Ruru's Jealousy
Ruru is the best!
“…”
An angry raccoon, huh. ‘This is Ruru?’ What on earth happened to make her this furious?
“Wow. Don’t tell me this photo is Ruru?”
“Yeah.”
“Look at that belly. So cute… Ah! Not as cute as Delia, though!”
A sense that the door would shatter if I dawdled any longer made me reply right away.
“Pfft—”
Yaruru’s lightning-fast change in attitude made it impossible to hold back a laugh. I glanced over at Adel, who was once again grinning like an idiot in front of Delia.
‘Adel will be fine.’
“Adel.”
“Huh… yeah?”
“I’m going to go test with Yaruru.”
“Heh— I thought Yaruru wouldn’t be interested since she’s already a spirit user.”
“She’s my number one assistant, after all.”
I waved at Adel, whose eyes were still glued to Delia, then returned to reality.
“Whew— I thought I was going to die from how awkward that was.”
The inn room already felt more familiar than my room back at the family estate. The family… Mother and Father had sent messages. Something about how it was vacation and I still hadn’t shown my face.
“Hmm. Alright. I guess I’ll head over to Yaruru’s.”
Between Retrieval ERROR and the new game I was making now, I’d been so busy with development that I’d decided to skip going home this break. Going back to the estate would just mean hearing the usual lectures about getting some fresh air and sunlight.
“One person missing won’t make a difference.”
Vivian was handling the filial piety part just fine on her own.
“Ugh—”
I tried to stand, but the room spun and I dropped back onto the bed. …Come to think of it, I’d done nothing but sleep without eating anything. I moved just my arm and sent Yaruru a message. A moment later—
Knock. Knock.
“Chase! Are you really that exhausted?”
“Just a sec—”
I slowly got up and opened the door to find Yaruru holding Ruru in one hand and inn food in the other.
“Seriously! Just how hard were you and Adel working on the game?”
“Sorry. I guess I pushed myself without realizing it.”
While accepting the food, I glanced at Ruru. The raccoon spirit was fast asleep, drooling all over Yaruru’s arm. The way its mouth kept moving suggested it was dreaming about eating.
“It says it’s in deep contemplation.”
“…Its arm is soaked in drool right now, though?”
“Deep contemplation… Anyway, that’s what it claims.”
Of course. Even spirits apparently drooled while contemplating. As I half-reclined on the bed and spread out the food Yaruru had brought, Ruru—who had supposedly been contemplating—opened its eyes.
“Kkyung?”
“Ah, no way…! This is Chase’s food!”
“It’s fine. Let’s eat together.”
“Kkurung— Kkyung kkyung!”
Ruru hopped out of Yaruru’s arms, sat cross-legged beside me, and eagerly bit into the skewer I offered. I followed its lead, munching on my own skewer as I spoke.
“…Mmm. The test version’s already finished.”
“You got that far already?”
Yaruru’s surprised expression brought a wry smile to my face.
“It just happened.”
“Ooh! I’m looking forward to it!”
“Huh?”
“If Chase is this absorbed in it, it’s gotta be fun!”
If she trusted me that blindly, I had nothing to say.
“Plus, Adel’s so hooked on the game she’s not even replying!”
Ah. That…
“She’s completely turned into a game addict.”
“Huk… That just makes me want to try it even faster!”
But since we’d only just laid out the food, Yaruru could only fidget in place. Moved by her eager expression, I sent her the test file.
“Just take a quick look for now.”
“Got it.”
“I can trust you on that, right?”
“Why are you suddenly doubting me?”
“Player trust has taken a nosedive since yesterday.”
“I’m different. I’m GameDevChoa’s assistant, after all!”
Yaruru puffed out her cheeks like an angry raccoon—Ruru—but I couldn’t laugh at all.
‘Yarurururu… Adel’s also my assistant…’
The spirit that appeared on Yaruru’s mana panel wasn’t Delia. Of course it wasn’t—our goal was one player, one spirit, and I couldn’t show her the Delia that Adel was obsessed with. Besides, this spirit’s appearance was unique. A round, light body. Slow, floating movements through the air. Not particularly pretty or flashy, but the kind anyone would want to reach out and touch—
“It’s a cloud!”
“Yeah. You said spirit appearances vary, right? I happened to see clouds drifting in the sky and took inspiration from them.”
“Hmm…”
“What do you think?”
“It’s amazing. It really looks like a real spirit!”
“Whew— Thank goodness.”
If an actual spirit user said that, then the design was a success. After that, Yaruru dove sharply into questions about the spirit’s design and UI. Some of her points were sharp enough to catch me off guard.
‘As expected of Yaruru. She’s got real assistant experience.’
“Feedback from a spirit user really is different.”
“Of course it is.”
Yaruru looked smug at the praise, but her eyes stayed fixed on the mana panel. The cloud spirit drifted slowly across the screen until Yaruru’s finger touched it. With a soft “hug” sound, it flinched and puffed up its body.
“…Heh.”
Yaruru’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Is there something you don’t like?”
“It’s fascinating. It’s not even a real spirit, but…”
Yaruru trailed off and looked at the panel again. Without further touch, the cloud spirit tilted its head in confusion. Yaruru copied the motion exactly.
“It really feels like I’m looking at a spirit!”
Like Ruru, huh? At her words, I lowered the meat pie I’d been about to eat. Adel was one thing, but Yaruru was different. She was a real spirit user who had actually formed a contract. And yet she was saying something like that about a spirit inside a mana panel.
Buzz—
The unfamiliar nickname startled me for a second. ‘Ah. Adel can send notes now too.’ I must have mentioned Yaruru when I left the mental space. Same assistant and all.
“Why are you laughing by yourself?”
“It’s nothing. Want to keep testing?”
Yaruru gave me a suspicious look before carefully touching the cloud spirit again. This time, the spirit didn’t startle. It simply bobbed gently up and down. The movement was a little plain compared to its first reaction, but that was intentional.
“This one’s called Bouncy.”
“…You already gave it a name?”
“Names are really important for spirits.”
“But why Bouncy?”
“Because it bounces around.”
“…”
“Names should be easy to say.”
Of course. Yaruru. Adel had twisted her own name to make “Delia,” while Yaruru had simply gone with what she saw—“Bouncy.” Strangely enough, both of them had changed their attitudes the moment they named the spirit. The cool-headed assistant from moments ago was now…
“Bouncy, come over here!”
…acting like they’d become friends. Thank goodness.
“Now enter the name and try calling it.”
“Don’t tell me it actually recognizes names too?! …Bouncy.”
No reaction.
“Why isn’t Bouncy doing anything?”
The moment Yaruru finished speaking, Bouncy lazily swayed its body up and down.
“Hmm. It seems a little shy.”
“I haven’t implemented that feature yet, though…?”
“Then just add it.”
“You too, huh.”
I let out a sigh at the familiar response. Both assistants were rushing me now. I might as well accept it. Adel was already head over heels for her spirit, and Yaruru had entered the danger zone too.
This time, Yaruru gently stroked the screen—stroked Bouncy.
Boing— Boing—
“Having fun?”
“I’m still in the middle of testing.”
“You said you were just going to look.”
“I am looking.”
…That wasn’t what I meant. But Yaruru paid no attention and kept petting Bouncy, each stroke varying in angle and duration in ways only I seemed to notice.
“Aren’t you getting a little too into it?”
“As an assistant, I have to go this far to give proper feedback.”
“…You do know Bouncy is just a test spirit, right?”
“Hmph hmph. You don’t get it, Chase. If it looks like a spirit, you have to treat it like one.”
I had plenty of things I wanted to argue, but since I wasn’t a spirit user, I stayed quiet. …Maybe I should’ve made a different game. With a sigh, I was about to feed a french fry to Ruru when the raccoon’s ears twitched and it stood up.
“?!”
Was it a coincidence? Ruru was a lazy, food-loving spirit, so I figured it just wanted to change positions. ‘Refusing food? Ruru?’
Standing on two legs, Ruru looked back and forth between Yaruru and the mana panel with half-lidded eyes. More precisely, at Bouncy on the screen.
“Ruru? What’s wrong? You didn’t even finish your food.”
Instead of answering, Ruru flicked its tail once. Thud. The sound of its tail hitting the bed was louder than expected.
“Do you want something else to eat?”
Thud. Ruru’s tail flicked again.
‘No, that’s not—’
That wasn’t what it meant. Even without knowing much about spirits, I could tell. Ruru was— Ruru was currently in a bad mood. Yaruru seemed to sense it too and looked flustered.
“Ruru?”
Ruru climbed into Yaruru’s arms and squirmed around before wedging its body between the mana panel and Yaruru.
“…”
“…”
“Kkurung… Kkeung!”
The sight of plump Ruru completely covering the screen left both of us speechless. Ruru looked up at Yaruru with a bold expression.
“Ruru, are you sulking?”
Instead of answering, Ruru stuck out its belly. Round, soft, and squishy. Yaruru reflexively rubbed it.
“Ruru is the cutest.”
When Ruru’s tail began swaying lazily—unlike before—I nearly dropped the french fry in my hand.
“This is…”
I could calculate for players getting attached to in-game spirits. Even a spirit user treating one like a real spirit was something I’d considered possible. But a real spirit getting jealous of a game spirit? Reacting to it?
“Ruru, Bouncy is just a game Chase made.”
At Yaruru’s hurried words, Ruru stared straight at her.
“My real spirit is Ruru.”
Ruru pushed its belly out a little more.
“Ruru is the cutest and most lovable! Ruru is the best!”
Satisfied with Yaruru’s flattery, Ruru went limp. Yaruru’s arm wobbled, and a brilliant idea struck me.
…This was my revenge.
“Yaruru, don’t tell me you shook your arm on purpose to see Bouncy?”
“N-no way! Ruru! Don’t get mad!”
Yaruru tossed the mana panel aside and frantically pet Ruru, sweat beading on her forehead.
“Ruru is the cutest. Really, really!”
“Puhuh.”
“Chaseee…!”
Only after being petted until Yaruru’s arm trembled did Ruru finally seem satisfied and let out a pleased purr.
“Ah! Ruru!”
But that only lasted a moment. When Yaruru tried to check the panel’s notification, Ruru nimbly snatched it away.
“It moves pretty nimbly.”
“Ruru’s always been amazing.”
Finally giving up on checking the notification, Yaruru slumped in her chair, still holding Ruru—who was now hugging the mana panel tightly—in her arms.
“…”
I quietly pulled out my notebook.
Spirit users: Contracted spirits may experience jealousy.
After a brief pause, I added another line.
If a contracted spirit interferes with gameplay… what should I do?