Chapter 31
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Translator: Xrecker
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Men Become Friends Through Fighting (2)
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'No.'
As I hurriedly answered the warning window in my mind, it immediately disappeared from before my eyes.
And I thought.
What a truly fucking trash game.
The concept of a "health tank" from the game had been implemented in this world as "regeneration." And the moment I tried to break through it, a warning window about the world collapsing appeared.
World destruction or world collapse, it was all the same, which meant I would die along with it. The world absolutely would not tolerate me trying to take the easy way out.
The providence of the world: regeneration.
If one thought of "providence," it could be considered the laws and principles by which the world operated. Death and life. A concept of the world, like the natural law that wood burns when you set it on fire. In this world, something called "regeneration" had been added to that.
Even if I pierced through a person's emotions or will, it wouldn't cause a problem for the world. However, I could surmise that to pierce the "regeneration" of even one subject, I would have to pierce providence itself.
'It's a shame, but there's nothing I can do.'
Since the consequence was on the scale of "world collapse," I'd come full circle and wasn't even angry anymore. It was disappointing, but I had vaguely expected this kind of development.
Besides.
'The Penetration skill itself is basically a cheat.'
A skill that could land a critical hit with just a thrust. Even if a creature had high regeneration, there was an enormous difference between the regeneration consumed by being cut a few times and the regeneration consumed by having its body pierced through completely.
Time passed quickly as I continued to listen to Roderick's lecture, thinking about which parts of an opponent with strong regeneration I should primarily attack.
"That's all for today's class. Are there any questions? ...None. Then I'll see you again next week."
After the class ended, I got up from my seat. My classes for the day were over, but Pamela had another class after this.
"I'm going to look around the academy for a bit, so let's have a meal together after your class is done. I'll wait for you at the academy cafeteria."
"Y-yes!" Pamela answered energetically.
"And after we eat, let's train our stamina."
"Y-yes...." Pamela answered, her energy completely gone.
***
The Lucadia Academy had a dual meaning: the city and the academy within it. So people would often call the city "Lucadia" and the academy "the Academy."
The Lucadia Academy was frequented by the talented children of nobles and royalty. Most nobles, royalty, and even adventurers with outstanding skills were graduates of the Lucadia Academy. Because of this, a lot of capital gathered here.
Naturally, merchants flocked in, and the size of Lucadia gradually grew, taking on the form of the large city it is today.
On top of that, there's a setting that the academy itself expanded over time, establishing new educational policies and facilities to raise a larger number of cadets more effectively. At first, the combat and magic disciplines were in a single department. From there, they were further subdivided into schools like the Development School and the Theology School, a setting that showed the academy was also evolving with the times.
This enlarged academy was so vast that just walking around felt like sightseeing. The atmosphere of each school's district was different, giving each area a unique feel. Just looking at the buildings was a novel and enjoyable experience.
But as a Lu-Fan user, I couldn't help but feel that everything I saw while walking around the Lucadia Academy was nostalgic and delightful. Part of the reason I wanted to walk around was to get used to the sense of distance, which was much wider than in the game. But the main purpose was to heal my mind—which had been worn out by the harsh reality of having to personally defeat the ridiculously difficult boss, the Demon King of Chaos—in a way only a Lu-Fan user could.
This wasn't Valendia.
This was the Lucadia Academy.
The Lucadia Academy, where 80% of the gacha characters from Lucadia Fantasm belong.
Which meant that no matter where I looked, I was bound to see at least one very familiar gacha character.
They weren't just images on a screen; the characters were actually alive and moving, walking the streets. Not slightly lively polygons like in VR, but vivid 3D! And it wasn't some clumsy live-action adaptation, but a top-tier quality that looked as if life had been breathed into a collectible figure!
As a user who had played Lu-Fan for over 10 years—one who fully limit-broke characters at every pickup, attended every single event, and never skipped the story voices, waiting until every line was finished—this Lucadia Academy was nothing short of a paradise optimized for fangirling.
More than anything, the Lu-Fan characters that met my eyes were the best eye candy imaginable. Even when I saw Shasha and Pamela, my heart pounded and my mind cleared; it was a healing experience.
And today, unlike at the entrance ceremony, everyone was wearing their own unique outfits.
Lu-Fan is a subculture game. It competes with its characters, and one of the most important elements of that characterization is the clothing. And here comes a special feature of mass-produced subculture games that churn out whales: The female characters wear clothes with an insane amount of exposure. The male characters also wear clothes with a decent amount of exposure. The formula of Exposure = Profit is common in this industry.
Even a character like Shasha, who wore pants, had an outfit that deliberately revealed her cleavage. Pamela also had a bold slit on one side and an outfit that nearly exposed her entire chest. And as I looked around right now, the outfits of the other female students were, as a user and as a man, a true feast for the eyes.
One student wore pants with a design that boldly exposed the side of her thigh. Another was dressed like a Middle Eastern dancer. One was wearing spats, with baggy pants that were wide open at the crotch and just a swimsuit top. One wore an outfit that looked pretty from the front, but the back was cut incredibly low. Another wore what seemed like a normal outfit, until you realized the side of her chest was completely open.
Just glancing at them was enough to clear my mind.
The male students were roughly wearing outfits that showed off their chests and navels. If you thought they were dressed normally, they were wearing a sleeveless shirt, exposing their armpits. I focused on the female characters with a clear mind, while for the male characters, I would just briefly appreciate their look and move on.
The healing didn't just come from the eye candy of the characters' appearances, but also from the moving thrill of physics that was only possible in reality.
In Lu-Fan, which was nominally a game for ages 15 and up, no matter how bold the outfits were, phenomena that would easily occur in reality do not happen. Things like the character disappearing if you lower the camera angle too much. Or how a skirt would never flip up past a certain point, even if the character fell from a Of course.
...great height. Or how fabric that should have swayed and jiggled significantly with even the slightest movement was completely fixed to the character. Or in the most extreme cases, in designs where underwear should have been clearly visible, the character's private areas would instead be colored in black, like a black hole.
Here in the real world, none of that happens.
I felt this even when walking with Pamela. I could witness the artistic phenomenon of the fabric fluttering in the wind, clinging closer to her body and accentuating her lines. Moreover, looking around now, for the characters wearing skirts, the fabric wasn't just swaying uniformly. The lifelike, fluttering movement of the cloth completely resolved the frustration I had felt in the game.
The same kind of liveliness you'd see from a cosplayer walking through a convention hall was happening all across the Lucadia Academy.
To be blunt, really. If it weren't for the situation I'm in, this place could be called a fangirling paradise for any Lu-Fan user.
Of course, I have to defeat the Demon King of Chaos to go back, but I also can't tolerate the destruction of a fangirling paradise like this. Sightseeing at the academy was a "kill two birds with one stone" activity—it healed my heart and recharged my motivation to defeat the Demon King.
Just as I was in the middle of this healing and motivation charging,
"Would you stop for a moment, Mr. Ishihan."
I heard a voice call me from behind and turned around.
"If you don't have any other plans..."
The woman who came into my view was, just like Pamela, a person that any user of Lu-Fan would know. She was also a character beloved for a different reason than Shasha.
In subculture games, unless the appearance is truly groundbreaking, the main factor for popularity is usually performance. If a character is strong, you use them often. If you use them often, you grow attached. When you grow attached, various fan creations and related posts appear.
And the woman before my eyes was a character who had both a groundbreaking appearance and top-tier performance. A character who boasted unrivaled popularity in Lu-Fan.
A confident, ladylike smile that seemed to look down on you just a little. Short, silver twin-tails tied with green ropes and golden eyes. A green, Chinese-style dress with gold embroidery.
The design of her chest had a hole over the upper part, and her underboob, which had a beauty mark, was completely exposed. On top of that, it was sleeveless, revealing her armpits and even the side of her chest with its boldness. As if to mock Pamela's thigh-high slit, hers was a super-daring slit that went all the way up to her pelvis. She wore stockings with a gold trim that covered up to mid-thigh.
And a large bust that perfectly complemented such an outfit, and sturdy, presence-filled thighs that overwhelmed even that bust.
She had been given many nicknames.
No. 2 character whose sideboob you want to slip your hand into.
No. 1 subject of fan fiction where she gets "corrected" and flustered.
No. 1 female character with the sexiest back view in her ultimate skill cutscene.
No. 1 in number of owned costume skins.
Max Defense Thighs.
The unshakeable meta-defining broken character, but also a beloved favorite.
The hope of players with bad controls.
Sil-queen-queen-queen.
"Could we talk for a moment?"
Shu Yeon-hwa.
An essential character who must always be in the party had come to find me.