Volu 2, Chapter 4: Extra: Misumi Eiichi and the Infuriating Battle
TL: qbomb
Editor: Deus Ex Machina
I can’t empathize with a diocre main character who loves an uneventful everyday life.
The reason is, I’ve never experienced putting myself in that “ordinary everyday life”.
Three years ago, I found myself playing puzzle gas in an arcade.
…Before that, I have no mory of anything.
I wasn’t holding any identification, wallet, or a phone; instead, there was a small handgun haphazardly jamd into the inner pocket of my jacket.
…For as long as I can rember, my life was the exact opposite of “ordinary”.
When I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror, both my facial features and my body looked like that of a middle schooler’s, but I didn’t know my exact age. The uniform I was wearing looked more like a military uniform than a school uniform, and on my armband, the letters “E.G.G.” were written in the silhouette of a griffon. It sounded like so na of an organization.
Aimlessly wandering the town without a particular destination, I encountered a girl confronted by n in black suits pretending to help in a back-alley. Going with the flow of things, I helped her out. Once the incident was over, the girl, Riki, finally arrived at her destination—it was her parent’s ho, the mansion of the Misumi family.
After being frank with my circumstances and with a stroke of good luck, the head of the Misumi family, possessed by a strong sense of duty, brought into the family as an adopted child, and so I beca the person I am today—”Misumi Eiichi”.
And so I was given food, clothing, and shelter, but even then, my life wasn’t by any ans calm.
A mysterious organization that was aiming for my step-sister would often contact , glimpses of a past relationship between and that organization would occasionally appear, the family’s pharmaceutical company seed to have a few secrets, my sister would always get mad whenever I talked to a girl from school, and I would often be attacked by people who wore the sa uniform I was wearing when I first woke up…
And most recently, the most beautiful girl from Otobuki High School, Tendo Karen-san, called out to and invited to the Gars Club for so reason (my sister had a sullen expression).
Well, at any rate, in the life of Misumi Eiichi, there was no such thing as an “ordinary, boring day”.
As a result, since I don’t know what rit being “ordinary” has in the first place, whenever I read a manga or a novel depicting a protagonist that treats it as an important thing, I don’t understand. Because my everyday life has always been in “a state of perpetual action”, whenever a work depicts an “ordinary life”, I can only think of it as a boring, flat, and a useless depiction.
So I, starting now, will tell a story.
A story using the typical, overused light novel setting, though I feel very regretful doing so.
At the end of the day,
Starting from the ti when the special main character who wished for sothing extraordinary is called out by the beautiful girl, this is an extraordinary tale that makes empathize to a remarkable extent—
—This is a story about a ga.
＊
“Is it… the local TVGT preliminaries?”
“Yea!”
In the clubroom of the Gars Club, the beautiful as ever president Tendo Karen-san, confidently pushed forward a proposal.
Kase-senpai was playing an FPS, and Oiso-senpai was playing a fighting ga quietly, so the only two first-years in the room were idling. In the scattered setting of the clubroom, Tendo-san faced towards and handed a flyer. While I quickly scanned through the flyer, Tendo-san kept enthusiastically rambling on and on.
“Total Video Ga Tournant, or TVGT for short. It’s next Saturday, so it’s a bit sudden, but I wanted to invite you to participate in this tournant. Of course, I will too.”
“Yes, that’s no problem, but…”
While talking, I sent a fleeting glance towards the senpais. Even though we were talking about ga tournant, they look strangely uninterested. Tendo-san had a bitter smile.
“Those two… well, I an, other than the two of us, no one else will go.”
“Eh, is that the case? Why?”
“I’m sure you know by looking at the flyer, but this tournant’s biggest feature is being a ‘comprehensive ga tournant’… in other words, you compete in all genres of gas. So, a ga with so competitive aspect will be randomly selected right before the next round.”
“Heh~, that sounds sowhat like a festival; it looks fun.”
“Right? I also think that way and go every year, but look at these other club mbers…”
“Ah… I see.”
Understanding how Tendo-san feels, I nodded my head. Other than Tendo-san and I, the other mbers of the Gars Club were people who are fundantally “specialized”. They’re people who have an interest in and are good at specific gas like FPS or fighting gas.
Naturally, they don’t have a reason to participate in the “comprehensive ga tournant. …Now that I think about it, that might by why Tendo-san wanted people like Amano and I who haven’t “matured as gars”.
After looking over the flyer and noting the key points briefly, I turned to Tendo-san with a smile.
“Alright. Then, let accept your kind offer, and let’s participate together. Well, I’m a beginner, so I’ll probably be eliminated pretty early on anyway…”
At my reply, Tendo-san’s golden hair fluttered in the air as she smiled.
“OK, good! You can sign up here. Let’s both do our best.”
“Yea. Please take care of .”
After finishing her explanation, Tendo-san went back to her seat. I looked over the flyer once again.
“(A tournant, huh. This kind of event sounds more exciting than our usual club activities. …As I thought, I still don’t know what it ans to have an ‘ordinary life’.)”
Looking forward to the new experience and the fierce battle to co, my heart leapt in excitent.
—However, a disturbance that would surpass my expectations awaited at the ga tournant.
＊
I think the part that makes gas fun is that unlike reality, for every action, there is a proper “reply”.
It’s probably different for unreasonably bad video gas or gas based on chance, but fundantally, most gas are based on predetermined rules. If the player presses a button, the character will respond, if your HP goes down to zero, it’s ga over, and if you defeat the last boss, the ga ends.
This “rule-bound world” felt very comfortable to .
At the very least, an outrageous event like
that happens in real life is less believable than any event that occurs in a high quality ga.
In that kind of world, it’s completely possible to have “victory” or “defeat” without killing or injuring anyone… it’s really wonderful.
“…Today’s finally the tournant, huh.”
Saturday morning. After finishing my breakfast with the family as always, I was sitting in the dining room, sipping coffee, while thinking about gas. —When I realized, though, my sister, Riki, was still in the dining room, although she usually finishes her breakfast quickly and leaves the room.
Sitting across from , she looked at sullenly while resting her cheek in her hands. She’s a dainty girl that looks like a really delicate doll.
I started the conversation with a harmless and inoffensive smile.
“What’s wrong? You look sowhat unhappy today.”
“…Not really~. Rumors have been reaching my all girl’s school that Eiichi has plans on his day off with a popular, beautiful woman known as Tendo Karen, but that has absolutely nothing to do with , so…”
Rika talked with a sullen look on her face. …As the ojou-sama of a respectable family, even though she usually acts elegantly, she can be childish from ti to ti when she’s talking to . …Honestly, it’s pretty embarrassing, but I guess it ans that she’s opening up her heart to … well, I am a little happy.
When I chuckled unintentionally, Riki pouted and stuck out her lips.
“A-are you that excited about going out with Tendo-san?”
“Huh? Ah, well, I guess. Actually, I’m really looking forward to today.”
Anyway, ever since joining the club, I, as a beginner, found my hands full learning about all sorts of gas, so I never had the chance to ever play against anyone. Because of that, I felt even more excited for today.
“(Actually, it’s because that ga was really fun. When Tendo-san, Kase-senpai, Oiso-senpai, and Amano all played together…)”
Thinking back on those fun tis, I unintentionally smiled. I don’t know what she was thinking while she was looking at , but Rika, in a really bad mood, hit the table and stood up.
“Thank you for the al!”
“Oh, Riki, if you’re also going out, make sure to be careful of the usual organization—”
“Tch, i-it has nothing to do with Eiichi! Well then, have a good day!”
“Ah, o-ok. You too, Riki, have a good—”
Before I could finish, Riki quickly walked out of the dining room. …Hmm, I wonder. By any chance, did she want to hold her bags today? What a natural ojou-sama. Well, I’m sure she’ll cheer up later.
“…Alright!”
Drinking the last of my coffee, I pumped myself up and walked out of the house.
The local TVGT preliminaries were being hosted at the biggest ga center in the area.
After eting Tendo-san, we both registered for the competition and got naplates with the registered na and number. Once that was finished, we sat against the wall together and passed ti until our first event. …However…
“…Even now, Tendo-san, when you’re going out… or rather, when you’re outside, you attract a lot of attention.”
Ever since we t up, I have been unintentionally wincing since we were attracting everyone’s attention.
However, Tendo-san seed to be used to it, and looked confident instead.
“Is that so? Misumi-kun, if you feel mindful of it, I don’t mind if we separate.”
“Ah, no, I’m normally used to the attention, but…”
In the last three years, I got involved in quite a few troubles downtown, so I’m pretty resistant to attention. …But in this case, Tendo-san stands out too much.
While looking at the crowd with a strange admiration, Tendo-san suddenly laughed as if she saw sothing really funny.
“Huh? What’s up?”
“Eh? Ah, no, it’s nothing. When we were talking about being used to attention, I thought of Amano-kun.”
“Ah, he looks like the type that would be bad with these kind of things.”
While we were talking back and forth about a common friend, Tendo-san suddenly started talking enthusiastically for so reason.
“Yea, that’s right! Whenever I get close to him, his face imdiately turns red. I guess he feels sowhat embarrassed. …Fufu.”
“?”
I blinked my eyes in confusion as I looked at Tendo-san, who was laughing really hard in enjoynt.
“(H-how strange, for her to laugh like this. …She’s usually pretty gentle, so I didn’t think she had this kind of side to her…)”
I’ve never seen this Tendo-san at the Gars Club. …Personally, I didn’t think our conversation about Amano-kun was that funny… Rather, I only think that Amano-kun is pretty pitiful, but…
I couldn’t bring myself to laugh about Amano-kun with her, so I changed the subject.
“Anyway, there are a surprising amount of people at this preliminary. I an, this area isn’t even a city.”
“Yea, that’s right. Well, the preliminary level really feels like a festival, so the threshold is pretty low. Misumi-kun, if… if this were a serious fighting ga competition, you would’ve hesitated to join, right?”
“Yea, probably.”
“TVGT opens its doors pretty widely and lets a lot of participants join. …But because of that, I don’t think there’s a ‘true warrior’ participating here today.”
“‘True warrior’, huh…”
Unable to imagine a ‘true warrior’ for gas, I tilted my head in curiousity. Tendo-san said, “For example… look, the one in the white hat” and looked towards the corner of the room.
“He’s one of the more famous players. Look, he has that glint in his eye.”
“What…”
I was lost for words. The one in the white hat looked like a university student with the characteristic freckles…
“He’s went to the strip mahjong seats and sat down magnificently with his legs crossed!?”
Tendo-san talked calmly while I was still in shock.
“…Isn’t it shocking? Look at that face full of confidence. He’s disregarding even the families accompanying other mbers looks of disdain as well. You look like you haven’t thought about why no one dares to enter that area in all this confusion and bustle.
“Gulp… c-certainly a warrior… a warrior that only looks at gas…”
It seems like gars follow the path of terrifying fights and battles.
While I trembled, thinking about its various anings, the loudspeaker made a screeching sound, and then an announcent was made over the PA system.
After the standard greetings and rules, they finally announced the details of the tournant. The tournant had been divided into 3 groups, and they were starting to be displayed on several monitors throughout the building.
While I checked my number and my na, the participants of group A had started being listed. Tendo-san talked as the numbers were being displayed.
“That’s . My genre is… puzzle gas. Then, people to watch out for… ok, it doesn’t look like there aren’t any famous players to look out for. That’s too bad.”
“Well, I’m glad that I didn’t have to et Tendo-san in the preliminaries.”
At these preliminaries, one person from groups A, B, and C win in their respective groups… so, in the end, three people get to advance to the next stage. In other words, if I’m not in the sa group as soone else, we don’t have to fight in this round.
While Tendo-san said, “Oh, that’s too bad”, in a mischievous way, the announcent for group B started.
I looked attentively as my heart beat loudly… finally, I saw my number listed.
“The genre is… t-tennis gas? Uwa, it’s a genre I’ve never tried before.”
Feeling that I’d be eliminated in the first round, my mood was dampened. Tendo-san, while in a flustered state, responded.
“B-but look, your opponents are also probably bad at tennis gas— …”
“Huh? Tendo-san? What’s wrong?”
Seeing that she abruptly stopped talking, I looked at my opponent in the group.
“Number 43… uh… Echizen-san? Um, do you know the person?”
Tendo-san stayed silent to my question and looked towards the corner of the room. Is he over there…?
“…Uh… what about that strip mahjong person—wait, by any chance…”
While I was trying to guess, Tendo-san broke out in a cold sweat as she nodded…
After a few monts of silence, Tendo-san only said a few words with a grave look on her face.
“That person is, your opponent, Echizen. His playstyle involves provoking others by talking in an extrely condescending manner and he’s known as the . In other words… he’s one of the best players of tennis gas.”
“…”
While I was lost for words, Echizen, having seen my naplate, broadly grinned.
And while sitting on the strip mahjong chair—he looked towards , who was trembling, and with confidence dripping from his freckled face, he muttered sothing.
“You still have a long way to go.”[1]
＊
The match consisted of a single set, first to four wins. As expected, Echizen started out massively dominant.
Ga 1. I didn’t know how to play and straight up lost. Echizen smiled.
“You still have lots more to work on… (Mada mada dane.)”
“H-hah, is that so… (What?)”
He said sothing with a smile on his face, looking like he was being cool and refreshing, but I couldn’t hear him very well so I gave an ambiguous reply.
Ga 2. Having learned how to play the ga at last, in the end, I lost once again. Echizen said a few words.
“I will advance.”
“H-hah, is that so… (It’s a tournant, so you’ll advance if you win…)”
This person surprisingly seems like he loves taking things at his own pace. It’s as if he’s a ga character that only says a few fixed lines.
“(By any chance, are all gars like this for their whole lives—)”
While I thought about it, Tendo-san was shaking her head violently in denial. …It was my first ti seeing Tendo-san with such a desperate look.
Ga 3. As a result of the improvent of my own skills and the mistakes from Echizen’s overconfidence, I was able to take a point, but eventually lost.
“Won’t you teach how to play tennis?”
“…Uh… (I don’t think he has the right to be speaking so sarcastically. Besides…)”
He still had the stereotypical lines, but his smug look disappeared.
And then, it was ga 4.
“…Fu, fu~n, not, not bad…”
“…”
His voice shook, but kept saying fixed phrases. I glanced at him briefly, but looked back down at the ga screen. …I didn’t want to lose focus.
Finally, I took a ga from him; this feeling.
Changing up the flow of things, the surroundings started to beco noisy, and ga 5 started.
The result of the ga was…
“…”
“…”
Echizen forgot his typical lines after that ga, and I looked at my screen with a calm gaze, waiting for the next ga… Unlike us, however, the spectators were getting amped up.
“H-hey, this guy just took two gas off Echizen!”
“It was… by chance, right? It’s gotta be a lie. He was a complete amateur in the first ga…”
The attention had shifted away from the famous player Echizen and towards the no-na player, Misumi, who had just won two gas.
Gritting his teeth, Echizen had a desperate look on his face. Ga 6.
“I… I will defeat you and make it to the nationals!”
He shouted a war-cry during the match, but to no avail. I beat Echizen once again. …This ti, he was only able to take a point, and my skill had surpassed his.
“…”
Everyone watching the match was holding their breath. All the excitent had already passed, and instead, the atmosphere was a mixture of anticipation and awe as a strange mood hung over the crowd.
And the deciding ga… ga 7.
“…I want to beco stronger. More… moooooorrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeee!”
“…”
Echizen had all but collapsed and forgot his lines and his character, but—
“…”
As if it was a throwaway ga, I… uninterestedly looked down at my controller, and without losing a single point, won the match.
For a short while, only the sound of the ga echoed in the room.
But right after, the silence was broken by loud cheering.
“A-amazing! What is this!? An amateur just beat Echizen at a tennis ga!”
“T-that’s a lie! He’s a famous player, so I bet he got lazy and lost!”
“No, you saw what just happened, right!? He didn’t lose on purpose, he was actually beaten by a complete amateur!”
“But in the last ga, didn’t he look like a pro player!?”
“A-are you saying he got better…? In.. in those seven gas…?”
During the confusion of the surroundings, I cald myself down and let out my breath.
Looking to my side, I saw an exhausted Echizen grumbling to himself, saying “Where did the pillar of Seigaku go?”. …Even to the very end, I still don’t get what this guy is saying. Well, it’s not like I heard anything he said.
“Good job, Misumi-kun. …You were great.”
Making my way back through the crowd, I went to go et Tendo-san, who was smiling, but had a stiff look on her face. Wondering why, I returned a smile while saying, “You too, Tendo-san”.
“In the first round, you were winning handily unlike , right?”
“Yea, I was, but… but you…”
Tendo-san was talking in a roundabout way. She was looking down as if she was thinking about sothing, and looked up after a few seconds.
“Misumi-kun, you… is this really your first ti playing these tennis ga?”
“? Yea, that’s right. Or should I say, it was my first ti trying out the tennis ga genre itself.”
“…That’s right…”
Looking at Tendo-san, who had a thin layer of sweat on her forehead, I thought I sohow said sothing bad, and tried to follow up in a panic.
“Ah, b-but, it was a real fight! It was completely different from playing alone, and I feel like I learned a lot. It’s all thanks to the .”
“…Yea… because it was a fight… huh. …Then, that ti when you visited the Gars Club…”
“L-look, Tendo-san! More importantly, your second match is about to start!”
“Eh, oh, y-yea. I’ll be off, then.”
“Ok, take care.”
After saying goodbye and making sure that she got to her destination, I unintentionally let out a deep sigh and looked at my own hand.
“(Yes, this feeling of satisfaction. Challenging a difficult obstacle, and overcoming it with all my might… Because I have these monts, gas are… no, an everyday life filled with accidents is the best.)”
Grabbing my trembling hands in excitent, I looked towards the monitor to check the location of my second match.
＊
After the montum from beating Echizen, I made my way through the preliminaries and eventually won the group B tournant.
After the simple award ceremony finished, Tendo-san and I made my way back. Leaving the stuffy arcade, the air outside was really refreshing… It’s not like the arcade was uncomfortable, but I felt relieved, as if I returned to the world I belonged to.
“At any rate, you’re amazing, Misumi-kun. For soone who just started playing that ga, you got a lot better.”
While walking side-by-side, Tendo-san would praise from ti to ti. However, it looks like she considers winning group A handily was a natural and obvious outco. With a bitter smile, I replied to Tendo-san, who was the sa as ever.
“No, you’re exaggerating things, Tendo-san. I… I was just desperately trying to hold on by imitating others.”
“Your ability to concentrate isn’t normal, Misumi-kun. Even Kase-senpai has recognized you.”
“No, like I was saying… Also, today’s tournant was actually a really friendly match for beginners.”
“Ah—… Well, that’s certainly true, but…”
Tendo-san nodded. Her best virtue is not overestimating or underestimating other people.
Tendo-san touched her chin in thought, and then continued talking.
“Today’s preliminaries was restricted to a small region and had that ‘festival’ kind of feeling, so for a genre like tennis gas, the competition ends up having a lot of beginners. For a structure like that, it really suited your fast growth rate. But…”
“Yea, I also understood that. If the match was completely decided on a single ga, I wouldn’t be able to do anything. My complete loss in my first ga to Echizen-san is a good example. If that was the end of the match, I wouldn’t have been able to improve.”
“Yea. I think it’s a completely worthy assessnt of your skills, but sadly, the opponents in the next round will gradually get harder and harder. In other words…”
“Unlike this ti, I won’t be able to get used to a completely different ga from the beginning, huh.”
To my words, Tendo-san regretfully nodded.
“And another bad thing is that since TVGT is such a big competition, the schedule’s usually really crowded. So…”
“So I have limited ti to learn the gas in advance. …By the way, the next round is…”
“One week from today, Saturday.”
“One week…”
Since I don’t even have the Hyperbolic Ti Chamber, making a dramatic power-up is pretty difficult.[2]
As one would expect, I pretty much gave up on my hopes of advancing any further. After pondering over sothing, Tendo-san looked at with a sharp glint in her eyes.
“…If it’s your growth rate, possibly…”
“?”
I tilted my neck, not knowing what she ant. Tendo-san stayed silent for a few seconds, collecting her thoughts, and then ca up with a suggestion for .
“It’s pretty sudden, but tomorrow, Monday, I was thinking of going to the club. Since everyone has appointnts, I can’t make any definite promises, but I think I can force everyone to participate.”
“? Huh? Uh, that’s fine with , but, I don’t think I have to be that extre during club activities, you know? Actually, all I’ve been doing during club ti is just learning the controls and rules to each of these gas.”
I was just trying to speak honestly and wasn’t trying to be humble, but Tendo-san denied it.
“No, the policy of our Gars Club was wrong. In your case, it is more important to experience the actual competition rather than learning the fundantals. If you look at the match between you and Echizen, that much is clear.”
“Hah… Well, I certainly do like competing, but…”
Rembering the exhilaration of the competition, my body trembled. Facing an overwhelmingly strong opponent, thinking desperately of ways to defeat them despite looking up to them, trying out different strategies and getting experience from each attempt, and attempting to make note of their skills and using it myself… At last, I felt what I was longing for since the beginning and exceeded it; you could call it ecstasy.
Certainly, the compressed exhilaration is much better than aimlessly playing gas. I feel like there’s absolutely no truth to Amano-kun’s “Slow, fun ga theory” that I heard about from Tendo-san. I understood what it ant to confront a strong man for the first ti.
…Huh? Confront a strong man for the first ti? …Ah, in other words, my growth…
Suddenly understanding what I have to do from now on, Tendo-san smiled broadly as if she was confirming my answer.
“The mbers of the Gars Club, except for , all specialize in a certain genre. In other words, in the week before the competition, you will keep playing those remarkable senpais over and over again—”
“Are you hoping for a… remarkable growth?”
In the breeze of the early sumr, the trees by the road rustled.
With the setting sun in the background, and with a confident look similar to that of Echizen’s, Tendo-san declared the na of her strategy.
“Let us start Operation ‘History’s Strongest Disciple Eiichi’!”[3]
＊
And thus, I started the journey to beco the strongest all-purpose player.
However, the road through TVGT starting from now is a long tale in a short amount of ti, and if this were a comic, would take about 20 volus to complete.
For this reason, from now on, I will only tell the important points of the story.
“History’s Strongest Disciple Eiichi, Digest~”
First of all, by playing with my senpais, I gained the skills in FPS and fighting gas to approach the top players. Of course, I wasn’t able to reach Kase-senpai and Oiso-senpai’s overwhelming skill overnight, but I was able to win 2-3 gas out of 10.
Furthermore, by playing Tendo-san and the two kouhais, I was able to learn a new special ability, “Instant Draw”, that makes the best use of my learning ability. By boosting my powers of concentration, it’s an ability that lets copy my enemy’s moves perfectly for a duration of three minutes. Imitating soone, by itself, can only result in a draw at best, but for my ability, “Quick Growth”, the ability to “earn ti” is irreplaceable.
In this way, I was able to easily pass through local tournants, but once I reached the semifinals, I unexpectedly struggled in a match for the first ti.
This ti, the genre was “Rhythm gas”, and as one would expect, it was one of the genres that I didn’t practice in the past week. Furthermore, the opponent this ti was—
“Give up, Eiichi! Your journey ends here!”
“R-riki!? Why are you here!?”
—my step-sister, Misumi Riki.
Actually, Riki’s super good at rhythm gas, and had cornered this ti. What’s more, she…
“You going to nationals together with Tendo-san, I won’t allow iiitttt!”
…Saying those kinds of things, she entered with a strange fighting spirit. Feeling shaken and unable to do my best seriously, I was rapidly being cornered even further.
When I thought I was going to be defeated instantly… suddenly, Tsundere glasses-senpai, also known as Kase Gakuto-senpai, who always thinks of his kouhais and secretly ca to watch, fiercely rebuked , who had already given up.
“You’re not a man who would lose here! Misumi Eiichi!”
After I regained myself from those words, I started to go after her. Using my skill , I stayed close in points, and during the match, I developed another skill… and put that to use as well. By imitating her skill and making it my own, I was able to barely beat Riki. I won and advanced to the finals. (By the way, Riki looked like she was about to cry, but when I hugged her and patted her on the head, her mood got better and she returned ho.)
However, when I then arrived at the finals, my opponent was…
“Finally, you’ve co all the way here, Misumi-kun…”
“Tendo-san…”
the existence that could be called my shisho of gas, Tendo-san.
The genre was racing gas. …I hadn’t mastered this type of ga, and also, it was a genre that Tendo-san was good at.
The atmosphere beca tense, and the ga finally started. …If I spoke honestly, at this point in ti, since I just got another skill from the battle with Riki, I had the confidence that I would beat her.
However, my composure was broken in a split second.
In a best of seven, I was handily beaten in the first three races. …If she takes one more ga, I’ll lose without even being able to grow.
Tendo-san smiled, as if sneering, and about to reveal a secret trick to , who was dumbfounded.
“Did you think that I wouldn’t have a counterasure for your growth ability, ?”
“By any chance… for these last three gas, have you been using ‘Moderation Play’!?”
“Fufu, noticing now is too late, Misumi-kun. I’ve been holding back my strength. In the next ga, no matter what ability you use… you can’t learn enough to beat !”
“Damn… !?”
“You may think it’s underhanded, but it’s the president’s duty to take a new mber down a notch or two!”
With her declaration, the fourth race started. Even from the start, Tendo-san pulled way ahead. Even when I continued to use and , she pulled into high gear and surpassed my growth.
When the match was nearly decided… in the bottom of my heart, sothing awoke.
“(…! …I want power… I don’t want to lose! I… want to win!)”
In the next mont, I thought I was able to see a line above the course, and as if my hand was following the course, the car automatically started to move.
“Hey—”
I started to pursue Tendo-san right on her heels, the voices of Tendo-san and the crowd fading away. In the last lap, finally…
“I-it’s a lie, right!?”
Barely overtaking Tendo-san, I passed the finish line.
Looking at in disbelief, she grit her teeth and exclaid, “The next race is the last, so I’m going to be serious now!”. After playing the 5th, 6th, and 7th races with all my might, I now…
“…This…”
“…”
After completely beating Tendo-san, I smiled broadly.
—And so, the curtains closed on the bumpy road through the local tournant with my overall victory.
My new ability helped rampage through the nationals that started a week later.
The ability allows to perceive the “Road to Victory” once I understand both the ga and my opponent. My eyes, mind, and body all move together to ensure a victory.
With this ability, no matter how strong all the participants were at the nationals, no one was a true opponent.
People with skills like “Wing”, the ability to treat a soccer ball in a ga as a friend, “Data Ga”, the ability to do quick ntal computation, and other people like a mysterious gar who plays dance gas with fishing poles, a pachinko pro blessed with luck, and even a cheat onee-san like Tatsumi… anyway, I piled up victories over everyone.[4]
However, after getting through nationals and having arrived at “World Championships”, as one would expect, I had several difficult battles.
Starting with a beautiful silver-haired female spirit, “Shinra” harassed with a bunch of completely inexplicable phenonon that crossed the boundaries of a ga.
The Indian representative, whose favorite saying was “Things will probably work out well”, made tremble with her mysterious positive attitude from beginning to end.
The battle with the French representative, who had the ability , was the toughest battle in since I wasn’t able to imitate him at all.
After such various battles, it was the finals at last.
“…Ex… we t… long ago…”
My opponent appeared, calling with a strange na. Wearing the sa exact uniform as I was when I awoke, the mysterious girl’s na was Machina.[5]
With impressive blue hair, the girl stayed emotionless and silent, and whenever I asked a question, she would always reply with “If you win, I’ll tell you”. And as I was feeling uneasy and anxious, the finals, which were puzzle gas… started with a one-sided beatdown by Machina.
It wasn’t uncommon for to struggle in the beginning with my growth, but her ga technique was too far off the beaten path.
In the world, there is a way of playing a ga by using Tool Assist and getting the “highest possible score” in a ga. Her playstyle was just like that.
She easily approached the limits of the system, without making a mistake.
This ability is certainly the strongest ability.
Machina handily won the first three gas of the finals, which was a first to 4 series. The crowd was silent because of the one-sided ga.
When I was crushed with hopelessness… several voices of encouragent rang out from the crowd, breaking the silence.
Looking out towards the crowd in surprise, I saw the Gars Club mbers who had taught how to play gas, my precious younger sister Riki, and… all the opponents that I had played to get here.
With the willpower to “not give up”, I used all of my ability and started playing without thinking of the consequences.
Desperately stealing Machina’s playstyle, I was able to pull off a draw by getting the highest possible score.
“You’re only exhausting yourself in vain, Ex…”
Not minding Machina, who was looking at in pity, I continued to desperately keep up.
The series continued, and reached about 20 draws.
“Ah…”
Finally Machina made a slight… a very slight mistake, and in that gap, I finally took a ga.
The crowd erupted in cheers. Like that, I took two, three gas off her, but Machina regained her composure, and the draws started to pile up again.
Machina, noticing that a cold sweat had appeared on my forehead from all the overworking, urged to surrender.
“Ex will never win against Machina like this. You’re only shortening your lifespan. You should quit now.”
“Is that… so?”
“?”
I smiled broadly. … In the next mont, my eyes looked like the world was shining.
started operating.
In that mont, universe; nature; I felt like I could understand anything.
“Hey… this is…”
As Machina and the whole crowd held their breath, I silently operated the controller as if I was God.
These movents aren’t the sa as trying to obtain the “highest possible score”.
Only because I have a body that can grow, this is possible. Furthermore, those mysteries from before… I was able to use those strange moves that were astronomically difficult to reproduce.
This miracle-like ability to widen horizons—it was the revelation of the new skill, .
“Lies… this is…”
“This… ends here!”
Surpassing the highest possible score, at last, I crushed Machina.
Even though it fell silent for a second, the crowd started cheering excitedly, and my friends ca running over towards .
As the venue, no, the world, started to get wildly excited, Machina walked towards .
“Ex… …Machina, completely, lost.”
“Machina… …Won’t you tell ? What kind of people are we?”
“Of course. …But after this.”
For the first ti, she broke her expressionless look and smiled.
“Congratulations, Ex. You’re the true champion of the gaming world.”
—And so, the curtains closed with vigor on the story of the ga tournant.
“History’s Strongest Disciple Eiichi Digest~” Fin
＊
“…Fu.”
TVGT… Total Video Ga Tournant World Championships, one week later.
After having gone through all those hardships, I returned to my school life… now standing in front of the clubroom, I let out a sigh.
Because…
“(Going to the Gars Club… is there even any aning to it?)”
After school, I walked to the Gars Club out of habit, but… after having made my way to the door, I suddenly had this doubt.
With my backpack on my shoulders, I stared at the doorway.
“(Honestly, I’m already… better at gas than anyone in this world. Although that’s not the exact reason, I fear that it’s likely that Kase-senpai and Oiso-senpai aren’t even close to in level. In this situation… if I left the Gars Club, what should I do from now on?)”
Even winning the national tournant didn’t appeal at all. …In other words, I need sowhere to use my enthusiasm for gas, not easy objectives like that one. It’s like the feeling of Son ○ku fighting Yam○a right after beating Fr○za.
Looking down at my hands, I clasped my hands a few tis.
“(Should I… stop playing gas? According Machina’s story, the organization I was in is a very shady organization, and she said she participated in the ga tournant because it looked fun. …What aning is there to keep playing gas…)”
At any rate, deciding that I didn’t have to do club activities anymore, I left the area before soone could find . …It’ll probably be fine to tell them I’m quitting later.
Leaving the old school building that the clubroom was in, I started making my way ho. While wondering whether or not Riki and the new freeloader, Machina, were fighting at ho, I saw the back of a person I strangely missed.
Unlike the usual timid , I ran over and assertively called out to him.
“Amano-kun! Long ti no see!”
“? Oh, M-misumi-kun. I-i-it’s been a while!”
His face flushed when he noticed , and in a panic, the small animal-like male student bowed, unbefitting of soone the sa age I am.
I made a wry smile at Amano-kun, who was acting as usual, and started walking next to him.
“Amano-kun, are you also going ho right now?”
“Ah, y-yea! …? Uh, Misumi-kun, are you not going to the Gars Club?”
“Ah, yea, well…”
I returned a vague smile. Amano-kun, without doubting my reply, only said “I see” and continued walking.
For a while, we were talking talking about ourselves. During the ti I was at the ga tournant, Amano-kun seems to have joined a “Gar’s Hobby Club”. He talked about people I didn’t know like Uehara-kun and seaweed girl, so I didn’t really understand what he was saying, but I only knew that he was having fun.
“Ah, sorry, I was only talking about . How was your ga tournant, Misumi-kun?”
“Huh? Oh, yea…”
I didn’t know how to reply to that. In the past month, my various experiences and incidents should be “interesting stories” that are far beyond Amano-kun’s “ordinary life”. Filled with the extraordinary, tons of mysteries, and lots of stories. Even though it was wonderful, I didn’t feel like talking about it to Amano-kun.
“Well, I ended up winning… uh, thanks to the Gars Club.”
To my answer, Amano-kun, who is the type to have fun playing gas by himself regularly, replied and said “Heh, that’s amazing, Misumi-kun!” with an extrely ordinary answer, as if he didn’t know much about ga tournants.
I thought about telling him that “I’m the best in the world”, but instead, I continued to talk conversationally with him.
As we continued to talk back and forth for a bit, Amano-kun’s expression suddenly brightened and asked a question.
“Oh right, Misumi-kun! Since you’re free today, do you want to play a ga with ?”
“? With you, Amano-kun?”
“Yea! Actually, one of my favorite open source ga developers recently released a new ga, but it’s a fighting ga, which is pretty uncharacteristic of them. But I also don’t have anyone to play with other than my younger brother… also, he doesn’t have any interest in open source gas, so I don’t know what to do.”
“Oh… so in other words…”
“Yea! Misumi-kun, I’d be happy if you’d play with !”
“…”
I faltered from Amano-kun’s innocent proposal. …Even though he doesn’t know it, he’s challenging the best of the world right now. …Gently refusing right now is probably best for him—
“Misumi-kun, you’ve played a few gas in the Gars Club, right? Then it’s ok! This ga is a fighting ga that can be played by beginners! Please?”
“…”
This is dangerous. For so reason, I started to feel a bit annoyed. I guess you can call it arrogance, but… having beco the best gar in the world a few days ago, being challenged by soone like Amano-kun, who isn’t even good at gas…
When I noticed, I was smiling at him.
“Alright. Let’s do it, Amano-kun. I’ve also played a few gas.”
I already regretted it, thinking “What a bad personality!”, but it was already too late.
To Amano-kun, who was happily smiling, I couldn’t just turn around and quit now.
＊
Amano-kun’s house was completely different from the Misumi family’s house. It was an extrely normal two-story building, which was neither old nor new, and it was really the “typical middle class house”.
While he was telling that no one else was ho, I walked into the house, said “Sorry for the intrusion”, and then headed towards Amano-kun’s room, which was on the second floor.
As I walked up the stairs, which creaked every once in awhile, suddenly… even though I probably don’t have any experience being raised in a middle-class family, I felt extrely nostalgic.
“T-there’s not much, but thanks for coming.”
While blushing like a girl, Amano-kun let into his room, which was practically “THE room for a quiet boy”. There were lots of gas and manga lying around, and although there were a few wires here and there, the room was mostly neat. It was a typical room that left a deep impression on .
“(As I thought, when I’m with Amano-kun, I can understand what it ans to be an .)”
While thinking these thoughts, he quickly put down his bag and sat on a cushion in front of the TV.
After doing sothing with his computer and the TV, he handed a wireless controller. It looks like he hooked his computer up to the monitor.
“(…A wireless controller and an external monitor, huh… I’m worried about the latency, but…)”
As a person that lived in the world of milliseconds and fras, I was uneasy about the suboptimal gaming environnt. I was irritated for a mont, but I told myself that this wasn’t a tournant. While I was calming myself down, Amano-kun finished setting up the ga and then started it up. After grabbing his controller and sitting down next to , he started to talk excitedly.
“Ah, I’ll go easy on you for now, so it’s ok! Let’s have fun, Misumi-kun!”
—As one would expect, I got annoyed. I know it’s childish, but… even then, I, as the best in the world, shouldn’t be looked down upon like this.
Clutching the controllers tightly… I started to concentrate on the screen as if it were the finals.
“(It’s Amano-kun’s fault…)”
Amano-kun was player 1, and I was player 2. As the battle started, a light spread across my field of vision.
Since it was a ga I’ve never seen before, I used as well as and observed both the ga and Amano-kun.
“(If it’s the right now, even if I have to learn, I don’t think I’ll drop a single ga…!)”
Even then, if I have 10 seconds, I’ll also use and .
In reality, though, this open source ga made by this person nad “Nobe” was extrely shabby and looked like it was made by one person as well. It used free ga assets, the key responses were crude, the character balance was off, and the motions were lacking. Everything is third-rate. To be honest, it didn’t even take 5 seconds to understand the whole ga.
Also, Amano-kun wasn’t very skilled either.
“Wah, Misumi-kun, you’re really good for your first ti!”
“(The comparison is harsh, but… you’re worse than any of the participants in the tournant, Amano-kun.)”
As one would expect, it looked like he was familiar with the controls, but… that was all. Amano-kun was like that before, too. He doesn’t put any importance on “growth”. Always stopped… a stagnated person. …He’s exactly a good-for-nothing, ordinary protagonist.
“(If this is what being “ordinary” is… then I don’t want this!)”
Getting worked up for so reason, and even though there’s no need to, I—
—used all the skills I’ve learned until now, and started to knock down Amano-kun.
And thus, the result was—
“—What?”
It was Amano-kun’s victory.
I stared at the screen in complete disbelief like a senile old man. Amano-kun faced with a wry laugh.
“Ehehe, it was my coback win!”
“—Hah?”
Not knowing what he ant, I looked at his face with my mouth agape. …I should have won. I should have been lowering his character’s HP in flawless form.
And yet, in the next mont… my character collapsed
…Amano-kun responded with a bitter smile to my horrified expression as I wondered what kind of ability he used.
“S-sorry. If I were to tell you the trick, this ga has an absurd ability that’s like an outrageous command. The ability I used right now was ‘Switch Sides’… well, I guess it’s this character’s special move?”
“—Hah!?”
What is this ga design!? Isn’t this just nonsensical!? This ga is way too absurd, so my powers of observation couldn’t even analyze the complete ga.
While I was still in shock, Amano-kun continued to apologetically explain.
“It’s not limited to this, but rather, this ga by Nobe-san does this every round… It’s really surprising, right?”
I only said a few words to Amano-kun, who was looking at with upturned eyes, as if he was looking for an opinion.
“Surprising or whatever, t-this…”
This ga doesn’t make any sense. It’s not the ‘ga’ I know. The mont after I was about to get mad.
Amano-kun, though he still looked apologetic, laughed out loud and looked towards .
“But that’s good, Misumi-kun; it looks like you had fun.”
“—Huh?”
As I exclaid loudly, the ga screen suddenly switched and the monitor went dark. When I looked at my reflection…
I was smiling. Naturally, it was a wry smile, but… it’s been awhile since I last smiled and made such a soft expression.
While I was lost for words, Amano-kun continued.
“I don’t know why, but Misumi-kun, you looked really tense today for so reason. Ah, I-I thought… Misumi-kun was getting excited over a ga like you did when you first joined the Gars Club, so I thought you had a really pleasant look on your face… Ah, b-but, um, even though I say ‘pleasant’, I don’t an anything weird, ok!?”
Even though no one would make that misunderstanding, Amano-kun denied it with a flushed face. …As usual, he’s all over the place. But…
I looked once again at the TV monitor. The crude character selection screen was displayed.
“…One more ti.”
“Eh? Oh, yea, ok!”
Changing my character this ti, the fight started once again.
…This ti, I didn’t use any abilities. Without focusing on winning, I simply played the ga like an idiot and let my instincts and body do the work.
…This playstyle isn’t serious at all, unlike how Kase-senpai plays against his rivals in a tournant.
“Wah, what is this!? Why is my character suddenly being eaten by a shark!? Amano-kun!?”
“Ah, sorry, this is my character’s killer technique . If you use it, your opponent dies.”
“There’s a limit to how unreasonable things can be!”
“It’s ok! Look, it eats right after! Furthermore, the shark’s the one that wins!”
“There’s a limit to how useless abilities can be!”
“Ahaha, right? But I wanted to show you this.”
“Even if you lose after using it?”
“Yea. But it’s funny, right?”
“…Yea. That’s right. It’s really funny, Amano-kun!”
When I noticed, I was playing the ga, smiling, and without thinking about anything. It was my first ti having fun with a ga like this ever since I joined the club.
…Of course, there’s no sense of “accomplishnt” or “completion” in this room. Fiercely competing with veteran players, breathtaking stories, fate, or growth… none of it. By playing this ga, I surely don’t get any sense of accomplishnt out of it.
It’s completely stagnant. A moratorium. An elent that doesn’t need to be in my story. But…
While I continued to play like an idiot with Amano-kun, I started talking.
“Amano-kun.”
“Hmm?”
He continued looking at the monitor and kept playing the ga.
Even then, I clumsily said my true feelings to him.
“I think it was a really good thing that I got to be friends with you.”
“Ueh!?”
In that mont, Amano-kun, who was trembling more than necessary, dropped his controller, retreated to and collapsed in the mountain of comic books nearby.
“Uwa, wawa, wah! Dangerous! Dangerous!”
“Oh—! Good gracious, even with and , I didn’t expect this.”
“What!? W-what are you saying, Misumi-kun? Stop thinking of those embarrassing chuunibyou lines and help !”
“Alright, ti to attack Amano-kun’s character while you’re gone. Take that!”
“Hey, you demon! …Ah, but my character has a special move that instantly kills the opponent with poison if you attack him while he’s not moving.”
“Waaaahhh!? What is this!? That’s terrible! Dammit, let’s play again, Amano-kun!”
“No, help first! We’re friends, right!?”
“Ahaha, you’re funny, Amano-kun. It’s really great that I beca friends with you!”
“How!? Right now, I’m only hearing you say bad things!”
“Ahaha! …Oh, right, I was thinking of leaving the Gars Club, yea.”
“So suddenly!? Or rather, just help out!”
While looking at Amano-kun, who was crying out desperately, and the absurd ga that was on the monitor… Softly, I wiped away the tears in the corners of my eyes.
This boy definitely has no relationship with Misumi Eiichi’s mory and tale of personal identity.
He wasn’t an opponent that stood in my way, nor was he a strong ally, nor was he a key component to regaining my mory. Even in my personal story from now on, I don’t think he’ll have any relationship to the topic of gas.
However, even then, this is the story I want to tell the most.
Since it lacks appeal as a light novel, it’s a story that could’ve been completely omitted in this volu.
At the end of the day,
Starting from the ti when the special main character who experiences sothing extraordinary is called out by the beautiful girl, he simply, and without too much trouble, plays with a friend—
—This is a story about a ga.
Notes:
1. Prince of Tennis reference
2. Dragon Ball Z
3. History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi (or Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple)
4. There are various references here, one of which I think is to Captain Tsubasa, but I’m unsure about the others.
5. Ex Machina
Reviews
All reviews (0)