Vol. 2 Chapter 9 – Image Change (1)

“Start with the form, huh…” (Reiya)

After finishing my shift, I muttered to myself at home, recalling Ogata-san’s words.

‘If you smarten up your appearance, maybe you’ll gain some confidence? In the world of acting, many people start building their character from the outside in.’

Indeed, Asahi Hikaru is a beautiful girl easily deserving of ten ‘supers’ attached to her name.

Her facial deviation score is over 90, placing her in the top 0.0001% or some such tier of humanity.

As a first step towards standing confidently beside her, tidying up my own appearance makes sense.

I might just be a mob enemy with a power level of a few thousand trying to act like part of the royal guard next to a boss with 530,000 power, but that’s no reason not to try.

…That said, I know absolutely nothing about fashion.

Since coming home, I’ve been staring at hair catalogs and fashion websites, but honestly, math is easier to understand.

Until now, I just got my hair trimmed appropriately whenever it grew out.

Such-and-such block, mash-something-or-other.

I don’t even know what’s trendy among these hairstyles with fancy names.

“Geh… This shirt costs forty thousand yen…? Seriously…? It’s just cloth…” (Reiya)

Seeing the price of clothes listed on a site I was browsing, a strange sound escaped me.

On the screen, a handsome model’s casual outfit coordination was being showcased.

I couldn’t tell the difference between these clothes and the ones I usually wear.

Is this how people uninterested in games feel, seeing both Breath of the Wild and Final Sword as the same thing?

“Ahh… I totally don’t get it…” (Reiya)

As if giving up on everything, I closed the sites I had open.

I was tired from thinking about things so out of character for me.

To rest my mind for a bit, I opened my Stream library.

Yes, games… Only while playing games can I be free from unnecessary thoughts, completely absorbed.

As I pondered what to play today, an invitation silently popped up from Itsuki-san.

Entering the lobby, matchmaking started without a word being said.

He’s usually annoyingly talkative, so this was rare.

Wondering if something happened, I tried typing in chat, but matchmaking completed first, and the game began.

Soon after starting, I noticed something slightly off.

Itsuki-san is a skilled player, but he has a habit of self-destructing when he gets carried away.

Normally, I play the role of reining him in, but today he was playing much more calmly than usual.

He leveraged his overwhelming advantage in lane across the entire match, quickly leading the team to victory.

After the first match ended, the next game started, again in silence.

Once more, his calm play carried the team to victory.

This repeated over and over, and that day, we racked up win after win without a single loss.

‘You were amazing today. Like you’d reached the realm of a master.’

As the day turned over and the mood shifted towards disbanding, I spoke up again in chat.

‘My rating went up quite a bit too, thanks to you, I might even aim for Master rank promotion this season. We really owe it all to you today, Itsuki-san.’

I tried praising him lavishly, which was rare, but there was no reply for a while.

Wondering if he hadn’t noticed, I started typing again—

*’Hey, Nuruya…’ (Itsuki)

A short message appeared, conveying a seriousness that contrasted with his good performance, even through the connection.

‘What is it?’  (Reiya)

*’Actually, there’s an opponent even I can’t beat…’ (Itsuki)

‘Someone Itsuki-san can’t beat…? Are they that amazing?’ (Reiya)

*’Yeah, so far, I haven’t stood a chance…’ (Itsuki)

‘That sounds bad…’ (Reiya)

Itsuki-san’s gaming skills were, among the people I knew, outstandingly superior.

To compare, it was like Hikaru’s gaming sense combined with seasoned experience.

He didn’t seem interested himself, but if he focused on one title, he could probably aim to go pro.

For someone like that to be completely outmatched… I could only imagine a world-class top pro.

*’But this isn’t a battle I can just give up on. I… really want to beat that person…’ (Itsuki)

A strong passion came through the text.

I might have never seen him this fired up before.

‘Then, isn’t the only way to train harder… and polish your skills?’ (Reiya)

*’That goes without saying… but isn’t there… some other strategy…? Not exactly trickery, but something to catch them off guard…’ (Itsuki)

‘Off guard… Then how about changing characters? Matchups matter too.’ (Reiya)

*’Change characters, huh… I see, that might actually be good.’ (Itsuki) ‘Maybe change to something completely different. A type with a totally different direction.’ (Reiya)

*’Yeah, yeah… I’m starting to feel like doing that much might be better.’ (Itsuki)

Itsuki-san seemed convinced by my words.

‘If you’re going to do it, that’s definitely the way to go.’

Thinking how this related to my own current situation, I pushed him further.

*’…Alright! Let’s do it! Character change!!’ (Itsuki) ‘Yes! Let’s do it! I’ll be cheering you on from the sidelines!’ *’Okay, gonna go do it right now!! Thanks!!’ (Itsuki)

With that, he changed his Thiscord status to ‘Away.’

He was probably going to practice a new character right away to defeat that formidable opponent.

This vitality, taking action immediately once he decides… I need to learn from that…

Thinking this, I shut down my computer to prepare for the next day and went to bed.

After doing a good deed, my mood was bright, and I fell asleep quickly.