Genocide Reality

“Hmm, maybe I should stock up on junk food before heading to the dungeon.”

On my way to the dungeon, I stopped by a shop with a red double “M” sign.

I’d missed out on a McBurger earlier.

Seki is a bit of a pain in the ass because he gets mad at me like my mom when I eat all that junk.

I’m not really hungry since I just ate, but there’s a special place for this kind of junk food in the stomach.

For me, it’s essential nutrition – a treat that needs regular replenishing.

“I also want a vanilla shake, and I’ll add fries and nuggets…”

Now that I’m ranked higher and my strength has increased, I don’t mind if I have to carry a little more. I’ll splurge on food and buy a few things.

I walked into the clean and inviting restaurant with enthusiasm, gazing at the menu board.

From below, I heard the unmistakable sound of a stomach growling.

Was it coming from behind the counter?

I quietly peeked over and saw a girl crouched down, wedged inside the counter of the restaurant.

She looks familiar. Ah, it was Shuichi Nanami’s childhood friend, Rindou Kazuha.

“Um, Rindou-san, is it? What are you doing here?”

“Ah…”

The barely audible voice I had managed to hear was drowned out by the loud and rumbling “grrrr” of her stomach. Her belly was more eloquent than her mouth.

I thought the girl might be embarrassed to have her stomach growling so loudly, but instead, just looked at me with lifeless eyes, squatting there and making no attempt to move.

She seemed rather haggard, didn’t she?

She wore a white school blouse that was visibly dirty. Even when she looked at me, she remained motionless, squatting on the ground.

Her black hair, tied up with a scrunchie, lacked luster, and her pale, thin cheeks looked as if they had completely withered.

Rather than sitting down, it would be more correct to say that she was lying motionless in the back of the store.

“Are you hungry, by any chance?”

“Umm…”

A weak reply. I decided to buy a set of McBurgers and offer them to her.

I stuck the burger in front of her nose, and she bit into it. Womp womp womp, it disappeared in an instant.

I was a little surprised.

This was no ordinary girl’s bite.

“Hey, wait a minute, if you eat that fast… you might upset your stomach.”

“Slurp.”

Kazuha also downed the Coke I handed her at a lightning-fast pace. It seemed like her throat was parched too.

No, you can’t have juice when you’re thirsty. So I offered her some water, which she instantly drank down as well.

What the hell, this is kind of funny.

Feeling like I was feeding a wild animal, I gave her fries and nuggets as well. Kazuha was eating them ravenously, grabbing them with her hands.

She was eating with complete abandon, not caring about manners. It seemed like she was really famished, swallowing the food rather than eating it.

After devouring three servings, Kazuha finally seemed to settle down. She let out a deep breath and wore a contented smile.

Many leftover pieces of food were lying in front of Kazuha, who was still crouched in a small gap in the counter.

Eating this much in one go, especially when you were hungry, could put a lot of strain on your stomach, I thought.

“Drink this too, in case it upsets your stomach.”

I gave her a Health Potion and an Antidote Potion.

I didn’t know if the Antidote Potion would work as an antacid, but from experience, I thought it helped with digestion. It seemed like the potions that Seiki had prepared for me were already coming in handy.

Kazuha gulped down the potions I handed her, making a gulping sound as she emptied the blue and orange potions.

The current Kazuha seemed willing to swallow anything I gave her. My first impression of her was that she was a more reserved girl when we first met, but it seemed like she had truly reached her limits.

After replenishing and recovering, Kazuha’s hair and skin finally regained their luster.

Her dark eyes also regain their light, and at the same time, her lips begin to quiver, as if her emotions have returned as well.

“Sh… Shinjo-kun, thank you ugh… Ugh, ugh.”

After wearing a blissful smile due to being full, she now started shedding tears.

Pearly tears glistened down from Kazuha’s downcast eyes and she wiped them with her sleeve, but they kept overflowing and wouldn’t stop.

“Oh, hey…”

“I, I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

I was bewildered when she suddenly cried.

Kazuha’s eyes continued to brim with tears, and it was difficult to watch as it seemed like she had finally quenched her thirst, causing her previously dry tears to overflow.

While it was understandable that she had collapsed due to hunger, I couldn’t fathom why she would be so dehydrated. Water should be readily available, there’s even a park where anyone could drink it for free.

“Hey, Kazuha-san. What exactly happened?”

Even though I had mostly ignored other people’s problems, this was a situation I couldn’t simply overlook.

“I ran out of money…”

“I heard that the Student Council distributes gold coins to students who can’t participate in battles. Besides, aren’t you childhood friends with Shuichi Nanami, the Student Council leader?”

If she were to ask for help from Nanami, who was in charge of the Student Council, there’s no way she wouldn’t receive money. In fact, as his childhood friend, she might even receive special treatment.

“That’s precisely why…”

Kazuha began to speak hesitantly.

In a nutshell, Kazuha explained that she had been subjected to severe bullying by the female students in the Student Council.

Moreover, the most important reason was that Kazuha was a childhood friend of Shuichi Nanami.

Most of the members of the student council, especially the girls, are Shuichi Nanami’s followers.

Although Shuichi Nanami tries to treat everyone equally, the women with keen intuition are sensitive to the fact that Kazuha is being regarded specially by Shuichi Nanami.

The rumor that spread from somewhere that Kazuha was being given special treatment because she was Nanami’s childhood friend was fatal.

And Nanami, who is always at the forefront of the adventure, standing up for everyone,

He was unaware of the fact that Kazuha was being bullied behind his back.

No, it is not only Nanami’s fault.

It was also my fault that I, without thinking, had cured Kazuha’s leg disorder.

Kazuha had always been a bit out of place in the class, as she was forced to be the class leader.

Because she had a mild ankle joint disorder, she narrowly escaped being the target of bullying because she was pitiful.

The delicate balance was disrupted, and as a result, Kazuha was completely marginalized by the female students of the Student Council in the town.

No one would sympathize with her and help her, and she was no longer allowed to receive gold rations.

Once the target of bullying, Kazuha was subjected to terrible abuse wherever she went and was not even allowed to drink water from the fountain, which was supposed to be free and available in any quantity.

Persecuted by the Student Council, Kazuha was mentally and physically scarred, and she had ended up crouched in the back of an empty fast-food restaurant, dying a slow death.

“Hey, if you’re almost dying, why didn’t you ask Nanami for help?”

“But, that’s… uuuaaaahhhh!”

Kazuha couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. Ah, that’s right…

This was my fault. The root cause of Kazuha’s bullying by the female students was because she was treated specially by Shuichi Nanami.

There was no way she could ask Shuichi Nanami, the cause of the bullying, to help her.

If she begged Nanami for help and he did assist her, what would happen next? Shuichi, who was busy earning gold coins, was hardly ever in town. The bullying might become even worse and more insidious.

Now, it might not be limited to passive persecution.

That’s why the timid Kazuha couldn’t do it. Sometimes, fear is more unbearable than hunger or thirst.

“What the hell is with this Student Council…”

There’s a term called the banality of evil.

Even the students in this town aren’t all wicked, they are just ordinary high school students.

Perhaps the stress of the mass transfer incident was the trigger.

Regular people started persecuting Kazuha out of jealousy, spite, or just for fun, and they pushed her to the brink of starvation.

Just because negative actions can’t be done in town doesn’t mean they can’t harm others. Bullying, ignoring, insults, exclusion, persecution… even without direct violence, when a group corners someone, they can drive a person to their death.

When a bunch of scoundrels gather, it’s a common occurrence in any world, and it’s happening in Genocide Reality.

Even though it’s just that, a searing emotion deep within my chest turned into a raging storm.

I handed over all the remaining gold coins from my backpack to Kazuha, still consumed by my fiery feelings.

This is by no means pity!

“Shinjo-kun…”

“This is all the gold coins I have right now, you take this and hide somewhere. If it’s not enough, I’ll bring you more.”

It was my fault that Kazuha was bullied because I taught her how to heal her leg easily.

It was unwilling, but now that I was involved, I had to take responsibility until the end.

It would be a bad idea if Shuichi Nanami helped her, but if I, the haphazard one helped her….

“Shinjo, no! I don’t want these things!”

Kazuha shrugs off the gold coins I offer and clings to me with all her might. Unexpectedly, I fall on my butt. That’s how hard she hit me with her body.

With swollen, bloodshot eyes, she looked at me and unleashed a scream from the depths of her heart.

“You don’t have any money, and…”

“No, no! Shinjo, you’re going somewhere. I don’t want to stay in this town anymore either, take me with you!”

Even if you ask me to take you with me, the place I’m going to is a dangerous dungeon.

It’s not a world a weak girl like her can survive in.

Well… There’s a garden on the fifth floor.

A safe, hidden room, where she could live in hiding without anyone finding her. She could also escape the persecution of the student council.

Actually, I wanted to make it a safe zone shelter for Seki.

I wouldn’t mind sheltering at least one more person.

“Oi, Rindou Kazuha, if you want to follow me, you have to be prepared to take risks.”

“I’m ready, there is no more dangerous place than this town. I’d rather die than stay here.”

That too.

Kazuha is about to be killed in this safe city, and she may even try to escape.

But that’s not enough.

If she’s not ready to fight, she’ll be a liability if I take her with me, and I don’t want to see an innocent girl die through no fault of my own.

“Going to the dungeon means becoming an adventurer. It’s a place where even the safety of your life can’t be guaranteed, and I might not be able to save you either. Do you understand, Rindou, I’m asking you to be prepared to fight on your own, not to run away. Make an effort to survive.”

“That’s as much as I can do… I will try not to be a hindrance to Shinjo-kun. If push comes to shove, I don’t care if you abandon me.”

You say that, but then ask for help when your life is in danger.

Even if that happens, well, it’s my responsibility if I decide to take her with me. Kazuha’s resolve seems to be a true resolve in its own way, so I’ll take her with me.

“I don’t mean to scare Rindou, but the dungeon is really dangerous. Don’t be naive enough to think that you can get me to help you, but you should have the will to try to save yourself.”

“I am determined!”

There is power in her voice, though it may be that she is desperate.

If she’s this determined, she might not be too much of a hindrance.

“Hmph, fine. You’re still weak, but you had the courage to ask me for help. For now, that’s enough.”

“Shinjo, please. I’ll do anything, together…”

It’s too late for that now, in more ways than one.

If Kazuha had been prepared to do anything, she could have used her childhood friend Nanami to gain an advantage in the town.

Like a drowning man grasping at straws, Kazuha desperately clung to me and wouldn’t let go, and I let out a sigh.

Oh well, Kazuha is still alive. The fact that I happened to find her here was also a stroke of luck. I’ll just pretend that I had the courage to save her just in time.

“There is a safe room deep in the dungeon where you can hide and live. I can take you there if you want.”

“Please, take me there.”

Okay, it’s decided.

I gather up the gold coins Kazuha has scattered on the floor.

“In that case, take this gold first. Use it to equip yourself properly. Oh, and it’s not just about equipment. The safe room has food and water, but there are no clothes or daily necessities, so stock up on those and fill your backpack before you go.”

“Understood. What kind of equipment should I get?”

“Before that, Kazuha, what’s your occupation?”

“I’m a cook, but it’s a bad profession. Nanami told me to help everyone with my cooking, but everyone told me I was useless and they didn’t want me.”

It’s sad to say, but it’s one of the worst professions you can have.

In this wild game where you can eat raw monster meat without a problem, there’s a skill called cooking.

It might be interesting to role-play, but even if you’re good at cooking, it only has minor effects, like slightly better hunger recovery.

Hardly anyone in the dungeon does cooking. Adventurers are usually too impatient to bother with cooking and just eat raw ingredients.

“It’s pretty ironic that a cook is starving, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…”

I looked at Kazuha still wearing her school uniform. It was slightly dirty due to not being washed properly, but it was a sturdy fabric.

If we put heavy armor on top of this, it might be too much for Kazuha’s stamina.

“Putting on metal armor would immobilize you, right? Even a heavy leather armor might be too much. At most, you’ll get leather armor. And since you’re a cook, maybe equip a petty knife as well.”

Being clad in paper armor wouldn’t matter if you don’t get hit.

I’m not expecting much in terms of offensive capabilities. Just throwing stones from behind or casting basic fireball spells would be more than enough.

We just need to reach the fifth floor underground, so we should manage somehow.

Kazuha and I gathered our equipment and bought everyday items.

There is a pharmacy in GenoReal, and I was surprised to find that they even sell sanitary products for women.

I hadn’t really checked the stores in town, but I wondered if they had more items than in the game.

When I told her that there was water and a bath in the hidden room, she made sure to buy detergent and soap along with towels.

I guess the fact that she can think quickly there means she has a better life than I do.