Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

A Monday afternoon at school…

All classes for the day had ended, but just like the previous time with Kou and Hijiri, this time Kasumi and Reo stayed behind to get their measurements taken. The others had nothing to do in the meantime…and they wanted to discuss what had happened recently, so Kou, Hijiri, and Subaru went to the game club.

“I see… I was starting to think it was odd how quiet Belial had been recently. It figures she would show up there.”

Suzaku calmly listened as they related everything that happened in Garland Citadel, and only spoke when they were done.

“Yeah. Who knows what she’s planning now, but she might be hiding in one of the unexplored places of the southwestern area.”
“The southwestern area, you say…”

He frowned as he listened to it all, clearly not pleased.

“…And there’s also all of the tension around the Starting City. I was planning on taking Da’at with me to one of the newly established towns in the southwestern areas.”
“Hm? What do you mean? Did something happen in Wyndham?”
“Yeah. Though it’s just an issue created by players.”

Suzaku’s shoulders drooped as he spoke about it, showing it was not a pretty story.

“There’s been some unrest amongst the guilds keeping order in those areas.”
“Unrest?”
“Yes… They’re claiming that since they’re the ones watching over the areas for beginners, all of the players there should be paying back by supporting the guilds and stuff…”

While Hijiri seemed to struggle to follow Suzaku’s story, Haru was sipping on tea while listening attentively.

It was starting to become common to see members of those guilds going around trying to coerce the beginners, using their supposed protection as leverage.

It was reminiscent of ancient stories like the Stanford Prison Experiment (which is still debated to be fake), so it was not fully out of the question that players who began with good intentions would turn abusive.

While it was worth looking into, Suzaku and Haru looked especially worried.

“Maybe it’s just a lot of pent up complaints rearing their ugly heads.”
“And don’t forget that Suzaku here was given the title of Hero. He’s been enduring a lot of complaints too, like people harassing him for not doing anything while the Demon Lords take over everything one-sidedly in the first server.”
“But all the humans in our server are a bunch of spineless freaks.”
“Ahahah, somehow all the charismatic players who’ve been around for a while are all demons.”

A second server had opened for the game, where the ratio of players was roughly equal between humans and demons, and they were constantly embroiled in faction wars.

But in the first server, things were different. Crim and the other Demon Lords had quickly established the biggest territories, covering most of the continent…which meant there was peace across much of the land.

Even Kou had heard about that, many said that players who did not like GvG matches and wanted to have calm lives should go to the first server, while those who enjoyed action and non-stop fighting should join the second server.

…There was also the fact that Lua Cheia, Nord Glacier, and Lan Canglong were all friendly towards each other as well, even working together at times, creating even less reasons for conflict. It made sense for some players to grow bored of that.

“Hmm… What do you say Suzaku, should I join you too?”
“I mean…I can already see a certain girl pouting about it, but I don’t care. Are you sure that’d be a good idea though?”

Haru’s avatar was a custom model of Kirisu Sakura granted to her by the developers, so she had to keep in line with their desires…

“Eh, I’ll just ask them to give me an alt account so I can play without being recognized. Making incognito travel vlogs sounds like fun too… Why can’t I just play however I wantt!!”
“There it is, that’s the real reason, isn’t it?”

Suzaku grimaced a little hearing Haru’s tantrum.

“…It’s decided then. We might even see each other there soon.”
“Hahah…I’ll be looking forward to that.”

They were actually serious about it.
Kou realized Haru would not go back on her decision, and chose to just go along with it.

“By the way… Are we going to do anything as the gaming club for the school festival?” Eventually, Subaru broke his silence to ask that question.

…Kou and her friends were constantly nagged at by their teachers about joining clubs, so in the end, they joined the gaming club to stop that.

Kou and Subaru were also well known for performing well both academically and physically, so the teachers in charge of other clubs were not too pleased by their decision.

But there was also the fact that both were the children of prominent VR scientists, and they wanted to follow the footsteps of their parents, so the game club made sense for them. There were also Kou’s struggles with outdoor activities, so in the end, the teachers left them alone.

Now that they were proper club members, Subaru wanted to know if there was anything they could help with, but…

“Nah, we aren’t doing anything. Just have fun however you want!”
“I mean, our club president has also been picked to stand in the main stage this year.”
“Yeah, that’s true too. The principal was really clever with it too. I would’ve been able to refuse if he requested that of me as an enrolled student, but he went straight to my agency to hire me professionally, and now I can’t wiggle my way out.”

Haru shrugged in frustration, but everyone else seemed surprised.

“So the big celebrity for this year will be Kirisu Sakura?”
“Yes, that’s what I just said. I’ll just try to think of it as being a guest of honor and do my best.”
“Isn’t that actually really impressive..?!”

Haru replied nonchalantly to Kou’s question, but Subaru was still shocked by that reveal.

Morinomiya High was well known for being a private school for rich kids, and it had become commonplace for them to hire a big celebrity to host their annual festival. It really was impressive for someone like Haru to be hired for that position.

“…Oh, I have an idea. Say, *Crim-chan*, why don’t you join me on the stage?”
“Oh please spare me…”

Haru seemed really excited about the idea, but Kou retreated and embraced her own shoulders in self defense as she declined…but the other three silently knew that Kou had just triggered a flag…