Chapter 297: Small Achievements

Even as we were discussing, 'Porkman's Quest' continued steadily.

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Long ago, in a certain place, there were piglets renowned for their exceptional closeness.

But that was merely a reputation—nothing more.

In truth, the four piglets despised and hated one another.

One day, these four piglets heard a royal proclamation from the king of the nation.

— Four of our nation’s beautiful princesses have been abducted by agents of the evil wolf clan. Whoever rescues the abducted princesses shall be recognized as their husband and granted the right to inherit the throne.

Upon hearing this, the piglets erupted in outrage, each declaring, “It must be me!”

They firmly resolved to set out on their adventure.

Yet the journey proved exceedingly difficult, and as the piglets were pushed to their mental limits, they gradually revealed their true natures one by one.

As the piglets stopped pretending and let their true selves show, they eventually began hurting even the trophy wife they had painfully earned through hardship.

As a result, every beautiful maiden perished without a single ray of salvation, their fleeting lives scattered to the wind.

And the royal bloodline meant to inherit the throne vanished, leaving the kingdom—once thought to be peaceful—easily destroyed.

The lesson of this story is twofold.

First.

Be kind to your friends.

Two.

The more unpleasant the scenario, the more excited I get.

END」

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"Hmm... I see... That was quite a story..."

No, it's definitely not good at all.

Starting with a game like this probably wasn't the best for moral education...

Still, at least this game experience seemed to have deeply moved Miharu, who gazed at the ending with overwhelming emotion.

On the game's final result screen, a value combining the experience points and happiness levels we'd accumulated so far was displayed—but the actual outcome of the game itself no longer mattered much.

After all, we had perfectly cornered the "Gambling Master" lady.

I gently pressed my lips near her ear and whispered,

"...You know, I'll keep this whole thing quiet for everyone... right?"

You get it, don't you? Hehe.

At my words, the "Gambler" puffed up like a pufferfish and turned sharply away.

"...I get it. Let's just say I lost this time."

"That's good."

I clasped my hands together and smiled warmly.

"But lying really isn't good. There are people out there with sharp instincts. Eventually, they'll figure it out."

"Most viewers are overly obsessed with first impressions. They absolutely hate anyone who's dull-witted. That's why, in the end, this kind of approach is the safest."

I suppose... I can understand that, I guess.

"The world's built on a pile of little lies like these."

"I suppose that might be true... but..."

"Mostly, you're the one who's lying, despite being the one who's always preaching honesty."

"Huh?"

This time, it was my turn to flinch.

"Me... what kind of lies am I telling?"

"You're pretending your memory's back, aren't you?"

My smug smile froze completely at that moment.

"...Why do you think that?"

"Your friend—Tenmi Tsuzuri—seems off, that's what they said."

"Tsuzuri?!"

"That's right."

"Why would she be..."

"The reason is obvious. There's no sign that the experience points supposed to be gained upon quest completion are being received by Tenmi Tsuzuri, who's dependent on the 'player,' and Yuki Ginsho."

"Wha—"

I paused for a moment, then suddenly realized my own glaring oversight—like trying to see in the dark right under a lighthouse.

"Oh! Oh right! I forgot about that!"

Ugh. That's why it's so easy to overlook things when you're adding knowledge after the fact...

"If your memories are completely restored, you should have at least leveled up once or twice by now. Yet both of you show no change in level... That really doesn't make sense."

"Exactly as you say."

"And he secretly contacted me, asking me to investigate who you really are. But since he couldn't just talk to you directly and expect an honest answer..."

"That's why he came up with that game."

"That's right. I had him manipulate the connection just a little, and prepared something with altered contents."

Well, that's quite the elaborate setup.

"So, after going to all that trouble, what's your conclusion?"

"I don't know."

The Gambler confessed casually.

"You're a bit different from the guy who used to dive into the 'Dungeon' with me before. But still, I get the feeling your core hasn't changed. So I've decided not to worry about it too much."

"Is that so?"

I make a bitter face.

"Hey, Mr. Gambler. Can you promise me this? Keep this a secret—only from Renkai Hyakka."

"Hyakka?"

My petite friend raises one eyebrow.

"...Ah, I see. I get the general idea. It's about that hysterical woman, isn't it?"

Hysterical woman...

When did she manage to establish such an infamous reputation?

"Either way, I'm willing to cooperate with you. We're people who've risked our lives for each other, aren't we?"

"Yeah, well... I guess so..."

As I replied, a faint sadness crept in—my memories felt distant, unreal.

……

………………

Yeah. Worrying about it won't help.

Regardless, I felt relieved to have made it through today and stood up from my seat. For some reason, I felt utterly drained, emotionally exhausted.

"Then... for today, I'll be heading home."

"Ah."

"We'll discuss the details tomorrow. Is that alright?"

"Ah."

With those words, today's filming came to an end.

We left the "Western Area," accompanied by Miharu, who was dozing off slightly.

In the end, I ended up taking home quite a bit of homework from today's work.

"Hey... Games are actually kind of fun, huh?"

Well...

Getting a little closer to this kid might be the biggest achievement of all.