Pandora of Fantasy And Reality Chapter 75

Coaching

Outside the Capital of Hope.

The wind blew and carried the scent of grass and tree with it.

The weather was also great. Ponsuke was standing in front of three  rookie players and talked to them in that wide open grassland.

「Teamwork is important, but I think it’ll also be better if you think of the positioning.」

A player who ran into a scam and became penniless.

A player who received malicious invitation.

And then a troubled player who didn’t know what to do.

He couldn’t just ignore such players. So even though they wouldn’t  join his guild even after he invited them, Ponsuke taught the beginners  various things.

He was spending his second day and third day inside the game with the players called Noin and Fran.

He was continuing to search and invite players into his guild at the fourth and fifth day.

「Positioning? Do we really have to think until that far? Somehow this  feels different from what I imagined. I thought that this would be  simpler.」

The male player apparently thought that this game would be simpler.

He found it harder than he imagined to move inside the virtual world. That was his impression.

「As I thought, perhaps I’m not suited to be vanguard?」

Ponsuke said 「That’s not true」 and explained about job.

He could declare with confidence based on what he learned from Rook and what he had experienced himself.

「It will be fine if you take fighter type job and receive support  from that job. You will be able to move well enough after that.」

It was a benefit that Ponsuke also received from his job.

But the male player became sullen.

「In that case, I need to manage my job huh……even though I used a top player’s job as my reference, why is it this weak?」

Top player fundamentally belonged to the clearing group.

They were abnormal even from where Ponsuke stood.

Originally a player would be able to do more from receiving the  support from their job, but those guys made up of that lack of support  using their own player skill.

「The top players are in different dimension than us, or should I say, they are people who have gone far further than us.」

The female player who was listening to their talk tilted her head.

「Do you mean something like the no life players? You know, I once  heard about player who won’t move at all from in front of his computer.  This is the same like that.」

Pandora was a VR game.

It was different from online game――a game that was experienced from  in front of a normal screen, this was a game where the player  experienced it with all their five senses. In addition the time the  player could login into it was limited.

The time inside the virtual world was being stretched to pass 72  times longer, but people could only login into it two hours per day.

Ponsuke scratched his head.

「The no lifers, the extremes one, even in real life they will use all  the times they aren’t logging in to train their body and earn money for  the game. I heard they prioritized doing training or sport when they  aren’t working.」

The no lifers who went to the extreme used their time in real world to obtain skills that were necessary for Pandora.

They wouldn’t be able to buy paid items and other things for game if they didn’t work everyday to earn money.

They wouldn’t be able to play big role in the game if they didn’t train their body.

As the result, they ended up living a stoic life.

Ponsuke was recalling Pandora’s no lifers that got featured in the news.

「Did you guys see the news a little while ago that featured them?  After work they trained for several hours and they even paid attention  to what they were eating.」

It was a news that featured a player who was successful in Pandora.

But Ponsuke thought.

(There are also those who failed. Like Kurita-san as the extreme example.)

The male player thought that as expected, he wouldn’t be able to go  that far just for playing game. He changed his target to join a middle  ranked guild.

「I-I guess I’ll join a more relaxed guild then.」

Ponsuke asked the rookie player.

「Even so, why do you suddenly want to enter a guild? Making one yourself or together with your friends will also be fun.」

The male player waved his hand.

「No way. Right now being a member of a famous guild is like a status.  You too Ponsuke, you look like you’re quite capable yourself. What if  you join a larger guild?」

Ponsuke folded his arms and pondered.

(Status? Hmm~, I think I’ve heard about that before……does he want to brag about that to his friends or something?)

Like that Ponsuke finished his coaching for the rookies and they returned to the Capital of Hope.

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Capital of Hope, sightseeing area.

Fran was talking with Noin at an open café near a pretty river.

The cheerful voices of the passerby, the toll of a bell across the sightseeing area.

This place had the atmosphere like a foreign country instead of Japan.

「……And?」

Noin’s upper body was lying prostrated on the table. It was a bad  behavior to do something like that at the open. Her cheek was touching  the table while her large breasts were pressed flat on it.

「I invited him and yet he said that he’s outside. Ponsuke-kun is a gentleman, so I wanted to us have fun together, and yet…」

Fran understood Noin’s real intention.

「You just want to use him as bug repellant right? Other men won’t  approach with him coming along after all. Even so, are these people not  thinking that we might be male in the inside despite our appearance?」

Fran and Noin were exasperated with the players who were looking to  have encounter with girls inside the virtual world, but they had  difficulty to refuse their invitation.

Noin lifted up her body and observed the atmosphere of the surrounding.

「Even so, everyone here is using someone else’s face. It feels a bit creepy.」

Both Noin and Fran were using the data of their own body and face to  make their avatar. They never considered that doing that might cause the  identity of their real selves to be found out.

They looked like completely different people after changing their hairstyle and eye color and other things a little.

Besides, they thought it would be impossible for them to “run into acquaintance” inside the virtual world.

The number of players in Pandora was in the tens of millions.

Even though there was different time period for login, there were nearly a million of people logging in at this time.

Fran warned Noin.

「This is because you’re always acting like you have interest toward  the men who approached us. But, certainly it’s scary to keep getting hit  on by men who have the same face several times in succession.」

They got hit on by a player who had the face of a certain famous idol.

But, the next player who hit on them also had the same face.

The next one too……as expected the two of them got scared when that happened three times.

「That was scary. As I thought let’s make Ponsuke-kun our bodyguard. He was cute when he panicked from me hugging his arm.」

Noin chuckled. Fran was watching her in exasperation.

「It’s woman like you who drive man mad.」

「You’re horrible Fran-chan. It’s just everyone who get  misunderstanding. Besides, I won’t go out with man, so nothing will  happen.」

「I hope so.」

Noin faked an angry look, and then――.

「Geez, I’m going to get seriously angry here. But, hmm……perhaps it’ll  also be guy to give various things a try inside the virtual world. I  think it’ll be nice to start with a pure kid.」

Fran sighed.

「……I think you should meet a painful experience once so you can learn.」

――The two women were having fun.

Even though they were only doing that, a lot of players kept stealing glances at them.

◇

School.

Akito lied down on his table during the lunch break. He was getting bombarded with questions from Maya and Riku.

Riku was asking about the story of Rubin who was starting to get passionate fans (?) from a part of the players.

「That guy still haven’t left from the Capital of Hope? Hey, let’s try inviting him to party together next time.」

Akito answered Riku’s cheerful suggestion with a fed up tone.

「No way. Or rather, I caught sight of him several times outside and  it was horrible. His level already hit the limit, but the setting of his  jobs and skills are horrible. He’s a bit flashy but not strong at all.」

There were cases when players luckily discovered amazing result by  haphazardly getting jobs and skills. There were but, Rubin had no such  luck.

Why did he choose that skill? Was that job useful?

All his jobs and skills were like that.

Rather, it even made some players from the clearing group groaned  from learning that it was possible to set up jobs and skills into such  useless mess.

Both Riku and Akito wanted to think that story was just a lie no matter what.

Maya wanted to join into the talk of the two. She forcefully asked Akito.

「Putting aside that inconsequential story」

Riku was shocked.

「Wait, you! Don’t get involved with this.」

Maya ignored Riku and brought her face close to Akito.

Akito was surprised and his face reddened slightly.

「W-what!?」

「Someone mentioned about the players you invited, who were they? You  know, the duo who I was told were with you at the beginning!」

Akito thought.

(How did president found out? Did someone tail us?)

Maya looked like she really wanted to hear the answer, so Akito answered honestly.

「They were rookie players but, they wanted to have fun at the  sightseeing area more rather than playing the game. I showed them around  there for a bit, but it seemed that they spent their whole time at the  sightseeing area after that.」

Riku advised Akito.

「Well, take some time to for recruitment. You won’t be able to get anyone just by calling out at one or two people.」

Akito lifted up his body from the table and shrugged.

「I’ve tried. Though I haven’t even coached ten players. Everyone said  that they want to join the big guilds. Is something like that getting  popular?」

Riku also tilted his head.

「No, certainly the topic about big guilds are getting popular……but,  certainly it might be strange for rookies to say that.」

Maya cut in once more.

「Wait, listen to my question! Also, tell me more about these other players too!! 」

Riku was exasperated.

「President……her character was actually like this?」

Akito wordlessly nodded.

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At the part-time work.

Akito had spent six days in the virtual world, but it didn’t cause any problem with his daily life.

(I guess it’s relieving. Well, the permission wouldn’t get out if it’s really problematic.)

When he looked outside, he saw some passerby walking home at a quick pace.

There was also the cold weather. The cold air blew into the shop when a customer entered.

He was wishing that the winter would end quickly, but when summer came he would also wish for the summer to end quickly.

And then Akito had one more problem.

(Senpai, she has been fidgety this whole time.)

He could feel how she was paying attention to him.

There must be something that she wanted to ask him, but Yakumo  couldn’t ask because a customer entered inside in a bad timing. It made  her looked fidgety.

(Is it that? Does she want to ask the same thing like president? Is  the game’s influences still not completely flushed out of her system?)

He was going to talk to her, but a salary man entered the shop.

「Welcome」

The customer headed toward the register. Then he took the card that the customer held out.

Akito took it and confirmed that the card was a product that couldn’t be returned.

There were three of them.

(He’s buying three point cards that are worth 50000 yen each? Is this person also a Pandora player?)

He finished the purchase and the customer went out of the shop while putting the cards into his pocket.

Recently there were a lot of customers buying prepaid card while on their way home like this.

It bothered him but…….

(Senpai is more important right now.)

He looked toward Yakumo who was staring toward him while looking like she wanted to talk.

Akito thought that she looked a bit cute.

But, another customer immediately came so he couldn’t talk with her.

◇

In a rented warehouse at the Capital of Discernment.

The members of the guild “Ponsuke and His Happy-Go-Lucky Friends” were all present except the guild master.

It was Alfie and Mariela who gathered them.

「Everyone, I’m really thankful to all of you for coming here.」

Blaze was whispering with his friends.

「How shameless.」

「Even though she sent message that she absolutely won’t forgive anyone who doesn’t come. She’s touched in the head.」

「It must be that. Her stress is going to reach the limit soon.」

「Where are we going after this?」

There was difference in enthusiasm in each person because this was a guild without cohesion.

The orcs were kneeling at the forefront while listening to Alfie and Mariela’s words.

Prey looked back at Blaze and the others.

「You there, be quiet! The queen is talki――」

Right after that, the whip of the irritated Mariela lashed at Prey.

「You’re the one who’s noisy, you piggg!」

*Bashii!* The whipping sound was accompanied by 「Thank you very much!」 from Prey who was shaking in joy.

The players who still had good conscience left in them blocked the  eyes and ears of the middle schooler trio from witnessing such scene.

Nanako was bewildered.

「Umm, Lighter-san? I can’t see and hear anything like this?」

Lighter shook his head.

「That’s fine. You three should remain pure as you are right now.」

Alfie hit the floor with her whip in order to gather everyone’s gaze on her.

「I believe that everyone here is aware how Ponsuke is doing  recruitment of beginner players at the Capital of Hope. But, there’s a  problem because of that.」

One of the craftsman player tilted his head and talked to the people around him.

「Eh? We’re also doing rookie players recruitment aren’t we?」

「Stupid. Those two are only concerned with Ponsuke-san. ……Ponsuke-san is seriously pitiful.」

The surrounding was worrying about Ponsuke only.

「Sololy」

When Mariela spoke Sololy’s name, he popped out suddenly from amidst the group.

He set up an item and projected Ponsuke’s image on the warehouse’s wall.

「This is the recent recording. I never thought that I would end up spying on Ponsuke-kun.」

Blaze was exasperated.

「Really you two, just what are you doing. Sololy-san too, please stop doing something like that.」

Sololy shook his head.

「I was threatened. I also thought that it sounded a bit amusing but, it can’t be helped because I was threatened!」

Blaze and the other held their heads in their hands while thinking  that these guys were beyond help. What they saw in the projection was  Ponsuke coaching beginner players.

Lighter tilted his head.

「This is problematic?」

Then Sololy said.

「Oops, it’s the wrong projection. The problematic one is this I think.」

The projection then showed Ponsuke getting along with female players.

Everyone went 「Uwaa~」 from feeling creeped out.

How to say it, the combination of beautiful woman and orc smell like crime.

Alfie and Mariela were irritated seeing Ponsuke ogling the women.

「Something like this cannot be forgiven!」

「We’ll drag Ponsuke back. For now everyone should help――」

Lighter ignored the two who started talking passionately and clapped his hands.

「Okay, disperse. Everyone, let’s play and have fun while obeying the rule. This talk is over.」

Alfie yelled.

「Wait Lighter!」

Lighter spoke to the two for the time being.

「Also the two of you. Let’s have a little talk. As expected you two are getting too far into the wrong path. Don’t run away.」

The adorable gnome Lighter was radiating an aura that wouldn’t take no as an answer.

Alfie and Mariela were overwhelmed by that atmosphere from Lighter. The two got scared and hugged each other.

The other guild members ignored the three of them and started doing activity with their respective group.

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