「Sorry I’m late. You must be hungry, right?」
「I am hungry. But I had something to do, so it’s okay.」
I was late making lunch because I was participating in an in-game event that started at 12:00. I have school on weekdays, so I can only really participate on Saturdays and Sundays.
Ryuugasaki-san, already seated at the dining table, is fidgeting with her eyes sparkling. She’s really easy to read at times like these.
「I’ll make a hamburger steak tonight, so for lunch, we’ll have a simple omelet rice. Now, let’s eat.」
「Itadakimasu. Amazing… so fluffy…」
The key to a good omelet rice is how much you cook the eggs, so it was tough until I got used to it.
Also, the topping can drastically change the flavor. Simple ketchup is good, but today, it’s topped with demi-glace sauce. Demi-glace sauce is pretty versatile, so it’s convenient.
Ryuugasaki-san carefully savors the first bite while blowing on it to cool it down, then, as usual, starts stuffing her face. No one’s going to steal it, so she can eat slowly.
「──Hafuu, happiness… How can Shiijiki-kun cook so deliciously?」
「Ahー, you know, I have a younger sister. My parents both work, so taking care of her is my job. She’s especially picky about food, so it was tough researching and trying different things. I got better thanks to that, though.」
「Younger sister… I’m an only child, so I’m envious.」
So Ryuugasaki-san is an only child. Well, having a younger sister is noisy. My sister is so incredibly lazy that my mom, who couldn’t stand it anymore, suggested I live on my own.
She messages me all the time, and when I go back home during summer vacation or something, I end up doing all the housework anyway.
Even though she’s still in middle school, spoiling her too much won’t do her any good. I wish she’d at least fold her own laundry.
「Hm? A message.」
As I finished eating, my smartphone rang with a notification.
The name displayed is my sister──no, it’s C.P., a guild member from the game I was just playing. Which means it’s from that app.
It’s not the messaging app I usually use with Ryuugasaki-san and my sister, but a chat app called “DChord”. It has various useful features, and since I’m registered with my game character name, I don’t have to worry about my real name being revealed, making it easy to use.
We use the in-game chat during gameplay, but the history disappears quickly, so we use the app for important announcements or like now, quest help requests.
C.P.’s catchphrase is the mysterious phrase “Chikara is Power”, and she often sends requests because she charges in without thinking about defense. Usually, Harry handles these situations, but he seems to be offline now.
「Ryuugasaki-san, excuse me for a moment.」
After excusing myself to Ryuugasaki-san, who is still munching on her omelet rice, I open my closed laptop and launch the game.
There are fewer people online than usual, maybe everyone’s eating lunch. Let’s get this quest done quickly.
There are classes in this game. I chose the Priest healing class for the simple reason that my name is Tsukasa (司), which contains the character for “Priest” (司), but it turned out to be the right choice. There are too many muscleheads, starting with C.P.
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Harry is also a Priest, but for some reason, he mainly focuses on attacking. He dodges enemy attacks, attacks, and heals allies.
At first glance, it seems like a cheat class, but only Harry can pull off such feats.
「Rex…」
I realized a voice coming from behind me. Ryuugasaki-san, who has finished her omelet rice, seemed to be peering over my shoulder.
「Sorry, I’ll be done soon.」
「Shiijiki-kun, are you Rex?」
「Ahー, yeah. My name in the game is Rex.」
「…I’m Sandra.」
「……Eh?」
Surprised by the words muttered softly, I try to turn around but am startled by her face being closer than I thought and turn back to my computer.
That surprised me… It was just for a moment, but I could see her slightly thin, small face with well-defined features. And I think I made eye contact with her eyes as she looked at me.
Playing games unnecessarily improves your dynamic vision, so even a glimpse is enough.
「I play this game too.」
「I see, I see, Ryuugasaki-san too──Ehhh!? Sandra!?」
I thought I’d heard that name somewhere before, and it turns out it’s the person I did a quest with at noon! Eh, is that even possible!?
Ryuugasaki-san nods, takes out her smartphone, operates it, and shows it to me. The same game I’m playing is displayed on her screen, and the name Sandra was indeed shown in the top left corner.
My surprise makes my hands freeze, and my character dies easily, prompting a chat message from C.P., but that’s not the issue right now.
「No way… Is that even possible?」
「I was surprised too.」
Now that she mentions it, her way of talking in the chat does seem like Ryuugasaki-san. But isn’t this too much of a coincidence? I’d be more convinced if you told me I was dreaming.
But still… She said she watches videos on her days off, but she was actually playing games? And she’s quite into it, too, right? I feel like she’s online whenever I log in.
Maybe she was replying to messages slowly because she was playing games on her smartphone. Now that I think about it, Sandra has been quiet lately.
But it’s kind of embarrassing to have my real identity revealed. We’ve often partied together, so she knows how I act in the game.
Eh, I haven’t said anything embarrassing in the game, have I? If she teases me about it and smirks… I kind of want to see that. No, no, that’s not it.
Come to think of it, this isn’t a bad thing. If we have a common hobby, we should be able to get closer, and I’m looking forward to it.