Volume 3 Chapter 2 (1/2)
”Waaaaah!?”
I tried to sit up andheavy
First of all, where was I?
What had all of that been?
I groped around in the darkness and found I was trapped in so, narrow, and cra supplies locker collapsed on its side Of course, none of the surfaces would budge noopened or even creaked I was quickly overcome by an invisible pressure from all directions
…Also, I wasn't garlic anymore
I had ars like normal and I had a forehead I felt all over my own body like some kind of pervert and found I really did have a human body
That was the normal state of affairs
But in that case, what had everything before this been? I scratched atlike hard plastic It was the dive device used to connect my dreams to the disaster environment simulator and input my senses
Which meant…
”It was a game? …It really was some cruel space created by Maxwell!? Well, of course it was Ieven with dead bodies all around, I kept talking to myself like it was an RPG, the Class Rep was a vaain, and no one questioned that I was garlic!!”
Sohts I felt along the side of my hip and pulled out my usual smartphone from my pocket For soe rapid charger I couldn't let anyone kno jealous I had been when I borrowed that one from Muramatsu Yukie the Dark Elf I pressed the button and the screen lit up The ceiling wasclosed inside a steel coffin with the lid welded shut, so the pressure squeezed at my heart all the more
”Maxwell”
”Sure”
A short text SNS speech bubble answered raram I had built myself
The actual nal here
”Explain the situation What's going on here?”
”Due to a complicated situation, it was necessary for you to remain in a 200L space for three hours But it was doubtful you could last that long in utter silence, so I sent the command to have your mind moved to virtual reality Would you like to view the detailed log?”
Three hours
Was that why I had used the quick charger? The sed in
”So as the complicated situation? And…where am I?”
”Warning: In the interests of yourthat information”
”But I'm curious”
”Sure Brutal Archene froue and you are currently hidden inside Cold Storage Chamber A-05”
”Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”
I tried to sit up again and slaainst the top
Y-y-y-y-you've gotta be kiddingout there this ti around here!?
”Max- how do I open this- there's gotta be a door some- ahhh, ahhh!!”
”Sure You have grown somewhat incoherent, but I believe I can overcome that with e chamber is at your feet”
”!!”
I kicked out with my heel It seemed to be structured like an extra-deep coin locker, so I soet the door open and tumble out
”Ugh, dammit… This is no joke…”
”Warning: As you have left before the esti captured by the Archene evasive action”
It was dark outside the chaht It was thanks to the lack of s The battery display was full, so I pulled out the charger cable and pointed the backlit ss
It did not seeht wiped away just enough of the thick darkness to see a bare concrete floor and walls They had large cracks running through them and stainless steel tables were flipped over and abandoned
”What is this place…?”
”Sure This is the Peace Committee Convalescent Hospital, an abandoned hospital built in the forest on the border of Kukyou City”
”…?”
Wasn't that the saarlic and the Class Rep had crushed me underfoot?
Soht in that direction and saw digital counters on the rows of locker doors They were probably temperature displays
But there hadn't been any power during the garlic simulation
”Maxwell, does this hospital have power even though it's abandoned?”
”The investigator hooked up their own diesel generator All of the fluorescent lights are out, but that must be why some of the computers and medical equipment have come back to life However, there is an unpredictable risk of an electrical fire because the state of the internal connections is unknown”
”Investigator…?”
Did that refer to the hospital director or young arlic quest?
”So who are the brutal Archene around outside? This isn't another simulation, is it? So is one of them the Polish Vampire Princess?”
I asked several questions all at once, but Maxwell's response was not what I expected
”No”
”Hm? That isn't it?”
I frowned, but I didn't have tiame of twenty questions
The steel door to the ue was suddenly kicked open from the outside
”!?”
I flinched back fro noise and pointed my smartphone in that direction My heart shrank in fear as I briefly thought of the bloody dress girl, even though I knew she was only from that virtual world
But who I saas even more unexpected
”Huh? Onii-chan?”
”Ayumi!?”
Long black hair orn in twintails with the ends twisted not into twin croissants but twin butter rolls The girl in a skintight track outfit was my little step sister She was also a zombie with stitches all across her body She was a proper(?) Archene quarrel with her
I went li that familiar face
”O-oh, Ayumi's here I don't know the details, but is Erika here, too? If so, there's nothing to worry about I mean, you two are unbeatable”
But an odd speech bubble appeared on my smartphone
”Warning”
”Ahn?”
Next, a deafening sound burst out as if to crush my heart
Ayu her brutal limbs around wildly
”Wha-?”
”It doesn't really matter, but just wait there a bit, okay?”
With that casual cos, hips, and back while so upside down on an ar
Her fists and feet used that centrifugal force to pierce through thein from the hall
”What are those?”
They were about the size of e spike-like suspension to bounce off the floor and they had various weapons hanging from the arms that extended to either side like an attack helicopter The support wings seeh doors, but that wasn't the probleazine, a narrow electric saw, and…was that a gas-operated pile driver aimed at Ayumi!?
Ayued the thick spike Fro continued on up and smashed the mass of steel
The flow of time returned to normal
Another three or four of theed Motocross Dangerous Delinquent Babies
”There That should do it for now”
”W-wait a second, Ayuainst here? Is the Archene!?”
”Huh? You don't know, Onii-chan? When fighting against a highly-contagious Archenemy, the standard tactic is to wear protective suits or leave the fighting to bloodless dolls Although if you're up against a cursed doll, that can actually get your unmanned weapon hijacked”
When fighting against an Archenemy…?
Then had the Winged Moto(etc) been sent in by a huht Cross?
”And they're the perfect pawns for Maxwell's side to separate you from us, Onii-chan”
What does…
…that mea-
”Gh!?”
Ayumi circled behind me while my mind went blank She passed an arm around my neck and squeezed with the inside of her elbow!
At the same time, at least five h the broken metal door It was an explosive situation And the yros installed because they skillfully calared at us!
”Hey, Maxwell, hey! If you want to protect your adorable master, call off your troops!! You know Onii-chan's a zoht!?”
Ayu and she seemed to be focused on the smartphone screen she could see pastfor a response And neither Ayu today!
”No I cannot hand my user over to you monster sisters at the moment”
”Gbweh Ayu-…xhat is going-…?”
”Do you knohat facility this is, Onii-chan?”
…
”A secret hospital that turns huarlic?”
”Close but not quite”
She gave a serious answer to my desperate joke
”It's a departy That said, most Archenemies can be handled by priests and exorcists That includes abominable snowmen, olves, zombies, and skeletons But there is one exceptional field that has so many variations that it has a specialized class of hunters Nohich Archenemy is that?”
”Vam…pires”
”Yes That's why Onee-chan is so on edge She insists we acy before soe up above”
”What about…you, Ayumi?”
A place filled with technology for fighting Archenemies could not be a fun place for her Even if it was not directly targeting her, increasing the technology for defeating another type of undead was still an indirect threat Just like boilinga room-temperature superconductor, you never kneould lead to a breakthrough
But ainst my back
”Me? I don't really care In fact, once you beco in hurdles toward irow So it would be kind of nice if I did have a natural eneame You don't want to just be unilaterally defeated, but setting things up so you can compete isn't all bad”
…But Erika was different
My instincts told ht had broken out in this abandoned hospital
And…
”Maxwell”
”Sure”
”So what are these things, anyway? I don't reerous toys”
”Sure I rewrote the system permissions for the unmanned weapons stored in this facility Their developht”
”…And why are you fighting with Ayu those new toys of yours?”