Kono Sekai ga Game da to, Ore dake ga Shitte Iru (WN)

ppened. 

I think he is reaping what he sows, but him falling that many times does worry me. 

“Aah, Sazan? If you are finding this rough, we can take a bit of a break here…” (Souma)

I tried to be considerate here and suggested this, but Sazan shook his head to the sides while letting out ragged breaths. 

“Don’t be…stupid.
We don’t have the time…to be stopping here.
You are…the one that knows this the most…” (Sazan)

Even when out of breath, he still said this boldly. 

That sight of his made me reconsider my evaluation of him. 

“Sazan, you…” (Souma)

Sazan gets misunderstood often because of his attire and his way of speaking. 

But the growth of people shine when your limits are tested. 

The real him is…

“Now, Souma! I give you the honor of carrying me!” (Sazan)

…Is the worst piece of garbage. 

This is really vexing, but once I piggybacked Sazan, our progress speed was outstandingly faster, and it didn’t take long for us to reach close to the crater of the volcano.

Once we arrived at the crater, lightning rained down on us from the black clouds above. 

Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like monsters are coming out from the Demon Lord Castle, so it would be a good idea to stop here and wait for Mitsuki.

I lowered Sazan and told everyone to take a break, and they all began passing their time in their own way. 

Ringo immediately began training her skill cancel, and Sazan was slapping the dust off his cloak while mumbling complaints. 

As for Maki…

“…Souma, do you have some time? It is about after we defeat the Demon Lord.” (Maki)

For some reason, she was slightly eyeing Ringo and the others from a separated spot, and whispered this to me. 

Sensing that this is a secret talk, the Bear read the atmosphere and got down from my shoulder. 

And then, it looked back at me and did a thumbs up…or it at least looks like one. 

I was thinking ‘dude, you don’t have fingers’ while I faced Maki again and nodded.

Maki was also a bit surprised by the Bear, but she began speaking in a meek manner that doesn’t suit her character. 

“You see…when we defeat the Demon Lord, it would mean we have cleared the game, right? Wouldn’t we…return to our world with that?” (Maki)

Maki asked me this with 80% uneasiness and 20% expectation.

“Aah, now that you mention it, I haven’t explained that yet.
Sorry to say this, but that’s probably not gonna happen.” (Souma)

If there was any guarantee that I could return to reality after clearing the game, I would have done so from the very beginning. 

Nekomimi Neko is a grindfest game so, in a way, there’s no end to it. 

You may have cleared the game in a sense when you defeat the Demon Lord, but the ending scene production is pretty lame. 

After blood curling effort, you finally defeat the Demon Lord, and the first thing that happens is that you will be hit by super flashy visual effects so intense you can’t even look at it directly. 

You will hear the throwaway line of the Demon Lord in that time, and once the light recedes, you will then suddenly have your whole vision covered by the credits. 

You can’t skip or fast forward this super 5 minute long credits that have quite the grandiose music playing in the background.
You can log out with the general menu, but if you do, your data will be the one before you defeated the Demon Lord. 

After finishing the 5 minutes that are like torture, the last part will say: “Thank you for your praying”.
After that, there’s no real event included in it.
You won’t even be returned to the title screen and just go back to the normal point of view without the Demon Lord around. 

The player will have to return to the city with the Demon Lord Castle filled with monsters, so there’s no feeling of having cleared the game. 

Or more like, the game doesn’t even save after you clear it, so if you die on your way back, you will have to defeat the Demon Lord again which sucks. 

There’s no log-out element until here, and us being sent to this world doesn’t really have to do with clearing the game. 

It should be safe to assume that the chances of us returning to our world after defeating the Demon Lord are really low. 

“…I see.” (Maki)

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When I explained that to Maki, she seemed to be disappointed about it, but more than that, she seemed to have shaken a weight off of her as she nodded. 

Seeing that expression of hers, I got uneasy, wondering if I deceived Maki. 

“Sorry about that.
Uhm…about not telling you properly.” (Souma)

If Maki had been cooperating here for the sake of returning to our world, I did something bad here. 

I lowered my head apologetically to her. 

“Ah, it is rare to see you apologizing to me.” (Maki)

But Maki simply laughed. 

She didn’t even take it seriously. 

“Hey, you, this is something really important.
Cause, you know…we might even die here.” (Souma)

When I voiced out the word ‘die’ I felt uneasiness and a sense of foreboding pushing onto me. 

…That’s right. 

The upcoming battle is completely different from the ones until now. 

In this one, I can’t go doing everything. 

At the very least, we won’t be able to win unless we challenge the Demon Lord with everyone, and there’s no assurance that everything will go as planned. 

And if a mistake happens…

—There’s the chance that someone in our group won’t be here with us anymore. 

This thought made my body go cold. 

Until now, for good or for bad, I have not faced that reality seriously because of how concentrated I have been. 

I definitely must defeat the Demon Lord for the sake of Ina. 

I have formed my plans around the idea of not bringing any casualties with the civilians and my comrades. 

However, even with that, if one of my companions ended up dying in order to defeat the Demon Lord…

Despite seeing me like that, Maki still laughed. 

“Good grief, at this point in time? I myself also want to help out the people from the Knight Order, and I think such dangers can’t be helped. 

…Or more like, at the very least, everyone here has come with that resolve.” (Maki)

I noticed after she told me.

At some point in time, my companions had gathered around me. 

The first one to step to the front was the masked mage. 

“I have my own objectives.
I would like you to stop such conceited thoughts like me coming with you for your sake.” (Sazan)

“Sazan…” (Souma)

Sazan said this with a decisive tone that felt as if his previous pathetic appearance was a lie. 

“It is impossible for me to die as I am immortal, but…in the off-chance…no, in a chance of a billion something like that were to happen, it would have simply been a tragedy of destiny that cannot be stopped by any mortal. 

That’s why, uhm…I-I definitely wouldn’t begrudge you for it. 

T-That’s all!” (Sazan)

Sazan hurriedly moved back, and at his side, there’s the Bear who is holding a kitchen knife skillfully with its fingerless hands. 

The Bear raised the hand that’s not holding the kitchen knife and…

*Guh!*

Did something similar to a thumbs up.

I retorted internally with a ‘dude, you don’t have fingers’ but the intention reached my heart. 

“…Souma.” (Ringo)

The last one was Ringo. 

Even at a time like this, Ringo didn’t show any expressions, and she looked at me with those clear eyes. 

“…I will…help Souma.
I am here for the sake of that.” (Ringo)

Right. 

Ringo is the one with the least amount of reasons to fight the Demon Lord compared to anyone here. 

Yet I am dragging Ringo into this…

“…That’s not it.” (Ringo)

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But Ringo looked at my face and shook her head vigorously to the sides. 

“…I want to do this.
Even if you say not to, I will follow you.” (Ringo)

Ringo’s voice wasn’t that high despite saying all that. 

But that voice of hers had strong resolve in it, and it doesn’t feel like she would budge at all. 

“Everyone…” (Souma)

Even if you tell me all this, I don’t know what to respond with. 

I feel ashamed of myself for not even paying attention to my surroundings. 

“It is okay, Souma.” (Maki)

Despite that, Maki showed me a smile. 

“In the end, the ones with love and courage on their side are the ones who will win.” (Maki)

There’s no logic to it and it makes no sense. 

“You really like saying nonsense.” (Souma)

“Eh?! Not as much as you, Souma!” (Maki)

But it is strange how that actually calmed my heart. 

And…

“…I completely agree with that.
You use way too many terms that don’t make sense.” 

That voice rang at my back. 

“Mitsuki!” (Souma)

When I called out her name, she easily announced that she had accomplished her objective and said…

“I was listening half-way through. 

Basically, everyone believes in you. 

…Now, have confidence. 

The fate of the world is riding on this.
Do you plan on facing such a challenge with such a dispirited look?” (Mitsuki)

She slapped my back, and tried to go up the summit just like that. 

“Mitsuki! Is it really okay? Getting this close to the Demon Lord Castle…” (Souma)

—Do I even need to answer that?

As if saying that, Mitsuki moved her cat ears lightly as if beckoning us over. 

And then, as if pulled by this, we climbed the last stretch of the way, and we eventually stood at the edge of the crater. 

“That is the Demon Lord Castle…” (Souma)

Under our eyes, there’s a slope that goes on like a spiral. 

And then, deep inside, I could see the Demon Lord standing magnanimously at the depths of the earth. 

(We have finally come all the way here…) (Souma)

The moment I saw that, the memories I have had until now… The frozen Ina, the training until now, and my companions that have come along with me; they all pushed onto my mind all at once. 

I slowly chewed them for a few seconds.

“Let’s go.
Let’s defeat the Demon Lord.
And then…” (Souma)

I looked back at my comrades and declared…

“We will definitely return with everyone!” (Souma)

Seeing the faces of Ringo, Mitsuki, Maki, the Bear, and Sazan, my resolve burns ever stronger. 

I will do my best…no, even more than my best. 

And if danger approaches my comrades, I will definitely put my life on the line to protect them! 

I won’t let anyone here die! 

Not for the sake of Ina, but for the sake of my own desire of being together with them from here on. 

I firmly pledged this. 

——

Author: I plan on going full-throttle until the climax of the Demon Lord arc. 

I will do my best to not run out of breath, so please tag along with me.