Who's this, Rusian?
A friend of yours?
No, Sette-san here seems to be a newbie.
So I just looked after her for a bit.
Hmm?
All right.
If that's the case, I, Schwein-sama, will take care of you.
Sch-we-in...?
Huh?!
I... prefer... Rusian...
Huh?!
Rusian... is... nice...
I thought reincarnating would give me my big chance?
What?
You want to play a different game today?
Modern Communications Electronic Game Club
Yes.
If everyone else is okay with that.
Sure, why not?
This is the Net Game Club, not the LA Club.
Yeah.
So, do you have any requests for what game you would like?
I'd like to play something more exhilarating.
Hmm...
In that case...
How about this?
"Ultra Force"?
An FPS, huh?
I've never played one like this.
Are you sure I'll be all right?
I have a very good method.
Listen to me, Ako...
Think of all of the enemies...
...as normalfags.
The enemies are normalfags...?
Normalfags are...
...the enemy!
Team Deathmatch!!
Team... Deathmatch...!
You don't have to repeat the start signal.
Behold the force of the self-destructing bazooka!
I got five kills with one shot!
Uh, you caught me with that one, too.
Damn, our position has been given away!
I-I'm dead...
Was that... Ako?
Beautiful!
Rusian!
I think this game might be for me!
Y-Yeah.
Ugh...
I stayed up all night playing Ultra Force, and I sure am sleepy.
Still, who would have guessed that Ako would be so caught up in an FPS?
Hey.
What were you doing out there?
I thought that there might be enemy soldiers, and couldn't help it.
You're too caught up in it.
Oh...
Hmm? What's the matter?
Look down there.
Normalfags.
Yeah, normalfags, all right.
If this were Ultra Force...
Huh?!
Hey, none of that!
None of what?
Akiyama-san...
Say, didn't you have a club meeting yesterday?
Yeah, we did.
Oh, really?
But you weren't in your usual place, were you?
Hmm?
Eh?!
I thought you might show me some more stuff, so I waited the whole time for you.
Y-You mean... y-you're... Sette-san?
Yes!
B-But why?
How did you...?
You seem to have so much fun, you know?
Akane especially seems to really get into it.
It's over...
My high school life is over...
Nishimura-kun, you're so helpful in the game, and nice, too.
Not at all the impression I get from you in class.
Well, uh... thanks...
Tamaki-san, when you said you and Nishimura-kun were a couple, you meant within the game, right?
Akiyama-san, a moment?
I just mean, Nishimura-kun...
...you and Tamaki-san aren't actually as close as this, right?
Ako! Take it easy!
It's over...
Just take it easy!
R...
R... Rusian, you dummy!
It's over... See you later...
Staff Room
So that's what happened, is it?
I never expected her to get so angry.
I think it's better to think of it as shock, rather than anger.
It's possible that Ako thought that Nishimura was being taken away from her by Nanako.
No way!
I don't think of Nishimura-kun like that at all!
Not in the least!
Brutal...
Well, if it had been anyone other than Ako, this might not be such a big deal.
In a situation like this, I guess all of us going over to her house...
...isn't going to work, is it?
It would probably make her that much more stubborn, wouldn't it?
Yeah, it would.
You're right.
For now, we should just give her a little time.
If we do that, I think Tamaki-san will become a bit more levelheaded.
We'll figure out what to do after that.
The root cause only rises to the level of a misunderstanding, right?
Yeah.
If we lay it all out for Ako, it should clear this up.
So, how do we talk to her?
I've been trying to call her for a while, but she's not answering.
What do we do, Rusian?
I'll talk... to Ako.
Like I just said, how are you going to do that?
Ako!
So this is where you have been.
Perfect timing.
I was just about to level up.
Would you like to join me?
Listen to me.
Akiyama-san doesn't think anything at all about me, in the least—
It doesn't matter anymore.
Huh?
I've given up everything.
I don't need a life in which I'm not a couple with Rusian.
"Don't need a life"...?
You don't mean...!
I'm going to reincarnate.
Huh?
I'm leveling up to the max, and betting on my chances in the next life.
Uh, so... um...
What are you saying?
"What"?
Isn't that obvious?
I'm reincarnating within LA, becoming a new character,
and being reborn as a more cheerful and popular self.
My goal is my dream next life.
When you say you're forsaking life, are you serious about giving up reality?
Which means that I'll be quitting school.
You're...
From now on, I'm living in LA.
I don't need real life.
Ako... take it easy.
As long as I have LA, I can go on living.
Don't obsess over this.
Inside LA, Rusian, you are my husband.
Okay, I'm going to go do my best to reincarnate now.
Hold on a second!
Damn it!
Ako has turned her chat off.
She's denying us interaction.
She's completely closed herself off inside the game.
I guess that means the club has backfired.
Hmm...
That may not be true.
Unlike the time she attacked me...
...now she's just closing herself off, right?
I think that, in her own way, she's showing improvement.
True, that is one way to look at it.
Also, I get the feeling that, more than likely...
...Ako doesn't really think that Nanako is taking you away from her.
Probably not.
But she made a big show of sulking, and now it's become a bigger deal than she expected...
...so things are snowballing off in the wrong direction.
That's what I think, too.
And so, I also think that some boy who understands it all ought to be able to take care of it.
I'm not sure I would put such complete confidence in a student.
There's no point in a teacher who can't trust her students, meow.
You make it sound so cool.
All right.
But in return, you'll have to let me do this my own way.
Listen, about Ako...
Hmm?
She knows pretty well how dimwitted she can be.
She zones out, and is slow to remember things, but then soon forgets whatever she's remembered.
So imagine how the people within LA who she first hung out with gradually disappeared on her.
That sounds possible.
But you... weren't like them.
Within the game, when you told her, "We'll get them next time"...
...that meant for sure that there would be a next time.
It was as welcome as if you had accepted her hopeless real-life self.
She said that was someone she could stay with forever.
And she was so happy when she said it, I thought her brain had melted.
She... said that?
You know... that goes for me, too.
Huh?
I get the feeling I could hang out with you forever, too.
W-When I say "hang out,"
I mean play games together, and have club meetings, and stuff!
Don't take it the wrong way, okay?!
I'm not.
I just mean, you know, to put it simply, you're the one that I got stuck with.
And I also happened to get stuck...
...with that stay-at-home girl, as well as the premium-playing maniac.
So make sure you bring Ako back to us.
Yeah, leave it to me!
All right, then.
You go on, in place of my bad self!
Ummm, who you...?
...might be?
U-Um, my name is Nishimura.
T-T-T-Today, I, um...
Ah! You must be Nishimura-kun, the husband!
Huh?
I see.
So then Ako-san told you about me?
Yes.
So, what does my problem daughter's future husband need from her?
I'm sorry... I...
...came to play with Ako-san today.
I'm also cutting school.
You came... to play?
Yes.
Even though she says she's not going to school?
I guess... that's no good?
Huh? What?
What is it?
Whoops.
I have to be getting along to work now.
Would you see to her?
Are you sure?
Natch!
I mean, after that girl is out of my care, you're the one who will probably be looking after her.
Ah, that's...
I'm not up for that kind of responsibility yet.
Nice and honest, I like that.
Well, here you go.
What's that?
The key to Ako's room.
Ako, it's me.
Huh? Rusian?!
I know this is sudden, but I came to play.
Let me in.
Huh?!
I-I mean, what are you doing here?!
Where's my mom?!
I got her permission and everything.
She even left me your room key.
Mom, you dummy!
She also entrusted me with your future.
That's a good job, mom!
Which means I'm letting myself in, and not taking "no" for an answer.
Huh?! W-W-Wait a minute, please!
Now isn't a good—
I'm not taking "no" for an answer!
No, you can't!
Really!
I'm coming in!
W-W-Why— Why—
Why are you in your underwear?!
Oh, you know, I'm the type that feels uninhibited when I'm in my room.
You— Whoa, that startled me!
So just wait, please!
I'll get myself ready!
Yeah...
Well then, come in.
Good grief...
Go ahead.
Why aren't you coming in?!
What are you doing?!
More like, why did you take everything off?!
You said you were getting ready, right?!
I was preparing myself mentally, you know!
That's not the kind of "ready" I was after! Get dressed!
Get some clothes on!
Go ahead.
Yeah, thank you.
Wait...
You have a fridge in your room?
I'm always prepared to go a week at a time without leaving my room.
If you lock yourself in here for a week, how do you use the bathroom?
Well, of course...
...I use plastic bottles.
Y-You... You...
This... tea...
No, no, no, Rusian, that's ordinary tea I gave you.
You can tell from the taste, right?
I've never drunk any, so I don't know!
The plastic bottle thing is a joke, of course.
I do go to the bathroom.
Knock off the heart-attack-inducing jokes, okay?
Um...
So...
...Rusian, what brings you here?
Are you here to ask me... to go back to school with you?
No way.
Huh?
Let's have some fun today.
Huh?
Remember, the healer has to manage the cooldown time of each of the healing skills,
while using the right skill at the right time to chain combos...
...and also maintaining buff skills and canceling enemy techniques.
Also, having major recovery skill combos on tap in case we fail.
Those are the basics.
They're the nuts and bolts of ideal play.
Have you got that?
I don't get it.
For that matter, I don't get what's happening.
You're trying to top out your level and reincarnate, right?
Then you have to be able to do this, at least, or you'll get nowhere.
That may be true, but...
In that case, I'll start tutoring you.
Ugh...
Rusian's teaching too spartan...
Don't worry.
I'll stick with you until you can do it.
Okay.
Then let's do it.
Watch it, that werewolf is squaring off.
The skills are coming your way. Get ready to heal.
Huh? Like this? Like this?
Your tempo is too fast, and given the cooldown times, you're breaking your combos.
Like this... and this...
If you chain the timing just right to secure the combo...
...the cooldown times will fit within the response time.
Like this... and this...
You're mixing up your skills. It's this one.
This is impossible!
It's not impossible.
If you want to reincarnate, do it like your life depends on it.
Right...
Whoa, your skill timing is still too fast!
Like this... and this...
Oh, Schew and Master have logged in.
Huh?
Is it club meeting time already?
Ako, mind if I borrow this cable?
Oh, yes.
Thank you.
Okay, I'll log in on this one that I borrowed from Master, and...
Hey, you guys!
What were you doing that you had to skip school?
We were playing together.
Huh?!
I'm seriously going to kick your ass!
What do you guys think you're doing?
Yeah, meow!
If they find out you cut school to goof around, they will come down on you!
Teacher...
I'm not your teacher meow, I'm Nekohime-san meow.
Nekohime-san, we need to talk...
May we?
Hmm?
What's the meowtter, Rusian?
I'm... quitting school.
Huh?!
Rusian, what are you...
If Ako is quitting school, then so am I.
Honestly, putting up with the otaku cracks has been hard.
I'd rather slack off and just play the game.
In other words, you have got too much stress built up, huh?
Um, Rusian...
You'll have to let me do this my own way.
It can't be helped, meow.
Okay.
You can't!
Why not?
If it's okay for you, why not me, too?
Because... if you do that, Rusian...
...you won't see Master or Schew-chan in real life anymore...
That's true enough.
Then, Ako...
...you're okay with that happening to you?
Well...
They're not chatting back anymore.
It doesn't look like they have turned chat off.
It sounds to me like they must be busy.
Busy with what?
I'm dropping out for a bit.
Rusian has brought Ako-chan this far meout of it.
So now, let's wait and let Nishimura-kun bring Tamaki-san back here.
Hey, Ako, you really don't want to go to school, right?
You have trouble making friends, and feel uncomfortable in class.
You know that the situation you're in is a tough one, but you don't know what to do.
You don't have any fun outside the club...
...so you don't want to go.
That's what you're really thinking, right?
Then that thing with Akiyama-san comes up, things come to a head, and you popped.
That's the sense I got.
Um, how did you know all of that, Rusian?
Because I'm your husband, maybe?
Did you have fun today?
Yes! Tons of it!
Glad to hear it.
So did I.
Should we both drop out, and just do this every day?
I, too, have thought that as long as there's the game, that's enough.
That my real self is inside here.
But thanks to everyone—
No, thanks to you, I've finally come to discover that real life is also surprisingly fun.
Schew even said she wishes she could be stuck with us forever...
...with you, me, and Master.
If it were possible, I'd want that, too.
But...
...real life is too hard.
Yeah, I know.
But... that's okay, isn't it?
Once you get tired of real life, let's play the game!
We'll game as much as you want, and have all the fun we want to...
...then when you feel you can tough it out some more, you can go back to school.
If we can't play hooky together, I'll be waiting for you at school, Ako.
Rusian...
What?
If I try, and try, and I get tired, you'll stay home together with me, won't you?
Of course I will.
For the sake of my wife.
Then... I think I can do it.
Ah, Tamaki-san!
Huh? Um...
You were out again yesterday.
What happened?
Well, I...
Huh? What's the matter?
Are you not feeling well?
Good morning!
Listen to this!
Tamaki-san, you know, has a boyfriend in my class.
And when he heard that she stayed home,
he left school and went to visit her, to see how she was.
Eh?
Then it's true?
Tamaki-san, you do have a boyfriend.
And one who comes to check on you, too.
How nice. How nice!
My husband is just the best!
I thought if I declared my love, I was sure to succeed?
When the door was closed, did you think I was dressed?!
Yeah, I did! Of course I did!
Too bad! I was buck naked!
Get dressed, right now!
Right this second!