Chapter 85

「Geez, you lazy girl」

While saying that, I covered Nana with a blanket. She was sleeping on the sofa silently as usual.

The stream ended after 9. We took two breaks for lunch and snack time during the stream, so we spent around twelve hours running through the dungeons.

As for why Nana’s asleep on the sofa again, after eating dinner she took a shower, and then while I was using the dryer on her hair, she fell asleep.

Right now she has quite a sloppy face, so she fell asleep feeling good.

Lately she hasn’t been able to sleep well, so I don’t really want to wake her up. It should be fine, I’ll just carry her to the room later.

「Somehow we were able to gather the maps….」

As predicted, around 20 maps, in the end we gathered a number of 21 maps.

There are 20 maps for labyrinth floors and a map for the beginning plains floor, thus 21.

I’ve memorized all the maps in my mind and plotted the fastest route for each map.

I also put into memory where good monsters like the jewel box are likely to be.

「…….We’ve defeated five types of bosses, the info on the Knights of Siren are still just random fragments. Even if I integrate the words of all nine knights, it’s still full of things I still don’t understand」

As I was sorting it through my head, I input the tablet with the gathered information.

If it’s just me, then remembering would be fine, but sharing the information gives it meaning.

Not just for showing it to Nana, but when it becomes necessary, sharing it with other players. There are no demerits to inputting the data.

Right now, the hottest event topic is the mystery of「What is this Siren?」.

In the end, Mirage and Hash who are part of the nine knights, only left the information that they are knights serving「Siren」.

If I were to add more to that, then thanks to Nana, the only extra fact is that they are beings hostile towards the God of Creation.

No matter how many theories I come up with, nothing reaches the core of it.

What I vaguely understand, is that it seems this event is not just a normal item gathering event.

To be precise, for players it’s just an item gathering, but to NPCs it’s nothing like that.

Unlike us who endlessly cleared the dungeons without returning, there were quite a number of players who returned to town and had conversations with the NPCs.

From the stories told, the event this time with the 「gate」is an irregularly appearing event in this world of WLO, to the NPCs it is a type of calamity.

It is required to go inside the 「Gate」and slay the enemy, if that isn’t accomplished, then after seven days monsters will flood out of the gate.

The runs we are doing right now, to NPCs 「Who have a finite life」, is a hell that they must accomplish no matter what.

And so, for now players travel inside the gate and defeat the monsters, then it’s all good. The event will end with a happy ending.

「As if, there is no way that would happen so simply」

There is no mistake, there is 「Something」.

And most likely, it’ll happen at the end game of this event.

I don’t have any evidence, but my intuition from many previous games is telling me so.

I just don’t know how much preparation we need to make, but as we pile up runs we shouldn’t end up with any disadvantages.

Either way, for the entire day today, thanks to Nana being in a good mood, I have completed the preparations for efficient Stardust Labyrinth runs.

On the other hand, from the way Nana is sleeping right now, it’s most likely due to her tension remaining at an usually high level today.

Investigating the info that I have remembered, It should be fine to polish this tomorrow.

This event has seven days after all.

「I guess I should also sleep…..nn?」

The moment I thought about carrying Nana to the bedroom, a notification sound echoed from a smartphone.

For someone to call at around 10 pm, it’s either something you’re really close too or a call from a suspicious corporation.

What was shown on the screen was the words 《Ron-nee》. The moment I saw that, I reflexively pressed the call button.

『Yo~ Rin, you doing well?』

「Yes, Ron-nee, I’m doing well」

From the energetic voice that resounded close to my ears, I felt a bit of relief at how she hasn’t changed.

Ron-nee, is Takajou Ronri. Freer than anyone else and more reliable than anyone, the name of our older female cousin.

「Even so, what’s the matter? It’s rare for you to call」

『I wanted to hear my cute younger sister’s voice, is that reason not good enough?』

「No way, if you are going with that, then you should have called Nana」

『What are you saying, Rin too is also my important younger sister』

I know that there was no lies in that statement, but Ron-nee pampers Nana more than me.

Well, It’s not like I’m jealous of Nana. Rather it’s more of 「I pamper Nana more than her」, in that way I compete with Ron-nee after all.

『Well, I didn’t purposely call you to play around….Hey Rin, Nana is sleeping right now isn’t she?』

「Yes, she’s sleeping soundly」

Though it’s not like she’s making any sound sleeping, compared to a few days ago when she had a painful face, she is sleeping really well.

『I heard from Ran that you were able to pull Nana over. Though it’s a damn long time since we met, most of the talk is about you. That guy Ran, he sure hasn’t changed at all』

「Did you meet Ran-nii? Since he’s busy, we can’t meet up you know?」

『Since you’re in Japan, that’s obvious. When I met up with him, we were in America. It’s not a lie that he’s busy, I forced him to free up some time』

「That’s just like you, Ran-nee」

Having to 「free up」the time of Ran-nii, the man who can earn millions in a second. At moments like this it’s clear who is higher in their relationship.

Well, it’s just that Ron-nee is older than him and makes use of that.

Also, Ron-nee herself is a person who can influence the world. The main point is that Ron-nee and Ran-nii are business partners.

Well, Ron-nee is not really doing anything. She is something who completely slipped out of the world’s annoying parts, a truly free person after all.

『I saw the stream today. You two sure get along well as always. Nana, that girl has gotten more energetic compared to that time』

「Yes. It’s all thanks to Ron-nee for taking care of Nana」

The day that Nana shed tears. The day that she lost her parents.

The one who took custody of that girl who was blanking out and loitering around, was none other than Ron-nee.

It’s because we thought that if she ended up with me, the hole that opened in her heart would be entirely filled, and then she would end up completely dependent on me and would never recover.

It was really painful to not be able to accompany her when she was going through her most difficult time.

However thanks to that, we have the Nana right now. Unlike the Nana who was dependent on me, she can now communicate normally with other people.

On that point, I’m really grateful to Ron-nee.

Well, according to Ron-nee, 「I didn’t do anything you know」.

Ron-nee insisted that Nana was able to stand up by herself.

『Though that girl has gotten energetic, but deep inside she hasn’t changed at all. You know that girl, she’s still walking alone in a narrow world』

“Haa”, Ron-nee leaked out a sigh, after pausing she continued to talk.

『….Her true self remains the same, however… I’ve never seen Nana like today. She feels quite similar to the past, but also different. 』

「I know. That’s why she’s with me」

『Then that’s fine. I didn’t call to criticize you, It’s also true that I wanted to hear Rin’s voice, just be really careful. Nana right now is getting closer to her younger days, so I think that her usual monster-ness is coming out, but at the same time she should also be unstable. Depending on how you deal with it, there is a possibility that she won’t be able to stand back up again. Just don’t force it okay』

「Yeah, thanks」

Basically Ron-nee is worried about Nana and me too. Worried that the two of us might get broken.

That day the tears dropped, we regretted it. I didn’t want to let Nana feel that pain again, that’s why I put distance between us.

If she ends up remembering, then a crack will certainly appear in her heart.

However, that situation probably can’t be avoided.

Nana will for sure remember that day, the covered up wound in her heart will probably tear open.

Carefully be cautious, and carefully advance.

The one who supports Nana’s heart in this world, is without any exaggeration, only me after all.

『Aah, that’s right. I’ll be travelling back to Japan real soon. The thing that you guys are playing….was it WLO? Prepare my share okay?』

As I resolved myself, Ron-nee jumped to a completely different topic.

However, I don’t feel a particular need to do what she asked.

「Why are you asking me for that? If it’s Ron-nee, can’t you get it through your own connections?」

『About that, it looks like you can’t buy it abroad right now. Then I thought about requesting it from someone in Japan, but if it comes to that, then best and fastest would be Rin right? C’mon do it for your sister』

「Hmmmm, I see」

VRMMOs are different from MMOs, conversation through chat rarely happens.

It would naturally be a vocal conversation, an inconsistency due to the differences in language is fatal.

To avoid that, in VRMMOs there are a lot of cases of being divided among servers.

Well, in the real world there are already a lot of really accurate translation machines. So I think it won’t take much time for something like that to be added into VR.

Anyways, I now understand why Ron-nee couldn’t buy WLO.

「I don’t really mind but…just be sure to contact before you come over. And properly take a bath okay?」

『Don’t I always clean up myself when I come?』

This cousin of mine replied as if to provoke me, it seems she doesn’t understand the reason I warned her in the first place.

「I won’t help you if Nana says that you stink」

『Ugu』

「Fufu, then when you arrive, be sure to be in touch」

Nana’s eyes and ears are good, but her sense of smell is sharp too.

Did she remember that? Or maybe she imagined that scene. Ron-nee wasn’t able to say anything and cut off the call.