Project: Alternative

Chapter 12: On our way to Rizuru Village (Jun)

We've been traveling on foot for quite a while. I never thought about it before but idols were pretty athletic. They were able to sing and dance for hours on a stage in front of an audience. That was why Suisei was able to walk for a long distance without getting tired even if I didn't edit her physical capabilities.

It was weird actually. I didn't notice that Koro-san was sent to this world. The moment I saw Suisei's name in the list, I sort of got a bit distracted. While it was completely true that Suisei was completely helpless and that she would be the dinner of some wolves if I was a minute late, it was bad that I was being an unfair Coder.

As much as possible, Coders have to be fair. After all, lives were nothing more than just a few lines of codes. We could easily replace anyone with an NPC and no one would notice a thing. However, the thought that Suisei would lose her life made me angry.

I mean... She was my idol and I was her huge fan. However, that didn't mean that I should prioritize her over any other lines of codes. I even abused my powers as a Coder and recklessly tampered with my codes to save her. Even if I saved her because of those, I shouldn't have done it. If she died, then I shouldn't be that bothered.

The thought of Suisei dying made me feel angry. What were these emotions? Was I seriously getting too hung up on a really cute girl with an angelic voice and nice personality?

"Are you getting tired? We can take a short rest", I asked Suisei.

"No. I can still go on."

"Okay then. Don't push yourself."

If I want to, I could abuse my Coder abilities and fly to Rizuru Village at this instant... However, I shouldn't risk creating more conflicts. Now that I was in a rational state of mind, I could see how much I screwed up. I was pretty sure my reckless editing would produce a Dump File that was at least 1 GB. The Administrator would kill me if he finds out.

However, my anger for my irrational self would disappear whenever I looked at Suisei's face. Somehow, I could feel that all of the mistakes that I made weren't that bad whenever I could see that she was safe and sound... Maybe I might be a bad Coder after all.

"What's wrong?" Suisei asked.

"Huh?"

"You've been staring at my face every now and then. Is there something on it?"

Yes. Your cute smile and other wonderful things.

"No. There's something on my mind. Don't mind me", I said as I walked ahead.

We continued walking until night time came. Suisei and I decided to camp outside and after eating dinner, we were supposed to sleep.

She entered the tent and lay down. Ever since she got into this world, Suisei wanted to sleep with company. After her first night, she told me that she couldn't sleep well alone in a room. I couldn't blame her. The last time she slept alone, she woke up in a dangerous forest. That was why even though we had two tents, she wanted to share one with me.

While I could understand her, it still wasn't good for me. An idol was sleeping right next to me! And she wasn't just any regular idol, she was my favorite idol! I could never get used to this. That was why I decided to kill time and read the System Records of this Server. As much as possible, I had to learn about this world.

I was lying down while reading the violet screens hovering in front of me. Rizuru Village was a few more kilometers east of our direction. It was a peaceful village and there were no dangerous monsters around it. Also, there were no shady organizations or scary individuals so I was sure that Koro-san was safe.

While I said that the System Records had no information about things from other Servers, there was a way to find out about Koro-san's current situation. I looked at the information about Rizuru Village's mayor.

His name was Trevor Klance and he was the mayor two times already. I skimmed over his information and found the thing I was looking for.

Trevor was minding his own business when he saw a brown-haired beastgirl sleeping near the village's walls. When he tried to talk to her, he couldn't understand her language. None of the villagers knew her language but they couldn't leave her alone. That was why Trevor and his wife let Koro-san stay in their home and treated her like a guest.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Koro-san was safe for now. I have to thank Trevor for taking good care of her. After all, Koro-san was a friend of mine. It was really bad that I didn't prioritize her over Suisei even if I knew her far longer than the idol. I was a pretty horrible friend.

Suisei's arm wrapped around me as she moved close. I could feel my body stiffening from the sudden contact. Now then... I wasn't exactly the guy who liked being touched. That was why Suisei hugging me in her sleep totally caught me off guard.

I looked at her and tried to squirm out of her arms. However, I noticed one thing. Her breathing was irregular and I could see her eyes were twitching... Was she still awake? So did that mean that she was intentionally hugging me?

No no no. That was impossible. Why would my favorite idol start hugging me intentionally? I was probably imagining things. That's right. Her eyes were twitching because she was in REM sleep. As for her irregular breathing... She might be having a nightmare. That must be it...

I patted her head as I tried to focus on reading the System Records. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't focus. Suisei was really close to me as she hugged me tighter.

Since I couldn't focus anyway, I decided to close my eyes and drift off to dreamland. I turned my head and when I opened my eyes, I found Suisei's face to be dangerously close to mine. This was really really bad... Was she going to continue doing this to me? What did I do to deserve this?

My night was a long one since I couldn't sleep thanks to my bizarre situation.

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A/N: Sorry about this. But this will be the last chapter in the next two weeks since I will be taking a two-week break.