My Reality Became a Zombie Game World, but Only I Can Use the Game System - Chapter 24: Yume and Ai's Secret Conversation

Chapter 24: Yume and Ai’s Secret Conversation

When Inoue Yume woke up, it was morning, six o’clock.

The afterglow of last night’s affair remained, but her condition was excellent. Despite being tormented by Ritsu, she felt no fatigue at all. Perhaps her increased stamina as a team member was a factor.

After confirming that the infrastructure, including electricity, water, and the internet, was still functioning, she took a shower.

Returning to her room with a towel wrapped around her, Ritsu was still fast asleep in bed.

“…”

Yume was curious about the content of the video Ritsu had been so engrossed in.

She took Ritsu’s smartphone, which was placed by his pillow, and used his sleeping thumb to bypass the fingerprint authentication.

The viewing history on the video app showed the anomaly at Tokyo Sky Tower.

Ah, so that’s what it was. It was exactly the kind of content Ritsu would enjoy.

This might require urgent attention.

“Ai, I want to talk to you.”

Yume spoke, but there was no response. According to Ritsu, Ai’s words could only be heard by Ritsu, the player. Yume didn’t believe it.

It was impossible for the team members, who also used the game system, to not even be able to have a conversation with her.

“If you won’t answer, that’s fine. Ai, just listen.”

Yume equipped the M4 Carbine assault rifle from her storage inventory and pointed the gun at Ritsu’s head, who was still sleeping.

Attacks from allies using the game system would hit the player. If she pulled the trigger now, Ritsu would die.

“Ritsu-kun safely rescued me from the academy, and we’re living together like this, having sex, loving each other, and he’s satisfied and sleeping. Don’t you think this is the happy ending? From here on, the infrastructure will stop working, humanity will continue to decline, and you’ll get bored with our life together, and it will just keep going downhill. So, maybe it would be happier if he died here?”

There was no response from Ai. Yume was surprised by this reaction.

She had expected Ai to take some kind of action to protect Ritsu.

Of course, Yume had no intention of killing Ritsu, she just wanted to see how Ai would respond in such a situation.

The answer was still silence.

–Could it be that she really can’t talk to me? No, that’s definitely not the case.

Even her silence was a gain for Yume. It excluded some options from the numerous possibilities of Ai’s true identity.

“I’m sorry, I just had to try. But it’s true that I think Ritsu-kun will get bored with our life together.”

Yume put the assault rifle back in her inventory and took out her own smartphone. She searched for and played the video Ritsu had been watching.

“Actually, it seems he was obsessed with videos like this. I think Ritsu-kun will start looking for something more stimulating at an early stage, a replacement for ‘DL4.’ Isn’t that inconvenient for you? What do you think? I think we can work together.”

Ai said nothing.

Yume sat on the bed and thought about how to draw out Ai’s words.

“I heard most of the conversations between Ritsu-kun and you from Ritsu-kun himself. Ritsu-kun has surprisingly good memory, so the content of what you said was pretty accurate to me. What I found more interesting than the content was your choice of words.”

–“I don’t ask anything of Ritsu-san.”

–“I recommend that you prepare as soon as possible.”

–“I do not recommend it. The academy is a dangerous area.”

“Not asking anything, recommending, not recommending. These words show that you respect Ritsu-kun’s free will. It’s possible to construct a hypothesis about your true identity from here, but let’s put that aside for now, it’s not the main point. What I’m curious about is that you, who avoid forcing Ritsu-kun’s will, used the word ‘absolutely’ only once.”

–“The areas flashing red on the map are dangerous areas. Abso-lute-ly do not go near them.”

“Do you remember? When you could see the dangerous areas on the map, you said this, according to Ritsu-kun. Now that I’m also a team member, I can see the dangerous areas on the map.”

Yume enlarged the minimap in her field of vision and checked the location of the dangerous areas in the surrounding area.

“When Ritsu-kun saw this, he apparently thought that there were no dangerous areas between his home and the academy. But that’s strange, isn’t it? It’s impossible that the academy, which was full of zombies, is not a dangerous area. So this flashing red area is not a dangerous area, but there must be another reason for the mark.”

In other words, Ai disguised this area, which was flashing red on the map, as a dangerous area to prevent Ritsu from approaching it.

“You must have wanted to say something like that because you didn’t want him to go to this place at all.”

Yume waited a few seconds, but Ai said nothing.

Reluctantly, she pointed to one spot on the map, the center of the flashing red area. The coordinates were–Tokyo Sky Tower.

“Once you start to doubt, you’ll also see the common points of these flashing areas. I think Ritsu-kun would be happy if I told him about it.”

“Please don’t tell Ritsu-san! …That’s why I didn’t want to talk to you.”

A message window appeared in mid-air, and at the same time, a girl’s voice echoed in Yume’s head. Yume smiled quietly.

–Finally, I’ve got you hooked.

A lot of information is contained in the voice, and Yume’s brain processes it rapidly.

It seems that Ritsu suspects that Ai is an AI, but that’s definitely not the case. These words, filled with emotion, are definitely human.

The girl is in her late teens, probably around our age. It’s surprising, but I don’t recognize her voice.

There is no disgust in her tone. Respect makes up about 20%, familiarity about 50%. The rest is… sweetness, maybe?

Yume thinks that Ai didn’t stop her from pointing the gun at Ritsu because she was confident that Yume wouldn’t shoot. This girl knows a lot about both Ritsu and Yume. Did she do some research, or…?

“Hey, Ai, can’t we work together?”

“Work together, you say?”

“Ritsu-kun is looking for a replacement for ‘DL4.’ If he continues like this, he might even die by charging into Tokyo Sky Tower. I don’t want that to happen. You don’t either, do you?”

“….Yes. I just want Ritsu-san to use the system to survive.”

–That’s unexpected. It’s her true feelings.

There was a discrepancy between Ai’s expected response and the actual response, so Yume corrected it in her mind. The outline of Ai’s identity seems to be coming into view, but not quite.

“So, how do you plan to cooperate?”

Yume wanted to probe Ai’s identity a little more, but since Ai had brought up the main point, she reluctantly answered.

“I want to give Ritsu-kun something to pass the time. I want to give him a more easily achievable goal so that he doesn’t engage in dangerous play. Is there anything like that?”

“Something like… soothing a five-year-old…”

Ai was speechless, but she seemed to consider it for a few seconds, then began to speak.

“There is an eight-year-old girl nearby who is waiting for rescue. If you make this your base, Ritsu-san will notice her sooner or later. Taking care of that child could be a good goal.”

If there’s a child in trouble, Yume wants to help. It’s a win-win idea, considering that it also becomes a goal for Ritsu.

Yume thought it was a good proposal for a moment, but then she thought of a concern and expressed it.

“Ritsu-kun… well… he’s not exactly a good person, is he?”

“You expressed a scumbag in a roundabout way.”

“He’s not a good person, that’s all. Anyway, if Ritsu-kun knows that a child is calling for help, do you think he’ll help? I’m not so sure.”

Yume thought that the chances of Ritsu helping or not were about even.

In fact, it seems that he tried to abandon Natsume-chan, who was isolated at the academy…

“On that point, you can rest assured, Yume-oneechan. Ritsu-san is the type of villain who will only help a child in need if he has the spare time!”

“Is that so…? Maybe it is…”

Yume wonders what Ritsu-kun knows about her, but since Ai says it with such confidence, Yume decides to believe her for now.

Ritsu will probably be busy buying Skill Drugs for a while, and as long as Yume doesn’t let him go to dangerous places, there’s no problem.

“Okay, let’s go with that plan. Well, nice to meet you, Ai.”

“Nice to meet you too, Yume-san.”

Yume smiled, not showing her true purpose, which was not to cooperate with Ai.

Ritsu thinks that Ai gave him the system, but Yume thinks differently.

Ritsu, who always comes to her rescue when she’s in danger, is her god.

It’s only natural for Ai to kneel before this god and offer the system.

The proper state is for Ritsu to be the master and Ai to be the servant, and the current situation, where Ai has the initiative, is not desirable.

So, Yume will dominate Ai and make the game system completely Ritsu’s.

To do that, she needs to have conversations like this with Ai and gather information.

Yume thinks there’s a lot to do.

She has to make the system completely Ritsu’s, and she also needs a goal of just the right difficulty so that Ritsu doesn’t get bored.

She wants to create a comfortable paradise for him, and she also needs to find girls who can keep up with Ritsu’s sexual desires.

Yume caressed Ritsu’s head, which was breathing softly on the bed, with affection.

–Wait for me, Ritsu-kun. Onee-chan will make you the god of this new world.