Chapter 24: The Balance Between Real Life and Games

"Phew......"

When I woke up in the real world, the morning sun was leaking through the gaps in the curtains. I knew it would happen, but I ended up playing Shangri-la Frontier all night. A God Game really is a God Game... If I didn't have to worry about my health or real-life obligations, I’d be driven by the impulse to stay logged in forever. However, I can't just stay logged in all day today. I drank some water, used the bathroom, and headed to our family kitchen.

"Good morning."

"Yes, good morning. You seem to have been playing quite hard, but it's admirable that you kept to the time and our promise, Rakuro."

"I've had enough of 'Logout (Physical)'..."

When 8 hours of unsaved data vanished because the power was cut, the sense of emptiness was so profound I couldn't taste food for a while. To ensure that tragedy is never repeated, I never break our house rules. The fact that she knows the VR headgear has a backup battery for sudden disconnections, and still resorts to a physical unplugging (pulling the main plug), is a rather cunning tactic... one I never want to experience again.

My family is often asked, "Is your home environment okay?" This is because my parents, myself, and my sister are all so immersed in our separate hobbies that, for a blood-related family, we see each other's faces frighteningly rarely.

• Father: Hizutome Senji. A fishing fanatic at a pathological level. He uses his paid leave every year to go fishing.
• Mother: Hizutome Eika. An insect maniac known even to experts in the field. Recently, she customized a room in the house to replicate the climate of South America to raise butterflies.
• Me: Hizutome Rakuro. Needless to say, a gamer. Most of my time at home is spent with my consciousness in VR.
• Sister: Hizutome Rumi. A hardcore fashionista. She begged our parents to let her have two rooms for herself. Since her monthly allowance isn't enough to fuel the rate at which she buys clothes, she spends her days working part-time jobs with the intensity of an employee at a Black Company. I remember she was dancing in madness recently about something regarding a reader model gig.

When I mentioned this in middle school, the teacher semi-forced a three-party parent-teacher conference, so it seems society perceives our family as being a bit crazy. In reality, it's not like that at all. However, since both my sister and I caused three-party conferences, we decided it was actually a bad look. So, a rule exists in our house: "Every Sunday morning and evening, we must eat together and converse."

"Where's Dad?"

"He went fishing yesterday... Seems he just got back."

My father, who bears the sadness of having his fishing rods sold off because he once broke the rules to go marlin fishing, apparently doesn't have the courage to break the rules again. That marlin was delicious, though. Well, we all keep each other in check—Mom sells our clothes on net auctions for cheap (Executioner: Mom), we release butterflies back into the wild (Planner: Me, Executioner: Sister), or Dad sells off limited editions of Trash Games (Executioner: Dad). Despite this, our relationship is good. No, really.

"I'm home. Caught some nice Kisu (Sillago). I'm counting on tempura for dinner tonight."

"Morning... Ah, welcome back, Dad. Where's the tuna?"

"I think that might be impossible with my current equipment."

Coming from a father who has a track record of tagging along on an acquaintance's fishing boat and hauling in a Pacific Bluefin Tuna, those words carry a different weight. And with that, everyone gathered for breakfast. Mom stepped away to tend to her bugs, but that much is within the acceptable range.

"How have you guys been lately?"

"I started a new game recently. It's actually pretty fun."

"I got a modeling job! Make sure to advertise it for me!"

"I made friends with someone who fishes for marlin recently, thinking of going on a little trip."

Miso soup, rice, natto, and grilled salmon... When it comes to seafood, we get it periodically for basically free, so fish dishes are common on our table. Mom finished tending to her butterflies and sat at the table, and the family meal began. The main topics were usually about our own hobbies, sometimes shifting to school grades.

Once breakfast was over, we each returned to our own worlds. We probably wouldn't see each other again until 7 PM... after all, everyone either shuts themselves in their room or goes out for work. Even recently, a kind neighbor lady asked if my sister and I were being neglected, but we are functioning properly as a family, so please stop trying to call child protective services.

"Hm? An email?"

Just as I was thinking, "Time to go back to ShanFro," a notification popped up on the mobile terminal linked to my VR headgear. It was a message from a friend. I wondered who it was—it was ModoruKatzo and one other person, a mutual friend of mine and Katzo's. We've never met in real life, but we know each other's email addresses. Since the three of us main different genres of games, we sometimes consult each other via email, but judging by the subject lines, the topics were different this time.

Subject: I bought it too From: ModoruKatzo To: Sunraku Body: I bought ShanFro too. Where are you right now, Sunraku? I'll catch up soon.

"ModoruKatzo bought ShanFro too, huh?"

If I recall, he's a pro gamer in fighting games, but is his time management okay? In this day and age, pro gamers are established as legitimate athletes. It's not quite the Olympics... but world tournaments exist, and ModoruKatzo is someone all gamers look up to. Wasn't there a tournament coming up soon...? Well, whatever. For now, I'll keep the fact that I'm in the middle of a Unique Scenario secret and just send him my progress.

The other one is...

Subject: Is it raining spears tomorrow? From: Pencil Warrior To: Sunraku Body: I heard from Mr. ModoruKatzo, but is it true that Sunraku-kun, who suffers from a disease where he can only play Trash Games, has laid his hands on a God Game? Are you okay? Do you have a stomach ache? Any allergic reactions? Ah, I'm actually a pretty serious player in ShanFro, so once you reach Fifticia, let's go hunt something together ^^

That was a provocation mail on the level of hate mail, dammit. Fifticia... if I remember correctly, that's the newest area currently unlocked. Damn it, I'll send her a screenshot of Emul later. She can sense the presence of a Unique Scenario and writhe in agony.

Since I'm at it, maybe I'll gather some information before logging into ShanFro. It's not like I'm stubbornly restricting myself from using walkthrough sites, and this game is more bizarrely complex than I thought.

Author's Notes & Lore:

Well, even I would be worried if I had a friend who "barely even sees their family." Just so you know, we do have minimum communication, like asking for errands and such, so please assume there is no domestic discord or anything like that.