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Published at 12th of September 2019 10:30:39 PM


Chapter 2.1

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Volume 5 Chapter 2 Part 1

 

And so continues the quest to convert everyone over to the Schwein faction. Again, I did say I’ll take a break, but since volume 20 hasn’t arrived yet, I had some free time to work on this part. Also, it’s not that I have anything against Ako, but Segawa’s character just really mixes up really well with Rusian. This isn’t to say that the series goes harem later on (it doesn’t, though the definition of a harem seems to differ for most people) but it’s simply a matter of preference.

If you don’t feel like reading my rant, feel free to skip to the TL;DR below.

Anyhow, I’ve had trouble recently (by recently, I mean ever since translations got past the anime) with dead links popping up which I assume is the work of aggregator sites hotlinking crap. I don’t really mind the whole aggregator site stuff as it makes stuff a lot more known, but could they not blatantly scrape the content like that and cause problems for the actual site? That aside, if you know people who have no idea where to go to for light novel releases, at least direct them to a decent one. Novel Updates (https://www.novelupdates.com/) is a great place for this as they let you do these things without all these invasive ads and all that crap.

Am I shilling you ask? Of course not. Heck, I don’t even get anything from doing this. This is purely a hobby to promote the great work that the author has done. That, and the site’s completely on basic. And because of that, I don’t really have access to tools that prevent this kind of inconvenience. I just want to do this without web scrapers making it harder to maintain as I do it. You’ll know they’re one if you’re reading this on a website that isn’t https://hotdogtranslations.wordpress.com (which means that they simply copypaste the text, even the image links). Else, if you’re reading an EPUB, then that’s all good (remember to buy the original LN to support the author though). It may be a bit irritating reading this rant, but do excuse that.

All those things above put aside, I’ve already reached my goal of getting stuff past the anime anyway so that if anyone ever decides to pick it up when I drop it, the content will always be fresh. Don’t fret though, as I still intend on finishing volume 5 since I already started it. I may still continue on even after that, but I just really had to release some steam on this stupid thing because fixing those dead stuff was annoying. I may also look into making EPUBs as well (as the only existing ones look quite awful) but I’ll just work on that when I feel like it.

TL;DR Aggregators – could be bad, could be good, Scrapers – annoying as hell. Go to Novel Updates (https://www.novelupdates.com/) for your LN needs (watch other sites cut out this stuff right here).

Anyway, do enjoy this very cute Schwein chapter. At the time of this post’s publish, volume 20 would have been released so I’ll be spending time reading that for now. And as always, make sure to buy the books if you enjoy the work in order to support the author.

 

 

Chapter 2

The Greatest Merchant

TL note: Reference to The Great Merchant MMO. Also, updated translations are found at hotdogtranslations.wordpress.com

 

Part 1

Translation: Yamaking

 

After the bell rang, Sensei left the classroom.

Right as she did, my head collided with my desk in such a fashion as if I was trying to smack into it.

“So Nishimura, no lunch today too?”

“That aside, I’m really slippy…”

“What does that even mean?”

It seems that by simply eating breakfast, your drowsiness will be able to win over your hunger.

I just want to forget everything and go to sleep. If I can get some rest, then that’s all I need.

“Well, I guess we’ll just go eat by ourselves over here alright?”

“What’s got into you that made you that sleepy? Even I have morning practice so in reality I only got three hours of sleep too you know?”

“So rood—”

Yeah, yeah, run your mouth all you want.

While he was lively bragging ‘I actually only have three hours of sleep y’know? Howzat?’, I just kept my head down while nodding to everything he said in place of an actual reply.

“So, why are you that sleepy?”

“Club activities…”

“Oh Nishimura, you were in a club?”

“It’s that thing right? That Game Club or something.”

It’s the Net Game Club thank you very much. To be more precise, it’s the Modern Electronic Communications Game Club.

“Aah… So it’s just because you played too much that you didn’t get any sleep huh.”

“My, my Rusian-kun! You’re so dedicated to your club that you do self-training as soon as you get home don’t you?”

Shaddup, leave me alone.

Before, they would just leave me alone even if I looked sleepy like this. But, ever since the cultural festival, the presence of the Net Game Club has been made a bit known and I’ve been sometimes subjected to pointless trolling like this.

And it’s also because of that that someone here is trying to put up with their own plight just to make sure no one catches on her relation to it.

“Akane, uhm, how do I put this? Rather than looking like someone on a diet, you look pretty haggard right now.”

“Going on a diet has its own set of hardships you know?”

“But you have these huge bags under your eyes…”

Segawa with her late night and early morning boss hunts seems to have stressed her body to its limit.

She wouldn’t want it if she got put in the same boat as me because she looks so tired everyday right? So it looks like she’s using the diet as an excuse for that.

Just lifting up my head is quite a pain so I wasn’t able to get a look, but I could pretty much imagine what expression she had on.

Anyway, I’m sleepy. I’m sleepy, so it can’t be helped. I’ll just sleep like this until the next class…

“Rusia—n!”

Is of course something that just won’t happen.

“…….”

“Rusian, Rusian! It’s lunch time you know! Let’s have a chat, okay Rusian?”

“Y, yeah…”

Her calling out Rusian repeatedly when I ignored her was something that she started doing ever since we’ve played LA so I lifted my head up and looked at her.

“Ako… what is it…”

“It’s lunch time! Let’s eat together okay?”

Is what she said, but all I see in her hands is just plain old tea. Ah right, we’re an impoverished couple after all.

Since I just went to sleep without even moving my desk with them, the seat in front of mine was free.

And since it was perfectly placed there, Ako sat down on it.

Ah, I feel like this kind of situation might just be a dream come true for me.

Having your girlfriend drop by in your class and then taking a sit in front of you as she hands you lunch… is what this feels like. Though there’s no lunch here in this case. And it’s not a girlfriend, but rather a wife.

“This feels kind of pleasant doesn’t it?”

She laughed as she said that. So Ako was having the same thoughts as well huh?

“I guess so, it feels like we’re living the normie life…”

Seeing Ako happily smiling like that woke me up a bit.

The impression you get from a husband ignoring her wife just because he’s sleepy is just cruel. I have to talk with her properly— no, wait. That’s strange. She’s smiling…?

Something feels off here. Something feels really off.

I slowly shook myself awake and looked straight at Ako.

It looks like Ako at least wanted me to have a drink as she handed me tea in a paper cup.

And though it looked like she was in a good enough mood to be humming, her unkempt black hair looks a bit more ruffled than usual.

Her hair looks more dried out than usual… And she looks somewhat energetic… I got it!

“What’s the matter?”

As Ako seductively tilted her head, I pointed my finger straight at her.

“You… you didn’t take any of the morning period’s classes at all did you!”

Ako froze in surprise while still holding that smile of hers. It was like someone rooted her with a skill.

And just like that, she rigidly tried to look away from me as if she would start creaking any second now.

“W, why would you say something like that? What proof do you have that…”

She just uttered lines that make it seem like she was already admitting to it.

But unfortunately for you Ako, I do have evidence.

“Don’t underestimate me Ako. Though I know your long black hair isn’t really what you’d call tidy… there are a lot of bits that are way more ruffled than usual. I remember that. That’s how you look after you’ve just woken up.”

“Uuu…”

Ako flinched as if I deeply thrust a dagger into her heart.

She hurriedly tried to fix her hair up in a panic, but it’s way too late for that.

“…Why does he even know how Tamaki-san’s hair looks like after she just got up?”

“Don’t you dare answer that embarrassing question.”

“That’s because I’ve spent a whole summer’s worth of experiences with Rusian.”

“Rather than thinking of that statement as crude, the way she says it so suggestively is kind of…”

“Aah, stop making it sound so erotic.”

My male classmates are creating misunderstandings on their own!

You’re wrong! That’s not it at all!

Camp! It was during our training camp that I happened to see Ako’s face like that!

“E, ehem. Now then.”

I continued on after getting a fresh start.

“This is in addition to that. Even though you, Ako, are bad with staying up, you accompanied me until late last night and yet you’re here looking all energetic compared to my sleepy state? I would expect you to be really tired at this point.”

“Until late last night…”

“She accompanied him…”

Akiyama-san and Segawa were looking at me like they were looking at some piece of garbage!

What’s the big deal? You two of all people should at least know that we were farming gold until late last night right!

Could you just shut up for a minute please!

“To sum it up! The conclusion that I have arrived at was that you didn’t take any of the morning classes at all and just spent the whole time in the infirmary sleeping!”

“O, objection! I was properly in class while I was sleeping so there’s no problem about my attendance!”

An objection came out from Ako. But that’s too naive!

“Overruled! You, who dislikes being the center of attention, properly slept in class even when you have that bad habit of moving around in your sleep?! As if you can do such a thing with all the attention that it would garner you!”

“Uuuuuuu…”

It was a critical hit on Ako.

That was a magnificent argument coming from me.

 

TL note: These are all worded in reference to Phoenix Wright games. Also, in case other sites get rid of the section, let me mention it here instead. Updated TL is at hotdogtranslations.wordpress.com

 

“I’m sorry… It’s true, I did that…”

“So you’re owning up to your crime huh…”

“Will I, still be able to make up for this?”

“You can definitely make up for it, no matter how many times…”

I smiled and patted Ako on the shoulder as I said that.

“For the time being, if you don’t show up at your afternoon classes then even I’m going to get mad, alright?”

“Okay…”

Ako nodded as she looked like she was about to cry.

Just then, someone tapped my shoulder from behind.

‘What is it now?’, was the thought going through my head as I turned to look. What I saw then were the eyes of Segawa, whose gaze could kill a boss, let alone a normal human.

“You two, do that thing, OUTSIDE.”

“…Yes ma’am.”

“Yes…”

There’s no way that a non-boss protocol person like me could even oppose that.

Ako and I both robotically nodded our heads to that.

 

“We got chased out right…”

“Hmm… How about we go to the student council’s office?”

“That might be a good idea—”

We would visit the student council’s office during lunch every now and then.

Master is always alone there so it’s really relaxing. Actually, I pity Master staying there all by herself.

Won’t someone please be her friend? If you get to know her, you’ll find out that she actually pretty pleasant to be around with.

And so, I tried knocking lightly on the door.

“…There’s no response.”

“Is no one there?”

“I wonder. Though that might be a good thing if that’s the case…”

Though I figured it was pointless anyway, I placed my hand on the door. As I tried sliding it with a bit force, it easily opened.

Oh huh, so it’s open after all.

“Hiiiii?!”

As Ako peeked into the student council office, she then suddenly freaked out.

“What’s the m… Uwah.”

Me, who got a glance at the inside of the room after her, was also taken aback for a moment there.

“The heck is that?”

Something like an apparition from a horror movie was lying there.

It’s that thing. The one that comes out from the TV. ‘She’s coming! She’s definitely coming!’, that sort of thing.

 

TL note: Reference to Sadako. Also, sorry for being redundant but you can check the latest updates of the translation at novelupdates.com. I just have to get this out of my system. I’ll edit it out later.

 

“Why is Sadako-san at a place like this?”

I only gave a vague description but Ako went and said that out loud.

“One of the Seven Mysteries of Maegasaki High, Sadako in the student council’s office huh?”

“Please stop that! Those kinds of things appear when you talk about them!”

“I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere before.”

And I’ll only point this out now, but a female high school student who tries to stab her teacher in front of the station is way more of a horror setting than this.

Actually, the situation right now isn’t even close to that of a horror movie.

“So, this… is Master right?”

“I guess so.”

Her black hair kept moving up and down to the beat of her breathing softly in her sleep.

It’s because she fell asleep head first into the desk that her hair covering her whole head made it look like she was Sadako.

“What do we do? Do we wake her up?”

“Nah…”

If she’s sleeping that soundly then I believe we should just let her rest.

“Nnn… Nugugu… Stop listing that at those cheap 1k prices… I won’t let that pass you bastard…”

“Master’s talking in her sleep.”

“She’s still trying to manipulate the market even while she’s sleeping right?”

Let’s just leave her be.

As I decided on that, I gently closed the door.

 

And just like that, our gold farming competition carried on with it having quite the negative influence in our real lives.

This wasn’t particularly different during our club activities as well.

“Fumu, that’s not a bad price at all. If I sell out then I’ll make 200k huh… If it sells in two weeks then… However…”

“…Baron Time, 1, 2, 3… It respawns in 3 hours… There we go… Next is…”

“Ako, rebuff.”

“Yes. I’ll do that after these 3 are done.”

In this manner, we barely had moments of conversation with each other.

To be more specific,

“Rusian, do you know the market price for the Sneaker’s Cloak?”

“I’ve seen it sold for about 35M last week.”

“Fumu, I think I can raise the price a little higher then.”

“Master, what’s the sub-property for the PD again?”

“It’s poison. Poison Lv. 2.”

“Ok, thanks.”

“Rusian, there’s still 4 of them left to the right.”

“Ah I missed that. Sorry, I’ll go back there.”

We only talked like that.

It’s really businesslike.

In this very serious atmosphere, Nekohime-san, who was doing some paperwork, seem to be somewhat creeped out by all of this.

“I, isn’t everyone getting worse? Are you all okay? How about you all group up and go grinding for a change?”

Sensei softly called out to us, but we simply replied without even glancing at her.

“Then would you take responsibility when the market prices move during that time?”

“Sorry but I still have the boss spawn times to worry about.”

“Just how many Sleeper-senseis can we defeat in the time that we do that?”

“E, err, uhm… Meo, meomeow… It’s neowthing…”

Sensei trying to be considerate just ended up backfiring on her.

“R, Rusian is still normal right?”

Normal?

Normal you say?

Are you asking ME that Sensei?

“Weeell, I’m already at the limit of my suffering and sleepiness but even so my body would still automatically function during farming so it’s all good! Yes ma’am, all normal here!”

“Rusian, meow are way out of character!”

How rude, hahaha.

“Whenever we hear the AH sale notification mail sound effect and the MVP boss takedown sound effect from both of their PCs, it just drives me and Ako into a corner more and more you know? Do you understand that? Can you even comprehend that, Sensei?”

“I, I’m sorry for bothering meow!”

“As long as you understand.”

“We won’t lose! We too have things we just can’t give up on!”

“That’s great and all but I wish meow would all play nice together…”

But that would be boring wouldn’t it? It’s because it’s a competition between friends that’s why it’s fun.

And while we may all experience being driven to the wall, we’re all still working well towards our goal of farming up gold.

This match still isn’t decided yet. ‘We won’t lose!’, is what each of us thought.

That is, until later this day.

 

Even after club has ended and we went home, the gold farming still continues on.

After we got back home, we continued farming with all we had way into the night.

Ako: Let’s take a quick break—

When Ako said that, it had been already 2 hours since we started farming.

Now that you mention it, I’m feeling pretty tired as well. You’ve really done your best, haven’t you Ako?

Rusian: Alright, then let’s do that.

After smashing the teleport crystal to return to town, I stretched my shoulders in relief.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I pressed down on the corner of my temples with my fingers as I think back on today’s quota. Just what am I? I feel like a salaryman working strenuously at his job.

I go to school and when I get back home, work is all that’s waiting for me.

 

TL note: I figured I should explain what a salaryman is in this context as well because most people seem to think it’s just akin to a white collar worker (wearing a suit and all that) working for a corporation. That is not always the case when this term is used. Salaryman can also be normally used as a term to describe someone who lives on a regular paycheck (salary) hence, the name salaryman and the relation to needing to keep a quota. Since white collar workers are usually regular employees in a corporation, you can see why people would mix the two. Also, the usual stereotype of a salaryman is long working hours which is also related to the usage here.

 

And where we came back to was the usual cafe that we haven’t visited in a while. Thinking to myself that we wouldn’t be staying for much longer inside this tranquil shop with nobody else around, I felt quite nostalgic.

Ako: We’re moving on as planned right? Do you think we can win if we continue on like this?

Rusian: It all depends on how good our progress is during the weekends, but I don’t think our pacing is that bad at all. I’m doing pretty fine farming solo too.

Ako: I do my best when I have free time too you know. I’ve thrown away my pride and started using a Blade Mace and Earth Coat when farming Sleeper-sensei.

Rusian: That’s great but… that’s just the normal gear to wear there.

Ako: It’s not normal at all! Its appearance is just not cute at all!

Rusian: You shouldn’t really mind those things when you’re in combat, alright? Keeping in mind the TPO and wearing the right gear for the right occasion makes you much more lovely know?

 

TL note: TPO – Time, Place, Occasion

 

Ako: I, I’m not going to fall for that kind of flattery… I’m not going to but… Aah, but the desire to be called lovely by Rusian is just too much!

My wife here is just so easy that it sometimes worries me.

If you simply look at our conversation like this, it may seem that she’s really easy, but in the end, she would still show up in a cute dress of her choosing when it happens. If you take that into consideration, she’s actually really quite stubborn. I have to learn to be able to gently persuade her on that end. Though if she still wants to look cute while being strong as well, then she should at least attain the same player skill level as Nekohime-san.

Apricot: Nu, I’ve been had.

Rusian: What’s up?

Apricot: I finally saw something I’ve been scavenging for you see. However, I take 2 second to double check the price on it and find that someone had bought it up already.

There are a lot of rivals to be had when it comes to reselling, so buying up higher tier goods during peak hours becomes a huge scramble.

Rusian: That’s a shame then. Is everything going well with that though?

Apricot: Everything is proceeding as I’ve planned. With the profit I’ve gained by selling those feathers, I’ll be able start on the next item I’ve set my sights on.

Ako: You’re still doing that huh. Isn’t it already okay if you only make some profit from the 400M you started with though…

Rather than that, this person actually enjoys manipulating the market.

I knew our greatest enemy here would be Master. If we don’t defeat this person, then Ako and me will have no future.

Ako: Speaking of which, how is Schew-chan doing?

Schwein: Huh? Of course it’s not going great. If it was, then this battle would’ve been over long ago man.

Well of course right. Boss hunting is that kind of thing after all.

If she happens to get an ultra rare drop 3 times in a row then that would already decide the victor for this match.

But she doesn’t seem to be in that bad of a mood so maybe she’s actually making pretty decent progress.

Schwein: Well, I’ve gotten quite a bit of rares that sell well. All that’s left is to wait for my bad self’s great luck to

Suddenly, she stopped with her message.

As I was wondering what happened, a notice appeared.

Schwein has logged out.

Apricot: Did she disconnect?

Rusian: I sure hope it wasn’t in the middle of a boss hunt lol

Ako: The death penalty is horrible.

 

TL note: As I’ve seen some people misunderstand this phrase, I feel like I have to clear it up. A death penalty in an MMO is when you take punishment for dying (e.g. losing experience upon death). It’s NOT about getting sentenced to death.

 

Well, I’m sure she’ll reconnect right away… Is what I thought, but she’s taking a while.

No matter how long we waited, she didn’t come back on. Schwein’s icon still remains in the offline state.

Rusian: I wonder what happened. Parent aggro maybe?

Ako: It’s really worrying.

 

TL note: Parent aggro is the usual online term when your parents call for you and you have to drop/afk.

 

Don’t tell me there’s a huge accident that happened or something? She looked pretty normal right before she disconnected after all.

As I was thinking that, my phone started ringing.

It looks like someone’s calling. When I turned to look, I saw that it was a phone call from ‘Schwein-sama’.

Rusian: Huh, I just got a phone call from Schew.

Ako: Phone call?

This is unusual.

In our group, we would rarely contact each other directly in real life while we’re playing the game.

That goes especially for Segawa, who I’ve registered in my phone not as ‘Segawa Akane’ but as ‘Schwein-sama’.

“Hello?”

{“Hello? Nishimura?”}

“Oh, what’s up?”

On the other line was Segawa, who seemed to be quite a panic.

Her voice sounds lively, but it seems like something is wrong.

Ako: Is Schew-chan alright?

{“You see, I’m in a bit of a pickle.”}

“Pickle? Did something happen?”

I was chatting in-game while on the phone at the same time as I listened to Segawa’s story.

Rusian: It didn’t seem like she suddenly fell ill but… it looks like she’s troubled by something.

Ako: Troubled? Why? What happened?

{“Sorry Nishimura, but could you come to my house straight away?”}

Rusian: YOUR HOUSE RIGHT NOOOOOOOOW?!

Ako: Oooow?

Rusian: Sorry, scratch that.

That was close. I just went and typed it out like that.

“You, wait, what did you just say?”

{“Hurry up and come to my house right away.”}

Don’t just calmly spout out nonsense like that you moron.

“Just what time do you think it is? This is no time to come over and play.”

The trains should already be running on their last trip. As if I could go to a female friend’s house at this time of night.

{“It’s okay, there’s no one here today but me.”}

“I’m telling you that’s not fine at all!”

Everything you’ve just said is completely not okay!

Ah I understand. I understand what you mean, you see?

You just don’t want your family to have weird misunderstandings that’s why you said it’s ‘okay’ right?

I didn’t get carried away at all because you said that okay?

For a moment there, I was imagining a lot of things so I kind of panicked but I quickly realized it after you see?

But if me and Schwein don’t clear it up when Ako hears of this, she’s going to turn back into her not-okay mode. That’s the most dangerous thing to worry about after all.

“Why do I need to suddenly come to your house? Just what happened?”

{“It won’t respond.”}

“…What won’t?”

{“My Salamander… it won’t respond.”}

Salamander you say?

I have a terribly bad feeling about this, but I should at least hear her out.

“……By salamander, did you mean your pet?”

If pet lizards can go into hibernation then I could at least make that kind of joke.

{“Of course not! It’s my buddy that’s been with me all this time! My partner! It’s my computer you know! My PC!”}

Figures. It shares the same naming sense as her War Machine in the club room after all.

“So it won’t respond? No matter what you do?”

{“It just went poof and then suddenly stopped. And then after that there was nothing… No matter how many times I pressed the power switch, it just wouldn’t turn on. And it kind of smells burnt too! Just what happened to my Salamander?!”}

“Maybe because it’s a salamander that it just went and burned itself up…”

 

TL note: Salamanders are fire property lizard-like monsters in Ragnarok Online which have flames covering their whole body.

 

So it covered itself in flames and turned into an actual Salamander.

I do know that Segawa’s PC is considerably old.

And so recently, it passed on after being due to being on full throttle regardless of the time of day.

{“Anyway, this is an emergency! Get over here and fix it right away!”}

As I thought about how desperate Segawa must be right now, I thought of going over there to help her out as soon as possible as well.

“Calm down for a bit. Dropping by like that without any knowledge of the situation is just going to make me useless as well. First, let’s assess the current situation shall we?”

{“Assess the situation?! What do I need to do?!”}

“First of all, we have to determine why it broke down in the first place.”

{“I didn’t do anything and it just broke! I don’t know what the heck caused that to happen!”}

“There it is. The ‘I didn’t do anything’ line…”

This is number one on the list of the most irritating things to hear when a PC breaks down.

‘Then it should be working just fine then dumbass!’, is what I held back saying.

“Even if you didn’t do anything, there should still be a cause for it. That’s what we’re going to investigate.”

{“…Then what should I do?”}

It seems like she’s cooled herself down. She’s finally ready to listen to what I have to say.

Well then, the first thing she should do is—

“Well then, first things first. Have you checked if your power cable is properly plugged to the socket?”

{“You picking a fight with me?!”}

“I’m not, I’m not! It’s simply because it’s the most common issue for PCs that don’t seem to respond!”

The cable might’ve suddenly gotten unplugged when you weren’t aware! Power cables are pretty short after all!

{“It’s properly plugged in! It’s also connected to the PC properly! In the first place, didn’t I tell you that it smelled kind of burnt?!”}

Ah, now that you mention it, you did say that.

If she noticed that it smelled burnt, then it couldn’t have been a simple careless mistake like that.

“It doesn’t turn on even if you press the power switch right? Hold on for a bit.”

When you find yourself in a pinch, it’s best to ask help from your friends. That’s what I set off to do as I went to ask about this in the chat.

Rusian: Sorry about that. It seems that Salamander… her PC, just died.

Ako: So you’re saying it broke?!

Apricot: It was originally an old model, so I suppose the past few days have been too hard on it huh…

Rusian: So then, it seems that it won’t respond even if she presses the power button. Do you happen to know the reason for that?

Apricot: No response huh? If it won’t even go into the BIOS, the light doesn’t turn on, and no sounds come out of it, then the issue is probably with the power supply.

I see, I see. I get it now.

“So the PC won’t respond at all, the light doesn’t turn on, and it doesn’t make any sound. Is that right?”

{“Right, right! Nothing happens even when I press the switch!”}

Rusian: It looks like that’s exactly what’s happening. What should we do?

Apricot: I figured that something like this might happen, so I had a spare PSU prepared just for this occasion. If she needs it, then we can have it replaced by tomorrow.

Rusian: …Why would you even have something like that prepared?

Apricot: It was originally meant for the club’s usage. Power supply units are fragile things you see.

I’m surprised that Master is really good at preparing for situations like this.

But then again, I’m really thankful that we have those parts for times like this. This is even more so after I heard Segawa almost cry back there.

“It looks like the issue is with the power supply, but Master said that she’ll bring a spare PSU so we can swap it out tomorrow.”

{“Really?! Yay! Then let’s go straight to my house right after school tomorrow!”}

“You got it. I’ll let her know.”

Why am I serving as an intermediary for these two? Just tell that to Master directly. But well, I tried not to think about that.

Rusian: She said to come over tomorrow to get it swapped.

Apricot: Understood. Well then, tomorrow we will all be going to Schwein’s house, alright?

Ako: Coming over to a friends house to play… I, I’m so excited!

So the reason that Ako’s got her heart racing is about that huh.

Apricot: I figured I should mention this, but the part about the PSU being the issue is only an assumption. I still don’t know the actual problem with it. Hers is already an old machine after all, so please tell her not to get her hopes up too much.

“We’re coming over tomorrow but since there’s no definite proof that we’ll be able to fix it, Master said to not get your hopes up too much.”

{“Guh… Well, it can’t be helped. It’s old after all.”}

I wonder if it’s even compatible with the latest PSUs.

{“I guess that wraps it up then. I’m counting on you alright? I’ll test it out a bit more if it won’t really work anymore or not.”}

She just finished what she had to say and then ended the call.

I do think that she can be pretty selfish but I understand how she feels right now.

If my PC breaks down then I would be in a panic too. Heck, anyone would be.

Rusian: But… when I think about just how old her PC is, I can’t help but have a bad feeling about this.

Apricot: In the off chance that we’re not able to fix it, will Schwein be alright?

Ako: Schew-chan won’t be able to farm at all right?

Hey now Ako. Even though she’s our rival, you shouldn’t look happy while saying that.

 

“The ‘Arise Salamander! Operation’ is now underway! You got that!”

 

TL note: Arise Mega Ultra Chicken! (Yes, I know this is from Aqua Teen, but it’s still funny there and in YGO Abridged eitherway)

 

“Yeeeah!”

“It’s not like it’s a phoenix so there’s no point to naming the operation like that.”

“Oh I like that. Once it revives, I’ll rename it to Feenix.”

You don’t have to do that.

It was after school on the next day. The Modern Electronic Communications Game Club is on their way to do the ‘Repair Salamander Challenge’.

It was two stops away from Maegasaki Station. Over there was a well-kept condominium located in the middle of a small hill.

“This is what you call an electronic lock right!”

For some reason, Ako was staring in wonder as Segawa opened the door to the lobby.

“Of course it is but… Actually, what about yours? Do you live in an apartment?”

“Their house is pretty big you know.”

“What a pain.”

“E, eeeh?”

Detached house or condominiums, heck, eitherway is fine.

As we walked through the lobby together, a thought suddenly came to mind so I figured I might as well ask.

“By the way… What about your house Master?”

I was only kind of interested in hearing about it, but Master had a complicated look on her face as she mulled over her reply.

“It’s hard to explain it in just a few words you see…”

“What kind of house do you even have that makes it hard to describe?!”

Seriously, just what kind of house do you have?

Surely it isn’t as large as an office building right?

There’s no way right? Right? Though I can’t even be slightly confident about saying that.

“Let’s see…”

As Master was looking at the elevator that was coming down, she said.

“For starters, it has an elevator.”

“Why would a house even have an elevator?”

“Just what exactly are you…”

“This society is disparate from the moment we are born! Starting off at Transcendent Level 1 is cheating!”

 

TL note: When you hit the max level in Ragnarok Online, you get the option to transcend/rebirth which resets you to level 1 with higher stats than a normal level 1 and you get access to more advanced skills later on not available to the latter.

 

“Is it that much of a difference?!”

We got on the elevator and got off at the 8th floor.

And right as we got off the elevator, a room with the nameplate ‘Segawa’ was right in front of us.

“I’m home—”

“Welcome back—”

We could hear a voice from inside responding to Segawa as soon as she opened the front door.

S, so her mother is home huh.

I’m pretty used to Ako’s mother by now, but thinking about what Segawa’s mother is like is making me nervous.

“Ara, you bought your friends with you? That’s quite rare of you to do that.”

“Could you not slander me like that?”

It’s not slander at all. If any one of us were to bring friends home, I’m sure we’ll all get told the same thing.

The one that came out towards the hallway was Segawa’s mother… Ooh, she’s tiny… She’s a-bit-smaller-than-Ako kind of tiny. And that face that just oozes with determination really matches Segawa’s. She definitely got her genes from her.

“I’m glad to meet you, my name is Goshouin. As a fellow club member of Akane-san, I have been often under her care.”

“M, my name is Tamaki! I hope we can get along as well for the years to come!”

“Quit it with those formal introductions already! Just saying hello is fine!”

The two of them are freaking out!

I forgot that it’s not just Ako, but Master too that had a history of having no friends!

“You kids sure are an interesting bunch—”

In response to those panicked two, Segawa’s mother cackled and laughed.

“Ah, cat! They have a cat here!”

“That’s Popoly. She can get a bit too friendly so make sure you watch out for any fur that might stick to your uniform.”

Segawa then immediately went further in after simply blurting that out. So is that room hers?

But Popoly huh? That name sounds oddly delicious.

 

TL note: This is a reference to POPOLI, a snack by Lotte similar to Pocky that was available in the 90s. But contrary to Pocky’s sweet flavors, it came in Pizza and Curry.

 

“H, hello. Poppo—”

As the black cat with round eyes came closer without even making a sound, Ako crouched down to make eye contact with it.

Black and black really do fit each other, is what I thought.

Oh right, come to think of it, I haven’t introduced myself yet.

“Nice to meet you and thank you for letting us in.”

As I bowed my head saying that, Segawa’s mother stared at me with a strange look on her face and said,

“Ara, Akane brought a guy home.”

“Eh.”

That’s what you’re focusing on?

In our group that came to visit, there are more females you know?

“You, are you Akane’s boyfriend?”

“Please don’t say terrifying stuff like that.”

I inadvertently gave an immediate reply. Though the one I’m scared of here isn’t Segawa but rather Ako.

Ah, that’s a pretty rude way to talk to someone I just met for the first time.

“Please excuse me. Err, that’s not the case at all. The one I like is this one right here.”

‘This one’, I said as I pointed to Ako who was locking eyes with the cat.

“Heee, this girl?”

“Yes, this girl.”

Speaking of this girl, she was cautiously trying to stretch her hand closer and closer to the cat, but was intercepted by a cat punch.

Ooh, it was such a surprise that her hair stood on end. I’m talking about Ako here, not the cat.

Popoly-san calmly stretched her body. She really resembles her owner, acting all important like that.

“Rusian, she hit me! She really hit me!”

“Yes, yes, it was scary wasn’t it—”

I then proceeded to pet Ako, who had hopped towards me, like a cat.

“And this is how it is, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Segawa’s mother let out a ‘hmm’ as she looked somewhat convinced.

I’m glad no weird misunderstandings came out from this.

“Then, how about other guys? Does she have a boyfriend at school?”

“She’s pretty popular at school but I don’t really ask her about that.”

“Hmm… Our family tree doesn’t really have that many late bloomers you see. I wonder who she takes that from?”

I don’t really know how to answer that.

“You guys, stop playing around and get over here!”

Segawa stuck her head from the room far back as she yelled that out.

“Yeah we got it— Well then, please excuse us.”

“Yes, yes, take your time.”

Segawa’s mother simply said that without a care in the world.

I just can’t get accustomed to visiting other people’s houses after all.

 

This is a bit unexpected, or well, maybe not.

When we entered Segawa’s room, it looked pretty tidy. Though I was thinking it would be more of a mess than this.

But well, it feels like she tidied up a bit while we were out talking at the doorway.

The one who will suffer the most when we see something we shouldn’t is going to be me anyway so I’m actually thankful for that.

“…Something smells burnt.”

“So this is Salamander’s Final Flame?”

“Stop saying it like that!”

 

TL note: Not sure if it was intentional, but this was written in such a way that it looks like a reference to the Selvaria’s Final Flame chapter in Valkyria Chronicles.

 

Rather than the original, probably girlish, scent, the room was filled with the smell of something seriously burnt.

This smell, this burnt odor, is really not a good sign is it…

“And so, the Salamander we’re talking about is this one right here.”

“Old!”

That’s old! Outdated! That’s way too ancient!

What came into view was a box-shaped monitor— ‘It’s not a box-shaped CPU, but a box-shaped monitor!’— I couldn’t help but say that out loud. Are these even still in production? So she was using this kind of PC huh!

“I’m amazed you can even play LA on this thing!”

“Shaddup, if I set everything to the lowest settings then I can somehow play it.”

“What about the OS?”

“It’s Me.”

“Are you using that on purpose?”

 

TL note: This is a reference to Windows Millennium Edition, a really horrible OS in the lineup of Microsoft. I’ve had this OS before bundled in a laptop I had in the early 2000s and the darned thing will keep restarting a bunch of times during booting (due to bluescreen) before you can actually proceed to use it.

 

It was just such a horrible choice if it was done intentionally that I couldn’t help but be curious.

In response to my clear grimace, Segawa desperately waved both of her hands.

“But! It was a hand-me-down so I couldn’t help it! If you have any complaints then bring that up with Onii-chan!”

“Onii-chan?”

Ako reacted to that.

Ah, so you had an older brother huh, Segawa.

“My o, o, o, older brother! It was originally his! That’s what I got from him!”

“So you have an older brother right—”

‘I’m an only child so that makes me kind of jealous’, is what Ako said, being all carefree.

Segawa’s face cramped up as she replied ‘It’s not as great as you think at all, hahaha…’.

It’s not like we’re going to say anything bad about it. I would be lonely too if my little sister stops calling me Onii-chan.

“Akane, I brought you some tea—”

After someone said that, a light knocking could be heard from the door. This free-spirited voice must be coming from Segawa’s mother.

“Just leave it in front of the door!”

“Don’t you go spilling it when you open the door now, you hear? You did that last time and the hallway was dripping w…”

“I won’t! I’m fine already! Thanks!”

She was panicked, but she gently opened the door and took the tray in. Segawa then calmed herself by breathing in and out and then she fell flat on the floor.

“It’s because these kinds of things happen when you bring someone over that it’s risky right… My cool persona is all…”

“Just how much does it even take to crumble that persona of yours? This kind of thing has been going on since spring, hasn’t it?”

You don’t have to be that devoted to it.

“Let’s talk about Schwein’s character setting later then.”

Master, who was looking at the PC this whole time, took a screwdriver into both her hands.

“For now, I’ll be opening it up, is that fine?”

“I guess that’s the way to go.”

“I’ll leave it in your hands.”

Segawa bowed her head as she said that.

“Well then, let’s start the operation.”

And just like how Master worded it, she’s actually working on this skillfully like an operation. Amazing. That’s not something any of us can do.

And just like that, Master efficiently opened up the CPU’s body and inspected the insides.

“Fumu…”

She peeked inside, examining it.

“How is it? Do you think it’ll work?”

“It looks impossible.”

“Don’t you just give up now!”

“You’re making too much of a ruckus Segawa.”

I sniffed around trying to find was what causing that smell.

“It’s clearly a part other than the PSU that smells burnt though…”

“Mu, muu….”

“Oh shut up! Let’s swap it out, the power supply! Come on!”

“If we simply replace the power supply when it’s clear that another part is the problem might just make the situation even worse.”

“It’s fine just do iiiiiiiiiit!”

‘RIP PC’, is something I definitely can’t joke about here.

After all, if it doesn’t get fixed by this then she wouldn’t be able to play tonight. To Segawa, this was a matter of life or death.

“Then let’s try what we can do.”

“Gotcha. Err, this cable goes into this socket here… The GPU’s power socket is… Ah no, this PC has no dedicated GPU… It’s an onboard…”

This thing is just serious about it not being built for gaming huh.

“Will it work? Will it?”

We don’t know that yet so just stay still.

“Popoly, Popoly, over here—”

Ako, stop playing around with the cat… No wait, I guess that’s fine.

 

“Three, two, one.”

“Switch, ON!”

Whiiiiiiiirrr… poof.

“Let’s try it again!”

“I replugged it into the socket. Three, two, one.”

“Switch ON!”

Whiiiiiiiirrr… poof.

“O, one more time!”

“Just give it up…”

“What do you mean! It’s kind of working isn’t it?! Like when I press the button!”

True, it did have some kind of response.

But the response is simply a bit of noise and then it completely stops right after that.

“It’s not even getting to the BIOS so no matter what we do…”

“Then just what’s wrong with it?! Is it broken somewhere?! Master?!”

Master looked like she was a doctor who was informing someone of their dying hour as she slowly shook her head.

“There are several ways to do this— but ultimately, you’ll need tools fit for the job to determine this. And those things are just out of our reach.”

“No way… Then what do I do? Do I try and replace each of those parts that look broken, one by one?”

“You just bought this at a simple electronics store right? And it’s old too. You’ll have a really hard time finding compatible parts for this…”

 

TL note: Buying it at a simple electronics store means that there’s probably no specialized store that sells its parts. Of course, warranty would have been void long ago too.

 

This is made up with parts from ancient civilization. I don’t think it would run properly if you try to patch it up with the latest parts from today…

“T, then I can just send it out to be serviced!”

“I wonder if they can still even service old parts like these.”

“It’s going to cost a lot of money right?”

“It may actually be cheaper to just go out and buy a new one.”

No matter how long companies assure you of a product’s durability, they still have their EOL.

Since in the end, it’s reasonable to have those things.

 

TL note: End-of-life, a term used to describe products in the industry when it is no longer supported, made, etc.

 

“Since you already have a PC anyway, it should be okay with your folks if you assemble a new one right? So just buying a new one would make this much easier.”

“Ugugugugu.”

“Segawa, what’s your budget?”

“If it’s only about 500 yen then I can…”

Hahaha, this cheeky brat, saying impossible things like that.

“Just how are you that short on cash?”

“It felt like it was hard making the quota just by boss hunting so I… rolled on the gacha a bit…”

This is why I told you to stop it with the gacha!

This is what happens when you try to swipe above your means.

“I’ll talk to Mama about it…”

As Segawa collapsed to the floor, crestfallen, Popoly went to lick at her fingertips.

However, that wasn’t enough to revive her master that had turned to ash.

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