Beware of Voice Phishing Impersonating Someone You Know
"Oh. A motorcycle...."
The highest-grade ride in all of Ashen City, and I'd gotten my hands on it this easily. My luck was absurd. Fuel was even scattered across the ground around me, so I wouldn't have to worry about running dry.
"Umm. So, in Ashen City, if you explore a region, it all gets written onto the map, right...? Fill in every blank on that map, meet a certain condition, and what you get to see is O-Oceanus."
Tracking down that condition was no easy task, and neither was exploring every region. The one I'd needed in order to see Oceanus in single player, for instance, was catching fifty fish in the Ash-Gray River and then raising them for two weeks of in-game time. Clearing a region wasn't as simple as setting foot in it, either. You also had to find every material, every beast, and every hint of a technique the place contained.
It was difficult, yes. More than that, it was an endless repeat of incredibly tedious work. That was exactly why Oceanus was known as content for the hardcore veterans.
"T-today, I should finish the Ash Desert first."
I had a motorcycle now. Better to knock out the widest, most annoying region of them all while I could.
"Oh, it's Miss Izumi!"
The plan was set, the engine was running, and I was just about to pull away when her voice reached me from behind. I was not fool enough to mistake a voice I had heard hundreds of times.
"Uh, N-N-Nanase-senpai?"
"Correct!"
I turned. Standing there was a character with Nanase written above her head.
....
"...Hhk!"
I nearly blacked out. Sure enough, Nacchan's beauty refused to be hidden, even when she was moving around as a game character.
"Th-that time, I just wasn't feeling well...."
It had been a sudden group collab, and Nacchan had shown up on top of it. The me who hadn't grown at all back then couldn't possibly have held out. But the me of now could at least manage an ordinary conversation....
"What are you planning to do now, Miss Izumi? I heard you were with Miss Koga earlier."
"Uh, th-that's— I, um, I was th-thinking of g-going on a t-trip...."
M-maybe this was impossible after all.
"A trip? Wow, that sounds fun! Miss Izumi, mind if I come along?"
I somehow forced the pounding in my chest to settle and explained what I was after. Nacchan answered with a request.
"...Huh?"
Nacchan, on a trip with me? What was she talking about? I didn't understand. Why would she want to move around with someone like me?
Oh.
"C-could it be that... m-my organs are what you're after...?"
"Pfft! What are you talking about?!"
"Heh, heheh...."
Nacchan kept giggling, plainly delighted. Had what I'd just said really been that funny? I couldn't help it. Going on a trip with Nacchan—I had never even imagined such a thing.
"So? Would it be all right if I came? Whenever you're not in Ashen City, I'll head back to base or something and wait."
The motorcycle seated two. Honestly, going together wasn't a problem in itself. But if I had to move around with Nacchan, I'd be so nervous I couldn't get a proper word out. Wouldn't that cause trouble on stream? No matter how much she was my oshi, I still wanted the Iztomo to enjoy watching.
What was I supposed to do....
"...I can't?"
"I-it's fine! Let's go together! The trip's gonna be fun!"
Well, what could I do? If Nacchan asked like that, you all were the ones who had to take the hit.
The Ash Desert. The widest stretch of Ashen City, and the hardest to explore. Look in any direction and all that waited there was ash. Just finding food or materials was an ordeal, and for a beginner the place was no help at all.
That did not mean the region was meaningless. The Ash Desert was where you could learn advanced refining. In single player you could clear the game without the technique, so it wasn't especially useful. In multiplayer, where there was no clear condition, it was handy enough—and a player like me, whose goal was Oceanus, needed to find it just to fill the exploration meter.
The desert was wide enough to turn your stomach, though, and trying to explore it on foot or horseback was a good way to fall behind. But who was I now? The owner of a high-grade vehicle. A motorcycle. I had decided its name would be Vimana.
"...You really can't see the end of it."
Faced with an ashen landscape that had no end in sight, Nacchan let out an awkward little laugh, clearly thrown. Thinking back, I had been the same at the start.
Oceanus only unlocked after your first single-player clear. The Ash Desert you reached, once you understood that seeing it required exploration, was vast enough to drag a groan out of you—vast enough to feel hollow. They said multiplayer let you search for Oceanus from the very beginning, but that didn't make the desert any smaller.
"For now, N-N-Nanase-senpai, please start exploring from the, um, west...."
Nacchan and I had already formed an alliance, so every place she explored was shared with me. Nacchan, truly. She was doing my entire life an enormous favor.
"...But Miss Izumi. No matter where I look, all I see is ash. How are you even supposed to explore this place?"
"Ah, on the g-ground—look for spots where the ash is darker than everywhere else."
The Ash Desert was wide enough to make you sigh, but the developers had shown a scrap of conscience, marking anywhere that held something in a slightly blacker shade. Of course, about one in three of those was still a dud.
"Th-then let's get started...!"
"...All right!"
About an hour later, when we met for a midpoint check, the exploration meter read 38 percent. Thirty-eight percent in a single hour. Absurdly fast. By the numbers alone, we would be finished inside two.
"...Hey, Miss Izumi. You said you've already seen Oceanus, right?"
"Yes...."
"Back then, how long did it take you to explore the whole Ash Desert? And are the other regions all about this bad?"
Nacchan's voice was thick with exhaustion. Fair enough. This was probably her first time in Ashen City, and starting with repetitive grind like this couldn't have been any fun. Other regions at least gave you all sorts of things to try while you explored. Out here, there was nothing but the same task, over and over.
"Uh, umm...."
Last time I had done it alone, recording the map and exploring the whole of it had taken about eight hours. And that was the Ash Desert by itself. Was it all right to say so honestly?
"W-well, for now, the Ash Desert is kind of a s-special case, even among the regions you explore...."
"I see. Then the other regions are much better?"
"The other regions have m-more kinds of content, so they should be fun too. And when I did it alone last time, exploring the Ash Desert took about eight hours in t-total...."
"...Really?"
"Yes...."
In the end, I couldn't lie to Nacchan. The meter might have hit 38 percent in an hour, but depending on how things went, there was a real chance we wouldn't finish within two.
"Um, N-Nanase-senpai. If you're t-tired, it's fine if I explore the Ash Desert by myself."
This trip had been something I'd meant to do alone from the start. Even if Nacchan rested, it wouldn't really be a problem....
"No, no. I'm the one who asked to come along. It'd be wrong if I were the one resting. Sorry. I almost put a burden on you, Miss Izumi."
"Auu, I-I'm really okay, though...."
"Good! Then shall we get back to exploring?"
"Ah, um, N-Nanase-senpai...?"
"Hm?"
Nacchan had already turned back toward the west, but at my call she looked at me again.
"A-actually, I think I have to stop h-here for today...."
Somehow it was already past nine. Following Miss Koga for that first hour after I started really had been an enormous waste of time. Call it reaping what I'd sown, and I wouldn't have a word to say.... No. The verdict was already in: the Iztomo who hadn't stopped me were the ones in the wrong. So it wasn't on me.
"Ah. It's already past nine?"
"Yes. I-I'm sorry."
"Don't be. What is there to apologize for? Should I explore ahead, then? I think I can keep going a little longer."
"Ah, um. Y-you must be tired too, senpai...."
"It's fine. I want to see that Oceanus view soon myself, so I'll fill the meter up to about fifty percent on my own."
"Th-thank you...."
"Yep! Rest up, Miss Izumi!"
"Yes.... Y-you worked hard too, N-Nanase-senpai...."
After we said our goodbyes, I closed Ashen City.
"Haa...."
Once the tension let go, the strength drained out of my whole body on its own. I had suddenly allied with Nacchan and ended up traveling beside her. Honestly, it still didn't feel real.
"I-I mean, how was I supposed to not shake...."
If it were just the two of you playing a game with me, do you think you wouldn't shake? ...Actually, you probably wouldn't.
Talking, just the two of us, hadn't been enough. Now we were going on a trip together to see Oceanus. Let my guard down, and I might shake until I died.
"S-still, I'm glad we got through it without any problems, at least...."
"H-hey, cut it out with the mean stuff...."
"Then I'll get going. See you next time...."