Chapter 106 : [Epilogue] The Game Development Department and the Students of Eden! (Part 2)

The friendly matches between Arius Satellite School and the Game Development Department, organized by Mayumi. Despite Arius Satellite School showing more strength than expected, the Game Development Department had continued to stay just out of their reach. They were currently on a two-match winning streak.

If Arius hoped to find a chance at victory, they would need to win the next match without fail. And the student selected to represent Arius in this third match was...

"Pleasure to meet you."

"N-Nice to meet you...!"

Tsuchinaga Hiyori. Her face was a little pale, but she somehow managed to take her seat for the match.

"Oh... Hiyori's playing?"

Misaki returned, looking somewhat healthier than before, with Arisu in tow.

"Arisu, welcome back! Midori's just about to start her match!"

"Yes! Arisu will apply buffs through cheering!"

Somehow or other, Arisu had gotten her hands on a cheering megaphone from Momoi.

"Would you guys like one, too?"

"...What are we supposed to do with that?"

"Well, you see... You hold it like this and smack it with your palm to cheer!"

—That's not wrong, but isn't that supposed to be its secondary purpose?

As she listened to the answer to Azusa's question, Suou entertained that thought, dredged up from the fading memories of her previous life, while keeping her eyes on Hiyori. Perhaps she was nervous. Her hands were trembling so much that she was struggling to make a rock-paper-scissors gesture.

"By the way, Suo... Shiona, why Hiyori?"

"Why? Well, that's because..."

"She certainly has games she's good at. But the same goes for everyone else who's left. Is there some special reason?"

A special reason. In other words, Saori suspected that Suou had some particular strategy in mind. However, no matter how much she thought about it, Saori couldn't figure out what that might be.

"Hmm... Maybe because Hiyori's surprisingly lucky? She might win at rock-paper-scissors?"

"Hahaha... Well, perhaps that's true?"

 Suou wore her usual vague smile, looking positively smug as she dragged out the suspense. It was rare for her to act so coy.

"R-Rock, paper... scissors!"

"...I win."

"U-Ugh... I don't think I can do this anymore."

"W-Wasn't that a little too soon...?"

While Suou and the others were busy talking, the two players finished their game of rock-paper-scissors. Apparently, Midori had won.

"...Well, that much was within the realm of expectations."

"Oh... So that wasn't it. Then... no, I don't know."

"Well, you'll find out soon enough."

Having won at rock-paper-scissors, Midori turned her thoughts toward which game she should choose.

"Hmm..."

The game she picked here absolutely shouldn't be one she was particularly good at. This might be a match, but it was still, first and foremost, a friendly competition. Ideally, she'd choose something that both sides could enjoy. Momoi probably wouldn't give that much thought.

That said, she couldn't deliberately play poorly and hand over a victory, either. Her opponent would notice, and more importantly, it would be disrespectful.

Besides... Areios Branch School had turned out to be much stronger than she'd expected.

"This one, I guess."

In that case, she needed a game that would let her demonstrate a reasonably consistent level of skill. Something she was familiar with, where she could put up a decent fight without having to go all out. A game that would let her strike that balance.

"Let's play Poyo Poyo: Full Jelly War!"

"...!"

Poyo Poyo: Full Jelly War! Five different colors of Poyos fell from the sky. When four Poyos of the same kind were connected in a row, they disappeared. The Poyos above them then fell down, and if that created another group of four, those would disappear as well. By repeating this process, players aimed to create massive chain reactions. However, if the board became too crowded, they lost.

It was a game she'd played countless times against her older sister, Momoi... and one she'd also played against Sensei while trying her hand at a crane game. That was the one she'd chosen.

"Heh heh heh..."

Every last bit of Midori's reasoning up to this point...

"Just as predicted!"

...had perfectly matched what Suou had anticipated.

"I see. Hiyori certainly is... But how did you know?"

"...Ah, well. To put it simply, I have memories of the future."

Memories of the future. Saori surmised that Suou was referring to the knowledge of events yet to come that she'd supposedly possessed since birth. Even so, the explanation left her feeling somewhat puzzled.

"...You used it for something so trivial this time. Are you sure that's okay?"

"I-It's fine! It's not like I'm cheating! It's part of my own abilities, surely!"

Perhaps Suou felt that it was a little underhanded herself. She hurriedly denied the accusation, looking somewhat flustered.

She called them memories of the future, but to Suou, they were memories of Blue Archive.

Saiba Midori was, comparatively speaking, more mature than her older sister, Momoi. Or rather, she made an effort to be. It was only natural to expect her to choose a game that would allow both sides to enjoy themselves.

So which game would she pick? Suou had looked back through her "notes." She had no intention of letting a tragedy like Tales Saga Chronicle happen again.

"...Well, you see."

Midori had settled disagreements with her older sister, Momoi, by playing Poyo Poyo. She had also tried to win a certain plushie during a crane game outing with Sensei.

Though the latter detail inspired some inexplicable feelings in Suou, she'd been able to work out what Midori would choose.

It was almost certainly going to be Poyo Poyo.

"Do your best, Hiyori!"

 The stage was set. Now all that remained was for Hiyori to do her best. And with everyone's expectations resting on her shoulders, Hiyori...

"Since it's Poyo Poyo, shall we just play a normal match?"

"Y-Yes...!"

...was struggling with the simple task of talking to someone she'd only just met. Trying to calm her pounding heart, she somehow managed to pick up the controller with trembling hands.

Hiyori wasn't particularly good at handling pressure. Once she managed to get over it, she could push through to the end, but in a situation like this, where nobody's life was on the line, even that was difficult.

Midori could sense Hiyori's nervousness, too. She steeled herself, thinking that she would have to be the responsible one here.

"What kind of handicap would you like?"

"Eh...? U-Um, then... Please don't use your right hand."

"...Um, that's a little..."

"Y-Yes, I suppose you're right... Sorry..."

Midori was taken aback by Hiyori's astonishingly brazen request. She let out a deep breath, relieved that her opponent seemed to have accepted her refusal.

"Hiyori..."

Judging by the exasperated voice from behind her, was this girl always like this? As she began setting up the match, Midori found herself wondering.

"...Th-Then, how about you're not allowed to move for the first five seconds?"

"Well... I suppose that's reasonable."

Being unable to move for five seconds wasn't much of a disadvantage against a beginner. Even if her opponent wasn't a beginner, it wouldn't be enough to determine the outcome of the match. It was a perfectly reasonable handicap.

Hiyori, for her part, thought she was putting into practice the Door-in-the-Face technique Suou had taught her some time ago. Needless to say, there was no need for that at all. She could probably have pushed for something more, but Hiyori would never know.

"Are you ready?"

"Y-Yes!"

"All right, then. Start!"

At the signal, they pressed the button to begin the match and counted down from three. Then, without delay, the battle began.

For the first five seconds, Midori could do nothing but watch the Poyos fall. Naturally, when she turned her eyes toward Hiyori's board...

"Th-That's fast...!?"

Poyos were falling and stacking up at an astonishing speed. And this wasn't the sort of play beginners tended to rely on, repeating a single chain reaction over and over. Each placement was textbook-perfect, designed to trigger the next chain reaction with certainty.

What was truly terrifying was her processing speed. Normally, players could only see the Poyos that would fall two moves ahead. They had to process that information in their minds and determine the optimal arrangement to set off a chain reaction.\

Hiyori was doing all of that in an incredibly short amount of time.

"This might be a little more difficult than I thought...!"

Midori hadn't underestimated her opponent. Or at least, she hadn't meant to. But she had misjudged her. She'd assumed Hiyori was just a beginner, someone who would never catch up to her. That was why she'd thought a five-second handicap would be no problem.

"Five seconds are up! Here I come!"

"Eeeeeek...!"

No. Absolutely not.

Even though Hiyori was making some incomprehensible squealing noises beside her, there was no doubt about it.

"I'm going all out...!"

Tsuchinaga Hiyori was her opponent. A worthy rival whose skill was evenly matched with her own. That was what Midori's instincts as a gamer were telling her.

"I won't hold back!"

"P-Please do...!!"

Ignoring Hiyori's protests, Midori hurriedly began stacking Poyos to make up for lost time. She would play as fast as she possibly could, making the best move she could manage.

"Ugh...!"

Even so, she couldn't catch up. She couldn't keep pace. Naturally. Hiyori was playing just as quickly as she was. On top of that...

"P-Please stop...! Don't send me any more nuisance Poyos...!"

Nuisance Poyos. Colorless Poyos that appeared on your board whenever your opponent cleared their own. The only way to get rid of them was to erase them alongside other Poyos.

Despite what she was saying, Hiyori was calmly and reliably clearing the nuisance Poyos on her board without triggering any unwanted chain reactions. Not only that, she was even using them to her advantage as the board developed.

"Damn...!"

And she was sending nuisance Poyos over at the most infuriating possible moments. Momoi would have been slamming her controller against the table by now.

"Huff... Huff..."

Amid her scattered thoughts, Hiyori remembered the advice Suou had given her before the match. Midori would probably choose Poyo Poyo, she'd said.

Hiyori glanced over at Suou, who gave her a small thumbs-up.

"I-I know...! Suou!"

Hiyori was naturally a negative thinker. Put another way, she was quick-witted and had a vivid imagination. Whether those qualities worked in her favor was another matter entirely.

In other words, Hiyori was the sort of person who constantly imagined what might happen if something went wrong. Her nervousness and impatience were nothing more than byproducts of that tendency.

And so Suou had given her a single piece of advice.

—Listen carefully, Hiyori. When it comes to games...

"The one who does what their opponent hates the most is the one who wins...!"

It was advice drawn from the darker side of Suou's nature as a gamer.

What was the one thing her opponent least wanted her to do right now? For Hiyori, all she had to do was put herself in her opponent's shoes to figure that out immediately.

"Th-That's so mean!"

"I-I don't care! Might makes right!!"

To do that, she had to keep an eye on both her own board and her opponent's. Ordinarily, a beginner like Hiyori wouldn't have had the spare attention to manage that.

But she was used to it. As a rear-support specialist, Hiyori was accustomed to thinking under severe time constraints, keeping track of a wide field of view, and identifying the optimal moment to act. All of those skills were essential for a sniper.

"D-Don't give up, Midoriiii!"

"Go! Go!"

Even as the cheers finally began to make proper use of the megaphones, the course of the match remained unchanged.

"Yay!"

"Game over!"

"...I-I did it!!"

After several minutes of back-and-forth, Midori was defeated, unable to make up for the disadvantage she'd suffered at the start.

"Ugh... I... lost...!"

Third Match: Poyo Poyo: Full Jelly War! Victory for Arius Satellite School. Their first win. The score was now two to one.

 

---

 

"Hiyoriiii!! You did great! Your big sister always believed in you!"

"H-Hehehe...! I-I avenged everyone...!"

The moment she returned, Hiyori collapsed from the release of all that tension. Even so, the joy of victory seemed to outweigh her exhaustion, and the corners of her slightly flushed mouth lifted into a smile.

"...All right, I get it. Thanks."

"Hiyori... That was amazing. I had no idea you were that good..."

"I-I surprised myself, too! I've never played that well before...!"

She took a sip of the water someone handed her, wiped the sweat from her face with her sleeve, and finally managed to settle down.

"Well done, Hiyori. Now all we have to do is win..."

But they still only had one victory. The Game Development Department's advantage remained unchanged. They needed to capitalize on their momentum and secure another definite win. In that case...

"Suou, perhaps...?"

If Suou took the field, she would almost certainly win. No matter what game her opponent chose. The past week's training had offered a glimpse of just how capable she was. But...

"Hm? Ah, should I go next?"

"...You're planning something, aren't you?"

She was clearly reluctant. It wasn't that she was holding back out of consideration for the others. It seemed as though she had some other goal in mind.

"E-Erm... I-I have no idea what you're talking about."

"What an obvious lie... I haven't heard you say that in ages."

Saori briefly wondered whether Suou had said something similar back when she used to talk with Mika. The memory brought a little nostalgia with it.

"...What are you planning?"

Azusa, one of the remaining members, joined the conversation. Now they were finally discussing the matter in earnest. Under normal circumstances, they'd have wanted Suou to take the field, but...

"...Sigh. All right. Azusa, could you go?"

"Of course."

"Ugh... I'm sorry. I'm being selfish..."

"It's fine. Suou is our trump card, so we should hold on to her for as long as we can. Besides..."

Azusa, having been chosen, took off her jacket and began preparing for the match. As she did, she met Suou's gaze.

"...Suou, you should be a little more selfish, too."

"...You really do have me beat. Thank you. I'm counting on you."

She'd returned the very same words Suou had once said to her.

"You're Midori, right? I'm your next opponent."

"Ah, yes. P-Pleasure to meet you..."

Azusa took a seat beside Midori, who seemed a little down after her unexpected defeat. A loss was still a loss, and Midori was determined to pull herself together and win the next match.

Meanwhile, Azusa. Though they were about the same height, she felt a slight advantage in being just a little taller. First, they would play rock-paper-scissors.

"...Rock, paper, scissors. I win."

"Then, choose from this list—"

"No need. I've already decided on the game. And the rules, too."

The fourth match was about to begin. At the halfway point of the competition, Shirasu Azusa had chosen...

"MomoFure Masters... MomoMas. We'll start from the beginning. The winner will be whoever collects the most MomoFriends in twenty minutes."

"...I see."

MomoFure Masters. In a world inhabited by mysterious creatures known as MomoFriends, or MomoFure for short, the protagonist sets out to become a MomoFure Master.

MomoFure battle one another, and once their opponents have been weakened, they can be captured using Friends Balls. The game has a battle mode, too, but that wasn't what they would be playing this time.

"In battle mode, you can't immediately adjust the effort values or move sets... I think this is the best option."

"Yes, I agree."

Midori could tell from the way Azusa spoke that she had a certain degree of knowledge about the game. In Midori's experience, people like this generally fell into one of two categories.

"...What about the handicap?"

The first category consisted of what you might call competitive MomoFure Masters players. Naturally, they possessed overwhelming skill... when it came to competitive battles.

"Let's see..."

The second category...

"...Then let's ban Hyper Friends Balls and Super Friends Balls. You can get two Hypers in the first town, after all."

"...!"

...consisted of the MomoFriends franchise's cult devotees. Or rather, its passionate fans.

 They might not engage in battles very often, but their activities covered an enormous range: analyzing the story, discovering hidden content, and, above all, deciphering the game's internal data.

"P-Pleasure to meet you...!"

Midori was certain. That strange shiver of unease she'd felt earlier, combined with the sheer amount of knowledge Azusa had demonstrated, left little room for doubt.

"Likewise."

The person sitting beside her was one of those MomoFure fanatics.

Her previous defeat had left her on maximum alert, with a faint sense of dread lingering in the back of her mind.

"Are you two ready? You'll be starting from the opening screen, so I'll give the signal!"

The fourth match. Midori versus Azusa. Gamer versus passionate fan.

"Then... begin!"

The battle between these rivals was about to begin.

"..."

The opening proceeded in a perfectly ordinary fashion. Players chose one of three MomoFure, then headed for the next town while competing with their rival to see who could collect the most.

Midori chose Angry Adélie, while Azusa chose Big Brother. Their progress and pace were almost identical. However, something about Azusa puzzled Midori.

"Angry Adélie...?"

It was the fact that Midori had chosen Angry Adélie as her starter. Choosing Mr. Nikolai would have made sense. That was the optimal choice, after all. But since there wasn't much difference at the beginning of the game, Azusa had chosen Big Brother out of affection for the character.

Big Brother was one of Skullman's few friends, second only to Peroro. As a Skullman fan, Azusa liked him about as much as a member of an idol group whose group she supported, but who wasn't one of her personal favorites.

"..."

Meanwhile, Midori had already reached her conclusion. She knew how this battle would end, and she knew exactly how she would win.

"...I have a bad feeling about this."

The instincts Azusa had developed over thousands of battles were sounding an alarm. Hurry.

She had no choice but to obey that feeling. She immediately skipped through the tutorial. It pained her to do so, but she told herself that it was a necessary sacrifice for victory.

"All right...!"

She promptly picked up one Hyper Friends Ball. The other was in a difficult-to-reach spot, so she gave up on it and approached an elderly beastman nearby.

"This here is my silver ball."

A rather questionable line. The developers had to have done it on purpose, people had joked endlessly. Ignoring it, she obtained the sellable item.

Hyper Friends Balls had just become available in the shop. With fifteen minutes remaining, she would sell the item, use the money to buy Hyper Friends Balls, and then put them to use to collect MomoFure as quickly as possible.

This was the optimal solution, backed by calculation and experience. There was no room for error or unexpected developments. That was precisely why she had chosen that particular handicap for Midori.

She reached the shop and was certain of her victory. At that very moment...

"...No. I've won."

Saiba Midori began to move.

"...What do you mean?"

I've won. In a game where players were free to do as they pleased within a time limit, that was an almost impossible thing to say. Wondering what Midori was talking about, Azusa glanced at her screen.

"Eh...?"

Midori had already reached the next town. She seemed almost exasperated, as though wondering whether her rival hadn't caught a single MomoFure.

—Why?

Azusa's mind was instantly filled with questions. Why had Midori gone to the next town? Couldn't she have used that time to collect MomoFure instead?

"...There's a Gutsy Bellyband lying around in this town."

Midori offered that single remark, as though confirming Azusa's suspicions.

"Y-You can't mean...!"

That alone was enough for Azusa to understand what Midori was planning.

"You figured it out immediately... You really do love MomoFriends. But..."

She used the Move Material she'd picked up along the way—the item that taught MomoFure new moves.

"That's exactly why you can't do this."

She ran out of town and across the grassy plains. Naturally, she encountered a wild MomoFure. Angry Adélie, still at Level 1, was struck first.

The attack hit. Between type disadvantage and the level gap, Angry Adélie's HP plummeted... but thanks to the Gutsy Bellyband's effect, it managed to hang on. And then...

"Hammer of Wrath...!"

Hammer of Wrath. The move she'd just taught it with the Move Material. Its effect was...

"Now I can catch it."

It inflicted damage equal to the amount of damage Angry Adélie had taken. The opponent's HP was reduced by almost the same amount. And once its HP was that low, the type of Friends Ball no longer mattered... She could capture it with near certainty.\

The battle ended there, and she immediately used a healing item. Angry Adélie's HP returned to full.

"...All that's left is to repeat the process. This is the fastest way."

In other words...

"...But you can't do that, can you? Not when you're a MomoFure fan. You can't keep hurting MomoFure like this."

It was a cruel method of collecting MomoFure, one that repeatedly brought Angry Adélie to the brink of fainting. A truly demonic act.

"N-No! Stop! Adélie's getting hurt!"

At this point, victory or defeat no longer mattered to Azusa. All she could think about was saving Adélie.

"This is a battle. There is no reason to stop."

"M-Midori... That's too cruel..."

Momoi's exasperated voice could be heard in the background, but Midori no longer paid it any mind.

"Please... Stop... I-I'm begging you..."

Her anguished pleas echoed throughout the remaining time.

Fourth Match: Victory for the Game Development Department. An ethical defeat. The score was now three to one, and the Game Development Department was one win away from victory.

 

---

 

"Suou... Adélie... Adélie...!"

"There, there... It must have been awful. It's all right now. Everything's all right, Azusa."

The sight had been so cruel that Azusa was deeply shaken. She had forgotten all about her assumed name and was now clinging to Suou, crying. The sound of Adélie's pained cries, echoing for fifteen whole minutes, must have left a particularly vivid impression on her.

"That was a little too harsh, wasn't it...?"

"I-I wanted to win, too! You're next, Big Sis! Hurry up and go!"

"Midori, you just tried to cover something up..."

"Even Arisu is saying that now?"

Midori was being berated from all sides. Still, she hadn't wanted to keep losing, either. After all, her defeat in the third match had been an unexpected rout. She hadn't had the luxury of holding back in the fourth match, either.

"That's definitely going to traumatize her..."

"Just go already!"

With Midori urging her on, Momoi stepped forward and stood in front of the Arius Satellite School students. She planted both hands on her hips, brimming with confidence. She was practically puffing out her chest.

"One more win and we take it! So, who's next!? Shiona? Or Saori?"

Of course, she had no intention of being childish about it. But a match was a match. There was no need to hold back, and if she went all out, she could win for certain. Almost certain of victory, she grinned, her mouth curling like a chestnut.

"Um, well, since our Azusa is in that state..."

"Ugh... S-Sorry!"

Momoi was about to ask who would be next, but she felt a pang of guilt at the apologetic smile on Shiona's—no, Suou's—face.

"I'll go."

Saori stepped forward.

"...All right. Come on."

Despite feeling somewhat intimidated by the overwhelming difference in their heights, Momoi kept up her confident attitude and led Saori to the game console.

"All right, let's start with rock-paper-scissors."

"Ah, before that... There's something I want to tell you."

Just as Momoi was about to begin, Saori stopped her.

"...You have no chance of winning this match."

"Ha... Okay, I see you've got a flair for the dramatic."

You have no chance of winning. It was an unequivocal declaration of victory. She was this confident even before the game had been decided. Was she perhaps exceptionally good at games?

"Is that girl really that good at games?"

"No, she's average. She's not particularly strong, even among us."

Apparently not. Then why was she so confident?

"Still, I think Saori will win."

Suou said that casually as she stroked Azusa's head. Why was she so sure?

"Well then, we were going to play rock-paper-scissors... I apologize, but I no longer have any reason to hold back."

—Wait, is she holding a grudge!? Midori, you really went too far!

Momoi was practically on the verge of tears inside as she raised her hand.

"Rock, paper..."

"Scissors!"

Their hands shot forward. One opened. And then...

"..."

In a fleeting instant, far beyond the limits of ordinary human perception, Saori was watching nothing but Momoi's fingers.

Every detail—the tension and relaxation of the muscles, the slightest vibrations, the movement of her joints and bones. Her vision, enhanced by her Mystic, caught every last one of them.

"...Scissors!"

And with reflexes fast enough to respond to all of it, she finally threw her hand.

"...I win."

She had chosen the hand that would guarantee her victory. It was a technique she'd imitated from the predictive rock-paper-scissors Suou had once used when she'd pleaded, "Please don't kick me out if I win at rock-paper-scissors."

"R-Right... So, what game do you want to play?"

"A one-on-one FPS would be preferable. Ideally, with only one life."

"Hmm... Then how about BOOM3?"

"I'll take that."

For Momoi, this was where the real match began. For Saori, however, the outcome had already been decided.

"What about the handicap?"

"Hm. Let's see... How about we start with both of our positions visible?"

"...What kind of handicap is that?"

It wasn't just her own position that would be revealed. Both players would know each other's locations. In other words, Saori would know where Momoi was, but Momoi would know where Saori was, too.\

It wasn't completely meaningless, of course, but Momoi hadn't expected her opponent to propose something that would put herself at a disadvantage as well.

"Is that a problem?"

"No, if that's what you want, it's fine..."

Could this be some kind of strategy, too? Momoi had been told that Saori was only an average player. Surely she was planning something else. That was the conclusion Momoi reached.

"All right, we'll do that!"

"Then let's begin."

She decided to go along with the proposal. She couldn't rule out the possibility that it was a bluff, either. But Momoi believed that a true gamer had to overcome every trick her opponent could throw at her.

That was why she wouldn't let her guard down. She would demonstrate the full extent of her gaming skills and win, no matter what. With that resolve, she picked up the controller.

"Steady... Go!"

"Wait, what's with that battle cry...? Well, never mind."

Fifth Match: Saiba Momoi versus Joumae Saori. A one-on-one match in BOOM3. Begin.

"Now then, where are you starting?"

"The big house in the north. How about you?"

"The warehouse to the east."

Each player's starting area occupied about a quarter of the map. The stage wasn't particularly large, so they weren't very far apart.

"..."

Her opponent was an average player. In that case, Momoi would rush the eastern warehouse, giving Saori no time to devise a strategy. Of course, she couldn't rule out the possibility of a trap, but a grenade would make short work of that.

There would be no respawning after death this time. This was a genuine one-life match. That was precisely why she wouldn't play cautiously. Instead, she'd make a bold move and seize control of the match. It was a textbook approach, in a sense.

"...Where are you now?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

But her opponent was a person, not a stationary target. Naturally, she wouldn't just stay put. That was why, rather than heading straight for the eastern warehouse, Momoi moved through the midpoint between it and the central district, applying pressure.

This would force Saori to retreat south if she wanted to move at all. Momoi could then go straight west from the eastern house, head south, and then swing east again, leaving her opponent no time to set up traps. By moving herself, she would create a situation in which her opponent had no choice but to move as well.

"...Good."

That would eventually bring them face-to-face. She would force a short, decisive battle and settle things then and there.

It was probably not a bad decision.

"...A grenade!?"

That is, if her opponent had been a complete beginner.

"Why is there one here...?"

Before she could finish speaking, a bullet detonated the grenade, dealing damage to Momoi at the same time.

"Too slow."

Saori followed up with a barrage of attacks, as though punishing Momoi for falling into her trap. Momoi's reaction had been a moment too slow, but she immediately ducked behind a wall and tried to recover.

"Damn...! Why...!?"

If her opponent had placed a trap, that was fine. It would have been Momoi's own fault for failing to spot it.

But the trap this time was a grenade that required a close-range detonation. It was meant to inflict massive damage and force a short battle. In other words...

"If it's a straight-up firefight, then...!"

She needed to be certain that Momoi would pass through that spot.

"Do you really think you can win?"

 

And she needed the skill to guarantee victory in a firefight.

"Whoa! Your aim is insane! Are you using an aim assist or something!?"

"I'm not."

Momoi couldn't believe that Saori had managed to hit such a small part of her body as it peeked through a gap in the wall. She suspected foul play, but Saori denied it.

Regardless, Momoi's health was already dangerously low. If she kept exchanging fire like this, she would certainly lose. With that thought, she tried to escape while still hiding behind the wall.

"R-Retreat!"

"On the battlefield..."

Behind her, she heard the sound of someone putting their finger on a trigger.

"...You should never turn your back on the enemy."

A storm of bullets rained down immediately afterward. Before she could even understand what was happening, Momoi was defeated.

"Wha— Huh!? Wh-What's going on!?"

"...Well, we both knew each other's positions. It was easy enough to predict what you'd do."

Fifth Match: BOOM3. Match duration: a mere three minutes.

"I'm used to it. Reading that kind of situation."

"Ughhh...! Aaagh! This is so frustrating!"

Momoi was down. Joumae Saori had won overwhelmingly, without taking a single point of damage. The score was now three to two. The next match would decide the winner.

 

---

 

"Saori, that was brutal..."

"...I got a little carried away. It reminded me of training... of the old days."

The old days, huh? Suou wondered whether that meant a time before she'd known Saori. A vague feeling of discomfort—in short, jealousy—rose in her chest as she welcomed Saori back.

"Everyone, you've done wonderfully to bring us this far. Leave the rest to Big Sis!"

Clutching an old, battered controller, stained by years of wear and tear, Suou made her way to the seat for the match. It was the controller she'd reported missing to the Justice Task Force and had Mayumi repair.

"...Let's go, Shian. Anna."

Ten years ago. Holding onto the memento of a little youth spent squabbling over the most trivial things, Suou held on to those memories. She let herself sink into them, determined never to forget.

"Your next opponent is Shiona, right? Then, please, take your seat—"

"Ah, before that..."

Suou stopped Momoi before she could finish welcoming her. She was telling her to hold on, that she wasn't the one she wanted.

"This is going to be the last match, right?"

"...Yeah. Let's make sure neither side has any regrets."

No regrets. That's right. She couldn't afford to have any regrets. There was no knowing whether they'd ever get another chance to play together like this.

"...It seems to me there's still a student on your side who hasn't participated."

"Eh? Momoi, Midori, and Arisu have all played. There's nobody else."

"Isn't there someone... right over there?"

Suou wasn't looking at Momoi anymore. Her gaze was fixed on the small locker behind her. On what was inside it.

"Hanaoka Yuzu... No."

Creak. A tiny sound reached everyone's ears. The sound of the locker door opening.

"UZQueen."

The girl who emerged was a little taller than Suou, with red hair.

"U-Um... W-When did you figure it out...?"

She was the head of the Game Development Department, Hanaoka Yuzu. She had supposedly been absent because she was uncomfortable around other people.

"From the beginning. I knew someone was in the locker. And you smelled just like a mascot costume."

"E-Excuse me...?"

"Never mind. It's nothing."

Yuzu didn't know it, but she and Suou worked at the same place: the amusement park belonging to that Momo franchise. Suou had realized this from her memories of Blue Archive.

That was how she'd figured out that Yuzu was hiding in the locker.

"Well, putting that aside... Let's fight, Yuzu."

"E-Eh? Ah, but... I... I'm not very good at this sort of thing..."

"Don't give me that nonsense."

Suou's tone suddenly grew sharper. As though responding to her words, Yuzu narrowed her eyes slightly, studying her.

"...That fighting spirit... You want to do it, don't you? Deep down. Because we're stronger than you expected."

That was exactly right. Yuzu had been watching Suou and the others fight the whole time from inside the locker. It had been a long time since she'd felt her heart leap with excitement like that.

Even at Millennium, there weren't many students who could compete with Momoi and the others. They weren't professional gamers for nothing.

"..."

Momoi and the others had used every means available to them, even turning their handicaps into part of their strategies, just to make these matches possible. They'd lost at first, but by now, the outcome was anyone's guess. They had come this far. And all for a simple friendly match.

If they'd wanted to win, there had been plenty of opportunities. They could simply have put Suou in as their first player, since she had already secured two wins. Hiyori and Saori could reliably defeat almost any opponent, too. So why hadn't they done that?

"...By the way. I'm the strongest one here, you know?"

"...!"

It was an elaborate setup. There was no other way to describe it. In other words...

"I won't let you be bored."

They had arranged this battle to draw Yuzu out and make her give it her all.

Amuse-bouche: Atsuko. Hors d'oeuvre: Misaki. Soup: Hiyori. Poisson: Azusa. Sorbet: Saori.

"Yuzu, you don't have to push yourself..."

"Those words..."

"...Yuzu?"

—The viande, the main course, is you and me. Let's see you entertain me even more at the end. I'll make sure to entertain you, too.

"You're not lying, are you?"

Sixth Match: Game Development Department versus Arius Satellite School. The final match. Hanaoka Yuzu versus Kirihana Suou.

"Of course not."

The challenge to the strongest was about to begin.

 

---

 

Yuzu emerged from the locker and took her place. Despite there being six people she didn't know in the room, she showed not the slightest sign of unease.

"Th-That's the look...!"

Since this was the final match, the Game Development Department and the Arius Satellite School students were all gathered in the same place to watch.

"...What's so special about that look?"

"...UZQueen. The legendary gamer whose appearance and face are unknown to everyone. Yuzu is the person behind that name."

"Momoi told me about it! It's UZQueen Mode!"

UZQueen Mode. Supposedly, it increased the speed of her thought processes by 1.5 times and her dynamic vision by 2.8 times. Those might seem like rather modest multipliers, but they further enhanced abilities she already possessed in abundance.

And that was with the caveat that even in her normal state, Yuzu could clear Tales Saga Chronicle with only a little difficulty. Her strength was beyond measure.

"That's who she's up against...? Will Suou be all right?"

"Who knows... She's certainly strong. But if you ask whether she's overwhelmingly stronger than Momoi or Midori..."

At first glance, Suou seemed to have little chance of winning. But that was precisely why she had a reason to fight. The thought lingered in the corner of her mind.

"What game?"

"Student Fighter."

"Handicap?"

"None."

"Wh-What!? That's reckless!"

Momoi knew Yuzu's strength very well. She could easily defeat even cheaters. Her raw gaming skills went without saying, and her understanding of the game's systems and internal data was just as overwhelming.

"Don't bother trying to stop her. Once that idiot makes up her mind, there's no changing it."

"I got that impression just from watching her!"

"Big Sis, that's really rude."

Even so, Suou wouldn't back down a single step. No—she couldn't afford to. Otherwise, there would be no point in fighting.

"Su-Ou..."

The name Suou entered was "Su-Ou." It was almost her real name, but that wasn't the point.

"...Bring it on."

"...!"

Queen's counterpart was King (Ou). A word of equal standing. There was no mistaking it: a challenge.

"S-She's really provoking her, isn't she...!?"

"I've never seen Suou so lively, except when she's calling us her little sisters...!"

"That's true."

Suou was smiling. A savage grin, so fierce that it seemed as though she were baring her teeth. A smile at its very best.

"ROUND 1... FIGHT!!"

The match format was first to three rounds. And this was the first.

"Hah!"

Suou boldly pressed forward, while Yuzu focused on defending against her attacks. Yuzu slipped in a few quick attacks between her defenses, but those were blocked as well. For now, it was little more than a test of each other's abilities.\

Even though Yuzu had blocked the attacks, they were still attacks. The knockback forced her backward, creating some distance between them. Thinking that this would get them nowhere, Suou tried to close in again.

"...!"

An unexpected sweep. Suou was the first to take damage.

"Damn!"

 Yuzu immediately followed up with another attack, taking advantage of the opening. Suou, however, wasn't about to let herself be beaten without a fight. To get out of the predicament, she fired a small energy projectile.

"..."

A diversion. Under normal circumstances, that would have been the right move. But Yuzu timed her response perfectly and... unleashed a close-range attack.

"What...?"

It wasn't a clash. It was a loss. Suou was knocked slightly backward, and Yuzu seized the opportunity to charge into her with a tackle. Yuzu hadn't taken a single hit, while Suou's health was already down to two-thirds.

"Damn it..."

Suou spent the special gauge that accumulated when she took damage, defended, or attacked, using it to recover her footing. She unleashed a powered-up move, but Yuzu blocked that, too. Still, she'd managed to deal some damage and create a little distance.

"Hah...!"

Suou watched carefully, trying to find an opportunity to attack by gauging the timing. Yuzu, on the other hand...

"How...! You bastard...!"

She stood there, completely unguarded. A regal presence. A figure that seemed to radiate authority, leaving herself wide open.

"This...!"

Any clumsy attack that disturbed that composure was utterly unacceptable.

"Damn!"

A counter that consumed the special gauge. Its window of opportunity was minuscule. Suou had anticipated it, which was why she'd deliberately changed her timing. Yet Yuzu had read even that.

"Damn it...!"

A rising punch near the wall. A tackle. A sweep. Quick strikes. A combo drained the rest of her health, and Suou was defeated.

"I-I told you! There's no way you can beat Yuzu!"

Momoi's words fell on deaf ears as the second round began.

"...Still boring."

"You're one to talk...!"

Unlike before, Suou moved a little more cautiously. She dodged Yuzu's energy projectile in midair, then tried to turn the tables by activating an attack. But just as she was about to—

"...!"

Yuzu followed up, having anticipated her move. Their attacks had activated at almost exactly the same time. Suou fell to the ground, where she was forced into close-quarters combat.

Suou attacked aggressively, while Yuzu focused on defending and gauging the timing. In a strange twist, they had fallen into almost the same situation as before.

"Oh, come on... She's going to lose again at this rate!"

"Whose side are you on...?"

"Obviously Yuzu's! But come on, this is exciting, isn't it!?"

Momoi had been looking forward to this, too. She wanted to see UZQueen fight, and she wanted to see the fight put up by the complete idiot who'd challenged her. But so far, Suou was little better than the nobodies on the internet.

"If it were Big Sis... I hate to admit it, but I think she could have won. And with a little room to spare, too. But Yuzu..."

Suou wasn't bad at games. At the very least, she had enough skill to back up the bold words she'd spoken. Momoi simply wasn't the opponent she'd been looking for.\

Even so... Though this match had lasted longer than the previous one, Yuzu was still firmly in control. Her superiority was overwhelming.

"...When Yuzu gets like that, she doesn't hold back."

"Actually, she can't..."

Every attack was blocked. Every opportunity to dodge was cut off. Every counter landed successfully. Yuzu steadily threw off her opponent's rhythm. That was what made her fighting style so terrifying.

Everyone thought Suou no longer stood a chance. And then, at that very moment...

"Ugh!"

"...Huh?"

They heard the sound of Yuzu's character taking a hit.

"Th-That just now..."

"...Yeah. Suou landed a hit."

"M-Maybe it was a fluke..."

"It wasn't a fluke, Big Sis... There are no flukes when Yuzu's in that state."

Momoi's words made everyone realize something. That was right. Yuzu in UZQueen Mode never made mistakes. If she did, it would be a sign that some great catastrophe was about to occur.

In other words, Suou had done something that Yuzu couldn't completely read.

"Ugh! Gah...!"

  Two hits. Then three. The number of times Yuzu was struck gradually increased...

"ROUND 3... FIGHT!!!"

Even so, Suou's health was whittled down, and she suffered her second defeat. If she lost this round, she would lose the match.

"She's getting better... No, wait. Are their abilities actually evenly matched now...?"

"Arisu knows! Shiona has awakened!"

"...No. That's not it, Arisu."

Awakening. Growth at the last possible moment. A burst of strength in a desperate situation. None of those explanations was right. Those movements weren't something that could be learned overnight.

They were memories of battle, backed by experience and knowledge.

That was...

"...I'm starting to remember."

A low voice echoed through the quiet room.

 

---

 

I used to love games. I don't remember why. I think I used to play with my big sister a lot.

"W-Wait, you blocked that!?"

"I don't even know what I'm looking at anymore..."

We used to have a lot of fun like that. I think I used to beat my friends to a pulp all the time. They'd tell me, "You're too good, so play with one hand," or something like that.

"B-But her health is still going down... Just like in the third match..."

I don't know. It feels like someone else's memories, but maybe... they're mine? It's a strange feeling.

Well, whatever the case, I love games. I really do.

"...Hey. Isn't that guy's body glowing?"

"...It is."

An excessive enhancement of the nervous system. This is my first time doing it, but it's really tough. Still, I don't think I can win any other way.

"S-She's making a comeback!? She's actually keeping up with Yuzu...!"

I'd almost forgotten what it was like. A battle where your life wasn't on the line. A battle where you didn't have to hurt anyone. I never knew something like this could be so much fun.

"Saori, can you follow her movements?"

"...Just barely."

That's right. I remember now. More and more memories are coming back. The reason I loved games was...

"Because I couldn't win."

"...Yuzu."

Adversity was what made it fun. Those were the very situations that made my heart race. Couldn't win? The opponent was strong? So what? What could be better than facing such a powerful enemy?

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting."

Using a handicap? Refusing to compete because your opponent was too strong? Don't insult me.

It's precisely because your opponent gives everything they've got that it's worth giving your all in return. And when you have someone you can face at your full strength, you want them to give it everything, too.

"Now the real match begins!!"

Yuzu was strong. Overwhelmingly strong. There probably wasn't anyone who could beat her in a game.

"Give me everything you've got! Your real, absolute best! Bet it all on this!!"

"...!"

And that's exactly why... I wanted to enjoy this. I wanted to let her enjoy it, too. I wanted to experience that burning joy of fighting a worthy rival.

"...Are you sure?"

"ROUND 4..."

I'll do everything I can. To the best of my ability.

"Of course."

"...FIGHT!!!"

I caught a glimpse of delight at the corner of her eyes.

"...Thank you."

Let's play at my house. The childish feeling of a close friend saying those words to me on the way home.

"...!!"

Yuzu's attacks grew fiercer. They accelerated faster and faster, showing no signs of stopping.

"Hah...!"

I strengthened myself with my Mystic. Then strengthened myself again. And again. But even so, I couldn't keep up. I couldn't catch her. Ah, surely Yuzu was...

"Won't lose...!"

She was getting stronger, too. Even in the middle of this battle.

"Ugh...! I-I won't lose, either!!"

Ah... This is frustrating. This is fun.

"...Heh... Hehehe... That was fun..."

It felt as though this moment could last forever.

"Let's play again sometime... Su-Ou."

"...Yeah!"

I wished we could stay like this forever.

 

---

 

"I lost..."

"You're still dwelling on it...? That was more than enough. Momoi said that even the tournaments in recent years couldn't compare."

"Maybe so, but...!"

I fought like crazy until the very end, and I barely managed to win a single round... Still, it was fun. So that's what the strongest is like. The Queen of Gaming, huh?

"That's right... There are hardly any players in online matches who can keep up with Yuzu like that."

"...But that very same Yuzu ended up hiding in the locker again."

Oh, I just heard a bump against the locker. She must have gotten flustered when someone called her by name.

"Yuzu, it's okay. Nobody's thinking anything of it."

As soon as the match ended, Yuzu had returned to her usual self and shut herself inside the locker. She was probably only now starting to feel embarrassed. I was a little embarrassed, too.

"...But..."

For a moment, I stared at the notebook filled with my hurried scribbles. Written in it were memories from my previous life that I'd forgotten until now. Most of them were trivial things, like the names of games, but...

"..."

A friend's name. I'd managed to remember one.

Honestly, I didn't know why. Maybe enhancing my nerves and brain cells with my Mystic—parts of myself I normally wouldn't strengthen excessively—had helped. Or maybe it was the experience that brought those memories back.

Even when I played games with Saori and the others, I'd remembered things about the games. So perhaps the latter was the bigger factor.

"...Experience, huh?"

Come to think of it, ever since I'd come to this world, I'd hardly done anything that wasn't related to fighting. Maybe that's why I'd forgotten.

I probably wouldn't be able to remember everything. I couldn't even recall all the knowledge I had about Blue Archive. Still, perhaps if I remembered just a little more... someday, maybe...

For now, I wanted to try doing things I hadn't done before. Let's see... Maybe I could go to the beach next time. Or go cycling. It might be nice to play some games at an arcade, too.

"Arisu is looking for an opponent! Misaki, would you like to play?"

"Misaki, she's calling you."

"Yeah, yeah... Sure. Let's play."

"Oh, then I want to play against Shiona! We were supposed to fight for real, after all! Once the match is over, we're all friends!"

...Well, I'd finally remembered it, hadn't I? The passion of gaming. The fun of it. I was surprised to discover that I had something like a thirst for battle inside me, too.

"I won't go easy on you, you know?"

"Obviously! I'll get mad if you do!"

For now, I felt like I could just go along with it and enjoy playing games. And honestly, that was enough.