Vol 1 Chapter 1 (1/2)

Chapter 1: Input

“Then, see you tomorrow”

Homeroom came to an end as the teacher left the class with a refreshi+ng set noisy

Kasugai Yuu took no attention to any of the topics the others were talking about and stood up while holding his bag

He didn't particularly stand out or anything He wore his uniforh the color of his undershi+rt did violate the school rules it was still okay, at any rate he was just a normal obscure sixteen year old boy

After the sunset outside met his eyes── which was certainly beautiful── he went ahead to the exit

“Ooi, Yuu!”

The one who called hiht brown color and was also pretty tall While only facing his face Yuu replied,

“What is it Kouta?”

Yuu responded to his friend Itono Kouta They've been friends since eleh their appearances were alike he was oes ith innocent and pure people

“It's been awhile, do you want to go to the arcade? Do you rehting gae”

Frouys froether with both of the break time, but…

“…Sorry I'm not really in the mood”

“I see Well, can't be helped”

Kouta easily nodded and left the classroo with the other two

“Then see you later”

The smile Kouta left as he departed made Yuu's heart ache As a friend since middle school, he understood Yuu’s “circumstances” To be taken care by a friend, so pathetic

Even so, he just didn't feel like having any foolish co self, this time he finally went off to leave the classrooain stopped by an acquaintance

“Fuyufu…”

“If you isolate yourself too much, your relationshi+p with others orsen”

Kudzuchi Fuyufu

She was a girl ould perfectly fit wearing a S-size uniforirl She was even shorter than Yuu as shorter coht Yuu looked down on her head that seemed like a doll wrapped with sleek black hair

But in contrast to her srown-up And despite having a pretty cute face, she's giving off atet close in

“People call that 『Loner』”

And this part of her who loves to say things too much must also be noted

“What up with that suddenly?”

“Nothing”

As she said that, the light in her eyes showed the cold color of condemn

“It's been a h school And in this crucial tihborhood I used to play with losing even more friends than he already is, so I caht?”

There were soo but he understood it He wasn't mad from what she said── since it was the truth── but the word “kid froht his attention

Just how long do want to pull back our relationshi+p from elementary school? He would retort

“And what about you, do you have any friends?”

In response Fuyufu let out a casual yawn, reminiscent that of a cat

“On the weekends we’re planning to goshopping, eat sweats in the café, and taking flirty and sparkly pictures in photo booth, the three of us in total Unfortunately they're all girls”

…It was frustrating, but it didn't sound like a lie Fuyufu appears to be unfriendly but she has some nice sides as well, and she also has the kind of talent to build a good relationshi+p with others

Yuu who failed to counterattack could only stand still while looking down at the floor quietly

“Then stop caring about o and have fun”

“Eh? Those girls are busy with clubs so I just ca to do though?”

Oh sorry, could it be you haven't notice? As she looked into his face with a pitying look Against that, Yuu could only clench his fist and hold down his frustration His effort orth soht, but that was an impossible demand to make

He let out a sigh It was histhat Fuyufu would cheer him up

“Sorry but I don’t have any time to spare Try someone else”

He said as he started walking This is what you would call running away He knew that it was iainst Fuyufu verbally, if they continued who knehen his heart would break

“Ah…”

Fuyufu's voice from behind sounded awfully weak

But she didn't chase after him

When he clearly saw that, he increased his speed and walked off

Yuu’s back slowly disappeared from the hallway, and she couldn't even bid him a farewell

“Haaa…”

With an expressionless face, Kodzuchi Fuyufu let out a sigh It felt like tears were flowing up, but she , she was just a little nervous

As the tension left, co out of her mouth

“Idiot… that shut-in brat“

She knew that he was still shocked about his mother but it has been a year since then, he should’ve noticed his childhood friend’s attitude by now It was just…

“Even though I did the trouble to comfort him”

“““No, no, no… you’re not co him at all!”””

Retorted froirls in softball and table tennis club unifor over Fuyufu from afar

Around 10 minutes away from the major private railways near the school, inside the fa

And from there he exited thehe arrived at his destination They say that half a century ago the real estate agent purchased this area all together and turned it into a residential area, but because of the low birth rates there has been a lot of vacant spaces

At the back of that residential area right above the hill, stood a big house

It was surrounded by grassy fields and woods, the house that looked dark and pale even in daylight was ruhborhood

And in front of the haunted house, Yuu inserted a card key and typed in the password of the electronic lock Pssssssh… the sound of air pressure escaped through the cylinder

He opened the door and entered the house The evening sunlight passed through the corner of the door He closed the door from behind and the sounds from outside were severed and disappeared into the hollow

This is the place that Kasugai Yuu returns to

“…………”

He didn't think of anything in particular After tossing soe, he walked straight to the living room

He rando onto the floor and sat on the sofa while still wearing his uniform His『CtG』 exclusive ter

After putting the familiar device onto his head, he pressed the start switch A blue light shi+ned fro Nnnnn… The low startup sound somehow tickled his stomach

And then, a song could be heard──

His consciousness started to fade away, …

In a few seconds, his consciousness would no longer be in this world and have had made a journey to another world

Quest：

Hunt Twenty Goblin

Difficulty：

D

Quest Type：

Monsters subjugation

Special conditions：

Must be done by the player who received the quest

Detail：

To hunt down Goblin troops dwelling in the abandoned house of Iladiators is looking for a person who’s willing to take care of those Goblins all by hith on this perfect occasion

Rewards are as followed……

It was at that moment a mail notification icon was seen on the corner of his vision and an attack from an axe was made

Ignoring the ed sword, a seax, onto the enemy’s nape

“Keh……!”

The one who let out the low death throe voices, along with its head on the floor, was the Goblinbody was just an unsightly pile of meat──

In common RPGs they’re the typical small fry monsters and are treated no different even in 『CtG』 It was an opponent that even a beginner player could win in a one-on-one fight But on the contrary, you need considerable ae number of them

Yuu (Clamp) watched over the dead corpse froe a out of the wounds and some splashed onto the wall The blood that dyed the wall appears to be sprayed out from the dead body

CUT OFF!

SINGLE BLOW KILLED!!

As a special effect of the result of his attack, some words were displayed with the shed blood, it was a system called Blood Descript It was said that the systeht it was a bad taste But if this didn't exist, so

“They sure have a good (bad) hobby…”

He eway of the deserted house was filled with the s out froh it was a corpse, by the fact that it had lost all its HP itbut a dead mannequin that lacked vividness and animation

And in the corner of his sight was a blinking icon By swinging his line of sight he pulled it to the front If it was a normal mail he would've opened it after he finished the quest, but the color of this icon was red── designating that it was an “Eency”

There was still oneBut there shouldn't be a proble his back on the wall, Clamp opened up the mail

Sender：

Mifa

Contents：

Somehow it’s been born Contact me immediately

He stared at it for a while

“What the heck is this?”

It’s incomprehensible It was froalon Evis Her na icon was shi+ning next to her name

But no matter how many times he read it, the contents of the mail was simply too abrupt and impossible to understand Well, anyway, it said she wanted to contact him

“Any at rate, I have to reply…”

As he said that, he sensed a presence But there was no figure of a monster in his field of vision── and at theabove jumped at him!

Being caught co his sword or even dodge That’s why Clamp did neither

He casually let go of his sword and caught the Goblin eh it was short, the ot pushed down by thenailed onto the floor, he took a deep breath and then shouted

『snatch !』

After usage of the 《snatch》action, a notification sound of its success echoed through the building along with a burst of blood

At the edge of Cla Skill success, you stole a “Hand Axe”

What happened afterwards was Cla the hatchet and attacking the goblin with it It was strangely unlike him to be so impatient (or to be under pressure, if unrelated to sentences below)

──The 《Marriage》 he did just to achieve his goal

──“It was just inside a game” but…

He couldn’t have not been curious That’s right, the mail

“It’s from Mifa!”

When he split the Goblin head as if splitting a waterushed out blood

Within the churches that scattered throughout Dragons’ Cradle, you could find a mysterious mirror, when you went inside it you will arrive at the “Terminus Cradle” The world spheres that consisted in 『CtG』 are all connected together in this relay world It’s what you would call the starting point of all adventurers

On the blue velvet floor nine mirrors were lined up, this place was the lowest layer called the Parnassus rooo all the time, it had the size of an event hall

Boarding the elevator that hung at the middle will take you up to the market area

Stores are sectioned in an orderly e varieties of uns, ite traded here

“This place is Messy as always…”

It was an overwhelht no matter how many times you saw it The center of 『CtG』 service was done by NPC's (Their appearances were like other player, but their character was controlled by the prograe of the shops lined up around here

And at the corner of the market area, there stood a facility called Guild Hotel, a facility that was often rented by particular co spots

And at one of those rented facilities, inside a sirl aiting for his arrival──

“What… Is that? ……What?”

Seeing what Mifa was holding, Claot about Mifa as holding the thing in question Unable to hide his surprise, his hands were tre in shock

Seeing what Mifa is holding, Claot about Mifa as holding the thing in question Unable to hide his surprise, his hands were tre in shock

“Errrmm…”

The thing wrapped in pale colored cloth, the thing that was resting on Mifa's lap was…

A baby

She had the same hair color as Mifa, and the same eye color as Clamp

The figure that rapped in fluffy and soft babywear appeared to be less than a year old She blinked and looked at Cla onto Mifa's finger with her htness of cotton

Mifa, ore a hter lifted her head and said,

“Somehow, a baby… was born”

………………

He has never heard about this Never It was true that he had the 《Marriage》 event with Mifa but, even so… You know, they never did anything that could make a baby appear, and a system like this didn't exist in 『CtG』 in the first place

Even so

The uilt paired with anxiety (or worries, your choice) instantly froze his body So a cold stare of contee was planted deep inside of him

“K-Keep yourself together! I've been in panic froo!”

“Aa… Sorry This is quite an unexpected situation…”

Because she aze switched back to her The baby’s reflexive actions were all too abrupt and sudden Mifa flinched and let out a fake smile The baby was emotionless but opened her mouth curiously

T-That’s right First we need to calm down Clamp took a deep breath

Calmly── Lets handle this situation calmly Let’s first sort out the known and unknown stuff, we need to first understand the current situation There’s the phrase “DON’T PANIC!” in the best-selling 『CtG』 strategy book , 『CtG Hitchhiker’s Guide』 (unofficial), wasn't it[1]

First of all, let’s hear what happened

“Aside fro?

“Aaaa── …”

Mifa didn't answer for a while She glanced at “that big thing” while cluaze and then,

“This child is the daughter from the two of you”

The one who said that…

Was…

A stuffed doll

On top of the two resting purpose beds in the crae h it was a ht and its face looked like it was doodled by an oil pen That thing was the『CtG』ame However, its size varied from fifty centimeters to 1 and up to 6 meters

And that giant mushroom had certainly just spoke

CRAsh!+ The sound of Cla the wall of the hotel

“It spoke!? I've never heard of a Kinokino that could speak!”

Claain panicked like before but for a different reason In response, the Kinokino gentlemanly lowered its head

“Non My name is Payakino, a Nanny NPC”

“Nanny…?”

“Oui To take care of children born froe》 Event is my function as well as my duty”

Why it speaks like a h-pitched voice, or ender is also unclear No, more than that…

“Wait a e》”

Yuu got lost in thought a bit, but if he believe in what this person said, then this NPC prepared by the system will answer it all

The doll── Payakino then explain

“Not knoill happen That is the thrill of a RPG”

It’s awhatever it wants

But that sounds fair It’s not like everything about the event is written on thethis is an ultra-rare event no wonder that an unexpected thing like this would happen

He was about to ask another question, but was interrupted by Mifa

“I’ll explain first Along with the time this baby appeared”

Mifa's story didn't go too ith her hair constantly being pulled by the baby, but suoes as follows:

When she logged-in as usual── she arrived at the japanese-styled world, Bushi+do Grave southern church── And there stood Payakino that deliberately lowered its head in front of her

Witnessing this , Mifa was truly startled, presumably more than she should have Further a baby, and just like that it claimed that the baby was Mifa’s

At first Mifa thought that there reat detail about Mifa and Claine Ekphrasis corporation that was shown in the extended manual

In short── The pair of players was randorown But if either of the players refused, the event will become invalid and so on

Naturally, this was not the kind of situation that can be simply solved by herself, Clamp’s opinion was also required and so she called him to this hotel──

“──what do you think?”

Against Mifa's gaze after she finished the story, Claroaned

“How… even if you say so”

It was a bit problematic Clamp tried to look for information about this system he never heard of before, but…

“You know… I think it's okay to raise her”

Mifa was unexpectedly up for the idea Wasjust his iination?

The baby then naturally switched her gaze to him

Their “daughter” seemed to like Mifa's hair texture and continued to play with it

Cute He siht that

Even though it looked like she was playing she didn't show a smile, could it be because she doesn't understand eence (AI) was just poor? Yuu who had never taken care of a baby before couldn't reach a decision That’s why he spoke what he thought

“……But, won’t it be troubleso a child”

“You think? From what I read from the manual and heard froe and skills we need for it, and Payakino will also take care of her e're logged out

If you’re too busy I’ll try to raise her alone… and, isn't it okay to not think about it too much?”

She smiled comfortably

“This is just a game after all”

The reason he agreed with that, was it because of Mifa's opti the baby disappear when he refused? Or that he just simply wanted to finish this event to the end? Even he himself was unsure

But, on the contrary to Claai Yuu felt uneasy and had worries about this strange chain of events

The criteria aside, only those who are perfect with each otherEven that person will one day regret that she chose the wrong partner However an NPC baby was born without warning, it felt slightly off from the 『CtG』 developer’s typical unscrupulous surprises

It caaine Ekphrasis in the third development office of 『Cradle to The Grave』 as the lead developer till the day of her death

“Let’s give her a name!”

Claot called and he returned his gaze to Mifa in a hurry

“Name?”

“Yes This child still doesn't have a naive her one”

Mifa held out the baby to Clamp when she said that The baby’s pitch black pupil looked straight to his eyes

Uuuu… He received the baby while tre

The baby that was now resting in his arht It was hter than the cat Fuyufu kept in her house

The part where the gravity center did not changes when reht because the lack of data inputted And also the baby stayed the same even on Clamp’s clumsy hand, instead of just si

──This child… did not possess a full human body That was natural NPC's are just people with a human body but not a human brain, let alone this baby that was just recently made

He felt that

He felt that really well

Together, he wanted to blow life into this empty vessel, into the e a personality

He recalled back his childhood days as he thought about it It was a tiai Yuu played with his first friend What he did that ti house

It was just like the current situation The girl from that time named the doll Yes, the name was──

“How about… Haruha? This child’s name”

It was a nah the baby in question didn't have any reaction in particular,

“Hee…?”

So at all

“……? What about it?”

“Aaa……… unn, nothing I think it’s a good name

Haruha…… Haruha-chan huh Nn, it has a cute sound to it”

After that she continued to repeat, Haruha, Haruha, again and again

She seemed to like the name as well, the baby── Haruha was then returned to Mifa's arms

While eently and formed a broad smile with her mouth

Cla in his chest diverted his eyes

And then the two… No, three of the with Payakino with its featureless face, continued to watch over the baby in delight

And thus the two players andering in the world of 『Cradle to The Grave』, Claether by Haruha’s arrival Her birth was just too sudden and treated very lightly

The ti of that day, that moment, was still far in the future

Two months have passed in a flash after that incident

Every day they visited the guild hotel in Terminus Cradle── Not the hotel rented by 【Labyrinth Troupe】, but the one prepared by Payakino── Mifa and Clamp’s first and furthermost job was to talk with Haruha

According to Payakino that resides at the corner of the rooroas “Words” and after that is “Experience”

Both of the at thee as part of their small talk

When they were tired talking, they showed some replay videos It was part of the Rae, it would autoes in time of in-events

This ended up affecting Yuu’s real life He would often be absentminded and would be reminded by others, like in this instance at the school hallway

“Yuu”

“Ueeeuaaaa!!? F-Fuyufu…?”

“…What is it? You look strangely in a good ht And your reaction just now is like that of aan affair”

“No way, that’s absolutely not, right?”

“Why are you asking yourself…? Well anyway,

……Is so recently? You seeo back”

“Nothing in particular… I’m just busy”

“Hetic than before”

That ht

When Fuyufu pursued the reason, cold sweats started leaving his skin Why did this happen? He tried to not think about it

Payakino said, due to 『CtG』's systeroas accelerated She becaer at an incomparable speed compared to normal children

In fact, Haruha learned how to talk in a very short amount of time

“Mommy!”

There was the figure of Mifa, raising her fist high to the air, taking a guts pose along with Cla down, depressed

“Next say “Father”, please”

He patted Haruha's head, which has extended a considerable length It had a ticklish soft feel Haruha rings her throat several ti her face into his chest like a mole

Mifa also had so in her private life

Previously, she logged-in around 8:00 to 9:00 at night and would log-out after ht, but ever since Haruha was born she would appear in Terminus Cradle at six o’clock There were also days where she even showed up earlier than Clamp

When asked why, she answered with,

“It's also because I want to er have to do club activities Because of that I now have time to spare”

Her ansas a bit worrisome, but…

She said clubs, so it h school student── He thought a little

After two months Haruha had already earned the body and mind of a two year(s) old

“Maybe it’s about time we should show her the other world spheres”

Following Payakino’s advice, they took Haruha outside Since they were bringing a child, they only roauarantee her safety

For exaons’ Grave Fro this giant city and within suchto Mifa's ar stunned

They thought bringing Haruha as an infant would stand out, but that didn't appear to be the case Thinking back, baby NPC's nor part-time jobs was one of the classical early quests