NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 6 – Encounter
Haruka Sumeragi’s POV
“Sumeragi, can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Ye-yeah!”
The sudden question startles me, and my shoulders twitch involuntarily.
While still crouched on the ground, clutching a handful of herbs, I look up nervously and see someone right next to me, so I hurriedly stand up. Apparently I’ve been so engrossed in gathering herbs, that I haven’t noticed a person approaching at all.
“Um…”
I want to ask if this person needs something from me, but I hesitate.
In front of me stands a man wearing black equipment, and hiding his face behind a black fur-lined hood. But he’s called me by my last name, hasn’t he? Could it be someone I know?
“Um, excuse me, who are you?” I ask nervously, as I put the herbs I’m still holding into my inventory.
“Huh?” the man asks in confusion.
“Huh?” I also ask, completely caught off guard.
“…Ah! Right. Sorry. I guess you wouldn’t recognize me without seeing my face. I’m Kazuki Kurotsuki from the same class.”
After we look at each other for a while, the man realises that he’s hiding his face, and takes off his hood, while apologising. The face that he uncovers, indeed, belongs to Kurotsuki-kun, my classmate.
“Eh? It’s really Kurotsuki-kun? Why are you here?”
I couldn’t possibly expect that a classmate I’ve never spoken with would suddenly approach me here, in the middle of this forest. I can’t help but stare at him unblinkingly.
His hair is shorter than when I see him at school, so you can see his features and expressions clearly. Without his usual listlessness and with good posture, he somehow looks like a different person.
Wow, Kurotsuki-kun has such a good-looking face. I’ve never noticed before because his bangs usually cover it, and he’s always sleeping.
“Yeah. I was walking through the forest and stumbled upon you…Huh? Is there something wrong with my face? I don’t remember altering it in character creation…”
“Oh! No, it’s nothing. I was just making sure it’s really you. Right! But now I’m sure!”
“Huh? Well, I’m glad you believe me.”
I chuckle nervously trying to sound convincing, and show a thumbs-up. It seems to work, as he continues:
“Anyway, getting back to the point, it’s dangerous in this forest right now. I feel bad interrupting your herb gathering, but could you come out of the forest with me?”
“That’s no problem at all, but I’ve heard that this forest is safe for beginners, so why is it dangerous?”
“I’ll explain while we walk, so for now, just follow me.”
“Got it! I also wanted to ask some things, so let’s do that.”
Quite some time has passed since I started exploring, so it’s the perfect moment to wrap things up and head back. Besides, Kurotsuki-kun’s equipment looks really strong, so he probably knows a lot about Magia, and he could answer some of my questions.
We walk side by side toward the entrance of the forest.
According to Kurotsuki-kun, today and tomorrow are days when you can gather items called firework mushrooms in this forest. However, at the same time, there’s also a low probability of encountering a very strong monster, which beginners stand no chance against.
Kurotsuki-kun happened to come here today to gather those mushrooms, and when he spotted me, he decided to warn me.
Unfortunately, when I try to ask if he could defeat this monster, he just dodges the question.
Apart from that one question, Kurotsuki-kun doesn’t mind thoroughly explaining things about Magia. Everything he says is extremely helpful, especially regarding mage’s playstyle. If nobody told me, there’s no way I would know all that I’m supposed to do at the current stage.
But no matter how you look at it, Kurotsuki-kun’s class isn’t a mage, so how come he knows so much about it, I wonder?
“By the way, Kurotsuki-kun, what’s your player name?”
In Magia, players can choose whether to display their player name or not. I have mine displayed, so Kurotsuki-kun should be able to see it, but his is hidden.
“…It’s Kuro.”
“Oh, ‘Kuro’ because you’re Kurotsuki. Come to think of it, there’s also a ‘Kuro’ in the Sun and Moon guild, right? Kurotsuki-kun, you have the same name as a famous person, huh.”
“…Yeah”
＊【Sun and Moon】＊
A guild with only 5 members that has won all its guild war battles.
All its members, both men and women, are good-looking, and so each of them has their own fans. They’re active not only in-game, but also engage in various activities across different media in real life, resembling idols.
Among them, there’s one player with a different type of presence – Kuro. He neither shows his face nor reveals his voice, and doesn’t use his Beast Form, either. Most of their media appearances feature the other four members, excluding Kuro. They never even mention him, so some people who don’t play Magia mistakenly believe that Sun and Moon only has four members.
In the Magia community, some players are saying that Kuro isn’t good enough for this guild. The main reason being his performance during guild battles. In all those where Sun and Moon participated he was always the first one to fall among both allies and foes.
As a result, despite being in the top guild on the Japanese server, Kuro’s reputation is remarkably poor. Players who envy his position mockingly refer to him as ‘the guild’s baggage,’ ‘a tagalong,’ and ‘the weakest in the rankings’.
I feel like Kurotsuki-kun has been acting a bit strange since I mentioned his name. When I sneak a sidelong glance at him, I see him lost in thought, with his hand on his chin.
We were having a good time talking just a moment ago. I wonder if I said something that bothered him.
“Hey, Sumeragi, I’ve got a favour to ask. Don’t tell anyone that you’ve met me here today, and that I play Magia, alright?”
“Uh… Ye-yeah, sure. But um… Can I ask why?”
Kurotsuki-kun’s sudden change of topic and serious expression convince me that I must have said something wrong. And this request makes me feel more uneasy than I would have expected.
“Yeah, originally I planned to not involve myself with people from our class. But, I couldn’t just leave you there, when you didn’t know anything. So… yeah, that’s how it is.”
“Um… So I really was in danger back there?”
“It’s a matter of probability, but if you did encounter them, you would have died for sure.”
“I-I see…”
It makes sense that Kurotsuki-kun doesn’t want to interact with classmates, when you think about how he acts at school. He doesn’t talk to anyone, no exceptions.
He probably plans to stop talking to me, too, after we part ways today.
He didn’t say it directly, but I think that’s what he meant. Kurotsuki-kun wants to return to being strangers, the way we were until yesterday. But for me…
I don’t want that.
Kurotsuki-kun knows a lot about Magia, so obviously I want him to teach me more from now on. But also…
I don’t want to stop talking to him.
Talking with him is fun. He might not have exceptional communication skills, but he’s a good listener. He listens to what I have to say, gives thoughtful responses, and thinks things through together with me. It feels so comfortable being able to freely talk about the things I like. But for Kurotsuki-kun it might just be annoying.
Still, I don’t want it to end here. I want to interact with him more. So I…
“Hey, Kurotsuki-kun?”
“Huh? Ah? Sumeragi?!”
I lean closer to him.
Due to the height difference, I find myself looking up at him. He’s really good-looking, so seeing him up close makes me shy, but when I notice he’s getting flustered, I realise that we’re in the same boat, and I let go of my self-consciousness.
“I will keep it a secret from everyone. But I want you to keep talking to me from now on. I want you to teach me more about Magia. I want us to play together again. Can we?”
Maybe I’m a bit too intense… That’s quite a shock for him, probably. But if I don’t ask while looking him straight in the eye, he’ll probably just refuse.”
“Hey, Sumeragi! Wait! Calm down!”
“We can’t?”
“Uh, It’s not like that. First, just calm down.”
“We can’t?”
“O-okay. Sumeragi, okay, we can! You’re too close.”
“Really?”
“Really! So please step back a bit.”
I got desperate halfway through, but I managed to get a clear answer from Kurotsuki-kun, who seemed a bit startled. I’m glad I did, but when I realise that I’m practically clinging to him now, my face turns bright red, and I quickly jump away.
“Ah… S-sorry!”
“No, um, it’s fine…”
After putting some distance between us, my thoughts become clearer, and I realise how shamelessly I acted, which makes my face redden even more. I try to calm myself down by fanning my face with my hand, but my pounding heart shows no signs of slowing down.
“…Sumeragi, you’re quite pushy, aren’t you?”
“Agh… Don’t say that!”
My embarrassment reaches its limits after that line, so I cover my face with both hands and plop down, sitting flat on the ground.
“Because, you see, Kurotsuki-kun, I just had this feeling that asking normally wouldn’t work, a-and, well, it’s the first time I did such a thing, so it’s embarrassing for me too.” I mutter as I explain my outrageous behaviour.
It sounds as if I’m blaming him for what happened. Worried that he might get offended, I peek through my fingers to gauge his reaction.
“Well, yeah… It’s just like you said. If you had asked normally, I would’ve probably said no. But please stop doing things like that. It’s bad for my heart.”
“Aghh… I’m sorry”
Kurotsuki-kun forces a smile, trying to assure me that I don’t have to worry about it.
“So let’s call it even this time. I won’t dwell on it, so neither should you.”
“O-okay.”
I grab his extended right hand, and let him pull me up. The fact that my heartbeat speeds up a little again is a secret only I know.
“We’ll be out of the forest soon, so just a little while lo…”
In an instant, a heavy pressure seems to envelop the entire forest. The relaxed atmosphere from a moment ago changes completely, and a chill runs through my entire body. It feels as if the temperature of the entire forest has dropped.
“Eh? …What?”
“Crap. Here, huh. Why today of all days…”
When Kurotsuki-kun curses slightly, I understand that all this isn’t just my imagination.
“Kurotsuki-kun, is this really…”
The tingling sensation on my skin… I can sense the situation I’m in without even needing to see it with my eyes. But thoughts like ‘maybe that’s not the case after all….’ make me ask for confirmation, and the response I get is just as expected…
“Yeah. Sumeragi, it appears that we’ve stumbled upon the low probability scenario.”
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