Chapter 2: The High and Lows of a Leveling Game (1/2)
Before he met Hera, Taiyou was a very normal high school student.
For exams, he usually studied in the last minute which allowed him to avoid failing. For physical exercise classes he could barely keep up with the track and field students so that he wouldn’t be a hindrance. His face was also average looking………Additionally he thought that there was no chance he would get a girlfriend and each year on Valentine’s Day and Christmas day he would be alone.
He fantasized about having a childhood friend whom he would promise to marry or it was even alright for him to get summoned to another world by a pink coloured beautiful girl (bishoujou) and getting treated as a pet dog. If those were to happen it would be like hitting a home run for Taiyou. Unfortunately for him there was not a single event that could spark his life. (I think the pink haired girl is a reference to an anime called Zero no Tsukaima)
Therefore as usual today, for him the: sights, taste, smell, feeling and hearing he will experience are going to be just like any normal day…… At least it was supposed to be.
In the morning, Taiyou was wearing his school uniform and walking on his way to school whilst playing on his smart phone.
He just acquired this smart phone yesterday, and it was advertised from a net source as the newest model as a sturdy phone with a great customer guarantee.
The screen did not have a single scratch, and on the display was female swordsman in a western style fantasy background, this female warrior was moving very fluently whilst fighting a metallic coloured monster. Whilst walking Taiyou effortlessly maneuvered the character, and one after another he defeated the metallic coloured monsters that popped out.
In the corner of his display, his character’s level was seen. She was a whopping level 254. For him, the fact his level was so high represented that the game was very close to being cleared.
「Good morning Natsuno, playing that game again? 」 (Note: Natsuno is main char, in Japanese people are referred to with their last names for politeness at least until they become very good friends)
「Hm? Oh it’s you Nakajima. Good morning」
Because a voice called out to him he raised his face from his phone, and standing next to him he saw his classmate Nakajima Katsuki.
He isn’t what you would call a close friend/buddy, Katsuki was just a friendly person in general and he would to talk everyone, Taiyou also got used to Katsuki casually talking to him.
As he keeps walking side by side with Katsuki, he dropped his gaze back to his smart phone and continued to walk.
「What ya playing? …..hang on, you’ve been playing that one for ages, is that a net game? 」
「Nope, it’s just the usual RPG roleplay. There are barely any online functions available on this fellow」 (Note: they are both talking in impolite form, so I am also trying to use more casual words instead of rigid ones)
「Hee, Can you really play a normal RPG for such a long period of time? …..Huh, your level is freaking high ?!!」
「It ain’t too bad」
Seeing the shocked face of Katsuki, he was pretty satisfied with the reaction he was getting, and he felt a little proud so he responded smugly.
「This game can only go up to a max level of 255 before the counter stops going up. Most likely I think I can do it by tomorrow」
「That so? It seems to take a lot of dedication to level up. That’s amazing, if you leveled up that much the last boss must be a piece of cake」
「Eh? There is no such thing as defeating a last boss ya know? 」
Taiyou raised his face and had an expression that said, 「What are you on about? 」
「You can’t defeat the last boss? Then what’s the point of raising your level? 」
「……..Because there is experience points to grind? 」
「I don’t understand the point! It’s even more confusing than climbing a mountain! 」
Katsuki fiercely pestered Taiyou.
「I mean, if you can’t even defeat a last boss, why do you try so hard to raise your level? Is it really that fun? 」
「It’s really fun, because when you increase the level in game, you become that much stronger! 」
「Well that fact is true, after all a game is made to be that way」
「That’s the reason I am playing」
「???」
Hearing Taiyou’s response, Katsuki tilted his head and had a totally confused expression on his face.
Although it wasn’t such a complex matter, When Taiyou tried to explain to others in detail all he got was weird looks in return, therefore Taiyou did not explain any further.
He just became silent, and whilst walking, went back to grinding out those experience points.
The female warrior in the game continued to defeat the dark grey colored monsters.
Although the amount of experience this monster gave wasn’t that high, this particular monster was easy to defeat, and within this game it was the most time efficient way to grind out experience points.
Although he didn’t count properly and cannot say for sure, the amount of times he has defeated this particular monster can be approximated to be over 10,000 times.
Knowing such a fact, rather than a game, it was closer to calling it a chore. However, Taiyou didn’t mind this fact at all.
Even if it was a chore, if it allowed him to raise his level, he would gladly and continuously repeat the action.
He was just that type of human being.
Although Katsuki walked side by side with Taiyou who was focused on his game, for a brief moment. He soon discovered his many close friends, and he raised his hands to wave at them.
「Good morning, Kazane-chan, Kotone-chan and Suzune-chan. Even today the loveliness you three girls display is multiplied by 3! Oh by the way, I happened to overhear the conversation the other day, I heard that because you guys are identical triplets, you guys all like the same guy, is this true? 」
Taiyou raised his head and glimpsed at them. The people Katsuki was talking to just then was precisely the three girls. Although they are identical triplets, they are a bit different from other triplets, this is because they are very famous girls. Not only are they really cute, they are very popular and have a celebrity status.
Hearing Katsuki’s words, Taiyou thought, if only I could get a girlfriend as beautiful as these girls……but he quickly shook off those thoughts out of his head.
After all he was just the average Joe whilst the other party were very desirable, he thought this privately for second, before he went back into his own game world.
Even at school Taiyou, spends his free time trying to level up.
Even if there was only a minute of break time, he would immediately pull out his smart phone, peta peta pochi pochi (sounds of him pressing buttons on his phone) he would dedicate his time to slaying the same monster with the female warrior over and over.