Loner High-School Girl And The God-Tier Game — Battle Royale

I dig into the curry rice Azuha made me. So good… it seeps straight into my worn-out heart and heals it.

“Azuha, you’re going to make someone a great wife!”

“And you’re going to make someone a hopeless wife, Big Sis.”

This sister of mine. Must be that age; she’s grown a bit of a barb lately. Though even that side of her is cute.

“Speaking of which, how’s that game I gave you? Fun?”

“Yeah! Super fun! I could honestly keep playing it forever~”

“Hmm. Have you made any friends?”

“Ah, um, not friends exactly, but I’ve got one on my friends list… just the one.”

My spoon slips from my hand and clatters onto the table.

“What’s the matter?”

“Ah, awawa…!”

I-I forgot.

I was supposed to meet Shiina at ten o’clock, real-world time!! And it’s twelve fifty right now!!

“Sorry! Put some plastic wrap on the curry for me!”

“Ah, sure. Got it.”

I rush through a toilet break and log back in.

“This is bad! Where was it — where was I supposed to go?!”

Three new messages are waiting, all of them from Shiina.

‘You are logged in, are you not? The appointed time has passed and there is no sign of you. Has something happened?’

‘Where are you? Please reply at once.’

‘It cannot be helped. Come to Space Station, Channel ex1 at 39:00.’

39:00 — I can still make that!

“Um, um…!”

Switching Channels at a Space Station is easy: you pull up the system screen inside the station and select a Channel change. The scene shifts, and I warp into the lobby of Space Station, Channel ex1.

It’s 38:55. Cutting it close.

“Where is this…”

This is nothing like an ordinary Space Station. It’s a tavern, set in a space as absurdly vast as the Tokyo Dome¹ and packed wall to wall with people. Electromagnetic screens hang everywhere, some showing Space Girls trading gunfire, others showing Space Girls playing some kind of sport. A spectator bar, I guess you’d call it.

“Shiki!”

A Space Girl comes running over.

Medium-length light-blue hair, a full head shorter than me. This girl is…

“Gwuh?! Sh-Sh-Shiina…!”

It’s Shiina, and beside her Niko, the girl from before, plus the Guide Girl.

Uwaah… having to talk to people who’ve already formed a group. There’s no worse situation than this…!

“My apologies. There is no time to explain, so I will send the details to your message box.”

“Duh-details?”

A new message arrives.

This is…

“A battle royale… isn’t it.”

Games where a hundred-odd people shoot it out on one island are common enough; this is surely more of the same.

“Yes. And the ones entering are myself, Niko here, and you, Shiki.”

“I see… wait, WHAAAT?! Wh-wh-what was that just now?!”

A team battle?! Absolutely, categorically impossible!

“You did say you would do anything I asked, did you not? Taking part in this match is my ‘request’ to you.”

“Hawawawawawa…!”

“The match begins in five minutes. Here.”

Shiina forces a wristband onto my right wrist. It reads ‘Entry No. 20, Marshmallow Smile.’

“That is the proof of your team membership.”

“…Um, th-that is… do I absolutely have to enter this…?”

“You do.”

Th-this girl. Her tone is perfectly polite, but the pressure coming off her is unreal…

“Haah. If we’re dragging this thing along, we’d be better off with just the two of us.”

Niko goes on, toying with her pink bangs.

“She’s level eleven, this one. A nineteen-level disadvantage isn’t a joke.”

Niko! Yes, that’s it, keep talking her out of it!

“No. At the very least, she will function as a shield or a decoy.”

“Yeah, I guess she will.”

Nikoooo?!

“Hey, hey, why don’t you check her armaments first?”

The Guide Girl speaks.

“Um, this girl is…?”

“That’s ChaCha, our mechanic and Operator. This is just a remote unit she’s driving — her real body’s standing by somewhere else.”

“Once the match starts I’ll be supporting you over comms, so nice to meet you, Shikki.”

“Y-Yes…”

Shikki…?

“I have sent you the friend codes for Niko and ChaCha as well, so please register them. Comms will not work unless you are friends.”

Comms… so from the moment the match starts until it ends, I’ll have a conversation line open with these three. Brutal…

“Oh, right, armaments! Show me.”

“Uuu… okaaay.”

I show my armament list to the three of them.

“Bleh! …Absolute rank beginner.”

“I will hand over two sets of Shield Pieces. And a sniper rifle.”

“Th-thank you very much…”

Shiina transfers the armaments over to me, and I equip what she’s given me.

A sniper rifle and Shield Pieces… it’s been so long…!

“Still, this is strange… there is no Army Knife and no M1911 among the starting armaments. Do you own no armaments other than these?”

“Y-Yes. I’m sorry.”

“There is no need to apologize. But if that is the case… you brought down the Centipede with nothing but an Army Knife and an M1911? Surely not…”

“Who cares about that! Unequip the M1911 and the knife. Real guns and real blades don’t work in here!”

“Eh?! B-But…”

Th-the G-AGE is definitely going to be useful…

“What is it?”

The pink-haired girl tilts her head.

This girl’s intimidation is off the charts… honestly, sh-she might be a type I can’t handle at all…!

“I-I’ll unequip them!”

I unequip the M1911 and the Army Knife.

“Put these in instead.”

“These… what are they?”

“Dagger handguns.”

Golden Week…?²

— Bzzt. A jolt runs through my body.

“Eh.”

At the same moment, blue lightning races from the soles of my feet to the crown of my head. It doesn’t hurt, but the feeling is draining out of my body.

“The transport’s started! Hey, Shiina, this is no time to be standing around gawking!”

“Indeed. Shiki, once you have been transported, get inside a nearby building first. Is that understood?”

“R-Roger that, ma’am.”

Well, if it’s only the once, I’ll manage somehow.

Transport doesn’t seem to be by team, so dropping wherever suits me is probably an option too.

I hear the system voice. The world shifts, and I’m warped from the tavern onto the roof of a derelict building.

A decayed, near-future cityscape sprawls out in front of me.