Chapter 17 – Reunion with the Mysterious Blackboard
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Three girls were illuminated by the faint moonlight pouring into the otherwise dim room through the sole window.
“As expected of you, Sou-kun. It’s perfect.
“It’s very warm. I must admit I did feel cold when I left the fire, so this is great.”
“Yep, this fluffy pajama is super comfy. It was a good idea to have summoned the sheep.”
If we’re talking about clothes, many would argue that uniforms are much cuter, but seeing three beauties wrapped up in a white, fluffy wear is nice in and of itself. It also makes me somehow glad that they’re wearing something I made so happily.
“That’s great to hear. I can adjust the size, so feel free to tell me, if necessary.”
My childhood-friend opened her mouth and yawned, “Sou-kun, let’s go sleep.”
“Y-Yeah, sure.”
Being pulled by the hand, I was guided to the edge of the room by Chiyu.
“Today the harem ban is still in effect.”
From the wall, it’s me, Chiyu, Shouko, and Shion.
“So far as it goes, let me tell you, I’m not aiming for a harem here, okay?”
I can’t deny that it’s every man’s dream, though.
By the way, shoes are strictly forbidden in this hut as the floor is covered by a carpet. As such, everyone took off theirs.
I doubt an invader would steal just our shoes, but just in case, I stored them away in my Inventory. Starting tomorrow, it’ll be necessary for me to expand our base.
Given that it’d be inconvenient for me to take out or put stuff into my inventory each and every single time, something like storage will be necessary too, I suppose. No, before that, food takes precedence above all.
“…I had wondered what would happen to me, but it’s great that I was able to join up with you, Sousuke. I didn’t expect that I’d obtain a bath, food, house, blanket and pajamas inside a forest. Thank you. Seriously,” Shouko said.”
“The same back to you. Thanks for the sheep.”
“What about me?”
“I have no words to describe how thankful I am for your healing magic, Chiyu-sama.”
“Nn, right back at your Crafting Ability, Sou-kun.”
While saying so, my childhood-friend extended her hand from underneath the blanket and clasped mine. I silently grasped back.
“…I must do my best to be of use for you guys as well.”
I felt like I heard Shion mutter something like that…
Even though we have healing magic available, our bodies still need sleep. Especially now that we’ve hit our limit. Without any excess energy to engage in pointless chit-chatter like it’s done during school trips, we all fell asleep.
This marked the end of our first day on the uninhabited island.
◇
I’m dreaming. A blackboard is floating in a pure-white space. The dream is awfully similar to the one I saw just recently. The only difference is the number of seats present. There’s four of them. One for Chiyu, Shouko, Shion and me.
“Sou-kun…”
Chiyu stretched out her hand while sitting on the seat next to me, so I quietly grabbed it. She must have become scared after recalling the sudden transfer from before. And I’d be lying if I were to say that I can’t understand her.
But, right now I have to consider things calmly.
“We’ll know if this is just a normal dream once we talk with each other after waking up.”
“Yep, it’s just as Sousuke-kun says. I suspect we were called to this room together because we’re acting as a group.”
“So what happened to everyone else?”
Shouko seemed to feel uneasy.
“It’s just a guess, but wouldn’t we immediately exchange information, if the entire class was summoned here?”
“That’s what I also think. When we were gathered at class initially, it felt like we were being tested on how we would react with the included information. I had faintly suspected that we might head over to the uninhabited island as a group and Sousuke-kun had grabbed Chiyu-chan’s hand right before the transfer.”
The first dream was about testing us how we would think, prepare, and reply after being confronted with a question by the mysterious blackboard all of a sudden.
“…So, you’re saying they want us to survive on the island by ourselves, so they won’t let everyone meet up during the dream?”
I nodded at Chiyu’s summary.
“Probably. Currently I don’t know the whole layout of the island, but if forty people were here, we could gather quite a bit of information and we could also promise to meet up with each other after waking up. Well, it wouldn’t be that easy to put into practice, though.”
Us having been transferred all over the place meant we were expected to do something during our individual activities. Even if this expectation merely extends to something like playing around, there has to be some objective in having split us up like that. The masterminds won’t allow those expectations to fall apart just like that.
“…As always, Sousuke and Shii-chan are amazing.”
“If there are other students who have formed groups like we did, they should have also been summoned into the dream as a group.”
“Yeah, I think so too. But, the objective of the mysterious blackboard still remains the big issue here.”
All four of us looked on the blackboard. In the next instant, letters appeared on the board.
『The first days is over』
『Question: Meat or Fish – which do you need for your life from now on?』
『Meat / fish』
――Another question!?
I got pissed at this, but with my current level of knowledge and experience I can also deduct a certain level of conjecture. At least, it’s become clear why we couldn’t see any animals today.
Assuming that we will be given that we reply, just like with the abilities, you can assume that they don’t exist on the island right now. So we might not have achieved any results, even if we went out to hunt or fish today.
“…About this…isn’t it talking about giving us either meat or fish as a present?”
Shouko’s face looked strained.
“Yeah, depending on the choice, 『animals with edible meat』 or 『edible fish』 will be spawned on the island, I think.”
I’m well aware that my own words sound nuts, but I fear it’s going to be just like that. At this point, I believe it’s safe to toss the idea that the island is located somewhere on Earth.
“…Yeah, it looks like the answers by the other students will also influence the result.”
Just as Shion says, a tally is adding up automatically right next to 『Meat / Fish』. Going by what could be acquired by an amateur, I think fish would be the better choice, but…probably because of the appeal of being able to get meat, the tally next to meat is currently dominating.
“What should we do?”
I’d be grateful if we could at least talk it over as a party.
“Shouko, could Mashiro go hunting if you ask him?”
“Eh? Yep. Rather, today he was bored because nothing really happened.”
She can even understand his feelings? Nothing less of a tamer.
“In that case, fish might suit us more. We know where to find the sea. Although we haven’t found a river yet. Still, depending on the beast type, finding prey could become a hassle…”
…or such I thought, but before us four could reach a conclusion, Meat reached a count of 21.
『The poll will be closed since the number of votes has exceeded the necessary amount』
『Beginning with the second day, Meat will be added to the environment』
“Ah, I see. Considering it logically, it’s only natural…”
Since we cannot influence the other students’ speed of voting, it’s necessary to come to a conclusion much faster. Even so, that was way too fast. Shouldn’t the other people from our class put more thought into this?
It’s just by gut feeling, but it’s been less than three minutes since the poll started. Maybe the number of students who can’t think normally due to hunger and irritation has increased. Wouldn’t it be better to be slightly more cautious about such decisions since I don’t think the masterminds will simply drop chunks of meat for easy obtaining.
“P-Please wait a moment! What’s your objective? How can we return to Japan? Also, is everyone safe?”
Going by the previous flow of events, we would wake up from the dream once our business here was done. I was convinced that the blackboard would ignore me. But, it literally started to dance.
『No objective exists. To put it into your words, this would qualify as game to kill some time』
I had already anticipated this, but it’s one of the nasty patterns. The one where you’re promised to be sent back to Earth if you kill the demon king might still be a better pattern than this one. Like this, it’s no different from being spirited away or being sent to another world. I guess thinking that we at least haven’t been forced into a death game would be way too positive.
『The method to return you to a state before this situation occurred exists. But, at present you won’t be released. Please wait for future updates in regards to this』
Updates…? Seriously? I mean it’s fine if I use game terminology to compare stuff myself, but I don’t know how I should feel about the blackboard using said terminology. It sure is great that a prospect for returning home has come into sight, but it’s not like we know what additional elements will be added until then.
『Meat / Fish』 isn’t that bad a choice, but at some point we might be faced with a question like 『Goblin / Kobold』.
『The state of the other survivors won’t be disclosed』
It’s possible to count the survivors through the poll. Since the poll will be closed as soon as a majority vote has been reached, you can guess the decrease in students from that.
Given that we’d originally been forty people, you need 21 votes to achieve a majority in the vote. Today this has been the case, so we know that everyone’s safe and sound.
If sixteen votes would have been enough to secure a majority, it’d mean that the number of survivors has dropped to thirty, so ten people would have died by then or fallen into a state making it impossible for them to vote.
Then again, the number of students doesn’t tell us anything about their health.
I looked at Shion, wanting to know whether her lie-detector ability was working. Shion shook her head.
Well, that makes sense, I suppose. I can invoke my Crafting Ability either. In other words, our abilities can’t be used in this dream space.
『The second day starts now』
“Please wait! We still ha――”
Shion’s yell was in vain. My vision was engulfed by whiteness.
We had been ejected from the dream. And then came the time of awakening.
――T-This is…?
Something soft was being pressed against my face. Chiyu’s chest.
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