Original subtitles

Just after 2 a.m...

in my room where I live alone...

‪COOLING PADS

sits a high-school boy I met through gaming...

and myself with a 37,8-degrees-Celsius fever.

‪ORIGINAL STORY BY MASHIRO

I was fast asleep last night.

I'm sorry I didn't notice your call.

Will this be enough to survive for a week?

Momo, you're a goddess.

Really though, Akane...

Whenever you get a fever, it always escalates.

YOU NEED TO EXERCISE MORE...

You've got no stamina at all.

-TAKE OUT WHAT YOU WANT TO CHILL -OKAY

-Did you see a doctor? -Uh, yeah.

Yamada took me to a hospital with a night-time clinic.

I plan to go again tomorrow.

OH, NICE... SHE BOUGHT MEAT TOO!

Huh?

Oh, right.

-Yamada came to check on me yesterday. -He what...?!

You didn't start dating without telling me?

Of course not! We're just friends.

He really is a nice guy.

Hold it... that sounds like...

Never mind. I'll wait until she's better.

DISPLAY OF COMPASSION

That's all for now.

I'll be heading home then.

Thank you! I'll get some money, so wait here.

Is there really a man

who'd go that far for a woman he doesn't like?

I doubt it,

but I don't know anything about Yamada's personality

and Akane seems to have set herself

high hurdles for love since her break up.

I UNDERSTAND HOW SHE FEELS THOUGH

I ADDED A LITTLE EXTRA

THANKS

Okay, I'm off.

Akane, if anything comes up, tell me right away.

Oh, and timing is everything when it comes to romance.

Huh? Oh, yeah.

Right.

As long as you understand.

Bye!

TEXT FROM AKITO YAMADA

THANKS FOR TODAY. FEELING OKAY?

SORRY, JUST SAW THIS. I'M FINE.

WELL, THAT'S GOOD TO HEAR.

I have to make it up to him when I'm better.

What would he like?

MESSAGE HISTORY: AKITO YAMADA, MOMOKO MAEDA, AYU, PRINCESS RURI, MOM

Is your cold okay?

I can log in this weekend.

Let's game together when you're better!

-I MISS YOU! -AWW...

Runa!

Now that you mention it, I wonder if Runa logged in yesterday.

I was supposed to join her in saying hello to the new member.

I haven't even met her yet.

I'm tired from studying,

maybe I'll play FOS for a while.

I doubt Runa or Yamada are online,

but maybe Princess Ruri and Mr. Kamota are.

I'd love to go hunting together!

SYSTEM: AKANE HAS LOGGED IN

I haven't raised my level recently.

I want to make up for lost time!

Oh, it's Akane!

Oh, it's the new member I've heard about!

This is our new member, Tsubaki!

Nice to meet you! I'm Akane!

I'm a level 55 paladin!

I'm Tsubaki. Nice to meet you.

I've only just started playing.

I was just talking with Tsubaki about exploring the map.

But since you're here, Akane, why don't we all go hunting?

Sounds great!

Huh?

I'm still learning how to fight.

I'd just be a burden to you.

Since you're a paladin,

you should learn from Akane!

You're a paladin too, Tsubaki?

Are most people mages?

Everyone around here is a mage with demon-like fire power.

Plus, they all have higher defense than me.

Sometimes, I wonder

why I chose this class in the first place.

I mean, the game says Paladins are the recommended class for beginners.

That may be,

but I believe paladins are powerful when they reach high levels.

They're the only class

that can challenge end game bosses on their own.

Sounds fun.

I like a good challenge.

I GUESS EVERYONE HAS A DIFFERENT APPROACH

Wow! She's great!

Even so, I've heard the combat system is difficult...

Don't worry!

Leave it to me!

I'd better set a good example.

I'd better not get in their way.

Mom!

My donuts are missing!

Well then, shall we depart?

Have you looked over your equipment?

Yes.

Yes.

What a beautiful blue sky!

Princess Ruri loves the graphics for the sky in this game!

It might be my favorite part of FOS.

What do you two think?

I'm a little busy right now!

-Strike! -Shield!

Um, rather than admiring the scenery, how about helping us out?

This monster is really tough!

If Ruri attacks, it'll be an instant kill.

This isn't one of the tougher bosses. Just do your best!

You can't be serious.

It has so much HP,

there are four bars!

ORDINARY ENEMY

DAMAGE METER

The damage you inflict

is less than the monster's natural healing ability. It's so funny!

PRINCESS RURI'S HATRED FROM PALADINS INCREASES 2X!

Watch out, here it comes.

Darn it!

-Strike! -But then...

Strike!

NATURAL HEALING POWERS

It's true.

At this rate, attacks are useless.

Thanks to the Guild Master's healing magic,

we won't die, but...

‪TSUBAKI ‪AKANE

Our HP drains fast!

If you use a little strategy,

the two of you should be more than capable of defeating it.

Oh, I think I understand!

We may need to mash our skill buttons!

IS THAT WHAT SHE MEANT BY STRATEGY?

I've already been pushing them repeatedly.

Let's try it.

We'll mash to our deaths.

One, two, three...

MASH

THE MASTER SENSES SOMETHING

SINCE THE CHAT HAS GONE QUIET

GROAN

They must be really mashing their buttons.

Would you like a hint?

Wait!

-I think I've figured it out. -For real?

Maybe... don't say anything yet.

Sure thing!

HINT, PLEASE!

AFTER WHAT FELT LIKE 500 MILLION YEARS

My fingers are numb.

Mine too.

But in the second half,

we got its HP down pretty low, right?

It was almost as if there was a specific time when attacks were effective.

Right!

When it spread its wings!

Maybe we need to inflict damage efficiently in those moments.

Which means we save our mashing for then!

Do you mind if we check each other's skills?

Sure! Let's look over our equipment too.

They're friends already.

TSUBAKI: MY ARMOR IS RUINED. I'M GONNA TAKE A BREAK.

AKANE: I'M GOING TO LOG OFF! BYE!

PRINCESS RURI: OKAY! THANKS! GOOD WORK!

PRINCESS RURI: I'LL REPAIR YOUR ARMOR, TSUBAKI.

TSUBAKI: THANK YOU, AKANE.

TSUBAKI: TAKING MY ARMOR OFF NOW.

Her name's Akane and she's in my guild.

Which means she's probably the one.

AKANE HAS SENT YOU A FRIEND REQUEST

She was pretty easy to talk to.

ARE YOU AWAKE?

YES.

AKANE CALLING

Hello?

Yeah.

Huh?

The Evil Dimitar?

What is this about?

The monster you encounter in the field,

right after leaving the FOS starter town.

The one with four bars of HP.

You mean a randomly appearing boss?

Yeah, like that!

Princess Ruri said the same thing.

Have you ever defeated it?

I haven't fought many bosses of that rank.

I see...

I was wondering if there was a secret to beating it.

Well...

If it has a gimmick,

you should adjust your maneuvers to that.

THE EVIL DIMITAR

A gimmick?

Like moments when attacks are ineffective or something.

There are many patterns.

Right! Yeah, that happened!

What should I do in those moments?

Buff?

Oh, I see!

So, do you like our guild?

USING WEAVING SKILL TO FIX ARMOR

Akane's easy to talk to, right?

Uh, yeah.

Everyone's been nice.

I'm quite relieved.

To the point that I feel guilty.

Why's that?

In the past...

I wasn't really interested in this game.

You could say I joined your guild for more selfish reasons.

And yet, now...

I'm no longer sure what it was that I even wanted to do.

Are you all right? If you have a problem, Ruri's happy to listen!

TSUBAKI: THERE'S NOTHING

TSUBAKI: TO TALK ABOUT.

I've merely been watching. That's all.

I've done nothing more

than watch in fear.

There's nothing to it.

I just don't have the courage to act.

THERE'S NOTHING TO TALK ABOUT?

SHE DOESN'T HAVE THE COURAGE TO ACT?

Umm... I'm not sure what this is about,

but what if you try acting first?

If there's something you want to do,

couldn't you just give it a try?

If you wait for courage or motivation, you could wait forever!

Sometimes, you have to act first!

If there's something you want to change...

And then...

Oh no, look at the time.

Sorry, I've been rambling on and on.

-You must be tired. -Yeah.

My hand got so numb, I switched to Bluetooth.

Honest as always, huh?

In the end, what was it that you wanted to ask?

Oh...

Well, it's more like...

I wanted to hear your voice.

That's all. Bye!

AKANE CALL TERMINATED

M... My hands...

are shaking.

Momo?

Thanks for earlier.

Is this a good time?

Well, you see...

There's something I want to talk about, after all.

MOMO: HERE'S A CAFE I WANT TO GO TO

CAN WE TALK THERE?

-TOMORROW AT 11. -OKAY

Here, huh?

CUTE PLACE

I never noticed this place.

Anyway...

what I wanted to talk about on the phone was...

Why...?

Why do you think he dumped me?

Your order, please.

I'd like souffle pancakes and an iced tea.

-She'll be fine with water. -You're awful!

SOUFFLE PANCAKES

Same as her, please!

Pancakes and iced tea, two items for each of you.

Akane, I'm disappointed in you.

But why?!

There's something I want to talk about.

For real?! Oh, but wait!

I want to talk in person!

Somewhere we can sit down!

FINALLY!

While I waited a whole week for your cold to mend,

I could barely contain myself

and I only went on three blind dates.

And yet, when I finally get to hear you out,

the idiocy of your conversation starter exceeded my wildest imagination.

Such a disappointment.

Three times in a week sounds like a lot to me.

And here I thought I'd be treated to some fun romantic talk!

Let me finish, okay?

These days, I wonder about something.

And I mean this

in terms of my love life...

In order for me to move forward,

if there's something majorly wrong with me, I want to fix it.

It could be that I'm just unaware.

Maybe I have some terrible habits!

Where did you get that idea?

When I think it's possible that I have some fatal flaw

that will ruin any romantic relationship I try, I get so scared...

There's nothing.

If I'd known I would worry like this later,

should I have abandoned my pride

and asked Takuma the reason?

Um, I don't think...

NOT A GOOD IDEA...

Welcome!

What's this?

Um, excuse me, gentlemen...

I thought I saw someone cute, and it turns out to be Momo!

What a coincidence!

-Excuse me... -Wh... Who's he?

-A guy from a blind date. -We're fine!

-Um, sir... -He couldn't keep his hands to himself...

-I really... -And I left right away.

Just who is setting up these blind dates for you?

Friends of friends of friends...

Mind if I sit here?

No way!

And hello to your lovely friend.

-What'll you have? -I'm really sorry.

I'll take care of this,

so just ignore them!

Aren't you being a bit pushy?

Momo is clearly bothered.

Right? We're such a nuisance, us two.

Say, Momo!

You fled without paying, didn't you?

I gave my money to the organizer.

Oh? That's not what I heard.

Did you ask her directly?

Who cares? It was a few drinks.

Let's try and get along.

At this rate, they're not gonna leave.

Say Momo, you sure smell nice!

-No way! Too close! -Excuse me!

Sorry to keep you waiting.

Here are your souffle pancakes and ice tea.

Wait... Was this a table of four?

-Eita! -Sasaki! Actually, that table...

Oh my.

We know each other, so...

Don't worry about it!

EITA! HELP!

A GUILD MEMBER'S PLEADING EYES

Excuse me, sir. I apologize,

but I can't allow you to trouble our other customers.

I'll happily guide you to another table.

We're fine here.

I apologize,

but I can't allow you to trouble our other customers.

Please move to another table.

-I told you, we're... -Your cooperation is appreciated.

Oh, Eita! Thanks!

What a coincidence!

You startled me! I didn't notice it was you.

I noticed you though.

Say something then!

It was more fun staying quiet.

They know each other?

Excuse me...

I'm sorry for causing trouble for your establishment.

Not at all.

Man, what a surprise!

Thank god Eita was here, huh?

That is one hot guy.

-Eita's in my FOS guild too. -Oh my!

Seriously? Him too?!

Yeah! He's the Guild Master.

That game you play offers better dreams than blind dates, huh?

I'm starting to feel like a fool.

I'M NOT SO SURE ABOUT THAT.

Momo...

Back to what we were talking about...

Good work, today.

You too!

Oh, hey Sasaki! Got a moment?

Huh? Afraid not.

Why, you ask? Because I'm done for the day.

It's not about work!

All of us on the afternoon shift are going to karaoke later.

Want to come?

Since you helped me out, it's my treat.

My little sister is waiting for me. No can do!

Sister complex!

How rude!

I just happen to love her too much.

So, a sister complex.

You even admit it!

Bye now!

Hey, Eita!

Huh? You two are still here?

What are you doing?

There's nothing in this area.

We were waiting for you, Eita!

Oh my! Waiting for Ruri?

That's his personality?!

There's something I want to tell you.

Do you have time?

Shall we go then?

Have you looked over your equipment?

-Yes. -Yes!

I'd better set a good example.

Equipment...

SEARCHING INVENTORY

Wait a minute,

isn't your equipment a bit different from mine, Tsubaki?

How cool! Are those rare items?

Uh, not exactly...

SHE GOT THEM EASILY ON THE MAIN QUEST

Come on! Tell me how you found them!

I didn't "find them" or anything.

-On my first quest, I... -Yeah? Go on!

On the contrary, players like Akane who've maxed out

their default equipment are super rare.

I'M JEALOUS

MAX DEFAULT EQUIPMENT MAX GRAPHICS CARD

Subtitle translation by: Brad Plumb