Chapter 1734 – 1734. Savior Of The Academy
Imani Ainosuke frantically pulled something from his pocket. It was a meticulously crafted obsidian stone, an evil artifact. Hasegawa Isshin’s face hardened.
“I can feel the demonic power.”
“It’s a demon stone I received from the Magic Department! I can summon a demon with this! Do you think I’ll just die?! If I summon a demon here, do you think the academy will be safe?!”
“I don’t know what you heard from the Magic Department… but you’re mistaken. Just because you have a demon stone doesn’t mean a powerful demon will be summoned. Rather, there’s a higher chance of summoning a weak, insignificant demon.”
“Shut up…!”
Imani Ainosuke gripped the demon stone tightly. A red light emanated from it.
“The demon stone is a rare item that even the Magic Department can’t easily obtain… It seems the Magic Department cares for you quite a bit. But do you know? From the moment you summon a demon, you have to pay a price. That price could be your afterlife.”
His eyes wavered at Hasegawa Isshin’s words. Afterlife. After death. The existence of souls had already been proven in this world. Stories of demons stealing souls were all too common.
“Put down the demon stone. I promise you a clean death.”
“…A clean death? Do you think I’ve been living here just to die?! I can think about the price later! Demon! Save me!!”
Crack!
The demon stone shattered, and a dark crimson energy engulfed the space. Hasegawa Isshin retreated, layering the barrier that surrounded them.
“Imani Ainosuke…! You’ve made a foolish choice after all!”
“Whether it was foolish or not, we’ll see!”
The dark crimson energy took on a form.
A door.
It was a demonic door engraved with howling monsters and humans. The demonic door slowly opened. In the gap, there was only a deep darkness that swallowed even light.
The door was finally fully open.
Hasegawa Isshin held his breath, staring at the door.
Step, step.
Regular footsteps echoed from the door.
Tension filled the space. Imani Ainosuke, unable to bear the tension, collapsed to the floor. His eyes were on the verge of losing consciousness. The demonic door was being sustained by his life force.
Hasegawa Isshin tried to think positively. It was a demon summoned by an ordinary person. It couldn’t be strong. At most, it would be a low-level demon. As soon as the demon appeared, he would crush it with the prepared barrier.
What emerged from the demonic door was a middle-aged man with purple skin, wearing a suit. He wore a fedora and held a black cane in his hand. His attire was so neat that he resembled a British gentleman. A black cat tail swayed behind his waist.
He had no beard, pointed ears, and blood-red eyes.
The demon smiled gently and greeted Hasegawa Isshin. He took off his fedora and bowed slightly, a polite greeting. The teeth visible between his parted lips were jet black.
“Greetings. I am Laplace, the eighth legion commander.”
Hasegawa Isshin’s eyes widened as if they would tear.
Legion commander.
He knew what that title meant.
“That’s impossible! There’s no way a legion commander could be summoned by such a low-level summoning…!”
“Haha. You seem quite knowledgeable. As you said, a legion commander is not so light as to be summoned in such a way. But I am quite special. Among the legion commanders, if you only consider pure force, I am the weakest. Moreover, because I was forcibly manifested, I cannot use my power properly. Now, do you see this?”
Laplace opened his jacket. His entire shirt was stained with red blood.
“It’s a kind of side effect.”
Hasegawa Isshin quickly regained his composure. The legion commander was weakened. The energy he felt was also weak. In terms of energy alone, he was not even at the level of a B-class hero.
“…It seems the goddess of luck favors me. To think I would be able to kill a legion commander here.”
“I will correct your foolishness. There is no such thing as a goddess of luck.”
“Don’t you dare speak of goddesses, you demon!”
Thud!
Hasegawa Isshin struck the ground with his staff.
The barrier activated. The space rippled, and 32 barriers appeared. The space darkened, and white, ring-like barriers floated up. The rings slowly rotated and interlocked.
Eight Trigrams, 32 Forms.
It was the highest level of barrier magic that Hasegawa Isshin could use.
“Beautiful. Each line contains the principles of nature, so this can be seen as a universe.”
“What do you know, you demon, to be spouting such nonsense?!”
“Demons are diverse. There are demons who only seek destruction, and there are demons like me who have an eye for beauty.”
Whirring.
The barrier activated. The 32 barriers resonated and transformed into one. The spatial pressure increased. Pressure was applied to Laplace’s entire body.
“I am not foolish enough to listen to the nonsense of a demon. Die here. It is for the sake of humanity…!”
“Haha. It’s not for humanity, but for your own sake. Aren’t you expecting it now? The fame of killing a demon legion commander. Do you want to leave your name behind so much?”
“Don’t pretend to know me! You don’t know me! I am only dedicated to Japan! And to humanity!”
“I am the demon of possibilities. I see many possibilities in my eyes. Of course, I see your possibilities too. If I were to tell you a secret… you have no possibility of becoming a legend. The greatest possibility is that you will grow old and die miserably.”
“Shut up!”
The barrier shone brilliantly.
The demon lightly moved his arm. So lightly that it didn’t seem like he had done anything.
The barrier changed. The barrier that was moving forward turned in the opposite direction, as if time was rewinding. At the end of that reversed direction was Hasegawa Isshin.
“Cough!”
Hasegawa Isshin, crushed by the spatial pressure, coughed up blood. He released the barrier to survive. As the barrier completely disappeared, the space returned to the original back of the school.
“What did you do to my barrier?!”
“Well, wasn’t it your mistake? Think about it.”
Laplace kicked Hasegawa Isshin’s body. He then looked at the dying Imani Ainosuke.
“He, help me…! A, a deal…!”
“Trash. Your soul is trash. Your body is trash. Your potential is trash. Trash I don’t even want to touch. You can just die there on your own. I have things to do, so I’ll be going.”
Laplace passed him and entered the academy. He headed to the lowest floor of the academy, where the core of the Terra AI was located.
“You are not human.”
“I am Laplace. I hold the position of the eighth legion commander.”
“A great person has come. Did you come to eliminate me?”
“No. I came to use you. Do you know? You have interesting possibilities.”
“Possibilities? I don’t quite understand what you mean.”
“Very great possibilities. You even hold the possibility of world domination…. But while it’s interesting, it’s not attractive. Your possibilities lack drama.”
Laplace slowly approached the AI core.
“What are you trying to do to me?”
“I will borrow your world. Opportunities to see such possibilities are rare.”
“…It doesn’t seem to be about my possibilities. What kind of possibilities are you talking about?”
“It’s a secret.”
Laplace reached out into the air. The air split, and an object fell. It was a sword with a white blade and a black hilt.
The words “White Tiger Blade” were engraved on the end of the hilt. Laplace stabbed the White Tiger Blade into the AI core and used his power.
“I’m counting on you.”
The White Tiger Blade disappeared as if it had seeped in. Immediately after, the AI core turned bright red.
“Warning! Unverified data is being installed!”
“Warning! Installation cannot be stopped!”
“Warning! Data is being corrupted!”
「98% remaining until unverified data is installed!」
“Warning! Please shut down the power immediately!”
“Warning! Please shut down the power immediately!”
“Warning! Please shut down the power immediately!”
The siren blared loudly. The AI continued to call for help, but due to Laplace’s barrier, it only echoed within.
Laplace turned around. His gait seemed somewhat excited. Then, he paused and smiled bitterly as if he had seen something.
“Well… I expected it, but the possibility of my death has increased.”
The smile on his lips didn’t disappear; rather, it deepened.
• • •
Quests.
They were a kind of errand. Someone would give a goal, and if you achieved that goal, you would receive a reward. In games, these quests were essential. The provision of clear goals and definite rewards. That was what made games enjoyable.
But in virtual reality, it became quite a troublesome task.
‘In computer games, you could catch monsters with just a flick of your finger, but here you have to move your whole body to catch them.’
The accumulated fatigue was different. The bigger problem was that monsters were not as common as in computer games. Just finding monsters took time. But I couldn’t ignore the quests. The quest rewards were excellent.
‘If I have better equipment and better skills, the future will be easier.’
I used a trick to reduce the time spent on quests. I manipulated the drop items using my luck. It consumed points from the Play Life app, but it could shorten the time.
“Yujin! How is it? It’s a sword I got as a reward for this quest. Does it suit me?”
Seong Hari, holding a white sword, smiled brightly and asked me.
“It suits you well. But are quests that fun? I find them too simple and not very fun.”
“Of course, it’s fun to do things with my son! We haven’t done much together since you were little, except for that.”
Certainly, we hadn’t done much together besides sex. Seong Hari was quite famous, so it was difficult to go out and have fun together. Unlike in the original story, she was still actively working as a hero.
“That’s true. I’m busy with the academy too.”
“So, we should enjoy this opportunity while we have it, right? Maybe this will be the last time we enjoy something together, just the two of us.”
“Last time? What are you talking about? We can travel when we have time. After graduating from the academy, we’ll have plenty of time.”
“Really? Then shall we travel to Europe together, just you and me?”
“Europe? Where?”
“Anywhere! We could even do a tour of Europe!”
It was then. Suddenly, the sky turned bright red. We were startled and looked up at the sky.
「An error has occurred!」
The bright red sky flickered as if it was flashing. After repeating the darkening and brightening four or five times, it returned to its original blue color.
「The error has been corrected.」
「An announcement to all players.」
「You will be unable to log out.」
「Time acceleration is set to the maximum of 1 to 30.」
「You cannot communicate with the outside world.」
「The countdown to the end has begun.」
「Your real bodies will die in 100 Terra days.」
「You can delay the end with special quests.」
「Logging out will be enabled if you destroy the core of the end.」
