The Path Unwalked by Feet (5)
Mary Tepes walked across an impossibly vast plain.
Yet it was neither a verdant grassland nor a barren wasteland. It was a square paved with bricks, the kind of artificial plaza one might find in some forgotten corner of the world.
The jagged mountain range slicing the horizon in the distance only reinforced the obvious: this entire vista had been engineered by human hands.
“What exactly is that holy knight doing…?”
— Whoa.
— Seriously, how did you even manage that?
— Eh? Eeeh?
The culprit was blindingly obvious. It had to be Amairo Tsubasa, that perverted holy knight.
No one else would casually carve up a mountain for fun when there was no need for a foundation. They had seen her at work with their own eyes.
Thanks to that, they had avoided the tedious leveling required before any construction could begin…
“The eight-hour connection limit rule doesn’t apply only to seniors, does it?”
“No. Tsubasa-san is an exception either.”
The rule existed to curb addicts trying to bury their bones in Fraserva. There was no guarantee Gen 2 lacked such cases, so there was no reason to single out Gen 1.
“Eight hours a day and you’ve reached this?”
Charlotte murmured in disbelief. The server had opened less than a month ago, yet she had already achieved this level of development. It was absurd.
“Charlotte-san, eight hours is more than enough.”
“No, that’s probably pushing it.”
“You just dig the ground within eight hours. Tsubasa-san really just connected and did nothing else.”
A truly terrifying junior. The miko who had been leading the charge in front of Mary and Charlotte let out a bitter laugh. Rokumondera Aki, her senior by one generation—though the company only had Gen 2 anyway.
“Tsubasa-chan is really… no, no.”
“Yeah. Honestly, I can’t even imagine trying to follow.”
— Why would you do something like that…?
— How do you even find that fun?
— This isn’t a game, though.
— What kind of broadcast are the viewers even experiencing?
“Eh… if you look at it that way, maybe it isn’t so bad after all.”
……
But the explanation that followed left Mary speechless.
This was supposed to be a broadcast? Mary felt her mind go blank.
— No, please snap out of it, you perverts.
— These people… they’re seriously insane.
The daily broadcasts filling Fraserva wasn’t the case. Aki smiled bitterly and added as if trying to defend herself.
Turning on the broadcast in addition to eight hours of leveling was impressive in its own right, but…
“Even so, Rokumondera-senpai. Why are we following you?”
“Huh? I explained it, right?”
To Mary’s question, Aki answered with perfect composure.
“We’re going to sell the third employee.”
“So why us…?”
“That’s obvious.”
Followed by a confident, sunny smile.
“If the boss says so, the employee has to obey obediently, right?”
“…Can I quit?”
“Ah…! Sorry! I was wrong!”
Of course, that outburst was instantly suppressed. With one word from Mary, she clung to her almost in tears.
“Sigh. Fine. I’ll follow along to this extent.”
“Ah, you’re not going to abandon me, are you? Right? Mary-san!”
“I’m not abandoning you. Calm down, senpai.”
Mary sighed and gently steadied her.
“So who are we looking for next? As expected, the diligent Tsubasa-chan?”
“Eh… Tsubasa-san isn’t just interested in terrain destruction, right?”
“Still, she won’t abandon the assigned task.”
But the way she said it made it clear Amairo wasn’t the one. Mary pondered for a moment, then spoke the next name.
“Or Tama-senpai? Since Shar-chan is close to her, she might be easy to recruit.”
“I was going to do that originally. But unfortunately, she’s offline right now.”
Yeah, as expected, Mary muttered. Even though Anathema Production’s server was everyone’s favorite, not everyone was always connected.
‘No matter how you think about it, if it was the old server, this senpai would always be online.’
With the eight-hour limit, the chance of connecting at once was even lower.
Mary opened the connection player list and fell into thought.
“…Ouch.”
She picked up the cup beside her, took a sip, and flinched as her tongue was slightly burned.
“Are you okay? Did it burn your tongue?”
“Ah, yes. I was just surprised for a moment…”
Answering Charlotte’s concerned voice as if it were nothing, Mary brought the cup back to her lips. This time she blew on it several times to cool it, then took a very small sip.
“By the way, where did that even come from?”
In the midst of that, the question was pointed out by Aki.
“Where did it come from?”
“No, I was wondering where a drink that burns the mouth to that extent suddenly appeared, even though you hadn’t left your seat.”
It was a drink prepared in advance to drink while streaming, so it was still hot. It couldn’t be understood as being put in a thermos to cool down… but the clinking sound captured by the mic was clearly that of a glass bottle.
“Does the senpai distinguish that by sound…?”
“Because my senses are sensitive.”
Is this person weird too? Mary thought for a moment, then recalled what Han Seoyeon had said before—‘There is no human on the surface of Anathema.’
Originally, there were two people who had not yet been identified, and Rokumondera Aki (Rokumondera Aki), whose real name is Natsugahara Hina (Natsugahara Hina), seemed to be among them.
But after hearing the investigation results passed through several stages and confirming it.
Details were still unknown—whether she hadn’t given it to Nino, or whether Han Seoyeon hadn’t fully grasped it yet.
However, considering that she didn’t show any signs of fatigue even when playing for over twenty hours, she probably had enough power to enhance her body.
Satisfied with that, Mary opened her mouth.
“Well, it’s not like I’m living alone. A sister brought it just a moment ago.”
“It sounded like you turned the mic on and off just now, so that’s why? Sister came and went.”
“Eh… sometimes I feel like these people like Sister more than me.”
Mary grumbled and changed the topic to refresh the atmosphere.
“So who are we recruiting this time?”
“Serena-san.”
Serena Razania of Gen 2. That was the name that came out of Aki’s mouth.
“Because she has a curse power. It’s a PVP in advance to prepare for potential conflict with Tachibana Construction!”
In this server, each VTuber had abilities set corresponding to their race. As a vampire, Mary could suck blood and was not a target for undead attacks.
Hearing the explanation, Serena, who was apparently a witch and ghost, had received the ability to launch debuff attacks from a distance…
“No, weren’t you supposed to make a construction company instead? Isn’t the priority way off?”
“Eh… But in the construction industry, there are naturally many people who are experts in fighting, so if you think about it, it’s rather that such organizations are the origin…”
The chat flipped over with the statement implying a real-world yakuza organization. Mary was momentarily stunned, rolling her eyes.
‘No, yeah, since it’s Anapro that Bou has, it’s fine!’
But she quickly regained composure.
…This is called hopeful observation, or giving up on thinking.
“Even so… I have bloodsucking ability too, and Shar-chan’s physical is no exception. …Aren’t we picking only fighters from the beginning?”
“N-no way?”
“This person, if it comes to it, is thinking of just bulldozing the other construction company with force…”
The manager sighed but didn’t pursue further.
“Ah, anyway, we’re here. Right there.”
It was around this time that they reached the destination. Mary and Charlotte looked in the direction Aki pointed.
“……Container boxes?”
“Quite shabby, isn’t it.”
A structure with no aesthetic sense, a rectangular one. Even the materials weren’t uniform, with wood, stones, and dirt mixed haphazardly.
In the midst of that, the part where they dug a hole in the middle of the wall and embedded glass, it was a facade that made one deeply ponder whether it was worth evaluating as an effort to make it look like a living space.
“Serena-chan, are you inside?”
“Serena-san! I’ve come to deliver good news──!”
“No, it doesn’t sound like anything but suspicious solicitation, so please stop.”
The three approached the door and called out Serena’s name. But there was no answer.
“Hmm… She doesn’t seem to be home.”
“Was it a wasted trip…”
Thinking about it, even if connected to the game, there was no guarantee she was at home.
“Should I leave a message inside the house?”
Aki said that and flung open the door and entered. She could have just put up a sign in front of the door, but as expected, her senpai had no hesitation about breaking and entering.
“Yeah? But there’s something written on it.”
Had someone else left a message first? She thought that and read the note on the table.
“‘Death to intruders’? …Ah.”
And in the very next moment, sand poured in, blocking the entrance. Then a hissing sound of a fuse burning.
“Hiiik! Senpai, save me…!”
Watching from outside, Mary opened her eyes wide. Was this shabby appearance not due to lack of aesthetic sense, but from the beginning designed to break…
“──Mary-chan!”
When the situation was understood, Charlotte’s action was swift. She quickly blocked in front of Mary and took the explosion on her own body.
Suddenly, a shield was in her hand.
“Any injuries? Are you okay?”
Finally, Charlotte turned her head to check on Mary and said with a cheerful smile.
Looking at that face, Mary slowly opened her mouth.
“A person died right in front of me? Romantic and all that, there’s no point.”