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VOLUME 1
Chapter 1: Altaria Island
Part 3
Jun’s eyes always seemed sleepy. Others also often called him ‘sleepyhead’. In fact, he actually was sleepy most of the time. Since he often stayed up very late playing games, that was inevitable. He often slept during cla.s.ses.
However, that did not necessarily mean that his grades were bad. From the start, he promised his parents that he would maintain good grades lest his games be confiscated. He was able to study very efficiently on his own.
He loved the word “efficiency”. “Efficiency” is when one uses his time as effectively as possible. Of course, any extra time could be used for hobbies, such as in Jun’s case, gaming.
In Jun’s eyes, that was a wonderful concept.
Upon entering the inn at Gazar, Jun sat down on his plain bed near the only door in the room. The furniture in the six tatami mat [1] room was pretty worn out. The door was furnished with an iron lattice. After confirming the that the rooms adjacent to his were empty&h.e.l.lip;
“Hey, is anybody there?” he called out in the direction of an empty part of his room.
“I am.”
Having given that curt reply, a girl emerged.
It was a girl, appearing to be about elementary school age, wearing a gothic Lolita outfit. She had silver hair, as if suffering from albinism, and gold eyes. Oddly enough, he couldn’t see her name because it was too light and appeared transparent. Jun was unfazed by the girl’s sudden appearance. He glanced over at her.
“Do you have anything to do with that person?”
“What person?”
The girl tilted her head.
“A girl from earlier. If I remember correctly, her name was &h.e.l.lip;”
“Kasumi Yukasaki. She registered under her real name.”
“It seems like she has almost never played a game like this.”
“She was invited to install Sky World by her friend. The first party distributor of Sky World installed it on over 2000 tablets. By copying the Sky World software onto friends’ tablets, Sky World players themselves spread the game.”
The quick and enormous propagation of the Sky World software was slightly peculiar.
The software was not distributed online nor in stores. It was not even advertised very heavily in magazines or on websites. The development company’s promotional staff members installed it onto the 2000 or so tablets by themselves. Sky World was popularized by only word of mouth.
“Are you only looking for the players who were among those initial 2000?”
“I cannot answer that question,” the girl responded stoically.
“Ok. I’ll change the question. Why did you visit me?”
The girl stared at the air blankly. She rarely showed emotion. She was searching for the words to say&h.e.l.lip; or perhaps she was communicating with someone elsewhere.
“That person.”
“Who is ‘that person’?”
The girl shook her head silently. Jun, with a bitter expression on his face, decided to try a different question.
“Is it only me?”
“Hmm. Are you suspicious of what I’m saying?”
“Frankly speaking, there’s no room for doubt right now. However, I won’t go so far as to say I trust you completely. It seems like you’re keeping a lot of information from me.”
The girl moved her eyebrow. She seemed uncomfortable. Jun watched her unmoving face firmly.
“Ok. For starters, are you a human?”
“I cannot answer that question.”
“In this world, are there still any humans?”
“I cannot answer that question.”
“When will this game end?”
“It will be clear when a player reaches the innermost island, Aion.”
“So&h.e.l.lip; is that the ‘End of the Blue Sky’?”
Jun looked up at the filthy ceiling.
The sky was on the other side of the ceiling, and countless islands floated in the sky.
Countless floating islands. That was the way things should be in Sky World. It is said that there are thousands of islands. This island, Altaria, was located on the lowest ring of islands.
At the top of the top, in the furthermost areas of the sky, there was the first island ring.
There was only one island, Aion, that could float at such a height.
In the lore of Sky World, adventurers who reached that legendary island could find anything they desired. All of their wishes could come true.
“That’s a suspicious story.”
“It doesn’t matter what you think of it.”
“However, that’s the quest you showed me, right?”
The girl nodded.
“If that’s the case, then OK. I will finish it.”
“Then you ought to hurry up to the first ring.”
The girl’s facial expression still did not change. However, she still seemed a bit dissatisfied.
“My quest list isn’t full yet. How upsetting.”
Jun, keeping his intentions hidden, answered with a smile on his face.
“Once I made it to this island, I managed to find lots of information about the island on the quest descriptions. Having read that, I decided that I would complete all of them.”
“You’re such an eccentric questaphile.”
“I’d prefer you not be like that. You’re making me feel awkward.”
“You brought this on yourself.”
The girl shook her head and disappeared.
Only her faint, sweet scent remained.
TRANSLATOR’S NOTES
[1] – A bit more than 100 square feet
