Chương 94: Reborn as the Dragon — Chapter 94 - Forgive Her

Was he really just going to sit here and wait to die? Yamaguchi Mura Chicken couldn't accept that. He looked at his dwindling Invasion Points and felt a cold thread of fear work its way through him. The respawn timer kept getting longer. If he stayed parked in the World Plaza waiting to resurrect with no Invasion Points left to buy food, starvation was where this ended. No. He needed backup. Were there any other Starter Villages nearby? Someone who could help?

With that thought, Yamaguchi Mura Chicken started combing through Sakura Island player stream channels. He found the closest Starter Village quickly: Sakura Island No. 6 Starter Village.

"Find the highest-level player. Make contact." He sorted the player list by level, highest to lowest. A familiar name sat at the very top. Yamaguchi Mura Chicken's eyes went wide. His hand came up and he slapped himself across the face, a Big Slap, full force. There was no pain suppression in the World Plaza. It really, genuinely hurt. He didn't care. Heart pounding, hands trembling, he clicked on the avatar he had been dreaming about. Gougouzi-chan. Is it really you? The screen was pitch black.

Only a row of red text: [This stream room contains private content. It has been locked by the stream's owner and is not open to the public. The stream will return to normal once the private content ends.] [To access private content, submit a 500 Invasion Points entry fee to the stream's owner.] Yamaguchi Mura Chicken: "Σ(っ°Д°;)っ???" This... this couldn't be... He pressed his lips together. His face twitched.

He sat there for a moment, then, like a man making a decision he already knew he'd regret, he paid the five hundred Invasion Points. The black screen dissolved. Color bled in. What he saw was vivid and strange and surreal. And yet the world felt like it had gone grey.

"Gougouzi... my Gougouzi-chan..."

"Wuwuwu..." He murmured the words like they hurt him. Laughter drifted through his speakers. Cheerful voices, bright and carefree. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. To Yamaguchi Mura Chicken, it was just noise. His body went stiff and cold. The sound that escaped him was something between a groan and a whimper. After a long moment of silence, he redeemed a box of tissues from the System Store....

Yamaguchi Mura Chicken never expected he would actually get through to her. He'd meant to leave quietly. Just close the stream and disappear. But Gougouzi-chan was sharper than that. She spotted his name flickering in the stream's viewer list. Within seconds, she'd cleared the room, and a private message window opened. [Yamaguchi-kun? Is that you?] He stared at Mei Magogoko's message, and for a moment he couldn't speak. There was so much he wanted to say.

All of it jammed somewhere behind his sternum and refused to move. What came out was just one line:"Can you tell me why you did this?" [It's just a game.] Her replies came fast. [And I needed to get strong quickly. What else was I supposed to do? I'm just a poor, helpless girl. How was I supposed to survive out here on my own?] [My relationship with them is purely business, Yamaguchi-kun. My heart still belongs to you. Just like that day under the cherry blossoms, when I gave myself to you. Do you still remember that kiss?] He did. That year. That season. The flowers, the girl, the open blue sky, clouds drifting slow, birdsong and the hum of summer insects. The scent of cherry blossoms lingering at the edge of every breath. It had been so beautiful. And all of it was because of her. The cold, stiff thing in Yamaguchi Mura Chicken's chest softened. If Mei Magogoko still loved him, that was what mattered. That was enough. What else could you do with a girl like this? You forgave her.

That said, forgiveness was one thing. Tolerating his woman being passed around like an afterthought was another. He kept his voice level and typed back:"Gougouzi-chan, I understand your situation. But I'm in the game now too. We can support each other. You don't have to do this to yourself anymore. And honestly? It pains my heart to see it." [Oh, my dear Yamaguchi-kun. Thank you for understanding. I promise, you will never have to see anything like that again. My heart is yours.] Mei Magogoko's sincere declaration settled something in him. The two of them spent a while flirting through the screen, trading stories about what they'd each been through, and eventually circled around to Starter Villages and monsters.

"Mei Magogoko," Yamaguchi Mura Chicken said, "I need your help." The words cost him something. As a man — as someone who believed in Bushido — asking a woman to bail him out felt like crawling. It was humiliating. But he had nothing left. No. 6 Starter Village was the closest. It was the only option. [Just tell me what you need, Yamaguchi-kun. What's mine is yours. Don't be shy.] Since she'd said that, he didn't hold back. He laid it all out: everything that had happened at Sakura Island No.

1 Starter Village, the monsters, the situation, all of it. On the other end of the screen, Mei Magogoko scrolled through his messages while she worked. She'd closed her stream room a long time ago. Yamaguchi Mura Chicken had no idea what she was actually doing.

"Filthy swine." She smiled at the corner of her mouth and drove her boot down onto the body beneath her.

"Hah." The main work was done. Everything now was just dessert. She had a moment to read through what Yamaguchi Mura Chicken had sent and actually think. She was still about a day and a half out from Silvermoon Forest. The journey was insufferably dull. She'd taken to calling a few players over every evening to "discuss magic" with her. She charged tuition, of course. Five hundred Invasion Points a session. She'd already pulled in nearly twenty thousand Invasion Points just from that. It only made her more certain.

Kill the dragon. Get to the front of the pack. She was going to do it.

"The monsters have flooded out," she murmured, eyes sharpening.

"And with Yamaguchi Mura Chicken's group drawing all the attention, Silvermoon Forest is wide open right now. This is the best window I'm going to get." The tension she'd been carrying quietly loosened. She breathed out slowly. [Gougouzi-chan, that's roughly the situation. We need your support.] Yamaguchi Mura Chicken's latest message popped up. She typed back: "Yamaguchi-kun, hold on for me. I'll bring players to help in about two days. You know how it is — No. 6 Starter Village is still pretty far from No. 1."

Send. A cold smile settled on Mei Magogoko's lips. Help you? Keep dreaming. ➤ Next: Special Inheritance