Side: Yuki
The year was 20XX, November 28.
The world—or rather, Japan—was reaching a major turning point.
I may be in the rare situation of living in another world, but thanks to the conditions I established at the very beginning, I can use the Internet and purchase supplies from Japan.
In other words...
Through the Internet, I was able to obtain the latest information, learn about the turning point Japan was approaching—the beginning of a revolution—and ride along with that change.
Which means...
"Damn it. It's not dropping..."
The person beside me, Taiki-kun, is cursing under his breath.
In his hands is a handheld game console with two touchscreens, made by a world-renowned Japanese toy manufacturer.
The 3TS—Three Twin Screens.
And the game he's playing is a hunting game that has become a huge hit in Japan.
Creature Hunters—Or simply, CreHun.
Honestly, I've lost count of how many games there are in the series.
The hardware has changed several times, and there are usually expanded versions with enhanced content, so there are quite a lot of them. Even so, the number of fans of this game series never seems to decrease. That's how much fun it is.
And today is the release date of the latest installment—Its name is CreHun Cross.
Which is why the two of us, modern Japanese men who could cross worlds and still remain proud otaku, had been eagerly awaiting this very day. Of course, plenty of people who aren't otaku play CreHun too, so in other words, today is the day when Japanese people everywhere become hardened hunters.
There was no way we could sit out such a major event. And so, we had Luna obtain it for us immediately.
I did briefly consider asking her, using her divine powers, to somehow get us a copy that had been secretly put on sale somewhere the day before release. But that would be unfair to all the people in Japan who had been waiting for the game to officially release today, so I decided against it.
I am a proper gamer, after all.
"So, what's not dropping?"
"The delivery-quest mushrooms."
"Ah... That sucks."
"I get that these early-game delivery quests are meant for beginners, but for me, it's pure torture."
"Totally agreed."
Now, as the name suggests, CreHun sells itself on hunting, hunting, and hunting creatures to your heart's content, but that alone isn't enough to explain its massive popularity.
The preparation beforehand—gearing up with weapons and armor, stocking up on recovery potions, food, traps, and all sorts of items—is a massive element.
You literally prepare for a hunt, but because there are so many mechanics involved, beginners who skip these tutorials often end up woefully unprepared, getting thoroughly crushed by giant creatures without standing a chance.
This game isn't soft like conventional Japanese RPGs; healing is limited, and there are time limits on hunts.
Rushing in blindly and taking too long is actually the best-case scenario—if you faint a set number of times, the quest ends in complete failure. And naturally, you lose your deposit fee in the process. It's a cold world out there.
Anyway, the early game consists of quests that double as beginner tutorials, but you can't progress further without clearing them. And for veterans of the series like us, doing those same tutorials every single time is absolute agony. What we hate most are the collection and delivery quests. They rely heavily on luck.
Normally, the items ought to drop fairly easily, but by unwritten law, they never drop when you actually need them. For veterans like us who just want to breeze through to the next stage, it's nothing short of an ordeal.
...Though, to be fair, plenty of rookies clear these quests only to get broken by the first real giant creature anyway...
"Well, nothing to do but keep at it."
"Haaah... If I could just upgrade my weapon, I could leave the armor as-is and push through to mid-game..."
"That only works for experienced players. For beginners, even the best equipment they can get at that point barely cuts it."
This game has no concept of player levels. The performance of your weapons and armor accounts for most of your stats; the rest comes down purely to personal skill.
Your actual skill is put to the test.
That's why skilled players can make it all the way to mid-game as long as they keep upgrading their weapon.
In fact, true high-tier players who can take zero damage can even clear the final boss with starting gear—though that's completely inefficient, so people normally gear up properly.
People who pull off feats like that are just testing their own absolute limits, making them a breed of non-humans in their own right.
I've watched a few of those super-plays before, but I don't think I could ever pull it off.
Personally, I like to go into battle fully prepared, so challenging things by a hair's breadth isn't my style.
If it were an RPG, I'm the type who likes to head into a recommended Level 10 area at Level 20.
Well, grinding levels is a pain, so I usually end up going in around Level 15 instead.
"...When you said you were leaving everything to the doppels today, I wondered what you were up to, but to think it was this..."
"...Honestly. I was wondering too what on earth had happened..."
The two people looking at us with exasperated expressions are Seraria and Airi-san.
Just as they said, we took the day off today specifically to play video games.
For otaku and gamers, this is simply common sense—take the day off on release day, then play immediately. This is an inviolable, unwritten rule, a destiny, a promised victory. Anyone who gets in the way of that—god or devil alike—gets instantly obliterated.
However, since these two are from another world, it's only natural that they don't know such common sense, and since they're my wives, I forgive them.
Well well. In fact, I handed out 3TS consoles and copies of CreHun Cross to everyone in the household, and now the entire family is tackling CreHun Cross together.
"I told you, taking a break is important too. Didn't you say you wanted to play the new CreHun too, Seraria?"
"That's true, but... isn't something wrong here?"
"Nothing is wrong about it. This is quality family time for fun—nobody is allowed to disturb us."
"...Is that really how it works?"
"Besides, this game serves as excellent training. We possess overwhelming strength, so situations where our opponents are on equal footing—or vastly stronger than us—hardly ever exist."
"...That's true."
"That's precisely why we're using CreHun Cross: to train for situations where we have to fight an opponent who completely outmatches us."
"......"
Seraria's eyes seem to be getting increasingly dead inside, but she herself had been looking forward to CreHun Cross, so apparently she has no intention of complaining.
Now, while I have a wife like her on one hand...
"Okay, it's heading your way!"
"Got it. Leave it to me!"
"Let's surround it and beat the crap out of it."
Riel, Tori, and Kaya have already managed to clear the early quests through sheer luck and are now happily fighting a large boss together in cooperative play.
Having originally worked as adventurers and hunters, they were naturally compatible with CreHun. They also played the previous game extensively.
"Nufufufu... Now this is quite a strange piece of equipment."
"As usual, managing income and expenses in the early game is tough. No, at this rate, it might be better to keep hoarding items for the late game too..."
"Hmm. This quest posting looks like something we could use in the guild as well..."
"As expected, Onii-san's toys go way beyond mere toys. Isn't this practically the pinnacle of technology?"
Meanwhile, these four were playing separately, but were all displaying their respective occupational habits.
First, there's Narjia-san, who absolutely loves blacksmithing. For her, CreHun—with its detailed depictions of equipment and their abilities—is practically a kind of bible.
Next is Eris. Because of her accounting work, she naturally pays attention to income and expenses even while playing a game.
Then there's Milly, who is looking at the game's quest system and wondering whether it might provide useful ideas for assigning jobs through the Adventurer's Guild.
And finally, Ratz is admiring the toys and playthings from Japan while already thinking about developing new products.
Still, they are playing the game, so I suppose they're enjoying themselves.
"Ah, amazing! Apparently, you can hunt while using a companion monster!"
"It's incredible! They're so tiny and cute, but so strong-nanodesu!"
"That's true. But naming mine Steve was definitely a mistake."
"Um... Labyris, what exactly do you mean by that?"
The little ones seem delighted by the new feature that lets you hunt alongside a companion monster.
Though, as Labyris says, it is pretty irritating to have a companion named Steve running around and showing off.
Taiki-kun and I will probably wait before trying out the companion-monster system. For now, we'll hunt as humans, just like always.
"Ugh. It really is tough until you have all your equipment together."
"Derieu, you're charging in too far. You need to watch the openings more carefully."
"Indeed. Our physical capabilities are reduced inside the game, after all."
The ones talking like that were the Demon Lord Derieu, the Hero Ria, and the Knight Jessica.
Despite everything, these three work surprisingly well together, so they're the type who manage to clear quests even after getting pushed to the brink.
Derieu is somewhat of a reckless charger, but once her health gets dangerously low, her concentration kicks in and her ability to read the enemy becomes incredibly sharp. A true battle-maniac type.
Ria and Jessica formed a natural pattern of backing her up as she went wild.
"Nn... Amazing. Why does Yuki's homeland put so much effort into something like this? Even the way the creatures move is incredibly natural."
"Indeed. And if you space out, you'll get yourself killed."
"Nn. I know. But my movements feel sluggish..."
"That's because these aren't our real bodies. Ah—"
The two who have only recently joined us are experiencing a game for the first time, so they're taking things slowly.
As Cleana said, even the creatures' movements have been carefully designed based on their musculature and skeletal structures so they don't look unnatural.
Well, things like breathing beams of energy or creating wind pressure that prevents you from approaching don't exist on Earth, though. That's probably one of the differences created by a culture that has devoted technology to entertainment.
Samantha, on the other hand, seems to be something of an all-around talented young lady, and apparently has some experience with games. She's adapting quickly, which is helpful.
"Everyone, why don't we take a little break? I brought some tea."
"There is cake as well."
"I wanted to play with everyone toooo!"
The ones bringing tea and cake are Rurua, Killue, and Sarsari.
Rurua was apparently not very good at action games and couldn't keep up with everyone's momentum, so she had been reading a book by herself before stepping up to help Killue prepare tea.
Killue, needless to say, was impeccably fulfilling her duties as a maid. Naturally, the children are all napping peacefully together in the same room.
Finally, Sarsari was supposed to be playing alongside Cleana and Samantha until a moment ago, but judging by the situation, she seems to have been dragged along to help out.
And so, on this very day as the year drew to a close, my entire family officially became hunters, immersing themselves in a wonderful piece of Japanese culture.
"...THE DELIVERY ITEMS STILL WON'T DROP!"
Hang in there, Taiki-kun.
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