Chapter 28

In the midst of cherry blossoms dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of the promise written there.

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Having written about four chapters of the next part and feeling a bit tired, I decided to do a side story (since the updates are irregular, I might start the main story in the middle).

I wanted to write from a completely unrelated perspective, or rather, as practice for the next chapter.

All matter in the universe naturally maintains its state. If that's the case, changing a maintained state, no matter how eloquently it's described, is still "destruction."

"However, there are degrees of 'destruction.'"

Destruction doesn't just mean reducing something to splinters. It can involve breaking a state but using it to connect to the next. The beautiful gold of life is cruelly yet gracefully ravaged by a light touch.

The cradle has been removed; though it guarantees a golden rest, it is now merely an obstacle that hinders purity.

"…This is where it begins."

The gold collapses, yet it is the preliminary stage before transforming into a new form—like a pupa preparing to gain beautiful wings in a quiet, fetal movement.

The gold then sits on a pure white throne, creating a slight ripple in the world itself.

Yes, it is the reign of the king. The gold sits on the soft throne that fully accepts the king's greatness, and the grand coronation ceremony finally enters its final stage.

"The quantity is correct, everything has come together… to completion—!"

A crown, predominantly black and brown but fitting for the golden king and the pure white throne, forms a circle. The flower petals are green and white.

"Perfect… truly a perfect breakfast…!"

The man's name is Oritsu Taito.

If you ask someone familiar with the field, they would almost certainly know his name. One of the few three-star restaurants in Japan, with only a dozen or so in existence. Despite being reservation-only, the restaurant is fully booked two years in advance. It is a three-star French restaurant, "Le Orion," which food enthusiasts dream of visiting at least once in their lifetime…

"Still, it's not enough, so I'll borrow some onion soup."

In the game Shangri-La Frontier, he is a player who belongs to the "Library," a clan known for collecting all information, and he is motivated to enrich a specific category.

After finishing the elegant golden coronation and the rich onion soup, Oritsu, who has recently diverted some of his interest from cooking to the full-dive world, submerged himself into it…

"Oh, I forgot to brush my teeth."

Five minutes later, he re-submerged…

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"…Alright, I'll take the lead as the host, so welcome everyone to the seven-day, six-night trip to Lurias!"

"……"

On the deck, a woman sang out, leading the group. Next to her was a famous model-like avatar, which Oritsu… or rather, Oritsu, had seen a few times in various media. His consciousness was focused solely on the fishing rod he held in both hands.

"Ah…"

"Don't mind them, they were selected to verify the marine ecosystem, mainly fish, in the underwater field."

"Most of them are weirdos, huh, Library…"

Ignoring the woman's exasperated gaze, which was similar to the infamous Arthur Pencilton, Orion and another player, "Evys," who makes fishing his life's work in real life, stared at the fishing line and float in the sea.

"Evys, what kind of fish can we catch around here?"

"Well, I tried near Fiftysia, and caught fish like sea bream… basically, similar to real life… but in the open sea, we might catch fish adapted to that environment, right?"

"In that case, we should aim for tuna and mackerel."

"Me? Did you call me?"

Ignoring the player from the clan "Traveling Wolves" who turned around with a questionable name, Evys and Orion, who are not particularly close in real life, act like skilled partners when their life's work aligns.

"Tuna… well, it's a game, so if we have a strong enough fishing rod, we might even catch a giant sea snake… and in Shangri-La Frontier, it might even breathe fire?"

"That would be interesting, the taste of heat-resistant tuna when heated…"

The clan "Library" is motivated by the enrichment of information. Given that Shangri-La Frontier has a level of detail that borders on madness, it was only natural for Orion to become interested in "conquering all ingredients in Shangri-La Frontier" when he learned that certain conditions could unlock taste restrictions.

Evys, who finds supreme joy in fishing in Shangri-La Frontier, and Orion, who shares a passion for cooking fish, teamed up for this deep-sea city expedition.

"According to the information from that guy, they look like half-fish zombies during the day but revert to their original fish form at night."

"Yeah, I saw a bit of it. There are salmon in the deep sea, and it's quite amusing… hehe, I've caught everything from pike to marlin, but this will be my first time fishing from below."

Both have extensive real-world experiences, which is why they are captivated by Shangri-La Frontier, a world that seems familiar yet contains "the unknown."

Excited by the prospect of new experiences, the poaching ship sails into the storm…

Evys is the second son of a wealthy family, enjoying a fishing lifestyle funded by his blog income and passive income. He debuted in full-dive VR after hearing about the hype of Shangri-La Frontier. His own cruiser, equipped with communication devices, is a testament to his financial power.

He knows Orion is a chef but is unaware that he is one of the world's top chefs. One day, he will be invited to a real-life dinner and be shocked, with the black sea bream he brought as a gift turned into a poached dish.

Incidentally, he has fished with a certain bird-headed father before. "This salaryman is pretty good at catching marlin…"