Fangaku:Volume1 Retake
Retake: Waking Up to Confusion, Showing Up to Confusion[edit]
Maybe there is a correct route
But the walkthrough I was given
Only shows me the troublesome routes
●
Good morning! I am the generative prose AI called Bisai Plus!
A client suggested the prologue and the start of chapter 1 were lacking in information, so I will be adding some supplemental information here.
It is up to each of you to preserve consistency.
Now, the additional information for the prologue and the start of chapter 1 will include the nightmare and everything up to meeting Ushiko.
☆ Prologue and Chapter 1 Opening Retake…start!!
Prologue[edit]
●
I was dreaming.
Fog-like clouds hung below a blue-black sky.
And I was standing on more white foggy clouds that stretched all the way to the distant horizon.
There was nothing else here.
“Where am I?”
I didn’t know.
Maybe someone else was here, but I couldn’t see them.
I only saw a white plane and, when I tried to speak, my voice vanished like it was being absorbed.
“––––!”
What was this place?
I was here.
The only other thing than that seemed to exist was time.
But there was no sun or moon. A wind did seem to be blowing, but I couldn’t feel any kind of temperature.
And…
“What is going on?”
Being above the clouds reminded me of descriptions of heaven, paradise, or the divine realm.
But what I felt here now was…
“–––”
●
I didn’t know.
●
What was I feeling? I wasn’t sure how to verbalize the feeling I got from this place, the visible scene, and my presence there.
No.
It wasn’t that I couldn’t.
I could tell that I didn’t want to.
Because I didn’t know how long my presence here or the white plane itself would last.
What if this plane continued on forever with no one else but me here?
“––––!”
I was afraid I would complete that thought.
●
What if everything did stay “like this” forever?
And what if I accepted that fact?
…I might just lose my mind.
I could see emptiness all around me.
It was pretty, pure, and clear, but it seemed to me like a place of despair where nothing was allowed to exist.
So…
“Yeah.”
What was I supposed to do?
I didn’t understand anything here and even trying to understand brought on the fear of despair.
So what could I do about the plane before me?
●
I woke up in the middle of that heavy dream.
“Ahhhhh!?”
What was that?
I had no clue. But one image seemed stuck in my mind.
“A-a white plane?”
The words caused the image to flash before my eyes again.
“––––”
I needed to stop thinking about it. That had to be no more than a nightmare.
And “white plane”? The name sounded kind of cool, but it also sounded more like a type of instant noodle cup.
“The White Plane and the Black Plane!”
Something like that.
Yeah.
I’d calmed down some.
Humor was important
I had a feeling I was only putting on a strong front, but I thought I had gotten over it.
“I’m fine.”
I would forget that dream soon enough once I got back to my ordinary life. So that’s what I would do. It was early spring. Last night, I had been thinking of going and seeing the early cherry blossoms on this, my last March in middle school.
So I would get changed. Yes, it was 8 AM, so my parents had to be up already. After preparing myself as best I could…
“Hm?”
When I got out of bed, I noticed something in the mirror by the entrance.
“…”
That’s weird, I thought.
I normally saw a dumb-looking middle school boy with a tan reflected there.
“…Huh?”
I lifted the track jacket I wore as pajamas and saw something very different from usual. In other words…
“Why am I a dark elf (♀)!?”
Act 1[edit]
Prologue[edit]
●
“Time to go.”
A dark elf began her walk from the train station area to school.
●
White cherry blossoms scattered below the blue sky.
Many people moved about in the city through which the blossoms fluttered.
Along a street.
Some puddles from the recent rain remained below and between the guardrails.
Everyone either avoided them, stepped in them, or jumped over them.
Most of those people wore school uniforms.
They were all girls.
A few different uniform styles were present and the type and color determined where in the city they were headed. The non-physical school emblem plate hovering near their uniforms indicated their destinations.
I was reflected in a puddle as I walked uncertainly among them.
“––––”
I wore a white sailor uniform.
My reflection in the puddle showed white hair and dark skin.
I wore cowlings over my long ears. Seeing that, a girl spoke quietly to herself as she and her friends passed me from behind.
“A dark elf?”
●
“Yeah…”
The dark elf thought to herself on her way to school: Yeah, that’s right. I’m a dark elf.
She had heard her Expression was actually fairly rare.
…Like rarer than SSR I think?
While she was thinking that, a console appeared in the air next to her face.
That was a sign frame.
A type of non-physical tablet that could be opened anywhere.
She had been able to use them back in her hometown too, but here there was no restriction on where they could be used and they had a lot more available settings.
This one had appeared to provide automatic guidance.
<My data indicates you have begun moving through the city.>
“Yeah. Today, or this morning really, I was released from my inspection period, so I can begin on my life here. Doe that mean my tutorial has started?”
<Yes. The inspection team approved you for limited release, so now that you have officially transferred to the Depths Region, I will now provide ‘thorough’ guidance to you. Would you like to change the frequency?>
“Whatever’s normal.”
<Then I will put you down for an order of ‘normal’.>
That seems like an odd way to say that, she thought, but maybe it was a local thing.
For now, she had the sign frame display a map of the area and used it to navigate.
She was headed to the location indicated by the non-physical school emblem plate hovering near her uniform, just like with the other students.
“Tokyo Depths School.”
Speaking the name aloud caused the sign frame map to shift.
She double checked her current location and the direction she was headed.
Then she walked with the map out in front of her.
Watching the map wasn’t all that useful now that she knew where she was going, but it helped her ignore the eyes on her.
The other students must have been able to tell she was new here.
…My appearance stands out too much.
She was a dark elf.
But not because she wanted to be.
After all…
…I woke up one morning and found I was one!!
●
My family lived in Kawasaki.
My parents were both alive and I had a younger brother.
I was the oldest son.
Or had been until the spring of my 1st year of high school when I became a dark elf one morning. A female one.
“Eh!? How am I supposed to go to school like this!?”
It come as a shock to my parents.
Of course it had.
Their son had walked out of his room one morning as a thicc dark elf girl. It would’ve scared me if they had taken that in stride.
At first, they mistook me for their son’s girlfriend or something.
“My! Were you spending the night with our son! Well, aren’t you a thicc one!”
My mom liked learning new slang words.
●
<Shall I add “thicc” to your dictionary?>
“Please don’t. And could you not barge into my flashbacks?”
<Your personal sign frame is linked to your biological reactions, so I can’t help it. If you find my presence creepy, feel free to tell me.>
“What happens when I do?”
<Nothing really. I was only telling you that you have the right to do so.>
I slapped the screen and it spun around three times.
●
Anyway, my family was freaking out about their oldest son “turning into a thicc dark elf”.
I was given some scans at a local hospital, but according to the doctor…
“Hmm, every reading I take points to you being a thicc dark elf.”
“Excuse me, but do you have to call me ‘thicc’ every single time?”
Apparently they did. And according to my mom…
“This kind of thing happened all over during the Tokyo Liberation.”
■Tokyo Liberation
<Allow me to explain. The Tokyo Liberation was a global alteration that occurred in Tokyo in July 1997. There is a clock tower in Kanda which controls the concept of time and a conflict over it led to an incident known as the Tokyo Sealing, but thanks to assistance from multiple time dimensions, the entire world was altered, leading to the current state of the world.>
Since an “alteration” like that had happened to me, I knew all too well what it was like.
“Everyone starts treating you differently and, more than that, you freak out too!”
After some research, it turned out I hadn’t been reincarnated or replaced – I had undergone an Expression.
<In your case, you were “well suited” for a dark elf Expression.>
“The worst part is that I have no idea why that is. I thought maybe my ‘white plane’ dream I had the night before caused it.”
<Dreams are not a condition for an Expression.>
“Yeah, so I’ve been told.”
Nevertheless, I just couldn’t forget that dream.
●
The white plane.
That field was nothing but an endless expanse of a blank white ground and a blue-black sky.
…Was that just a nightmare? Maybe it was an expression of my mental state so close to graduating middle school.
But I still vividly remembered how I had felt upon seeing it.
There was nothing there, I didn’t understand what I was seeing, and I had no idea what to do there.
I remembered fearing that accepting it would change something inside me.
…If I end up on that white plane, will I be powerless to do anything until it all ends?
My decision to come here had partially been to break free of that fear.
…Because I doubt I’ll have that nightmare again if I’m in a totally new environment.
<Can’t you just ignore it?>
“You really do barge into my thoughts, don’t you?”
●
<Yes, well,> said the screen. <Your dream aside, research of the Expression process is primarily done here in the Depths Region.>
Yes.
The Depths Region.
I asked the sign frame a question, more to get the conversation and my mind on a different topic.
“Can you explain about the Depths Region?”
<At a ‘normal’ detail level? That would be where we are now, but the explanation will primarily be about the Depths.>
■Depths
<Allow me to explain. The Depths, or the Depths Region, refers to multilevel subterranean spaces which appeared in central Tokyo and southern Saitama of Japan and Oxford of England after the Tokyo Liberation. Each level us unique – some taking a dungeon form and others an open world form – but they are updated at set intervals and a wide variety of resources can be found there, so private groups attempt to fully explore and complete them. The area affected by the laws and concepts of the Depths is known as the Depths Region.>
The local doctor who had scanned me had explained this to me as well.
“The most famous Depths Regions are the one in Oxford, England, and the one in Tokyo, Japan.”
“The Depths Region? So is it related to that thing?”
“Yes. To the Depths in central Tokyo which directly link to another world.”
“Wait, there’s another world in there?”
“Well, that isn’t actually confirmed. It would be a big deal if it was. But I have friends who live there who say it probably is. The place is technically a special ward and a municipality, but it’s treated like its own city. Have you never seen the publicly-funded show Slow Dungeon Life?”
“Sorry, my generation doesn’t really watch TV.”
“Ugh, kids these days,” he said right to my face.
“The Expression process you’ve gone through has happened to everyone who lives in that region. The region appears at the same time as the Depths and, well, what’s happened to you isn’t all that unusual.”
“But why did it happen to me if I’m not in that region?”
“In rare cases, something called an ‘enclave’ phenomenon can happen. That is likely what happened to you. You’re going to run into challenges here in Kawasaki, with school and such, right? But Expressers can thrive in the Depths Region. If you want, I can arrange to have you transferred to a Depths Region school. You can live the slow dungeon life while occasionally making world-shaking discoveries. What do you say?”
I took him up on his offer.
●
<You had a rough time of it, huh?>
“Everyone was being so careful about what they said it didn’t really feel that way.”
<Then I take it back.>
“S-stupid screen!”
Just as I was getting upset at a screen, I heard a noise.
“Hm?”
The high-pitched straining repeated at a set length.
Everyone around me stopped and looked up into the air. It was a siren.
<That is the emergency alert siren. It goes from level 5 to level 1. 5 is defined as ‘eh, whatever’ and 1 is defined as ‘oh, shit’.>
“And this is?”
<Eh, whatever. So do whatever you want.>
The siren made me so uneasy I had trouble believing this wasn’t a big deal.
The noise pierced the morning air from the west.
Next, the many torii-style information stations set up around the city opened sign frames in the air.
The midair consoles displayed a Shinto shrine with a large tree behind it and a shrine maiden standing in front of it.
“Oh! Hello, all you Depths Region people! This is Sakura from the Depths Asama Shrine! I’m feeling great today since Mt. Fuji is visible! My good mood meter is spinning wildly! Now, listen up! I’m kind of eating a meal right now, but something big happened while I was stirring up my natto and completing my dailies in Froggy Age! You know the Middle Depths in front of Tama Tech? It’s pretty new, but the spell barrier there was smashed through from below and a lesser dragon came out, so the TPD’s CDU is on their way!
“Which means it’s Shokuo-san’s responsibility to fix this! Vice Chancellor Daida-chan from the nearby MUES quit waiting for a Depths run and is now on standby, but I feel like sending her out will only mean more damage once all is said and done. Anyway, good luck out there, Shokuo-san!! Oh, and the emergency alert is staying at level 5, so keep on with whatever! This is all normal! I’ll let you know more once they arrive on the scene!!”
■Sakura
<Allow me to explain. Sakura is a shrine maiden sent here from Musashi, one of the Tokyo Five Great Peaks who caused the Tokyo Liberation,. She works at the Depths Asama Shrine, managing the ether and ley lines of the Depths Region and providing a variety of services. She is said to be an artificial cherry tree spirit, but her identity is not actually known.>
“So can they actually fight back against something that big?”
“The TPD – the Tachikawa Police Department – is already on it. …Here they come.>
●
“They’re here?”
An amplified voice blared through the city along with a siren.
This was joined by the loud roaring of engines. It all came from the right and was approaching.
And it was here.
“They sure aren’t subtle.”
A group of armored vehicles made by modifying 2-ton trucks rumbled down the street.
The repulsion purification trucks were equipped with a combination of torii armor and cross armor and they bore the emblem of the Tachikawa Police Department’s Central Depths Unit.
Five such trucks drove past.
A tentacle wearing an armored uniform rode the lead truck.
“Damn that Sakura! Can’t she shut her mouth!? …Anyway, hurry it up! MUES is near the scene and if they get to work, they could set up a spell barrier to protect the amusement park!”
■Shokuo
<Allow me to explain. Shokuo is the commander of the Tachikawa Police Department’s Central Depths Unit Division 1. His rank is inspector. His Expression as an attacker tentacle has advanced to the 5th stage and he now rushes to the scene of any emergency as a police officer who is trusted by the local populace.>
“I never would have dreamed the first named monster I come across would be a tentacle.”
●
Shokuo appreciated that the trouble happened first thing in the morning.
…It’s always worse when these things happen at night!
There was no shortage of mysterious phenomena and other things in this city.
As a resident, it was his job to protect the city. But…
“Incoming divine transmission! The lesser dragon is confirmed to be in an unstable state! It is a wyvern-type aquatic lesser dragon with four legs! Its current Lives vibration form a triple chord in the 8bit format!”
“So it’s still holding something back, huh!? Then let’s get ahead of it and go with a 16bit format! Play the music until the gods of war can catch up with us!”
A bit-tune Shinto prayer using three FM tones and three PSG tones began playing from the armored trucks.
The trucks’ armor reacted to the electronic drums by scattering chips of voxel-style ether light.
The music played loud.
A roar arrived from the distance like thunder.
But the students walking along the street were not concerned.
“Good luck!”
They waved at the armored trucks to show their support.
Shokuo decided not to wave back because waving his “hand” would only look like he was threatening them with a tentacle. The female members of his team waved back instead.
●
“Isn’t it wild that this is considered ‘normal’ here?
<As you can surmise from the reactions all around you, you will be cheering and waving too a month from now.>
Is that really how it works here? I wondered.
But even as the sirens could be heard in the distance, I saw the students laughing and chatting while walking.
“I’m sure this place has its fair share of fighting too, but it does seem different somehow.”
My hometown of Kawasaki was known as Iron City – Kawasaki and I had been able to use a “power” there to an extent.
But that was gone now.
“Let’s see, where is Tokyo Depths School?”
That white school would be my place of learning from now on.
I had been by once to introduce myself.
That was after my two weeks in the midway waiting zone required to gain residence in the Depths Region.
After going through the necessary processes and learning some basic knowledge about life in the Depths Region, I had stopped by the school, but I had arrived on the school grounds from a different direction then.
“That was from the west, wasn’t it?”
<Your movement history says you took the bus, so that would place you at the west entrance. But now you are walking in from the south. And you are currently standing in front of Tokyo Depths School’s main gate, so what seems to be the problem?>
“Well,” I said.
I had walked quite a ways with the help of the sign frame opened by my hand, but…
…Now you’re telling me these woods are the main gate?
But all I saw was trees.
The way the trees were packed in so thickly seemed somehow artificial.
But were these woods here when I visited before? While I was pondering that, I heard a voice from my right.
“Are you a midterm transfer student? It’s this way.”
●
The screen reacted to the sudden voice first.
<Excuse me. May I provide my owner with your publicly available information?>
“Eh? I don’t mind. I thought I knew all the 1st years, so are you a transfer student?”
“Eh? Eh? What’s going on?”
The screen answered my question after shaking up and down once.
<I am an excellent AI, so I make sure to ask permission before revealing information about people. Your transfer is a special case, so even if her data is set to “public”, she may not have expected someone like you could see it.>
“I said I don’t mind. Go ahead.”
■Ushiko
<Allow me to explain. Ushiko is an immigrant from Oxford, England, and a Jersey cow Expresser. She attends Central Musashi-Michi Academy in Class 1-Plum. Her combat style is Strike Forcer. She belongs to the unit Angel Stare.>
<Her rankings are also public, but that is a lot of information. Please request details when the need arises.>
“No, no, no, no. Getting all this info on a stranger is really awkward.”
<But she is checking the same information on you.>
I looked to see Ushiko had opened a sign frame and was looking alternately between me and it. And…
“Oh? I see you aren’t in a unit yet.”
“A unit? What?”
■Unit
<Allow me to explain. A unit is a group of people who assist each other in their activities within the Depths Region.>
“Is that different from a clan?”
<They were referred to clans initially, with units as smaller divisions within a clan. Bu after some clans broke apart and people insisted on their dignity as individuals, standalone units were allowed and now unit is the standard term. Only people in their 30s or older talk about clans anymore.>
“I haven’t heard those tutorial explanations in forever. Those came in handy when I first got here.”
A sign frame opened next to Ushiko’s face and bowed this way. And…
“Based on your public information, you at least haven’t officially chosen a unit yet. But you also have the ‘no recruitment’ option set, so are you planning to join one?”
“Um, yes. I was told I would learn more later and that I would be meeting with someone in charge today.”
<The representative of a unit will be granting her official authorization to join.>
“I see,” replied Ushiko.
Then she looked to me.
“We’re the same age, so you don’t need to be so nervous.”
“Maybe, but your voice sounds kind of weird too…”
“Yes, I know. There’s something wrong with my translation protection and it would be a pain to fix it.”
She doesn’t seem too worried about it, I noted.
Then she turned her tall back toward me.
“But enough about that. You were stuck because you can’t find the entrance, right? I will show you the way, so follow me.”
●
It was a strange experience.
I followed Ushiko and took the first step to “enter” the woods.
That was clearly what I was doing here. And yet…
“Eh? The woods…”
There was a path there.
Past Ushiko’s back, I saw a stone-paved road and a sidewalk curving a bit to the right.
A few students were walking along it, just like any other path leading to a school in the morning.
But…
“Eh?”
I looked side to side and didn’t see a road there.
“The woods are back!?”
●
I was in the woods.
…Oh, no!
When I looked ahead again, I didn’t see Ushiko or anything else.
I had been left all alone in the middle of the woods.
I quickly looked back to check for the road and crosswalk I had used just a bit ago.
They were gone.
“Whoa!?”
I could only see the deep woods all around me.
<Oh, I was afraid of this. This is basically the entrance to the Depths, you see.>
“No, I don’t see!”
And…
“Hey.”
Long fingers grasped me by the collar, or really the back of my neck.
Then Ushiko seemed to appear out of nowhere and pulled me into her arms with what felt like an irresistible force.
●
Ushiko understood this was a common issue.
She lowered the dark elf – who was clearly baffled – to the pavement.
“Don’t worry. Just watch me ahead of you.”
She pushed the dark elf away from her and the girl looked up at her.
“Huh? The road is back?”
“You won’t be able to see it again if you look away. So focus on the rest of us students to get used to seeing it. I will check with the school about you.”
Ushiko opened a sign frame and smiled to the dark elf.
The dark elf nodded repeatedly and began focusing on her surroundings.
…She’s so earnest.
If she had undergone a dark elf Expression with that personality, she must have had a hard time of it.
Anyway, Ushiko opened a divine transmission to check.
“Hello? Student Council Office? Yes, this is Ushiko from Angel Stare. I wanted to check on something.
Her upperclassman had told her they were gaining a new member, but was this girl that new member?
☆Retake…finish!!
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