An Unexpected Friend

An unexpected friend. Silver hair. Crimson eyes. She stood no taller than my chest. A girl who seemed like an inorganic doll, utterly devoid of presence, stared at me in silence and spoke those words.

It wasn’t unusual for Rachel to appear in the training room. She possessed a cat-like temperament; the moment she grew bored, she would vanish without a trace. Even though she was watching me intently, I offered no reaction and remained absorbed in my training. She would lose interest after observing like that for a while and leave on her own.

I began diligently practicing the skills I had learned that day, wielding the Elm 183 alongside the Iron Lion’s Greatsword.

Seeing on a monitor was one thing; experiencing it in reality was entirely different. What had once been a simple click now registered vividly through every sense. The sensation was utterly novel.

Addictive, isn’t it?

The thrill of manipulating the newly awakened sense known as mana was electrifying. The feeling of commanding an overwhelming power at my fingertips was simply the best. As if in a trance, I unleashed Stingray and Mountain Shaker repeatedly against the rubber training dummy.

Thanks to the Contractor of Divine Artifacts skill, I could infuse ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mana into the blade without physical contact. It felt as though the weapon existed in a separate space yet remained perfectly linked to me.

Still, my overall specs were lacking, so my mana control remained crude. There was only one solution: train relentlessly and raise my stats.

That didn’t mean blind repetition, though. One thing I always told my viewers during strategy streams was the importance of technique. Even in grinding and repetition, efficiency matters. Repeating the same action ten thousand times yields better results for those who understand the timing, while others end up with comparatively weaker stats.

Stingray’s timing is ssup-ssup-smack! Mountain Shaker’s timing is uuuung-pwak!

There was a rhythm to channeling mana into skills. Adding vocal cues at the precise moment made the activation far more efficient. For Stingray, a thrusting skill, I would push the mana backward on “ssup-ssup” and snap it forward explosively on “smack!” For Mountain Shaker, I would draw the mana inward and expand it tautly on “uuuung,” then detonate it at the impact point on “pwak!”

Having practiced these timings tens of thousands of times for strategy videos, my Stingray and Mountain Shaker grew increasingly precise and refined as time passed.

I must have been training like that for quite a while.

“Sword. How are you doing that?”

A voice suddenly came from beside me. When I turned, the cat-like girl wasn’t bored at all. Instead, she stared at my Iron Lion’s Greatsword with eyes brimming with curiosity.

This event never triggered before.

I felt slightly flustered. Whether on the easiest difficulty or the hardest hardcore mode, Rachel ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had never spoken to me at this point or shown any additional interest.

Players who had raised Asbel purely as a romance character and specialized in heroine conquests might have encountered this. They would probably know exactly how to respond.

Of course, since I had never once raised Asbel as a dedicated romance character, I had no idea what the correct response was in this sudden situation.

“That heavy sword. It’s floating in the air. How are you doing that?”

I didn’t know much about Rachel, but I knew she wasn’t particularly talkative. Yet here she was, eyes sparkling with genuine interest. This was definitely unusual.

Romance-only players would have immediately switched into heroine-conquest mode, but I despised that kind of approach. Right now, this girl wasn’t a potential heroine showing conquest flags; she was a nuisance interfering with my training.

“I need to train. Go away.”

I waved my hand, shooing her off. But Rachel showed no intention of leaving. Like a cat that had discovered a fishbowl, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her gaze remained glued to my Iron Lion’s Greatsword.

“That sword. The sword floating in the air. It smells. Like blood.”

Well, of course it does. It was the blade the first patriarch, Jonathan Lichtenauer, used to crack open dragon skulls during the Dragon Blood War. But why was this girl acting so strangely? Had she eaten something bad? This event had never occurred before. Even as a veteran player, I was seeing it for the first time.

“I said go away. I need to train.”

“I want it.”

Rachel suddenly said something absurd. She looked straight at me.

“That big black sword that smells of blood. I want it.”

She stepped closer, staring intently. She really was beautiful. Perhaps because she was a game character and the illustrators had gone all out. Having such an extraordinary beauty I would never encounter in real life look up at me left me, someone with zero experience in these matters, extremely flustered.

If this were an event inside a monitor, I would have paused the game, wondering what kind of bizarre event this was, and scoured the community forums. But this was reality. There was no community to search, and the sweet scent radiating from Rachel right before my eyes was overwhelmingly intoxicating.

To a man in his prime who had never even smelled a woman before, it was far too stimulating.

“How much?”

Was she seriously trying to buy the Iron Lion’s Greatsword with money?

“It’s not for sale. Go away.”

“Our house has a lot of money.”

Of course it does. The Catel Marquisate is a prestigious knightly family in its own right. Though if we’re comparing wealth, the Lichtenauer Ducal Estate has far more. After all, there are only two ducal houses in the entire empire.

“I don’t need money. I said it’s not for sale. Go away and let me train.”

I spoke while trying not to let her seductive presence distract me. Rachel continued staring at me with that same expressionless, doll-like face. Then she finally stepped back.

“What do I have to do for you to give it to me?”

Give it to her? As if.

“I won’t. No matter what you do. That’s my weapon. I need to use it.”

“I can give you another good weapon. Give me that one.”

That’s a legendary-grade item. One of the finest greatswords in existence. Among the divine artifacts obtainable in the early game, it’s the only one that remains viable as a main weapon all the way to the ending. There was no way I would hand it over to her.

“I like that one. Now please leave. I really need to train.”

I couldn’t understand why this character was behaving this way. Was there a glitch? Bugs shouldn’t happen in reality. Or had a new event been added because of the Realistic difficulty?

They said everything was identical to hardcore except for permanent death and the early revival of the Four Evil Dragons.

I had cleared hardcore hundreds of times, yet I had never once encountered this event. I had been following the perfectly standard growth route I myself had developed, and I hadn’t done anything that should have triggered something like this.

Even after my cold refusal, Rachel refused to back down. She simply stared fixedly at the Iron Lion’s Greatsword like a cat begging for churu.

Then, without warning, she stepped forward and held out her hand.

“Let’s be friends.”

“What?”

“Friends.”

This was beyond strange. At this point, the reason behind Rachel’s bizarre series of actions had narrowed down to a single possibility in my mind.

The revival of the Four Evil Dragons. Could this be connected to that?

It might have sounded ridiculous, but my veteran instincts were screaming that it was. Since every other setting was identical to hardcore, the only way an unknown event could occur was if it related to that.

Was Rachel herself about to turn into a demon? No, there were no signs of that. Which meant something had changed in her surroundings. A change that didn’t exist on hardcore or lower difficulties must have occurred, prompting this reaction.

I looked at the hand she offered, then firmly grasped it.

“Fine. Let’s be friends.”

I wasn’t accepting to pursue her as a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠heroine. This was because of the bad ending.

Bad endings had various conditions. One of them involved the death of numerous important NPCs and characters due to demons. Most of the academy characters were still weak. If a demon went on a rampage now, many could die instantly. Even if my character survived, it would trigger a bad ending and result in permanent death.

I had no intention of dying. Therefore, I needed to maintain this connection at least long enough to figure out what change had occurred around Rachel.

“You’re really becoming my friend?”

Rachel’s eyes widened at my words. I nodded.

“I’ll be your friend.”

“........Understood.”

Rachel gave a small nod. Then, with a sudden whirl, she disappeared somewhere.

Doing whatever she wanted and vanishing the moment she was satisfied. She really was just like a cat. Now I understood why, whenever heroine-conquest guides for Rachel appeared on the community forums, people in the comments called her “Meow” and posted edited images of her with cat memes and tuna cans.

“Let’s watch slowly.”

I needed to carefully identify where the problem had begun. It was still the very early stage. The members of the Evil Dragon Cult who sought the dragons’ revival would be moving with extreme caution. If I showed any sign that I had noticed and began investigating, they would destroy all evidence and flee immediately. Then I would never learn what scheme they had been planning.

So I had to take it slow. The only option was to investigate the events surrounding Rachel and uncover the truth gradually.

“A demon-related event already. How interesting.”

It really was interesting. The fact that an unknown event was unfolding in a game I had played thousands of times sent a thrill through me. What kind of event could it be? There was even the possibility that a character I had never seen before had become a demon. If so, how should I approach it?

The primal joy of this game that I had forgotten after becoming a veteran player was resurfacing. The excitement of raising a character and facing new monsters felt fresh again.

“Tasty. It really is tasty.”

Chuckling to myself, I dove back into training Stingray and Mountain Shaker.

Whatever the case, the demon event had begun far too early. Since an unknown character might turn into a demon and go on a rampage, it was crucial that I raise my own specs as quickly as possible until I was strong enough to fight.

“I wonder what item this demon will drop? It’s basically tradition to purify a corrupted divine artifact after defeating a demon and turn it into a new weapon.”

Of course, I felt no tension whatsoever. It was game over if I died once, but I was a veteran. There was no chance I would die in this game.

With a sense of anticipation, I focused solely on training until the night grew late.

And the next morning.

“It’s morning. Wake up.”

Someone shook me awake, and I opened my eyes. My breath caught in my throat.

Rachel. She was lying in my bed right beside me, her seductive breasts—plump and full beneath her school uniform—pressing directly against my chest.