Chapter 61 – The Winner
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A 『gun with infinite bullets』 would usually count as a cheat as well, especially on this uninhabited island. Not only does it give its user an edge in interpersonal combat, but it also potentially allows the user to become dominant in battles against beasts, as long as they practice enough while making use of the infinite supply of bullets.
But you can also find people with magic and special abilities among the other transferees.
“Ah…? W-What is that…!?”
The gun wielder got startled when he finally spotted Mashiro. With panic written all over his face, he pointed his gun at the Fenrir. He might have misinterpreted Mashiro as a magic beast originating from the uninhabited island, but…
“Minori…!”
“Yes…! 『Water Wall』!”
A barrage of gunshots followed, but Minori had trained hard enough to be able to deploy several thick layers of a water wall. As such, the bullets were unable to penetrate the wall.
“What the hell…!?”
While the male student stared at the scene, his eyes wide in shock, I circled behind him.
“Yo.”
“…!?”
He tried to turn around quickly, his shoulders jumping as if he’d heard a ghost. Matching his movement, I swung my spear like a staff.
“Argh…!”
The staff nicely hit the gun barrel, flicking the gun out of his hand. The weapon whirled through the air before eventually landing on the ground.
――In the worst case, I might have lost a hundred points for intentionally hurting him, but I couldn’t leave him to his own devices.
“What’s goi――”
I succeeded in locking him up in a Stone Cage. I felt like I could hear a muffled voice coming from within, but I didn’t understand what it was saying, nor did I need to. I quickly picked up the gun and 『Itemized』 it. The probability for success was 50-50, but it was stored in my Inventory without a hitch.
What he wished for wasn’t an 『ability to create and use a gun』, but only a 『gun』. Maybe a function was added to the gun that allows the bullet limit to be disregarded.
In other words, once you steal the gun, he’s basically no threat anymore.
If he had just used it for hunting, I wouldn’t have confiscated it in this way, but this guy’s way of using the gun was far too dangerous.
“Now then.”
I managed to remove a dangerous element from our future life on the island. Now I’m going to hurry back to my friends. While listening to the sound of the stone wall being hit and kicked behind me, I chased after Mashiro.
――How weird.
Even if I add up the people running away after seeing Mashiro and those put out of combat by me, less than half our class was accounted for. Or rather, the number of girls is strangely low.
――During the daily votes, twenty-one still counts as a majority. In short, none of my classmates should have died. Maybe they aren’t chasing after the light sphere, or they’re watching from a distance――wait, it could also be that they don’t have any intention of taking part in this event to begin with.
Well, whatever their reason might be, I’m going to ignore them so long as they don’t get in our way. It’s not like I have an urge to lock up my classmates either.
“Sousuke! Look! It started to fly into the sky!”
It seems like some students had thrown stones at the sphere before Mashiro could catch up to it. In response to that, the sphere apparently moved up to a height where thrown stones wouldn’t reach it.
“Can you reach it with Mashiro…!?”
“Sorry, he says it’s impossible!”
I quickly scanned our vicinity. The students who had thrown the stones also dispersed as soon as they saw Mashiro. At present, we are the only ones in this area.
In that case――
“Shouko! Bring out our new friends!”
“Alrighty…! Come forth――fluff!”
She had wrecked her brain over the next summoned creature. If I remember correctly, she finally came up with an original creation. The one that appeared was an Oriental dragon, covered in black, fluffy fur.
“Micron…! Please take care of it!”
Following its mistress’s order, the black dragon moved over to me. I immediately jumped on Micron’s back.
“Please bring me all the way to the shining light sphere over there!”
The dragon calmly swam through the sky, as a fish swims through the sea.
――A bit more…just a bit more until it enters the rage of my deployment…!
“Now…!”
My shout was likely audible on the ground as well. It was something we had decided in advance. Our strategy was based on three assumptions.
The light sphere will――
・ move to escape the pursuers in its field of vision.
・ always be in a place where at least one participant can see it.
・ won’t dive into the sea or fly to a height that none of the participants can reach by any means.
――In short, it’s intended to be eventually caught.
The light sphere was a thinking and seeing object. It complied with the rule that someone had to see it at all times. Having grasped the abilities of all players, we could predict which place it would choose to flee to.
And right now, the sphere had stopped moving as if bewildered. But I had already informed my friends that this situation might occur. Immediately following my shout, we jointly closed our eyes.
The light sphere wanted to escape from me. But if it was going to leave my visual field, it had to enter someone else’s. That said, the students who ran away in fear of Mashiro were far away, and the students locked up inside my Stone Cages couldn’t see the sphere. On top of that, my friends were all keeping their eyes shut.
Still, if it were to run away at the speed of light, it might manage to get away.
But.
Just who would be able to catch the sphere if it were to do something like that?
If this were an event in which someone was supposed to eventually catch the sphere, the organizers wouldn’t adopt such a measure.
As a result of all that, the light sphere instantly came to a halt as if it had to recalculate its course. A moment later, the 『huge net made out of ivy』 enveloped the sphere.
“Gotcha…!”
In the next instant, my visual field burst into white.
◇
I had been sent into a white space. All it contained were desks, chairs, and the mysterious blackboard. The only difference from usual was the complete absence of anyone other than me.
『Given that someone captured the light sphere, the main event has now ended』
『In addition to the 「Right of Return」, the winner will be granted bonus points』
It doesn’t look like it’s going to reveal further details about the points, but you can use those points for special benefits right before returning to Earth, assuming you have some points left after deducting the minus points from the plus points, was it? Well, I guess there’s no loss in getting those points.
『Are you going to exercise your 「Right of Return」?』
“Ah…so that’s the reason.”
Only the one securing the light sphere was summoned in order to hear their true thoughts in a situation where they wouldn’t need to be considerate of their friends. No matter what sort of being the mysterious blackboard might be, and even if it’s capable of reading our hearts and minds, it won’t show any reactions unless we actively interact with it.
For example, if you were to ask a virtuous person, 『What do you want to do with the money, if you win in a lottery?』, they’ll usually answer, 『I will repay my parents, go on trips with my friends, and donate money to welfare organizations』, before winning. It’d be a superb answer, and that person might have answered in such a way while wholeheartedly believing in it.
But――what if they actually won a tremendous amount of money?
Will the same person be able to realize their own ideals, just as they dreamed of beforehand? Such people might exist as well, but being swallowed by their own greed would be very human-like, too. In fact, you can hear countless stories of people who ruin themselves after winning the lottery. The charm of money has a power that drives people insane.
The same applies to the 『Right of Return』.
The mysterious blackboard is probably testing me to see whether my resolve will sway.
“I won’t use it right now. I’ll only do so after I gather enough for all of my friends,” I answered at once while thinking that they chose the wrong person to ask this.
In the first place, I like my current lifestyle. Naturally, the answer by someone desperate would have been different.
『Withholding the 「Right of Return」 has been confirmed. The 「bonus area」 will be unlocked for Participant 「Kuno Sousuke」. Also, party members can accompany you to the 「bonus area」』
“Huh? Wait, what’s this about?”
『The event is over』
Just as usual, this damned thing only says whatever it wants…!
Then my visual field was dyed white once again――
◇
“Sou-kun.”
“Sousuke!”
“Sousuke-kun…?”
“Sousuke-san…”
My friends’ voices took me aback. When I came to, I had been teleported to the cliff area where we had built our base. My four friends, Mashiro and Micron, were all here as well. But all of my friends wore anxious expressions.
“Is something wrong?”
“Sou-kun, you were completely out of it.”
“We were worried that something might have happened to you…!” Shouko exclaimed with tears in her eyes.
――That blasted mysterious blackboard! Did it mess up on the timing of returning my consciousness?
“You okay? Are you hurting anywhere?” Shion stroked my back as if to console me.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Or rather, I alone was summoned to the white space.”
“…You were asked whether you’re going to use your 『Right of Return』, weren’t you?”
Smart as she was, Minori apparently guessed it right away. It seemed like something the mysterious blackboard, which eagerly monitored us, was wont to do was likely the basis for her assumption.
“Sou-kun would never run away while leaving us behind.”
“Yep…! They’re kinda looking down on Sousuke too much.”
“Yeah. I didn’t even consider that possibility.”
“I also believed in you.”
I was happy to receive such a vote of confidence from my friends.
“Thanks, all of you. I’ll do my utmost to get a Right of Return for everyone, so that we can go back while taking our memories and abilities with us.”
Everyone nodded at me. Once I looked up to the sky, it was still morning.
Suddenly, I recalled something.
“…Hey, you might be tired from the event, but――want to go harvest some wheat?”
The girls’ eyes sparkled as soon as they heard this.
“Let’s go. And then we’ll hold a bread festival.”
“Hehe, that sounds nice.”
“I want to eat pancakes…!”
“I-I would like some udon, I think.”
“Not bad. Let’s eat all of that,” I said with a smile.
We immediately split up on Mashiro and Micron.
Our life on this uninhabited island would continue for a good while yet to come.
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Translation Notes: