Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: The Path You Chose (1)
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Before summoning Elaine.
In other words, right around the time Elaine was in the thick of conquering that A-rank Tower.
I performed a summoning.
For our third familiar.
"........."
The being that appeared amid the light fixed a cold gaze on me.
>
It was the kind of look I'd often seen in games directed at "enemies," and I didn't even have time to wonder if it matched her appearance from the game.
Different from Elaine or Kiharu.
Or maybe they had given me that same blatant look of enmity once, but I just hadn't noticed.
The third familiar, the android hacker who wielded a pistol—Agent—didn't withdraw her hostility toward me.
And then—
Clunk!
The moment I felt a massive impact hit me, my body slammed into the floor.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"I could ask you the same thing."
What was going on here?
In that split second, Kiharu—in the form of a goddess—had pulled me into a hug from behind, while Agent loomed over me, pinning me down like she was about to attack.
From the outside, it looked like two women sandwiching me from front and back.
>
If you thought it was just some catfight over the summoner's affections between Kiharu and Agent, who were glaring murderously at each other, you probably hadn't noticed what was right in front of my heart.
Right in front of my heart.
Agent's pistol was aimed dead center at it, and Kiharu—lying on the floor to shield me—had grabbed the barrel with her hand.
"You gonna pull the trigger? Go ahead if you want. You'll just be permanently blacklisted as number three."
"........."
"Shouldn't you be thanking the summoner—no, the 'commander'—who pulled you out of that hellhole of a world? Hm?"
"......So."
Agent smirked at me.
"You're saying all that crap I went through was scripted by someone?"
As expected.
This was the issue I'd been worried about ever since Elaine and Kiharu, and even anticipating the next one—it had finally blown up.
"You think I'll just swallow that?"
"And if you don't? Gonna track down the original author who wrote your story and put a hole in their head?"
"I was the one who wanted to hunt down the bastard responsible for all that horror and ventilate them. Doesn't matter if it's some Eurasian Federation exec or the scenario writer who set it up—what's the difference?"
>
Squeeze.
Pressure built in my chest.
Agent pressed the pistol into me like a knife.
"Right, Commander?"
"........."
"Weird calling you Commander, isn't it? Everything the commander said, did, every choice—it was all scripted. Right?"
"From now on, it'll be different."
I signaled Kiharu with my body and slipped out to the side.
"Partner."
"I'm fine."
I pried Kiharu's hand off the pistol, letting the barrel touch my chest directly.
"Heh. What're you doing right now?"
"Telling you to shoot if you're gonna shoot."
"You're insane?"
"Yeah, I am. Awakening with this kind of ability was crazy from the start, and picking you out of everyone—even knowing it might go like this—was crazy too."
"......Ah, I see."
Agent shifted the pistol from my heart to between my eyes.
"You think I won't pull the trigger and this is just a bluff? Sorry to disappoint. I'm dead serious right now."
"So am I."
"Really? Then answer seriously. Why'd you pick me?"
"Because I needed you."
"........."
"I picked you because I thought you were the most essential addition, even knowing this might happen. The responsibility for that is all mine."
"........."
>
Silence stretched on.
I wasn't sure if an android could intuitively sense emotions, but she could analyze my heartbeat, breathing changes, and make judgments based on her algorithms.
"Honestly, I figured you might go off like this, but I hoped you wouldn't. Now that it's happened, though, we have to deal with it."
"A familiar rebelling against her summoner?"
"Not all familiars have to blindly obey their summoner."
Elaine and Kiharu both had the power to eliminate me in an instant if they wanted.
"Ever seen that movie? The Matrix."
"...So I'm supposed to be some poor soul who took the red pill and woke up to reality from a fake world?"
Good.
Given her android nature and near-future setting, she seemed to have prior knowledge of that.
"So you're the one who woke me to the real world? But I'm not even human."
"If you act human and live like one, you are human."
"...Philosophy major?"
"No. Even if it's not philosophy, you can still have some thoughts on humanity. Whether it's lip service or just winging it."
I grabbed Agent's pistol and hand.
No warmth at all—just soft silicone.
"Since I summoned you, you're all familiars, party members, my comrades. As fellow 'people' and 'individuals,' we're equals."
"You can unilaterally order me around, though."
"I won't."
I pointed at Kiharu.
"Take her—she's a 'goddess who could end the world,' but I've never forced her to do anything."
"That's true."
Kiharu backed me up.
"...Goddess?"
"Explaining it this way might be clearer for an android."
Kiharu made a poof sound and instantly shifted to her cat form, hopping onto my head.
"This body is the true final boss, set up as a goddess who decides humanity's fate, and that identity hasn't changed. Just like in the previous world, she's a goddess who thinks and acts the same way here."
"...A talking cat?"
"She's a goddess. You might not get it, but this world's like a modern superpower fantasy—similar but a bit different."
"...What're you even saying."
Agent furrowed her brow.
She seemed to grasp it logically, just letting out a wry chuckle.
"So what, you're trying to convince me as fellow familiars and make me obey?"
"Wrong. I'm just relaying what this man wants to say."
Kiharu stated firmly.
"Even without me, he would've summoned you. Even if it was by chance the first time, he'd have said the same things to you."
"Like what?"
"Better hear it from him."
"...Setting it up like this feels kinda awkward."
Still holding the pistol aimed between my eyes, I lowered it back to my heart.
"From the moment I summoned you, you've become a new being. You had that 'setting,' but now you're a completely new existence—a comrade living in this world with us."
"........."
"It wasn't pity for your tragic past, or because your looks are my type, or banking on some commander emotion module."
I lightly tapped my temple with my index finger.
"Your head. Your processing circuits. The hacking skills you showed in that world. That's the biggest reason."
"...If you just needed a hacker, there were others."
"It was a comprehensive judgment."
A simple hacker wouldn't cut it.
"I chose the one most optimized to live human-like in this world, adapt to modern civilization, and survive the threats here with us. I put real thought into it."
An android who understood humans best.
"I don't need a doll that just follows orders. Calling you 'human-like' might be rude, but this reaction proves you're one—like me, living in this world."
"........."
"Call me whatever. 'Hey,' 'you,' doesn't matter. For titles, basically—"
"Commander."
The term for the game player.
"...Commander, huh. Well, whatever."
Agent withdrew the pistol and backed off.
"For a second, I thought about actually shooting. Did you know and bluff it out?"
"Know what?"
"......? Heh, for real?"
Agent glanced at Kiharu.
"He doesn't know?"
"Unless it's what Number One said, even I don't know-nyang. I never tried to attack."
"Huh?"
"What, he really doesn't know? ...Heh. So you risked your life just to talk me down? Or were you playing dumb?"
"Who knows. Whether I knew or not... I'll tell you once you complete your top-priority mission."
If Agent had fired at my heart, would the bullet have pierced it?
Since she lowered the gun, no one knows if it would've happened.
"Before we connect to the internet, let me explain our situation and what you need to do. Mostly hacking, but there's a lot to handle."
"...You."
"Me?"
"Stop calling me 'you.' Hm, no way I'm using an ID number, model name, serial, or codename from over there..."
Agent—no, she—flashed a grin and pointed to the upper left of her chest.
"Give me a name. You can do that much, right?"
"...A name?"
"Yeah. You said I was trapped in virtual space and woke up to reality? So everything before was fake, and now is real?"
"Not exactly fake, but..."
"So, gonna make one? Or just keep dodging?"
"Can't just pick one on the spot. Let's think about it."
I raised both hands calmly.
"Once we pick a name, it'll go on your ID. Can't just slap something together."
"What's so hard about picking a name-nyang?"
"Exactly, Kiharu."
"........."
Scraaatch.
Kiharu pounced and messed up my hair, while Agent laughed in exasperation.
"Ha, seriously. So much to say, but... for a joke to start."
Agent made a heart with her fingers, still holding the pistol.
"Favor stat starts at 0, you know, Commander?"
"...Damn, that's one hell of a savage joke."
And so.
With Kiharu's support, I successfully recruited our third comrade.
"Alright, time to call Elaine."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ And some time later, now.
"Whoa, sis. You just sat there quietly until the commander woke up? So you have no idea what he got up to while he was sleeping?"
"Waiting patiently for Master to awaken without doing anything is the virtue of a maid."
"Really? You didn't think about anything at all? Ahaha, I would've poked him at least."
"You don't hold back any words toward Master, do you, Kiharu? Really, this woman didn't threaten him at all after being summoned? With her personality, I'd bet she pulled a gun."
"Oh? Poke like this, prodding his cheek? 'Master... you need to wake up....'"
"This body saw nothing-nyang.... Blind Megami-nyang...."
"........."
Summoner.
This is the party you chose.
'We'll just tough it out with sheer grit.'
Different worlds or not, we can all become friends.
...Deeper would be even better.