Chapter 5

"Stupid... How am I supposed to live without the login bonus..."

Upon learning that Nanashino also hadn't received the login bonus, I was plunged into despair.

The login bonus. It was one of the few redeeming qualities of Abyss Calling.

Abit科尔 was a terrible pay-to-win game, but at the same time, it frequently distributed magic stones. The login bonus was the best of these.

In AbiCor, you received one magic stone just for logging in each day. I was a heavy spender, treating in-game purchases as casually as breathing, so I didn't particularly rely on those stones. However, that doesn't mean they weren't important.

If you could get one stone per day, that would amount to 365 stones in a year. Since you could summon a familiar with five stones, that would mean 73 summonings in a year.

"..."

Upon calm reflection, it wasn't a significant number.

"Bl, Blogger-san!? Are you okay!?"

Nanashino, who didn't understand the situation, voiced her concern. Seeing her worried expression made me envious of her ignorance.

"No, but... I can't believe there's no login bonus."

Perhaps it was a bug. If it were a game, you'd report it to the developers.

As I seriously considered the possibility of a system error, Nanashino timidly raised her hand.

"Um... What is a login bonus?"

"Is Nanashino really that ignorant?"

"!?"

No, if she hadn't played games, it's understandable that she wouldn't know.

What kind of life had Nanashino led? The worlds we lived in were so different that I couldn't even imagine. Nevertheless, I patiently explained, and Nanashino's expression seemed slightly taken aback.

"Um... That's... a game thing, right?"

"It's a game thing, yeah?"

"Um, just to confirm, this is reality, right?"

"What do you mean? We're in the world of AbiCor, so it's strange that there's no login bonus!"

I firmly protested.

At my desperate words, Nanashino took another step back.

I regained a bit of composure. Even if she was younger and not particularly interested, it was still painful to be openly repelled by a girl.

I took a deep breath and carefully chose my words to explain.

"Indeed... As Nanashino said, the login bonus might be insignificant compared to the number of magic stones you can get by spending money."

"But I didn't say that at all."

"But there's a saying that a little can add up to a lot. More importantly, not having magic stones makes me feel really uneasy. When I played the game, I always kept at least 500 magic stones on hand."

Incidentally, one magic stone costs 100 yen in real money, so 500 stones would be 50,000 yen. While bulk purchases didn't offer discounts, there were occasional campaigns where you could buy magic stones at a discount, and it was a pro player's habit to spend all their money during these campaigns.

Despite my explanation, Nanashino still looked unconvinced.

"I don't really understand the value of magic stones..."

What could I say? Explaining to someone who knew nothing was incredibly difficult. I wasn't particularly good at explaining things to others.

After a moment of thought, I came up with a good analogy.

"Right... Nanashino, you wouldn't go outside naked without a wallet, right? It's like that."

Nanashino looked confused for a moment,

"Completely naked!? H, how perverted!"

"Right, we're perverted."

Indeed, without magic stones, we couldn't do anything in AbiCor. The game's strategy wiki even recommended accumulating magic stones first.

What should we do next? As I pondered, Nanashino raised her hand. She glanced at the Iris single rider at her feet and spoke clearly.

"Um... Sorry, Blogger-san, if it's not too much trouble, could you tell me more about this world, AbiCor?"

Even if she couldn't do anything, she seemed to have an opinion. However, it was useful to have a sample to confirm our player status. Whether we acted together or not.

The information I had was at the level that any Abyss Calling player would know. AbiCor didn't have particularly complex systems.

Explaining everything, from the types of familiars to the types of quests, would be difficult, but teaching the basics should take no more than 30 minutes.

"Let's talk about our future plans over a meal... With this money, we should be able to last a month."

At my words, Nanashino's eyes widened as if she had just realized something.

"By the way, Blogger-san, where did you get the money?"

"From drops. Don't worry, there's nothing shady about it."

At my firm statement, Nanashino nodded hesitantly, though she still looked confused. Silent, who was behind us, added unnecessarily,

"Though I hesitate to say it, can that really be called a drop...?"

Whether it was a monster or a person, if they dropped something, it was a drop.

In any case, the guild system seemed similar to the game. We wouldn't be robbing people on the street anymore.

§

We had our meal at the inn's restaurant. The menu was not in Japanese, but it automatically translated in my mind. I decided to accept it, assuming it was a carryover from the game's system.

I stabbed the well-fried chicken with a fork and held it up. Nanashino, who was eating toast in front of me, tilted her head with crumbs on her lips.

"In the game, food wasn't necessary. There was no hunger meter. So I think we don't need to eat in this world either."

"..."

Nanashino hastily washed down the toast with orange juice.

"I've been thinking, Blogger-san... Are you... game-brained?"

"I think I'm sane."

There was no hunger meter for players or familiars in the game. Therefore, Silent's action of stealing chicken from my plate was completely meaningless.

I ate the chicken with a frown. The smell, taste, and texture were exactly like chicken. I had never experienced this while playing the game on my phone.

Silent, who had swallowed the chicken whole, poked my sleeve.

"Master, I should order food too."

"Return"

"!? N... Noooooo!"

Silent disappeared as if melting into the air. Nanashino, holding a piece of toast, froze.

In Abyss Calling, where you use familiars for combat, there isn't much the summoner can do.

"Return" is one of the few options available to the summoner. It's explained in the tutorial.

In the game, it was a menu item, but we players called it "party management."

We continued eating in silence. If my theory was correct, we didn't need to eat, but since we had money to spare, there was no need to save.

Nanashino, who had resumed eating, spoke in a high-pitched voice.

"Um... Silent...?"

"I'll call him back later."

"Return" is a menu option to remove a familiar from the active party. Silent didn't disappear completely; he just went somewhere. In the game, you could bring him back with the "Summon" menu.

Nanashino frowned slightly and looked at the Iris single rider on the table. She was probably thinking about what would happen if she "Returned" her familiar.

"But... Isn't it cruel...?"

"Not really. He's not a person, he's data."

I ate the chicken. Silent was just data, not a person.

Nanashino was momentarily speechless and looked at me with a slightly reproachful gaze.

"Is that so..."

"Well, I'll bring him back soon. We need him for quests."

Moreover, there was a hidden parameter called affection in AbiCor. Keeping a familiar in the party increased this value over time, which affected their abilities. Therefore, it was common to keep frequently used familiars summoned.

Now that the game was real, Silent could talk to me even without a quest, which was unrealistic.

Silent, who was not silent, how does that make sense?

After finishing the meal and receiving the after-dinner coffee, I got to the point.

"Let's get to the main topic."

At my words, Nanashino, who had been peering into her coffee cup, straightened up.

From her appearance, Nanashino was probably still a student. Her actions didn't suggest much independence.

She probably wasn't good at taking the initiative. Being thrown into a foreign world like this was understandable, but it was problematic.

However, the one who would be troubled would be Nanashino, not me.

"For now, I'll take on guild quests to earn money and magic stones. What about you, Nanashino?"

"Wh, what should I do... What should I do?"

Nanashino looked up at me, seemingly at a loss. She might not have thought about it.

Let's assume. A girl who had a fulfilling life in Japan suddenly found herself in a different world.

The cultural level of AbiCor was similar to modern Japan. There were no TVs or cell phones, but there were air conditioners and showers. With some money, you could live comfortably.

But would you want to live in a world without family or friends?

I took a sip of the after-dinner iced coffee and put the glass down. The taste of coffee and chicken was the same in AbiCor.

"For example, do you have any goals?"

"Goals..."

"Like, for example, returning to Japan."

"!?"

Nanashino's eyes widened as if she had just realized something. She looked at her familiar.

This world felt too real. She might have thought it was like a trip to a foreign country.

But you can't return. At least, I don't know how.

Before she could say anything, I replied.

"Well, unfortunately, I have no idea how to return. I don't even know why we were in the 'Origin Ruins.'"

"That's true..."

Nanashino teared up and looked down.

There was one crucial difference between Nanashino and me. Even if I could return, I probably wouldn't. I was already deeply immersed in Abyss Calling.

To me, life in Japan felt like a dream. I had no attachments to family, friends, or my position.

I continued, trying to encourage the silent Nanashino.

"But without a goal, you can't move forward. You don't have to tell me, and you don't have to decide right away, but it's better to have something in mind."

I didn't want to deal with trouble. I had no reason to support Nanashino. This world was full of beautiful girls. After all, it was a game.

I had no intention of returning, but I had things I wanted to do. There were things I regretted not doing in the game before it ended.

"Being a player in AbiCor is simple. You summon familiars, raise them, and use them to complete quests from the guild or town, earning magic stones, money, and items. There is a main story, but it's almost irrelevant."

Nanashino AoBa listened intently to my words. She didn't say anything, but she was clearly thinking.

At least in appearance, Nanashino AoBa seemed like an excellent student, probably much better at studies than I was.

But in AbiCor, it meant nothing. I secretly hoped she would be a good friend. A good friend was one of the most important things in AbiCor, and perhaps in other aspects as well.

Just in case, I explained to Nanashino, who probably hadn't played social games. This was not a console RPG.

"Nanashino, the essence of AbiCor—Abyss Calling—is a breeding game. The content is vast, and there's no such thing as completing the game. That's why so many people, from students to adults, got deeply involved."

A game where you raised familiars with money and explored an endless world. That was the Abyss Calling I knew.

A game with no purpose. A game with no end. In a way, there was almost no difference between this game and reality.

Now that this world had materialized, the difference between this world and reality was probably negligible.