EP.18 Vorpal Rabbit -3
EP.18 Vorpal Rabbit -3
"That's not fair."
"In what way?"
"If something goes out, something should come in."
"Are you saying you want us to tell you about ourselves too?"
The rabbit nodded several times.
It was a bit awkward to talk about since it was confidential, but she had already told us everything she could.
Besides, we were in the same position where it couldn't get out. It should have been fine to tell her.
"Fine, but in return, can you tell me one more thing about yourself?"
"What?"
"Tell me your name. I still don't know what your name is."
"Hmm..."
The rabbit repeatedly stroked under her chin and fell into deep thought.
Was telling me her name really such a difficult thing?
I didn't know why, but unlike when she talked about her personal life, she was agonizing over this hard.
"If it's hard to tell me, you don't have to."
"I am Ezio of Firenze..."
"That's a game character's name."
"...I don't have one, actually."
"Huh?"
"I don't have one. A name."
"Ah..."
I completely understood why the rabbit had found it so hard to just tell me her name.
It was because she didn't have a name at all, so it was hard for her to say.
The situation turned awkward. I hadn't done anything wrong, but I felt like a criminal.
"I-I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I don't mind."
"Well then, you have a nickname you mainly use in games, right? Couldn't we just call you by that instead of a name?"
"That won't work."
"Why?"
"My nickname, it's embarrassing."
"What is it that's so embarrassing?"
"...Bunny Princess."
"..."
A nickname only game junkies used. Yeah, that was a no go.
It was a name that brought pain to both the listener and the speaker.
Calling the rabbit by that nickname here would have been no different from manufacturing dark history.
"In that case, did you have a name you were called when you lived in the Great Wilds?"
"No. Because I was always alone."
"I-I see..."
The mood grew even more somber. It was bitter.
"Ah, but..."
"But?"
"I was called something unusual once by another Divine Beast I encountered. Time-Leaping Rabbit..."
"You were called Time-Leaping Rabbit?"
"Yeah. Probably a title given to me because of my ability."
Time-Leaping Rabbit. The name of an individual I'd never heard of before, a Divine Beast that had never been revealed anywhere.
Even when I immediately searched it on my phone, no information came up.
"If that title comes from your ability, can you tell me what your ability is?"
"That's a bit..."
"As expected, asking about your ability was rude of me! I'm sorry. I just asked because that whooshing teleportation seemed like an ability that only appears in games."
"...It's Time Leap."
The rabbit answered readily the moment game talk came up.
It was nice that I could get information easily, but I was genuinely worried about this rabbit.
No matter how much you liked games, was it okay to give away your important information this easily...?
"Time Leap, does that mean you leap over time?"
"Yes. I can send myself or an object I'm holding forward in time by up to 30 seconds."
"Ahh, so that's how you and your knife came flying at me as if teleporting."
"Right."
"But I'm pretty sure I blocked or dodged, so why did it still hit me?"
"When in a leaping state, all external factors are ignored, and I am unconditionally sent to the future position. However, if another object is already at the arrival point, the leap is impossible."
"What kind of broken ability was this..."
If I summarized the rabbit's ability, it went like this.
She could leap over a maximum of 30 seconds of time.
All forces and matter occurring or acting during the leaping process were completely ignored. In other words, she could pass through them.
However, if matter existed at the arrival point, the leap would fail. So she had to calculate the time thoroughly for the ability to activate.
There were tricky conditions attached, but the fact that she could ignore the process and definitively go to the future...
In other words, it was a broken ability that chewed up and spat out causality.
"If it's alright, could you show me that ability in person?"
"Yeah."
The rabbit sprang up from her spot, turned her body toward me, and showed me her open palm.
"Currently, the distance between you and me is 5 steps. And I will assume that I approach you at 1 step per 1 second."
"Okay."
"Then, first, 4 seconds."
The moment she finished speaking, I was startled by the rabbit, who had already reached right in front of me.
I understood the theory perfectly, but seeing it in person, I couldn't hide my surprise.
Of course, regardless of that, the rabbit moved away from me and returned to her original position.
"Next is 5 seconds."
5 seconds was the time it would take to reach the spot where I was standing.
But the rabbit didn't move and just stood there blankly, staring at me.
"Did the leap fail...?"
"Yes. If it fails, nothing happens, and I can't use the ability for the amount of time leaped over."
"Does that mean right now, you can't use your ability for 5 seconds?"
"Right. And now that 5 seconds have passed, I can use the ability again. This time, 6 seconds."
Once again, only empty air remained where the rabbit should have been, and a presence was suddenly felt behind me, where nothing had been before.
I turned my head slightly, and as expected, the rabbit was standing behind me.
"Taking someone's back like this is also possible."
"It would be scary if you vanished and then appeared suddenly from behind."
"Yes, an ability optimized for horror games."
"Ha, haha..."
She really was a game-junkie rabbit whose head was always full of game thoughts.
"So, do you remember everything that happens during the leaping process?"
The rabbit shook her head from side to side, denying my question.
"No existence in the world, including myself, can perceive my leaping process."
"Then, when you leap, your field of vision suddenly changes too?"
"Yes."
It meant the caster only knew that they had used the ability, and where they would move to depended purely on their own prediction.
The more I learned about the reality of the ability, the more it seemed like a really difficult ability to apply.
Starting from calculating the time, you also had to respond to the situation after arriving...
Saying it was easy, but anyone would know it was actually difficult.
Yet, when she used her ability, the rabbit's movements were as fluid as water.
How many times had the rabbit repeated that ability to become so adapted to it...? I couldn't even guess.
'So that's why she's the Time-Leaping Rabbit...'
A rabbit that leaps through time. It was a fitting title for her. Though it didn't suit her as a form of address.
...Now that I thought about it, wasn't there another story about a white rabbit related to time?
What was that story again?
"Yuu? Whatcha thinking 'bout?"
"There's a story about a white rabbit holding a pocket watch, but I can't remember the title. What was it?"
A famous story. It was on the tip of my tongue.
"Me! Me! I know!! Alice in Wonderland!!"
"That's right! It was Alice!"
I stroked Tia's head, who had cleverly recalled it.
Then Tia started giggling out loud.
Beside her, the rabbit was tilting her head.
"Alice? Is that my new name?"
"Ah, not exactly. Seeing you just suddenly reminded me of a rabbit, so I brought it up. Besides, the white rabbit's name isn't Alice."
"I see..."
The rabbit hung her head weakly, looking dejected.
Was she expecting it to be a new name, and I had just denied that? Did I do something wrong again?
I was going crazy. Should I have groveled with my head on the ground and apologized?
"Umm... you know. Now that I think about it, the name Alice seems like it would suit you quite well. What do you think?"
"But the white rabbit's name is Alice..."
"Ah, just forget what I said earlier! As long as a name is pretty, that's all that matters, right? Right, Tia?"
"Yeah! The name Alice, it's pretty, I like it!!"
"Tia agrees too. So, wh-what do you think?"
"Alice... Alice... The ring of it isn't bad."
I saw the corners of the dejected rabbit's mouth slowly rising.
Thank goodness. It looked like she was satisfied.
"Then, would it be okay if I call you by the name Alice from now on?"
"Yes, I'd like that."
"Pleased to meet you, Alice."
"Pleased to meet you..."
The naming concluded with a heartwarming handshake.
Once again, things seemed to have worked out somehow, and I felt satisfied.
I thought this every time, but naming really was the hardest task...
"Now it's your turn."
"Huh?"
"You promised to tell me your story."
"Right..."
I had promised to tell her about us if she told me her name.
That conversation had circled around and around until we reached this point, but it had been so long that I'd forgotten.
Anyway, a promise is a promise. I honestly opened up to Alice about us too.
My relationship with Tia, the circumstances that brought us to the club, and even my personal information.
I did that because I thought it would be unfair not to tell her as much as she had told me.
"Is this enough?"
"It's enough."
I was worried it might not be enough, so that's a relief.
"Well then, Alice, we'll be heading off now before it gets any later. Thank you so much for today!"
"Where are you going?"
"Where else? The mission is over. You and I both need to head back now."
Just when I was wondering why she was asking something so obvious, Alice suddenly pulled out her dagger and aimed it at me.
Her eyes began to turn murderous.
"Wha, what's this all of a sudden?"
"Before you go back, leave your lives behind."
"What...?"
Was she insane?
"W-wait a minute! We were getting along just fine until a moment ago, right? So how can you say something like that?!"
"There can be no witnesses. Otherwise, I can't keep living here."
"No! I said I won't tell anyone? I'll definitely keep the secret!!"
"I can't trust that."
"Even though we've been happily talking together and I even gave you a name...?"
"That and trust are separate things."
"Then what do we have to do to earn your trust?"
"You can just die."
"What the fuck?"
Th-this was one seriously messed-up bitch!
Normally, wasn't it the golden rule that if you chatted amicably like this, you parted on friendly terms too?
But out of nowhere, she said to die before leaving...? I'd never seen a lunatic like this in my life.
'This was insane!'
-Ding!
Just as I was about to lose my mind because of the crazy rabbit.
A message arrived on my phone.
At this time, at this timing, there was only one person in my memory who would send a text. As expected, it seemed the crow was going to present me with a solution again this time.
So I quickly checked my phone, but unfortunately, it wasn't Yata. It was a payment history sent from some site.
'Why would a spam text have arrived at a time like this... Huh?'
Just as I was about to quickly delete it, I noticed my name written in the message body and looked at the text more closely.
No Subject
[Web Message]
Hello! This is the game purchase agency site, Game Junkies Rule.
Your reservation application for the GTA VI Special Edition has been successfully received.
[Pre-order Information]
1. Reservation Number: 695874
2. Reservation Name: Yoo Seon-ju
3. Reservation Phone Number: 010 - 892 - 6974
...
...
...
A pre-order I had no memory of.
The name on the reservation was mine, but the phone number was Yata's, so I could tell this was the crow's doing.
Anyway, a limited edition of the next installment of a famous game that anyone would be dying for, at this timing...
'Miss Yata, just how far ahead were you seeing?'
I could only praise her insight once again today.
Meanwhile, Alice had been taking a stance as if she would leap at me and kill me at any moment.
But even with her in front of me, I could now be at peace.
Time Leap? It was certainly an ability that acted as a counter to Future Sight.
But while Alice could leap over no more than 30 seconds, Yata's Future Sight had no such limit.
In the end, that rabbit would also kneel before the almighty crow.
"Alice, if I said I'd give this to you, could you trust us?"
"I don't know what it is, but if it isn't your lives..."
I told her to stop babbling and see for herself first, then showed her the text message content.
Then... like a birthday party popper going off, her rabbit ears sprang out from inside her hood with a pop!
They were endlessly folding and unfolding as if flapping like wings, so I could tell she was extremely excited.
'Well, of course she is.'
From a gamer's perspective, this was a pleasure no different from sex.
The game limited edition pre-order Yata sent had a success rate of less than 10%, with such fierce competition.
To succeed in a reservation after breaking through brutal competition among countless gamers?
Back in my game-addict days, it'd have been enough to make a no-erection ejaculation possible.
"How about it? Can you trust us now?"
"O-of course! Da—mn!"
I could see extreme joy and excitement in the way Alice, who had thrown away her taciturn image, was jumping up and down.
She really was that happy...
But still, a rabbit going on about carrots gave me mixed feelings.
"Thank you! Thank you! Words aren't enough, so I'll even lick your shoes!"
"Whoa...?"
Alice then showed her loyalty to me by even licking my shoes, which I hadn't asked for.
This was trouble. Tia couldn't see this and learn from it. So I had to stop her quickly...!
Strangely, it felt so thrilling that I didn't want to stop her. Was this the taste of capitalism?
Still, just as I decided to end it at an appropriate point and opened my mouth...
"Husband...?"
A hellgate opened up behind me.