Chapter 307: Communicate Boss Rush

So wandering-type bosses really do exist...!
Amidst the bizarre silence, I faced off against the old man. What is going on? Between Ryuguin Fugaku and this guy, aren't there way too many real-life people who look exactly like veteran warriors? Look at those arms, he looks like he could strangle a shark to death. I wonder how his stat allocation works... his STR is probably nerfed by an age penalty, so maybe he pumped his DEX and...

".........Hah!?"

This is bad, my thoughts are being completely infected by games. It's the fault of this elderly lord in front of me emitting way too much strong-character aura, yeah.
That being said, it's not like the thing I picked up grew naturally out of the wooden floorboards. If it's here, it's only natural that someone dropped it. If I remember correctly, the current season for this is...

"Ah, ahh... Excuse me, here you go."

"Umu."

"Are you going salmon fishing? I hear the peak season is a little bit further away, though."

That's right, that's a lure. Specifically, a lure for salmon fishing. I remembered it because I saw my dad joyfully preparing one a while back.
He was super hyped, shouting, "I'm gonna eat salmon roe bowls! Salmon roe bowls!" But honestly, I'd feel much safer eating store-bought ones...

"...Hoh. You seem quite knowledgeable?"

"Ah, cra... ngu, well, yes... That being said, it's not me, but my dad who's a fishing cr... I mean, who enjoys fishing as a hobby."

I should have just handed it over quickly and ended the conversation right there... Gritting my teeth at the time loss caused by choosing the wrong dialogue option, I fully mobilized my experience from Gal Games to continue the conversation with the Strong Silver standing before me.

"If I recall correctly, it should be fine to start fishing for them if you go up north, right?"

"Umu. For the current season, bonito fishing is also an option, but a friend recommended I try my hand at lure fishing, you see."

"Since you're using a lure, the fish you're aiming for naturally tend to be quite large, after all... When I was in elementary school, my dad took me sea bass fishing, but I got overpowered by the fish and actually fell into the ocean."

Looking back on it now, that was a pretty crazy experience. I couldn't hear my dad screaming "Let go of the rod!", and because of my stubborn, childish determination that I absolutely would reel it in, I nearly ended up getting swept away by the current.

"...Fumu, that is certainly quite a tale."

Nice, nice. Using a story from my past to liven up the conversation is a solid applied technique. But I need to be careful; if I overdo it, the system might flag it as "talking too much about myself" and result in a negative affection rating.

"Well, I eventually let go of the rod and got rescued by my dad, but right after that, another guy reeled in an absolutely massive yellowtail."

"Given the flow of the story..."

"Yeah, apparently the fish was a glutton. It had a line sticking out of its mouth, and when they pulled on it, they actually reeled in my dad's rod."

"Hahahaha! So the fishing rod was the one that got fished!"

"Hahaha, and that's the punchline..."

I faintly remember the old man who reeled in that meter-long giant fish patting my head and saying, "This kid might reel in a real monster in the future!"
Old man, that kid from back then grew up enough to literally fish out a whale in the virtual world...! Also, my dad's fishing obsession worsened to the point where he's out there hunting marlins now.

"Fumu... I see, I see... First it was sea bass fishing, then a child getting fished by a yellowtail, and finally a fishing rod being reeled in..."

H-Hurry up and get here, Saiga-saaaan! I absolutely cannot sustain this fishing talk any longer! My facade is going to start crumbling soon!
I mean, as expected, casually starting a conversation halfway was completely the wrong move! There's no way I can just say "Well, I'm out of things to talk about, so..." at this point!
Frantically trying to repair the smiling mask that was rapidly crumbling from my face, I was desperately broadcasting an SOS signal in my mind when...

"............"

"............"

I made perfect eye contact with Saiga-san, who was peeking at me with only the top half of her face visible from behind a sliding door.

"...! (Attempts to retreat behind the sliding door)"

".........!! (Blinks at high speed to request rescue)"

Help! Requesting immediate rescue! Soloing this is impossible!
Perhaps my plea reached her, as Saiga-san hesitantly emerged from behind the sliding door.

"U-Um, Grandfather..."

"Oh, Rei. Is this a school friend of yours?"

"Y-Yes...! Um, this is... Hizutome-kun, from my school."

"Hello..."

"Fumu... Hizutome, is it... I see."

What exactly does he "see" from earlier? Just what did he observe about me to say something like that? Times like this really make me curse the fact that walk-through wikis don't exist in "Reality." A wandering-type boss is taking the concept of a 'First-Time Killer' way too far...!

"Well then, I shall take my leave... Ah, yes."

"Yes, what is it!"

"Could you give my regards to Senji-kun?"

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

.........

......

Just what the hell did my father do to you, desu waー!!?

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

.........

......

I felt exactly like I had just been unexpectedly stabbed right as I turned a corner. It was like a protagonist being told by the final boss, "Your father, who supposedly abandoned his family and vanished, was actually fighting a solitary battle to protect the world and his family, but ultimately fell because he lacked the strength..."
No wait, my dad is perfectly fine and healthy. Actually, just the other day he got food poisoning from raw oysters, but by the next day he was out fishing for blowfish with a completely unfazed face, you know? Is he a berserker completely devoid of the fear of death or something?

"A-A f-fa-fa-family-wide r-re-relatio—!?"

"Saiga-san?"

"Famlyaship!?"

"What?"

She was still glitching out occasionally, as usual, but as expected of the young lady of the Saiga household... This is the first time I've ever seen a high schooler wearing a kimono in their own home.

"The Saiga family is amazing..."

"T-That's not true at all............ U-Um, thank you so much for going out of your way to come here today..."

"No, really, don't worry about it. Anyway, here you go. I cleaned it beforehand, so I think you can use it normally."

Seriously, the maintenance for the commercial-grade gear is surprisingly a pain... But more than anything, it's so bulky that moving it is incredibly annoying. Thanks to that, the robot vacuum cleaner that cleans my room always bumps into the commercial rig looking extremely annoyed.

"Th-Thank you very much... Excuse me, I'll go bring my unit out right now...!"

"Ah, yeah. Should I just wait here?"

"Yes! Please wait here for a moment!"

I watched Saiga-san run off with a tatata, taking a sip of my green tea. I have the tongue of a commoner so I can't really tell, but it's probably delicious.
Still, to think there was a connection between my dad and Saiga Grandpa... It really is a small world. Or rather, it feels more like the RNG for mysterious connections hit a massive success?

"........."

"........."

Wait, calm down. This is a trap. It's the type of encounter where an instant-death attack comes flying at you the moment you react. As long as you understand how reaction-based instant-death mechanics work, you can exploit them, but they're genuinely terrifying on your first run... Meaning, I'm absolutely terrified right now.

"........."

"........."

What is this. What is going on. Are you telling me Saiga-san is actually in on this, and her entire family is colluding to pull a massive prank on me?
A woman in a kimono had entered the waiting room completely naturally and sat directly across from me. We had simply been staring at each other in silence, and that tense silence was just continuing to drag on.
I desperately wanted to avert my eyes, but I was getting the exact same bad premonition I usually get right before an instant-death attack triggers. So, while maintaining a facade of absolute calm on the surface, I wiped the sweat from my forehead with extremely stiff movements.

".........I hear you are a school friend of Rei's."

She spo—!? Well, obviously she did, but are you seriously requesting a conversation!? You've gotta be kidding me, are you the hidden boss?

"Ah, yes. We aren't in the same class, so if anything, you could say we're companions with a shared interest."

"A shared interest... Ah, that thing where you attach a machine to your head and sleep..."

"Full-Dive VR. Yes, that's the one."

The woman, whose facial structure somewhat resembled Saiga-san's, stared intently at me while radiating an intense aura of intimidation from her entire body. I see, so this is what the NPCs who react to the "Scar" or "Curse" feel like.

"That machine... um, how exactly does the mechanism work?"

"How............ Ahー, um... The brain operates via electrical signals, you see. By sending specific signals from an external source..."

Yeah.

"It's basically like sharing everyone's dreams through the power of a machine."

"I see..."

I recall hearing that Psyger-100 is Saiga-san's older sister, but... is this her? No, her way of speaking and overall atmosphere are completely different. Does she have another sister besides Psyger-100? I don't go around memorizing the sibling relationships of other people. Actually, it goes without saying, but I don't even know Psyger-100's real name in the first place!

"You are... um,"

"I'm Hizutome. Today, I heard that Saiga... um, Rei-san's equipment was malfunctioning, so I came to lend her the one I'm currently not using until hers returns from repairs..."

"───A device that a man has used countless times?"

Suu—. While maintaining her smile, the ambient temperature in the room plummeted to below freezing. It definitely plummeted.

"No, no, no, no! Obviously, considering there was dirt and sweat on it, I cleaned it thoroughly beforehand."

At the very least, the temperature returned to a level where human survival was possible. Ugh, I wanna go hoooome...

"Is that so... Well, truth be told, I have also developed a slight interest in the things Rei and Momo are so absorbed in."

Momo? Come to think of it, Pencilgon mentioned a name like that... Wait, Momo as in Psyger's Momo? Saiga Momo? Aren't both sisters just a little too lazy when it comes to naming their characters?

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

.........

......

"───Therefore. May I ask you two or three questions?"

"Thr............ Go ahead."

Just ask your family members if that's all it is.
Suppressing that thought with a will harder than the outer shell of a Crystal Scorpion, I barely managed to force out a reply.

What is this feeling? It feels exactly like entering a non-stop hidden boss fight right after watching the event cutscene for defeating the final boss.

Help me, Saiga-saaaaann! (Second time today).

Author's Afterword
Heroine-chan: "...It smells like disinfectant."