Translator: Shizukuku

Editor: Lilia

Read at Watashi Wa Sugoi Desu!

Chapter 117 – It’s Normal to Fall Asleep and Log Out 

“Hey, Mac, something smells really good.” Crash sniffed the air the moment I walked in. “Is that you?”

“Yeah. It’s something I made by chance, and when I tried using it, it was so nice that I ended up taking a nap.”

“Definitely a relaxing scent.”

“Right?”

After briefly chatting with Crash, I got the materials I needed and returned to my workshop enveloped in a pleasant aroma.

Then I suddenly realized.

Why didn’t I log out when I fell asleep?

Usually, when I fell asleep, I would get logged out and wake up in the morning still wearing my gear.

I was a little curious, so I sent a message to Yuuta.

[ Normally, when you fall asleep, you log out, right? ]

It was already dark outside. As I was again laying down the doily and enjoying alchemy, a reply popped up in my chat box with a —ping—.

[ I wouldn’t know since I don’t fall asleep in the first place. I mean, I don’t fall asleep in game. ]

Thanks for your valuable input. I wondered if there was anyone else who might know.

I looked at my friends list and suddenly noticed the name of Yukihira, whom I had just added the other day.

I wondered if Yukihira would know.

So I sent him a similar message.

[ Normally, when you fall asleep here, you log out, right? ]

[ Lololololol ]

The unexpectedly quick response that came back was filled with laughter.

What’s with this reply? Is this a laughing matter?

Just as I was getting discouraged, the chat box lit up with another —ping—.

[ Mac is the best, seriously. It’s not common to be so used to falling asleep that you call it normal. Well, there was one time that I fell asleep and got logged out. It seems that when you fall asleep, the safety feature kicks in and logs you out. But it won’t log you out if you’re just dozing. Sometimes during boring quests, I’ll half doze off, but I don’t log out. ]

[ I see what you mean, thanks, but this is normal for me. ]

I immediately sent a thank you message and closed the chat box.

So, did that mean that I fell asleep here every time?

But the nap I took earlier was more like REM sleep. Wasn’t that a little too deep, here?

Only half convinced, I started working again. This time, I put away the doily and the alchemy cauldron and took out my advanced medical kit.

And once again, I started mass-producing failed products.

“I wish I had a starting point. Like adding variations to an existing recipe or something.”

If I mixed the ingredients for a stamina potion with the ingredients for a magic potion, then maybe I could make a magic stamina potion. Well, maybe not, but it might be worth a try.

I took out the materials for two potions that I could prepare at random and laid them out.

“This one is for an antidote, and this one is for a potion.”

First, I laid out the ingredients for two recipes that required the fewest materials.

Wait, that was just the ingredients to make a healing potion.

So, in theory, combining the two wasn’t wrong. I just needed to make sure that the two types of ingredients would mix well together. Maybe I could make a super healing potion. 

And I tried. Right up until logout time. Like a mad scientist.

And what I ended up with was a bunch of pre-existing items and a lot of failed products.

I counted down my fingers. Today was the third day. I didn’t know if he would be back tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, but today was the third day.

I walked home from school with such thoughts in my mind.

Unable to contain my restlessness, I decided to study without logging in today.

Exam period would start on Friday and run from Monday through Wednesday, with the weekend in between. I wish they would have finished on a Friday for a clean weekend.

I can’t log in much on the weekend, huh? Maybe I could take the test with my current abilities. This was a good chance to see what my true ability was, with my current mental state of having not studied at all. 

When I stressed the importance of this, Yuuta, who was walking next to me, burst into laughter.

“My father says that studying is a part of one’s abilities. He says that if you can’t study efficiently, it means you lack an inherent ability.”

“What kind of logic is that? That’s crazy!”

“So are you, Kengo.”

“So, are you saying that you study to enhance your true potential?”

“No, I’m just using my natural abilities.”

He got good grades based on his natural ability, damn it.

Yuuta arrived at the Diece frontier town late last night, in pretty rough shape. He said it was a harder fight than he’d expected, but I thought it was pretty amazing that he could make it to the frontier town while protecting someone.

When I was impressed, Yuuta gave a wry smile.

“I’m a little frustrated, though, because I feel like we were only able to make it because there were five of us. The guy we were working with was really dependable, and without him, we would have been in a lot of trouble.”

So that’s how it was. Yuuta had said the guy was just as strong as him, so I guess that was possible.

“Hey, hey, did you see the red-haired hero?”

If he made it to the frontier town, that was my main concern. Frankly, I would definitely prefer to hear about that over information about the monsters in the area.

As I waited excitedly, Yuuta shook his head and said, “No. When I dropped the guy off at the knights’ garrison yesterday, I asked him if the commander was there, and he said he had his own house and commuted from there every day, so I couldn’t see him yesterday. So I made an appointment for this evening.”

“Whaaaat?! How exciting! Oh, if it’s okay, take a screenshot. I really want to see it. I really, really want to see it.”

“If the atmosphere allows, I’ll ask. But who knows. If he’s a strict person, it might be impossible.”

“In that case, I’ll give up.”

I wish you the best of luck, Yuuta! And we parted ways in front of my house.

We didn’t usually go home together, but today he kept glancing at my leg, so I guessed he was still concerned about me. Even though it didn’t hurt much anymore. I even returned my crutches already. The swelling on my leg, which was quite severe, had healed up nicely on the third day. Thank goodness for recovery. I’d go to the hospital one more time tomorrow and if it was completely healed, I’d be allowed to participate in physical education again. I wished they would let me continue resting, but my mom reminded me, ‘After the hospital, make sure to go to school properly.’

I opened my textbook to see if I could be quiet today and put my skills to the test. Honestly, I just wanted to spend at least one day without seeing that black substance.

Of course, I planned to log in tomorrow to check on things. I’m going to try to cram as much as I can into my head today so I can do that. Actually, I felt like my brain’s capacity was reaching its limit. It seemed like there was no space left to memorize anything. I really wanted to expand my capacity. Maybe I should work on activating the unused parts of my brain. Magic circle, do your best!

The next day, after stopping by the hospital in the morning, I went to school for my third period, and Yuuta spoke to me right away.

“I met the hero. He was an amazing person in so many ways. Masuda’s eyes were welling up as he mentioned how much he admired him.”

“S-So he was that incredible… Um, I’d like to meet him. What was he like? Was he, like, exuding an overwhelming sense of dignity and all that, being such an impressive person?”

“Not exactly dignity… I felt intimidated. Honestly, I was more scared meeting him than when facing the intimidation of monsters. Just knowing he was someone who could fight the Demon King on equal terms was shocking enough. I’d be instantly defeated. But it wasn’t just that, it was kind of dangerous.”

“Kind of dangerous…?”

I gulped and swallowed my spit, curious about the rest of Yuuta’s story.

I looked excitedly at Yuuta, and after building up the suspense, he turned his gaze into the distance and, with eyes like dead fish, he opened his mouth.

“He was dangerously devoted to his wife…”

During lunch break, Masuda enthusiastically shared everything about the hero, and it seems the hero’s devotion to his wife was particularly remarkable.

When [ Takahashi and his Merry Men ] were invited into his home, they were welcomed by his beautiful wife. As the four of them felt apologetic, they were hit with an incredibly intimidating presence. The words they heard were, “If you lay a hand on my wife, consider your life forfeit!” Masuda, or rather Kairi, was so moved by this that he said, “It’s wonderful that you can love her that much,” and the hero took a liking to him. And, fortunately for them, they were in a real party, so they were treated well by the hero.

And then, the piece of information I could have done without… 

As of now, it seemed the hero was happily being bossed around by his wife.

To that extent, I’d like to see it the other way around, seriously.