Accel World Vol 8 Chapter 6 (1/2)

Chapter 6

If he were asked which of the five weekdays he liked the most, without much hesitation Haruyuki would answer Friday This was probably the same for most students— for the bubbly feeling that ca tomorrow and the day after that were days off

However, his most disliked day was somewhat subtle Of course most people would be fed up with Monday, but he had the joy of being able to meet her Excellency his revered student council vice president after two days, and though it was limited to this semester Monday’s lunch special was the Godly menu of minced meat cutlet curry

Therefore, with hi amnesty to Monday with remarkable mercy, the runner-up was undoubtedly Wednesday

Because on Wednesday he had PE fro timetable

“Hey, Arita, hey!”

Haruyuki, whose name had been called, whose entire body was drenched in sweat, and whose feet obbling, reflexively tried to throw the basketball that he had been carrying with his two hands over there

However, the figure of his teammate who had raised his hand was immediately blocked by an opponent teaht In the botto five seconds as well as twenty-four seconds for violations were steadily decreasing Out of i pass blindly, he raised the ball with both hands high overhead

However, like a flash of lightning, the moment before the ball was thrown somebody deftly robbed him of the ball from behind

“Thanks!”

The tall student who had left behind a spiteful voice and had cut splendidly into his own teaular Ishi+o In the irls lined up around the perih the two peoplehim in the blink of an eye and reatly, and the right side of the score of 22-36 displayed in the overlay in the lower right hand of his vision changed to 38

“Don’t worry about it”

With that voice, the teaht a pass from Haruyuki a little earlier tapped him on the shoulder However, he couldn’t help but search for the ring in that voice la on the sa on a different team from Ishi+o’s»

The basketball court able to be divided into two sides in the gyirls, and furthermore since the twenty male students were divided into four teaht about it a co seven minutes and thirty seconds was impossible, but he prayed that he would at least not make any more conspicuous basic un to return to his fixed position while praying that, a voice different from the one earlier whispered in an undertone

“Haru, what’s ie It’s the same as the «territory battle»”

The person who had said just that and had left him was Mayuzuh they were losing, they could say that a sixteen-point difference against opponents who had a basketball teaht The reason for that was that Taku his best as a forward

…The whole ie? The same as the territory battle?

While running with heavy steps and chasing Taku the enemy zone with a dribble as soon as he had received a throw, Haruyuki inwardly racked his brains

The «territory battles» of Brain Burst were the coroup duels conducted Saturday evening every week In a nor hts of at least three-on-three (and depending on the circumstances, over ten-versus-ten) were played out

If it were so, then one could no longer win just by depending on his or her individual fighting strength While recognizing the entire vast stage’s conditions, one blocked the enemy’s main attacks and simultaneously stabbed at chinks in their are of the tide of as needed

Did Takumu want to say that basketball matches were also the same as those?

However, Haruyuki’s tea similar The main firepower of the enemy team was clearly the basketball tea two peoplehis moveuards, and Taku him Ishi+o would not easily be stopped, and with only Takumu as the pivot of offense of this side, they would not really be able to get any points Having said that, even if they discarded defense and shi+fted the lineup to an offensive type, Ishi+o, ould becoe about as he pleased

…With this, it’s useless just to fore of battle tactics, Taku It’s as if the opponents have a «King» and we have a «level 1»

In his mind, Haruyuki had unconsciously retorted back in that matter to his old friend Of course, level 1 referred to Haruyuki hiht was low, and his ball-handling was poor, in a basketball match he was no different from an in-the-way obstacle that was just there

And then, at that moment, Takumu fell to the court with a heavy thud! sound He had shown signs of rushi+ng to the eneoal and had aimed for a three-point shot; an opponent player who had panicked had accidentally made body contact A sharp alert sound resounded, and the word 【FOUL】 glittered blue in the center of his field of vision Blue was the opponent team’s color

“Ta, Taku!”

Flustered, he tried to run up to him, but Takumu raised one hand as if he were okay and immediately stood up He caled to 25-38

Having tried to call out to Takued back, with a start Haruyuki held his breath

Didn’t the word «ier s like weaknesses and tactics?

At the start of class, their division into random teams had been carried out by the on-campus syste the opponents they would confront, Haruyuki had thought “This is bad” in the back of his mind; three of his four tea seized by the «ian

However, Takumu was probably different Due to his quiet demeanor and intellectual appearance, it did not show on the outside hter That hy in his elementary school days he did not quit the classroo in the kendo classroom, and also due to that he could not help hi the ruate avatars’ weaknesses

And then even in this mere twenty- their distinct difference in co» That was right; it was just the same as Brain Burst’s territory battles In those battles, both sides exhausted their tactics and strategies to the liive up with “This is impossible” would lose

“…My bad, Taku”

His azed at the square back of his good friend and tightly ground his molars

SixFor that ae of losing Without thinking that it was impossible, he would do the utnificent pass cuts and sharp dribbling were i that even an oversized obstruction could do Obstruction…

“!”

Haruyuki suddenly opened his eyes wide; immediately after, with a fierce speed he manipulated his virtual desktop

The application for PE ball games, which was the Ministry of Education’s quality product, had various functions, but the Augmented Reality display, or AR display, had poor compatibility in the first place—while it was obvious, it hindered one fro the crucial ball—it was only used to the extent of overlay displaying the score and match time in a side of one’s vision Rather, it would have been better to re the pulse, temperature, and blood pressure of students in exercise was obligated by law, so that too could not be done

However, right now Haruyuki opened the court condition tab frohtly below the center of his field of vision In the rectangle, which had become slanted, five red and blue circular syularly Of course, they were the present positions of all players With the filter function, hered circle was he himself And then the blue circle was the enemy ace Ishi+o

As soon as the match resumed with the opponents’ throw, Haruyukithe basketball, of which he had caught sight with his naked eye, and Ishi+o, asat his back

He flapped his ar his body, which at best could only be said to have great breadth, he tried to foil the pass course to Ishi+o The gallery burst out laughing at his ihtly clucked his tongue and made a horizontal pass to another player However, at the same tiain greatly waved his arms up and down

This was «soht of

The opponent teay was to bulldoze a post play with their ace Ishi+o, as caoal Since Haruyuki knew that the ball would ultimately be thrown to the low post area, first with his AR display he had precisely grasped Ishi+o’s position and then had become an «obstruction» on the path between him and the ball

With Haruyuki’s ahtly to Ishi+o himself was impossible, but if he projected the pass course and optiht be somehow able to continue to fulfill this role until the close of the match

At that ti the ball directly sideways, and Haruyuki began also to move his body that way

However, right before he suddenly braked Ishi+o, as threein the opposite direction This was a feint motion He somehow absorbed the mass of inertia with his planted left foot and threw his body right The ball the opponent player had thrown buht hand, which he had extended with all his ht At the point where it seeist of Brain Burst’s «gentle redirection» he killed its htly

“No way!”

Haruyuki also thought the sa as the opponent player, who had let that voice out while popping his eyes out However, if he stood there dumbfounded, the ball would be snatched away froain

“Hey!”

Hearing that voice another time from his left side, Haruyuki reflexively threw the ball, this tih over his head The ally player who received it—a ht the ball into the enemy camp and made a pass to their own teaht side

Takuoal with a furious charge that made one want to think “As to be expected of a blue-color,” made use of his tall frame andin his sense of hearing, the score display changed to 27-38

“Nice, Arita!”

The one who had raised his voice was Nakagaho had quickly returned to their own side The sports club ht hand while laughing with a set hit!”, but he soh five He only exchanged a fleeting s from behind, but despite that he seemed to have conveyed fully what needed to be conveyed

For the rehtly less than six minutes, Haruyuki only ran, ran, and ran till the end

Sweat flowed like a waterfall down his face and body, his throat rang with a wheeze, and his legs and arms twitched in bits, but nevertheless he did not try to halt Before he knew it, what existed in his field of vision, no, in his mind were only the ball ahead of him and Ishi+o behind him

In opposition to those, he fore of the course he needed to move and simply traced it

The ie and its execution

At last, in a recess of his consciousness that had becoo he had also had a similar experience

That was, yes, the ti shed alone He had thought hard about how he could tidy up the fallen leaves piled up to the point where it seemed ie of the result, and afterward only believed and moved his hands That was also bitter work, but the fallen leaves that seemed to exist infinitely had all also disappeared in the end

Playing a basketballup a shed were of course completely different However, at their rootthat should even be called the «essence of action» —No, at that ti more precious?

In another world different from this reality, the words someone had said to him echoed far inside his head

…Froe…crosses limitations…and manifests itself

Those ords that had explained a «power» hidden in that world An ultimate power that crossed the frames of the normal system and could even be said to be a paranormal phenomenon Miracles that did not exist in the real world However, for all one knew that logic could be awfully simple—

Even while he was thinking about those things, Haruyuki single-ht and left as hard as he could

Of course, withhe couldn’t prevent one hundred percent of the passes to Ishi+o Occasionally when Haruyuki was unable to i, in those cases the enemy ace was able to awa’s counterattacks, although they had bridged the gap to five points, fro time steadily decreased

However, before he knew it Haruyuki had removed the time count and even the score display froallery,voices sometimes a buzz would also be emitted, but neither one reached Haruyuki’s ears

“Hah…hah…”

While hearing only the strenuous wheezing leaking fro in the depths of both his ears, he continued solely to trace his ier had time to spare to participate on the offensive, but if they were able to counterbalance one-versus-one the opponent tea four they could play a more-than-even match At the point in ti, their two allies who had beenIshi+o up until now also participated in the offense; they struck at the gaps in their bewildered enemies’ defense and thrust the ball into the hoop

A three point difference

“Over here!”

Ishi+o, who as expected showed signs of starting to have frustration build up, returned once deep into his side, raised his hand, and directly received a throw Again two people fro hi-fast spin moves they were quickly overtaken It seeular’s «serious techniques» had been sealed up until now

“!”

In response to Ishi+o’s figure pressing in and filling his field of vision, which was blurred with sweat, Haruyuki stood rooted to the spot In a head-on one-on-one, the Neuro Linker’s AR display would be of no help whatsoever

—Physical Burst!

Haruyuki desperately held back the i to shout that inside his mouth

If he used the «Physical Burst» command, which accelerated one’s perceptions by ten ti one’s consciousness inside one’s physical body, no matter what dribble technique Ishi+o used it would probably be easy to steal the ball while he was in theit However, all «cowardly acceleration» was forbidden by their legion Before that, it was a slight to Ishi+o, who in opposition to the likes of Haruyuki had co him with a match in earnest

“Wa…wah—!”

Without «acceleration», all Haruyuki could do was spreading his hands asthat voice

The left hand of Ishi+o, as pressing in before his eyes, flashed, and the ball disappeared froht By the time he had noticed that he had dribbled to his back side, Ishi+o was already ferociously overtaking Haruyuki’s left side

While knowing that he could not catch up to the back of the ene his way through, Haruyuki chased after him

After having run a nuht red font he was unaccusto that either his heart rate or his blood pressure had deviated frole-ure sun to whiten out flickeringly

And then, opposite Ishi+o a silhouette of tall height about the sa his as dimly visible Before he had known it Takuoal With his techniques at full throttle, Ishi+o went about passing Takuh dribble—to a behind-the-back dribble

“K…ha!”

While exhaling all the res, Haruyuki faced the ball that Ishi+o was trying to dribble behind his back and dived with all his ht

The fingertips of his left hand that he had reached out as ranulated rubber—Haruyuki did not know As to why, there his vision had become pitch-black, and even his ability to think had sharply decelerated The front side of his body bu wide and hard; at the same time he noticed that that soyh-pitched voice like a scream resounded

“Haru!!”

That voice was unmistakably that of Chiyuri, as in the middle of a match in the adjacent court

—Good grief, concentrate on your own game

While hearing a nuht Haruyuki’s memory was cut off

Since so inserted in hison it

In doing so, a cool, sweet liquid flowed into his mouth, so with his eyes shut he sed it deliriously After gulping it down to the point where breathing beca the liquid to his storeatly

He gently raised his eyelids, and a brilliant white light shone strongly on his eyes He hurriedly closed theain

The source of the light was the light panels e In addition to that, there was an enclosing rectangular white curtain in his peripheral vision Soy sheets—basically, a bed

Before he thought “Where aht sound and were pulled open

“Oh, Arita-kun, you’re awake?”

Who had appeared was a wo hair was bound behind her neck and as clad in a smart white coat above her patterned T-shi+rt—the Umesato Middle school nurse Her family name was Hotta So basically, this was probably the nurse’s office of the east wing of the first floor of the second school building

“Ah…um…I…”

As Haruyuki mumbled with his words inside his hter on her masculine face and spoke

“It’s important to try your best in matches, but you need to pay attention to your own condition If your blood pressure had dropped a little bit more it would’ve been the ambulance for you”

“U, understood…I’m sorry…”

—I see, during thelike anemia or dehydration and was carried to the nurse’s office, wasn’t I

Finally aware of the situation, he glanced at the tiht hand of his vision; second period had begun long ago So for over thirty minutes

The school nurse nimbly manipulated her virtual desktop, confirns had returned to their norhtly

“Please rest during second period Make sure to have plenty of water I’ll be out for a little due to a staffhappens feel free to push the call button With that, afterwards I’ it to you!”

The curtains were again closed with a snap, and the pitter-patter sound of footsteps went far off Finally, he heard the sound of the door opening and closing, and silence returned to the nurse’s office

Probably Nurse Hotta would have watched Haruyuki’s condition until he awakened even if the“I sure caused her a lot of trouble, but well I guess that’s her job,” froain extended toward his mouth

Without thinking he held it in his mouth and sucked The well-cooled sports drink pleasantly went down his throat

“?”

There, Haruyuki finally thought strangely about to where the straas connected and turned his gaze left Was it perhaps auto equipment? Surely not a robot nurse?

However, the straas extended fro bottle

And then a white, delicate hand that was not Haruyuki’s was holding that bottle

“?”

Ordering his currently decelerating thoughts to do as he said, this tiaze The thin ar from the sleeve of a black open-collar shi+rt In the breast of the shi+rt, a dark red ribbon Equipped on her thin neck, a piano black Neuro Linker Flowing above that, jet black straight hair…

“…Buha!”

The moment he noticed that someone whose existence he had not even perceived until noas sitting at the immediate side of the bed, Haruyuki caused the sports drink to spurt out forcefully from his mouth and nose

The moment he saw that a part of the water drops had also spattered onto his companion’s shi+rt, his body teain He flapped his two hands and shouted in a hoarse voice

“S, so, sor, sorry! I-if, if we don’t hurry up and wipe it it’ll become a s-s-stain”

Upon which the person sitting in the unadorned folding chair put the cooling bottle with a calm motion on the bed and spoke

“Mm, is that so Then let’s wipe it up”

And then she lifted her two hands, took the hook-style ribbon, and with a pop began to re from the top of her open-collar shi+rt The skin of her unbelievably pure white chest began to peep out, and furtherly caht