New Game Plus! ~The Struggles of a Popular VRMMO Livestreamer~ Chapter 21

Volume 3: Let’s Make a Clan!

Chapter 21: A Showdown Between Men

 

 

This Itou Yoshizumi…… He is a man by the name of「Yoshii[1]」here in Dragon’s Krone. Being from the class next door, even the loner Edgar who tries to avoid other people knows about him. A rather famous male student renowned for being quite the「Carefree[2]」type of guy.

He belonged to the upper caste of the school’s hierarchy, popular amongst both boys and girls.
Yoshii had everything Edgar did not; he was the complete opposite of Edgar.

 

「Every since then you’ve never talked to me. I was worried about it you know, Suzu-chan」

 

Making it seem like an overreaction, Yoshii raised his shoulers as he looked at Suzu with a wry smile.

Don’t get overly friendly.

 

「Ah, did you perhaps take that whole『Let’s make a clan』thing seriously? Ha ha ha, that was just a joke, a joke. Suzu-chan is so cute so I just wanted to tease you a bit」

「…… Hmm?」

 

As Yoshii let out a carefree laugh, Edgar stepped forward and obstructed his view.
It seems like he never noticed that Edgar was there in the first place, having a guy randomly show up beside Suzu and block his way, Yoshii wore a quizzical expression.

 

「Huh, and you are?」

「…… “Friend”?」

 

Hearing those words, Yoshii glanced over at Edgar and ran his gaze over him, as if sizing him up.

If I were to guess from his level and equipment, I have a feeling that Yoshii started playing Dragon’s Krone much earlier than Suzu-san and the others. It wouldn’t be strange to see players on his level making their debut at the Metropolis City of Vernewt in the Veroon Grand Duchy Area.

Is the reason why, because of Suzu-san?

 

「”Edgar-kun”?…… Never heard of ya~. You say you’re Suzu-chan’s friend, but does that mean friend in real life?」

「Are you classmates? I’ve never even seen you before」

 

Placing his hand on his chin, Yoshii dug through his memory.

Not remembering the loner student from the class next door, it was obviously he wouldn’t know.

 

「Well, whatevs. And so, you have some business with me?」

「…… Hmm, a job huh? Sounds interesting」

 

Perhaps he couldn’t accept the thought of Suzu being together with some unknown man, a slight sign of annoyance showed in Yoshii’s expression.
Sensing his change in attitude, Suzu tightly gripped Edgar’s clothes as she stood paralyzed.

 

「Sorry but could you please back off? You’re scaring Suzu-san」
「Huh, scaring her? What’s the matter, Suzu-chan?」

 

Hearing that Yoshii looked over the Suzu who was hiding herself behind Edgar.

Either way, he’s a really stubborn guy. From Suzu’s standpoint, the situation hadn’t escalated so far that they had to report it to the admins, but it’s better the strongly tell him to step off.

But surprisingly, the first one to act was not Edgar, it was Suzu

 

「…… It’s because Yoshii-kun keeps trying make advances on me like this」
「Eh?」

 

Gathering her resolve, her eyes peered out from the shadow of her hood, and Suzu boldly fired back at Yoshii.
A similar thing had happened before. Just like when she told off those colluding players from the Grand Mission several days ago, although she is normally quiet, Suzu will say what she has to when the time is right. This was an unexpected side of hers.

 

「I know that Yoshii-kun is from the class next door, and you’re probably saying these things because we know each other, but……I’m sorry, to put it frankly, it is really annoying」

「Yes. I won’t make a clan with Yoshii-kun, and I never will」

「It’s because I’m going to make a clan with Edgar-kun」
「……W-What did you say!?」

 

The carefree expression on Yoshii’s face dramatically changed, as if he had become a completely different person.
And, for some reason, Edgar’s expression was also frozen stiff after hearing that.

 

Suzu-san, don’t you think you should’ve worded that more carefully.

If you say it like that, I think Yoshii will likely get the wrong idea.

 

「……What is the meaning of this? Why is Suzu-chan going to make a clan with this guy?」

「……W-Wait a sec, Suzu-san!?」

 

As Suzu firmly exclaimed such an inconceivable idea, the one who was thrown into discord was Edgar.

You should tell ME of all people first.

 

「ha, haha, you ignored all my invitations…… And you’re going to make a clan with this plain-looking guy?」

「ッ!!」

 

As if he had taken a 「Critical Hit」, Yoshii was taken aback as his face looked towards the sky. Hearing Suzu’s words caused his body to stagger, and he could only manage to keep a forced smile on his face.

Suzu-chan didn’t choose me, but for who knows what reason she chose this mediocre, plain guy instead──

 

「…… Unbelievable…… Suzu-chan, There’s no way I can accept this. Absolutely not!」
「Eeh?」

 

The easy-going air about him had disappeared, Yoshii was burning up with the fires of jealousy.
And the one to take the brunt of Yoshii’s jealous flame, was of course Edgar.

 

「You there, Edgar-kun」

「How about we have a contest」
「…… What kind of contest?」

 

Together with a gaze as sharp as a knife, Yoshii fired off those words. In Edgar’s mind an unpleasant hunch started to form.

 

「Of course, Me or You. We’ll have a contest to decide which one of us is the man most fit for Suzu-chan」

 

Yeah… I knew it would come to this.

The optimal way to deal with these troublesome type of guys is to just「Not Participate」.
By using the fact that we are busy and an excuse, we can just leave and report him to the admins for harassment later. Letting the admins take care of this would be for the best, but──

 

「Hey wai-, Yoshii-kun, what do you mean by “the man most fit”!?」

「Oh, is that so」

 

For me, I’m also okay with some PvP though.
I rather welcome the idea.

 

「And that is why, I have a proposal. A Fair contest」

「……Hmph. You said that you were on your way to make a clan, right? That’s what the contest will be. 2 hours from now. You have until 11 pm to establish your clan. If you can do it within the time-limit then you win. If you can’t do it then it’s My win. If you are victorious, then how about I obediently resign to you. But if I am victorious…… Then I’ll have Suzu-chan join My clan instead」
「……ッ!?」

 

The hell? How is that even a contest.

We’ve already accepted the Clan Quest, and we also now what items we have to make. We even bought the Recipes already.
No matter how you think about it, at most it would take us only 1 hour to clear the quest.

 

But, something seems fishy.
If he is challenging me to this kind of contest, then Yoshii must have some way of winning.

 

「The odds are in your favor, but maybe that’s making you have cold feet?」

 

Although Yoshii wore a smug grin on his face, Edgar continued to calmly analyze the situation.

Also, he probably thinks that it’s only me and Suzu-san making a clan; that there is「only 2 of us」.

 

I see now──

Yoshii looks like he’s been playing Dragon’s Krone for quite a while now, so he probably has a lot of money on him.
If he finds out the required items for the current Clan Quest, then he could go and buy out all the ingredients before we get the chance to. So he secretly plans to sabotage us like that huh.

 

「Edgar-kun」

 

Suzu apologetically whispered into Edgar’s ear.

 

「…… I’m sorry. Because of me, you-」

「Eh?」

「Opportunity?」

 

Hearing Edgar’s words, Suzu slightly tilted her head looking puzzled.

 

「Even if we ignore the challenge and report this to the admins, he still goes to the same school as us. Suzu-san, as long as he knows you in real life, it will be difficult to get Yoshii to give up on this matter. Taking that into consideration, if we accept the challenge he proposed himself and are able to clearly draw the line, then it’s possible to change the current situation for the better」

 

This guy is the type who cares his own popularity and status.

Because of he did go back on his word, it would cause his reputation at school to crumble.

 

「That’s true, but……」

「Edgar-kun……」

 

At Edgar’s clear declaration, Suzu’s chest welled up, and she felt an indescribable feeling of reassurance.

 

「Okay. Edgar-kun, Thank you」
「Yeah, just leave it to me」

 

Gently nodding her head, Edgar answered back with a smile.

Just like he did during the Grand Mission──

 

「Now then, what will you do? Edgar-kun, how about we have a showdown, fair-and-square」
「……Very well. That contest, I’ll take you on」

 

Looking straight forward and meeting Yoshii’s gaze, Edgar decisively fired back.

 

「Good. Okay then, you have 2 hours. If you can clear your Clan Quest before then, it’s your win. If not, then it is my win」
「Fair enough」

 

Not even 2 hours, We’ll finish this in less than one.
As Yoshii glared back with a sharp scowl, Edgar calmly nodded his head.

 

──However, so quiet that Edgar and Suzu did not notice, Yoshii grinned as he let out a small chuckle.

 

 

 

Footnotes:

1.

TL note: Yoshizumi’s in-game name is Yoshii spelled out in hiragana as 「よっしー」. As a side note, I’ll add to his character’s page in a bit.

2.

TL note: I had quite the hard time trying to figure out the appropriate word to use here. The original word is 「お調子者」 which would can mean many things such as “a frivolous person”, “someone who gets ahead of themselves/carried away”, in some senses it could mean “extroverted”, etc.

In the end I decided to go with “Carefree/nonchalant/laid-back” here and vary the different uses throughout the chapter.

Chapter end