Chapter 2

Abyss Calling. A social game for smartphones. Commonly known as Abicol.

The genre is probably RPG. It's a straightforward game where you summon familiars, raise them, and clear various quests.

The game features an unnecessarily diverse range of quests and a cultivation system so deep that even the developers couldn't fully grasp it. The game, rumored to be operated with most of the profits, boasted graphics, game systems, and a story that no other game could match. Most of all, it was known for its excessive use of magic stones—truly the ultimate pay-to-win game.

"Pay-to-win... game?"

Nanashino muttered the words in shock. Perhaps it was an unfamiliar term to her.

I quickly raised the stone and looked at the full starry sky.

The seven pillars of the Ruins of Origin and the seven-colored moon floating in the sky symbolize the seven races of summonable familiars. The Ruins of Origin, as the name suggests, is the starting point of the game, and after completing the tutorial, players summon their first familiar here.

When the stone is raised to the sky, the method of summoning is naturally understood. For some reason, tears fell from my eyes at the strange sensation that shook my brain. Nanashino looked at my expression in shock.

"!? A, ah, what's wrong!?"

Nostalgia.

What I felt was nostalgia.

Abyss Calling is a game that has already been discontinued. It was a terrible game by any standard. How many other games have been shut down due to legal issues?

Still, that game was indeed my life. At the time, I was a college student, but I spent all my time on the game except for sleeping and eating.

There were happy memories. There were painful memories. There were memories of boiling anger and feelings of exhaustion. And—there were things left undone.

Even if the game itself wasn't playable, being in a world similar to it without realizing it was bound to make me emotional.

"Do you have any injuries?"

"Shut up, die."

"!?"

"Sorry, my true feelings came out because you dampened my excitement."

I'm the type who speaks my mind about trivial matters.

Nanashino was flustered by my sudden outburst. She probably hadn't fully grasped the current situation.

I thought about it. Nanashino is a complete burden. Without game knowledge, it's impossible to play Abyss Calling. She probably can't even look at strategy sites, so she's pretty much stuck.

However, if this world operates on the same system as Abyss Calling, it's also true that having other players is beneficial. Abyss Calling has a vast amount of content, including challenges that require cooperation with other players. No matter how familiar I am with Abicol, my abilities are limited when I'm alone.

So, even a burden is better than nothing.

When I looked at Nanashino, information appeared above her head.

Name: Nanashino Aoba. Player Level 1. Below that, a green bar was visible. It wasn't an HP bar but a stamina bar. Unlike in ordinary RPGs, players in Abicol don't die.

If she were an NPC, there wouldn't be a stamina bar, and there are very few NPCs in Abicol with Japanese names, so she's almost certainly a player.

After a moment's thought, I decided to go along with Nanashino. It's not like it would be a significant burden.

There might be other people in the same situation as Nanashino, but if there's a better player, I'll abandon her quickly.

"Even if you don't understand, let's work together to overcome this."

I smiled and extended my hand as if to shake hands. Nanashino's expression changed, and she looked at me as if I were suspicious.

She observed my face rudely and said,

"…Isn't that a bit too much of a palm-up gesture?"

"Whatever, I'll just do it alone."

"Ah, no, no, no! It's a lie, a lie! I'm sorry, I don't understand anything at all…"

Nanashino, with a smile that seemed to be trying to flatter, said.

Thinking about it, I hadn't explained anything yet.

I looked at the summoning magic stone and then at Nanashino's face. Next, I looked at the hand holding the magic stone. Realizing she was being watched, Nanashino hurriedly hid her hand behind her back.

I was exasperated by her overly dramatic gesture.

"I won't steal it."

"…"

"Actually, it's probably impossible to steal. At least, there was no such function in Abicol."

Abicol is a 'healthy' game for all ages.

While credit cards might reach their limit and stop working, there's no system to unilaterally steal someone else's magic stones, and certainly not for the initial magic stones given to players.

Nanashino blinked several times in confusion and looked up at me.

"Um… I don't understand what you're saying…"

This won't do… I need to explain everything from the beginning. It's a hassle.

Well, I'll just tell her the important things…

I sighed deeply and explained our situation, including my speculations.

§

Nanashino muttered in a daze.

"A game world… I can't believe it."

"I can't believe it either. It might be a dream."

But it's too realistic.

The glow of the moon in the night sky, the smell of the night that stimulates the sense of smell, and the touch of the wind on the skin. All of these things are telling me that this is the real world. But fundamentally—

"I have no intention of discussing the truth of the matter."

"…Eh…"

I just consider this to be a game world and act accordingly. That's all.

There's no point in thinking about things that can't be changed. If this isn't a dream, there will be opportunities to gather information.

I added an important word at the end.

"What you do is up to you."

There are degrees of being a burden. Not having information is understandable, but I don't think a person who avoids reality will be of any use.

Nanashino closed her eyes and pondered my words.

I waited for a few seconds. When she opened her eyes again, a light had appeared in them. She still looked confused, but it seemed she had made a decision.

In a hoarse voice, she expressed her resolve.

"Understood… I will also act on that premise."

"You're reasonable."

Nanashino smiled wearily in response to my words.

"I have confidence in my reasonableness…"

I don't know what to do with that kind of confidence.

Nanashino gently extended her hand, perhaps as a sign of our new cooperative relationship.

"Um… I don't know anything… Please take care of me. Uh…"

"Blogger."

I took her hand and shook it firmly. It's a meaningless ritual. If anything happens, I'll abandon Nanashino immediately.

Nanashino, with wide eyes, responded to the handshake.

"Blogger… sir. Is that your real name?"

"No way. I'm a pure Japanese. Blogger is the handle I used when playing the game."

Black hair, black eyes. My height is average at 170 cm, and my weight is slightly below average, but I look like a Japanese person from any angle.

In response to my words, Nanashino timidly asked,

"…Um… what's your real name?"

"I'm not going to tell my real name to someone I don't know. Think about the manners."

"…I'm using my real name…"

"…I don't know. You said it yourself."

It's her real name… but it doesn't matter.

Nanashino's expression momentarily showed hurt, but she quickly gave up and looked at the ruins.

The "Ruins of Origin" are called ruins, but they are not in a state of ruin.

There are seven pillars in the ruins, and nothing else. The surrounding area is a vast, endless grassland, but there is a wide path, so it should be possible to reach the city by following it.

After staring at the surroundings in a daze for a while, she seemed to regain her composure and looked up at me.

"Um… what do we do first?"

In the original Abicol, the first thing players do is the tutorial. They use the tutorial familiar to clear a dungeon and then receive the first magic stone as a reward.

However, since we already have the magic stone, it seems we have completed the tutorial.

I looked up at the seven moons again and spoke with a prayerful heart.

"Summon a familiar, I guess."

§

In Abyss Calling, all players are called Summoners.

A Summoner, in simple terms, is a summoning mage. They are not called Summoners, probably because the developers wanted to add a unique twist.

Using magic stones, they summon, raise, and command familiars. Of course, they can't do anything without familiars.

The "Ruins of Origin" is also the place where players first attempt to summon a familiar after completing the tutorial. It's no coincidence that we ended up here.

Nanashino was staring intently at the magic stone in her hand.

The initial magic stones are special. The five golden magic stones given at the beginning are called "Guaranteed Rare Familiar Summoning Stones." They are similar to SR guaranteed gacha tickets in ordinary social games.

Familiars are ranked by their rarity.

Ordinary magic stones randomly summon familiars with a rarity of 3 or higher, but the first summon is guaranteed to summon a familiar with a rarity of 7 or higher.

The higher the rarity, the stronger the familiar, but the lower the summoning probability, making this the first and last big chance.

…By the way, the rarity goes up to 21.

"Summon… a familiar…?"

The moment I stood in the center of the ruins, the steps to take came to mind. Nanashino probably felt the same way.

With a curious expression but without hesitation, she raised the stone to the sky.

I took a step back and watched. I was going to summon right away, but it's not too late to wait for Nanashino. Then, Nanashino Aoba took a deep breath and chanted the words.

"Familiar Summoning!!"

She looked up at the sky, her eyes wide as she gazed at the seven-colored moon.

One of them glowed. The white moon—White Moon—glowed, indicating that the summoned familiar belongs to the Celestial race.

They are commonly known as angels and are often associated with the light attribute.

Nanashino let out a surprised voice.

"What… is this? It's cute!"

I looked down. A small humanoid figure had appeared at Nanashino's feet.

Can it really be summoned? I observed its appearance before feeling surprised.

It was about fifty centimeters tall, wearing a white full-face helmet and polished white half-plate armor, making it look like a small knight. A sword, about the size of a kitchen knife, was strapped to its back.

In response to Nanashino's voice, the humanoid figure looked up at the sky, confirmed Nanashino, and then elegantly drew its sword, holding it horizontally as if presenting it.

This gesture made Nanashino let out a high-pitched scream and wriggle her body, a complete contrast to the expression she had just moments ago.

"What, what is this! It's cute! Hey, Blogger, what is this! Is this a familiar?"

I told the excited Nanashino its name. As a player who had played quite a bit, I knew most of the familiar names.

"It's an Iris Knight."

"An Iris… Knight? It doesn't seem to be a name."

Well, it's not a proper name.

I sighed and gave her a warning.

"Nanashino, you should do a reset. This one has a low rarity."

§

Abyss Calling has an unusually wide variety of familiars. Additionally, with each update, a large number of new familiars were added, making most of them weak.

This is one of the reasons why Abicol became known as an unprecedented pay-to-win game.

"Reset…?"

"Well, because it's a rarity 7."

"Rarity…?"

Nanashino muttered in shock. It seems she is very unfamiliar with this type of game.

In social games, rarity is very important.

Iris Knight. Rarity 7, Celestial race. A physical attack-type familiar with balanced attack, defense, and agility parameters.

It's not bad among the vast number of familiars. I remember its name, and it's a well-known unit with exceptional potential for a rarity 7 familiar.

However, it is not a familiar suitable for beginners.

If I were Nanashino, I would definitely do a reset.

Because rarity goes up to 21. In Abicol, there are a vast number of familiars, and the difference in abilities between the top and bottom is enormous. With a "Guaranteed Rare Familiar Summoning Stone," I would want a familiar with a rarity of 15 or higher.

Nanashino looked at the "Iris Knight" at her feet with a teary expression and then looked up at me hesitantly.

"Um… is it a… bad draw?"

"No, it's a pretty good draw."

"Um… is it weak?"

"No, it's very strong. In that sense, drawing a rarity 7 familiar like this is lucky for you."

Most rarity 7 units are not very useful. They can fight in the early stages, but their power is insufficient in the mid to late stages. The Iris Knight is one of the few familiars that can fight until the late stages among rarity 7 units.

Nanashino's expression changed to confusion. She looked at her own familiar, which hadn't moved an inch.

"Then… why?"

Nanashino's eyes were pleading.

Most new users don't know which familiars are strong, so they continue the game without doing a reset. However, Nanashino, who can receive my advice here, is probably fortunate.

I thought for a moment and explained the reason to her.

"Well… it's quite strong when raised, but raising it is incredibly difficult."

Familiars are categorized by various factors in addition to rarity, one of which is the cultivation type. It's a measure of how easy it is to raise them.

The Iris Knight is a typical "late bloomer" unit.