Magicians of ES 13
A few days later, somewhere in SHINSEKAI
Jin: “♪ ~ ♪ ~ ♪”
Akiomi: “~... ♪”
Sora: HaHa~ ♪ Are those the “ghosts” Hidaka-sensei was talking about?
Natsume: I can’t believe my own eyes... I’d heard that someone had hacked into SHINSEKAI and was messing around, but...
Is that my homeroom teacher? And the student council adviser? What were their names again?
Tsumugi: You can’t possibly have forgotten their names.
Pretending to be a loner who doesn’t care about other people is pretty lame nowadays, you know? It just makes you seem like you can’t read the room.
Natsume: Shut up... More than that, I’m wondering who those people actually are.
These “ghosts” look much younger than they really are—or should I say, they look like they’ve gone back in time to when they were active.
Sora: Active? Umm, but Sora can’t see anything except a vague shimmer in the air~?
Tsumugi: Try adjusting your vision settings, Sora-kun. You can change all the particulars so that you can see the world the same way as us. At least, that’s what the manual said.
Sora: HiHi~? So Sora can be just like everyone else inside the game?
But umm. Sora’s eyes aren’t all-powerful, but they are useful, so he’ll keep the settings so they’re the same as reality.
Senpai and Master are smart and level-headed, so they can point out all the things that normal people can see.
And Sora will pick up on what only Sora can see, and give you everything he gets from it. That way, he can be helpful to you, right~?
Even if he’s not, you and Master will love Sora for it.
But Sora really, really wants to be helpful.
Natsume: ...... (hugs Sora gently)
Tsumugi: ...... (tugging on Natsume’s clothes as if to say “That’s not the point!”)
Akiomi: “Hey. I thought that was a strange reaction—”
Jin: “Hey guys, whatcha doin’ here?”
Sora: Wah—They saw us~?
Natsume: What are we doing? That’s what I’m asking. What the hell is this? What are you doing in our utopia—in SHINSEKAI?
If it comes to it, I will use my authority as the admin of SHINSEKAI to forcibly eject you from the game.
Tsumugi: Yes. Please come quietly now, I won’t let anything bad happen to you.
Sora: HuHu~ ♪ You shouldn’t go against the GM, you know?
Jin: “Hey now, what’s with this disrespect all of a sudden? We’re just playing the game here, nothing wrong with that.”
Tsumugi: That’s true, but we’re in the middle of our rest period right now.
It’s not against the rules for non-admins like us to enter SHINSEKAI, but it’s certainly not recommended.
You’re responsible for any brain damage you sustain if you don’t take proper breaks, okay?
Akiomi: “......”
Jin: “Hmph. Maybe you guys didn’t know? We’re in the Producer Association. And the Producer Association is part of the SS Administration Committee—”
“Plenty of us were involved in the development of the SSVRS. That includes me and Kunugi here.”
Natsume: Kunugi, hmm...?
Jin: “In other words, we’re all on equal standing here.”
“You don’t have the authority to punish us—at least, not the way a GM can punish their players.”
Akiomi: “Yes. You have no right to act so self-important, telling us what to do.”
Jin: “Get it, got it, good. Now run along back to reality. Or won’t you listen to your teacher, Sakasaki?”
Natsume: ......
Akiomi: “This is just some friendly advice, but you’d be wise to do what we say. Aoba-kun may have already graduated, but both Sakasaki-kun and Harukawa-kun are still in school, yes?”
“I’m sure you don’t want it written on your report card that you’re rebellious students who disobey their teachers?”
“You’ll be preparing for college entrance exams this year, Sakasaki-kun; you probably shouldn’t do anything that would have a negative impact on your report.”
Natsume: ......
Mika: —Are ya guys morons?
Akiomi: “...?!”
Mika: That’s the guy Naru-chan loves! There’s no way he’d go an’ say all that stuff, threatenin’ people an’ hidin’ behind your position as a teacher! You’re makin’ a fool outta him! Kinda.
You’re completely crappin’ on who she loves! And that pisses me off, too, ‘cause I love her just as much!
Akiomi: “Wh–what the hell’s wrong with you...?!”
Mika: Heh, caughtcha red handed~ Kunugi-sensei would never get emotional in front of his students. And he’d never, ever curse, neither.
Sora: Ah! So it’s a Kunugi-sensei impostor? Sora didn’t see it at all~ His color is completely different!
Mika: Yup. I don’t got special eyes like you—actually, my eyes are terrible, and I could still see through ya!
So who the heck are you?
Akiomi: “......”
Natsume: Nngh... They said they were in the Producer Association. And they seem to have general knowledge about us, so I’m confident that they’re connected to ES.
Ah but, nowadays you can find all kinds of information just by searching online.
There are some things only your family would know, and some that you can’t fully understand unless you form a unit and perform together.
Ba-barrier was only active for a short time, but it seems that was no exception.
Sora: Yes! Sora will never forget all the people he’s sung with!
Mika: Yup. I’m pretty forgetful, but I’m not that bad.
Jin: “...What do we do?”
Akiomi: “Why the hell are you asking me—?”
Jin: “For now, just keep your mouth shut. You shouldn’t give them any more information.”
Natsume: Fufu. Don’t say that. You should talk more with your cute little students—Sensei ♪
Just kidding. I barely attend class at all, so I haven’t had much interaction with Sagami-sensei, much less Kunugi-sensei.
But regardless of that, you can only perform to the extent that you understand your subjects. If you two really were idols, your true abilities wouldn’t matter all that much.
Jin: “......”