Chapter 202
Rinne's point of view.
"........................"
It has been about 5 hours since I started watching multiple videos simultaneously.
For the first hour or so, Nana asked a few questions, but for the past few hours, she has not made the slightest movement, not uttering a single word. Instead, she kept her gaze glued toward the monitors while maintaining her concentration.
Although I sometimes feel uneasy because I don't even hear her breathing, I can see her eyeballs moving energetically when I peek at her, so at least I know she's not falling asleep.
She was concentrating so hard that she couldn't move ever so slightly.
When it comes to processing the information on the 30 monitors in front of me, Nana and I approach it differently.
Simply put, I divide my thoughts while Nana accelerates hers.
I have each of the 30 Rinne's in my brain in charge of a single screen, and they process the information and sounds on each screen.
By assigning my 31 self the role of thinking normally. In this way, I still have time to care about Nana while picking up all the information on the monitor.
Nana's method is a more forceful one, and she processes vast amounts of information at high speed purely by accelerating her thinking speed to an extraordinary degree.
Instead of managing 30 pieces of information separately as I did, she is forcibly producing the same result by processing information 30 times faster than me.
If Nana took it seriously, this unique way could bring her thought process to a level where she could feel time slowing down.
If anyone other than Nana tried to do something similar, it would undoubtedly blow their brains out. What this girl was doing was on the verge of the recklessness that her stubbornness resulted in.
(Though, it seems she has reached her limit by now.)
Nana, who has been in a trance and never let go of her sight on the video, is quiet, but unfortunately, there is one uncontrollable sound.
Her stomach has been growling since a while ago.
Well, it's given since she is using her mind in such a reckless manner, she must be consuming a fair amount of energy.
Moreover, she only ate one French bread and soup this morning, and we haven't had our lunch yet, so Nana must be even hungrier than I am.
"Nana."
"...... hmm?"
"Let's take a break and have dinner. You must be hungry."
"...? ....ah you are right? I am hungry!"
She said that while stroking her stomach, perhaps she didn't notice it because she was diverting all her concentration to somewhere else.
Nana, who has a metabolism several times higher than normal humans, is actually very fuel-efficient. Only when exercising or using her head like this would she use several times as much energy as usual.
"What do you want to eat?"
"Rice!"
"Then let's have it. How many do you want?"
"I think I'll have about 20 bowls in the extra-large portion."
"That sure a lot."
20 rice bowls with an extra-large portion of rice. If we look at the calories alone, that's about 20,000 calories.
Twenty thousand calories would exceed her basic metabolism. Even after including the calories she just burns, it probably won't offset those numbers.
Well, I guess this would be an indication that she wants to stockpile her energy.
Nana is able to store excess energy in her body in a non-fat form, so her weight will not be affected by this so-called hoarding. This is the reason why she can survive for a month or two without eating anything.
However, this does not mean that Nana does not also store energy on a regular basis. But there is a limit to the amount of energy that can be stored.
Nana simply loves to eat, so she makes sure she gets the nutrients she needs as needed. In other words, for Nana, hoarding itself is not a very needed act.
But if she does it, it means there's a good reason to do so.
"I've got a little too much to remember, and I need the calories to force myself to cram it in. Do you mind if I hole up in here for the rest of the day?"
"I don't mind that, but you're surprisingly pretty motivated. I thought Nana wasn't too keen on the convention itself."
Frankly, I am surprised. That was my real feeling.
Because the game tournament itself is something that Nana does not look forward to.
To begin with, there are three main reasons for gamers to participate in-game tournaments.
One is Money, which means they either aim for prize money, prizes from sponsors, or in some cases, having an illustration of the team's image drawn on a power chart.
The second is Honor. If you manage to win a tournament, maybe runner-up, in the WGCS class tournament scale, that is an achievement to be proud of.
The third is Connection, by practising with a comrade in arms, making memories, and simply enjoying the same game together.
And these three elements hold little value to Nana.
It should go without saying that Nana has no desire for material things. Nana does not need money, except for the bare necessities of life.
As for Honor? Nana's desire for recognition is extremely distorted, and she is not interested in what strangers think of her.
Nana's desire for it is limited to [I would be happy if Rin-chan praised me]. And she will not get depressed because I did not.
She only responds with indifferent reactions despite the fact that she is usually told [You're amazing!] by viewers because she does not do what she does, hoping for any kind for any form of praise.
And the same goes for [Connnection]. Nana is not the type to go out of her way to expand the scope of her connection.
Nana's extraordinary ability attracts people.
Like Haruru, Arthur, and other NPCs, many people are mesmerized by Nana's existence. That's how her connection expands in WLO.
And it's the same case in reality, as far as I can see from her friendship with Sakura, she would generally have had a good friendship with the people she works with.
As long as they are not treated her with blatant malice, Nana basically does not reject them. And because she accepts their tastes and preferences in a positive way, they are feels at comfort with her.
However, Nana never "voluntarily" extends the scope of her connection.
Unless she has to go to meet someone for a quest or an errand, she will never go to meet a stranger on her own.
When it comes to extending her friendship, Nana is always the passive one.
The reason is simple: she is not interested.
You can say Nana's participation in this tournament was only because it was a [request] from me.
I thought that her motivation would be much lower compared to WLO, where she could test her limits and live freely. Maybe something has tugged at Nana's heartstrings.
"Let's see, about three hours ago. There was one video that caught my attention."
"A video that interests you?"
"un-n. Maybe an overseas player. There was no play-by-play, no commentary, just a video of her playing."
Nana's comment made me pull back the threads of my own memory.
It took me a little while to remember because I was a little distracted.
"The video that was playing on that screen, right?"
"Oh, yes. You remember it well."
"Unedited videos are a rarity nowadays. So what about it?"
The video that caught Nana's attention was certainly impressive for its unedited content, which seems to go against the times, but for better or worse, there seemed to be nothing else about it that caught my attention.
Despite my impression, Nana was shaking her body in a good mood.
I wondered what had motivated her so much.
"I knew at first glance, that player, probably of my kind."
Nana looked a little pleased as I tilted my head.
===*
Note:
Stand users are attracted to each other. {tln: rightttttttttttttttt}