Translator: Shizukuku

Editor: Lilia

Read at Watashi Wa Sugoi Desu!

Chapter 124 – The Gatekeepers are Really Strong!

Thanks to the real-life, frustration-inspired studying from the series of in-game failures, I didn’t get a single failing grade on my exams.

In fact, my average score increased by nearly 10 points.

I silently showed Yuuta my returned answer sheet, and he silently opened his in front of me as well. Yuuta’s average score was 78 points. It was more than 10 points higher than mine.

“Damn… What is wrong with your brain…?”

“Well, my brain is densely packed with amazing stuff, you know.”

“If you’ve got such an amazing brain, why are your scores still so average?”

“Because it’s not that kind of dense and amazing.”

Yuuta and I parted ways outside of the classroom.

Yuuta was going to the girls’ high school. Masuda was going with him. Oh, feel free, please go. Knock yourselves out.

I arrived home alone and hungry, so I rummaged through the fridge. Oh, we were out of bread. There was some rice left though. But if I ate it now, it’d be gone, so I should cook some more.

I took out some vegetables from the fridge and put some frozen meat in the microwave to thaw.

I was going to just have a light meal, but I found some curry roux while I was looking for food, and I got the craving for curry instead.

I pulled out a pot and started chopping the vegetables. I liked curry with eggplant and squash, so I took those out and chopped them too. I softened the squash in the microwave before cutting it. I also found some spinach, so I decided to add that.

I heated some oil in the pot, then threw in the meat and chopped vegetables together to fry.

Once the onion had softened and caramelized, I added water, and when it came to a boil, I skimmed off the foam.

After lowering the heat, I took out my phone and looked at the ADO site. Ah, a new forum dedicated to the Bluetail had been created. By the way, the chick was still so cute.

I wanted to bury my face in their fluffy down chests. That would definitely heal me. So cute.

Lost in thought while scrolling through the posts, I absentmindedly stirred the pot.

Come to think of it, I wondered if Yuuta and the others had decided to keep on leveling up in the frontier area. Yui’s personal level was only a bit over 80, so she must have been leveling up like crazy.

With that thought, I started looking up information about the frontier town on my phone.

“Bird-type and rock-type monsters are pretty strong, huh? They’re beyond what I can handle.”

Or rather, anything beyond Sette was more than I could handle with my skills.

There was one time I tried to continue past Sette alone, but within an hour, I regretted it and ended up going back to the gate. The enemies were on a completely different level. Though I’d leveled up a bit since then, I still didn’t feel like I could get beyond that point. I needed to get stronger first.

“It was fortunate that Vidello-san went on a business trip to Sei. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to visit him.”

With a sigh, I placed my phone on the table and turned off the heat before adding medium-spicy curry roux.

Using a ladle and chopsticks, I dissolved the roux and then turned the heat back on. I added a small piece of butter, a little bit of milk, and a piece of chocolate as a secret ingredient, and used the ladle to stir it around as I waited for the curry to finish.

Once it had melted into a smooth mixture, I turned off the heat and washed and prepared the rice in the rice cooker.

I stuck a note on the fridge saying “I made curry, help yourself,” and then poured the curry over the remaining rice before heading to my room.

In my room, I started up my computer and looked at the Game Fest website while eating curry.

Various online game booths would be crowded into the spacious venue.

But the only online game I was playing at the moment was ADO. I was hooked on it and I’d lost my motivation to play other games. 

“Ah… I can’t wait for the day to come.”

With an empty plate in hand, I closed the screen.

After washing the dishes in the kitchen, I returned to my room with a drink in hand, patting my satisfied stomach as I logged in.

Maybe it was because I cooked in real life, but I was kind of in the mood to cook today.

So, I went to the farm in search of ingredients.

After chatting with Kyle-san, I returned to the workshop and made a large batch of sandwiches with fresh vegetables.

I decided to bring one to Vidello-san, who was working today.

I tasted one and it was delicious. It was a simple dish – just thinly sliced tomato-like vegetables sandwiched between thick bread, with lettuce-like vegetables, grilled monster meat, and lots of salt and pepper. The sauce I used has a tangy flavor, which complements the slightly sweet tomato-like vegetables. I really wanted to take a big bite out of it.

I packed a bunch of [ Savory Vegetable and Meat Sandwiches ] into my inventory and headed towards the gate.

The sun was setting and the streetlights were beginning to flicker on.

The streetlights cast short shadows around my feet, making the shadows of the buildings seem longer and darker.

I walked through the familiar streets toward the gate.

Most of the players walking around were heading to the Adventurer’s Guild and seemed to be having a good time. People living in this town greeted them with smiles. Some responded, some looked curious, and others ignored them.

I went against the flow and headed for the gate.

As I reached the gate and approached Vidello-san, who was standing outside, we heard shouts coming from the direction of the forest beyond the gate.

The gatekeepers tensed up.

I hurriedly ran to stand next to Vidello-san.

Then, a player who seemed to be the one who shouted came running towards the gate. Their equipment was worn out, and they looked completely exhausted, as if they were about to run out of stamina.

“What’s wrong! Are you okay?”

“Monsters…! A lot of them…!”

From behind the shouting player, the monsters, refusing to let their prey escape, appeared.

There were about a dozen of them roaring ferociously.

They were lined up like train cars…!

“Mac, get back!”

Vidello-san, who was standing beside me, shouted this and ran toward the player. The other gatekeepers also took up their swords and positioned themselves in front of the gate. Their determination seemed to convey that not a single monster would be allowed past this point.

I couldn’t just stand by. This was my home ground, after all!

Following Vidello-san, I sprinted forward. When I reached the player who had collapsed from exhaustion, I took out a stamina potion from my bag.

“Drink this! Fall back over there!”

While running, I pulled out a blinding potion from my inventory and threw it as hard as I could in the opposite direction from where Vidello-san ran.

As the smoke billowed out, the monsters began to scream and thrash about. I started cutting them down one by one with my sword.

I glanced briefly at Vidello-san and saw him, graceful as always, dispatching monsters without relying on items, unlike me. 

The two monsters that managed to slip past us were swiftly dealt with by the other gatekeepers in a flash.

Once all the monsters were turned into light, a sigh of relief escaped me.

Wow, Vidello-san was so cool and strong. Ah, I like you so much.

“Mac, are you hurt?”

“It’s okay. I’m fine. What about Vidello-san?”

“You think I’m gonna get hurt?”

We laughed together and returned to the gate.

There, the player who’d inadvertently brought monsters with him was crouched down.

The other gatekeepers were asking him, “Are you okay, buddy?” but it seemed like he was still in shock.

But still, a train of monsters in the Tre Forest was quite unusual.

It would make sense if it were a single type of monster flocking together, but the train just now consisted of several different types chasing after this person, so it felt a bit odd.

“Why were you being chased by monsters?”

When I approached the player and asked him that, the player murmured, “I’ve been cursed.”

The gatekeepers nodded at those words. They seemed to understand what he meant by cursed. Wait, what curse? 

As I furrowed my brow in confusion, Vidello-san handed the player a high potion from his hip pouch and explained.

“I told you before that there are lots of dungeons around here. It’s likely a curse from there. It’s a curse that emits a scent that attracts monsters. It’s quite troublesome. People can’t detect it at all, but to monsters, that scent is unmistakably appealing, almost irresistibly so, making them excited. When you are under the curse, it draws monsters of all kinds, and you end up seeing collaborations between monsters that you wouldn’t normally see.”

“This time it’s four types. You drew quite a crowd. You did well to escape all the way here.”

“Apply that high potion to your wounds. Do you have some to drink? Do you need more?”

The gatekeepers who were taking care of the player in such a way seemed to be used to monster trains.

The gatekeepers chuckled as they handed over the potions, leaving the player looking bewildered.

In previous online games, causing a train like this would usually lead to quite a bit of criticism.

“Eh, I thought I’d be in trouble for leading them towards the town…”

The player murmured softly, looking up at the gatekeepers.

“There’s no way we’d lose to monsters like that. You did well to make it this far.”

The player was visibly relieved when he saw the gatekeepers looking down at him with smiles on their faces.

“Thank you very much…”

The player stood up and entered through the gate, bowing deeply to the gatekeepers.

The gatekeepers were really strong. Vidello-san was so cool.

As I looked up at Vidello-san in admiration, he narrowed his eyes and lifted the corners of his mouth into a smile.

“You were so cool, Mac. I’ve fallen for you all over again.”

“Huh?! But that’s my line?!”

When I became visibly flustered by Vidello-san’s sudden comment, the other gatekeepers started laughing. It was hard to believe these were the same people who just eliminated a horde of monsters. This friendly atmosphere is exactly what makes this place special.

Regaining my composure, I took out the sandwiches I had made earlier from my inventory.

“I got a bit sidetracked there, but I brought some snacks for everyone. You should all eat it.”

When I handed them to Vidello-san, the gatekeepers, who had been laughing at me, came up to him exclaiming, “What?!”

“Of course, you’ve got some for us too, right?!” “With this much, you’re not planning to keep it all to yourself, right?!” Hearing these words, Vidello-san retorted, “This is something I received from Mac!” I couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Honestly, I doubted even Vidello-san could finish that amount by himself.

“I made enough for everyone.”

When I said that, Vidello-san made a face full of obvious dissatisfaction. That face was cute too, Vidello-san. I really, really like you.

What I got in exchange for the food was information about the dungeon where the player from earlier had gone.

I was excited, and Vidello-san said, “If you want to go there, I’ll go with you and we’ll make a plan,” so we’ll be going on a dungeon date soon. I’m really looking forward to it.