NOVEL NEXT WORLD The Strongest Solo Gamer with Terrible Social Skills Reincarnates as a Hated NPC in a VRMMO Chapter 136
136 That’s the most important thing
――SIDE: Kusanagi Taichi――
It was evening. After transferring to the transmission zone, we headed towards the “Magic Research” store according to Shouma’s instructions. There were many other explorers on the way. We couldn’t let them see Ciel’s current appearance, which was completely stripped of her skill【Camouflage】. Anne used her quick thinking to cover Ciel’s feet with a blanket, but we were aware that it was still noticeable. While carrying Ciel securely on my back, I hastened our pace.
――It’s light, damn it.
She must not have eaten for days. How many days had she spent like that? I also thought about the wounds I had inflicted on her. Although we, who possessed demonic bodies, were stronger than ordinary humans, there were still limits to our endurance.
“Ah, is this the place…?”
Breathing heavily, I shrugged my shoulders and entered the designated store. The interior was as shabby as the exterior, and it felt eerily quiet. Can they really cure Sieg’s illness here? I couldn’t help but feel uneasy about it.
“…? Customer…?”
A gloomy girl emerged from the dimly lit room, her face pale. She was probably Doumyouji. Despite being a girl, she had a petite build. Is she really a third-year student…?
No, that’s not important right now!
“I’m sorry! We’re—”
Just as I was about to explain, she interrupted me.
“Take the kid in the back!”
“What? Wait, what’s going on?”
“Hurry up!!”
Without giving us a chance to respond, the girl gave us orders with an air of urgency. We hastily followed her to the back of the store, which turned out to be Doumyouji’s private room. She pointed to the futon on the floor and told us to lay Sieg down.
As we did so, Doumyouji frantically searched the room and produced a square case and a small vial. Inside the case was a single syringe. She attached the needle and drew out the liquid from the vial, carefully removing the air from the syringe. Then, she injected the liquid into Sieg’s arm.
“W-wait! What’s that?!”
“No time to wait. Every second counts.”
“Ahh!”
Doumyouji quickly injected the liquid into Sieg’s arm.
“Don’t worry, it’s a specialized painkiller. Since oral administration is impossible, I’m using an IV injection.”
“A-ahh…”
“Are you a hybrid child… just like them?”
“!!”
“Who told you to come here? You know about me, and you came here?”
“N-no, we’re—”
“—Sorry! I’m a bit late!!”
Shouma rushed into the room, looking flustered. Doumyouji glared at him, as if she had seen through something.
“Shouma Ishizuru… is this your doing? What do you want me to do this time?”
“Senior, I’m sorry about that. I think you know that ordinary recovery medicine won’t work on that kid, right? Today, I want you to make a high-grade recovery medicine using this recipe.”
“High-grade recovery medicine…?”
“Just a convenient name.”
Shouma handed Doumyouji a piece of paper, which she received with a skeptical expression.
“What’s the material?”
“I’ve got everything ready. Just need to make it.”
“Don’t lie to me. But—”
“But?”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll make it and then think about it…”
Doumyouji walked back to the store area with a slow, deliberate pace. Shouma followed her, and I sat down, feeling uneasy.
“Sieg… will you be okay…?”
Anne whispered, her voice laced with anxiety.
“We’ve come this far, so we have no choice but to believe now.”
“Yeah… sorry…”
…
Wiping away the tears that had accumulated at the corners of my eyes, Anne let out a brave remark. I was just as anxious, my legs still shaking from earlier. Luckily, Anne hadn’t noticed, thanks to me holding my knees with my hands.
“Shōma was… He was really strong, wasn’t he?”
I naturally spoke those words.
The power he displayed on the 20th floor. With abilities like that, it’s believable that he could take down the floor master alone.
At the very least, he’s the strongest in our grade.
And more than anything—
“Shōma-kun didn’t give up. In a situation where we could only cry and scream, he was the only one who didn’t abandon us and acted to save Ciel…”
“—That’s right. If he weren’t there, everything would have ended. We would have been killed by the floor master, and it would have been impossible to rescue Ciel…”
“Yeah…”
“I’ll trust him, the one who brought us this far. I won’t give up like him.”