Fangaku:Volume1 Act2 Prologue
Act 2: How About You Try Dying Just Once?[edit]
Don’t worry, don’t worry
It won’t hurt a bit
Oh, but do be careful
Not even death can cure stupidity
▼002: How About You Try Dying Just Once?
“I’m not going to die in the ‘heading out’ sequence, am I!?”
Previously[edit]
“Last time, I turned into a dark elf girl and transferred to Tokyo Depths School. I was supposed to enjoy a slow life at the Tokyo Depths, but instead…”
“You were in big trouble because a lesser water dragon attacked! That’s when we came running and provided a physical solution to the problem. And this time…”
“You’ll be participating in the Depths Speedrun with us. We’ll be hunting a Boss Wyvern. First is the ‘heading out’ sequence everyone loves!”
Prologue[edit]
●
Far too much had happened that morning for the dark elf’s liking.
…I know I chose to come here because all the changes made staying at home too awkward, but still.
She had expected life here to be different, but this was ridiculous.
Anyway, she had been protected from the exploding dragon.
She was led by the hand to the area alongside Tokyo Depths School.
Through the woods, she could see the white school building and the midway entrance to a passageway leading somewhere else.
●
“What is this?”
It was a white passageway.
But it had burn marks in places and slash marks several meters long.
While she was wondering what that was about…
“Hey, this way. It’s too soon for the school building. We’ve got something else to do first.”
The dark elf was guided down the passageway by the tall girl – Ushiko – who had protected her and three others she assumed were 3rd years.
The redhead who had defeated the dragon.
The girl who had protected her from the exploding dragon and then cast a healing spell on her.
The girl who had apparently fired from behind them.
Those three led the dark elf to what appeared to be a library.
●
The inside of the library was a vast space surrounded by bookcases.
At the entrance, Ushiko raised a hand toward the leading three.
“I can make a good guess what’s about to happen, but I need to go report to the Chancellor.”
“You go do that. If 3rd Special Duty Officer ‘Balance Point’ is there, that’s who you really need to report to, so do that.”
“I will,” said Ushiko before bowing to me.
“Don’t worry. Your whole world isn’t going to betray you again.”
“Eh!? Um, okay…”
Was that the right way to respond?
I didn’t know as she waved to me and departed.
She left.
Only then, seeing her standing next to the bookcases, did I realize just how tall she really was.
And the redhead pointed behind herself.
Far back there was a large door presumably leading to another room.
“You know more or less what this means, right?”
●
I know what she meant by that.
So I raised my hand.
That opened a motion-controlled sign frame.
“Tokyo Depths School Student No. 010103, ‘Dark Elf’ arrived in the library at 8:50 AM on March 15.”
“You were a little delayed by the morning’s excitement, weren’t you?”
That girl shook her ears which were fluffy with fur.
The fur was the same brown as her hair and she had a tail with a similar coat, so I guessed she was a dog Expresser.
She began using a sign frame to communicate with the students at the library counter.
An instruction came in from the librarian on duty and the library’s “interior” began to move.
“Set the Bookcase Data Control to speedrunning mode!”
With several acknowledging voices, the students began moving and rearranging the bookcases.
“…? What’s happening now?”
“Hm? Oh, you’ll see later, but they’re using the bookcases to activate a large-scale environmental spell.”
“They’re activating a spell by moving bookcases around?”
■Bookcase Data Control Spell
<Allow me to explain. Often just referred to as a “bookcase spell”, a Bookcase Data Control Spell treats each individual book as a Kotodama spell code to write spell program scripts within a bookcase. Then by rearranging the bookcases, they can produce a single large spell. The method is hard to construct and has many drawbacks, but the resultant spells are quite powerful when done correctly. The method is primarily used to create large-scale spell fields. The spells usually cover a wide area and last for an extended period of time.>
“It is a Showa-era Lives block game. The spell only works in the Depths Region where Kotodama are highly effective, newcomer.”
Apparently she had heard of me.
…Dark elves are pretty rare.
Meanwhile, the blue-haired gunner stepped out in front of me.
“Stand still, okay?”
She opened a black sign frame in spell mode.
She used the sign frame to check me over from head to shoulder, chest, and belly.
<I do not believe there is any problem.>
“Oh? Were you receiving a tutorial?”
She too had ears and a tail.
Except her ears were pointier and her tail was fluffy.
That made her look like a fox, but…
…Are there black foxes?
I wasn’t sure. And while I thought about that, the black fox girl raised her head.
But her gaze was directed toward the redhead.
“No problems. The ether explosion didn’t effect her and she isn’t carrying anything dangerous.”
“I got through too.”
“Wait, huh? What’re you talking about?”
“Well,” said the redhead. “You know why you’re here, don’t you?”
●
Why was I here?
I provided the answer. The same one I had given all morning.
“Um, I was told to go to the library at 8.”
“Not that, idiot. Give the real reason.”
“Oh,” I realized.
Now I got it.
She wanted the substance, not the preface.
So I waved my hand.
A new sign frame appeared.
Just one.
But this was different from the one before.
The screen displayed a general-use divine net browser.
…Um, how do I get to the school email page?
■Sign Frame
<I will cover this one since it is about me. The sign frame system has spread across the world, but how they are used differs between country and city.>
Sign Frame: A divine net browser console displayed in the air. Can be used for communication, browsing, or activating spells and divine protections. In the Depths Region, usually provided by the Asama Shrine.
<Here in the Depths Region, they use the same basic Japanese control scheme as in your home city of Kawasaki.>
“You have to contact the shrine or school first, right?”
“Oh? You’ve actually done your homework.”
“They teach you these things before you arrive here.”
“Wow, sorry, but I don’t really understand it.”
<Sorry. I only have a statistical understanding of the “local etiquette”, so could you send her a copy of the best control scheme for the Depths Region?>
The dog girl smiled a little at my failure.
She finished up the additional work she was doing at the counter and approached me.
“I’ll help you with the MC setup later.”
●
The MC setup.
I knew what that meant.
“Yeah, you’ve gotta have that mortal combat button set up!!”
“She means motion control!”
“That’s right. If you only have one motion control set up for opening a sign frame, then opening multiple frames is a pain.”
So…
“Can I have your sign frame privileges? I don’t need privileges for your personal information or personal settings – I just want to check the school-related stuff.”
“Oh, yes! Feel free!”
<Changing display permissions from public access to limited administrator.>
“Okay, I’ll copy over my settings. …Sakura? I know you’re listening.”
What’s she going to do? I wondered.
Then an external divine transmission arrived at my sign frame.
“Hello, hello, hello! Thank you for using Depths Asama Shrine sign frames! Your settings change is accepted!”
Light blossomed all around me.
Countless sign frames opened all at once, sorted by type.
“There, all done.”
●
“Whoa, did hundreds of sign frames just open at once!?”
I’d never done anything that crazy even during my Kawasaki days.
Because after opening so many, closing them all would be a pain.
And even if you did set it up to control the entire group at once, it wasn’t often you would need to open so many.
…Well, there was that one time I fell victim to a sign frame crasher…
So I was shocked by the skill and flare with which she had done this.
Maybe she was oblivious to that, but the dog upperclassman extracted a few sign frames from the group.
The rest all closed and…
“Hm. Hanako-san, take a look at this one. And this one too. You only have to pretend.”
“How do you make sense of all this?”
The redhead accepted the sign frames even as she complained.
The 3rd year called Hanako scanned through the screen.
“So, uh, what am I supposed to be seeing?”
“Can you read the part that begins with ‘henceforth’?”
“I can read that, yes! Stop making fun of me!”
“Sometimes you give us reason to question your vocabulary skills…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” said the redhead.
Then she turned to me.
“Henceforth, you shall be a member of the Tokyo Depths Exploration Team called Angel Stare.”
Listen.
“That’s why you’re here today, but this was on the instruction of Chancellor ‘Galaxy’. That Chancellor is a huge pain in the ass, so just accept it. Starting today, you’re a member of Angel Stare.”
“Um, okay. But what is Angel Stare?”
■Angel Stare
<Allow me to explain. Angel Stare is one of the units active in the Depths Region. It is sponsored by the West Tachikawa Shopping District. It is about 1 year old and its members are primarily 3rd year veterans and 2nd year newcomers. The 1st years are in a bit of an awkward middle position. Its leader is Hanako. Its sub-leader is Shiroma.>
“Oh, hey, Tutorial. So you’ve actually got some useful info in there after all. Anyway, I’m Hanako. Make sure to show me some respect, okay?”
●
“Listen,” said Hanako, beckoning over the dark elf newcomer.
At the counter, the librarians bowed but also waved back.
“Today, we’ll be doing a speedrun of Depths 1F. And you’ll be coming with. I have two tasks for you to complete there in addition to the main mission. So try your best to get them done if you can.”
She walked toward the large door in the back.
The dark elf followed after her, as did the other two who were carrying gear cases.
Hanako stopped in front of the large door.
“What’s your name? Oh, and I mean your nickname.”
■Nickname (Naming Rules)
<Allow me to explain. Everyone in the Depths Region is an Expresser. If they try to continue using their previous name, they will become “something else” and their old memories will be hidden away. To fix and prevent that, it is recommended to keep your true name secret while using a temporary name or an Expression nickname as your “current name”.>
“You learned that in the classes you took while waiting, right? So what are you called?”
“Eh? Just Dark Elf, I guess?”
“Okay.” Hanako nodded. “In the Depths Region, a name that just points to what you are is useless. And you can’t use the name your parents gave you. Your name has to come from the essence of your being.”
“Didn’t they teach you that during your two weeks of lessons?”
“Yes, they did.”
“You’re supposed to say ‘no, not yet’!”
Unsure how to react, the dark elf looked to the fox.
The fox pointed at Hanako.
“Just ignore her. She tends to abuse her power as leader, but really she’s just an idiot. …I don’t know the word for that.”
“D-damn you!”
“Anyway, Hanako-san, what about…?”
The dog repeatedly gestured toward herself and her partner.
Reminds me of an overexcited dog, noted Hanako, but she knew what the dog was trying to say.
“As you’ve heard, I’m Angel Stare’s leader. The name’s Hanako.”
And…
“The one with the wagging tale is Shiroma and the one with the sharp tongue is Kuroma. They’re both 3rd years.”
“Hooray. Dark Elf-san, this means you’re our underclassman.”
Was that really so exciting?
Maybe so.
Hanako only saw it as an extra fighter forced onto them by the Chancellor, but…
“Isn’t Dark Elf a little long?”
●
…Here we go again…
Kuroma could sense the underclassman’s confusion concerning Hanako’s sudden complaint.
“Um…long how?”
“Well,” replied Kuroma, pointing at Hanako. “She’s from a crazy fantasy world, so she can’t remember names longer than six letters long.”
“Not true! I’m not from an 8-bit game!”
“Hanako-san? 8-bit RPGs usually allowed up to 8 letters, so you don’t even meet that standard. Keep on trying!”
<Yes, put in a real effort please.>
“Sh-shut up! I just feel like overly long names take up too much time while on a run, you idiots!”
As annoying as she could be, she had a point.
“Then do you have any ideas?”
Hanako held a hand to her forehead in thought.
Shiroma made a show of opening a stopwatch sign frame and starting it.
“Since she’s a dark elf, how about we shorten that to DE and call her Deko?”
“Incredible! It only took you 5 seconds to come up with an answer, Hanako-san!”
“See, told you I’m great!”
I don’t think that was meant as a compliment, thought Kuroma, but she kept quiet.
Her partner had a tendency toward those Kyoto-style backhanded compliments, but that just added some extra “flavor”.
However…
“Um, before you said a name given to me didn’t count, so is this acceptable?”
“As much as I hate supporting her nonsense, just think of it as a code name. When we cast spells on you, we’ll put together a batch under the Dark Elf name, so don’t worry.”
“Yeah, don’t worry.”
Hearing her say that was always a good reason to worry.
That was the sort of trust their leader instilled in them.
But…
“So is that enough of an introduction?”
“No, no, no. What about our combat styles?”
“I’m a Strike Forcer. That makes me a tank and attacker.”
“I am a Magino Master and a Weiss Hexen.”
“I’m also a Magino Master and a Schwarz Hexen.”
Screens opened around Deko, providing her information.
How much did she set to public? belatedly wondered Kuroma.
Everyone had their own opinions on privacy, so she was a little curious.
But as Deko’s information was displayed…
■Deko
<Allow me to explain. Deko is a solo immigrant from Steel City – Kawasaki. She is a dark elf Expresser. She belongs to Tokyo Depths School Class 1-Camellia. Her combat style is No Work. Her unit is Angel Stare.>
●
“Um, I would like to study engineering. Is that good enough?”
I bowed and Shiroma-senpai reacted with considerable enthusiasm.
“Can you pick locks!? We’re always relying on my spells for that, so I’d love a break from that!”
“C’mon, she’s probably only Level 1. At low level, she might have the right attitude, but not the skills. We’re a pretty unbalanced group, so watch out for that.”
“You are?”
“Yes.” Kuroma-senpai pointed at Hanako. “Counting her, we have four close-range fighters. Shiroma and I are our only spell users. We also have two special cases, two backup fighters, and two even more special cases. The exact situation is fairly fluid and we outsource some, but we currently have 12 members.”
■Exploration Team
<Allow me to explain. Exploration team is one category a unit can be registered as. Units do not need to be registered, but if they are, they receive certain services. Exploration teams are categorized by whether they primarily take missions in the Greater Depths, the Central Depths, or the Lesser Depths. They are also sometimes referred to as “attack units”.>
“Huh? So the Tachikawa police who came running after the dragon was defeated…?”
<Public organizations usually follow their own rules, but they follow the rules of the Depths Region when they work here. They are classified as as a “public guard unit”.>
“Most units are exploration teams. And we’re one of the newer ones.”
“All our members are either really simple or really weird, so I hope you’ll turn out to be normal, Deko-san.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that other than nodding.
Then the upperclassman called Hanako walked right in front of me.
“Hey, Deko. You’re a dark elf, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
She suddenly opened the front of my uniform all the way down past my navel.
●
“Ahhhh! What was that for!?”
“Dark elves are supposed to be all sexy and jiggly, right? Appearance matters a lot in this place, so you need to do it right. And I see you’re wearing the school-mandated bikini underneath. Good, good.”
“How would you describe the look on my face?”
“A ‘she’s done it again’ look?”
Hanako then scrutinized my belly.
“What’s this bandage on your navel? You got a piercing?”
“No, a mosquito bit me last night.”
“Yeah, they’re out now that it’s warming up!”
Hanako turned the other way, maybe to hide her laughter.
●
“Yeah, nothing like laughter to start the day right! Shiroma, you set up her uniform to automatically change into tactical form.”
“It doesn’t look like she’s altered it, so will the standard be okay? Opening the front isn’t a major change.”
“Sounds good,” said Hanako, reaching for the big door.
“It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to greet someone directly like this. …Let’s go.”
●
Deko saw the two heavy ebony doors in the back of the library open to reveal…
“Are you ready for today’s 1st entrance event sequence!? Due to certain circumstances, Angel Stare will be going in alone! And this doubles as an introduction to the new member assigned to them personally by the Chancellor! Now, how will their speedrun go!?”
There was a gigantic arena on the other side.
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