Genocide Reality

“Wait, Shinjo, where are you going?”

“Seki, Kumiko, you guys go back to the town.”

Checking the stairs to the surface, I quietly made a U-turn instead of going up.

I headed to retrieve the unopened treasure chest. It was unlikely that Nanami’s group would share the gold and gems they had acquired, so I needed to get the minimum amount of money I could.

Having Seiki and Kumiko tagging along is a bit of a nuisance… but I’ll tolerate it.

The traps are all set and the monsters have just sprung up, so they won’t attack us right away.

“Just stand there and watch. If you follow me, stay behind me.”

I picked up a pebble and threw it at the unopened treasure chest.

The chest opens with a whoosh. Some kind of trap has been tripped, but it doesn’t matter. Up to the third basement level, the patterns of the traps in the treasure chests are set in a certain pattern.

There are stone bullets, poisoned needles, or even just a sound, but that should be no problem.

The traps shoot in only one direction, so as long as I keep a safe distance and pay attention to the angle, I can safely disarm them by hitting the side of the chest with a stone.

“Are you sure it’s safe to open treasure chests?”

“It’s safe, that’s why I’m opening them. Look, you guys can have what’s inside.”

I don’t have a backpack, so I can’t take much, but if I open about five chests, that should be enough for the time being.

I gave Seki and Kumiko the gold coins and jewelry I had collected from the bottom of the treasure chest. The two of them are quickly tucking them into the pockets of their uniforms. I can’t carry any more without a bag.

“Come on, let’s go back to the town.”

“Yeah… But this is amazing.”

Seki replied with a bewildered expression.

Kumiko, on the other hand, was desperately trying to stifle her laughter. Why is she laughing? This isn’t a laughing matter.

Well, her personality is mysterious, after all.

※※※

Climbing the stairs led to a “town”.

This was the only way to describe it. In the “Genocide Reality” dungeon, this was the only town that existed. Since it didn’t have a name, we could only call it “town”.

“So this is the way the town was….”

I looked up at the ceiling, where the sun was shining brightly, and exclaimed in amazement.

It was a beautiful sight, a neat medieval European-style town made of wood and stone in GenoReal.

However, even though there didn’t seem to be anything strange at first glance, anyone with keen senses would immediately feel something amiss.

There are no signs of life in this beautiful city because there are no houses in this city.

The reason there are no houses is because there are no inhabitants. It is completely uninhabited, although it has all the facilities necessary for adventurers. It couldn’t be helped since it was an old game, but there were no NPCs.

It’s like a medieval European-style amusement park without a single cast member.

Still, it’s spectacular in person, but there’s one more thing that surprised me personally.

GenoReal was a pseudo-3D game, so you couldn’t look up.

Suddenly, I looked up at the sky and was astonished by the reality.

I thought the city, the only place of relaxation in the game, was a city on the ground.

But the city, a square grid surrounded by high walls, was not above ground.

The real surface exists in the sky, far up the wall.

This town exists at the bottom of a large, bowl-shaped pit, and the ceiling, which is about five to six meters above, is made of glass, upon closer inspection.

Almost as a reflex, I threw a stone I had picked up toward the glass ceiling with all my might.

A distinctive sound, like when magic is cast in GenoReal, could be heard. The stone bounced off, leaving not a scratch on the glass.

“Hey, Shinjo-kun. What are you doing suddenly?”

“I tried to see if I could break the glass in the ceiling, but I guess I couldn’t.”

“You mean we can’t get out from above?”

“Yeah, I thought getting out of this town would save us, but the current situation remains the same—we’re trapped here.”

It was still daytime, but strangely enough, I could see the full moon. No, it is not so strange to see the moon in the daytime.

I stare at the bright full moon in the azure sky.

I can’t reach the glass ceiling, let alone the moon.

We’re like birds in a cage.

If that glass can’t be broken by some magic, then we can’t climb the walls and leave this deserted city.

And the only way out of the city is through a dangerous underground dungeon.

Nanami’s group is discussing this and that in the middle of the city. They’re talking about how they can’t get a cell phone signal, but of course they can’t.

The retro-game fanatic fuzzy-head is yelling, “It’s a game world, it’s a game world”. Although he has identified the location of this town, the people around him are still skeptical.

I was getting irritated, watching them, and thinking they should just hurry up and teach us how to make health potions when the fuzzy head finally started explaining how to use magic.

Seeing the injured people healed by the health potion, they finally started to believe him.

I’ve had enough, I’m not going to keep up with their slow pace.

I’m not planning to join Nanami’s combat group anymore. I’ll do things my way.

Seki, who seemed to be looking up, maybe at the glass separating us from the outside world, was actually staring intently at the full moon in the blue sky with a tearful expression.

I wondered if he was looking at the moon and thinking about curves again.

I quietly approached him and pointed a rusty knife at him from behind.

At that moment, I was blocked by some sort of invisible wall that prevented me from moving forward. I suppose negative actions toward each other are forbidden in the city.

Now, the experiments are over.

“Hey, Seki, don’t just stand there. Let’s go shopping.”

“W-Wait, Shinjo-kun…”

Seki and Kumiko follow me.

First, we head for the tools shop, where we need to get the necessary tools.

“You guys, first buy a backpack with the money we just made. Also, buy at least two flasks for making potions, although I’ll keep mine at ten.”

“Hey, can I really spend this money?”

I sighed as I looked at Seki and Kumiko, who were about to offer me a jumble of gold coins and jewels from the pockets of their uniforms.

“What you guys have is for you. Gold is something you can get as much as you want once you go down, use it as you please. If you have extras, just put them in your backpack. Gems can be exchanged at any store, but it’s also handy to keep some and not sell it.”

Gems obtained in dungeons can be used in place of mana restoratives. The king of gems, the Diamond, can be used universally for mana when using magic. Red rubies can be used for wizard magic, and blue sapphires can only be used for monk magic.

Green emeralds temporarily increase resistance to poisons and other situational changes. Knowing the effects of the gems available in the labyrinth makes a big difference.

Topaz… Even I, who created one of the only three GenoReal strategy sites in Japan, could not understand the effect. I translated and read the English site, but again, there was no site that described it.

Maybe it just exists in a meaningful way and has no effect. GenoReal has a lot of play items that have no effect, perhaps for the sake of realism.

The relatively low-value peridot, by the way, temporarily reduces thirst and hunger. Lapis lazuli has the effect of waking the target from sleep.

These items are easy to find, so it is better to sell them when you can, except in an emergency.

Since I will be exploring the labyrinth, I will also buy ropes and other tools for exploring.

The backpacks you can get at the tool shop are light, cheap, and sturdy. The total weight should be the same, but it will feel a lot lighter than if I were to carry it in my hand.

“Now, I’m hungry.”

“Hey, Shinjo-kun, is that…?”

Where Seki’s slender fingertips point, a double-M mark that closely resembles a familiar red sign…. It was a McBurger.

McBurger1 must be a popular restaurant in the U.S. as well. At first glance, it looks like a medieval fantasy town, but in GenoReal, there are also parody stores like this one.

“Should I go for the Thank You set?”

“So old…”

Of course, it’s an old game. The counter is modeled after a McBurger, but there is no waiter, the menu is a vending machine where you press a button and the food comes out of the machine.

It said “Thank You set,” but regardless of which set you chose, it cost just one coin. It seemed like a haphazard pricing strategy. I bought a set with a burger, fries, and a drink.

“It’s delicious. It tastes just like the Mcburger before it lost its flavor!”

“Shinjo-kun, you don’t know what it used to taste like, are you sure you’re not just saying that? Also, it says on the bag that it’s made of 100% Orc meat….”

Don’t worry about it, it tastes like beef.

Once it’s in your stomach, it’s the same. I took a bite of the salty fries and sipped my iced coffee, feeling good.

“Well, since we’re in town, I think I’ll take a rest at the inn anyway.

“What, what, it’s okay to take a break with Wataru-kun?

Kumiko interrupted me as I was talking with Seki.

She tends to jump into conversations like this. Well, that’s fine.

“There’s an inn. We need a break. I feel sick if I don’t at least take a shower anyway.”

“That’s true, too.”

Seki and I are both slick with orc gore and green goblin fluids.

Kumiko, perhaps because she was using a spear as a weapon, or perhaps because she was agile by nature, was barely dirty in spite of her white sailor uniform.

She’s much more capable than I initially thought, even though she’s a girl.

Perhaps she has the aptitude for agile professions, having fought while dodging all attacks.

“Well, that’s the inn.”

“Wow, it’s really cool.”

The signage is somewhat recognizable because of the medieval style of the town.

However, the order panel was in Japanese, so I wonder if the world is modeled after the translated Japanese version.

GenoReal is slightly different depending on the ported device and version, so I’m curious about that as well.

“It looks like a love hotel, doesn’t it?”

Kumiko said something so stupid that I almost spewed out the coffee I was drinking.

Indeed, the medieval-style red roof could make it resemble a shady hotel, but it lacked any atmosphere.

The interior design and the button-panel selection of the room’s picture really make it look like a love hotel.

It’s bad enough that the hotel has such a system, but how does Kumiko know so much about love hotels?

“Kumiko. You… you know too much about love hotels, don’t you? I’m a bit taken back.”

“What? I’ve never been to one, you know! I just see them on TV and in dramas!”

I’m not so sure about that. She acts all pure, but I’m not sure if she’s really a virgin.

I also think it’s strange that someone who pretends to be pure and innocent often watches dramas with a love hotel in them.

Kumiko always claims to be a virgin, but I don’t know if it’s true or not.

The more innocent these women pretend to be, the more suspicious I am. If only there had been a unicorn in GenoReal, I would have been able to tell.

“Well, whatever. It seems like we can all stay together, so let’s just go for the Royal Suite.”

“What?

Seki exclaimed in a panic.

From the pictures, it looks like there are six beds in the room, and we can take turns taking a bath.

“It would be more indecent to worry about such things.”

“Well, I don’t know….”

Even if you’re not strapped for cash, it would be imprudent to waste money on multiple rooms.

I’m also curious to know what the most expensive large rooms are.

“Hey, Wataru. Can I bring another girl?”

“No problem.”

Even with Seki around, I’d rather not be alone in a room with Kumiko, just in case.

With many people around, Kumiko, who cares about appearances, is less likely to act promiscuously, so it’s actually convenient to have more people.

Kumiko brought with her two girls: Sashiki Ena, who had a gentle face and big breasts, and Tachibana Mio, who looked mature and had short bobbed hair.

I think they were introduced in front of the classroom… or maybe Kumiko explained it. They were friends of Kumiko because they were in the same Class A.

The two of them came over to me with their heads bowed slightly and gave me a light nod.

They had lost their friend to a tragic death, an arrow in the head. It’s natural to feel depressed because they saw it right in front of their eyes.

I hope they weren’t traumatized by it.

“Wataru, I want these girls to rest too.”

“Of course, that’s fine. Well, I’ll try to rent a room.”

I put a gold coin into the love hotel-style panel at the entrance, pressed a button, and a room key appeared. I wondered how the beds would be made if I stayed for more than one night, but I couldn’t be bothered.

In a game, simply pressing a button in front of the bed would restore you after a rest, so it should be conveniently similar to that.

I go to the back of the inn and open the door of room 13.

The room really looked like a hotel room.

It was somewhat small for a top-class royal suite, but the cream-colored carpet was soft enough to sink one’s feet into.

There were six beds with clean sheets, a large table with pastries and drinks, and six chairs.

I picked up a snack and found it to be a sophisticated Japanese sweet with chestnut paste wrapped in dried persimmon. I couldn’t help but wonder who had made it, and it raised questions about whether GenoReal had persimmon and chestnut trees. There were plenty of details to nitpick.

In the closet, there was a change of underwear and a complete set of sleeping clothes for each of us. No trouble at all for rest. It was a 30-gold suite, after all.

“From the outside, it looked cramped, but it’s quite impressive inside.”

“They might have expanded the space by hollowing out the walls, but there are other issues to consider.”

Somehow, outside the room’s large window glass is a blue sky and ocean. It’s a liberating ocean view.

From the outside, it appeared to be a typical medieval-style stone inn, so this kind of structure was truly unexpected. Let’s check it out a bit.

“Hey, Shinjo-kun, what are you doing?

“I’m doing this!”

I swung my battle axe at the window glass with all my might, but it only resulted in my hand going numb. It felt more like hitting stones with a sponge, an exercise in futility.

A kind of indestructible object. The window panes on the ceiling must be like that. Perhaps the sea is only visible in these images.

“There’s a faint scent of the sea.”

“It’s a phantom smell, isn’t it?”

In a fantasy RPG with magic, any kind of mechanism was possible. If we could somehow deal with this window, there might be a real sea beyond. Whether it was an illusion or reality, it didn’t matter much.

All that matters now is that either way, we’re physically trapped here, and we can’t get out.

As for me, I had no intention of leaving this world. I welcomed isolation; after all, I was an indoor gamer from the start.

I’m going to enjoy the underground labyrinth. I have no desire to live in the real world.

“Hey, Wataru, why are you trying to take a bath first?

“What? I paid for it.”

“Ladies first, right? If you want, Wataru-kun, we can go in the bath together.”

Kumiko laughed mischievously, and Sashiki and Tachibana, who were with her, smiled vaguely as if they were tired. Their eyes are vacant, no matter how many times I look at them.

I had no intention of entertaining Kumiko’s lame jokes, but it was true that the girls seemed to be more fatigued. She was joking, but maybe she meant to let them rest first.

“Well, you guys go ahead and take your time. I’ll buy you a change of clothes.”

“But don’t peek. It’s okay if it’s just me.”

“Hah, as if I would.”

“What about me….”

Seki huddled in a corner of the large room, looking somewhat apologetic.

He should just have some tea and relax.

“How about coming shopping with me?”

“Yeah, I’ll do that!”

I made sure to lock the door when we went out. Despite this luxurious room, it didn’t have an automatic lock.

Quite a mismatched system, but I guess that’s how things are in the world of retro games.

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even the in-universe franchise name is a parody.