Chapter 2

Tsukasa: O–Oogami-senpai. I apologize; I wasn’t watching where I was going.

Koga: Nah, it’s my fault too for running into you. Sorry ‘bout that. You get hurt anywhere?

Tsukasa: No, not at all.

Koga: Seriously? You don’t gotta hold back or anything. I don’t wanna hear you moanin’ and groanin’ later on.

Tsukasa: Oh, your phone is... might you have been handling your phone while you were walking? You shouldn’t do that; it’s dangerous.

Koga: Hah? I wasn’t walkin’! I was runnin’.

Tsukasa: That is much worse...

Koga: Well, you ain’t wrong. I said sorry, though.

...It’s Bonus Time right now, so I’m going around and collecting items. I took my eyes off my base for one second and lost it, so I wanna hurry up and snatch it back.

Tsukasa: Bonus Time... item collecting...

Could it be, Oogami-senpai, that you are also playing RoseKnights?

Koga: What, you play too, you tomato-head trust fund baby? Heh, you got some good taste, huh? Just like when we played Idobato.

RoseKnights is pretty fun, ain’t it! Kinda a pain to collect items, but it feels pretty good when you beat the shit out of another strong player and knock him off his high horse.

Tsukasa: You’re still saying such unsettling things...

However, I do enjoy coming up with battle strategies. It makes my heart race the same way Idobato does.

And even more than that, I love how resplendent the rare items are. It is also nice that I can have a better advantage proportional to the investment I put into the game ♪

Koga: Hah, you’re all reliant on your cash, just like with Idobato. Gonna start callin’ you Jeff Bezos pretty soon.^[1]

But it really is the best feeling to beat the hell out of guys like you.

Tsukasa: Fufun, do not make light of me. I may be a whale, but I don’t shirk my responsibilities to earnestly train and practice.

I’ve balanced my stats to the point that I have no blind spots. I will not lose so easily.

Koga: Huh, right. ...Well, I know I’m the one who held you up, but you should get to class. Ain’t first period ‘bouta start?

I’m heading off. See ya.

Tsukasa: Yes, until next time.

(I never would have expected that Oogami-senpai would be playing, too. I knew that there were other players within the school, since there was a base on campus, but.)

(Might there be even more players who I know...?)

Tetora: (Hum. The Red Roses captured the base again. I knew someone was gonna target it, so I set up a buncha traps earlier.)

(But I guess free items are just no match for this dude?)

(And not only that, I have to face off against lonely_wolf again. I won’t be able to just recapture it no sweat.)

(It feels like there’s an overwhelming amount of players on the Blue Rose team...)

But the Red Rose is more like a small group of elites...

Hajime: Red Rose... Tetora-kun, did you just say Red Rose?

Tetora: Mm? Yeah, I did, but uh. Hajime-kun, you know about RoseKnights?

Hajime: Rose... Nights... I’m guessing you don’t mean the time of day.^[2]

Earlier, Suou-kun was also saying something about a Red Rose.

Is “RoseKnights” the name of your mobile game, maybe?

Tetora: Yup yup. They turned that card game Idobato into a phone game. It’s actually pretty fun! And you said Suou-kun’s playing it too?

He really said something about the Red Rose?

Hajime: Ah, yes. I didn’t hear any details, though.

Tetora: That’s cool. Suou-kun was pretty good at Idobato... You think he’s lonely_wolf?

Hajime: Lonely wolf... a loner? Suou-kun doesn’t really seem to be that type of person...

Tetora: Oh! I’m talking about his username. You don’t know it, do you Hajime-kun?

Hajime: No, sorry...

Ah—! Um, if it’s okay with you, would you like to eat lunch together today?

Suou-kun promised to tell me more about this Rose...Knights thing over lunch ♪

Tetora: That okay with you? I was thinking about eating in the cafeteria today, so you’re more than welcome to join me!

jp proofing: 310mc
eng proofing: Alle