Chapter 376: The Beam-Equipped President, a Great First Step

The feeling of not being able to focus on studying was one I hadn't experienced in quite a while. Well, whatever, starting tonight it's finally time to challenge Presi-Legend.

"...Even if they're NPCs, time flows in real-time over there, so I should probably say something."

And so, I logged into ShanFro. I told Emul, "In order to defeat the King in Yellow who appeared in my dream world, I must follow the words of the faceless priest, yada yada yada," throwing together a random excuse to let her know I wouldn't be logging in for a while.
Well, the lore seems to be set up so that NPCs recognize the irregular login schedules of Players as just "how they are," so as long as I don't vanish completely, it should work out somehow.

With that done, I logged out of ShanFro. Now then, let's start this up for real, Presi-Legend...!!

『The world is truly in an era of war...』

『With the final Emperor returning the imperial throne on his deathbed, the glory of the Thousand-Year Empire has come to an end...』

『Those driven by greed take up arms, rising to claim the title of King of the Era for themselves.』

『However, the flames of war have always, and will always, scorch the innocent.』

I see, a classic setup. Not bad for an intro establishing a war-torn setting.

『That is why you must rise!』

『To create a world where love and peace can be sung!』

『The Love and Peace to extinguish the flames of war!』

Ah, this is starting to get sketchy.

『That's right! It can't be anyone else; it has to be you!』

『For you are the bringer of peace... You are the President!!』

I don't really care, but am I calling myself the President right from the start? Isn't that creating a paradox, like being a billionaire with only a thousand yen to your name?

『This is the grand tale of the single human who brought an end to the era of war───!!』

And then, the title dropped in massive letters.

『Epic of President Legend』

Moving onto the character creation screen, my heart pounded once more at the potential this game was hiding.
This bastard, it looked so serious during the PV, but it's already oozing an aura of stupidity and trashiness right from the opening.

According to the few play reviews out there, it supposedly has a multi-ending format... But the thing is, the guys who played it never talk about it, they never sell it, they just say "It's a Trash Game, but it was good."

"Ah, so you have to enter a last name for this one..."

Eh? Well then... what should I do. I'll go with a male character and name him after the salted mackerel I just ate, Sunraku Grilled-Mackerel.

Alright, let's customize the avatar for Salted-Mackerel-kun, who will serve as my "Sunraku" this time around... Oh, a beard is nice, definitely a beard. Starting weapon? Saber... No, let's go with a tomahawk. Wait a second, wasn't this supposed to be a management game? Why is the player holding a weapon?

"Finally, the pattern on the suit... Um, the time period setting..."

If I worry about the little things, I won't be able to keep up with the speed of a Trash Game. I slapped a dark navy suit on him and quickly finished the character creation.

Next up is the tutorial.
I see? In Management Mode, the player can use a skill called "Presidential Aura" (Glory of the President), and in Combat Mode, they can use "President Beam" (Majesty of the President)... Wait a damn minute.

"Is the Aura made of light? No, if it's the glory of a President, I guess I can... accept an Aura, sure."

The problem is you, President Beam. Do you even know what game category you're in? Or rather, is this a fantasy setting where people just shoot beams? Huh?

Whatever, it's fine. The moment I saw there was a Combat Mode, I understood this was an aggressive President who directly visits the front lines. It'll probably be easier to handle than just pure management anyway.

"The flag design..."

The customization options aren't bad, actually... Let's go with a design of a skewered fish being grilled. It seems you can't create completely custom designs from scratch, but rather mix and match pre-set designs provided by the game.
With this kind of system, if you try hard enough, you can recreate anime characters and the like, but I don't have the skills or the time for that, so I went with something simple.

"Hm, the secretary's character design? Personality settings?"

Ehh? Ehh... well, she's a secretary, so let's go with a cool personality... Make the design like this, like this, and a bit of this... and done.

"Name? Rice Miso."

Salted mackerel, rice, and miso soup. You really can't beat the golden combo. It was delicious.

"Alright, let's deploy! I'll learn the details on the field!!"

When I opened my eyes, I found myself inside what looked like an incredibly unkempt, rundown shack.

"...Yeah, compared to ShanFro, there's a bit of jankiness in the movement. Or maybe ShanFro is just too perfectly smooth."

I opened and closed my hands, moving my body around for a bit to check my condition before grabbing the Tomahawk that was practically glowing and screaming, "Pick me up!" Thank goodness, it seems it was just a tutorial-style guidance glow and not a trash weapon that stays permanently illuminated.

A bearded man in a suit holding an axe inside a rundown shack. It's a hopelessly mismatched situation, but whatever, I'll let it slide.

"For starters, I have absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to be doing as the President... but I guess I won't find out until I step outside."

But just before I could reach for the door, which looked like its hinges were about to snap off at any second, it burst open from the outside with a loud BAM!.

"Haa...! Haa...! Kh, uh..."

The person who stumbled inside was a woman with sharp eyes and dull, short-cut gray hair. Since she was expressionless during character creation, I didn't know what kind of character she would end up being... but seeing her actually moving in-game, she's surprisingly well-made.

"A person...!? Why are you in the middle of a battlefield like this...!"

I see, info acquired. It seems I was just casually taking a nap in a place where people definitely shouldn't be.

"Ah... hm?"

A window popped up in the bottom left of my vision. What's this?

"Ah, I see..."

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

I set aside Rice-chan, who was giving me a suspicious look, and checked the "Recommended Responses" displayed at the bottom of my vision.

It's a system you see often in Full-Dive Galge. After all, not everyone in the world is capable of flawless communication. Because of that, these types of dialogue options are sometimes presented exclusively to the player.
Well, that's just the excuse. Not every game in the world is packed with AI on the level of ShanFro. That's exactly why they provide choices—to narrow down the possible responses. So even if I were to say something completely out of left field right now like "What color are your panties?" or "Introduce me to your younger sister," I'd probably just get stared at with a confused look.

Now then, the choices this time are...

• You're injured! Is there anything I can use to treat...

• Enemies? How many, what affiliation?

• Well hello there, beautiful lady, how about joining me for some tea?

Wait, aren't all of these except the first one total joke options? The second one makes me sound like a member of an elite special forces unit instead of a President, and the third one is just a complete pick-up artist. She just told me we were on a battlefield, right? This is exactly why Trash Games are...

"Well hello there, beautiful lady. Leaping into a place where a man is sleeping, you're quite the brave one, aren't you."

Naturally, the choice is the last one. Duh, we're here to enjoy the game.

"What are you saying..."

The sound of hooves.

"Kh... I don't know who you are, but it seems I've dragged you into this."

Oh? The text in the bottom left updated.

• Kick it open!

I see? I don't hate that at all. It seems Mr. Bottom-Left-Window understands what it means to be stylish.

"Stand back."

Alright... One, two, three!!

"Door knock, ora!!"

"Bugeah!?"

Oh, just as I thought.
The forcefully kicked-open door slammed into something on the other side, and the impact completely shattered the door into splinters.
Looking outside, a man in light armor radiating pure "Trash Mob Soldier A" energy was rolling on the ground, and behind him stood Trash Mobs B and C dressed in similar gear.

"Not a bad start for a first battle."

"Wh-Who the hell are you!!"

Oh, the bottom left updated.

• I am the President!

• I am the President!!

• I am the President!!!

That's literally just one choice.

"I am... the President!!!!"

Now then, let us aim to build a Great State───!!

Author's Afterword
From here on out, every single piece of lore or setting that appears in Presi-Legend can be brushed off with "It can't be helped, he's the President."
By the way, regarding the world setting, the stance on magic is "It's not that magic doesn't exist, but it's rare on the level of actual, genuine miracles." President Beam? It can't be helped, he's the President.