Chapter 1728 – 1728. Savior Of The Academy
I followed Kurosawa Yui into Class A of the third year.
The students’ gazes were fixed on me and Seong Hari.
Something was off. Usually, students are noisy. Even if a teacher comes in, they chatter until then. But this classroom was quiet even before we entered. There was no sign of students hastily returning to their seats after being away.
As if it had always been this way, the students were quietly seated in their places, silent. They weren’t studying either. There was nothing on their desks.
Kurosawa Yui headed to the teacher’s podium as if this reaction was natural.
“It’s sudden, but we have transfer students. I only heard about it from the headmaster just now, so don’t ask me. The transfer students are Hasegawa Sota and Hasegawa Aya. They’re not twins, but half-siblings… I heard. As you can tell from their names, they’re relatives of Headmaster Hasegawa.”
“……”
It was quiet. Not a single clap. But it wasn’t like the students had no reaction at all. They looked at me and Seong Hari with wary eyes.
“Transfer students, introduce yourselves.”
Kurosawa Yui said, sounding annoyed.
“I’m Hasegawa Sota. Nice to meet you.”
“…I’m Hasegawa Aya. Nice to meet you.”
Seong Hari said, her face slightly flushed. It was the reaction I expected. She was embarrassed just by wearing the uniform in the first place.
‘I guess… her voice and expression are so stiff, she really looks like a delinquent.’
It was easy to misunderstand her.
I quietly observed the students’ reactions. More eyes were on Seong Hari than me. I understood. She had such a striking appearance.
‘Especially the guys are staring a lot.’
At first, I thought they were like robots, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
“Okay. Introduction’s over. You two… there are no seats. Well, we can bring desks and chairs later. Now, let’s start the class.”
Screech!
As soon as Kurosawa Yui finished speaking, the students all stood up from their seats and lined up in two rows in the hallway.
“You two, line up behind the others and follow.”
“Isn’t class supposed to be in the classroom? Is it a practical lesson?”
“Ah, we… it’s too much trouble to explain. Just follow. You’ll find out.”
Kurosawa Yui’s attitude was a bit off as a teacher. But as the saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, I couldn’t voice my complaints to her. If we opposed her and our identities were exposed, we’d be the only ones at a loss.
We lined up and moved with the academy students. Of course, there wasn’t a single sound of chatter among them.
‘It’s not like Kurosawa Yui is forcibly controlling them… What’s with this atmosphere? They look kind of spaced out.’
Seong Hari seemed to feel the strangeness as well. She was frowning and constantly looking around.
Kurosawa led us to the basement.
It was cold.
It felt like we had entered a refrigerator. Cold air was flowing from all directions.
‘This is…’
In the wide room, there was something round standing. It was like a capsule from a sci-fi movie. The front was wide open. There were numbers written on the middle part of the capsule. The students looked at the numbers and went to their respective positions, entering the capsules.
“Hasegawa Sota, you’re number 17, and Hasegawa Aya, you’re number 18. You two, get in.”
“…What are these?”
Seong Hari asked, looking uneasy.
“You heard about the Kaso Academy’s educational method from the headmaster, right? These capsules are Terra Simulator connectors. Think of them as virtual reality connectors. They’re also safety devices. Even if the worst happens in virtual reality, the capsules will protect your bodies. Now, hurry and get in. Class is conducted in virtual reality.”
This time, I asked her.
“Does the teacher also enter virtual reality?”
“No. I’ll be watching you from here. My role is to do an emergency stop if the signal becomes unstable.”
“That sounds like you’re saying accidents can happen.”
“Sometimes, people get too immersed in virtual reality and their bodies react. That’s what I’m preparing for. Just like driving a car has the risk of a traffic accident, entering the Terra Simulator has its own risks. I’m here to prevent those accidents, so don’t worry and get into the capsules.”
Kurosawa Yui went to the desk and sat down. It seemed she had done this many times before, as she skillfully tapped on her laptop.
“Um… no, sis. Let’s get into the capsules.”
“Sis?! Y-yes. Yujin… no, Sota!”
Seong Hari’s lips twitched, and then she entered the capsule. I also entered the capsule. The capsule door closed automatically.
I looked around and summoned Makina.
‘Makina.’
Makina, in her spirit form, appeared with a pop. She looked sleepy, as if she had been taking a nap.
-What’s the matter?
‘Wake up. How can a spirit be sleeping?’
I clicked my tongue briefly. It wasn’t because of Makina. It was because Makina was summoned without any resistance that I clicked my tongue. If a proper barrier was in place, Makina should have been affected. But there was no sign of that at all. It was highly likely that Kaso Academy’s barrier wasn’t working properly. Or maybe this place was special.
-That’s spirit discrimination! You freaking racist!
‘Whatever. Check the surroundings.’
-Huh? Oh, there are a lot of machines. Wow. These machines are too good for humans.
Makina looked around and kept exclaiming in admiration. I looked at the notification window that popped up in front of me.
「Connecting to the Terra Simulator.」
I saw the notification window on the capsule’s surface, but there was nothing I could do.
I waited calmly. The waiting time had already exceeded 30 seconds. If it was the latest technology that Makina was admiring, it should have been over in an instant, right?
「Connection failed.」
「Connecting to the Terra Simulator.」
「Connection failed.」
「Connecting to the Terra Simulator.」
‘Hey, Makina. Do you know why this is happening?’
-Huh? It’s because you’re refusing it.
‘I’m refusing it?’
-From what I can see, this capsule is a technology that takes the spirit out of the body and brings it to the server. It’s a function similar to the virtual reality games that appear in creative works! Ah! I want to do it too!
‘Spirit? So, the problem was the spirit. If I allow it, will it work?’
「Connection confirmed.」
「Collecting body data to create a profile. Please wait a moment.」
‘Makina. Can’t you enter virtual reality?’
-This is something made for humans. If I, a spirit, try to force my way in, there will be an error.
‘Can you hack this machine and control it?’
-That’s a bit difficult. There’s an AI on the lower side. I can take over the administrator rights and command the AI, but… control is impossible. It’s such a delicate AI that if I interfere carelessly, there will be an error.
Should I try using my hacking skills directly? I hesitated for a moment and decided to postpone it. If what Makina said was true, there might be a problem if I hacked it carelessly. It would be better to use hacking from outside the capsule.
‘This Terra Simulator is over-technology. Even if I use hacking, the time I can control it will be short.’
For now, I’ll go with the straightforward approach. I was also curious about what virtual reality was like.
「Special authentication code found during body data verification.」
「Changing profile permissions from student to administrator.」
「Deleting educational profile.」
「Recreating profile.」
-Wow! That lady was next to you too. Are you two playing a virtual reality game? With the people over there? That’s so unfair! I want to play a virtual reality game too!
‘This isn’t a game, it’s education.’
-Huh? From what I’ve seen briefly, it’s closer to a game? Ah, it can also manipulate time?
‘Time manipulation?’
-It accelerates thoughts to increase time. It’s similar to the ‘instant’ you use? Well, it can’t accelerate thoughts as slowly as that.
‘I haven’t heard of that… Is that really okay? There must be side effects.’
-It’s okay. Because the spirit and body are separated. There’s no disconnect, so you won’t even feel that time is slower in virtual reality.
‘I see. Makina, keep an eye out for anything happening.’
-No way. Why do you make me do such annoying things? I’m going back to play games.
‘Do as I say. Don’t you know that you can play games and eat delicious food all thanks to me?’
-Tch. Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m not doing it because of you! I’m doing it because I’m worried about that lady!
Makina disappeared from my sight. But she didn’t go far. She just slipped into Seong Hari’s capsule.
When Seong Hari was crying because she was scared, she was all over her, but now she follows Seong Hari more than me.
「Profile creation complete.」
「Connecting to the Terra Simulator.」
Whoosh.
A huge light enveloped me. I felt my spirit being sucked somewhere along with the light.
「Name: Hasegawa Sota
Affiliation: Kaso Academy 3rd Year Class A
Level: 1」
The first thing I saw was a notification window. A status window with three lines.
‘It’s too shabby to call it a game.’
And the surroundings were a wide-open prairie. There was nothing there.
「First connection confirmed. Starting tutorial.」
「Select your desired equipment. Equipment can be changed later.」
A list of equipment appeared.
Sword, spear, knife, bow, mace, knuckle, club, etc. There were also minor ones like a chain scythe, and the latest firearms.
I chose the most familiar sword and held it in my hand.
Glance.
I checked the back of my hand. I thought the authentication code that Tenrai Nagisa had implanted on the back of my hand would activate when I entered virtual reality, but it was quiet without any reaction.
‘Should I just do as I’m told for now?’
「Checking student’s combat power. Please cooperate sincerely as this is for the curriculum.」
「Use all your abilities to face the enemy.」
“Enemy?”
A man appeared in front of me. A middle-aged man with a sinister smile. The middle-aged man was holding a Japanese sword.
Above the middle-aged man’s head, it was written 「C-Rank Villain Kazuhiro」.
‘It’s too real to call it a monster. Did they implement a real villain in virtual reality?’
He slowly drew his sword, looking at me.
“This little brat is my opponent? The slicing won’t be as satisfying…”
“Shut up. I’ll cut you down in an instant.”
I swung my sword, pretending to charge, and used lightning. I was planning to kill him by dropping lightning. The mana inside me surged and moved. But the lightning didn’t happen.
‘What?’
While I was panicking, he moved first and charged at me.
‘Instant!’
Instant didn’t activate.
