Ghost Stories

Caught off guard by the sudden situation, Alto was unable to grasp what was happening, his eyes rolling wildly as the three women pushed him towards the cauldron.

This game doesn’t allow PvP, but you can still shove people, huh.

Well, since it’s VR and just data, it’s a bit disappointing that there’s no impact when you make physical contact with the body.

The scene unfolding before me is walking a fine line.

But then again, Alto is just a merchant who hasn’t engaged in proper combat, so he likely has no physical strength, and he’s twisting his face in fear against opponents who don’t seem open to negotiation.

I wonder if he’s aware that he’s in a game world?

Well, it’s unclear if he could make that judgment having just woken up.

「I’ll pay any amount of money! So please, help me!」

What a pathetic plea…

Are you some kind of mastermind?

You’re definitely going to get shot and killed, aren’t you?

Do you actually realize what’s going on, but didn’t say it?

「Yakimaru, Bena! Ochitochi!」

「Mobidikku! Eihabu!」

「Mogere Moge!」

「Wh-What am I being dragged into! C-Could this really be happening!」

Ah, his wits seem to be working in an emergency!

Alto takes out and raises a Tome of Return.

But alas, it was no use.

Shun… Alto instantly teleported to the beach.

「Wh-What! I can’t escape!? Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaa!」

「Nige Nige Mudaa!」

「Esukepu Kyanseru!」

「Toubo Nige! Nige Nige!」

Romina and the others skillfully get ahead of the fleeing Alto, surrounding him once again.

「To be locked in a place that seems to have a death penalty for attempted escape… what is the management thinking!」

Ah, he’s muttering complaints about the management.

I understand the feeling, but that’s not it.

「Warusa Warusa!」

「Karma Karma!」

「Akudan Dakudan!」

「D-Don’t tell me this is some prison to confine players who violate manners! I haven’t done anything wrong! I’ve only done what I could!」

Ah, so that’s the line of thinking he’s taking.

Though… if the management saw this, they’d probably give us a stern warning.

Of course, I’m referring to our side.

「Whoo-ho!」

「Ha-ho-ho!」

「Iya-ho!」

And then the three of them start jabbing at Alto with their spears.

It doesn’t do any damage, but it must be quite vexing, and having his movements sealed is unpleasant.

Well, isn’t this just harassment?

He’s then led back towards the cauldron once more.

「D-Dammit, anyone will do! Help meee! I’ll stop being so money-oriented! Management, forgive meee!」

Alto’s cry echoed.

It seems Alto is rather weak against this kind of torture.

Is he a coward…? Did he think it was some kind of containment facility made by the management?

Well, it’s about time, I suppose?

「You should be a bit more selective about who you do business with!」

「Yes!」

「Then I’ll let you off with a warning this time! Be grateful!」

「Thank you! Eh!?」

At that point, Romina removed her mask and high-fived Sheryl and Tsumugi.

「Prank complete!」

「Revenge complete!」

「Mission complete!」

They really do look like they’re having fun.

「R-Romina-kun, isn’t it!? Why are you in a place like this!?」

Shouko and I stop drumming and emerge from the leaf enclosure.

「W-Well now, Alto! You’ve certainly been making a lot of money. You’ve made too many enemies from all sides.」

「You’re here too!? Unbelievable.」

Finally understanding the prank, Alto’s face turns beet red.

Oh, he’s quite pissed, isn’t he?

But still, VR technology has advanced to the point where it can express emotions like this, huh?

That said, it’s also true that he brought this on himself.

「Just what was the purpose of this ridiculous stunt!」

「It was Romina and the others who proposed surprising you, Alto. Not me.」

At the very least, the idea of calling Alto didn’t come from me.

I would have just called Yamikage normally.

「You must understand, right? Even you had trouble with those frontliners at some point. This was payback for selling anything as long as you got paid.」

「…Haa. I suppose this too is part of the merchant’s experience. If you cast your net too wide, you’ll earn resentment and face unexpected backlash… I’ll take it as a lesson, a reference for the future. It’s probably something that could happen outside of games too.」

Oh, he catches on quickly.

As expected of the Merchant of Death.

I wonder if that’s part of the reason he played Dimension Wave in the first place.

「Though I feel this prank may have gone a bit too far.」

「Even Shouko-kun is here… Since the return item forces a hard save, could you give me a proper explanation?」

After looking at Shouko, Alto turns his gaze towards me.

「Ah, you see――」

I explained to Alto what had happened since coming to the island.

「I see… so you were the culprits behind the mysterious disappearance incidents.」

「Ah, you mean the story about Shouko-san, Sheryl-san, and Romina-san going missing?」

「Exactly. While not mere rumor, my own experiences are also woven in, and the rumor goes that if you stray too far from the path, you’ll mysteriously disappear. Like being forcibly logged out by the management, or a real ghost ship is abducting one by one those involved in the incident… It’s turned into a ghost story that you wouldn’t believe is just a game.」

「Would the Dimension Wave management really make such a fuss over trivial matters?」

The management has caused me quite a lot of trouble, you know.

Do you have any idea how many days I’ve been stuck here?

「Well, the black rumors that keep popping up around Yamikage-kun added a tail to the story too. It got to the point where even I didn’t want to get involved.」

「Yamikage? What do you mean?」

「Hmm, first Kizuna-kun went missing and couldn’t be contacted. Then Shouko-kun suddenly vanished… followed by Sheryl-kun. Think about it carefully.」

The leader who achieved the Limited Dimension Wave mini-event disappeared, and then one by one, the members from that time also went missing.

It’s quite horror-esque.

「It was fine up until Sheryl-kun. I thought you might have been caught up in some other event, you see. But… an unexpected phenomenon occurred.」

「Unexpected phenomenon?」

Well, he can probably guess from what I did…

「Next was Romina-kun. An almost completely unrelated person disappeared.」

「Ah… well.」

That was an accident.

The person herself forgave me, at least.

「Those who love rumors all made a fuss, feeling terror even though it’s just a game.」

「Online games have had this kind of urban legend for a long time, huh?」

Ah, that’s true.

Like how a player died in real life but is still logged in, and such?

These kinds of urban legends have increased since VR came out, I feel.

「Something is happening. It’s only natural that attention would turn towards the members who were accompanying Kizuna-kun as potential culprits, right? Tsumugi-kun, Yamikage-kun, and me. Incidentally, the next victim was supposed to be Tsumugi-kun.」

As a result, Alto smoothly turned the spotlight onto Yamikage.

That’s quite harsh.

「Now that you mention it, I did go hunting with Yami-chan.」

Yamikage, who had been helping Shouko look for me.

After Shouko went missing, she stayed at Sheryl’s place, and when Sheryl went missing, Romina took her in… but then Romina disappeared too.

After that, she started acting together with Tsumugi… and then Tsumugi went missing.

Geez… well, how should I put it…?

「She earned a rather unusual nickname that players would rarely use for each other in an online game. Well, I suppose things like that do happen.」

「Oh? I know someone who bears the nickname Merchant of Death.」

「I’d rather not be called that by someone with the nickname Damage King.」

「Haha, I renounced that after the second wave started, didn’t I? Not as bad as the Merchant of Death.」

「What a chilling conversation.」

Shouko and the others are narrowing their eyes at the exchange between Alto and me.

Damn, for some reason my evaluation seems to have dropped too.

Anyway, I should change the subject and gloss over this.

「Say, Alto. isn’t this like a harem on a tropical island? Doesn’t that sound filthy rich?」

Since Alto is the only male character, it’s effectively a completed harem.

I didn’t consciously aim for it, but that’s how it turned out.

「…」

Hearing my words, Alto looks around.

Romina, Sheryl, Tsumugi in native islander outfits, then Shouko and me.

「I don’t want a harem like this.」