Chapter 553: Guiding Polaris
Author's Preface
There are way too many things to do...!
Getting off the Maglev, Saiga... I mean, Rei-san and I arrived in the capital, Tokyo, which for some reason feels unusually crowded this year alone. Come to think of it, since I call her Rei-shi this and Rei-shi that inside the game anyway, I'm starting to feel like there isn't much of a difference.
"Feels unusually crowded somehow..."
"Probably, all of these people are heading to JGE..."
Well, I figured as much. Everyone is heading in the exact same direction, and I keep spotting people carrying shirts or bags that look like gaming merchandise.
"Arriving early might have actually backfired on us..."
"I-I'm getting swept away..."
"Rei-san, going out the North Exit is impossible like this. Let's head out the East Exit... Rei-san? Can you hear me? Rei-san?"
"Fuhyaai."
Was that an affirmation? Regardless, making sure we didn't get separated, we broke out of the flood-like congestion of the general ticket holders.
Unlike premium tickets, those guys have to line up in a long queue, after all... But what the heck is with this crowd? Isn't it worse than during the GGC? Gah, out of the way, out of the way! You mass of nobodies with general tickets, this Premium Ticket-sama will trample you underfoot—ah, my foot got stepped on!!?
Guh, did I just get stepped on by the larger half of that convex-and-concave couple...? Moreover, we got swallowed by the crowd and lost sight of each other before either of us could say anything. This is exactly why I hate crowds! It makes me want a wide-area annihilation spell... Fall back! I'm falling back!!
...
.........
............
"The foot traffic here should be perfectly normal, but it looks completely empty."
"Y-Yeah, it does..."
We could see the packed, sardine-can crowd in the distance; compared to that, this side, which only had a moderate amount of congestion, looked incredibly empty.
"Ah, even from here... it's a bit far, but there is a route to the venue."
"Ah, thanks for looking it up."
"N-No! Something like this is nothing...!"
We had given ourselves plenty of leeway until the doors opened, but after seeing that massive crowd reminiscent of Cosmo Buster, a sense of anxiety began to bubble up. Battleship assist restriction... Stage 7... Running out of ammo... Ugh, my head hurts. Forcing a restriction run just to get the highest rank is completely missing the point... That kind of thing is something the player chooses to do, not something they should be made to do...
"Moderation is best, moderation..."
".........?"
I understand the urge to call the royal road repetitive, but if you stray too far, it just becomes the path of heresy...
No, no matter how annoying they are, people are people; the moment you throw a punch, you're out. Besides, Rei-san and I have premium tickets. In other words, compared to that swarming herd of people, we are "above" them. Let us watch over them with pity and affection.
"Still, for a one-day-only event, the hype is pretty insane."
"It really is... Ah, is that......... Ricky, was it?"
"H-Huh..."
Everywhere you looked, it was JGE, JGE... Convenience stores were selling collaboration products for games that were likely exhibition titles, and the route to the venue was indicated by signboards displaying characters from what were probably Good Games. I could tell they were likely quite famous characters, but the fact that I didn't recognize a single one of their names made me feel like I was staring directly into my own karma as a trash gamer.
Following the guidance of the character whose name was apparently Ricky, assuming Rei-san's memory was correct, we pressed onward. The noise that couldn't be masked even from a distance grew louder, the number of humans increased... and finally, turning left at the last corner, we were met with a queue of people so massive that comparing it to a long snake wouldn't even do it justice.
"Are all these people really going to fit inside...?"
"It's the New Tokyo International Exhibition Island built five years ago, after all... And since it's ticket-based, I believe they will... fit."
Thanks to the advancement of science, humanity has seriously become capable of executing the logic of "If our landmass is too small, let's just build more," which is honestly amazing. I heard that this colossal mega-float, built as an absurdly massive artificial island, conscripted a vast number of NEETs... I mean, amateur gamers, as its labor force. In other words, this exhibition island currently being used as a festival for gamers was built through the blood, sweat, and tears of amateur gamers......... Actually, no, the vast majority of it was robotic labor, so they probably didn't shed that much sweat.
"Let's see, the premium tickets are separate from the general queue..."
『Welcome to Japan-Gaming-Expo ！！』
"Whoa, that scared me!?"
A voice came from my wallet!? A Japanese Tsukumogami!?[*1]
No wait, it wasn't the wallet that spoke. It was the premium ticket inside it. It seems that coming within a certain proximity of the JGE venue activated some built-in function. An AR hologram of a miniature-sized character had popped out of the card-shaped ticket I pulled from my wallet, flashing an amiable smile while facing the direction of the day after tomorrow......... Ah, I need to adjust the orientation. Got it.
『I am the official JGE character, Polaris! Please allow me to explain the entry method for premium ticket holders!!』
"Ohh... they really poured scientific power into something so subtle..."
"W-Wait, um, where is the ticket..."
Should I refrain from telling her that a voice is currently echoing from her rear end?
For now, the official character—a polar bear girl with about a 10% furry ratio—began guiding us with overly dramatic movements, pointing this way and that. Wait, is she referencing the coordinates of the ticket itself...? I thought it was just a simple card, but could this actually be an incredibly high-tech piece of equipment?
"Ah, so the gate itself is entirely separate."
"Even so, there's still quite a few people lining up..."
It seems we aren't the only ones receiving preferential treatment. We fell into a line formed by people whose expressions looked far more composed compared to the individuals making up the massive crowds. As the name implied, the Mega-Float Site was a giant structure floating on the sea. Currently, there was no bridge connecting the Japanese mainland to the floating island, leaving us merely gazing out at the autumn ocean... but it seemed the time had finally come.
Polako, who was standing on the premium ticket I was looking at in my palm, jumped into the air with a *Kyupiin!* sound effect, and because I had been idly spinning the card around, she started speaking while facing the direction of the day after tomorrow again.
『The time has come! Customers holding a premium ticket may enter one hour early! Now then, please direct your attention! The Surfacing Deployment Bridge connecting to the Mega-Float Site will now appear!!』
So this is the famous Mega-Float Site specialty—the Surfacing Deployment Bridge, formed by hydraulically extending pillars installed on the seabed that open up upon reaching the surface. Massive plates tore through the white waves from the ocean floor, opening up like spreading legs. Identical mechanisms emerged at equal intervals, linking together one after another... completing an immense bridge that connected to the mega-float on the sea.
Then, from the Site side, a continuous stream of... uh, what are they called again? Golf carts? Vehicles that looked like golf carts customized to appeal to gamers began to arrive. Now that I think about it, my maternal uncle was a golf fanatic... I remember hearing that he once took a full swing while dead drunk, and the club slipped from his hands and impaled the ceiling of his room... The fact that he pulled it out, named it Excalibur, and then went on to score a hole-in-one makes him absolutely insane.
"Whoa... talk about royal treatment."
And I somehow inherently understood that the folks with general tickets probably wouldn't get to enjoy the luxury of these vehicles... Capitalism is cruel, isn't it? Should we paint it red? Well, I've assassinated a certain fiendish stationery who tried doing exactly that, which I guess means I'm a member of capitalism myself.
Author's Afterword
・JGE Official Character "Polaris-chan"
A polar bear-type navigator who suddenly appeared from the electronic far north. The official JGE character is selected from a general public submission contest every year, but this year, the winning design was by an illustrator who perfectly read the judges' fetishes (an imbalance fetish where key parts are heavily clothed, but the overall skin exposure is high).
She is the fairy of the North Star who guides those who come to JGE, and her favorite food is Kiviak [*2]. She also has a mischievous side where she snacks on it before it finishes fermenting! (Note: a mosaic is applied over her mouth when this happens.)
It was Swallows Nest's idea to embed an AR hologram gimmick into the premium tickets, but because the prototype ended up being about as heavy as two smartphones stacked together, Tsukuyo-san casually miniaturized and lightened it while applying various modifications of her own in her spare time.
By analyzing this heavily optimized premium ticket, Swallows Nest's AR technology subtly leveled up. Your Luck stat is high, Yashirobird.
Translator's Notes
- [1] Tsukumogami: In Japanese folklore, tools or everyday objects that have acquired a spirit and come to life after reaching 100 years of age. Rakuro uses a stereotyped, exaggerated foreigner accent ("Japanese Tsukumogami!") to react to his wallet magically talking.
- [2] Kiviak: A traditional Inuit food made by stuffing hundreds of whole, dead seabirds into a seal skin and letting them ferment. Polaris eating it "before it ferments" means the cute mascot is gleefully tearing into a raw, bloody bird carcass—hence the censorship mosaic.
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