Section 7: A Small Gift from a Tiny Insect

Fujimaru, Kadoc, and Goredolf are still sleeping. And the other bug is getting things ready, huh.

If I'm going to make some balance adjustments, now would be the time.

Let's see, where did he put the card? Here it is.

Now, I think I just need a Command Spell...

Oh, hello. Are you awake now?

Are you still dreaming or something? There's not so much as a hint of black in this whole outfit.

Was I? Maybe I brushed against it when I woke up myself.

？！

...Okay, enough of the bald-faced lies. I was working on something to help us escape.

It's not much, but while you were all asleep, I did what I could to even the odds.

I can't do anything major like disable this insect space or defeat Kazuradrop herself...

...but I learned enough to influence the rules just a little bit. I'm actually something of a game designer myself, you see.

？！

Nnn... Where are we...?

Looks like we were taken back to the starting point while we were unconscious.

Well, it's probably more accurate to say we passed out from how fast she moved us.

Drat. And after we finally managed to reach the finish line, too.

...Wait! I just remembered!

Five hundred points in total? This must be some kind of joke, right?

How can we possibly be expected to get a perfect score in every single test?

Yeah. I don't think we were wrong to try to aim for high scores while learning the ropes on our first run...

...but I definitely wasn't expecting the bar to be full marks at every checkpoint.

？！

We'll probably be starting the second run pretty soon.

If we keep going like we have been, we'll probably just be wasting time.

What we really need is something to turn the tables in our favor, even just a little.

Fujimaru.

You look like you woke up before us. Did you notice anything different around here?

While we're at it, I don't suppose you happened to think of a way out of this mess?

？！

Really?

It's not much, but it's something. I could tell you what I did...

...but I think it'll be faster if you hear it from the game master herself.

She'll probably show up any minute now. In fact, there she is.

You little insect. This is supposed to be MY game, not yours.

Hey, you were just saying how something needed to change, right?

I was just saving you a bit of work. You're welcome.

There's a big difference between doing it myself and having someone else do it without asking!

I can't easily undo your changes, either, since you clearly spaghettified the code on purpose.

Honestly, the whole thing has me quite upset.

I could clean the codebase up if I dropped my insect space temporarily...

...but doing that would almost surely allow more interlopers to barge in, so that's not an option.

...Meaning I have no choice but to implement your changes. Between that and this whole situation, I'm in a truly rotten mood.

Really? I'm sorry. It wasn't on purpose. I've never been much good with delicate magecraft like that.

...No matter. It is what it is. I'll just work with what I have and keep things moving along.

Now then, everyone, I have an announcement. I'm updating the system for the second round onward.

Namely, I'm introducing a new help card mechanic.

？！

From now on, you'll be able to acquire blank cards you can find throughout the sugoroku game.

You can then mix those cards with your simple summons to create adviser Servant cards.

Ooh! I'm not sure what you're talking about, but you're saying that in addition to Oberonand I'm still not sure if he's taking this seriously or not...

...we'll be able to call on new Servants for our bodyguard detail as well!?

Did you not hear the "adviser" part? Please hold your questions until I'm finished explaining.

These help cards will only be useful in the context of this sugoroku game.

You won't be summoning anyone who can physically help you, like that other insect.

Think of them as a Servant support hotline in card form.

I wanted to make it so we could summon a Servant with a Noble Phantasm powerful enough to blow this whole world away...

...but the rules pertaining to that sort of thing were hard-coded so as to prevent exactly that.

But hey, at least being able to talk with them is a good compromise, right?

I'm sure you would've developed a similar system even if I hadn't done anything.

...That smile of yours is an expertly crafted facade. It's honestly downright chilling.

Still, I'll admit it's a fair adjustment to the rules, so I'll overlook your interference just this once!

I have some questions about these cards.

Where can we get them? And how many can we get?

Well, I'm certainly not going to tell you where they are. It wouldn't be much of a game if you didn't look for them yourself.

As for how many, you can acquire up to three.

Incidentally, you can also only use one card per checkpoint, and once a card is used, it's gone forever.

So don't expect to be using the same card at every checkpoint.

Hmm, so we only have three chances to use one of these help cards across all five checkpoints. We'll need to choose carefully then.

I wanted to make the limit five cards...

...but since I used your Command Spell system as a blueprint for the codebase, three was the most I could do.

？！

Of course there are going to be limits. There's no way a game that's too easy could produce a perfect father.

So make the most of these new cards, and this time, really try your best to become perfect papas.

You'll need to choose the time and place carefully, but if you pick the right fathers to get advice from...

...you should be able to improve your chances of getting a passing score.

Oh! I almost forgot. It goes without saying that BB or any of the other Sakura Five are off-limits!

That's the one part I quickly edited to make sure any attempts to summon them as cards would be rejected.

I can tell you right now, there's no way any advice from them will help you get any closer to being a perfect papa!

Hmm. Well, we've still got our work cut out for us, getting a hundred in each of the different tests, but

Yeah. At least we have a better chance now that we're not just figuring out how things work, like we were last time.

？！

Don't celebrate just yet, Fujimaru. I don't expect this will be enough to get us out on its own.

You guys are like lost children shivering in the woods at night. All I did was drop some flint.

What you do with that flint, and whether you can turn it into something truly useful, is entirely up to you.

I really do want to escape though, so I was hoping you'd push through...well, with my help!

Good! Then let's get back in the car and get this latest round started.

If we have to become perfect fathers to escape this world, then that's exactly what we're going to do!