A Serious Error in Chihaya-chan’s Reputation – Volume 1 – Chapter 5

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓: 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

“It’s hot, hot.”

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While holding a rice ball, Chihaya watches the pot. It doesn’t seem to be in danger of boiling over.

This time, the task that Chihaya has undertaken, 『Collecting secandia apples』, won’t be finished in half a day. The risk of wild animals was felt during the last transport request, so parking the Actanoid while eating is scary.

Hence, rice balls that can be eaten with one hand are carried to the basement.

During meal times, the Actanoid probably looks like a storyteller from a distance, but since this request is being taken alone, there’s no need to worry about it.

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Chihaya puts salmon rice balls and the like into a container and carries them downstairs. Although there’s air conditioning, there’s still a bit of anxiety, so the container is placed in a mini-fridge, and a bottle of tea is taken out.

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“A, Alright, let’s do this.”

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Holding the bottle aloft and psyching herself up, Chihaya eagerly puts on gloves and other equipment.

She steps on a pressure-sensitive mattress and places a printed map of the New World on the desk under the monitor. It’s a map tracing the route to the destination with a red line.

She accesses the All-Rounder, which is lent out by the New World Resources Agency, and checks the condition of the craft.

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To prevent the introduction of unknown microorganisms, there are restrictions on the movement of materials between Earth and the other world, so Actanoid parts often become scarce in the New World. Therefore, cannibalistic maintenance, borrowing some parts from damaged Actanoids to reassemble into one, has become commonplace.

The rental machine is exactly a continually cannibalized craft, with uneven wear on parts. The reaction speed is affected, so it’s painful if you don’t check the condition in advance.

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“The neck is stiff. . . . . .Is this child sleeping wrong?”

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The All-Rounder that Chihaya has borrowed makes an unpleasant creaking noise when it tries to tilt its head to the right.

She looks at the image from the shoulder’s sub-camera on the right side. There doesn’t seem to be a problem here. She’ll have to rely on the sub-camera if the neck doesn’t turn to the right.

She checks the standard equipment of the rental machine, such as the assault rifle 『Breakthrough』, and the number of grenades.

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“And now, the wire.”

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The metal wire is a convenient tool for various purposes. It can be used to lift the Actanoid by driving it into the cliff top, or to secure and transport logs. Using the attached wire cutter, you can cut it to a suitable length and create a simple position.

For the often-delayed Actanoid due to lag and packet loss, the tactic of trapping wild animals with wire and shooting them with firearms is common.

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“. . . . . .Departure.”

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Despite the nerves of her first solo request, Chihaya deployed the All-Rounder.

She puts her weight on the mattress and accelerates all at once.

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The scenery of the New World was fresh, but she quickly grew bored just standing on the mattress. She’s thinking about playing music or listening to video streaming as a radio substitute when she sees a machine running toward him from the direction of travel with fierce momentum.

A high-speed Actanoid with spring legs, easily exceeding two hundred kilometers per hour.

It’s a type of Sprinter Actanoid called Leaf Sprinter.

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The Leaf Sprinter slows down when it notices Chihaya’s All-Rounder, putting its hand on a handgun slung on its hip, probably the piercing bullet-shooting gun called 『Rock Driller』.

It touches the gun but doesn’t draw it, quickly returning to speed.

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“New guy, be a bit more alert.”

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The Leaf Sprinter calls out through its built-in speaker as it passes by.

There’s no crisis, and no animals to be seen on the camera.

Moreover, how did it know she was a new recruit?

It’s strange, but she can’t think of why.

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“Why?”

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Even though she mutters, the speedy Leaf Sprinter is already the size of a tiny bean. There’s no way her voice could reach.

The question was soon answered.

At a base on the way to the destination, Wagawa Garage, where she purchased a transport backpack and spare batteries, she was pointed out by the shopkeeper’s All-Rounder.

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“Standing upright on a pressure-sensitive mattress looks awkward when running, and it immediately gives away that you’re an amateur, so it’s better to swing your arms or switch to automatic running.”

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As long as you’re moving with motion capture, if you don’t swing your arms, the All-Rounder will run with arms affixed to the sides of the body. Precisely because it has a human shape, it feels very unnatural. Moreover, it’s blatantly obvious that you are operating it on a mattress.

Perhaps the bizarre way of running caused suspicion and made someone reach for their gun.

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With a chill, Chihaya redeploys the All-Rounder carrying the transport backpack.

This time, it’s in a jogging style, with arms tightened, fists lightly clenched, and positioned by the sides of the torso.

It’s subtly tiring.

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“Um, all I need to do is go up this river, following it upstream. . . . . .this river?”

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A map without the ability to read it. Since there is no GPS in the New World, Chihaya starts moving up the river after repeatedly comparing the map and the terrain.

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“Ugh, isn’t there a map app?”

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Upon checking the smartphone, there was a minor map app for Actanoid. However, since it’s based on pre-mapped data and does not have the map data for the Wagawa area, it seems to be of no use at present.

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As you continue to head upstream, the mountain range starts to come into view. The Wagawa upstream mountain range, largely covered with snow, is the destination.

The Secandia Apple is the fruit of a tree that grows above the middle of the mountain, and it does not bear fruit unless there is snow.

With the knowledge prepared through a reference app, the All-Rounder speeds up towards the place where the trees grow in clusters.