Latest Game Maniacs (1)
Latest Game Maniacs (1)
As for how we ended up like this...
It started when Lee Si-woon received Drex's dinner invitation and headed to his place in South Pillar.
While Lee Si-woon was going through hell to settle his karma (ignoring his promise),
his eternal cohabitant and helper, Eve, was receiving help from two other organisms regarding an 'illogical worry' she had computed.
Catherine, having heard the AI's uncharacteristic worry, answered briefly.
"Isn't it just your imagination?"
"Denied."
"Hmm, she says his behavior was strange at No Answer."
Normally, it would have been dismissed with a 'don't be ridiculous,' but the story changed when the subject was her childhood friend—someone she'd known for a long time.
"Evidence includes increased respiration rate, elevated heart rate, and pupil movement."
"...How do you even know that?"
"It's preventive mental care."
Eve, who had answered Catherine's question neatly, added an explanation for the worry.
"It could be assumed to be the typical human emotion of 'embarrassment,' but..."
Andrea, having heard Eve's explanation, interjected and left a remark.
"So you're saying he looked depressed instead."
"Affirmative."
Standing next to the bed already in Lee Si-woon's house—Andrea, whose only thought had been to add a new king-size bed—paused her thinking for a moment and recalled what happened at No Answer.
'...Come to think of it, he did look that way. He had his head down and was covering his face with his coat, so I just thought he was embarrassed.'
Thinking about it now, it was a completely plausible story.
Catherine seemed to share the same opinion.
She nodded in agreement.
"That sounds right..."
Catherine stopped what she was saying and looked at Eve with her golden eyes.
It was a look asking for a solution.
To that question, Eve pointed at herself.
"My solution is as follows."
"...You?"
"Partially denied."
To be precise, Eve was pointing at the outfit she was wearing.
"...A maid outfit?"
"Affirmative."
She nodded confidently with her prosthetic body.
Andrea let out a heavy sigh.
"...My trust just plummeted."
"No, I think that makes sense in its own way."
Catherine responded in agreement with Eve's words.
"..."
Did she really have to wear a maid outfit?
With that thought, Andrea's expression hardened.
"...Isn't it a bit embarrassing? A maid outfit, I mean, it's not like we're going to some weird café."
"Even if you say that, this individual is already aware that the elf 'Andrea' secretly purchased a maid outfit."
"..."
Catherine looked at Andrea with an utterly indescribable gaze.
'You too?'
Andrea met Catherine's gaze with the same expression.
'...Yeah.'
Having exchanged opinions without a single word of dialogue, Catherine and Andrea turned their heads toward Eve.
Eve questioned the two of them.
"What are you planning to do?"
To Eve's question,
both of their answers were the same.
22. The Latest Game Mania (1)
I raised my head.
I slowly looked forward.
Three women wearing maid outfits of different designs welcomed me.
Eve had an apron draped over her usual clothes. I didn't know much about maid outfits, but hers had a very classic feel.
Conversely, Catherine's attire broke from the classic. The skirt was incredibly short, and the size was so small her belly button was visible.
Lastly, Andrea... I wondered where she'd even gotten such a thing.
Over tights that clung to her body, she wore a uniquely designed maid outfit—literally, a maid from the cyberpunk world.
I had failed to run away.
Now I had to pick another option and escape this crazy situation.
"...Uh, hey."
I couldn't quite bring myself to speak easily.
"What the hell are those outfits?"
Honestly, there were only a few counterattacks I could make in this situation.
I just had to appeal to their character—lean on the slim possibility of recovering their lost sense of shame.
Catherine answered the question.
"You don't like it?"
......No.
If we were debating whether I liked it or not,
of course I liked it.
There probably aren't many people who actually hate maid outfits.
I shook my head lightly and snapped back to my senses.
I couldn't fall for this insidious trick.
"That's not it. I'm asking why you all suddenly showed up in maid outfits."
At my question, Catherine and Andrea turned their heads to look at the artificial intelligence standing in the very center.
So you were the culprit...!
I let out a short sigh.
I felt my sighs increasing.
"...For the record, I'm not really into maid outfits."
"Really?"
Catherine, who had answered, walked toward me.
My gaze dropping to the outfit she wore was a movement close to instinct.
It was absolutely not my fault.
Catherine, confirming my expression, narrowed her eyes and gave a meaningful smile.
"Your eyes seem to like it though."
Perhaps having regained her lost confidence,
she laughed, "Fufu," and slowly grabbed my arm.
"How long are you going to stand out here? Let's go inside and talk for now."
Andrea grabbed my opposite arm as well.
Eve had already opened the front door wide without a word. Her intention to confine me inside the house was overflowing.
...Is this the end?
Was there truly no way to escape this situation?
I racked my brain quickly.
A pro mercenary never gives up.
I twisted my whole body to find a path of possibility as narrow as a needle's eye.
......!
A flash of insight.
I typed a message to someone through my vision interface.
Since I could input text using only my pupils' movements, it was possible even with my arms restrained.
And I sent the message.
...Now I'd done everything I could.
I just had to hold out as long as possible—
Then.
The front door of the neighboring condo unit—the one that had been closed—opened.
In the past, it had been the home of a strange person sensitive to noise.
Now, it housed a criminal registered in the NCPD wanted database.
It was the home of 'Julia.'
"...?"
The message I sent Julia was simple.
Recipient: 'White Rabbit'
- Help!
- Hallway
In the urgent situation, I didn't have the energy to send more than that.
Through strands of unkempt blue hair, blurry eyes looked at me.
Catherine, confirming Julia's appearance, shouted at her as if making an excuse.
"...That person who lived next door back then, right? Julia, was it? This is nothing, okay?"
But whatever.
A light came on in Julia's mechanical eye.
"......Kidnapping?"
She knew Catherine's and Andrea's faces well enough.
But it seemed hard to notice that a famous mercenary and a famous entertainer were dangling there while wearing maid outfits.
Julia slipped her hand into the mouth of the rabbit doll she was holding.
Soon, her hand emerged holding the handle of a katana with its blade folded.
I confirmed the sight and yelled.
"Wait!"
No matter what, I didn't call her out to fight.
Leaving aside who would win or lose,
if a commotion broke out,
the dignity of several people (especially two) wearing maid outfits would vanish, of course, and Julia's identity—which she'd kept hidden—would be exposed, possibly causing the NCPD or Cyber Force to deploy.
At my voice, Julia stopped the motion of unfolding the blade.
Just as she'd once said she respected me, she seemed to listen only to my words.
With the situation momentarily settled, I calmly opened my mouth.
For reference, my arms were still restrained.
"This is, you see..."
...
Uh.
...Hm.
How should I explain this situation?
I shut my mouth again.
Honestly, even I didn't quite understand how things had come to this.
I'd just eaten at Drex's house,
came back home,
and found myself greeted by two cohabitants and one future cohabitant, all dressed in maid outfits.
My head was just spinning.
"...That is, um..."
Julia waited for my words, her brow furrowed ever so slightly.
She hadn't yet let go of the folding katana's handle, remaining still.
Anyway,
time was passing even as this went on.
I couldn't stall forever.
And I had to make a choice.
The two options that came to mind most easily were these:
Do I become the pervert,
or does everyone become the pervert?
...
No choice, then.
With the spirit of sacrifice,
I arduously chose the former option.
"...It's costume play."
"?"
I swallowed dryly.
"...Just my taste, that's all."
"Ah."
My stomach churned.
I'd overcome the immediate crisis, at least.
But in exchange, my dignity seemed to have been shattered.
Having heard my words, Julia put the sword handle back inside the rabbit doll.
"......Heh, that is possible, I suppose."
I wanted to die.
* * *
I brought Julia all the way into my home.
It wasn't because I thought unpredictable things might happen if I were alone with just the three of them.
It was because I intended to treat Julia, who had helped me with various things up until now.
Anyway, that was what it was.
"......?"
Seeing the inside of the house, whose scenery had changed since the last time she'd visited, Julia tilted her head to the left as if puzzled.
Then her gaze turned to Catherine.
She hadn't recognized her in the hallway earlier,
but now she seemed to recognize Catherine's face.
Catherine, perhaps having belatedly recovered her human dignity, noticed her embarrassment about her own attire and crossed her arms to cover her heavily exposed chest.
"...So that's why the construction noises were so loud."
Julia nodded and muttered to herself.
I wondered what she thought about the construction I had no say in.
Her expressionlessness had a different feel from Eve's.
First, I tried to do my duty as the homeowner by handing Julia something to drink.
It was a cool cola.
"......Thank you."
Julia, having politely bowed her head, took a sip of the cola.
Maybe the carbonation stung her throat.
Her expressionless face scrunched up slightly.
I also handed a cola each to Catherine, Andrea, and even Eve, who were either lying or sitting on the bed as if it were their own home.
I should buy more cola.
Now that I'd received Pit Mac's apology, I should try the cola released by Koozaka next time.
I thought briefly as I sat down opposite Julia.
"Anyway, no issues lately?"
I asked Julia while drinking my cola.
It was an ice-breaking question meant to lightly change the mood.
Honestly, it wasn't a question I'd asked thinking there would actually be any issues.
"Ah."
However,
at my question, Julia raised her head.
Why she put the completely empty cola can into her pocket instead of throwing it away was a mystery.
"Um, well... Are you busy with anything these days?"
"Not at all."
Honestly, I wasn't.
The Pit Mac thing was over too.
Besides playing games at home, I had no scheduled plans.
"You should go on a date with me—"
"Not with you, with us."
"Shh, everyone please be quiet."
I ignored the three who started chattering—though I couldn't hear exactly what—and waited for Julia to speak.
"In that case......"
Julia hesitated, unable to continue her words.
Her mechanically-made combat cyberware arm flinched uncharacteristically.
Seeing that, I spoke.
"It's okay to talk comfortably, Julia. You've helped me out plenty too."
That was my honest feeling.
Because it had ended so abruptly,
I couldn't really see the light of it, but I knew that Julia had also run herself ragged trying to help me with the Smile Zone incident.
Aside from a request to live together like someone else, I was willing to grant any favor she asked.
Gaining courage from my words, Julia clenched her mechanical fist and opened her mouth.
"...Then, would you be willing to enter a game tournament with me?"
"?"
What is a wanted criminal doing entering a game tournament?
I momentarily doubted my ears.