BTOG 238 – Rokuro and Miharu

Audiobook: https://youtu.be/sJnEIwh4nI0

I woke up in the morning at about 6 am.

And then I ate breakfast.

After that, I start the VR machine and play Zero Wars VR.

And then I ate lunch at noon.

After that, I start the VR machine and play Zero Wars VR.

And then I ate dinner and took a bath in the night.

After that, I start the VR machine and play Zero Wars VR.

I go to bed at 10:00 pm because lack of sleep will affect my performance the next day.

Without fail, I lived with this cycle endlessly, every day.

But since this is an environment where I could be in games from morning till night. It was a blessing in itself to stay the same, even though it meant that it was no different from the facility.

My everyday need was taken care of by Miharu, a caretaker sent by Rinne.

She does everything from cooking food, washing clothes, taking out the trash, and all the other chores.

“This is my job, and I am paid an excessive amount for my labor. In fact, I’m a bit troubled because I don’t have enough to do. Miss Rokuro should concentrate on what you have to do now~.”

When I told her that I was sorry for seeming to impose all the work on her, that was the response I got.

For better or worse, Miharu was a calm and relaxed person. No matter what I said to her, she never let me get in the way of her work.

And after several similar exchanges, I stopped trying to help her.

I had never done any housework in the first place, and I realized my help would be a hindrance instead.

So I always spent all of my free time playing Zero Wars VR.

Perhaps it was because I had previously played Zero Wars 3, the game on which Zero Wars VR is based, that I had no difficulty with understanding elements such as weapons and field structures.

On the other hand, even though I knew it was a virtual space, skydiving for the first time was a shock to me, and the difficulty of shooting enemies with a rifle was the greatest.

(Playing a game using your own body is so much harder.)

As Rinne stated, my aptitude for full diving was outstanding at the facility.

The reason I didn’t actually go down that road after only one test was because I already had become experienced in TPS, and VR games had not yet developed to the point of becoming an esports genre at the time.

However, just because you have a high aptitude for full dive does not mean that everything will go as you want it to.

Because the avatar will move in the way you think and expected it to, it also means that it will move in accordance with your incorrect knowledge.

In a virtual space, your mind will embody your movement.

For example, in the running, if you do not have a knowledge of the correct form of the dash, you can only move inefficiently.

I had played nothing but games, and combined with the fact that I was inexplicably bad at exercise, I had a hard time even running with a weapon at first.

Knowledge. Experience. I lacked everything I needed to conquer this world.

This is different from tapping the keyboard and operate the mouse or hold the controller and press the buttons.

This new experience, is completely different from any games I played in the past, and that has pulled me into a deep immersion.

My first month was so miserable, let alone climbing in rank. I was even getting rolled in the starting zone.

In the next two months, I was able to do a little better, and during this following two months, I managed to push my ability to the line where I was just barely placed on the world ranking.

(It’s a whole lot more efficient when you complete the trials and errors on your own.)

When I was at the facility, the policy was to tell the staff member in charge of my problem and improve it according to their instructions.

Because at that facility, the fact that I got better by following their instructions was important.

The facility was meant to search for a training method that did not depend on the presence or absence of individual talent.

Well, if that had been perfected, it might have been revolutionary.

But in reality, it was not.

Because I know that the other members who were able to survive until the end at that facility and I were all individuals with talents.

(If only one of them had been the best player in the world, their guidance might prove worthwhile.)

In hindsight, this may have been the main reason why I was losing my edge. A coach does not have to be better than the players, but he still needs to have a certain level of ability.

Think for yourself and improve. Repeats the trial and error.

In this way, I could feel that I was getting better each time.

I was free to do as I wished. And I continued to improve myself as Rinne had expected.

And after six months of playing Zero Wars VR.

It happens.

My awakening came without warning. It revealed itself as I managed to hold the top ranking.

(…Somehow, I know where the enemy is…)

Even though I was not using the ability to search for enemies, I could tell where they were.

With myself as the pivot point, I can tell where they are, how far away, and the altitude of my enemy. I know everything.

Countless shadows are tracked using my sense, and it was neither sight nor hearing. It was not a part of my five senses.

There are noises like insects crawling inside my brain, eating away at my thought process.

Because I couldn’t stand the sudden increase in the amount of information, my legs gave up, even though this was inside the game.

I immediately logged out to calm myself down.

Unable to bear nausea, I threw up everything in the bathroom.

I could not help it. I felt so sick. It’s disgusting!

And after resting and calming down, I went to Miharu.

She was in the middle of reading a book.

Miharu, immediately noticed something wrong with my appearance even though she was absorbed in reading.

She closed the book and rushed over to me, and gently propped me up.

“Can you contact Rinne?”

“I can get in touch with her, but I can’t connect with her right away. I’m sure I’ll be able to help you with the content of your call, so please talk to me first about your current situation.”

I as felt my consciousness fading. She carried me to the bed and listened sincerely to my story, which was too ridiculous to be true.

I told Miharu about a frightening sensation I had never experienced before.

“That’s it! It means you have finally taken the first step~.”

Miharu smiled happily as she clasped her hands together.

It was as if she had known this would happen.

“The first step?”

“That’s right. It means that you have finally awakened the innate talent that you originally had. But if you are experiencing such a strong rejection~, Miss Rokuro’s body is probably not yet at the stage where it can handle that talent.”

I could not say anything to Miharu, who nodded as if she was convinced with her own hypothesis.

“For now, I will report this to Rinne-sama~. What Miss Rokuro needs to do is to get used to the sensation. It may be hard at first, but once you get used to it, that super sense will become a great weapon for you.”

“I understand. Then, I will continue.”

“No, no, let’s not do that today. Now that you’re awaken, you can’t play for a long time like you used to. Let’s eat something delicious and take a good rest for today.”

Following her instruction, I relaxed my body.

Although it had calmed down a little, the horrifying sensation like an insect crawling in my brain still faintly persists.

“The time of blooming was earlier than I expected, but don’t worry~. I was entrusted to be your caretaker here for this very moment.”

The awakening of talent. I wonder if Rinne knew this, and that’s the reason why she came to buy me that day and gave me this environment.

Although the truth remained unknown… from this day on, under Miharu’s guidance, I began special training to control this talent, which later I would call the super search sense. {… spidey sense?}

☆

“Miss Rokuro now seems to have another sensory function in addition to her five senses. Or should I call it the Sixth sense? Isn’t it impossible for a human being who cannot control even properly control five senses to remain normal after one more sense is added, right? but at least I am very glad to know that it does not manifest itself in the real world.”

Miharu’s explanation was easier to understand than I had expected.

It is as if she understands this power much better than me, the owner of this odd ability.

“First of all, close your eyes. It is said that people get 80% of their information from their eyes. Closing it does not mean that you can immediately handle your sixth sense at will, but if you narrow down the information, you should be able to calm down a little.”

I closed my eyes in the middle of the battlefield as Miharu told me to.

While trying hard not to throw up, I certainly felt somewhat better than when I had my eyes open.

Even so, the sensation of feeling the enemy’s movement without being able to stop it was terrifying as if a swarm of insects had gathered around me.

“…Ugh.”

“Not even going to last one minute from the start of the game? Let’s log out for a while.”

We dropped the grenade we had picked up before at our feet, and we self-destructed.

I hastily logged out and ran to the bathroom.

“One person learned to control by enduring a fever of nearly 40 degrees Celsius for three months shortly after birth in order to make his body more tolerant of their innate hyper-sensitivity~. Another person was able to control his talent, but due to their weak constitution, they was unable to withstand the output and broke down. The blossoming of a unique talent like this comes with its own pain and price. I wonder how much time Miss Rokuro will spend controlling her sixth sense.”

Miharu whispered about past cases as she rubbed my back after I finished vomiting, but I was too dazed to hear most of what she said.

I was only slightly relieved to know that there were others who had experienced similar pain.

After five minutes of sitting on the toilet, I rinsed my mouth out and stood up again.

“Let’s continue.”

“Yes, that was my intention as well~.”

Wiping my mouth, I logged into the virtual space once again.

It was incredibly painful, but if I didn’t control it, I wouldn’t be able to play the game properly from now on. That is the only thing I wanted to avoid.

Ten minutes later, Miharu giggled as she watched me collapse in the bathroom again.

“Ufufu, it looks like you still have a long way to go…”

For the first three months of my training, I repeatedly battled headaches and nausea because I couldn’t process the flood of information. My throat was burning with gastric juices from the constant vomiting, and most days, I couldn’t sleep without sleeping pills.

Miharu stayed with me and took care of me during that time.

When I was too weak to dive into the virtual space any longer, she would introduce me to her favorite manga and anime.

She even taught me the mundane things like how to cook and fold laundry.

Our relationship, which until now had been merely that of caretaker and cared for, had indeed taken a step forward.

After three months, I was able to organize information to the point where I could stand on the battlefield for an entire day without getting sick.

Of course, I still wasn’t much of a fighter, so my battle record was in shambles.

Still, once I got used to it, the rest was easy.

The sixth pseudo-sensory organ, which only manifests itself in virtual space, functioned as if I had been born with it, and my brain began to process the information without confusion.

By this time, I no longer needed Miharu’s help, and I was able to dive into ranked matches by myself.

However, the wall that stood between Miharu and me had been completely removed over the past three months, and we began to have more and more casual conversations. This was also the first time that I began to enjoy talking with others.

Interestingly, as I became accustomed to my sixth sense, I also began to sharpen my other five senses, such as sight and hearing, with more acute and delicate accuracy.

“This is probably the result of a much greater capacity to receive and process information as a result of the addition of new sense…. as a result, you’re now able to process information from the six senses more clearly and separately,” Miharu said.

Her explanation is: I used to perceive milk coffee as one piece of information as one information, but now I can perceive coffee and milk separately as two different pieces of information. As a result, I am able to understand them as more vivid information.

Miharu explained it this way, but it didn’t quite make sense to me.

In the end, it took me almost half a year to fully tame this rampaging talent.

No matter where I was or what I was doing, the fast-changing positional information of the players running around on the field would enter my brain.

But not all of them. As a rule of thumb, I could detect about 50 players in order of proximity to me, so I don’t know where my enemies are located in the far distance.

Still, it means I always knew the whereabouts of about half the players per match.

“But you really did a great job! I can’t believe you made it in just six months.”

“It’s all thanks to you, Miharu. Thanks for being so patient.”

“Please don’t be modest. It’s not easy to endure so much pain and exhaustion while putting in so much effort. At worst, the game itself could have been a traumatic experience. I think Miss Rokuro’s greatest strength is the attitude that allows her to accumulate efforts without getting caught up in weakness.”

Miharu said as she patted me on the head.

Since that day when my talent blossomed, Miharu has often treated me like a child.

I was embarrassed, but I was also happy that my past efforts had been recognized that my cheeks involuntarily broke into a smile.

“I’m going after the top spot this season. So I’m going to start fresh with a new account to set the record straight. Miharu, I’d like you to decide on my future account name, a player name just like [Rinne].”

“Is that okay? It’s a name that many people will be calling you from now on, you know~?”

“Yes, that’s exactly why.”

Now I have control over my talent, which I call my sixth sense. The process was not easy and filled with pain like I had never felt before.

When I was in the institution, I rarely felt pain or suffering. I was not naughty enough to get hurt, and I was not physically attacked, even by bullies in elementary school.

For me, who had such lukewarm life, the three months after my talent was awakened were truly hell.

There were times when I felt like my heart was going to break, and there were times when I literally couldn’t move at all. There were times when I moaned from the pain of a burning throat, and there were times when the headaches drove me to the brink of insanity.

And during those times… Miharu was always there to support me.

Perhaps, it was just mental care to help me grow up to be an excellent gamer who would be useful to Rinne…

But for me, who was born without a family, those times had me wondering if this is what it feels like to have a mother or sister.

Such a warm feeling is what I got from Miharu.

“Then, let’s borrow a name from the hero I once admired, Superman, who is also my starting point, and even though it’s a cliché. A sixth sense is exactly the kind of ability a hero would have.”

“Ehh, what’s with that reason?”

“The origin story is very important. Besides, a player’s name should be catchy.”

Miharu said so and wrote letters on the screen of the tablet terminal with her finger.

With a confident expression on her face, she turned the screen toward us and said,

“Yes! How about [♡Suupaa♡]?”

“………………….can I remove the heart mark?”

“Why! That’s the charm point!”

“I don’t want it. I don’t need it. and it’s definitely not needed at all!!”

“That’s outrageous! You told me to decide it!”

While calming down, pouting Miharu, who booed with her lips pursed, I managed to get her to remove the heart mark.

Thus, the gamer tag [Suupaa] was born.

I, (me), would leave behind a legend for a year from this day onward.

===*

A note:

Miharu is Karin’s aunt. There is an age difference between her and Suupaa is about the same as a mother and daughter. And yes, her naming sense is…

Anyway, there are only a few days left in the tournament!

Please lookout for the third volume of the comic!