Prologue One Boy’s Progress Report
Are you getting along with your mother?
I don’t think things are much different from before.
Do you have more chances to talk with her?
I have to talk to her when discussing strategy, so I guess so.
Is there anything your mother said that made you happy?
She said she was proud of me. (I’d like to erase this answer, but I don’t know how!)
Is there anything your mother said that frustrated you?
When she insisted on keeping a tight rein on my allowance even inside this game.
Where have you gone with your mother?
Towns, fields, dungeons.
Have you helped your mother?
She always finishes battles before I have a chance to do anything.
Have you learned what your mother likes?
Me. (I wrote this as a joke, but again, I can’t seem to erase it!)
Have you learned what your mother hates?
Maybe? She seems to have it in for mothers who treat their kids weird.
What are your mother’s strong points?
Overwhelming firepower, good cook.
What are your mother’s weak points?
She doesn’t seem to understand the game or her son’s feelings, and I’d really like to find a way to convince her to stop butting in all the time.
What do you think about adventuring with your mother?
Dunno yet.
He finished filling out the form.
“…Good enough, I guess.”
Masato was standing in front of a pop-up window screen, checking over his answers.
He’d written a few things off the top of his head that he’d have preferred to correct, but there didn’t seem to be a way to delete the answers. He’d been able to annotate them but wasn’t sure that would really make a difference.
“Oh, Ma-kun. What’s up? Studying?”
“No, not that… They e-mailed me a survey, so I was filling it out.”
“I see…a survey? …Oh, is that about me?”
“One of the government ones. Gotta fill these out to get excused from going to school… Hey!”
He glanced sideways and found her beautiful, youthful features peering at the screen.
Her name was Mamako. She was Masato’s birth mother.
“Whoa, Mom! What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean? I came into the game with you, remember? We’re on a family adventure! Mommy is always with you.”
“No, that’s not what… I mean, why are you just standing right next to me? Argh! Look, just stay out of my space! Go somewhere else!”
“Honestly, Ma-kun. If you treat Mommy like she’s in the way all the time, she’ll get hopping mad.”
“Will you stop saying that?! I mean, if you just considered my feelings sometimes…”
But his mother’s cheeks were puffed out, and she was headed into a major sulk.
Their family adventure was just beginning.
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