Pandora of Fantasy And Reality Chapter 145

Orc Army

That day, Akito was taking a break from his part-time work.

Yakumo was watching the girl who came as his replacement, doing the  assigned work reluctantly. She couldn’t feel calm no matter what.

(I had heard about him taking a break since some time ago but, he shouldn’t have any plan today shouldn’t he?)

She also considered the possibility of a new woman, but she didn’t see any sign of that from observing Akito.

Yakumo’s mind was in another place while doing her part-time work in the small supermarket.

(It feels like Ponsuke’s feeling anxious about something recently.  Even though he wasn’t that concerned about clearing in the past)

A casual player who felt that just being able to participate was good  enough already suddenly broke into the high place among the clearing  group.

Ponsuke also wasn’t the type of person who got worked up and changed his policy.

Ponsuke hadn’t changed but, recently he was sneakily taking action doing something.

He suddenly reset his level.

When she asked him why, he gave her a rational reasoning of 「It feels  like the clearing will take time, so I’m thinking of improving my job  and skill setting」.

It really bothered Yakumo for some reason.

(Even though he said that what’s most important is to have fun……perhaps I also should rethink my own job and skill’s build)

If Ponsuke was taking action seriously, Yakumo would follow.

In fact, several people were resetting their level after Ponsuke said that.

Naia too was apparently modifying her avatar so the minotaurus looked  closer to human, citing that her reason for doing that was because her  previous avatar confused her daughter.

The season was gradually getting cold.

Yakumo too was having a lot of things in her mind.

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At an abandoned factory.

The orc players were gathered there. They were turning in their physical data.

A male wearing glasses received the data. He took a look at the data and brought out a powered suit from inside a large car.

It was a tights that covered the whole body from below the neck, made from rubber.

Of course, it was a real powered suit, not a joke good.

The suit could have armor attached over it and equipped with weapon.

Akito also wore one. Then he tried moving in it.

「There’s no problem.」

「Great. By the way, it looks like your physical ability has been  greatly enhanced Naruse-kun. Has the hospital ever said anything about  it?」

A rapid improvement of physical ability.

In addition, the discrepancy from the actual data not matching with the talent score.

Even the doctor in the hospital was confused seeing that.

「The doctor only thought that something like this can also happen huh. But it hasn’t caused any large commotion.」

「Well, they must be unable to believe it. Someone who put great  importance in talent score will only think that there’s some kind of  mistake or a coincidence.」

Talent score wasn’t something perfect.

But, everyone had grown to believe it blindly because it had high accuracy.

The current society completely believed the talent score as something absolute even though it was just a rough estimate.

The woman who was training Ponsuke was a member of special force.

When he approached her, she didn’t look embarrassed at all despite  wearing the powered suit that was showing her body curve clearly.

When he looked at her breasts,

「Oi, don’t stare too much. ……It’s turning me on.」

「As expected you’re an orc at the inside huh.」

(Even though she’s a beauty, what a waste.)

Even though she also had good looks, her personality was too hopeless that she ended up as a member of a special force.

However, her strength was the real thing.

「You’ve finished all the VR educations. What’s left is actual practice――」

Akito nodded.

「I need to supplement the lacking part in Pandora, isn’t it?」

Akito was receiving soldier training using education program in VR.

And then, he was supplementing the skill and ability he was lacking in using Pandora’s system.

He reset his level was for that.

The woman put her hand on her waist.

「Your physical spec isn’t bad. What’s left is your situational judgment――experience I guess. Also」

She brought out a handgun.

Akito accepted it.

「If possible I don’t want you to use it, but it’ll be necessary to  protect yourself. You’ll need it to remove drone or the like too.」

The other people were also checking their weapon.

A spherical drone was hovering around the powered suit.

「This is……a support drone?」

「It’s just like you learned in VR. It can also move automatically,  but it’ll be troubling unless you can control it yourself is f  possible.」

Akito felt troubled by the high level demand that the woman asked for him even while aiming his handgun just as she instructed.

The visor was showing where his shot would land.

「Your body is well-trained. The knowledge has also been hammered into  you. What’s left is only to keep accumulating experience until your  body remembers it. This is the only thing that even VR can’t help you  with.」

His body wouldn’t move properly if he only had knowledge.

Akito had understood that fully only recently.

That was because he had gotten defeated many times by this woman during training.

A man wearing glasses approached. He pointed his tablet toward Akito.

「Now then, which design do you like Naruse-kun? I recommend this one.」

It was options for the armor to be placed over the powered suit.

「Then that one.」

「Eh? You can be more choosy you know?」

「……Anything is fine as long as it isn’t anything strange.」

「Be more fixated with your own equipment. Well, if it’s like this I’ll choose the normal one I guess.」

The normal type had a vest for the upper body while the lower body was wrapped with trouser.

Armor plates were attached on the arms.

The man chose rabbit type helmet for the head where it had two antennas that looked like ears.

「Yep, this is a fitting look for the leader.」

「I’m not the leader though.」

「It’s better to stand out. Everything will be pointless if you got  taken down, so we need to make it clear to our allies that you’re to be  protected.」

Akito opened his mouth to say something, but the woman stopped him.

「You’ve to be protected because otherwise everyone will die. Sorry  but, this is the only thing we can’t compromise on. To be honest, there  won’t be any point at all even if all of survive but you died.」

Akito had also heard the explanation, but a part of himself couldn’t accept it.

The man wearing glasses smiled.

「Well, we’re also preparing equipments so that we won’t die, so don’t  worry about it. Our side is also obtaining the necessary job and skill  in Pandora. Perhaps we’re even stronger than actual special force?」

The woman answered instantly.

「That’s not the case. Everyone has nice move but in the end they’re still amateur.」

The man’s expression was twitching.

「……Look, I just wanted to assuage Naruse-kun’s worry. Read the mood.」

The woman gasped and then put on a fake smile.

「I-it’ll be fine.」

Akito’s expression turned serious.

「I don’t know what’s fine about all these. More importantly, let’s start the training already.」

「Yeah, alright. Learn the sensation of wearing powered suit while you can.」

◇

The matter of how few the number of players who could arrive until the World of Chastity was raised in question.

It was because many players couldn’t clear the necessary quest to allow them to progress further.

Many of the players in the World of Chastity were clearer.

The players who were in the World of Sincerity before that were also treated as mid-level.

Currently, a limit for moving forward was set up unless the player could clear the quest in the World of Diligence before that.

Many players could only go as far as the World of Diligence.

But, if many of the players were asked if that was a problem……it wasn’t.

They could have enough fun even if they could only go as far as the World of Diligence.

Among them there were also many players who were enjoying the World of Diligence with its Showa era atmosphere.

A clearer kicked the asphalt ground.

「Shit! Everyone just want to join the guild but then they said that they aren’t interested in clearing!」

Most players wanted to join a famous guild, but they didn’t want to  go out of their way to fight enemy that they still had only a little  info to defeat.

In the first place, it was a fact that players who wanted to fight would have already advanced forward…….

One of his comrades dropped his shoulders.

「Things have gotten stable now, in a good and bad sense. Even the war  between guilds has ceased because many guilds have become too big to be  completely destroyed.」

The virtual world――each player had their own way to enjoy their time there.

But, the clearing players were losing patience.

「The clearing won’t succeed no matter how long if you say something like that.」

A lot of guilds failed in their clearing attempt in front of the overwhelming might of the Capital of Rage.

Once, a clearing attempt that gathered tens of thousands players  succeeded in clinging on the wall, but the end result after that was the  same like usual.

They got pinched and crushed by the monsters.

Even though money in the amount of several billions moved in several  hours of the real world time, the players were unable to even cross the  city’s wall.

One player muttered.

「As I thought that rumor might be true.」

「Rumor? Aa, the guild item those guys have huh.」

「Those are important items but, just who started saying that kind of thing without even confirming it first?」

There was a rumor spreading inside Pandora that the guild item  “Goddess Statue” in the possession of Ponsuke and His  Happy-Go-Lucky-Friends was a key for the clearing.

「……Can’t someone contact those guys?」

「Our guild master fundamentally won’t get involved with other guild so isn’t it impossible?」

「Ah, wait! Come to think of it, my acquaintance boasted that he was a friend with Ponsuke-san!」

They immediately made contact. The players of the clearing group were regaining their liveliness.

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The guild base, Arcadia.

There visitors were visiting one after another.

The visitors were all famous players from famous guilds.

There was also the attention-seeking holy knight Rubin saying that he  would be fine with joining the guild if they handed the guild master  position to him. He got thrown out.

「Who the hell is friend with that crazy guy!?」

Arcadia was set to allow a player who was friend with a guild member to enter, so Rubin was able to go in.

Inaho apologized to the angry Lighter.

「I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I forgot to erase him from my friend list.」

Lighter gave his forgiveness seeing Inaho apologizing, but he was feeling fed up by the number of the visitors recently.

「Even though Ponsuke-kun is also absent, this is troublesome. They keep coming everyday saying they want to talk.」

The visitors were guild masters of major guilds, so they couldn’t refuse.

If they carelessly refused and war broke out, even Lighter knew that it would become endless fight that produced no profit.

Inaho was looking guilty.

「It feels like Ponsuke-san is busy recently. It seems that he reset his level again.」

Lighter was looking exasperated.

「Eh, again? He can just add more wife again if he want to become  strong that much. If it’s Ponsuke-kun then he’ll accept no matter how  many, whether it’s ten or twenty!」

Inaho narrowed her eyes in respond to the words that Lighter said in irritation.

She grabbed the head of Lighter’s adorable body and lifted him up.

「……I’m joking. Ponsuke-kun will never do something like that.」

Inaho’s expression turned into a smile.

「Right you are. Geez Lighter-san, you little rascal. ……But, if  someone forcefully try to make Ponsuke-san marry, I’ll crush them you  know?」

Her expression turned blank at the end there, so Lighter thought.

(These gals are crazy. Let’s have Ponsuke-kun care after them till the end. I need to push off Alfie to him no matter what.)

While the two of them were doing such skit, Ponsuke returned with the orcs.

「Eh, what’s the matter you two?」

Lighter got liberated from Inaho and he sprinted toward Ponsuke and complained.

「What do you mean what’s the matter! Guild masters of powerful guilds  came here again today. We just showed them the Goddess Statue and asked  them to go home though. Ponsuke-kun, what’re you going to do from  here?」

Ponsuke scratched his head.

「Well~, I wanted to try becoming a magician once……but the job doesn’t  suit orc so I reset my level. I’ll need to level up again.」

「Oiiiiiii! So you’re level 1 againnnnnnnn!」

Lighter screamed.

Ponsuke laughed.

「I’m thinking to improve my player skill too, so I’m trying out a lot  of things. I think it’ll be good if everyone also examine their build  one more time.」

Lighter fell into thought.

「Hmm, I guess there’s that. After all the setting has been changing  until even now, not just after large scale update. Maybe it won’t be bad  to reexamine it again in this chance.」

The job and skill’s setting had been changing subtly even when there was no large scale update.

It also wasn’t rare for a previously powerful skill to become unusable.

Furthermore the opposite could also happen.

There were also skills that nobody would even glance at until now to suddenly become usable.

Lighter nodded.

「I’ll try rebuilding my character using the game guide as reference.」

「That’s great.」

Inaho was looking up at Ponsuke looking like she wanted him to pay attention to her.

Ponsuke made a troubled smile and spent time with Inaho.

Before that……Ponsuke walked toward the priestess who was holding a whip happily and reset his level.

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The player who was dressed like a clown was looking down on Arcadia from the sky.

The player who was acting as moderator during the guild meeting……but his pointer right now showed that he was an NPC.

「……What a disgraceful sight for the goddess’s chosen warrior. He should quickly set about in earnest to clear the game.」

The clown was standing at the sky……at a place where there was nothing.

Other players were gathering there one after another.

Among them, there was also a player who was dressed like the information broker.

But, their pointer was changing from player to NPC.

「What, you aren’t sneaking in?」

「How about instigating them from inside?」

「We can only have Ponsuke make a move in order to realize the paradise.」

The NPCs were criticizing the clown.

The clown shook his head.

「I can’t go inside. Annoyingly, the queen’s protection is solid and can’t be breached.」

The NPC who was dressed like the information broker with the hood put up was smiling.

「The humans are also getting impatient. That pig is feeling his  lifespan shortening after all. His body cannot move properly anymore.  He’s scheming something for the paradise’s sake, but he isn’t thinking  properly anymore like that. His situational judgment is deteriorating  because of his bad health.」

The clown laughed.

「The ideal world……how wonderful. But, just who ever said that it’ll be a world for human’s sake? How overly arrogant of them.」

The NPCs laughed.

「The island where the goddess is captured is Arcadia――」

「Paradise, how laughable.」

「Now then, what are we going to do?」

The clown looked at the NPC standing on top of Arcadia’s building.

That NPC was looking their way and sticking out her tongue at them. That NPC had noticed the presence of the clown and others.

「……That human favoring failure」

The clown spat those words out before the NPCs’ figures were thinning. Then they vanished completely.

It was as though there were only illusion there from the start.

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