ALL NOVEL The Strongest Solo Gamer with Terrible Social Skills Reincarnates as a Hated NPC in a VRMMO Chapter 78
78: Department Chief of the Newspaper Club, Moji Sakaki
――SIDE: Uzumi Saki――
After Shiruka left the classroom, I thought it was my chance and approached Akane-chan.
“Sorry, can I ask you something?”
Akane-chan looked at me with wide eyes, seemingly surprised that I was making contact with her. She glanced around us quietly and nodded slightly.
I only needed to confirm one thing.
I didn’t want to waste any more time.
As we left the classroom and walked down the hallway, I checked to make sure no one was around and spoke to her again.
“I’ll try to get an appointment with the newspaper club chief, so tell me a convenient date.”
“Are you going to talk about Shiruka’s thing?”
“Well… it’s a promise. But the one negotiating is Akane-chan, right? I can’t guarantee how the chief will react after talking to them.”
“That’s fine.”
“Your free exploration was amazing, wasn’t it?”
“…”
“Did you know, Akane-chan? That Shiruka Shoma was a skilled explorer who could reach that far?”
“For an interview?”
“No way. Just curiosity.”
“I didn’t know. Or rather, I still have my doubts. I told the Isozaki group that, but I’m not sure if Shiruka really defeated the floor master.”
“But his level did increase, and the number of floors he reached was updated too.”
Looking at the numbers, it was certain that Shiruka Shoma had defeated the 10th floor master.
What was still hard to believe was the fact that he did it solo. The fact that his previous level was 1 only added to the suspicion.
“…if only I had seen him fight in person, the story would be different, though…”
“What about the girl who appeared halfway through?”
“I don’t know much about her either. I’ve just heard that she’s Shiruka’s adopted sister.”
“…do you think she saw Shiruka fighting…?”
“It’s concerning, but we can’t ask her.”
“What?”
“If she had accidentally entered the ABYSS and experienced something scary, it would be pitiful to bring up bad memories… We shouldn’t do that.”
“…yeah.”
I might have been a bit inconsiderate.
I nodded honestly.
“…to be honest, I want to ask you something too.”
“What is it? You’ve changed your mind…”
“This camera of mine – the one I got back from a 1-C student… was it Shiruka who returned it to me?”
“…haven’t I told you that?”
“…”
I hadn’t heard anything. Not a single word.
「……If I had known that, I wouldn’t have written bad things about my benefactor, right?」
“Eh!?”
“It’s too late now, but it’s fine…”
It’s not that Akane-chan was bad or anything.
It’s my own fault for judging someone as a villain based on first impressions, without getting the whole story.
――I need to apologize to Ishio later.
Will just apologizing be enough?
What I did was really terrible.
At least, I need to suppress the commotion on SNS. I don’t know how far I can go, but I’ll do my best――no, I’ll definitely do something about it!!
「……So, Hayahi. Let’s get back to the topic. What’s the name of the head of the reporting department?」
“The head of the reporting department is Monjizakashi Shiramine-senpai, a 2nd-year student.”
“You’re saying a 2nd-year student is the head of the reporting department?”
“That’s right. The Academy allows students to freely choose their club activities, but the main focus is still on exploring ABYSS. It’s not unusual for 3rd-year students to step down from their positions.”
“…”
“Monjizakashi-senpai is in Class 2-B. …You can guess why she’s targeting Ishio, right?”
“――Is it because of his sister?”
I slowly nodded.
“Monjizakashi-senpai has a grudge against Ishio’s sister, Ishio Rina-senpai. The reason is said to be jealousy. It’s a pretty well-known story among 2nd-year students, which is why Monjizakashi-senpai started investigating Ishio as soon as he became prominent.”
“What’s with that!? That’s completely――”
“――a personal vendetta, isn’t it? I didn’t think highly of it either. But I think I also have a point where I’m using poison to fight poison, or pretending not to see things.”
“…”
“I won’t give up on negotiating with Monjizakashi-senpai. But don’t expect too much from her. I’ll work on my own to change the flow of things and help Ishio. I need to make that much effort, or I won’t be able to apologize to Ishio for his help.”
“Hayahi――”
“Ah! I found you, Utsusemi-kun!!”
“!”
A familiar senior girl came running towards me from the other side of the hallway. The silver-haired senior had an androgynous impression, like a male role in a girls’ opera. She was tall and had a well-defined face, probably popular among her peers.
“Monjizakashi-senpai――!”
“!”
What a coincidence, running into her at this timing.
――I should introduce her to Akane-chan right away.
That’s what I thought, when Monjizakashi-senpai grabbed my shoulders in a flustered state.
“Scoop, Utsusemi-kun! It’s a big deal! For some reason, Karyu is attacking the 1st-year classrooms right now! Two people have already been affected, including the class leader of C-Class, Tsutenkaku Toshiro, and the class leader of B-Class, Yuratei Jigokusa!”
“What――!? Is that an email!? …It seems like 1-A has also been attacked. The class leader, Mikogami Senya, is safe, but instead, her PT member, Uguisumarun, has been seriously injured… The scene is chaotic, it seems. Let’s go right away! We need to rush to the scene!!”
With a sparkling gaze, Monjizakashi-senpai took my hand. Her portal terminal was beeping continuously, receiving emails from various locations.
…I wanted to talk about Ishio, but it seems that’s not the priority right now. Monjizakashi-senpai in reporting mode is unstoppable, no matter who tries to stop her.
Then――
“Monjizakashi-senpai! Can I bring my friend here along too?”
“Who is it?”
“…It’s Houjou Akane from Class 1-D.”
“Feng――Ah, I see! So you were gathering information about Shouma-kun’s incident? Well, well, well! It’s only natural to chase a scoop together!”
My senior, who often nods while misunderstanding, looked puzzled.
Akane-chan wore a stunned expression, but I think she understood that our senior was someone who didn’t get the conversation.