Shujinkou Janai! - Ch 6

The biggest reason why B&B, which was supposed to be a big title, was not a hit.

The main reason is the use of the infamous <Dynamic Motion Z> stick-type controller as the recommended controller.

The Dynamic Motion Z is a game controller that reproduces the player’s movements realistically in the game through a dual system of high-performance gyro sensor and a special device installed in front of the display.

Well, to put it simply, when this stick is swung in real life, the game character would reproduce the same motion of swinging a piece of stick around.

Although the game character was just imitating your movements, no, perhaps because the game character was imitating your movements that the degree of perfection using that controller was amazing, it was supposed to take the immersive gaming scene by storm…… but it didn’t sell at all.

Since the boom in immersion games had already passed and few game software titles could be released for them, they were completely ignored by all but a few game enthusiasts, and Dynamic Motion Z, along with the simultaneously released game software <Super Hyper-realistic Chanbara> was buried in the dark recesses of game history.

In the midst of such a situation, B&B was released four months later, trying to catch up with the boom of Dynamic Motion Z.

Though in fact, the Dynamic Motion boom didn’t exist, and if it had been released at least at the same time as Dynamic Motion Z, this game could have been the spark that ignited the boom. Expecting it to achieve such a thing after four months was just too cruel.

The sword-fighting action, which is the selling point of the game, is completely predicated on the use of the Dynamic Motion Z, and without it, the fun of the game is reduced by half.

That said, there were few users who were willing to go out of their way to buy the Dynamic Motion Z for the sake of B&B.

There were other reasons that the product wasn’t being sold as a set, but the biggest problem of all was the price: The suggested retail price of the Dynamic Motion Z was 7980 yen.

In addition, the game requires both hands to operate the shield in your left hand or to draw a bow, so the total price is just a few yen short of 16,000 yen.

If you add the price of the game software, it exceeds 20,000 yen.

Looking at that price tag, people say that needing to buy it for 20,000 yen for a quality experience is stupid, because they could buy a game console with that money.

But I bought it.

……I’ll say it again.

—————I bought it!

With the money I earned from my part-time job, which I earned while suffering from a stomach ache due to my relationship at work, I paid 23,760 yen (including tax) for all the cables, protective sheets, and other peripherals, and I got the complete B&B set!

And thanks to that, I’m able to do this now!

[Lightning, V-Slash!]

While dodging the opponent’s attack, I cut and slashed in a zigzag pattern, looking like a bolt of lightning.

[Cross Raid, Cleave Strike!]

As the demon unleashed a horizontal slash that seemingly intended to reach me, I leaped up and slashed it from above its head.

[Divine, Stinger Thrust!]

From the large distance between us, I closed the distance in a single breath and delivered a painful thrust.

Before I knew it, the demon, which should have easily had me cornered, was already wounded all over its body.

As if our positions had been reversed, it stared at me with bloodshot eyes.

……Of course, there’s a cause for these rapid attacks.

One is that Manual Execution of Arts means that “as long as you can accurately trace a move, you can activate even Arts that you haven’t learned”.

As long as you have enough MP to execute it, you can even activate Sword Arts that you’re supposed to learn only at the end game, and even activate Arts from different weapon types.

Well, it isn’t that all Arts can be used through this method since many Arts include “equipping a specific weapon type” as a condition for activation, but this will greatly expand your options.

There’s also another important factor created by Manual Execution of Arts.

It’s a technique called “Double Art” which allows me to “stack up the usage of Arts” by utilizing the skill <Over-Art>.

The Thief Skill: <Over-Art> is a skill that increases the power of Arts by doubling the magic used in it, but if you perform Over-Art with Manual Execution, the system’s determination of activation for Arts would occur again.

The most obvious example would be the Art: <Cross Slice>, which is a set of two slash-type Arts: <Vertical Slash → Horizontal Slash> and the Art: <Horizontal Slice> could be activated by just stacking up the Art: <Horizontal Slash>.

Arts originally can’t be activated during the activation of an Art, but by utilizing Over-Art after the Vertical Slash and just before the Horizontal Slash begins, the system’s determination of activation for Arts would be restored.

By performing the Horizontal Slash there, the attack is determined as “the second strike of Cross Slice” and “the first attack of Horizontal Slice” at the same time, and the damage modifiers of those two Arts would then be calculated and combined in that attack.

This is the reason why the demon, which shouldn’t even be able to be wounded with my strength, has been inflicted with painful damage.

(Though I say that, doing this really is reckless.)

Double-Art is heavy on MP consumption.

In addition to the fact that Over-Art itself doubles the MP consumption of Arts, using two Arts at the same time costs me nearly four times the normal MP usage.

In addition, Arts have a cooldown time, and once an Art is used, it can’t be activated for several tens of seconds to several minutes.

If the user forgot their cooldown time, the Art won’t be activated, leaving them open to being killed if they aren’t careful.

(If I hadn’t buffed my Regeneration with an item, I would have run out of MP and died long ago.)

Although I was fighting with desperate adjustments and deceptions, my MP was already running out.

Above all, I was fighting for my life for the first time in my life, so my concentration was at its limits.

Every time an enemy attack grazes the tip of my nose, every time I parry away a lethal blow, I can feel my nerves being sapped.

The sense of omnipotence that once overflowed in me has now been overshadowed by exhaustion.

Sweat poured down my forehead, dripping above my eyes and obscuring my vision.

My head feels strangely light-headed, and yet, it feels heavy.

I’m feeling some sort of pressure, as if my stomach was being gripped, and even though it strangely didn’t feel real, it felt as if I might easily make an irreversible mistake.

(It’s about time huh.)

With my mind feeling hazy, I looked toward the Doom Demon, who perhaps because it had been badly beaten back many times, didn’t seem to be attacking immediately.

Only after the fight starts does a stalemate occur.

(Even so, it must have taken some damage.)

The enemy is just as exhausted as me, no, even more than me, and they’re also injured.

Their wings, their pride and joy, are in tatters, and wounds could be seen here and there on its body.

If I could somehow strike a few more effective blows, I might be able to defeat it.

However, the difference in strength was still obvious, and the fact remained that if I made the wrong move here, I would die.

Unlike the first time when it was repeatedly making simple attacks, it was now wary of me.

(Rather than poorly attacking, risking a mistake, it would be better to believe help will come and wait huh?)

Just as this thought crossed my mind, I looked over the demon’s shoulder and caught sight of Radd and the others.

They were no longer fussing or looking surprised, they were just looking at me and my fight with the demon, seemingly praying for my victory.

(Don’t look at me like that.)

It would be alright.

I’m not letting that thing get near you at all costs, and I’m going to get out of here alive.

……That’s right.

When this is all over, it might be a good idea to teach Radd and the others how to use Arts.

It’s going to be a challenge since there doesn’t seem to be a practice mode or assist function in this world, but if it’s something simple, it shouldn’t be too hard to learn them.

There doesn’t seem to be a culture of Manual Execution of Arts in this world, but if I teach it, no, even if I couldn’t teach it to others, there will come a time when people realize that “you could do that way”, and someone will eventually develop it soon.

Perhaps, I may have left a mark on this world that is much larger than I imagined.

(……A mark on this world huh.)

I know that my mind is swerving off the moment and I’m thinking about stupid things.

However, even if it’s just my delusion, I never imagined myself doing something as big as “influencing the world” back in my former world.

(Now is the time. This is where it all starts!)

My consciousness was foggy, my head was a mess, but I knew that if I could just get through this, something would start to happen.

Let go of this weakness.

The Recovery Item I used before the battle had a 5-minute duration.

If I didn’t settle this before then, I would be in jeopardy.

I won’t say anything heroic like I’m doing this to win.

However, for me to survive……

(I must attack!!!)

Swinging my sword, I activated a technique that I had never used before.

The higher the level of an Art, the more MP it consumes, and the longer and more difficult the required movements tend to be.

Therefore, in a situation where I barely have any MP and the demon would kill me if I miss even one attack, powerful techniques could have been a hindrance.

However, now that the enemy had become passive, it was a different story.

(————-<Seven Talon Barrage>!!!)

As the name suggests, this is a Sword Art that delivers seven slashes.

As is the case with the other Arts, the later the attack, the stronger the power of the slash.

Therefore, it would be better not to go for the attack immediately, and instead, strike out in a distance in front of the demon to increase the power of the attack first.

My sword strikes missed for the first, second and third time, but at the same time I let out my fourth slash, I saw that the enemy, looking confused, held up its weapon and began closing rushing the distance between us.

(Over-Art: <Square Cross>!)

As layers of Arts piled up above my sword, it brightly emitted light as it advanced towards the opponent.

Our weapons began drawing near each other.

Halfheartedly receiving the demon’s spear, I strike with my Arts-layered sword———not!

(One more!)

I made a sudden halt and as I was swinging my sword, I took a step back.

My sword and the demon’s spear cut through the air without touching each other.

This is good.

Even if I could win the match, it would be meaningless if the Arts-stacking stops.

The reason I showed my aggressiveness was a false offensive to buy time for that one swing.

And so, with this time I earned……

(<Over-Art>!!!)

I unleashed overlapping Over-Arts.

The double Over-Arts quadruple the MP consumption, but instead increase the power of a normal Art by 2.25 times.

Furthermore!

(————-<Tri-Edge>!!!)

Triple activation of Arts!

This is my trump card, my certain win power!

I can feel the rapid decrease of my remaining magic.

Even so, it doesn’t matter.

(I will settle things here!)

My attack, strengthened by Tri-Arts, hits the demon’s weapon and sends it flying.

And then……

[Oooooooooohhhhhhhh!!!]

With an invigorating yell, I swung out a blow that sliced the demon’s chest wide open.

(———-I’ve won!!!)

My Art isn’t over yet.

The demon, which had been knocked out of its stance, would have no way to prevent my next attack.

All I had to do now was to deal the final blow of my Art and it would be over.

Smiling at the prospect of my victory, I pulled back my blade……

————When at that moment, I saw the Doom Demon’s body enveloped in a sinister red aura.

[Huh?]

I didn’t know what just happened.

It’s just that, before I knew it, I saw the demon suddenly being nearby, pulling its arm out of my body, and there I finally realized that I had been pierced through my chest.

[Ghakk……]

My sword spilled out of my hand.

The victory that was supposed to be right in front of me also slipped out of my hand, and I fell to the ground.

(How did this……)

I should have won.

Just a few moments more and I would have reached the point where I could have beaten it.

(Why did this……!)

Blood poured out of my chest, and at the same time, my strength drained from my body.

Still, feeling reluctant to accept what was happening, I desperately raised my gaze.

And there, clad in a red aura, was the figure of the demon looking down at the miserable loser.

(Ahh, I see. This composition……)

The demon wrapped in a bright red aura, and Rex, whose body was pierced by the demon, fell down to the ground.

It’s not that big of a deal.

It was simply the exact same scene from when Rex was defeated in the game.

(F*ck. So it’s a no-win event huh.)

I’ve seen enough games with events like this where the progression is the same whether the player wins or loses.

If Rex wins here, there would be a contradiction in the scenery progression.

And so, in the unlikely event that the God of RNG should happen to be on your side and Rex miraculously drives the Doom Demon to the brink of death, it was probably set up from the start that the demon would power up and kill Rex.

[D*mn it……)

With the red aura around the demon’s body dissipating, as if it’s no longer needed, I swore.

As I lose the last of my strength on my neck, which was barely looking up, my head falls face-first to the ground.

(……So this is it huh.)

This is frustrating.

But at the same time, I was convinced.

(I guess I really am not cut out to be the MC of the story huh.)

Even if you are reborn, someone who’s mediocre will always be mediocre.

Even if you’re suddenly extracted from the ordinary and were given power, such power wouldn’t change what you are.

————I am not the Hero.

Even if I tried to swagger about changing fate, trying to counter it with my game knowledge, I ultimately failed.

……However.

(That’s why I won’t let it end!)

If the Hero dies, it’s a game over.

That would be the end of the game.

But even if I die, the world would still go on.

Because I’m this mediocre of a person that I can “hold out hope” to others.

Sure, I will die here.

However, I’ve already laid out the groundwork.

(You better be prepared, Doom Demon. You’re definitely gonna……)

This is as far as upfront confrontations go.

Soon, I would die for the second time.

As such thoughts crossed my mind, the last thing that came to my mind was the faces of Radd, Mana, and the people I met when I came to this world……

(—————I’m counting on you.)

With that, my consciousness sinks into darkness.

—————This time though, I couldn’t hear any voices.