Chapter 252: The Shocking Trash-Tier Strong "Zero" Revealed at Last

Author's Preface
The shocking ability that even deceived the author made me laugh so hard my abs nearly twisted off, so I'm publishing tomorrow's portion right now.

I can't win. I can't win at all. I never thought I'd be able to win with half-baked countermeasures to begin with, but even so, I just can't win.
That bullshit-strong AI even showed up in my dreams... What was supposed to be a little time-killer is starting to encroach upon my real life.

"Step in using a two-stage approach and attack... No, maybe I should catch the blade barehanded..."

"G-G-Good morning!"

"Ah, Saiga-san, good morning. Since he primarily targets the head, torso, and hands, I'll bait an attack and..."

I couldn't help but think my encounter rate with Saiga-san was strangely high, but that thought was quickly washed away by my thoughts on how to defeat the AI Hanshi: Extreme.
Saiga-san's face is red as usual; does she just run hot or something? A preemptive strike that doesn't let the opponent deal with it... No, maybe I should stack countermeasures on top of countermeasures until he breaks down... Ah, right.

"Come to think of it, Saiga-san, don't you practice martial arts? Or something like that?"

"Y-Yes! I can break roof tiles!"

"Roof t—... Well whatever. There's something I want to ask: when you have to fight an incredibly strong opponent, what kind of effort do you put in to ensure you win?"

"Heh? Umm... In my case, it's strictly a part of self-defense so I don't know the exact details, but perhaps... trying to imitate the opponent's movements yourself, for example?"

Imitate the opponent's movements? Wait, it's self-defense, so why do you break roof tiles? Does that mean you smash the jaws of miscreants exactly like you're smashing roof tiles? Terrifying!
Perhaps noticing the question marks (mixed with sheer terror) floating above my face, Saiga-san continued her explanation in a way even I could understand.

"It doesn't necessarily mean making the opponent's movements your own, but... for example, you can search for actions that make you think, 'If I were doing this movement, I'd hate it if they did that.' After all, you can learn much better by actually doing it yourself rather than just watching and trying to remember."

I see. You find their weaknesses by putting yourself in the opponent's shoes. If you perform the same movements, the weaknesses will also be the same.

"I see... Thanks, that was helpful."

"N-No, not at all! Umm... W-Why do you ask?"

"Eh? Ah~... You know that thing I bought at Rock Roll? The hidden boss in that game is insanely strong, you see. It's an AI trace of someone named Ryuguin Fugaku, though."

"Grandfather Fugaku's... is it?"

"Grandfather Fugaku?"

For calling a total stranger, she's being strangely overly familiar... Eh, don't tell me.

"Ah, um, you see... Well, right? The Saiga family and the Ryuguin family are... um, distant relatives."

"Eh, seriously?"

"Yes. My sister... or rather, um, I have two older sisters, and the second eldest one has mastered the Ryuguin style."

Isn't the combat power of the Saiga family a bit too high? Or rather, even if it's just a trace AI, I've been screaming "Dieeeee!!" while attacking a distant relative of Saiga-san. Am I going to be okay? I'm not going to get assassinated in the dark by a clan assassin the moment I clear it, right?

"My cousin who's around the same age as us is amazing, you know? She practices kendo, and she's practically unrivaled in the Kansai region......... Eau."

Saiga-san, who had been speaking happily, suddenly let out a bizarre sound that I didn't think could come from a human throat, and froze completely.

"?"

"U-Umm! N-N-No! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! Blabbering on and on about my own family like this...!?"

"Heh? No, it's fine... (In the flow of the conversation) It's something that involves me too, after all."

"M-Me... involves...!? Could that mean, registering our... !?"

"Coughing?"

"It's nor-fing!"

O-Ou... How should I put this, up until very recently, I had this image of her being like a celebrity who lived in a completely different world, but after actually talking to her, Saiga-san's tension is surprisingly amusing.

"We're almost at school."

"Y-Yes, you're right... U-Um!"

"Yeah?"

"Um, well, you see... um... well, that..."

Is she stuck in a loop of "um", "well", and "you see"? While I was pondering such trivial matters, Saiga-san raised her head and opened her mouth, seemingly having made up her mind.

"A-After school! Do you have some free time!"

"Eh? Ah, well, I don't really have any particular plans..."

"Um, well, there's something important I need to talk to you about, so... Shall we go... to Rock Roll!?"

Something important she needs to talk to me about? I wonder what it is... The fact that she chose Rock Roll must mean it's related to games.

"Okay. After school then."

"Hahyaai!"

What an amusing person.

............

.........

......

"...So, why exactly am I being made to look like a suspect undergoing an interrogation in the corner of the classroom?"

Wait, I'm getting a massive sense of déjà vu. Is this the latest trend lately? Getting captured? Are we doing Prison Break?

"Suspect Rakuro Hizutome, do you have any last words?"

"First off, why am I being interrogated?"

"Very well. Let the execution commence."

Stop skipping the entire process from capture straight to execution. Even the Middle Ages took a little more time before jumping to the execution.

"Why are you frequently coming to school with Saiga-san!"

"Why, you ask... Isn't it just because we're in the same school district?"

"Saiga-san commutes by car! Why is she matching your pace!?"

"Go ask her yourself."

"I seriously doubt it, but are you perhaps dating Saiga-san..."

(A look equivalent to looking at a hamster claiming "I am God")

Since I have no reason to lie and no circumstances requiring me to hide anything, I just answered the questions normally. Now then.

"Now then, is that all you wanted to say? Men, seize him."

"Eh!? Why am I getting captured in this flow!?"

"Very well. We shall now carry out the sentence of piercing hole expansion."

"Hey, isn't that an inhumane execution!? Aah, stop it! Stop pulling on my piercing holes! Why are you guys trying to widen my ear piercings!?"

While subjecting the Trash-Luck Piercings (abbreviation for Bacteria-Infested Blessed Earlobe Piercings) to inhumane sanctions, eighty percent of my brain was still completely occupied with thoughts about the game.
Ah, the reason I'm focusing on your ears is because you give the best reactions.

After school. Apparently, Saiga-san had some important talk? she wanted to have, so I arrived at Rock Roll a step ahead of her.

"Sup."

"Haaai, Hizutome-kun. Enjoying your youth?"

"I'm working hard to overcome a massive wall, so I'm probably enjoying my youth, yeah."

"A youth spent lying in bed, huh..."

Well, if you look at the state rather than the action, you could certainly say that. In my case, it's a commercial-grade setup, so my posture is technically sitting in a chair completely relaxed, but that's a trivial difference.

"Gonna buy anything?"

"Nah, I have no idea why, but Saiga-san called me here."

"...Say, Hizutome-kun. Why do you think you were called here?"

Why? The reason she went out of her way to choose Rock Roll, and the answer derived from our conversation up until now is.........!

".........The eradication of a threat factor?"

"How on earth did you arrive at that conclusion~?"

Unfortunately, my brain is entirely occupied by the AI Ryuguin Fugaku, so the answer derived from our recent conversation was "Preemptively eradicating anyone who might surpass the Ryuguin style."
Saiga-san has high physical attack power, so I feel like she'd just lightly tap my neck and reap my consciousness.

"Are you dense, or is this starting from trying to modify a drag car so it can legally drive on public roads...?"

"You can't steer a drag car, you know."

"That's right. Life is a drag car."

Our conversation isn't meshing at all. What on earth is Iwamaki-san talking about?

"By the way, Hizutome-kun."

"Yes."

"Do you know how to say the number Zero in Japanese?"

"It's Rei, right."

"Then conversely, if you translated Rei into English, it'd be Zero, right?"

"That's right."

"Then, how about you take the Rei you recently met and turn it into Zero, or vice versa?"

".........?"

Turn the Zero I recently met into Rei...?
Actually, how far back is "recently" supposed to go? Ah, speaking of which, Rei-san had a 0 (Zero) in her name.

In other words, turning Psyger-0 (Zero) into Psyger-0 (Rei)................. Nnua?

Psyger-0, Psyger-Rei, Saiga Rei......... Saiga Rei (0)?

No, there's no way. No no, there's no way. That's way too simplistic... Even the Cannot-Trigger-Uniques-Himself Bastard put a little more thought into his name... Hahahaha.

"U-Um... I'm he—"

"Rei-san?"

"Hyea-fwhu-whaa!?"

The true identity of the strongest player whose name echoed throughout ShanFro was a flower on a high peak who was incredibly strong in real life as well...

Eh, she's basically at the top of the hierarchy and the strongest in both the game and real life. This person pulled the absolute highest rarity in the un-rerollable gacha of birth... Terrifying.

Author's Afterword
The fact that "Psyger-0 = Saiga Rei" was supposed to be revealed before the Wolf Strife during the plotting phase, but the author completely forgot about it, is a miracle of trash-tier power.
Come to think of it, I did say I was going to make the heroine go all out in this arc...