Chapter 50

"Then?"

"Yes."

Sitting seiza on the carpet, just the two of us.

Under the pressure of Rin-chan's smile, I averted my eyes a little.

"I'm not angry or anything."

"Oh, really?"

"While we're talking, I'll groom your hair, so come over here."

Was grooming something people did for each other? I had that thought for a moment, but since Rin-chan was patting her knees with a smile, I reluctantly leaned my head over.

She's not angry. Indeed, Rin-chan isn't angry.

But because we've known each other for a long time, I can tell. Right now, Rin-chan is extremely in a bad mood.

"Your hair is as smooth as ever, it's so frustrating."

"Rin-chan's too."

"I put in a lot of effort with my hair. Don't compare it to Nana and the soap."

S-Sorry. I use rinse-in shampoo too, you know.

"That's just it, really."

"Ouch!"

Did she realize what I was thinking? She gave me a light tap on the forehead. It looked like it hurt Rin-chan more, but if I pointed it out, I'd get tickled, so I didn't.

Rin-chan is very skilled with her hands, so she's incredibly good at tickling.

It seemed she really wanted to play with my hair, so Rin-chan fell silent. I didn't resist because it felt good to have my hair combed.

While I was melting in pleasure as my hair was combed in silence, Rin-chan suddenly dropped a bomb.

"I heard you had someone else's lap to rest your head on today?"

"Wha—"

While still smiling calmly and gently playing with my hair, I let out a strange sound without thinking.

As I was flustered about how to make an excuse, Rin-chan stopped her hands and chuckled, finding my reaction amusing.

"Just kidding. I wouldn't get angry over something like that."

"I, I was so scared!"

"Is that how a guy reacts when his cheating is found out?"

While I was being poked in the cheeks by Rin-chan, who was laughing, I calmed my slightly accelerated heartbeat.

"Sorry a bit."

"Whoa!"

I was suddenly lifted from under my armpits and nestled into Rin-chan's embrace.

Feeling the softness of Rin-chan's chest, which I hadn't felt in about a week, and with my head resting there, my stomach was squeezed tightly.

"Hehehe."

"Rin-chan?"

"Hehe, didn't you make progress in the city today? It's a good pace, isn't it?"

Hmm, her mood is kind of strange. She was definitely in a bad mood just now, but now she's in a good mood.

Her mood swings are quite extreme. She doesn't seem to be drunk, as there's no smell of alcohol...

"I have some business to take care of tomorrow and the day after. I'm being called for something related to CroCro. So I'm absorbing Nana's essence while I can."

Ah, I see. So Rin-chan is in a clingy mode right now. Her strange mood must be because of that.

She never shows this side to anyone else. I think it's only in front of family and me. As the youngest, Rin-chan is actually very clingy and good at being clingy.

She said she had some business, but I think she was really just very upset about me resting my head on Kogane's lap.

She was probably so frustrated that she converted it into something else.

If I don't help her process it, her bad mood won't go away. There was a time in middle school when she didn't talk to me for two weeks, so I'm sure of it.

Even though I can't see well, when I raised my hand and patted her head, I heard a very relaxed "Hehe" sound. This is bad.

Ah, stop tickling my stomach just because your mood is up!

"Hmm, hmm... By the way, isn't CroCro the one Rin-chan used to play?"

After being tickled for about ten minutes and then released, I asked Rin-chan, who was blushing a little, to continue the conversation from earlier.

"Right. It's not a new game, but there's a regular RTA event, and I'm being invited as the world record holder."

"Wow. CroCro, nostalgic. I never played it though."

"It's a single-player game, you know."

CroCro. This is the abbreviated title of a game that, more than for me, is probably the most memorable for Rin-chan.

It's the name of a game that holds a dear memory, where Rin-chan accomplished a legendary feat.

☆

Professional gamer, Rinne.

She is the absolute ace of the professional gaming team "HEROES" and a supergamer proficient in all game genres.

The first time she made a name for herself wasn't in a grand game tournament, but in a live stream of a Real-Time Attack (RTA) of a certain game.

"Clock Lock - Actors - The Hero of Forgotten Time."

This is the name of an action game with the largest open world in history, even years after its release.

What makes it the largest in history?

It's a straightforward and clear-cut story: the overwhelming vastness of its field.

While the game is designed to allow players to go straight to the final boss and defeat them in the shortest time possible, it still takes about three hours to run the shortest distance at the fastest speed.

The distance is so vast that it takes over two and a half hours just to move around, including the tutorial.

The final boss battle is so anticlimactic that it's called a formality, and the player's skill is shown in the movement itself, using bugs and glitches.

The map is said to be five times larger than the average open-world game, and the story, which took over ten years to develop, is seamlessly integrated, making the average completion time over 300 hours.

Rinne made a name for herself in one of the most difficult regulations of this game's RTA.

It was a 100% RTA, aiming to complete the game 100% by collecting all the elements.

Even in today's world where RTA regulations have become more lenient, this is still considered the RTA that takes the longest time, not because of the overwhelming amount of game time, but because of a rule: no timer stops for sleep.

You can sleep or take a break, but the timer doesn't stop. This single rule turned the RTA into a hellish ordeal.

One of the first Canadian players to participate in this regulation cleared it in 168 hours, a record officially recognized. It took a full week, with about 40 hours of sleep.

When Rinne, then a middle school student, cleared this regulation, it took her 79 hours, 22 minutes, and 37 seconds.

Without sleeping or eating much, she set this record, and to this day, it has never been broken—so I just confirmed.

The current second place is 95 hours, and third place is 97 hours, making her time overwhelmingly fast.

Incidentally, Rinne slept for three full days after completing the RTA.

The absolute ruler of the CroCro RTA. That was the beginning of Rinne's career as a professional gamer.

It wasn't a sudden, explosive rise but rather a niche and minor start.

However, Rinne used this as a stepping stone, leveraging time and connections to make her name known worldwide.

Of course, it was due to her playing skills, but using her family's connections was also a significant factor.

Now, Rinne is undoubtedly one of the top gamers, but her start was undoubtedly with CroCro.

I think the event she's being invited to this time is relatively small. It's probably not a huge game festival.

But she's willing to stay overnight as a guest, which must mean the game is important to her.

"By the way, the developers of CroCro are also involved in WLO."

"Really?"

"Well, just one of the top developers. I'll meet them tomorrow."

Is it accurate to say they're involved in the development?

And she just casually mentioned meeting them tomorrow. Do you know them? I see.

Incidentally, CroCro, which sold 2 million copies worldwide, is a significant hit for a non-series game, but it's said that less than half of the buyers cleared it due to the overwhelming amount of content.

The most common reason for low ratings is "it takes too long to play," indicating that the quality was excellent. It's just that busy modern people couldn't find the time to play it.

Watching playthrough videos would take over 300 parts, apparently.

"Actually, 300 is only about halfway through."

That's what Rinne said.

I was reminiscing about the old days when I suddenly realized something.

"By the way... wasn't there a character in WLO with the same name as in CroCro?"

"Given the large number of characters, it wouldn't be surprising if there was a duplicate... Was there?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

The character in CroCro, who wasn't a main character but a side character, for some reason, left a strong impression on me.

"Melti Bloodheart. The vampire at the beginning and the end, right?"

This was the world's only named solo slayer, as told by Kogane.

The strongest vampire NPC, "Melti of the Heavenly Eye." For some reason, I couldn't stop thinking about the connection between these two.

Clock Lock - Actors - The Hero of Forgotten Time

Rinne's record was what was then called the theoretical minimum, and even now, with various bugs allowing for faster times, it has never been broken. Her incredibly precise play, with only three minor mistakes, is still legendary in the CroCro RTA community.