NBAA Vol. 8 Chapter 7 Part 2 (END)

When Reito regained consciousness, the first thing he saw was a blank field of vision. It was a space covered in mist, and he had no sense of the ground.

“Whoa, what’s this?! Hey, but this place… I feel like I’ve seen it before somewhere…”

Reito was surprised, but he hadn’t been thrown into an unfamiliar place, and he certainly felt that this place was familiar.

It was very similar to the place he had visited a dozen years ago, before he was born as Reito Baltros.

Reito immediately looked around his surroundings.

“Could this be?”

“Hehehe… I’ve finally become able to draw you into this world.”

A voice that sounded strangely familiar came from behind him. Reito turned around, and there was a girl there. She was not much older than Shizune and Kotomin, and was probably around the same age as Reito when he was living in the real world. A girl with silver-white hair stood there.

“You mean…?!”

“I was finally able to show my appearance. Well, my appearance is artificial, but… this is the first time we’ve met and talked properly.”

“Airis?”

The girl’s voice was definitely that of Airis, whom Reito had heard every time he communicated. She approached him with a smile.

“Honemi… Airis!!”

“Hey!! You were about to blurt out someone else’s name just because my tone of voice sounds similar, weren’t you? Seriously…”

When Reito tried to approach the girl who had appeared, his floating body moved on its own and headed towards the girl who seemed to be Airis.

“Whoa… what’s going on?”

“This is a pseudo-space I created, or to put it simply, a dream world. Our souls are more easily aligned, so I summoned you, Reito.”

“A dream world… is it a Stand* ability?!” (TLN: JoJo reference?)

“No!! It’s a similar ability!!”

“Ouch!”

Airis poked Reito’s head.

It seemed that in this space, she could also touch him.

At first, his body was just floating, but now Reito could move freely according to his will.

“Oh, I’m floating. Is it zero gravity?”

“Well, there’s no concept of gravity, but if you think about moving normally and focus on the ground, that’s how it will work.”

“Just like normal… oh.”

Reito strongly thought that there was ground under his feet. Then, a solid sensation spreaded to his feet, and he was able to stand normally. A white floor that was invisible before spreaded out, and he stepped on it repeatedly to check his footing.

“In this world, you can create anything you can imagine. So even in an empty space like this… look, I can create a desk and a chair.”

“Wow, that’s amazing!”

“I’ll prepare the food.”

A large table and chairs appeared in front of the two, with pizza and drinks on top of it. It seemed to be something Airis had created. Even though it was a dream world, their senses still existed, so they could feel the fragrant smell and heat of the pizza.

“It looks delicious. But is it safe to eat?”

“Please, please, you can eat as much as you want here.”

“Itadakimasu!”

It was a food that is rarely found in this world. Reito happily ate the pizza and drank the juice. Tasting the food of his previous life for the first time in a long time, he exclaimed.

“Yes, it’s delicious. But why am I here… No way. Did I die? The cause of death was Suramin on my face while I was sleeping and I suffocated⁉” 

“You don’t want to die in such a pathetic way… That’s why I called you, Reito, saying that this is a dream world.” 

“But why did I come here so suddenly? Was it because you were lonely?” 

“Well, that’s one thing, but in this world we can talk without burdening you. Come on, let’s play a game and talk.” 

Airis sat opposite Reito and pulled out a handheld game console from somewhere. It was the game console that Reito loved to use in his previous life, and the screen displayed the title of the game he used to play a lot in middle school. 

“Oh, that brings back memories. I used to play this a lot.” 

“There’s a time limit, but here, any wish of yours can be granted, so please enjoy yourself.”

“They’ve got everything you could ever want…” 

The two of them talked while playing the game console in their hands. Reito, who never expected to meet Airis in this way, asked her various questions.

“If this is a dream world, is it different from the place between the two worlds?”

“Yes. It is definitely a different space. By the way, the concept of time is the same as in the real world, so if someone wakes you up, you will be forced to leave this world.”

“I see. Anyway, from now on, I can play with Airis every day.”

“No, I managed to catch your wavelength this time, but I can’t summon you that many times. I can only do this about once a week.”

“I see… Well, it would be tiring to be summoned every time I go to sleep.”

“I don’t mind playing every day. This is the first time I’ve played with someone like this since Aira.”

“It’s confusing, so call her Honemin.”

“No, Aira is the real Aira originally… it’s confusing.”

According to Airis, the only person who has visited this world other than Reito was Honemin (Aira Hazuki). Honemin was also confused when she first came to this world, but like Reito, she quickly adapted and played to her heart’s content.

“Damn, it’s been so long that I forgot how to play… Ah, don’t place a bomb before setting a trap!”

“It’s okay. You’ll remember as you play… Ah, wait! That cat is my companion!”

“Oh, sorry. It died… What, it’s not dead?”

“Ah… It’s something created from your imagination. You can continue infinitely, and if you feel like it… See, you can kill the boss on your own.”

“It’s a buggy game!”

“What can you do? What you think becomes reality!”

Letting go of the game console that was too convenient for the player, Reito sighed and drank his juice, but for some reason he realized that his stomach wasn’t full. No matter how much pizza or juice he ate or drank, it didn’t seem to get any less, and new food and drinks were always prepared on the table.

He remembered the words, “You can create things as you imagine them.” If he willed it, the lost food and drink would be endlessly produced, and he could keep eating forever without feeling full.

“How about it? Do you understand my struggles now?”

“I understand very well… a world where everything is too convenient is certainly boring.”

“Right? It’s an unreasonable world where having everything go your way is inconvenient.”

As Airis sipped her tea, she told Reito about her struggles.

Unless she had work, she was always bored. That’s why, in order to experience the inconveniences, she connected with Reito in a world where things didn’t go his way. And so, she dedicated herself to being someone who only gave him advice, and enjoyed his actions from a third-person perspective.

“To be honest, the main reason I’ve been helping you up until now has been for my own enjoyment. When you’re enjoying games, manga, or anime, have you ever thought about telling the main characters what you’re thinking? Have you ever wanted to help a character who’s in trouble?”

“Well, I have, but…”

Reito agreed with Airis.

Being in a world where everything was at her fingertips, Airis had never been able to have anything but inconvenience. She was born in a world where she could have anything she wanted, but she couldn’t have the one thing she really wanted. 

“When Reito didn’t follow my instructions, I was frustrated but also happy. Because there is no one in this world who can defy me. But in another world, Reito can treat me as an equal. That made me happy and fun, but sometimes it was frustrating.”

“Airis…”

“Reito, please don’t forget this. Regardless of the past, I only help you because I like you. You’re not just a tool for my entertainment, you’re my friend.”

“Thank you.”

Reito smiled upon hearing Airis’ words. Then he stood up and said he was about to return to the real world.

“I’m going now.”

“Are you leaving already?”

“Yeah, it’s fun here too… but after all, that world is where I’m from.”

“I see…”

Airis smiled with a disappointed look on her face, and finally hugged Reito tightly.

“Don’t forget, a harsh fate awaits you, Reito. But I’ll always be on your side. Let’s overcome these difficulties together and have the best happy ending ever!!”

“Happy ending… huh, that sounds like a game to the end.”

“Life is the best game after all.”

“I can’t deny it.”

Reito smiled wryly at Airis’ words and vowed to continue living in reality with her.

◆◆◆

When he woke up from his dream, his head was hazy and he couldn’t remember what he was dreaming about.

However, he was strangely filled with a sense of relief and reached for his Extermination Blade leaning against the wall.

“Now, let’s go, partner.”

With the Extermination Blade in his hands, Reito had a refreshing look on his face and headed towards his friends.

(NBAA Vol. 8 End)

+++++++

Hi everyone! The final chapter of NBAA has been posted, and according to the author, this marks the end of NBAA as a light novel series. From here on out, the story will continue as a web novel.

After translating 8 volumes, we’ve decided not to continue with the web novel version. One of the main reasons is that the protagonist, Reito, is called Rena in the web novel. There are so many differences between the two versions that continuing would mean compromising the quality of our translations—and we’re not willing to do that.

As for what’s next, we’re still exploring options for a new project. If you have any novel suggestions, feel free to send them our way—we’d love to hear them! Cheers, Nell

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