Translator: Shizukuku

Editor: Lilia

Read at Watashi Wa Sugoi Desu!

Chapter 134 – Being a Hero Isn’t Just For Show. In More Ways Than One

We made love until it was quite late, then hurriedly teleported back to Vidello-san’s room, and stealthily put on our hoods before leaving the dormitories.

After all, so many guards had seen us go back to Vidello-san’s room. If we disappeared afterward, people might talk and it could cause trouble for Vidello-san. The maturation transformation hadn’t worn off yet so we had to be sneaky about it. 

Since I had only taken a small amount of the growth activator, it wouldn’t be obvious that I had aged as long as I hid my face. 

Our hearts pounding, we snuck out of the room and through the common area. Fortunately, it was empty.

Once we’d successfully made it out, we looked at each other and laughed.

My MP was quite depleted, but I knew drinking a magic potion wouldn’t restore it right now, so I resigned myself to walking back to my workshop.

Vidello-san insisted on escorting me to make sure nothing happened to me on my way back but declined to come in. He gave me a light kiss and then returned to the guard dormitories.

He said that if he stayed at the workshop any longer, he wouldn’t be able to leave until morning. How much did Vidello-san need to tease me before he was satisfied? But I liked it. I’d never admit that to him, though. 

After he left, I lay back on the bed and couldn’t help but think back to earlier. 

When Vidello-san said, “Just me,” did he mean Vidello-san without the [ Good Luck ]? Or was he thinking about how we were from different worlds? I would have loved any version of Vidello-san. But to be honest, if I really understood deep down that we belonged to different worlds, I wouldn’t have become this attached. That was why it was so troubling.

But, I was the fake one here, and maybe while kissing me all over, Vidello-san was trying to figure out what was fake about me.

I guess it was obvious right away that I was fake because my underwear wouldn’t come off until I became an adult. I didn’t have to use the bathroom, so there was no inconvenience if I couldn’t remove my pants. I wondered if underage people in this world also couldn’t take their pants off. I was a little curious. I’d have to ask later.

School starts again tomorrow, I thought to myself, as I rolled around in the bed where we had just made love so passionately. I wished I could just go to sleep and wake up again in this world. 

I was overwhelmed by all the things I had to do in this world.

I wanted to talk to the stone statues one more time, and I wanted to ask Regalo-san to make the bluetail’s fluffy feathers into an accessory for me. But I also wanted to make some headway on the prime minister’s quest.

I also planned to level up my ancient magical language skill so I could read the books at Crash’s place, and I was sure I wouldn’t be able to complete the quest given to me by Sage-san until I could read those books.

Finally, I wanted to do some research on Vidello-san’s soul. It was for my own peace of mind.

I didn’t think we could ever walk the same path together, but if there was even a tiny sliver of hope, I was willing to bet on that slight chance.

If Vidello-san found someone else he loved before that, then that would be the end of it. But I wanted to believe that wouldn’t happen. And I knew for sure that I would never find anyone I could love more than Vidello-san. No one else had ever made my heart ache and made me feel so bittersweet and yet so happy. No one else had made me so glad to see them every time or made me want to be with them forever. I wasn’t that skillful when it came to love, but I still felt the affection very deeply. 

Being in love is tough. You experience such intense emotional highs and lows. We had just said goodbye, and I already wanted to see him again. I wanted to savor those pecs. I love him so much.

Burying my face in the pillow that still had a bit of Vidello-san’s warmth and scent, I logged out.

As my consciousness surfaced in my dark bedroom, I felt an indescribable sense of loneliness wash over me.

Trying to distract myself from the cold emptiness in my chest, I got up and left the room to take a shower.

At school, Yuuta was flipping through a thick book.

“Good morning, Yuuta… Wait, i-is that…! An ADO Item Compendium…! You bought it?!”

The book was thick like a dictionary and it was quite expensive, so after flipping through it and finding that it didn’t contain any information on alchemy materials, I decided against buying it. 

“Yeah. I didn’t want anything else, but since I was there, I wanted to get something for myself.”

“You have the cosplay photo you took with Yui, don’t you?”

As soon as I started teasing him, Yuuta’s eyes turned into dead fish eyes.

Oh… Was it that unpleasant for him? But he couldn’t refuse Yui’s request, huh? You’re such a good boyfriend, aren’t you? Hey, lover boy!

I laughed, and Yuuta prodded me, “So you didn’t get any pictures, Kengo?”

“I’m single, you know? Unlike you, Yuuta, I didn’t have a partner with me. Doing cosplay in such a situation… it’s just too much, isn’t it?”

The truth was that I did get a picture taken, but that was my secret. 

Feeling like I took a picture with Vidello-san made me a little happy and a little lonely, and if Yuuta found out, he’d never stop teasing me. 

I recalled that picture I took with Vil-san. 

It was my hope that one day the two people standing together wouldn’t be Kengo and Vil-san, and not Mac and Vidello-san either, but the true me, Kengo, and Vidello-san. It was useless to mention it to Vil-san or Vidello-san because it would never come true. Because it was an absolutely impossible dream. 

When I got home, I took that picture out of my bag and put it away in my desk without opening it. It would be impossible to put it on display. If it really was Vidello-san himself, though, I would probably show it off to Yuuta and my mother. They’d both faint, wouldn’t they? If I told them that Vidello-san was my lover. If Vidello-san were here in this world, I would definitely introduce him to them as someone deeply important to me.

Just as I was about to let out a sigh, Yuuta flicked my forehead with all his might. Smack!

“Ow!”

“You’re thinking about the gatekeeper, aren’t you?”

“How could you tell?”

“Huh? It’s obvious. You’ve got that look on your face. Just go home and log in already.”

“I was planning to, even without you telling me. I was thinking of having a chat with the statue today.”

Feeling awkward about having my strange expression noticed, I changed the subject, and Yuuta’s eyes widened.

“I want to talk to the statue too.”

“It’s pretty interesting. Despite being called a legendary hero, it’s surprisingly friendly.”

“Seriously, why does Kengo get to do all the fun stuff?”

“Aren’t you hanging out with the hero, Yuuta? I’m jealous of that.”

“The hero, huh…”

When the topic of the hero came up, Yuuta looked into the distance and laughed half-heartedly.

“Listen to this. I’m currently at Personal Level 110.”

“What?! Weren’t you just at 90 the other day?! How did you level up so quickly?”

I widened my eyes at Yuuta’s words, and he smirked at me briefly. 

“When the hero swings his sword once, it renders all of us unable to fight. But instead of dying and respawning, the knights healed us and brought us back to good condition, and just from that, we gained a bunch of experience. I was joking with [ Platinum Lion ] about the crazy level gap with the hero… They’re pretty understanding people. I call them my seniors in my heart.”

“Wow… that’s some terrifying power leveling…”

What was really scary was the hero’s skill level. The fact that they didn’t die and respawn meant he left everyone with just 1 HP, rendering them unable to fight. And he did that to everyone with a single swing of his sword. That wasn’t only human experience, it was divine ability.

“And at the end of the day, we always have dinner at the hero’s house, but the interactions between the hero and his wife are so painfully awkward to watch. Kairi and Yui are getting along well with the princess. The princess even said with a big smile, ‘We may be a bit far apart in age, but I’m very happy to have made friends,’ so the hero started inviting us for dinner every night, just to see the princess’s face. It’s so sweet, it makes me want to gag.”

“It’s nice, them being so lovey-dovey.”

“Their temperature difference is seriously intense. The hero’s ‘I love my wife’ attacks are just insane. Even the princess gets taken aback sometimes. If I so much as touch the princess, I’d probably get killed.”

The hero… He was definitely deeply, deeply in love. Vil-san’s words were no exaggeration. Though he chose his words carefully, probably because he was representing the game.

“Leveling up is fine and all, but having to deal with that every time we eat is pretty tough.”

“Well, hang in there.”

I patted Yuuta on the shoulder to comfort him and turned back around to face forward. I heard a groan from behind me, but I decided to ignore it.

After school, Yuuta and I raced home and I immediately logged in. Looking at my friends list, I saw that Yuuta had logged in right away too. Despite all his complaints, it looked like he was enjoying leveling up.

My body had already returned to its usual state with the attached pants, so I packed various items into my bag and left the workshop. The first stop was Crash’s place to get some alcohol.

I went to the general store and there was a crowd of people. Almost everyone was a player. There was a queue overflowing out the door.

Was this because of Game Fest? Players coming to see the guild master’s son? Vil-san’s words from yesterday must have been all over the Internet.

Just as I thought I’d come back later and turned my back to the store, Crash kicked a player out the door.

Suddenly, Crash’s eyes met mine.

“Oh, Mac! You’re in the right place!”

Despite his beaming smile, I couldn’t help but think this wasn’t the right place at all.