The well-Balanced Yamamoto-san Gets Caught up in a Death Game

Chapter 48

Yeah, it’s boring.

Well, word of mouth doesn’t spread that easily, so I spent some time being bored.

Hmm, even if I tried to call out to people, no players are passing by.

There’s nothing I can do about it.

I guess those first three must have been quite the enthusiasts.

It would be nice if those three spread information about the shop by word of mouth, but I think that’s just a matter of chance and luck.

Maybe I could use the bulletin boards that players use for PR?

But I don’t like the idea of being piled on just for writing “we deal with poison.”

Besides, the flow is so fast that there’s a possibility it won’t even work as PR.

Well, I think I’ll just wait patiently for now.

So, because I was so bored, I even went to the suspicious old man’s shop next door, but this old man’s shop is… well, it seems to be a specialty store for hidden weapons.

Various weapons with strange appearances are lined up in the storefront.

There was something that looked like a knife with wavy lines on the blade, and when I was looking at it, he explained that by storing poison in the grooves of those wavy lines, you could poison your opponent at the same time as cutting them.

I mean, that use is almost exclusively in the world of assassins, right?

I got a bit scared and hurriedly put the knife back on the shelf, and the old man laughed with his “Muhihi.”

I’m not a scaredy-cat, you know? This is a normal reaction!

“Ah, a message from Tatsu-san.”

I got a message from Tatsu-san, so I excused myself from the old man and returned to my own stall.

I wonder if something happened?

When I open the message, a screenshot spreads out in front of me along with the words “Found somethin’ interestin’.”

The screenshot lists the names of Grand Martial Festival participants, and one of them is circled in red with what appears to be Tatsu-san’s handwriting.

Checking the text inside the circle…

“Yamamoto & EOD”

“Wait, who!?”

It seems an impostor of me is participating in the Grand Martial Festival.

Consecutive messages keep coming from Tatsu-san.

“He’s got a real presence.”

The image attached to that message shows a tough-looking old man with a topknot and an X-shaped scar in the center of his face…

I mean, he might look strong, but he doesn’t resemble me at all!

“Everyone around is real wary of him lol”

It seems Tatsu-san is at the same preliminary venue as the fake Yamamoto. He’s sending messages that sound like he’s having fun.

So I send back a message saying, “Sounds like fun. I’m running a food stall here, but it’s super boring. Is Lili-chan okay?”

Then he replies, “She’s already in the robot, so I can’t see her expression. But she seems fine.”

If that’s the case, maybe she’s alright?

I was a bit worried about Lili-chan’s mental state, but it seems she’s stable thanks to having the goal of doing her best for Take-kun.

There are people who can do their best for themselves, and there are types who can exert their strength by trying to do their best for others—and it seems Lili-chan is the latter.

I guess I can feel at ease now.

“In that case, I don’t need to worry about Tatsu-san. The remaining problem is…”

So, I checked the name of the fake Yamamoto, who is a participant, and decided to watch the fake Yamamoto’s matches…

Why does the real one have to care about the fake’s movements… But I don’t want someone using my name to do strange things…

For now, I decided to monitor the fake Yamamoto as the Yamamoto police!

“With this, when the fake Yamamoto’s match starts, the float screen should switch… Hm? What?”

Just as I was thinking that, the screen suddenly switched.

When I checked, it seems to be the fake Yamamoto’s match right away.

What incredible timing!

“The fake Yamamoto looks really tough and smelly, but… how is it…”

It seems the fake Yamamoto is a strange samurai who looks like the epitome of a ronin, carrying two sabers on his back.

Hmm, why sabers?

Maybe he couldn’t get a Japanese sword?

Also, I’m curious why this person decided to call himself Yamamoto.

Did he just want to make a name for himself?

As I was watching the screen like that, some strange creature keeps appearing on screen.

A cylindrical creature with many tentacles, wriggling and squirming.

…Isn’t this a Roper?

“Could this be the EOD?”

It definitely looks like a player, doesn’t it?

Hmm. In the end, did these two call themselves Yamamoto as a joke?

Taking advantage of the fact that the real one hasn’t come forward, they’re trying to make a name for themselves, or well, they’ve succeeded in attracting attention for better or worse…

But—

“Wouldn’t they get ganged up on if they did that in a battle royale?”

Looking closely, I notice that many of the tag teams on the stage where the preliminaries are about to take place are directing their gazes at the fake Yamamoto.

It seems the fake Yamamoto has noticed this too.

He’s started talking, opening and closing his mouth.

When I turn on the audio—

“Oi! I’m Yamamoto, the EOD killer! I don’t think there are any fools who’d dare challenge me, right!?”

Yeah.

It seems he’s trying to intimidate challengers by using the pressure of the name “EOD killer.” Maybe his goal wasn’t to make a name for himself, but to bluff using the alias?

I think opponents who would back down from that wouldn’t participate in this Grand Martial Festival in the first place.

“EOD killer? Is that weird monster next to you the EOD?”

“If that’s all the EOD is, then EOD killer isn’t much of a title.”

“Don’t get too cocky. You don’t want to get crushed right away, do you, old man?”

“You bastards… don’t regret this later…”

Wow. There’s a lot of tension on the stage…

Not just around this fake Yamamoto, but it seems there are a lot of hot-blooded people, everyone’s on edge all over the place.

About fifty people have climbed onto the stage.

That means it’s a free-for-all between twenty-five tag teams.

Of these, only one team will survive, and that one team will again fight in a free-for-all with dozens of other teams—that’s how the matches will progress.

Oh, the gong for the match has just rung.

Ah.

The fake Yamamoto is suddenly surrounded by five tag teams!

The fake Yamamoto tries to maneuver well to avoid being surrounded, but… the Roper’s feet are too slow and they get separated!

After that, it’s a one-sided beatdown.

It ended without any good showing…

“Fake-moto-san…”

Somehow, watching this makes me sad.

I think his skill itself probably wasn’t that bad. He fought well even when surrounded by about three people.

But it seems he didn’t have the overwhelming power to overcome that adversity. He was easily defeated and it was over.

Hmm.

Well, thanks to this fake Yamamoto commotion, I hope the search for Yamamoto will die down.

As I was thinking about such things—

“Hey”

“—Eek!?”

I was suddenly called out to and my voice cracked in surprise!

Huh, what? A customer?

I hurriedly shift my gaze from the float screen to in front of me, and there stands a tall, stylish beauty with straight black hair reaching her shoulders, wrapped in all-black equipment…

I freeze for a moment, but try to act casual and respond in my high-pitched falsetto.

“W-What can I do for you?”

“No, I’m not asking for anything. I’m asking if this poison soup really gives you [Poison Resistance]?”

“Ah, yes it does~ You need to drink three bowls for Level 1, but it does work~ Also, you need to drink the tea before the poison status effect appears, but it definitely works~”

“Hmm. I see. …So, what do you think?”

The beauty turns around.

Standing there was a handsome man, probably her party member. He has a flashy appearance that makes him look like he could be the vocalist in a band. I wonder if he deliberately adjusted his appearance to look like that?

“Well, if that story is true, it might be better for aika to get it at least. Whether or has [Poison Resistance] or not could change the safety of the party…”

Aika, huh…

It’s probably spelled “aika” in Roman letters.

I glance at aika-chan’s face.

“Eh, I don’t want to drink it alone though?”

“What are you going to do if both of us drink it and become incapacitated by poison? I’ll prepare [Antidote] and stand by.”

“In that case, you drink it after I do, okay? Absolutely, okay?”

“Alright, alright.”

The handsome guy raises both hands slightly in a gesture of surrender.

I receive 100 reward stones from aika-chan and hand her the poison soup and tea.

“Can I borrow that table over there?”

“Sure, sure.”

When I offer in my falsetto, aika-chan gives me a suspicious look.

“Is that weird voice natural? Since you were using a float screen earlier, you’re a player, right?”

“I-It’s character building, so I’d appreciate if you didn’t point it out…”

“You mean roleplaying in LIA? Don’t tease people too much about that kind of thing. It’s pitiful for the people doing it, right?”

Handsome guy, you’re trying to cover for me, but you’re saying something quite rude to people who are really enjoying roleplaying, you know?

Aika-chan was staring at me intently, but eventually she seemed to accept it and softened her expression. Yeah, she’s cute.

“I thought your build looked a bit like someone I know, so maybe I was in a hurry… I’m sorry if I seemed to be picking a fight.”

“No, no, don’t worry about it~”

Yeah, that probably wasn’t picking a fight, I think?

As she sits at the table attached to the stall, the beauty… aika-chan grips the wooden cup filled with soup with both hands and grits her teeth frustratedly.

“But really, where on earth is she…! I thought she’d be at a festival where lots of people gather…!”

“You’ve pretty much searched all of the human side’s Area 1, right? Maybe she’s quietly gone to Area 2 by now?”

“I don’t think that person could go to Area 2 alone… But if she’s teamed up with someone, we can’t rule out the possibility…”

I can hear most of their conversation, but I pretend not to hear anything. I feel like a bartender.

“Or maybe she chose to start on the monster side instead of the human side. If that’s the case, it might be difficult to judge by appearance…”

“In that case, we can only check by player name. That person is lazy, so I think they’d register with names like ‘Yamamoto Yama’ or ‘rinka’ or ‘link’.”

“If we could at least confirm that she’s alive, it would take a load off our shoulders…”

“I don’t think she’s dead. That person is the type to show incredible power when cornered… I think she’s probably surviving even in this situation.”

Aika-chan, as if tired of talking, brings the soup to her lips, then rounds her eyes in surprise.

Yeah, well, that’s the kind of reaction you have when you drink it for the first time. It’s so common that I’m used to it now.

“Huh? It’s delicious… Eh, eh, it’s too delicious…?”

And she’s left dumbfounded, so I secretly cast [Cure Light] on aika-chan. Well, think of it as a service.

“Huh? Um, thank you…?”

“Don’t forget to drink the detoxifying tea~”

“Ah, yes…”

She really seems like a responsible person, but has a bit of an absent-minded side.

Maybe that’s why this girl attracts people…

“Hey, hey, pull yourself together, aika. If you collapse, who’s going to find your missing sister?”

“S-Sorry…”

Aika-chan apologizes to the handsome guy… Yuu-kun, but this time she doesn’t forget to drink the tea after gulping down the soup.

Yeah, she’s properly following what I warned her about.

Good, good.

“Really, where on earth are you now, big sis…”

Huh? She’s right next to you?

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For those who may have forgotten, Yamamoto-san’s real name is Yamamoto Rinka.

(See Chapter 1)