Chapter 484: Explosive Catch! The Fish That Devours Trash Games!!

Author's Preface

Grind the ancient battlefield, do not run.
Rage on... keep fighting...
In the wrong place? You can still grind meat.
Nerve yourself and tell them to bring it on.
Do have the guts to act like yourself.
Make the choice to throw away thoughts of running.
Exceed your limits and click.
Absolutely, 'Ruh' is a god-tier manga.
Tears won't win you the game.

"Drop dead, oraaah!!"

"You wanna go, koraaah!!"

"Alright, alright, that's enough of the comedy routine."

OiKatzo and I called off our glaring contest, and within a space where various items drifted and floated through the air like stars, the four of us faced each other.

"Hmm... Don't you think she's a bit too unique to just ignore?"

"There is no problem. It can be resolved with This Unit's (My) intelligence."

"She's got a really strong character... well, I did some background checks, but this is the Conquista Doll Sunraku formed a contract with? Right?"

"Affirmation: This Unit (I) am the Conquista Doll Elma=317, providing intelligence assist to the Contractor (Master)."

"Hey Sunraku-kun, mind if I ask for some tips on forming a contract? It looks super fun."

"I actually don't really get the conditions myself, you know? How exactly does that work?"

The fourth person... Saina, who had casually set up her own personal space right inside the storage area, pointed a finger at Pencilgon and continued speaking.

"The criteria for a contract depend on the situation, but Conquista Dolls have varying aptitudes for Contractors based on their model type. For you, perhaps a Liriel type would be a good match?"

"Liriel...? Ah, the one that acts all calculatingly cute."

"You remember her pretty well."

"I mean, my job is literally showing my face to people and looking at people's faces. If a character has a distinct face like in a game, I'll usually remember it."

On that note, since I see the exact same Symbols (Characters) across so many different games, I'm actually really bad at remembering them...

"Ah right, changing the subject, but Pencilgon, it looks like participating is really going to be impossible for you?"

"Participate? Ah, that... 'TV You Gotta' is in the metropolitan area, right? I have to head down to the Kansai region for a bit that day."

"Exact opposite direction, huh. Yeah, guess that's impossible then..."

It really is strange; why the hell is this guy putting so much effort into this broadcast thing? I mean, sure, managing to invite the two unidentified ringers who ran wild at GGC would be more than enough to secure high ratings, but...
It seems Pencilgon was thinking the exact same thing; she glared at OiKatzo with half-lidded eyes and asked a question.

"Hey Katzo-kun... aren't you hiding something? Like, intentionally withholding information or something..."

"No, no, no no no... It's nothing like that at all."

............Suspicious.

"Spit it out right now you chicken-bone boy, or depending on what you say, a completely un-cancellable schedule might just sprout up on that exact day."

"Guh............. To be completely honest, yes... Sylvia and Amelia both strongly insisted they wanted to appear on the show, yes."

"Amelia............ The Raptor of Dinoscull?"

What's with that cool-sounding moniker? Or rather, does that refer to an actual person?

"As a gamer, I don't really know that much about her either. But she's over 190 cm tall, a bit solidly built, but still a monster with a model-like physique that isn't too massive... I know her from a professional standpoint."

'If we're just talking about photo book sales she apparently even surpasses the US #1', Pencilgon continued talking about this Amelia person with a cackling laugh.

"I see, I see〜. If Amelia is coming then I kinda want to go now too... And? Even with my casual knowledge, I know all about Amelia Sullivan's 'sore loser' streak... Ah, so that's why."

"What's why?"

The one who answered wasn't Pencilgon, but OiKatzo.

"Amelia Sullivan. US Rank #2, the Raptor of Dinoscull, the pro gamer who has shot down every single high-mobility character using a heavyweight character, with only a single exception... And,"

───Up until this summer, the woman closest to being the "Real-Life Cursed Prison".

"Now then, here is a question. A mysterious, suspicious individual appeared like a comet on the grand stage of GGC and dragged the US Rank #1 (Real Meteors) into an extra round using Cursed Prison. What exactly would a pro gamer with an ego so massive she flew all the way to Japan to pick a fight possibly want?"

"The Japanese pro gamer who handed her her first black star."

"We've already played about 200 matches. Her win rate is sixty percent."

You're getting beat up, that's hilarious.

"By the way, Sylvia recently installed Chinese Martial Arts into her playstyle and her win rate is 100%."

She's beating you up, that's terrifying...

A chill runs down my spine at the fact that the monster's basic specs have been casually buffed to demonic levels. Chinese Martial Arts is just cheating... That US Rank #1 would absolutely try to pull off fictional Hakkei internal strikes in real life.
But it all finally clicked. This bastard was trying to throw me into a monster's den without even giving me the details...!

"I think I'm scheduled to come down with a cold and a stomachache that day..."

"Should I send you stomach medicine and cold medicine via express delivery? Hmm? No, seriously, please give me a break. I originally only intended to invite you, but somehow it leaked, Sylvia found out, and then..."

"By the way, what happens if Sunraku-kun cancels at the last minute?"

"A hellish livestream where it's me alone versus a dream tag-team of the US Rank #1 and #2 will be broadcast to the entire world."

"I really want to see that."

"I'm going to do some image training right now on how to catch a cold that day."

"Stop that!!"

It was a completely genuine scream. Or rather, his hands were trembling. Just what the hell have you been through leading up to today... No, I'll pretend I didn't see that. There are some holes in every world you just shouldn't peek into.

"...Fu, fufufu."

"What should we do, Sunraku-kun? Katzo-kun broke."

"Send him in for repairs?"

"Fufufu... But, however, Sunraku... I have a card prepared that will absolutely raise your tension..."

Ah?

Laughing eerily, OiKatzo slowly opened his mouth, and spoke those words...

"I'll offer the First Edition Japanese Translation Package of Justice Versus as a reward."

"Wha.........!!?"

The First Edition of Just-Ver!?

"What's that?"

"It's a retro foreign game. You can still play it on current VR systems, but generationally it's a game from the VR category before Full-Dive VR."

"...You're joking, right? You mean the Second Edition, right? A physical Ver.1 copy is something you donate to a museum..."

"When I told Amelia it would serve as bait to hook No Face, she easily ordered it for me. Wanna know... how much it cost?"

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

I tried to say something, but my mouth simply wouldn't move, falling into silence.

Justice Versus. I believe it was released over a decade ago... The very last generation of controller-operated fighting games, completely wiped out by the popularization of Full-Dive VR... An undeniable, genuine retro game.
At the time of its release, Full-Dive VR was already beginning to spread, albeit in small numbers. In the midst of that, this game purposefully chose the good old controller operation, and its catchphrase was "Pushing the Unprecedented to Infinity."

When discussing the history of gaming, Full-Dive VR is a technological innovation that absolutely cannot be left out. The empathy, identification, and synchronization between player and character—Full-Dive is arguably the ultimate form of that, but from a certain perspective, it has aspects that are inferior to games where you move a character with a controller.

It's a simple concept. No matter how much a player struggles, they are human; they cannot perform movements humans are incapable of, and they don't know how to move body parts that don't exist on a human body.
Justice Versus, Just-Ver, is a masterpiece that pushed that specific advantage of controller-based fighting games to its absolute limit.

The essence of classic fighting games is similar to a card game. How much power a character's move has, how wide its range is, and what kind of effect it brings are all predetermined from the start.
Players clash against each other using a hand built from multiple cards, ranging from a quick light punch to a full meter super gauge attack, competing for victory.

In Full-Dive VR, that "hand of cards" is loose and narrow. Because the players actually move their own bodies, the game fundamentally relies on the player's own physical specs.
It's obvious; at least with the technology back then, if you tried to make a complete amateur perform CQC movements, it would result in their body moving entirely on its own, completely ignoring their will.
If anything, it's bizarre that a game like ShanFro—where you intuitively feel like you "can do it"—was born in just ten years. The mainstream is still motion-assist, after all.

So what makes Just-Ver so amazing? It's the customization—No, I guess that doesn't matter right now.

"You're... serious, right?"

"I'm serious. I just want to end this lifestyle where Amelia sends me daily emails demanding matches and pestering me... So Sunraku, I want you to go just as crazy as you did when you cornered Real Meteors."

Even while spitting out such an incredibly pathetic confession, OiKatzo had a wide, grinning smirk on his face...

Author's Afterword
While grinding laps in the ancient battlefield, the author's brain was generating settings at high speed as a form of escapism...!!

The Amelia Arc will take place in GH:C.