Black Market (1) - 7

Hifumi escaped from the school with a skill that showed she had done this more than once or twice.

 

 

"Hifumi... how many times have you been to the Black Market...? How do you know this place so well...?"

 

 

"Kanshi. Do you remember the number of breads you've eaten in your life?"

 

"Just how many times have you been here!"

 

 

The Black Market shouldn't be a place you frequent so much that you can't count the times!

What on earth must happen for an ordinary high school girl to skip school so many times that it's comparable to the number of breads I've eaten!

 

 

I examined the definition of the word 'ordinary' in my head.

Summoning a tank to the beach in the summer.

Possessing scooter driving skills sufficient to shake off Gehenna's pursuit.

Being the leader of the notorious criminal group, the Masked Swimsuit Gang.

Being favored by at least one member of Trinity's highest authority, the Tea Party.

Liking the one-eyed hippo Peroro.

 

 

Is this... ordinary...?

 

 

"It's a joke. I just researched thoroughly because it's a dangerous place to come to."

 

 

"I see. I almost had a heart attack thinking my friend was a dangerous person."

 

 

Fortunately, it was a joke.

Honestly, when Hifumi said she had been to the black market countless times, the thought that she might have actually done it crossed my mind, and even though it didn't make sense, I immediately accepted it...

Of... of course, I believe that Hifumi is not the mastermind!

It's just a reasonable suspicion that Hifumi might have come here many times to find discontinued Peroro merchandise...

 

 

Just then, Hifumi hesitated for a moment before finally asking me a question with a determined look.

 

 

"By the way, you're not carrying that sniper rifle these days, but a regular gun."

 

 

"Ah."

 

 

A question I thought I might get someday finally came at this time.

I had a feeling ever since I saw the AS50 hanging on the wall...

Trinity characters typically carry British guns.

And the AS50 is a British gun, while the K2 is a Korean gun.

So I vaguely guessed that the original Kanshi might have carried an AS50.

 

 

But it was just a guess, and it didn't explain why the K2 was there, so I let it go.

So when I chose a gun to carry, I just picked the familiar K2, but it seems that the old Kanshi really did carry an AS50...

Of course, since I had guessed that, I had prepared an answer in advance in case I got such a question.

 

 

"I wanted to ask you about that assault rifle ever since I saw it, but I never got the chance. But now..."

 

 

"If things go wrong, we might have to use our guns?"

 

 

"Yes. We might have to engage in a gunfight in the Black Market... It would be terrible if we got hurt fighting with an unfamiliar gun. O-Of course, I'm sure Kanshi has a reason for carrying it!

 

 

I'm actually more familiar with this gun than that huge sniper rifle...

But since the old Kanshi seemed to have used it, I modified my answer a bit to match.

 

 

"An assault rifle is more versatile in normal situations than a sniper rifle. I felt a bit limited by the sniper rifle lately, so I switched to an assault rifle."

 

 

Honestly, I had researched a lot of excuses to say these few words.

This is a game where there are crazy girls who can take the recoil of a sniper rifle with their bare arms.

Look at Iori. She fires a Kar98k with one hand.

But then again, Shun fires a QBU-88 from a stationary position.

 

So at first, I was going to make the excuse, 'A sniper rifle requires a stationary position to fire, so it's difficult to respond to guerrilla warfare...', but then I wondered if the original Kanshi really fired the AS50 from a stationary position. Once I had that doubt, I had to throw away all my common sense and come up with a new excuse.

And since it seemed like she actually carried it around, I ruled out the excuse that it was heavy...

I also ruled out the excuse that it was difficult to carry...

I also ruled out the excuse that it was conspicuous...

 

 

So I erased the various excuses I had written down through brainstorming and combined the remaining ones to create that excuse.

If that didn't work, I was going to use memory loss as a last resort. There was no other answer.

 

 

"I see. Well, an assault rifle is good in various situations. In a place like the Black Market, where you don't know when or where something might happen, an assault rifle would be better... When you're at school, you just carry something light and easy to handle..."

 

 

Honestly, if I had known that I didn't have to bring a gun to school, I wouldn't have brought it.

Since the Blue Archive kids always carry guns, I thought it was mandatory...

It turned out that Azusa was just hardcore. The other kids don't normally carry guns.

But since no one pointed it out, I carried it for two days in a row, and by the time I realized it, it was too late.

 

 

Well, it seems that the original Kanshi also carried a sniper rifle to school.

And most of all, since Hifumi hadn't pointed it out until now, it must have seemed pretty natural.

 

 

Anyway, it was a relief that Hifumi understood and let it go.

If she hadn't, either Hifumi would have lost her memory or I would have lost mine.

I would have had to make her lose her memory (physically) and change it so that I was the one who originally carried this...

 

 

"Whew, I think this is the Black Market!"

 

As we were talking about that, we arrived at a shady alley.

Independent illegal organizations that are out of reach of the General Student Council's control, which may or may not exist. This is the Black Market.

 

 

***********

 

 

"Wow! Finally... I got it! A limited edition Peroro-sama merchandise!"

 

 

The rumor that a limited edition Peroro merchandise was being sold wasn't false, it actually existed.

It wasn't a wasted trip.

 

 

But the way it looks...

Does Hifumi really like anything as long as it's Peroro?

 

 

"Hifumi... are you okay with that?"

 

 

"Yes?"

 

 

"No... it's just that the ice cream is being shoved into its mouth... What is that?"

 

 

"Ah, this? It's a limited edition doll from a collaboration between Peroro-sama and an ice cream franchise! Only 100 were produced, so I gave up when I heard about it while I was at school... I'm so glad I could get it like this!"

 

 

No, that's not what I'm asking...

The Peroro-sama you like looks like it's about to choke to death from eating ice cream...

The combination of Peroro's ahegao(?) and the depiction of the ice cream being forcibly shoved in is a disastrous collaboration that makes it look like Peroro is choking on ice cream and foaming at the mouth...

In short, it was already bizarre, but now it's even creepy.

No... it's fine as long as you like it...

 

 

Come to think of it... 100 of those are being sold...

There are so many people with unusual tastes in this world...

 

 

"Then, now that we've got the Peroro merchandise, shall we go back?"

 

 

"Yes. It would be bad if we stayed here too long and got caught by other people."

 

 

We need to get caught quickly...

The thugs need to find us quickly so that we can meet the Abydos kids while being chased...

I was getting impatient inside as I walked quickly out of the Black Market.

 

 

"Hey, aren't those Trinity students?"

 

 

"They seem to be, judging by their uniforms."

 

 

"If we kidnap them and ask for ransom, we'll get a lot of money, right?"

 

 

The thugs quickly found Hifumi and me, as if the main outline of the story hadn't changed.

In a normal situation, it would have been just a nuisance, but not this time.

They are... gods... they answered my prayers...

Could the thugs who actually showed up when I asked them to, be more of a god than the god in the sky who doesn't make me succeed no matter how much I pray to pass the test?

That was just nonsense.

 

 

"Hifumi... I think we've been spotted..."

 

 

"Awww... I guess it was a mistake to wear my school uniform because I didn't have anything else to wear."

 

 

"Of course, that was a mistake!"

 

 

Honestly, I wanted to point that out while watching the story.

A young lady from Trinity comes to the Black Market secretly, but she's wearing a sailor uniform that screams, 'I'm from Trinity'?

She does have a bit of an airhead side to her.

 

 

"Kanshi, you're wearing a school uniform too!"

 

 

"I also didn't have anything else to wear."

 

 

I got used to wearing the school uniform, but no matter how much I tried, other women's clothes were too much of a hurdle...

Besides, I got into the habit of wearing my school uniform whenever I went out.

 

 

"Besides, Kanshi, you're not even hiding your wings!"

 

 

"Sorry, I don't know how."

 

 

When I listed them, I was more at fault, with 2 for me and 1 for Hifumi.

Sure, a normal person with a cosplay hobby could wear a sailor uniform, but not wings... Wings are like an advertisement that says, 'I'm from Trinity'...

I don't know if a person with a cosplay hobby is a normal person, but they must be closer to the norm than we are.

 

 

"Let's split up for now."

 

 

If we were going to fight, we would have to fight with all our might here to have a chance of winning, but I'm not the one who's going to fight them anyway.

It's the Abydos kids that Hifumi will meet while running away.

For the story to go as planned, it would be best for me to part ways with Hifumi here.

And I just need to run away with all my might.

 

 

There's something I want to check too.

 

 

"Wh-Why?"

 

 

"You know it's dangerous to cause a commotion in the Black Market, right?"

 

 

"Yes, if we cause too much of a commotion, the Black Market's security force will come... Kanshi, you knew about that too?"

 

 

"I did some research."

 

 

While we were talking, the thugs' encirclement was gradually closing in.

There are more of them than before.

What's with these guys, why are there so many of them.

 

 

"So it's better to run away than to fight here. And when it comes to running away, it's better to split up and run in different directions to scatter their forces."

 

 

"I see..."

 

 

"Then let's breakthrough at one point and split up at the intersection!"

 

 

"Okay!"

 

 

Hifumi and I shot at the place where the fewest thugs were gathered, broke through, and ran with all our might.

 

 

"Don't let them get away! They're our source of money! Shoot them so they don't die!"

 

 

Stray bullets fly from behind.

Their aim was so bad that most of the bullets missed, but even so, I couldn't dodge them all.

 

 

A bullet comes flying towards me.

It was too late to dodge.

 

 

The first time in my life that I had been shot at.

I was very afraid of being shot.

In Korea, being shot = death was a given.

No matter how much Blue Archive says that the military-trained high school girls here don't die even when hit by mortars, knowing it in your head is different from the fear that comes from the survival instinct that has been ingrained in your body for decades during your previous life.

Besides, there are always exceptions. I didn't know if the laws of this world would apply to me, who came from another world.

 

 

But today was finally the day.

An event that I should have experienced at some point while living as a Trinity student in this world.

A gunfight.

If the laws of this world apply to me, I will live.

If I'm the exception, I'll die from that bullet.

 

 

The rapid thoughts that passed before being hit by the bullet ended, and the bullet was within reach of my body.

To live or to die. That is the question.

 

 

"Ouch, that stings."

 

 

Not even close.

It just stung a little.

Sometimes, powerful bullets felt like being punched.

I didn't bleed a single drop.

 

 

Ah.

I'm now... a person of this world.

When I became a woman. When I carried guns. Even when I had a halo on my head, I didn't feel it.

But this time, when the halo worked properly and the bullet only stung a little, I could finally feel it.

 

 

The ordinary human Iim Han-ja from my previous life is gone.

Only the character Hayashi Kanshi from the Blue Archive world remains.

 

 

"Haha... I don't have to, worry about dying."

 

 

Although, they say you die if your halo is destroyed.

Honestly, what are the chances that a commoner like me would get caught up in the world's events and have my halo destroyed?

The only time a halo gets destroyed while living in Trinity is during the Arius attack in the Eden Treaty arc.

I'm planning to ignore the difficult stuff like the Eden Treaty and just eat popcorn in the back, so I'm good.

 

 

At the intersection, I parted ways with Hifumi and turned to face the thugs chasing me.

I wanted to test this out.

Whether I can do it or not.

 

 

"What, she stopped."

 

 

"She must have realized that resistance is futile."

 

 

"Hehe, she knows. Let's hurry up and catch her."

 

 

By the way,

Not dying even when shot.

Me carrying a gun.

The feeling of almost no recoil when shooting.

And it's in first person.

 

 

"Should I just do it like an FPS?"

 

 

I know.

That in this world, gunfights are just ordinary violence, like fistfights in the real world.

But to me, it's not a light feeling that can be expressed with the word FPS.

 

The cold feeling of metal in my hand.

It's not a character on a screen, it's a gun in my own hand.

It's not a character controlled by a keyboard, it's my own body that moves according to my thoughts.

And I point that cold metal at the enemies - the thugs.

 

 

It's a different feeling from when I just fired randomly to break through earlier.

At that time, I wasn't aiming at anyone in particular, and I was subconsciously and consciously telling myself that they wouldn't die even if they were shot.

But now it's confirmed.

They don't die when shot.

And I don't die when shot.

 

 

A living human.

A girl of high school age at that.

I do feel some resistance to pointing a gun at her.

But it must be inevitable if I'm going to live in this world.

Because I'm a girl of this world, Hayashi Kanshi.

With that mindset, I erase the resistance from my mind.

 

I wrap it up with the playful word FPS.

 

And

 

I shot a person with my own will.