Episode 6: Witch Bell


    "Ise-kun ..."


    She gave a really small wave of her hand at me, I felt very relieved,


    "1st Year Class B, Ise Shouta-kun. You''re Izumo-san''s classmate, aren''t you."


    While I was stunned, it seemed that the application for joining the club was stolen by the Senpai with a princess cut.


    "Ah, yes. Umm ..."


    "I''m Katori Suzune from Class 2-A. I''m the head of this club. Nice to meet you."


    "You too."


    As expected, when a Senpai asked for a handshake, I couldn''t help but respond.


    I couldn''t run away from this now ...


    "Now, look around the clubroom again."


    I remembered that it was like that, and when I looked around the clubroom again ...


    Eh, is this the top-of-the-line PC(Personal Core) and also VRHMD!? Does that mean, I can play IRO?


    No, no, it''s not at a level that could be procured with normal club expenses, right. It''s the same as the state-of-the-art PC & VRHMD I got for my high school entrance celebration.


    "Well, it seems that the club fees are high, so I would like to decline ..."


    "What are you talking about. We don''t collect club fees or equipment fees from students. I paid for this with the club budget I got from the school and the money I got from club activities."


    From club activities? You got that? Ha??


    Seeing that my brain went blank, Katori-buchou continued.(TN:Buchou is the head of a club. Head Katori or Katori Head sounds just plain wrong.)


    "Well, I have to talk about it as long as I have you join, but don''t tell other people."


    After saying that and taking a deep breath,


    "My online name is ''Bell''. I''m the virtual idol ''Witch Bell'' in the game."


    "Haa, I see ... What, eeeeehhhhh!!"


    There were many live-game virtual idols, but over the past year the number of fans had increased rapidly, and ''Witch Bell'' had risen to the top of the rankings.


    Of course, I couldn''t say that to anyone else. It''s only natural that I won''t talk about the person inside ...(TN:Person inside is the real-life person being portrayed as the virtual idol.)


    Someone''s hand stroked my head, who had crumbled down. Or rather, Izumo-san.


    Izumo-san, did you know this before you came here. No, I can''t imagine how Izumo-san would express her surprise ...


    However, if that was the case, I could understand why the PC(Personal Core)s and VRHMDs in the clubroom were the latest.


    I guess she gave back the money she earned from her activities - like tips and advertising income - as club expenses.


    "Understood ... I won''t talk about the person inside ..."


    "Good."


    There were a lot of things I wanted to ask her in detail, but I understood the gist of it.


    I slowly stood up and thanked Izumo-san.


    "It''s fine ..."


    "I''m glad you two know each other. Izumo-san, doesn''t seem to be good at socializing."


    Yeah, I think so too, but would you say that in front of the person in question? Well, Izumo-san was nodding her head.


    "Now then, Ise-kun, please sit somewhere suitable.


    Izumo-san was sitting across from Katori buchou''s seat, which had already been customized in various ways.


    There were two seats left, so I sat next to Izumo-san for the time being. It was kind of scary to be next to the Buchou ...


    "Alright, here you are."


    I wondered if there was even a refrigerator among the equipment, what was placed on Izumo-san''s desk was ... Isn''t that Enadori tea!


    "Th, thank you."


    I tried to return it with a slightly cramped smile, but it seemed that Katori buchou didn''t really understand at all. She''s tough to beat.


    Also, Izumo-san, I wonder if it''s okay to drink Enadori. I''m worried that the tension will suddenly change ...


    "Now then, regarding the club''s main activities, but before I explain ... You both have a WearID, right?"


    WearID is a wearer''s unique number for PC & VRHMD.


    The Rokujou Group took the initiative to unify the many standards that existed in the early days of Full Dive and unified them into a single common standard. WearID was assigned to link personal data based on the common standard with the person himself/herself.(TN:Rokujou could also be Mujou, I don''t know which it actually is.)


    If you''ve ever used a game or software that used a PC & VRHMD, you''ve definitely created a WearID before ...


    "I have."


    "Yes ..."


    Does Izumo-san have one too ... So, if you want to join this club, do you have one.


    "That''s good. The initial settings are troublesome. Well then, let''s move to a WearID exchange meeting between club members."


    Ah, oh no. If I exchange WearIDs, won''t it be found out that I''m playing IRO alone?


    No, no, I don''t have to stream after today! Originally, I didn''t intend to gather people for a stream, so it''s okay!


    Katori-buchou put on the VRHMD and started up in Real View mode. This was a mode in which only the system window was displayed via holo so that you could recognize the real world.


    As she urged me and Izumo-san with a ''Hurry up'' expression, I braced myself and put on the VRHMD.


    After a short startup sound, the iris authentication ran and I successfully logged in with my WearID. The display name ''Shou'' was a common name in the world, so it''s okay.


    "Well, I''ll send you a friend request, my best regards."


    Katori-buchou pointed her right hand at me and her left at Izumo-san. That was because when you send a friend request to a person nearby, there was a procedure to point the palm of the hand to the VRHMD that the person was wearing.


    By the way, since Katori-buchou was ''Witch Bell'', then a fairly famous person would be registered as a friend. If an enthusiastic fan found out about it, I''d get stabbed ...


    A popping sound was heard, and a friend request dialog appeared in front of me.


    [ Accept the friend request of the nearby user ''Bell''? ]


    I pressed ''Yes'' without hesitation. If I pressed ''No'' here, it would be troublesome since it would go to the blacklist once. It''s a trap that would hurt you by doing it as a joke.


    ''Bell'' was displayed at the top of my online friends list on the right. I could customize the display if I had friends with the same name, but it wasn''t necessary for now.


    "Then, from Ise-kun to Izumo-san."


    "Got it."


    I sent a friend request to Izumo-san with my right hand. But, Izumo-san was frozen?


    "Huh? Did I not send it?"


    "Ah, no ..."


    I heard a ''Poron'' sound of the friend request being accepted, so I checked my friend list.


    Then I stiffened. The name ''Mion'' was there ...