#[ WAHOOOOOOO I’M DOING IT I’M HERE AGAIN

[hoshibatake]

FREEDOM – Virtuality and Ideals/Chapter 3

Previous chapter

<At the same time. The wasteland in Subaru’s district>

Subaru: “Fufufu～. I managed to get a supercar♪”

Subaru: “It’s time to start the engine and floor it! Onward, JuSt Go!¹”

Subaru: “Woweee! I’m one with the wind～! Ahahahaha☆”

Subaru: “Ukki～’s district shouldn’t be far from here. I can go check it out, and show off my car while I’m at it♪”

Subaru: “I’ll just look up Ukki～‘s location coordinates. Clickity clack… There.”

<Ten minutes later. A cave in Makoto’s district>

Makoto: “...Ah, my stamina gauge just turned red. I should take a break before I pass out.”

Makoto: “Maybe I can sort out my item box while I wait for my stamina to regenerate. I should use my time as efficiently as possible.”

Makoto: “This cave is rich in resources, so my item box fills up in no time.”

Makoto: “I need to raise my development skill and produce more transport and mining robots.”

Makoto: “But that also requires more resources. This is keeping me busy.”

Makoto: “Fufu, this is one of my strong suits. I can get totally absorbed in it for hours. I’m such a gamer...♪”

Subaru: “Wahooooooo☆”

Makoto: “Whoa! A mechanical monster!?”

Subaru: “Ahaha! It’s me! Just me, Akehoshi Subaru～☆”

Subaru: “Ukki～, what’re you doing in a place like this?”

Makoto: “Oh, it’s just you, Akehoshi-kun… I’m gathering resources. You can find some pretty rare materials around here.”

Subaru: “Oh-hoh, that sounds like a sweet deal～. Lemme join, lemme join～☆” Makoto: “Uhrm～? But isn’t there a cave like this in your district, Akehoshi-kun?”

Subaru: “It’s much faster if we share the workload and mine together☆”

Subaru: “Let me just equip my pickaxe～. Hey-ho, hey-ho...♪”

Makoto: Ahaha, Akehoshi-kun, your avatar just started mining without permission.

Subaru: Your avatar is just laughing and allowing it, saying: “I guess this is fine.” He’s just like the real you. It’s so realistic.

Makoto: Yeah. He even plays the game like I would. It’s baffling.

Makoto: By the way, how did he get that supercar?

Subaru: I’m not sure. My avatar was just fishing, and then it suddenly appeared in his item box.

Subaru: He continued fishing for a while after that, but nothing else like that happened.

Makoto: Really? Hmm. I’m not sure what caused it, but that must be a bug.

Makoto: How fun. I love finding those kinds of exploits.

Subaru: If something like that happens again, I’ll let you know! That ‘me’ looks like he's having lots of fun with that supercar.

Subaru: Especially because I can’t actually drive in real life～. Looking at this makes me want to get my license!

Makoto: I’d love to try driving too, but I’m too afraid of getting into an accident. That’s why I’ve been substituting by playing racing games in arcades.

Subaru: Oh, that sounds fun～. Now I wanna go to an arcade!

Subaru: How funny～, I’m getting excited about playing other games while playing this one. Ahaha☆

Makoto: By the way. If you level up once more, you’ll get to choose a career. Which one are you thinking about picking, Akehoshi-kun?

Subaru: Me? The idol career, of course. Is there any other choice? You’re gonna choose it too, right?

Makoto: Ahaha. Was that a stupid question? Yeah, I’m planning on picking the idol career too.

Makoto: It’s probably not the most effective career to choose, but I’m curious to see what my life as an idol will look like in this world.

Subaru: Yeah, yeah. I can’t wait to see how our avatars’ lives will turn out. An idol’s potential is limitless!

Subaru: I’m sure Hokke～ and Sari～ will pick the idol career as well! I can’t even imagine a reality in which we’re not idols, after all☆

<Several days later. In the real world, Trickstudio>

Mao: ...It’s been a while since we changed our avatars’ jobs to idol, but they’re not doing any idol-like activities at all～

Mao: All my avatar is doing is helping out the local population.

Hokuto: You’re right. My avatar tamed a dinosaur and is using it to clear the forest, while Akehoshi’s avatar is still obsessed with the construction of his theme park.

Hokuto: Although he’s constantly dealing with power outages.

Subaru: Yeah, because a theme park consumes a boatload of energy. Building it was so easy, but maintaining it turned out to be a lot harder.

Makoto: Would you like me to share some of my power with you? I’ll charge a friendly rate♪

Subaru: Whoa. Ukki～, you’re pulling a face like a crafty businessman!

Makoto: Fufu. That’s because operating a power plant requires resources. Exchanging the power for money would keep the transaction as simple as possible, don't you think?

Makoto: In any case. I’m also curious why our avatars won’t engage in idol activities…

Makoto: …but looking at it from the perspective of their feelings and the goal of the game, they might just be prioritizing the development of the city.

Makoto: So once they manage to get their lives on track, I’m sure they’ll start to devote themselves to their idol activities.

Makoto: Each of our areas is starting to show its unique characteristics. I’m curious to see how each of them will end up looking...♪

TL note:

Subaru named his supercar “レッツ号” It’s a pun. The pronunciation is “let’s go”, but the “go” is written with a kanji that is used as a suffix in ship and airplane names. So essentially he called his car the “JS Let’s Go” (so we went for: JuSt Go).

Translated by me, proofread by Altea (@icaruswasthesun on Twitter)

As an aside: I decided to change the word "section" I previously used to "district". I also edited the previous chapter to keep it consistent.

Next chapter

[neomacaught]

@my-timing-is-digital​ gets a thing!

   “Hey, don’t worry.” 

   Neoma’s voice had the easy quality it always did — a relaxed lilt, an unhurried tone, expression placid and calm as an untouched lake. She lifted a bit of shrapnel, moved it from their path as though it were nothing at all, and smiled back at him, following her. 

   “I’ve got your back. No need to be all stiff.”