Chapter 43

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We are now in an airship.\nThe wide-open jumping hole shows us a

blue sky, and a strong wind is blowing in from there.\nThe wind caressing our skin is more

comfortable than usual.\n I understand that this is the

effect of 100% pain perception.\nThe battle is about to begin.\nMy preparations were complete. I was

confident that I would make a perfect descent even if I’m knocked down in the

air right now.\nHowever, when I look at Inori-chan

standing next to me, I notice that she’s slightly nervous.\nIt is natural considering what I was

betting on this match, but I couldn’t afford to lose because of it, so I

decided that I should probably avoid fighting at the same time as the opening.\n“Let’s be careful this time. I want to

get down to the corner of the field and make sure I collect my gear.”\n"Yes, you’re right. It’s a good

idea, especially if you don’t want to get hit by a single bullet.”\nLet’s steadily aim for victory.\n That became our policy.\n――But when you think about Suda’s

dirtiness, it was right for us to attack him at the outset, I later regretted.\n☆ 彡 ☆ 彡 ☆ 彡 ☆ 彡\n"Enemy.”\nI muttered as I looked at the forest

in front of me.\nThe faint sound of leaves stomped on

the ground tells me where they are.\nTo be sure, I used Connect’s active

skill for detecting enemies – “Astral Projection” – and found that one of them

was hiding behind two of the trees in the back.\n<b>need to edit the skill name in the

skill introduction chapter</b>\nJudging from they hadn’t taken a

single step and were oblivious to our presence, they probably noticed us.\nWe should have taken them out at this

point if we wanted to be prepared for a surprise attack later on.\n“We’ll get attacked, Inori-chan.”\n“……Okay.”\nInori-chan hears my voice. Then her

expression changes.\n Throughout the time she hunts

her equipment, she also seemed somewhat calm.\nWe parted left and right and ran

through.\nCurrently, what I have in my hand is a

handgun called “Sphere Ship” and a knife called “Jack Leap”.\nAs soon as I found another “Sphere

Ship”, I plan to throw away “Jack Leap”, but I’m not so lucky.\n I couldn’t let go of the Jack

Leap, and eventually, I went straight into battle.\n“Two muzzle flashes.”\nTwo guns are pointed at me as I

plunged to my right in front of the enemy.\n The enemy’s figure could be

confirmed visually, but at the same time, the “Warning from The Sky” told me

that my body was in danger.\nThey attacked my left side and flanked

me.\n It seems that the guns they are

holding are pointing at those parts of my body.\n“I’m now using “Kazuto” after all.”\nI muttered. <> is now more

precise in detecting the enemy than when I’m using “Kanae”.\nIn VR, there is a reason why many

people use the “real figure” as it is, without tampering with it.\nIt’s because it’s so much easier to

move around.\nIt’s no surprise to people in this

day. The further you move away from your real appearance, the more

uncomfortable you become with the differences in body structure, and the more

disadvantaged you become when playing games.\nThe impact of this was quite large

even within the limits of avatar generation, to put it bluntly, there was no

benefit to changing one’s appearance to enjoy the game.\nDespite this, Kanae was made with a

height of -7cm, which is just under the avatar generation limit.\n If we’re talking about

usability, it’s probably one of the worst.\nSo, what I’m trying to say is.\n“–I’m 2x stronger than “Kanae” now.”\nThis battle was just a breeze.\n ……\n …………\n ………………\n"You are strong, aren’t you?

Kazuto-san.”\nInori-chan muttered this when she saw

my battle.\nShe said that word several times when

I talked to her as Kanae. But one of her voices was different from any of the

others. It was a way of speaking that went beyond mere surprise and made her

cheeks twitch.\n“Aha … Well, as expected of 1st.”\nI was a little embarrassed, but I

accepted the praise.\nBut I’m in the middle of a match.\n I don’t have the time to dwell

on such an uncomfortable feeling, so I quickly changed the subject.\n“So … did these people have any

equipment that we could use?”\n“Yes. This person had an Lv.3 Armor.”\nHaving killed two enemies, we now have

two people’s equipment scattered around us.\n Weapons, ammo, recovery, and

whatever else they had stored in storage are scattered around.\nAmong them, Inori-chan found the “Lv.3

Armor” – a crystal-shaped defense item.\n By storing this crystal in

storage, she could make light particles surround her body and take the damage

to her body on her shoulders.\nThe grains of light caused by the

armor are invisible, but only when worn at the moment of attack, the armor

glows with white light at Lv.1, blue light at Lv.2, and purple light at Lv.3.\nThe higher the Lv, the more damage can

be prevented, and starting from Lv.1, the durability is 50, 75, and 100.\n“I like the Lv.3 shield. Now we’re

both Lv.3. armor”\n“That’s right.”\nSo, as far as defense is concerned,

our preparations are complete.\nWe can’t increase our strength any

further than this.\nThe only other thing I want is another

Sphere Ship.\n The usual damage is 25, which is

very low for a single-shot weapon, but the HS (headshot) damage is quadrupled

to 100, so my fighting style is to hold two of these peaky weapons and shave

off 200 in an instant.\nThe risk of missing a headshot is so

high that I’ve rarely seen anyone using this strategy, but it’s one of my

favorites.\n“Even so, when I’m fighting with

Kazuto-san, I think I’m playing with Kanae-san. Are they both using” Sphere

Ship “?”\n“……Heeh.”\n“Why do you look away from me?”\n“…I didn’t turn away. I just felt the

presence of the enemy from over there, you know? It’s far away, though, isn’t

it?”\n“Huh? I didn’t notice it at all!”\n“You’re not ready yet, Inori-chan.”\n“I will devote myself!”\nFor Inori-chan whose seriously

enthusiastic, I was guilty of that.\n I’m sorry, but there are no

enemies in that direction.\nI didn’t know what kind of face to

make, so for a few seconds I just pointed in the direction of where no one was

and gave off the vibe of, “Come on, come at me anytime.”.\nBut when I caught a glimpse of

Inori-chan, I immediately stopped my joking attitude.\nInori-chan had a gloomy expression on

her face as if she suddenly remembered something.\n“What’s wrong?”\n“Ah … no, no. I just remembered

Kanae-san in the current conversation …Do you know about Kanae-san?”\n“What? Well, I think I know. I often

see it on Inori-chan’s streams.”\n“Hmm, that’s right. If you’ve been

watching my videos, you know me. I’ve had a lot of fun with Kanae-san.”\nHer voice became quieter and quieter

as she went on.\nThe shadows in her smile.\n I could see the regret and

sadness in her eyes.\nInori-chan’s eyebrows twisted in

distress as she looked at me, and then she slowly opened her mouth.\n“It’s not something I want to talk

about right now. But… I said some pretty terrible things to Kanae-san.”\n“…”\nI immediately thought of that time.\n“I said something terrible so that she

wouldn’t see me again …. because of that I think she hates me now.”\n“……….Why did you do that?”\nI ask.\nIt seemed sloppy to ask this as

“Kazuto”, but I didn’t feel like missing a chance to hear Inori-chan’s real

intention at that time.\nInori-chan answers with a bitter

smile.\n“… I’m embarrassed, so I don’t usually

say this. I love Kanae-san. As a sister and a friend, I cherish it from the

bottom of my heart.”\n“O.. Ohh.”\n“…It’s because… I can’t stand the

thought of Kanae-san being friends with Inori (me), who is not me. If I saw

Kanae-san smiling at Inori as she has been doing, I would be so sad that I

would cry. “\n“…”\n“That’s why… I'm just being selfish.”\nShe was squinting in a

self-deprecating manner.\nIn front of Inori-chan, I wonder how

to return her words, but before my thoughts come together, Inori-chan opens her

eyes and approaches me one step closer.\n“But thanks to Kazuto-san, I have a

chance to make up with Kanae-san! If I win this game, I will try to find

Kanae-san and apologize …!”\nSeeing Inori-chan, who is unusually

excited, I don’t think she needs words of comfort.\nSo instead, I smiled gently–\n“I will do my best to help. I will

win.”\n“Yes!”\n――I grasped my feelings for victory.\nImmediately.\n《Warning

from the Sky》told me the crisis.\n“What?”\nEight gun muzzles were pointing at us.\nBACK NEXT