Chapter 12: The commonality here is free thinking that isn't bound by standard theory (a euphemism)

To give you the results first: I blocked the straights, but he took two rounds and I lost. I never thought he’d stack a bug on top of another bug.

"Man~, I've been doing nothing but practicing techniques on NPCs lately, so that was satisfying."

"I never thought there would be a hitbox on every single texture of the scattered fist."

"It's a double-edged sword where if you mess up, hitboxes get scattered all over the place... If that happens, you just die from tap dancing on the fist shards."

"That is hilarious."

I couldn't possibly have predicted that a Shotgun Punch would literally shatter the fist into buckshot—at most, I thought the fist would just split or multiply. While watching screenshots of our battle being sent to us by spectating players—a unique mannerism of this game—ModoruKatzo and I indulged in some idle chatter.

"But seriously, there's no tournament or anything, so why did you come back, Sunraku? Killing time until the next Trash Game?"

"Well... actually, I recently started playing ShanFro..."

"Really? Hah."

I let it slide because it's me, but generally, he should know that laughing with a face looking like a cooked turkey begging for its life is incredibly rude.

"No, wait, Sunraku. Didn't you say something incredibly stupid (cool) like 'Isn't a game that doesn't bug out actually a Trash Game?' Why make your debut in ShanFro, the polar opposite of Evil (Trash Games)?"

"I was beating up Faer-kuso and got hit with something like burnout syndrome... I thought I'd try playing a game the masses actually appreciate for a change."

"Tomorrow, Benpi might be treated as a God Game."

Is me playing a non-Trash Game really more impossible than a rain of spears falling from the sky? I'm not as indiscriminating a glutton for Trash Games as people think, but ModoruKatzo, who has cleared most Trash Games, looked at me as if he were seeing an alien keeping a Tsuchinoko as a pet. It was too stupid to let it bother me, so I continued.

"No, but it's actually really well made. Even though I was playing with a handicap (trolling), I got hit by an unexpected attack and nearly died without encountering a single bug or trash element."

"Ah, so you're here in Benpi—the lump of 'first-sight killers' and 'theory breakers'—to get your instincts back?"

"Exactly."

I doubt even ShanFro has action more unexpected than this game, which pulls off teleportation and cloning techniques simultaneously. I've been clearing Faer-kuso for quite a long time, so while my skill at babysitting idiotic AI has improved, my instincts for dealing with 'first-sight killer' mechanics have rusted a bit. I wanted to get them back.

"You wouldn't expect a snake to shoot shit at you, would you?"

"Isn't that a fitting attack for a Trash Game lover?"

"Hahaha, shut up."

"But ShanFro, huh... maybe I'll try it too. I can't recommend this game to my real-life friends, so I don't have anyone to get excited about it with."

Well, it's hard to spread a game where you become a body-modification mutant to the masses. At worst, you can't rule out the noisy crowd claiming "Even if it's virtual, games that distort the body are bad for your health/sanity." Benpi is fine continuing as a niche Trash Game; in fact, the players here right now come specifically because they like that about it.

After playing a few more matches with ModoruKatzo and other players, I logged out of the demonic realm "Benpi" to grab some dinner.

After replenishing my water and food supply, I moved from the Trash Game to the God Game. Waking up at the inn in Secondil, I—Sunraku, the perverted bird-head—confirmed that the death penalty had been lifted and pondered what to do next.

"For now, I should probably buy some armor..."

Even I understood that going equipped with nothing but nudity (naked equipment) was bad.I only survived the Gluttonous Giant Serpent's poison shit attack because there was no damage detection on the filth itself. If there had been damage detection the moment it hit, I would have died before I even reached it. Calling it paper armor would be an insult to paper; it's a 'no-guard' loadout. I should at least wear some starter gear. And more than anything, healing items. I was definitely trolling too hard.

"The map, too... and I need to organize my inventory."

I once heard a salaryman player grumble that "The only place where having a mountain of things to do is fun is in a game," and that is exactly true. If this were housework or chores, I'd probably sigh softly and put it off until tomorrow.

"Alright, let's head out."

Author's Notes & Lore

ModoruKatzo: A Trash Game friend (No. 1) who the protagonist has never met, but they are close enough to exchange emails in real life. Unlike the protagonist who will deliciously consume any Trash Game, he prefers "Trash Games with devilishly brutal difficulty balance." He occasionally introduces these to the protagonist.