Chapter 381: Side 4: The Unique Daily Life of the Man Who Can't Trigger Uniques on His Own

Changing locations to the real world.

"Now, you're going to spit out everything nice and quick... Kei!"

Uomi Kei, nineteen years old, was currently receiving a kabedon.

"Tell me exactly why Sylvia Goldberg came to deliver a handmade bento to you...!!"

"Hello~"

Of course, the person in question was the one being kabedon'd, and to describe the current situation in the simplest terms, it was nothing short of an absolute 'Messy Love Triangle'.

"No, there's a deep reason behind that..."

"Heeeeeh?"

With dead eyes and a French fry dangling from her mouth like a cigar, Natsume Megumi offered a sweet smile as she continued the kabedon.

"Well then, let's hear it, this 'deep reason' of yours... shall we?"

"Umm, well, that's..."

"Hey Nutmeg! Cool down, cool down!"

"Guh... Who do you think caused me to heat up in the first place...!"

"More importantly, I'm living in the same place as Kei right now!"

A bomb dropped with a thumbs-up and a smile radiating the utmost superiority and confidence; at least to Kei's ears, he hallucinatively heard the booming sound of a signal cannon declaring war.

"Wha, huh... ?!? Wh-wh-wh-what do you mean by that, Keiiiiii!!"

"No, that's wrong, she lives in the room next door...!!"

"Whether she lives in the living room or the dining room, isn't that still living together, you idiot!!"

"No, n-n-n-no, I mean the apartment next door, literally the apartment next door!"

Having his shoulders grabbed and his head shaken violently back and forth, Kei somehow managed to clear up the misunderstanding that had advanced about three stages too far in Megumi's brain and get his spinning vision back to normal.

"Oh, so it's just the apartment next door..."

"But I go over to play a lot."

"Wait...! Grabbing my neck is...! No...! Death...!!"

"Kei, you idiot!!"

"Gueh..."

Game over.

"Amelia Sullivan is?"

"YES! She might be coming over here?"

"Ehh... 'The Raptor of Dinoscull', huh. Sounds like more trouble is coming..."

Kei, having barely avoided crossing the Sanzu River, muttered that name while pulling out a French fry packed tightly vertically into the self-proclaimed bento Sylvia had brought—strictly speaking, it should be described as delivery fast food repacked into a bento box.

Amelia Sullivan.
While not the absolute top-tier like the pro-gaming team "Zodiac Cluster," she belongs to the pro-gaming team "Dinoscull," which is ranked among the highest in the US specifically because she is on the roster.
As a pro-gamer—specifically one who focuses on fighting games—she is the second most famous person after Sylvia Goldberg.
While her real-life appearance is quite striking, being a woman over 180cm tall with a sharp gaze befitting the moniker 'Hawk Eye' (Sullivan), what truly deserves special mention is her skill, having climbed her way to effectively being the Number Two player in the US while primarily using heavyweight characters.

In the US fighting game community, the figure known as Sylvia Goldberg is akin to a god. It's true that Kei achieved the historic feat of defeating Sylvia, but even taking that into account, that remains the one and only black mark on her record up to this point.

Because of that, it is only natural that as followers of the absolute champion, many players adopt an aggressive style focused on high action counts and fast footwork.
In the midst of all that, Amelia, who uses a character completely opposite to the mainstream—slow, heavily armored, and highly durable—to close in on Sylvia, boasts a popularity that at times rivals Sylvia's own.

"...It's really because of him, isn't it."

"Exactly! Kei, you got an email too, right?"

But into that scene, a completely unknown entity suddenly appeared—someone who, if you had to describe them, really likes energy drinks—and using the "Real Cursed Prison," fought completely evenly with that Sylvia Goldberg piloting Metius.

From Amelia Sullivan's perspective—who might have otherwise been the one holding that title—that existence is absolutely impossible to overlook, and deciding to come to Japan to confirm the existence of a player who hasn't released a single scrap of information since GGC is a perfectly understandable reason.

But that wasn't the problem.

"That person's so competitive it's like her pride got up and put on clothes... She's definitely going to corner us."

"Yeah."

Uomi Kei knows this, and Sylvia Goldberg knows it even better.
The driving force that moves Amelia Sullivan is the exact opposite of grudges or jealousy, and the fact is that her advance almost never stops.

Currently, Kei is the only person who knows the true identity of the mysterious helper gamer "No Face" / "No Name." Strictly speaking, Megumi also knows the identity of one of the pair, but we'll leave that aside for now.
Furthermore, considering she knows Sylvia Goldberg's current location through private associations...

"...Hey, Kei."

"Stop, Megu, I don't want to see it! I don't want to look at that massive silhouette visible through the frosted glass!"

"No, that's just my manager."

"Oh, what a relief. How misleading..."

Clack

"Oh, there you are, Kei. There's someone who says they want to meet you, and unless my eyes are deceiving me, I can't shake the feeling that it's Amelia Sullivan... Is it bad if I ask for an autograph?"

"Strategic retreat!"

"Ah, he ran away!!"

"It's a hunting!"

OiKatzo: Um

Sunraku: What is it

OiKatzo: I have a very serious matter to discuss with you

Sunraku: Is this one of those things where it's more fun to refuse?

OiKatzo: Wait! This involves my actual physical safety!

OiKatzo: I'm going to get folded in half!!

Sunraku: Eh, what kind of dangerous situation is that

OiKatzo: Ahh, the context is really complicated so I'll skip it, but

OiKatzo: To get straight to the point, how would you feel about participating in an event as "No Face" around November, or rather...

Sunraku: Eh, I don't wanna...

Sunraku: It's just genuinely a pain in the ass...

OiKatzo: Let's negotiate with that in mind

OiKatzo: If this keeps up, my private life is going to be ripped to shreds

Sunraku: Let's hear what information you have to offer, then

OiKatzo: If you don't participate, I'm going to have Sylvia Goldberg storm your house

Sunraku: Blackmaiiiil!

Sunraku: That's what society generally calls blackmaiiiil!

OiKatzo: Shut up! Either way, she's already counting down the seconds until she reaches Fifticia, which means she's coming to the New Continent side in the next 3rd New Continent Survey, so just give up!

Sunraku: Eh, isn't that way too fast?

OiKatzo: I don't think we're the ones who get to say that

OiKatzo: Anyway, back to the topic at hand. What I said earlier was the first condition

Sunraku: Eh, you're actually pushing forward with that? Are you insane?

OiKatzo: If it means protecting my private life, I'll gladly descend into madness

Sunraku: The only thing you're descending into is womanhood

Sunraku: That photoshopped image of you made to look like a girl where they didn't even edit your facial features at all is way too funny

OiKatzo: Shut uuup!

OiKatzo: Shut uuup!!

OiKatzo: Because of that, I almost had to suffer a cross-dressing penalty game, you know!?

Sunraku: Hey stop it I'm laughing

Sunraku: I'm gonna pull a Mold

OiKatzo: To pull a Mold (verb)

OiKatzo: Or rather, if you trace it back to the source, this is all happening because you fought Sylvia so flashily, you know?

OiKatzo: A pro gamer came all the way from the US requesting a match against you

Sunraku: Ehh... That's a situation where you, the guy who actually beat Sylvia, should be tanking the aggro, right?

OiKatzo: .........

Sunraku: Ah

Sunraku: Well, if it's in November...

OiKatzo: Yes, I got your word!

OiKatzo: I took a screenshot too!

OiKatzo: Three of them!

Sunraku: The sheer desperation

Sunraku: By the way, if we're talking about that, what about "No Name"-san?

OiKatzo: You can't put that thing on public broadcasting

Sunraku: It's already broadcasted to the whole world, though... Well whatever, setting that aside

OiKatzo: Hm?

Sunraku: Sending me a game pre-release and all that, aren't they completely trying to fill in my moat?

OiKatzo: It's just your imagination

Sunraku: And if you were to speak honestly?

OiKatzo: Just don't join Star Rain, please

Sunraku: Going overseas is a bit...

Author's Afterword
By the way, as for Sylvia, after experiencing her defeat at the GGC, she has undergone a further version update, so she has become even stronger.