Gracia Moneyrich's Grand Search For Friends!
Prologue - Part 4, Kaze Nagareboshi
Written by: CS-Masyet
Uploaded on: December 21, 2017
We waited for him a while. Hunter and Lyrica eventually became bored and started talking about things I did not really understand...

Lyrica   "I just can't believe it! Have you seriously never had nacho chips before?!"

"Jasper"   "I keep on telling you, I have no idea what those are..."

Lyrica   "Then you're really missing out! They're the best, especially when gaming!"

Hunter   "Unfortunately, when playing this type of game, eating nacho chips while playing isn't possible..."

Lyrica   "Yeah, it sucks. As much as I love this game, that's something I really miss..."

"Jasper"   Are these "nacho chip" things really that good...?

Suddenly, a beeping sound came from Hunter's direction, and a screen appeared in front of him.

Lyrica   "Was that from Kaze?"

Hunter   "Yep. Let's head inside."

We all began to walk toward the tower, as Kaze had done earlier.

"Jasper"   "What does Kaze have in store for us, I wonder?"

Hunter   "Who knows? We'll have to wait and see."

Lyrica   "I hope he's not planning on giving you a hard time..."

"Jasper"   "Not to worry! I am sure I can handle anything thrown my way! Heheh~!"

Lyrica   "Great! That's the spirit, Jasper!"

We went over to where Kaze was standing once we had entered the tower interior.

Kaze   "Let's go. I've already gotten a match ready for us."

Hunter   "So, what did you do, exactly?"

Kaze   "I just said; I got a match ready for us. What are you, deaf?"

Hunter   "You know what I mean!"

Kaze   "There's no need to explain the specifics. You'll understand once the match starts."

"Jasper"   "So, where are we supposed to go?"

Kaze   "... Just follow me."

Without explaining anything more, Kaze headed toward a rather narrow hallway. Seemingly having no other choice, we obediently followed him. There seemed to be some strange-looking doors along the hallway, but Kaze ignored all of them.

Lyrica   "Seriously Kaze, are you really going to pick the last elevator again...?"

Kaze   "Most other people use the closer elevators, so we'll be less likely to pick one that's already occupied if we choose one further down."

Lyrica   "But it doesn't have to be the very last one though!"

Kaze   "We might as well."

Lyrica   "Jeez... It's times like this that I'm glad Hunter's our leader and not you..."

Hunter   "Now now, a little extra time walking won't kill us..."

"Jasper"   "So, these 'elevators' are what all of these doors lead to?"

Hunter   "That's right. Why, have you not ridden one before?"

He, as well as Lyrica, eyed me strangely.

"Jasper"   "H-huh?!"
"Jasper"   "Of course I have! W-who has not?! Haha!"

Lyrica   "That's good. Even though a lot of people use them, riding one for the first time can be pretty scary..."

Kaze   "You'd have to be a fool to be afraid of something like that."

Lyrica   "Hey, that's mean, Kaze!"

Kaze   "We're here, by the way."

We were indeed at the end of the hallway. Kaze placed his hand in front of the elevator door in front of him, and it opened.

"Jasper"   T-this tiny room is an elevator...?

We all stepped inside. Kaze went over to a number pad on the wall and began to type something into it.

Hunter   "What floor did we get?"

Kaze   "253."

"Jasper"   "W-wait, just how many floors does this tower have?!"

Kaze   "I believe this tower has about... 500 or so."

"Jasper"   "B-but how is that possible!? It did not look that large from the outside!"

Hunter   "Well, that's because..."

Kaze   "Lazy exterior design."

Hunter   "While I don't really disagree, that's a pretty harsh way of putting it..."

Once Kaze had pressed the numbers, the door closed, and the room started to move upward.

"Jasper"   "W-wah!"

Startled by this unfamiliar experience, I fell over, falling on top of who was in front of me... which was Kaze.

Hunter Lyrica   "Jasper!" "Are you alright?!"

"Jasper"   "U-ungh..."

Kaze   "Um, excuse me..."

"Jasper"   "E-eek!"

Once I had realized what I did, I immediately sprang up off of him, hiding my face in shame.

"Jasper"   "That was very rude of me! I am so sorry!"

Kaze got up, seeming unfazed by what had happened.

Kaze   "Don't worry about it. It's fine..."

Lyrica   "This elevator is pretty fast. I forgot that it can take a while to get used to..."

Hunter   "I'm sure you're not the first one who's done that. There's no need to feel embarrassed, Jasper!"

"Jasper"   For I, Gracia Moneyrich, to do such a thing is so shameful... And the pity they are showing me is not helping matters...

Kaze   "... We're almost there. Get ready, everyone."

Hunter Lyrica   "Yeah!" "Um, okay!"

"Jasper"   I do not know why, but I am starting to become nervous all of a sudden...

The elevator room stopped, and the door opened. In front of us now was a very large open space, covered in snow like outside the tower.

"Jasper"   "This is...!"

Kaze   "Where we'll be fighting our opponents, yes."

Hunter   "Not bad, Kaze! This is a pretty good map for Jasper to start out with!"

Lyrica   "It's gonna be easy for me to heal and shoot at things, too! Alright, let's kick some butt, guys!"

"Jasper"   "U-um, before we begin, can I confirm something?"

Hunter   "What's up?"

"Jasper"   "E-erm, so by what I have heard so far, we will be fighting against other players... l-like us?"

Hunter   "Yep, that's right. This is a Player vs Player match, or 'PvP' for short."

"Jasper"   "But does that not mean we will be hurting them...?"

Lyrica   "Oh, you don't have to worry about that! As real as this all seems, it's still just a game, so we don't get hurt like we would in real life. Think of it like we're fighting with BB or paintball guns!"

Hunter   "Um, I'm pretty sure you can hurt people with those too..."

Lyrica   "Heheh, right. Whoopsie! I guess that wasn't the best example..."

"Jasper"   "So, what is our objective? Is it simply defeating our foes?"

Hunter   "Kind of. Our team gets a point for each person we take out, and their team gets one for each one of us they take out. So we need to prioritize both offense and defense equally."

Lyrica   "I think this is just a regular 'Team Deathmatch', so the winning team is whoever gets 30 points first."

Kaze   "Actually, I set it so the winning team only needs 15 points. I figured a shorter match would be better for Jasper."

Lyrica   "Yeah, I guess that makes sense... You okay with this, Jasper?"

"Jasper"   "Yes, that is fine. So then, where shall we start going first?"

Kaze   "Hold it. Before we begin, we should discuss strategy."

Lyrica   "What for? This is an open area, so shouldn't we just rush in?"

Hunter   "Actually, that's not a very good idea. Normally, in these types of maps, when one team starts in an open area, the other team has more walls and structures to hide behind on their side."

Lyrica   "But we don't know that for sure, do we?"

Kaze   "That's precisely why it would be better if we sent out someone to check. They could also double as a decoy to distract them or at least split up their group."

Lyrica   "Okay, then... Who's got recon duty?"

Hunter   "Well, I guess I'll d-..."

Kaze   "I'll do it."

Hunter   "You sure? Even though you're way faster than us and are of a higher level, you can't heal yourself, unlike me or Lyrica."

Kaze   "Very well. Lyrica will come with me, then."

Lyrica   "Huh?! Why me!? Wouldn't Hunter be better...?"

Kaze   "If their group's side isn't as open as this one, they'll most likely come here to take advantage of this open area to fight us. If me and him leave, even if we actually do manage to split up their group, it'll be just you and Jasper to fight whoever makes it here."
Kaze   "Besides, Jasper's known Lunter longer than us, so I think he'll feel the most at ease staying with him anyhow."

Lyrica   "I hate to admit it, but your plan does make sense... But I'm not sure if I want to be taking orders from you, Kaze..."

Hunter   "As the leader of our group, I'll vouch that this strategy is the best one, given the circumstances."

Lyrica   "Mmph... Well, if Hunter says so, then I guess I have no choice..."

Kaze   "Alright. The match has already started, so let's hurry up and make our way over there."

Lyrica   "Yeah, okay!"

"Jasper"   "So, um, do I just stay here, then?"

Hunter   "Yeah, with me. Even though you won't be moving from this spot, your job's very important, so we'll be counting on you, okay?"

"Jasper"   "Alright!"
"Jasper"   I do not really get what is going on, but I will do my best! For the sake of my new friends!

Lyrica   "Good luck, Jasper!"

She waved, before running off with Kaze.

"Jasper"   "E-er, Hunter, is there anything I should be doing to prepare...?"

Hunter   "Well, you're a sniper, so you should get some arrows ready to fire at whoever comes over here. There's nothing you can use around here to hide behind, so you'll have to react to anyone immediately."

"Jasper"   "Shouldn't we leave this place to look for somewhere better to hide, then?"

Hunter   "Actually, this is our spawn point, so if we lose all of our HP, we'll be sent back here when we respawn. We can find and take other spawn points on the map, but this is the only one that the enemy can't take. They might use that to their advantage to catch us off-guard when we respawn, but we can avoid that if we are already here when KOed. We can use that to our advantage to take out any enemies that are still here as well, as we are invincible for a while after respawning. Hopefully, we won't have to worry about getting KOed too much though, as we don't want the other side to get too many points."

"Jasper"   "Ah, I see..."

Hunter   "Most teams have one member stay behind to guard spawn, but we have two, which is even better..."
Hunter   "... But still, Kaze gave you a kind of hard job for your first time, actually. I know I agreed to this myself, but I don't know what he was thinking..."

"Jasper"   "No need to worry! I, Jasper Roopsgar, will be sure to strike any enemy who opposes us!"

Hunter   "That's good to hear! I'll be here to heal you if you take damage, so don't worry too much if you get hit, okay?"

"Jasper"   "Okay, thank you very much!"

I decided to do what he suggested earlier and reached behind for some arrows...

"Jasper"   "... Wait a moment, I have two quivers?"

Hunter   "You didn't notice before? The left one is for regular arrows, and the other is for energy arrows. You remember what each one does, right?"

"Jasper"   "The energy arrows use 'E.Atk', and the regular ones use 'P.Atk', right?"

Hunter   "Right. We won't have any idea what our enemies' stat spreads are, so just rely on your own judgment when choosing which arrow to fire."
Hunter   "By the way, your quivers will automatically replenish your arrows for you, so you pretty much have an infinite amount of them. But don't go firing them off randomly, as we don't want to give away our position."

"Jasper"   "Right, I got it!"

I decided to begin by taking out an arrow from each quiver for the time being.

Hunter   "I don't think this game gives any aim assist to archers, but you said you already have experience with a bow, right?"

"Jasper"   "Yes, I shall be fine!"
"Jasper"   It has been a long time since I have used one however, so I am kind of nervous...
"Jasper"   But I am Gracia Moneyrich, so I am sure everything will be just fine! I will be sure to impress Leet Hunter with my skills!

Hunter   "... Ah, Jasper! On your right!"

"Jasper"   "Ah!"

Without even thinking about it, I shot the regular arrow I was holding toward the direction Hunter indicated. It ended up hitting someone in the head, and they disappeared in a flash of light.

"Jasper"   "... Oh."

Hunter   "That was amazing, Jasper!"

"Jasper"   "H-huh?"

Hunter   "Not only did you react to the enemy really quickly, but you also hit him with a critical headshot and took him out in one hit!"

"Jasper"   So attacking my foe's heads does more damage? I suppose that makes sense...
"Jasper"   ... But what I did was not exactly intentional; I was just really lucky... Although...

Hunter   "You really are amazing, dude!"

"Jasper"   "Of course! Leave everything to me!"

Just as I had said that, another enemy appeared off in the distance.

Foe   "I shall slay you!"

Hunter   "Get 'em, Jasper!"

"Jasper"   "Right!"

I shot the energy arrow at him, hitting him in the head and KOing him like I had with the other one.

"Jasper"   "Ah ha ha! This is no problem for me~!"

Hunter   "Hm..."

"Jasper"   "... What is the matter, Hunter?"

Hunter   "Well... Do you see those numbers of the top-left side of your visor?"

"Jasper"   "Hm? You mean the part that says ' 2 | 0 ' right now?"

Hunter   "Yeah. I don't know if you've already realized, but the first number is our team's score, and the second number is the enemy team's score."

"Jasper"   "That means we are winning, right? How wonderful!"

Hunter   "But those points were the two you got by KOing those guys that came here earlier. Which means Kaze and Lyrica haven't gotten any KOs yet, even though they headed for the enemy's spawn point... I wonder what they're doing right now..."

"Jasper"   "There is no need to worry. The enemy's score is 0, which means they have not been 'KOed' themselves either, right? So I am sure they are oka-..."

Just as I said that, the enemy's score changed to "1".

Hunter "Jasper"   "H-huh?!" "E-eh!?"

"Jasper"   "Oh no, they do not seem to be doing well at all...!"

Hunter   "And to make matters worse, whoever wasn't KOed is alone now, so they're at a major disadvantage..."

"Jasper"   "Well, at least whoever was defeated will at least be here with us now, right?"

Hunter   "I don't think so. They would've respawned here by now otherwise."

"Jasper"   "Huh? Where did they end up, then?"

Hunter   "I told you before; there are other spawn points you can take on the map. The last one you took or visited will be the one you respawn at, unless the enemy steals it, in which case you'll respawn at your starting spawn point. The two of them must've taken one, which is why they aren't here. It would also explain why neither team at the enemy's side had scored a point until now..."

"Jasper"   "But why would they even need to take another spawn point in the first place? Would it not be better for them to come here after being KOed?"

Hunter   "You're right, that's really weird. Just what are they up to, exactly...?"

Foe Foe   "I shall slay you!" "I shall slay you!"

Two more foes ran toward us, readying their weapons.

"Jasper"   "A-already more of them?!"

Hunter   "They might've taken a spawn point nearby. We need to take care of them before more of them show up!"

"Jasper"   "O-okay!"

I took out another arrow and shot one of them, but that gave the other one time to take his gun and prepare to shoot at me.

"Jasper"   "O-oh no!"

Hunter   "Barrier Field!"

All of a sudden, a barrier appeared around us, protecting me from the gunshot.

"Jasper"   "Thank you for that, Hunter!"

Hunter   "No problem! Let's take this o-..."

Foe 2   "I shall slay you!"

Another one appeared from behind the one that was still there. And then...

Foe 3   "I shall slay you!"

... One more popped out from under the snow near them.

Hunter   "... er, three of them...!?"

"Jasper"   "How are they getting here so fast?!"

Hunter   "Yeah, this kind of thing isn't normal for a PvP match..."

"Jasper"   "The behavior of these individuals seems to be strange as well... We are fighting actual people, right?"

Foe 4 Foe 5   "I shall slay you!" "I shall slay you!"

Two more ran toward our location from the distance, joining the other three.

"Jasper"   "They are five of them now!? Is there not supposed to only be four players per team?"

Hunter   "Hmmm..."

"Jasper"   "I think there is some cheating going on here, Hunter! This is very unfair!"

Hunter   "Ah, now I see... So that's what you did, Kaze..."

"Jasper"   "Huh?"

Hunter   "It's nothing. There may be a lot of them, but I'm sure we can manage to beat them if we work together, Jasper!"

"Jasper"   "A-are you quite sure about that...?"

Hunter   "Sure I do! I've got the expert sniper on my side, after all!"

"Jasper"   "O-of course! Even this is no problem for me! I will be sure to snipe them all down!"
"Jasper"   Something like this will not make me lose face! I have a friend now; I must do my best to fight alongside him and win!

And so we fought. As we took more out, more appeared in their place. It was a tough fight fighting against so many foes, but we managed to hold on without getting KOed.

"Jasper"   "Phew... Will be really be able to defeat all of these foes, I wonder...?"

Hunter   "Actually, we don't need to beat them all, as long as we reach 15 points. We haven't been KOed ourselves yet, so we should still have the advantage."

"Jasper"   "Hm..."

The new wave of foes were quite far at the moment, so I used that opportunity to check our score again.

"Jasper"   "' 11 | 13 '..."
"Jasper"   "Wait, what!? But how?! We are losing!"

Hunter   "Jeez Kaze, what're you doing...?!"

"Jasper"   "What should we do, Hunter?"

Hunter   "We need to be careful. If both of us get KOed now, we're done for."

As I watched six more foes walk toward us, I attempted to think of a strategy.

"Jasper"   We need to get four more KOs as soon as possible. I must act quickly!

I took two arrows out and held them both against the string of my bow, them facing away from each other.

Hunter   "What're you doing, Jasper?"

"Jasper"   "Take this, you miscreants!"

I fired them both at the same time, in a V-shape. They ended up hitting two people, but unfortunately, my attack had merely stunned them.

"Jasper"   "Blast!"

Hunter   "Sorry Jasper, but you should save that kind of thing for when you're more experienced..."

 ???   "BEEP BEEP!"

"Jasper"   "Huh?!"

All of a sudden, the visor attached to my head began to make noise, and some words flashed in front of me.

 Visor   "Level Up! New skill acquired: 'Gemini Arrow'. Fire a normal & energy arrow together to do devastating damage!"

"Jasper"   "Um, Hunter, what is thi-...?"

 ???   "RRGGHHH!!!"

Before I could finish, the ground began to shake.

Hunter   "No way... is this!?"

"Jasper"   "W-what is happening?!"

As the ground continued to shake, something started to energe from the snow, behind our foes. They just stood there, watching whatever it was rise up from the icy land.

???   "I! SHALL! SLAY! YOOOU!!!"

Eventually, it completely arose from the earth, it appearing to be a giant version of the foes we had fought prior. It easily towered over its comrades.

Hunter   "Seriously, Kaze...?!"

"Jasper"   "I-is that also another player?! I did not even know there existed anyone so... humongous!"

Hunter   "Tch, we don't have a choice! We have to find someplace to hide!"

"Jasper"   "Hm? But were we not supposed to stay he-..."

Before I had a chance to react, Hunter grabbed me by the hand and dragged me away from our enemies and our spawn point.

"Jasper"   "H-Hunter?!"

Hunter   "Sorry, but we have to hurry, Jasper!"

"Jasper"   Oh my, grabbing a lady like me by the hand in this manner is rather uncouth, Hunter!
"Jasper"   Well, you do not actually know that I am a lady, but still...

After running for a while, we ended up reaching an area with a small, broken down building of some kind.

Hunter   "That place isn't very big... but it'll have to do."

Hunter brought me inside, and we both hid behind one of the few, intact walls it had left. Thankfully, it was enough for us to not be seen immediately by anyone else who entered.

"Jasper"   "Will we be okay now?"

Hunter   "I don't know. The entrance is probably too small for the big one to come through here, but the other ones can still get in. Even though they shouldn't be able to see us, they were still chasing after us fast enough to be able to figure out were we went."

"Jasper"   "That entrance is the only one in here, right? Is it possible for us to try and pick off the ones that try to enter while hiding behind this wall?"

Hunter   "It's not just possible... That's our only option."

"Jasper"   For some reason, that sounds more worrisome than reassuring...

 Visor   "BEEP! Special ability fully charged."

"Jasper"   "Huh? What was that?"

Hunter   "I heard that. It means you can use your special ability now. It charges up after attacking foes, taking damage, or just waiting around for a while. Do you remember what your special is?"

"Jasper"   "Um, I think it increases my power and lets me hit enemies through walls...?"

Hunter   "Hm... But you can only actually see them through walls if you've struck them with an arrow at least once, right?"

"Jasper"   "That is correct, but only for 15 seconds. Even so however, I have only hit two of the smaller ones... I never had the chance to strike the large one even once..."

Hunter   "Sorry Jasper, but I don't think your special is going to be very helpful in this situation then..."
Hunter   "But if you want to try activating it anyways, just yell out 'Activate Special'."

"Jasper"   "Alright, thank you..."

Giant Foe   "I SHALL SLAY YOU!"

Even though it sounded like our foes were still quite far, I could still here the big one's voice echoing throughout the area.

Leet Hunter decided to respond to this by peeking out from the wall a little bit.

"Jasper"   "How soon should be start attacking the enemy, Hunter?"

Hunter   "... O-oh no!"

"Jasper"   "W-what's the matter?!"

I decided to peek out myself, and noticed the problem right away.

"Jasper"   "T-the big one is...!"

Hunter   "It's blocking our view of the other ones! Even though it's too big to enter, it's still bad if the others are using it as a shield!"

"Jasper"   "But does that not also mean they cannot attack us while the giant one is in front of them?"

Hunter   "They might be able to hit us if they also have the ability to attack us through walls. They shouldn't be able to see us, but there's a lot of them, so they could still get lucky at hit us anyways. Depending on our own luck, this could be a huge problem."

"Jasper"   "What should we do, then? Even if they cannot attack us from here, we are practically in a stalemate right now..."

Hunter   "And it's still possible for Kaze and Lyrica to be KOed too... Although it doesn't seem like the score's changed since we ran away."

"Jasper"   Then what do we do?! There has to be something; something we have not thought of yet...!
"Jasper"   "... Ah!"

Hunter   "What is it, Jasper? Do you think of an idea?"

"Jasper"   "Well, what if we tried knocking the large one down? If it fell on top of its comrades, would that be enough to KO them?"

Hunter   "Maybe. But from where we are right now, it would only be possible to knock it down forward, not backward. For your idea to work, we'd have to hit it from higher up. On its head, preferably."

I looked up, and noticed a large opening in the roof.

"Jasper"   "Could we not climb atop the roof and hit it from there?"

Hunter   "Unfortunately, I think the gap between the wall and roof's opening is too large. I don't think even Kaze could jump that far..."

"Jasper"   "But still, I would like to at least try..."

Foe Foe Foe   "I shall slay you!" "I shall slay you!" "I shall slay you!"

All of a sudden, the wall in front of us curmbled down, revealing three more foes.

Hunter   "N-no way! I didn't account for a situation like this!"

All three of them prepared to fire... all of them setting their sights on me!

Hunter   "Watch out!"

Without warning, Hunter pushed me to the side, away from their line of fire.

Hunter   "We have to split up, Jasper! If both of us are KOed, we'll lose the match!"

"Jasper"   "Split up?! But where...?"

Hunter   "Barrier Field!"

Hunter put up a shield, protecting himself from our foes' attacks.

"Jasper"   Maybe if I climb on top of one of these broken walls, I could get a better viewpoint and help Hunter...

As I watched Hunter fight the foes, I climbed up one of the walls.

"Jasper"   Hunter taught me that my gloves are not only good for archery, but for climbing walls as well. I never would have thought that knowledge would ever be helpful in a situation like this!
"Jasper"   "Are you alright, Hunter? I can help you from up here!"

Hunter   "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks, Jasper!"

 Visor   "... BEEP!"

"Jasper"   Eh? What could it be this time...?

 Visor   "Warning! Enemy team only needs one more point to win!"

"Jasper"   "But why?! Neither of us have been KOed!"

Hunter   "Kaze or Lyrica must've... Jeez, it'll take a miracle for us to win at this rate!"

"Jasper"   A miracle...?

I looked up at the roof again.

"Jasper"   Just like Hunter said, I most definitely cannot reach the top from here...

Giant Foe   "I SHALL SLAY YOU!"

"Jasper"   ... But...
"Jasper"   "Activate Special!"

All of a sudden, my body began to glow with a green light.

Hunter   "Jasper!? What're you doing?!"

"Jasper"   "I am going to create a miracle!"

I took out an arrow from each quiver, setting them both on my bow's string straight ahead. I then aimed slightly up above the entrance.

"Jasper"   Please work! My friends need my help!
"Jasper"   "Gemini Arrow!"

I shot both of them together, in a burst of green energy, through the wall toward the giant foe.

Hunter   "W-wha...!"

Giant Foe   "NNRRGGHHAA!"

I then heard the large foe fall over... away from the ruined building!

Hunter   "N-no way... did you just...?!"

 Screen   "Congratulations! Team Leet Hunter wins!"

A blue screen appeared in front of me again, this time showing me the score one final time. It was... "15 | 14"!

"Jasper"   W-wow, I...
"Jasper"   "I DID IT!!!"

Hunter   "Holy cow, Jasper, that was...!"

 ???   "... So, you actually pulled it off after all."

Suddenly, Kaze jumped down in front of us from the roof.

"Jasper"   "Ah, Kaze! So you see what I just did?!"

Hunter   "Just how long have you been up there...?"

Kaze   "Yes. And long enough to hear you foolishly doubt my jumping abilities."

Hunter   "That long!? Why didn't you help us out, then?!"

Kaze   "Because that would defeat the purpose of what I was trying to do for Jasper."

"Jasper"   "Huh? What do you mean?"

Kaze   "I'm sure you understand what I mean... Right, Lunter?"

Hunter   "Ah. So those really were bots..."

"Jasper"   "'Bots'...?"

Kaze   "Good, so you did realize it. I was almost afraid you would've been as clueless as Lyrica on the matter."

Hunter   "Uh, speaking of which... Where is she?"

Kaze   "Well... I was originally planning on us only purposefully KOing ourselves until the enemy gained 13 points, and to join you two afterward... but Lyrica tripped on the way here and got ambushed by the bots by mistake. So I abandoned her and came here myself."

"Jasper"   "Wait, you two gave the enemy points on purpose?! And what are these 'bots' you keep mentioning?"

Hunter   "Sorry, but it turns out that Kaze manipulated this match to be a PvE battle instead of a PvP one..."

Kaze   "'Manipulated'? That makes me sound like some sort of nasty schemer..."

Hunter   "Well, you kind of are..."

"Jasper"   "U-um, so what exactly is 'PvE'...?"

Kaze   "It stands for 'Player vs Environment'. In other words, you weren't actually fighting other players, you were actually just fighting AI-controlled opponents; opponents controlled by the game itself."

Hunter   "Which is why more than four foes showed up at once, and why they were acting so strangely..."

"Jasper"   "A-ah..."
"Jasper"   "I have been had!"

Hunter   "Sorry I never mentioned it during the match, Jasper..."
Hunter   "But with you going out of your way to change the match, Kaze, and to purposefully KO yourself like that... You wouldn't have done all of this as a practical joke, right?"

Kaze   "Of course not. I did this all to test him."

"Jasper"   "Test... me?"

Kaze   "Yes. It was a test to see how you would react to a sudden, dire situation. I knew it was possible for you to lose... but winning was never necessarily the goal in all of this, anyhow."

Hunter   "Yeah, if he hadn't climbed that wall to shoot at that large bot..."
Hunter   "... Wait, how did you manage to see it from that angle, anyway?! You told me before you never had a chance to shoot it before then..."

"Jasper"   "Actually, I was not able to see the giant at all. I kind of just... guessed."

Hunter   "Y-you guessed?! You mean, you weren't even sure that it would've even hit him!?"

"Jasper"   "That is correct... But it worked, did it not? My miracle shot..."

Hunter   "Wow... Sure, we were fighting bots, but what you did was absolutely incredible, Jasper!"

"Jasper"   "You truly think so?!"

Hunter   "You really do have so much potential to become a great archer, Jasper! No, you already are a great archer!"

"Jasper"   "Naturally! Ahahaha~!"
"Jasper"   I knew I would be able to impress others with my archery skills, but this is even better than I could have hoped!

Hunter   "To be able to make a miracle like that happen, I'm sure even Kaze is impressed. Right, Kaze?"

Kaze   "I suppose I was a tad impressed... Although, him performing a miracle isn't very surprising to me..."

Hunter   "Oh, is that so? Because you know Jasper so well, right?"

Kaze   "Of course I do."

Hunter   "And how would that be? You only just met him today, didn't you?"

Kaze   "Actually, the truth is..."

"Jasper"   "E-eh...?!"

Kaze   "... it's because I'm a ninja."

Hunter   "Sheesh... I walked right into that one..."

"Jasper"   "... Um, Kaze... Do yo-..."

 ???   "I'M HERE, GUYS!!!"

Before I could finish, I could hear Lyrica's voice echo throughout the dilapidated building we were still in, as she made her way over to us.

Kaze   "Took you long enough."

Lyrica   "Excuuuse me?! How dare you say that after you abandoned me and left me to die out there!"

Kaze   "All's well in the end, so it doesn't matter. Besides, why is it my responsibility to cover for your mistakes?"

Lyrica   "Jeez... Are you hearing this guy, Jasper?! You're so lucky that you didn't have to team up with him! I wish I could've been with you instead!"

Hunter   "Yeah, it's too bad. You would've got to see him totally save the day at the last second."

Lyrica   "Really?! You got us the win, Jasper!?"

Lyrica happily brought me into a full embrace.

Lyrica   "Good job! I'm sooo proud of you~!"

"Jasper"   "Heheh, thanks..."

Hunter   "Hey don't forget, Jasper is a guy, so..."

Kaze   "It's no problem; I'm sure he has better standards than that..."

Lyrica   "What's that supposed to mean?!"

She yelled at Kaze again, after finally letting go of me.

Lyrica   "Well, whatever. You must've gained tons of experience points from that battle! Let's see your level, Jasper!"

"Jasper"   "Okay, sure!"
"Jasper"   "Open Profile!"

I opened up my profile page to look at my level. When I saw it, my heart immediately sank.

"Jasper"   "Level three!? T-that's all...?!"

Kaze   "Well, they were only bots, after all..."

Hunter   "At least you still got two more points to increase your stats with. You can set that up whenever you want to later."

Lyrica   "Yeah, there's no need to be down; think of the positives! You had fun, right?"

"Jasper"   "Yes, that was pretty fun! I did not know games could be so thrilling, especially experiencing it in a manner like this!"

Lyrica   "Is this your first 'VR' game? I'm happy that this is the one you picked!"

"Jasper"   "Actually, before now, I have never played any sort of electronic game at all..."

Lyrica Hunter   "E-EH?!" "H-HUH!?"

Kaze   "..."

"Jasper"   Oh no! I forgot that I did not want to mention that to them!

Lyrica   "This is seriously your first game you've played... like, ever!?"

"Jasper"   "It is rather embarrassing, but I have no prior experience with games such as these before now..."

Hunter   "I guess that would explain why you weren't familiar with basic video game terms like 'HP' and such..."

Lyrica   "But if that's the case, why would you start with a game like this? I mean, I'm really happy you did, but..."

"Jasper"   "U-uh, that is..."

Hunter   "Hey Lyrica, there's no need to prod him with personal questions like that. It's rude."

Lyrica   "I know, I was just curious, is all!"

"Jasper"   "I-it is okay Hunter, I do not mind telling you. Because you all helped me accomplish what I came here for."

Hunter   "Really?"

"Jasper"   "Yeah... The truth is, I came here to make friends."

Hunter   "Seriously?! You came here for a reason like that?"

"Jasper"   "Yes, that is correct. I have never had any luck making friends in real life, so someone gifted me this game so that I could try using it to find some here... and I did."
"Jasper"   "Thanks to this game, I have made three wonderful friends!"

Hunter Kaze Lyrica   "..."
Lyrica   "..."

Lyrica haphazardly embraced me once again, tears beginning to run down her face.

Lyrica   "Waaah, Jaaasper! I didn't know it was like that! Your two wonderful friends will always be there for you, I promise!"

"Jasper"   "T-thank you, Lyrica..."

Kaze   "Is there any particular reason you left out Lunter, Lyrica?"

Lyrica   "You were the one I left out, Kaze!"

Hunter   "Um, I don't mean to ruin the mood, but you only made friends with us in the game, not in real life..."

Lyrica let go of me and went over to Hunter to angrily glare at him.

Lyrica   "So?! Are you saying our friendship isn't as valuable because of that!?"

Hunter   "H-hang on Lyrica; that's not what I meant."
Hunter   "Hey Jasper, can I ask you something? If what I say makes you feel uncomfortable, you can refuse if you want, but..."

"Jasper"   "It is fine. What is it, Hunter?"

Hunter   "If it's alright with you, would you like to meet up in real life?"

"Jasper"   "In... real life?!"

Lyrica   "Oh, great idea! I mean, the three of us already know each other outside of the game, so it's only fitting that our new team member meet our real selves as well!"

Kaze   "Huh? Are you sure you're okay with that, Lyrica? I mean, you a-..."

Lyrica   "It's fine, Kaze; I believe in Jasper! What about you?!"

Kaze   "... Very well, then. And I personally have no problem with the idea if no one else does."

Hunter   "Well, Jasper? Is this something you're okay with doing?"

"Jasper"   "U-uh..."
"Jasper"   This is something I had wanted to do from the start, so my answer is obvious!

Hunter   "... If you're not comfortable with the idea, then..."

"Jasper"   "No, it is fine! Perfectly fine, actually! I would be more than happy to do something like that!"

Hunter   "Great! Then how about we all meet up around noon tomorrow?"

"Jasper"   "Alright!"

Kaze   "That's fine, but where will be meeting up, exactly?"

Lyrica   "How about Café Caroline? It's a restaurant my family runs."

Hunter   "That sounds good. Do you know where that is, Jasper?"

"Jasper"   "No, but I have someone that can help me get there."

Hunter   "Sweet! Sounds like a plan, then!"

"Jasper"   This is great! Spending time with friends like this is what I have always wanted! And it is going to happen tomorrow! ...
"Jasper"   ... Although, for some reason, I am getting the feeling I am forgetting something rather important...

To be continued in Part 5... >