In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 8

by Patora Fuyuhara

  I’d expected the eye-like thing to be a core or something, but when I shot it again, the result was exactly the same. Realizing I was wasting bullets, I decided to shoot the tentacles holding Yae instead, but all I got was a clicking sound.

  I’m out of bullets!

  “[Reload]...! Wait, ah! My bullet pouch is in the chest with my clothes!”

  Damn it! I was too careless! I wasted all my bullets! Both Linze and Yumina didn’t even have their guns, so they obviously didn’t have any bullets, either.

  “HYAAAHHH!” The scream made me turn, and I saw Hilde, held in the same way as Yae. Hers were the second largest after Yae’s, but their swaying was just as tantalizing.

  Crap! Keep a level head, damn it!

  “Come forth, O Light! Shining Duet: [Light Arrow]!!” Several bolts of light escaped Linze’s hands. A few of them landed on the jelly’s head-like part, but it didn’t look like they had much of an effect.

  “Poison jellies are highly resistant to magic. I don’t think even a [Fire Storm] could beat it.” As we clenched our teeth in frustration, Leen explained why the thing seemed so strong. Man, no jellyfish should be this much trouble.

  “HYAAAHHH! Hey, you little...! Let me go!”

  “KYAAAHHHHHH!” I turned to the screams again and noticed that both Elze and Lu had joined Yae and Hilde in hanging. After looking at and comparing the sizes of their swaying chests, I concluded that the new entries weren’t particularly distracting.

  “Dunno why, but I’m kinda angry!”

  “Same here.” Oh no, they noticed the intricacies of my gaze and began directing some sort of dark aura towards me.

  Thankfully, they were too preoccupied with deflecting the tentacles reaching for their swimsuits, so the aura soon began to disperse.

  Phew.

  Still, the situation was dire. If I charged in with Brunhild, I’d end up just like Yae.

  I could do something if Null magic was allowed, but... “Touya, something has me curious...”

  “What is it, Sue?” I turned to her, hoping to hear some sort of weak point she’d figured out.

  “I’m merely wondering why you don’t call Kohaku and the others. Can’t we use summoning magic here?” “...Come forth, Darkness. Bring out my Desired Heavenly Beasts of Covenant: [Sango, Kokuyo]...!”

  Hey, I didn’t forget, okay? I formed a magic circle on the beach, and it soon began releasing a black mist. A few moments later, the mist cleared, leaving Sango and Kokuyo floating in its place. Considering our enemy, I felt that these two were a better choice than Kohaku and the rest.

  “It’s rare of you to sssummon usss, masster.”

  “Hm? Are we inside a subspace?”

  “Sango, Kokuyo, can you do anything about that thing?” The spirit turtle and black snake slowly turned to where I was pointing and then, with a pop of smoke, returned to their true forms.

  Is it just me, or are they bigger than before? “Massster, mind telling usss what we are looking at?”

  “Wah?!”

  “Hyah?!”

  “Bhuh?!”

  “Kyah?!” After a single glare from Kokuyo, the poison jelly let go of the girls, creating four splashes.

  It also felt like the jellyfish started shaking and became pale.

  Or was it always like that?

  Sango took another step forward.

  “I don’t know the circumstances, but you seem to have mistreated our master’s ladies.”

  “Ohh dear me, that’sss not ssomething we can tolerate, isss it? You ready for what’sss about to happen?” Kokuyo’s dagger-sharp words made the poison jelly squirm and run to the sea at incredible speeds. I think it’s actually running on water.

  “DON’T YOU DARE RUN FROM ME, YOU LITTLE SHIT!!!” Following the shout, Kokuyo launched a blade of water that quickly reached the poison jelly and split it in half.

  It’s pretty impressive that its power didn’t drop from this range.

  As I stared in amazement, Sango and Kokuyo returned to their mini forms.

  “Master, ladies. We took care of the lout, so rest easy.”

  “Hey now, Sssango dearesst, I’m the one who took care of it. Massster, any praisse you’re giving sshould go to me.”

  “Thanks, you two.” I expressed my gratitude and pet their heads. Suddenly, both of them disappeared. Thinking that they were forcefully unsummoned, I tried calling them again, but the magic seemed to be sealed again.

  Oh crap, I almost forgot about the girls. They dropped in the water after a while of hanging upside down, so I had to check on them.

  “Wait, stop right there! Touya! Don’t move from where you are!”

  “Eh?” Hilde popped her head out of the sea and told me to stay away. What? “M-My swimsuit was taken by the water when I fell! Please stay there until I find it!!!”

  “S-Same here...”

  What?! The girls on the beach went to help Hilde and Yae search for their swimsuits.

  Elze and Lu were just fine, though... Did it have something to do with size? Impacts cause wilder shaking when they’re big, so maybe that made it slip to the side and... I looked away from the sea and considered the important things.

  After some time, the swimsuits and the clothes in the treasure chest should be exchanged, but we were on a limit here. That damn jellyfish sure was a time waster.

  Speaking of that thing, it was the enemy sent after us, so defeating it gave us the dice.

  “Well, the next square is the goal, so we’re rising up regardless of what we get.”

  “Sorry for the wait!” I turned to the voices coming from the sea and saw Hilde in her complete swimsuit again. Yae, however, was hiding her chest with a purple cloth tied around it. Is that her pareo? So they didn’t find it, huh?

  “Let’s hurry, Touya. They’ve been poisoned by the jelly.”

  “What?!”

  “It’s paralysis poison. Really weak, too, so its effects should go away with time, but we should still reach the goal as soon as possible.” Leen explained the situation while looking at the affected girls, who were all sitting down. According to Yae, it felt like the leg the jelly grabbed had gone numb, and she compared it to a long time sitting in an uncomfortable position, and it didn’t sound the least bit pleasant.

  I took the dice, rolled it, and got a one, putting us right on the goal. We had a total of three minutes left, so it was safe to say that we made it.

  The piece moved to the goal, which caused the scenery to change. We all felt the switch overwhelm our senses, but the result was perplexing, as it was just another beach.

  “Eh?!” I couldn’t help but voice my shock. After all, there was a gate saying “GOAL” about a hundred meters away from the shoreline.

  Eh?! Just reaching the goal square wasn’t enough?!

  “H-Hey, can you girls run?!”

  “Th-That would be a harsh task...” Yae answered with a forced smile. What do I do? Sue, Leen, and Yumina wouldn’t be able to carry the paralyzed girls, meaning that I was the only one who could do it!

  “Linze! Take Yumina and the rest and carry Lu to the goal!”

  “O-Okay!” Lu was the most petite of the four, so she wouldn’t have been that much of a problem for them.

  “I’ll carry the rest! You first, Elze!”

  “Eh! Wh-? Me?! Hyah?!” Ignoring her protests, I took her from the side and raised her up in the so-called “princess carry.”

  Not a second later, I started running towards the goal.

  Khh... Sand isn’t easy to run on, and she’s actually heavier than I tho— I felt a sudden pressure on my skin. Elze’s silent stare hurt me deeply. The feeling of her skin on mine made my heart beat, but I tried my best to ignore it and just run.

  Upon reaching the goal, I placed Elze on the sand and dashed back to the other girls.

  On my way, I passed by Lu, being carried by the four unparalyzed girls. They did it by holding a limb each, and it didn’t look the least bit pleasant, but there was nothing tha
t could be done about this.

  I raised Hilde from her sitting position and carried her on my back. Dashing a hundred meters while princess carrying was really taxing, so I decided to switch to this.

  “T-Touya... A-Am I not heavy...?”

  “Nooo, not at all. This is nothing... to me...” Despite what I said, my breath was becoming ragged.

  Man, I’ve been relying on [Boost] too much recently. I should really work out more...

  The poor surface, the blazing sun, and the two mounds pushing against my back tired me both physically and mentally. Her breasts weren’t touching me directly, but there was only a single piece of cloth separating us, meaning that it wasn’t hard for me to feel both their softness and warmth.

  Somehow hiding the pounding in my chest, I successfully brought Hilde to the goal.

  That left only Yae. Right as the girls finished carrying Lu, I dashed back to Yae, and it was becoming really hard on my lungs and stamina.

  I picked up Yae the same way I did Hilde. Her large — clearly bigger than Hilde’s — breasts attacked my back, but the pareo over them was thick enough to make them significantly less powerful than Hilde’s. I can bear this.

  “A-Are you all right, Touya-dono?!”

  “I... I’m... Fine!” I could barely even talk at this point. Honestly, I was probably at my limit. My legs were shaking, and I felt like I could trip at any moment, but I went too far to fall now, so I mustered my vigor and continued moving forward.

  I’m so close...! My leg sank into the sand, making me tilt forward. The goal was just a few steps away, so I decided to jump towards it.

  “Hyah?!”

  “Bgrh!” Yae’s weight overwhelmed me. As my face became buried in the sand, someone took me by the arm and pulled me in.

  Ow ow ow, hot hot hot! Apparently, my leg was still outside the goal. They could’ve been a bit more gentle, though...

  “W-We made it...”

  “That was close.” Linze’s and Sue’s voices made me look up and see that the countdown was stuck at one second. That was too close for comfort...

  “Congratulations on reaching the goal. Unfortunately, you are victorious. I will now send you back to where you were. Feel free to play again whenever you have the chance.” Dr. Babylon’s voice resounded from out of nowhere, and the hot sand beneath my face was replaced with a cold floor. We cleared the game and came back to the Storehouse.

  The swimsuits we were wearing were replaced by our original clothing.

  “[R-Refresh]...” I cast a stamina-healing spell on myself. Energy re-filled my body, and the lethargy from before vanished like it was never there.

  “Oh man...” That was horrible. That pervy doctor had no intention of letting us reach the goal.

  “I’m sooo tired... Touya, refresh me too...”

  “M-Myself, as well, please.”

  “Same...” All the girls were tired, so I didn’t hesitate in complying.

  After that, I took the dice on the floor.

  “Yeah, we’re sealing this away. This artifact is a menace.” I put it in the Storehouse’s safe box and locked it inside. As I breathed a tired sigh, I suddenly heard hysteric voices from behind me.

  “Eh?”

  “Wha—?!”

  “Heah?!” I turned around and saw the girls touch their own bodies, as if looking for something that’s missing.

  Wh-What?

  “Wh-Why? Why?!”

  “Hey, what’s wrong...?”

  “STOOOP! Touya, don’t move from where you are! Stay, boy!”

  What am I, a dog?

  Still, I did as she told and stood still. What happened?

  “...Let me ask you one thing, darling. When we changed to our swimsuits, did you put your clothes in the treasure chest?”

  “Eh? Well, I did, yeah.” I answered Leen’s question as honestly as I could.

  If I didn’t place my clothes there, I wouldn’t have gotten them back, right?

  “And did you put your underwear in the underwear box?”

  “What? I don’t remember anything like that.”

  “Khhh... There’s the problem. We’ve been tricked.” Leen, her cheeks rosy, clicked her tongue. What does she mean? “Our tent had a chest for clothes and a chest for underwear... And we were wondering why there were two, but...”

  “Eh?”

  “We didn’t get our underwear back.” Sue told it like it was, and the rest of the girls turned red and hung their heads.

  Eh? So they’re all going commando right n—?

  “T-Touya, you turn around and count to a hundred! Look at us and I’m punching you!”

  “Ah, s-sure!” I quickly turned and heard them all run out of the room. That damn pervy doctor never does anything good, does she? Wait, am I really supposed to count to hundred all by myself? This is making me feel empty.

  But wait, what happened to their underwear? Could it be that...?

  I looked towards the sealed dice.

  ...Touya, no. Discard your wicked thoughts. They lead only to ruin.

  I began counting unnecessarily loudly.

  Once done with that, I got curious about Paula and went to the alchemy tower, where I saw her vigorously gesturing to Flora and Parshe.

  “Table? Book? Hmm... I don’t really get it.”

  “I think-a she’s talking about windows. Square windows!” She was probably trying to tell them about the dice, but the two were too dense to figure it out.

  Hell, she didn’t even have to tell them anything. She could’ve just pulled them over...

  I tapped her shoulder to tell her that it’s enough, but for some reason, that just made her irritated and got her to gesture with even more intensity.

  Later, I’d heard that Paula was seen doing a heated one-man show, which, in my opinion, showed just how much of a hard-worker she was.

  Afterword

  This afterword was written before the broadcast of the In Another World With My Smartphone anime adaptation.

  Finally we’re up to volume eight of In Another World With My Smartphone. It’s me again, Patora Fuyuhara. Did you enjoy the volume? I thought this one was quite fun, so I hope you feel the same.

  I guess I wanna talk about something first. It’s already been revealed, but... We’re getting an anime! I’m glad I can finally say it... I’ve been holding in that knowledge for a while, you know. It still doesn’t feel real, if I’m being honest.

  I was writing on my smartphone as usual, then I took a nap around noon.

  Suddenly my phone started buzzing out of the blue. I looked at my phone and noticed it was already three in the afternoon, so I quickly picked it up. The caller was K, from HJ Books.

  About a week before that, we’d gone over details for the manga adaptation of Smartphone, we’d also had many calls and e-mails about details to do with the setting such as names and so on. I just assumed it was going to be something else like that, so I picked up.

  “Mh... Hello...?”

  “Ah, hey there. This is K from HJ. Sorry for disturbing you, is it alright if we talk now?”

  “I was just taking a little nap, that’s all... I can talk alright, so don’t worry.”

  “Hahaha... Actually, we were thinking of adapting Smartphone into an anime. I was calling to see if I could get your permission for that, Mr. Fuyuhara.”

  “............ Huh? Whuh?”

  “An anime. Are you alright?”

  “...Oh, I’m still asleep, huh... What a weird dream.”

  “That’s not it!” He was laughing, but I was having trouble wrapping my own head around what was being said. An anime? Not just a manga? What was happening here?

  “The details aren’t sorted out fully yet, but we won’t be going ahead without your permission.” He was moving along way too fast for me. I hadn’t even come to terms with what he’d said, but he was asking for my consent. I wanted him to slow down!

  I wasn’t used to dealing with stuff like this... I’d only just given the go-ah
ead for the manga, after all, and that wasn’t even announced yet. My head was spinning. My chest was fit to burst.

  “Well, at any rate. I’d like you to come over to the office next week, is that alright?”

  “Huh? In Tokyo?”

  “Yep. We can have a proper meeting about the anime adaptation.” He was dead serious... He was totally serious!

  And so, the week after, I headed into Tokyo. I had a meeting with Hobby Japan’s editorial department about getting an anime adaptation for Smartphone.

  I talked to various people about various things. HJ’s staff wanted to cover things like staff, studio, contract details, and so on... In the end I just let the relevant people deal with the relevant details.

  But now you all know the truth! An anime for Smartphone... It’s incredible. They just decided on it, just like that. It seemed like the decision to adapt Smartphone into an anime, and the decision to adapt Smartphone into a manga, had both progressed separately. They just coincidentally happened to settle around the same time. So one week it was “We’re doing a manga!”, and then the next week it was “We’re doing an anime!”

  It was like that old proverb about water in your ear. It’s shocking when you notice it, but sometimes it had been there for a while.

  Since then I’ve been keeping up with a lot of e-mails about the anime, the manga, and of course the novel series as well.

  Plus I’ve been continuing to write In Another World With My Smartphone in its web novel format while making edits to my old material before it gets novelized properly.

  Since I heard about the anime, I’ve been writing a little more excitedly. I’ve been picturing the world moving inside my mind. Minor characters who didn’t have much of an established appearance will get character designs, too! Even that makes me happy.

  Honestly part of me still thinks this could be an elaborate or cruel prank, but I doubt they’d go to such lengths...

  Anyway, the details about the anime will be released at a later date on Hobby Japan’s website. I can’t wait! I really hope you all enjoy it... Who knows, if it’s successful we could get lots of new things.