Paying to Win in a VRMMO: Volume 2

by Blitz Kiva

  From an objective point of view, the design itself was quite crude. It seemed to have been a mere graphical study from the start, as it was clearly inferior to the jacket Iris had designed more recently. When he had had the brooch made in real life, he had faithfully recreated the roughness of the polygons, so that it would look more or less like the one in the game.

  To Ichiro, it still had value, despite that. But even if he explained that to her, she might not understand.

  “...I’m leaving.” With that, Nem opened the menu window and prepared to log out.

  “Nem.” That one word was enough to stop her.

  “Yes?”

  “This game is quite fun.”

  Nem was silent. Then she said, “I’ll let Azami know.”

  And with that, she logged out.

  That hadn’t actually been what he was trying to convey, but perhaps for once, Ichiro thought, he had expressed himself poorly.

  “She seems like a real pain in the neck,” King muttered.

  But Ichiro was smiling. “People can’t control how they feel. Sometimes that can seem like a pain, I suppose...”

  “Well, you’re the biggest pain of all.”

  “Nonsense.”

  King remained staring at the place where Nem had disappeared, then spoke again. “She seemed like a real newbie.”

  “I’m impressed that you could tell.”

  “The way she walked suggested she wasn’t used to virtual reality, and while her equipment was an original design, the Mage Stick on her belt was beginner equipment. I wonder how she managed to make it to Glasgobara at all...”

  Even if they had been led there by a high-level player, it would be difficult for a level 1 player to make it across the Volgund Volcanoes. That was what King’s statement was pointing out. In addition, her equipment was all original graphics, which, as they had discussed at length today, would require a high Create Armor skill to make.

  They had no proof that Nem was a low-level player. But King’s observations had been accurate. When Ichiro had met her at the party, Megumi had seemed to know almost nothing about the game. She had likely only started playing today.

  She had begun the game today, and through some means, arrived in Glasgobara.

  Ichiro had a suspicion of what those means must have been, which was why he had told her, “This game is fun.” But Nem didn’t seem to have followed his meaning.

  “What the hell was that?!” A cry rose up from the Iris Brand guild house.

  The players coming and going down main street looked over at the sound of it.

  Ichiro smiled wryly. “Well, King, our designer seems to be in a bad mood, so I really should be going.”

  “Sure. Try not to pick any more fights.”

  “Ha ha ha. Nonsense,” he responded with his usual line to King’s warning, then returned to Iris Brand.

  “What the heck? What was with her? Who says that?! Who looks at someone who’s obviously worse and says, ‘It’s nothing’?! Human garbage, that’s who! Total filth! She just came in, picked a fight, and left! Of course, that’s partly because I obviously wasn’t going to rise to her provocations!”

  “Firing on all cylinders, I see,” Ichiro commented.

  Iris was talking big (with a lot of bluffing behind it). The young heir Ichiro Tsuwabuki nodded in satisfaction at the sight of Iris’s usual bluster. Kirschwasser and Felicia had retreated to the far wall, where they were quietly drinking tea.

  From the way she was acting, Ichiro could guess more or less what had happened, but he decided to get confirmation from Kirschwasser.

  Indeed, his hypothesis was accurate.

  The player with the avatar name of Nem had dropped by Iris Brand, dissed Iris’s designs, and then left. First Edward and now this. It was sad, the way that Iris continually had people stroll in to crush her self-confidence. Fortunately, she had a strong core. The makeup of Iris’s soul was more like crabgrass than the flower she had named herself after, and Ichiro had always preferred weeds to flowers arranged in pristine beds.

  “You’re looking pretty happy, Itchy,” Felicia said, her teacup in one hand.

  Ichiro nodded. “Do I? Perhaps I am.”

  “Lady Felicia, you had suspicions about Master Ichiro and Iris’s relationship, did you not?” Kirschwasser asked as he made a new cup of tea for Ichiro.

  “Y-Yeah...” Felicia responded, as if noting something unsettling in the elder Knight’s calm smile.

  “Master Ichiro’s behavior towards Iris is much like his behavior towards King Kirihito,” Kirschwasser said.

  “Huh? Kiryuhito?” she asked. “How so?”

  “I won’t go as far as to tell you that, but... Master Ichiro, your tea.”

  “Hmm, thank you.”

  “Well, Master Ichiro prefers people who are capable of losing their tempers at him,” Kirschwasser said. “In that respect, your concerns were half correct.”

  “I wish you could have told me that sooner!” Felicia shouted, waving both of her hands (which included the cup). The game wasn’t so realistic that it would allow the contents to go flying out, and Kirschwasser felt grateful that it meant he wouldn’t have to clean the floor.

  “Okay, okay, starting tomorrow, I’m gonna go tsun-tsun at Itchy!” she declared.

  “I don’t believe you’d be capable of it, Felicia, but do try your best.”

  Kirschwasser’s explanation was rather baseless, in Ichiro’s opinion, but he wasn’t going to go out of his way to correct him. It was true that the core of it was accurate. He really did like King Kirihito, Iris, and even Edward. The game had plenty of value if it had allowed him to meet players like them.

  Iris was blazing bright in the face of this new adversity. That was a good thing.

  “Ah, welcome back! Young heir!” Iris regained her state of mind, and turned back to address him.

  “Mm, thank you.”

  “You may not be aware of this, but right now I’m blazing with motivation!” she declared.

  “So I see.”

  Iris clenched her hand into a fist and thrust it up at the ceiling. “Okay, I’m gonna do it! I don’t know who that Nem woman is, but if she’s picking a fight with me and Iris Brand, I’m gonna make her regret it!”

  It seemed things wouldn’t be boring for quite a while. Ichiro smiled in satisfaction, and brought the teacup to his lips.

  Afterword

  Hi, everyone. How are you doing? It’s me. Thanks to you, I got to put out Volume 2.

  It’ll probably be July by the time it’s out on store shelves. It was a surprise to hear that, but you know how it is. When I first started publishing Paying to Win in a VRMMO on Shosetsuka ni Narou, it was last July, on the 10th. The first chapter of that was the result of a total snap decision, and less than a year later, I’m publishing my second light novel volume! Amazing! So this is “the power of money”! Though I haven’t paid a single cent for it!

  Never mind! Everyone! Let’s talk about the next volume while I’m still excited! Iris/Airi Kakitsubata debuted in this volume. She was a very popular character in the web version. Back when the first volume was announced, the web version readers asked, “What about the evil god? Where’s the evil god?!” over and over again. The evil god refers to Iris.

  Evil god Iris. She could appear in a Gamera movie, I bet.

  But as you can see, when she first appears, Iris is just an ordinary girl who’s a little bit stubborn. In the future, Iris will experience a number of hardships (primarily due to the young heir), grow a great deal, and eventually become known as “the evil god.” This “growth” is one of the appeals of Iris as a character. I hope you’ll keep watching over her in the future.

  Those who haven’t yet read the web version will be like, “Huh? Evil god?” and well, it’s a bit hard to explain, and a bit beyond description, so, well, um...

  “Please, just watch how she develops!” is about all I can write. Watch over her!

  Another character who makes his debut
in the second volume is that bastard, Edward. My design for the Machina race was originally closer to human, or more like simple androids — at least Aigis, if not like Mahoro, you know? But then during one of our discussions, I got very carried away and we kept adding more. I’m personally very satisfied with it, but I’m sure it made a lot of trouble for the illustrator, Kirishima.

  Though, the first time I played an MMO, my character was a lot like that. He was a crafter class, too. I guess I just went back to first principles. Though it made a lot of trouble for Kirishima!

  Anyway, I really like thinking up “what-ifs.” When it comes to print PtW versus web PtW, I want to play with the chronological order, go over-the-top in more places, and come up with lots of new developments.

  Whether we get future installments will depend on the sales numbers, so I’m earnestly working on the plot right now, but I really want to get onto the next development! There’s her, the one who appeared in Volume 1 and has a great role to play, but so far has done barely anything! I really want to put her in the spotlight! And there are so many more characters who have barely appeared in the print version at all! I don’t have concrete plans yet, but I hope you’ll all be waiting with bated breath!

  Now, for the long-awaited thank-yous, because I’m almost out of space!

  Um, as usual, thank you to Mr. K from the editorial department, who looked after me despite my taking up a lot of his time! And as always, he’s a hottie! May has been a very busy month, hasn’t it? Your tips for toasting the amberjack you brought back from your vacation made it very delicious! Buy one for me again, please!

  And Rein Kuwashima, for once again drawing such beautiful, eye-catching drawings! Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule! Please, take care of yourself! And I’m sorry for making trouble for you with Edward after your beloved Iris!

  And to everyone at Hobby Japan for printing and proofreading, and to the book sellers! Especially you, the one in Nagoya! I don’t think you realized it, but after the first volume came out, I stalked your third-floor light novel section! Sorry about that!

  To everyone who read my story on Shosetsuka ni Narou! I’m going to keep publishing on the web! Just because I’m a pro now doesn’t mean I don’t find writing fun anymore! I’ll pour my heart into both work and my hobby!

  And of course, to you, who picked up Volume 2 after Volume 1! Ah, don’t put it back on the shelf! Thank you!

  That’s right! Goodbye!

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  Copyright

  Paying to Win in a VRMMO: Volume 2

  by Blitz Kiva

  Translated by Elizabeth Ellis

  Edited by Emily Sorensen

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2014 Blitz Kiva

  Illustrations Copyright © 2014 Kuwashima Rein

  Cover illustration by Kuwashima Rein

  All rights reserved.

  Original Japanese edition published in 2014 by OVERLAP

  This English edition is published by arrangement with OVERLAP Inc., Tokyo

  English translation © 2017 J-Novel Club LLC

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.

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  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  Ebook edition 1.0: April 2017