The Pain of an Inferior: A Blistering Love Comedy That Begins After a Broken Heart - Chapter 31

Haruka, Ria, and Yunika continued digging with shovels in their respective areas in silence for a while.

After digging about fifty centimeters, they find a small square wooden box.

“Found it, a key-like object.”

Ria and Yunika put down their shovels and ran to Haruka.

“Thank goodness…”

Inside the box is an old key, and Haruka takes it out and hands it to Yunika.

Yunika inserted the key into the nearby treasure box. With a click, the key opens the lock of the box.

“It contains water, a terminal, and a backpack.”

Inside was a small terminal that could be connected to Yunika’s tablet, two bottles of water in a 500-milliliter PET bottles, and a large, functional backpack.

When the terminal was plugged into the tablet, a window appeared saying [Get 800 points].

The points that they used to buy the four bottles of water in the beginning increased from 600 to 1400. They can use it to buy more stuff from the vending machine or a store that they haven’t seen yet.

Haruka put the bottles into the backpack, and it on his back.

“Okay, let’s go back.”

Yunika turns around and heads for the nearby kitchen where the other group members are waiting.

It took them less than five minutes to walk to the kitchen.

The group members are chatting amiably. Ria looks anxious as she sees Haruka’s expression become grim.

“Hey, good work Yunika!”

Kaburaki found Yunika and raised his hand to her, talking to her in a friendly manner.

“Yeah, well… I’m tired because you guys didn’t help me.”

She sat down on a wooden chair and looked up at the sky. Ria sat down next to her.

She swears at Kaburaki and he flinched for a moment, but Kaburaki quickly smiles and lets it go.

“We’ll take care of the next mission.”

“Kaburaki is unreliable.”

“Shut up.”

Narumi makes light jokes, and Kaburaki responds by joking around with her. They seemed to be trying to enjoy their youth at the perfect opportunity at forest school.

Yunika looks down at the tablet in her hand and notices a new item on it.

“What is this?”

“What’s wrong?”

Ria moves her face close to Yunika’s and peeks at the screen of the tablet.

On the screen, there were store icons that had not been there before. She taps it and moves to the next screen.

“So you can use your points to shop?”

Meat, fish, vegetables, curry roux, and rice fill the screen.

The store screen appears in the cooking area use only, and a drone is used to deliver the items to the location when purchased. Probably, this store is only used for the kitchen, because some of the food items will spoil if they are not cooked immediately.

“It’s 10:30… It’s still a little early for a meal.”

“And we don’t have enough points.”

Meat for four people costs about 1,600 points, fish for one fish costs 300 points, and rice for one cup costs 100 points, not enough points to feed everyone.

“Curry would be cheaper. Though it needs to be cooked.”

Although it needs to be cooked, the curry would be enough to satisfy everyone with only 2,400 points for the ingredients and rice, all together.

“Collecting points, lunch, rest… Even if we think we can walk at three kilometers per hour, our arrival time will definitely be around 8:00 PM.”

Yunika stands up and orders everyone to prepare to leave.

Yunika is indeed a top caste member. The boys and the girls stood up and start to get ready, even though they are chatting with each other.

Haruka also puts his backpack back on his back and gets behind the group that has started to walk.

“Haruka. I’ll be fine, let’s work together to collect the points, okay?”

“Yeah”

Haruka smiles and nods back at Ria. Ria exhaled in relief and turned around to face forward.

Yunika and her group then headed for the locations with the treasure chest icons, occasionally turning off the road to secure a point of interest.

They arrived at a long, but high, athletic track.

“Press the button, and if you get there within the time limit, you get the key. The second and subsequent attempts will increase the time limit but halve the points earned.”

“Rina, you’re in the sports club, why don’t you go?”

“I’m not good at heights, so I’ll pass.”

“No, we’ll go.”

“Athletic or not, it’s too high and dangerous. We’ll take care of it.”

“We’re counting on you~”

Kaburaki and Ootsuki came forward. After saying “I’m going” to Ria, Haruka also participated.

There is a meeting place on the way to the start point, but all four participants can join the race at the same time. Rather, it seems that the timer won’t start until all four participants are lined up at the starting point.

Ria lined up next to Haruka at the starting point. She looks at the surprised Haruka and smiles dazzlingly.

“I’ll do it too.”

“I see… Then, let’s both do our best.”

“Let’s press the button!”

The four of them line up at the starting point. Yunika pushes the button and starts the timer.

The entire area is covered with a fall protection net, so it seems safe to fall. However, if you fall, you may not be able to reach the destination within the time limit.

They crossed an unstable log bridge, climb a steep slope with ropes, and fly across narrow footholds placed between trees. Haruka, who has been doing parkour with Yuzurika, carries himself lightly and manages to conquer the athletic course without any difficulty.

Perhaps because the event is designed with women in mind, there were few places that require arm strength. Rather, spatial awareness and a sense of balance were more important in many areas.

At the end of the race, the participants picked up a rope hanging from a pulley and glided to the goal point.

The goal is not the destination, but the way to it. Therefore, participant must release their hand at the right moment to handle the inertia and land on the ground.

“HA-RU-KA-!”

Ria was already at the goal, smiling and waving to Haruka. She quickly finished the course.

Haruka lets go of his hand at the point that he thinks is just right, and flies through the air on inertia. He stumbled when he landed, but Ria took his hand and stabilized him.

“Haruka reached the goal within the time limit too.”

Ria told him to check the timer at the finish line, and he found that there were still thirty seconds left to go.

When he looked toward the starting point, Haruka saw Yunika holding the key high and waving it toward Haruka and the others. It seemed that the key appeared not at the goal but at the starting point.

Using the rope ladder, they descend to the ground.

Haruka look down again. It is about 20 meters high, so if you are not good at heights, you will probably quit the climb halfway down.

“By the way, what about those two?”

He looks around the course to look for Kaburaki and Ootsuki.

On the way, they found Kaburaki and Ootsuki who had fallen and got caught in the protection net. They are pretty bad despite being in the top 20 percent of the [Horizon Record]. In VRMMO worlds, physical abilities tend to be higher than in reality, so perhaps what is dull in reality is not a problem in the game.

The two of them meet up with the women hanging out at the starting point.

“You’re so clever, Ria”

“Ehehe. I’m glad we cleared it.”

“I was surprised. When I got to the finish line, you were already there.”

“I’m not strong, but I’m good at this kind of thing.”

Watching Kaburaki and the others coming down to the ground from a distance, Yunika inserted the key into the treasure chest.

Opening the heavy lid and looking inside, she found a backpack similar to the one worn by Haruka, a terminal, and two bottles of 500 milliliters of water. The contents were the same as before.

When she inserted the terminal into the tablet, a window appeared. The message [Get 1000 points] is displayed, and the current 1600 points increase to 2600 points.

Whether the group members agree or not, they can now eat curry for lunch.

However, the points are also an important factor in determining the group’s ranking. Though Haruka is not so much interested in the internal score, he should be able to get more points if he thinks that it’s for Yunika’s sake.

“Fufufu… You guys are so lame.”

“I wish I had taken a picture of Ootsuki’s fall, it was too funny.”

Narumi, Rina, and Renako laugh and made fun of Kaburaki and Ootsuki who come back with a very embarrassed look on their faces.

They turn red and make light jokes in return, and the two regain their composure in spite of being ridiculed.

Haruka and the others check that tablet set their sights on the places with a treasure chest icon.

The mission is to catch a certain number of fish with a fishing rod and release them into the neighboring river.

Equipped with air guns and face guards, the mission is to play a five-on-five survival game against humanoid robots in military outfits.

A mission to search in a dark cave with no light, using only four flashlights.

The three members, Haruka, Ria, and Yunika, took the lead in the various missions. Haruka is relieved to know that there is no mission like the first one, which seems to be forced on Ria alone.

After 3:00PM, Haruka and the other members of group A had gained 7500 points.

The girls started to complain that they are hungry, so they decided to stop at a nearby kitchen for a late lunch.

In order to avoid wasting time by arguing over what to eat, Yunika took the initiative to cook and eat curry and rice.

She orders the ingredients for the curry using their 2400 points, and received the ingredients from the drone that arrived less than a minute later.

Narumi and the rest of the women’s group, who had not worked much until now, were given tasks such as chopping vegetables and frying pork in a pot.

Haruka builds a fire and then leaves the fire to the men who are available, gathering water with plastic bottles in his arms. Ria was in charge of cooking rice.

With Yunika’s instructions, cooking the curry proceeded smoothly, and it was ready after forty minutes.

Yunika serves the curry to as many people as possible, taking care to avoid any complaints.

The eight of them gathered around the same table and, clasping their hands together in a “Itadakimasu”Thanks for the food gesture, they each put our hands on their lunch.

The women were enjoying their curry and chatting with each other. Kaburaki joins the women’s conversation in a somewhat annoying manner.

“If we take a 30 minute break, we should have about eight kilometers to go…”

“Around 8 o’clock?”

Haruka responded to Yunika’s little soliloquy.

“We should be there by 8:00PM if we keep going at this pace. That is if we don’t participate on missions.”

If they leave around 5PM, including a 30-minute lunch break, they would be there by 8:00PM with time to spare.

“Yunika-san is a good leader, isn’t she?”

“Praising will get you nothing.”

Then, as they had declared, after a 30-minute lunch break, Yunika and the others set out again.

Soon the sun was setting and it was getting dark. The paved road has lights at regular intervals, so it is never too dark to walk on.

“By the way, what are the missions like around here? It’s too dark to see anything.”

“Aren’t they illuminated? Or maybe the missions are designed to be safe in the dark.”

As usual, Ria and Haruka were walking at the end of the line, holding hands in a friendly manner and walking side by side with each other.

“Aa-, I’m tired, I want to take a rest…”

“Renako, don’t say that, it makes me feel even more tired.”

“Aight”

“We will arrive at the next base in one kilometer, so please be patient a little longer.”

“N-no more… My legs are all dried up. I’ll be in hell tomorrow and the rest of the day…”

“That’s right.”

Despite their exhaustion, the group chatted lively with each other.

Finally, after 8:00PM, Haruka and the others arrived at the base.

The base was a dilapidated and rundown school building. It’s not that creepy because of the huge stand on the ground, which is illuminated by a powerful light.

“N-no way… Are we going to stay there?”

“I really can’t. I want to go home…”

Narumi and Renako lament, their shoulders slumped.

An electronic beep sounds from the tablet device in Haruka’s backpack.

Yunika takes it out and checks it, and finds that a new map of the base has been added.

In addition, the message “You will receive 3000 points as a bonus for arriving at the base” appeared, and their points increased to 7900.

Yunika mutters while looking at the floor plan.

“Oh… It looks like it has a hot spring and VR facilities.”

“R-really?!”

“Oh, I heard they have VR at the forest school too.”

Kaburaki and Ootsuki express their joy.

Narumi and the others brightened up a little when they heard about the hot springs.

“Oii, Ryouhei! Takeru!”

A man’s voice calls out to Kaburaki and Ootsuki. They were surprised to find the owner of the voice.

“Oh-, Yamato!”

It was Kaneda Yamato who often hangs out with Kaburaki and Ootsuki.

The fact the he’s here means that different groups are going to end up at the same place even though they started from different starting points.

“If Yamato is here, does that mean Miyako-san is here too?

“Naturally”

“O-Oh!, I’m getting excited!”

When Ootsuki mentioned Miyako’s name, Haruka couldn’t help but frown and make a grim expression on his face.

The three of them continued their conversation without paying any attention to Haruka.

“Where are the other groups?”

“No, it’s just us and you guys here. The rest of the other groups may have ended up at a different base.”

So far, it seems that only Haruka’s group and Yamato’s group, a total of sixteen people, are in this abandoned school building.

“Let’s play Horizon after dinner, there’s VR equipment.”

“Right, Yunika! Let’s get ready for dinner.”

“Yes, yes.”

Yunika and the others went to the kitchen, guided by Yamato.

Yamato and his group were chatting and barbecuing by inside home economics room. Akito, Miyako, Reika, and other familiar faces were also there.

The delicious smell of meat was wafting in the nostrils of Yunika and the others.

Yunika’s group are already hungry, even though they had eaten lunch quite late.

Yunika turns around and looks at her group members and asks

“We’re going to use a lot of points, but do you mind if we have a barbecue too?”

“No objection.”

“Me too.”

“I agree. I don’t care about the points anymore.”

All of them agreed to waste the points, even though their grades were at stake.

“So, no objection. Can you guys lend me that when you’re done eating?”

Yunika asked Akito, pointing at the barbecue stove.

“Nn? No, I don’t want to keep you waiting, so I’ll get you a new one. You can order the ingredients while you’re at it.”

“Eh? I’m sorry, it’s not right.”

“There’s no problem!”

Akito then brings the same barbecue stove as the one they are using, fills it with coals, and starts a fire.

Yunika hurriedly ordered four portions of meat and a barbecue set. A total of 3,600 points are consumed, bringing the total number of points in their possession down to 4,300.

Just as the fire starts to stabilized, the ingredients arrived by drone.

“Thank you, Fudo. You’re very helpful.”

“Please thank me with a kiss.”

“Idiot.”

While Yunika and Akito exchange friendly banter, Haruka and Ria prepared cups and plates for their group.

Sauce for yakiniku and other condiments were available in the home economics room, so there was no need to spend points to order them.

“Well, let’s eat!”

They took out the barbecue set and meat from the supplies, and in the environment that Akito has prepared for them, each of them puts the meat on the wire netting and begin to cook it.

The group members were exhausted from the long distance they had to walk. However, as they sat around the barbecue stove, their tension gradually increased, they seemed to have a good time talking with each other since there were people from the other group around.

Watching them from a little distance, Haruka and Ria were eating their share of meat, sausage, and vegetables.

“You must be tired, Ria”

“Yeah… But it was fun.”

Haruka catched a glimpse of Ria with eyes accustomed to the darkness of the night.

“I wonder if it will be more difficult tomorrow…”

“Who knows. Looking at what happened today,it wasn’t that harsh, right?”

While they were talking quietly, the people who had joined their group for dinner were more noisy and lively. They were so excited and laughing so loudly that Haruka suspected they might have been drinking.

Yunika, Miyako, and Reika were also smiling and talking happily with Narumi and the boys. Akito, who usually hangs out with Shun and Rui, blended in effortlessly with the circle of boys with whom he had not talked much before and made the conversation lively. Haruka felt a little envious of his communication skills.

Seeing everyone enjoying each other’s company beyond the boundaries of caste, Haruka felt that the forest school, which is considered troublesome by everyone, has a meaning.

“I’ll get some for you, Haruka”

“Thank you.”

Riai takes Haruka’s empty plate in her hand and heads toward the center of the circle. She puts the meat and vegetables on the wire mesh for Haruka.

Haruka shifted his gaze from Ria’s back to the night sky. Perhaps it is because they are deep in the mountains where there are no big lights, the beautiful starry sky is clearly visible. The slightly chilly air is pleasant.

“You have really beautiful hair for a man.”

Kaburaki’s voice was heard very clearly even in such a noisy environment.

“Don’t touch me!”

Ria’s cold and dismissive voice made Haruka look back at her hurriedly. Ria had just jumped out of the way of Kaburaki’s hand.

Knowing that Kaburaki had touched Ria’s hair so casually, Haruka’s heart was boiling.

“Scary~. Don’t be so angry.”

“Ise doesn’t want a virgin touching him.”

“I’m not a virgin!”

Kaburaki and Yamato are joking.

Ria stroked her hair and stared at Kaburaki and Yamato without trying to hide her contempt.

Kaburaki looks annoyed at her attitude for a moment, but quickly changes his expression back to a half smile.

“By the way, isn’t Ise selling his body to perverts? I’ll pay you 1,000 yen to blow me with your mouth next time.”

“Ootsuki, you’re the worst~”

Narumi laughed at Kaburaki’s vulgar suggestion and gave him a rude comment.

Ria’s face turned cloudy and she turned her head down.

Kaburaki puts his hand on her shoulder and says

“Hey Ise, you’re really hot when you’re dressed. So please give me head too.”

“Aaa, can you do me too? I’ll pay you 1,000 yen.”

“A thousand yen is too cheap!”

Renako laughs and says to him.

“It’s enough for a rank E.”

Narumi said mockingly.

Reika was worried that the atmosphere in the room was turning strange, and Yunika was biting her lower lip and watching what was going on.

“Well, we’re going to be celibate for five days and four nights, aren’t we? I’m not gonna last at this rate. Can I ask for you now?”

Kaburaki asks in a half-serious tone.

He ogled at Ria’s face as if he’s licking it.

“You guys, that’s enough…”

Yunika opens her mouth unbearably.

But before she could finish her words, Haruka’s kick hits Kaburaki in the face.