi)

“For a while, my SP and Mana haven’t been recovering.” (Itsuki)

Oy, does that mean he has a curse preventing him from using Magic and Skills as well?

This is the worst.

Ren can’t get any EXP, nor can he hold anything worth any money.

Motoyasu… doesn’t really have any problems. But he sees women as pigs and can’t understand their words.

And Itsuki complies to any order you give; he’s expressionless and emotionless. His sense of Justice is gone, and it seems he has no pride either.

But, Itsuki used even more curse-like skills than Ren, so he’s being affected more.

“Is there anything else? Will you ask me anything more?” (Itsuki)

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Itsuki?” (Naofumi)

“About what?” (Itsuki)

“Itsuki-sama?” (Rishia)

“Did I say something strange? What should I do? Naofumi-san is glaring at me.” (Itsuki)

Itsuki starts exhibiting suspicious behavior.

… Something is strange.

For now, I’ll try issuing an order.

“Itsuki, try lying. Tell me this room looks like a palace suite.” (Naofumi)

“No, it’s a strange house made of peculiar plants.” (Itsuki)

Ah… so it’s a curse that affects thought.

Even so, it seems he can’t lie at all.

This room truly is a strange one made of strange plants.

“Itsuki, what do you think of Rishia?” (Naofumi)

“She was weak, but she somehow got much stronger. It has to be a cheat.” (Itsuki)

“Fuee!? What is a cheat!?” (Rishia)

“The word means that you broke the rules to abuse the system. I guess that means he thinks you’re weird.” (Naofumi)

“Fueeeee…” (Rishia)

I can’t confirm it with just this test, but I think it’s like this.

The current Itsuki just says the first thing that pops into his head. He can’t make up lies.

Probably.

I can’t let this guy into the outside world…

Even if he’s a Hero with high combat abilities, he only listens to orders. He’s like a doll.

I have no choice but to watch over him at my village.