Dusk (BL Light Novel)

[- Abrea: “But look at this! A mineral that °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° shimmers like this—we’ve never seen anything like it on the continent we came from. The fact that something like this was suddenly discovered means…!”]
[- Helkina: “Shimmers, you say? To my eyes, it’s nothing but an ordinary rock. Did your precious god send word that this stone contains something important? What’s so special about this pitch-black hunk of rock?”]

[- Helkina: “Hah, what a waste of energy. We’ll take care of the investigation, so please, stop stirring up trouble and just stay put. Understood?”]
Helkina shuddered as she turned and walked away. Then, shouting at the survey team members who had gathered around to gawk, she ordered them to stop slacking and make sure their investigation progressed faster than the Jeopa side.
As Honeybread watched her walk off, Abrea suddenly turned to him and said:

[- Abrea: “Hey, does this just look like a pitch-black lump to you? I swear, to me, it’s like, all… shimmering with purple smoke or something?”]
He showed the mineral in his hand, mimicking the rising motion of smoke with his fingers. A choice prompt appeared.
▷ It looks like an ordinary mineral, just as Helkina said.

▷ It looks like a mineral shimmering with purple smoke, just as Abrea described.
Anyone could see the mineral was glowing. Unless the devs had coded this glow to show up randomly, Abrea was probably right. I chose the second option.
[- It looks like a mineral glowing with a pale violet light.]

Hearing my answer, Abrea smiled brightly in relief.
[- Abrea: “Right? I wasn’t seeing things, was I?”]
[- Abrea: “I don’t know if that bastard lied just to make me look stupid, but now that I know I’m right, I’ll let it slide for now. What an annoying jerk…”]

[- Abrea: “I think it’d be best to hand this over to our side’s survey team for analysis. Just in case, would you mind holding onto it for me?”]
Honeybread quietly took the mineral Abrea handed him and turned it over in his hands. Shaped like a flint tool, it gave off a faint, mysterious violet glow from its center.
Would Helkina really ignore something like this just because she didn’t like Abrea? That didn’t sound like the Helkina I remembered. She was always curious—obsessively so, like all medics—and above all, she had a strong sense of professional boundaries. Which meant, in other words, she really didn’t see the glow.

If a medic like Helkina couldn’t see the light, but a Holy Guardian like Abrea and I could… did that mean this mineral was imbued with divine power?
Just as I began to wonder if Helkina was right—that maybe the gods really had marked this stone for investigation—Retaking a Class walked up to me. Or rather, approached my character, Honeybread.
He stroked his chin and hesitated slightly, lips parting like he wanted to say something. But because we were different races, he couldn’t initiate conversation, and all he got from Honeybread was a guarded stare.

[The other party is choosing a dialogue option. 15 seconds remaining.]
Retaking had received another dialogue prompt. All I could do was wait quietly for him to make a selection.
At 6 seconds remaining, the message vanished and the story resumed. Retaking cautiously reached out toward my character. Honeybread, sensing no aggression, merely watched him warily to see what he’d do.
Then his wrist was grabbed. It was just like what Adam had done earlier. The circumstances were different, but still—what’s with these people grabbing wrists every time they want to talk?

Now Retaking was watching for Honeybread’s reaction, visibly cautious for some reason. Maybe Honeybread was annoyed to be touched by a Jeopa player, or maybe it was just his personality, but he frowned and locked eyes with Retaking.
Retaking raised his hand and pointed at the mineral Honeybread was holding. Following his finger with my gaze, I saw him release my wrist and begin rapidly rotating both hands. It looked like something a kindergartener would do while cheerfully saying “Twinkle twinkle~”.
[Please choose a dialogue option. 10 seconds remaining.]

▷ He’s probably referring to how the mineral is glowing, so nod in agreement.
▷ I don’t know what he’s doing in front of me, so tilt my head in confusion.
The devs had kindly spoon-fed us the answer in case we missed it. But somehow, that only made the whole thing less satisfying.

When a game hands you the “right” answer on a silver platter, don’t you just want to pick the wrong one out of spite?
[(I don’t know what he’s doing in front of me, so I tilt my head.)]
When Honeybread tilted his head, Retaking visibly hesitated, clearly taken aback. Then, not long after, the prompt returned:

[The other party is choosing a dialogue option. 10 seconds remaining.]
I waited, curious to see what kind of body language he’d try this time. When the prompt vanished, Retaking suddenly slapped the mineral in Honeybread’s hands hard enough to knock it to the ground.
Startled, I looked up. His face was expressionless, but I could feel the heat of anger radiating from his eyes.

[Please choose a dialogue option. 10 seconds remaining.]
▷ Maybe I messed with him too much. Feeling guilty, I pick up the mineral and mimic his earlier gestures to calm him down.
▷ I don’t get why he’s lashing out all of a sudden. Annoyed, I kick the fallen mineral away.

What’s there to feel guilty about? I didn’t raise you to be that kind of character, Honeybread.
[(I don’t get why he’s lashing out. Annoyed, I kick the mineral away.)]
The mineral Abrea had entrusted to me—supposedly so important—was kicked by Honeybread’s foot and flew toward Adam, who had been standing nearby and watching the situation unfold.

Retaking stared at Honeybread, seemingly at a loss for words.
The two of them were glaring daggers at each other, looking like they were about to go at it, when suddenly, Abrea appeared out of nowhere.
[- Abrea: “Hey! You told me not to pick a fight, so what the hell are you doing fighting now?!”]

Abrea covered Honeybread’s eyes with his palm, shot an apologetic look at Retaking, and then exploded at Honeybread.
[- Abrea: “And didn’t I tell you I was leaving that mineral with you so we could investigate it?! What if you damaged it by kicking it like that?”]
He’s usually the one causing trouble and getting scolded, but the one time the player screws up, he unleashes all his bottled-up frustration like he’s been waiting for this moment. Pot, meet kettle.

Honeybread looked just as frustrated and was about to push Abrea’s hand away and protest when a voice—one he’d never heard before—came through the headset. A new line of script appeared.
[- ? : “Didn’t look like a fight to me. More like the two of you were just having a playful little brawl. Or am I wrong?”]
The voice was slightly sarcastic, but not malicious. All three of us turned in unison to identify the speaker—and to my surprise, the character who appeared on screen was…

[- Adam: “Our side’s medic has a bit of a crush on your Holy Guardian. Got himself all flustered and tried to talk to him, but your guy just kept messing with him, so now he’s throwing a little tantrum. Cute, right?”]
The one who spoke… was none other than Adam.