Vermillion

Andrei

“―Kei! Keii!”

Someone was yelling.

“Get up! Hey, Kei! Get up already!”

Kei’s ears complained about the incessant noise as he lolled from the person shaking him.

Kei remembered this kind of discomfort.

It was nostalgic somehow.

It felt similar to when he was younger and got very seasick from riding on a ship.

“…Knock it off, don’t shake me.”

While moaning and fighting off the nausea he opened his eyes a little.

“You’re awake!”

The world he was thrust into was dyed orange; it was probably the sunset colored sky. Then there was the person worriedly looking down on him; a black shadow.

Blonde hair and blue eyes. A black iron head guard and black clothes that enshrouded the figure.

It was a “Ninja”.

“…Where are we?”

Realizing that he was lying down on his back Kei slowly sat up. He looked around. The grassy plains were dyed vermillion.

Turning around, a huge rugged, rocky mountain stood towering above the surroundings.

Putting aside the grassy plains, Kei had no recollection of this mountain.

“…Where the heck is this?” Kei muttered quietly, his thoughts still hazy as if he’d just woken up in the morning.

“The hell if I know!” With a thick Russian accent the ninja replied in English, “Before I realized it I was here… B-but look at this! This! It shouldn’t be like this!”

The ninja spoke as he pulled out the grass right at his feet and showed Kei. The dirt clinging to the roots broke off in little bits and fell to the ground.

“…What the?”

No way.

Kei’s absentminded expression suddenly became alert. Wide-eyed in surprise, Kei also reached out for the grass in front of him.

He carelessly ripped it up.

He could feel the light tearing of the fibers on his fingertips. The smell of grass mixed with dirt distinctly filled his nose. Kei tried licking the grass juices stuck to his fingers.

Of course, it was bitter.

“…This can’t be.”

The grass, ripped to pieces in his hand, didn’t even disappear.

His five senses all conveyed its existence.

Even each individual speck of dirt could be made out.

“See?! Strange, right?!” The ninja wore a desperate expression as he pressed Kei a little hard for an answer.

“Y-yeah.” Kei nodded.

Even though 『Demondal』boasted the world’s fastest physics engine, there were substantial restrictions on interactions with game objects such as dirt and plants.

That was because if the system tried to calculate the movements of all the small pieces, then data processing would become too much of a burden and would fall behind.

Therefore, only specific items within the game are exceptions. Dirt and plants are set as 『Non-Interactable Objects』which are also known as 『Indestructible Objects』.

―At least, they should have been.

What happened to that?

Right now, the ripped up pieces of grass in Kei’s hand was certainly there.

Some of the grass in his palm blew away with the plain’s breeze.

The sound of grass rustling came with the earthy smell of grass and dirt.

The grass twirled and danced in the wind. Dumbfounded, Kei just followed it with his eyes.

He raised his gaze to the deep-red dyed rocky mountain. The rock face seemed to twinkle here and there. Some of the exposed minerals reflected the light of the setting sun.

Looking up further, the evening sky hung overhead.

The slowly changing clouds couldn’t have been any reused graphics.

Somehow it had become very real.

More overwhelmingly real than ever before.

It was too overwhelming, there was too much to take in.

―Yes, it was almost like it was…

“Reality…”

No way, he denied that explanation right off the bat.

If this was reality… Then just what was this body?

This bracer and leather armor and this saber as well. Even the vermillion bow at his feet; all of it belonged to “Kei”.

The ninja’s voice shook as he said, “…The menu screen won’t come up. No matter how many times I try it.” He clenched his fists like he was trying to endure something unpleasant and stared at the ground.

“…”

Bewildered, Kei looked at the ninja.

It was an important piece of information that the menu wouldn’t appear. But, the person covered in black clothes only added to Kei’s confusion.

“…? W-what’s wrong, Kei?”

The ninja became aware of Kei’s silent, cold gaze as Kei observed him as one would a stranger.

“Um, you know―” Kei tried to speak but then kept quiet.

He hesitated for a short while.

“…The heck, what’s wrong?”

“U-uum.”

Resolving himself Kei asked, “Who… are you?”

“…Hah?”

What in the world is this guy talking about, thought the ninja.

Taken aback, the ninja said obliviously, “―Hey, did the shock knock something loose in your head? Gimme a break, Kei! It’s not like I don’t understand though.”

He sure got me, was written all over the ninja’s face. He lightly tapped his forehead and said, “Andrei! Andrei the Ninja! …Don’t tell me you forgot or something?”

Like a puppy abandoned on a rainy day Andrei, filled with anxiety, faced Kei.

Andrei.

That was the answer he was expecting.

Well, that much is to be expected.

That’s not it. That’s not what I really meant, Kei thought and knitted his brow.

To begin with, calling him “Kei” so casually, furthermore, covered entirely in black and a sabre on his back; only one person that Kei knew fit the description.

Rather, out of all the 『Demondal』players only one person fits the description.

But, even so.

The ninja in front of him wasn’t the “Andrei” that he knew.

There was just one difference between them.

“…Okay, ‘Andrei’.”

Kei raised his head and sternly looked directly at him.

“W-what is it?”

“Well, I don’t want you to get the wrong impression.”

“Sure.”

“There’s just one thing that I want to ask.”

“…What is it?”

“This is just for reassurance, you know? That is…”

“…”

“It’s a little hard to say…”

“…Quit beating around the bush, spit it out!”

It wasn’t like Kei to be so indirect or to say “Andrei” the way he did.

Still bewildered Kei nervously asked, “…Why are you… a girl?”

“…Huh?” She stupidly spoke for the second time. “Andrei” froze up.

“…What are you talking about?”

“No, well, you see…”

Following where Kei pointed “Andrei” looked down.

It was her chest.

Or more accurately―the bulges on her chest.

A strange sounding, “…Wha?” escaped. “Andrei’s” eye’s widened. “Eh? Why? Eh?”

Sort of timidly, “Andrei” grabbed her own respectable chest.

Munyu, munyu[1].

“…I-I have boobs,” she muttered in a daze. And then with a small gasp she looked like she just realized something. Just like that she reached her hand between her legs.

Mozo, mozo[2].

“…I-it’s not there.” Something. Something was there. “…Why?”

“How should I know?”

The cosplaying ninja was a girl.