Chapter 1731 – 1731. Savior Of The Academy
Hasegawa Isshin, who had entered the Class A capsule room for third-year students, suddenly swung his staff in the air.
A transparent barrier unfolded. It erased any traces from the cameras and listening devices installed there. It also allowed him to respond to students emerging from the capsules unexpectedly.
“What about their data?”
Kurosawa Yui, who was sitting in front of a laptop, legs crossed, drinking coffee, glanced at him and calmly replied,
“It’s average. Their physical data is also average for students. Judging by how quickly their experience points are accumulating, it seems they’re constantly hunting monsters.”
“Is that possible with average physical data?”
“It depends on how you use your body. If they’ve gained a lot of combat experience outside the academy… their current data isn’t strange.”
Hasegawa Isshin, the headmaster of Caso Academy, tapped the floor with his staff. It was a habit he had when he was deep in thought.
“Kurosawa-kun. They are not students.”
“I see. Are they active heroes?”
“One is, and the other is a student. You’ll be quite surprised when you find out their identities.”
Kurosawa Yui frowned. She always felt frustrated when talking to Hasegawa Isshin. He never revealed important information directly, always beating around the bush.
“Who exactly are they? I need to know to deal with them. Are they from the Association?”
“If they were from the Association, it would be easier to deal with them. They’re from a more troublesome place.”
“…A place that would trouble the headmaster…? Ah. I think I can guess.”
“Those two are not Japanese.”
“What?”
“One is famous. Seong Hari. The other is her son.”
Kurosawa Yui was shocked. She almost dropped the coffee she was holding.
“Ah, that was definitely Seong Hari’s face that I know. I knew it… why couldn’t I recall it until just now…?”
“It’s not your fault. Your senior cast an yin-yang spell that interferes with recognition. If you don’t have a prior connection, you won’t recognize Seong Hari even if you see her directly.”
“…I can’t believe I fell for that. I guess that’s what you’d expect from a princess. It’s an amazing yin-yang spell. But is it okay for you to do this, Headmaster?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re betraying the princess right now. Weren’t you a huge fan of the Space Princess? I heard you owe her a great debt?”
“That’s all in the past. I’ve paid off my debt. I can’t be tied to my senior forever.”
Hasegawa Isshin stared intently at the capsules in front of him. It had taken 20 years to complete the Terra Simulator. He remembered how he had given up at first, thinking it was impossible. But with support from various places, it gradually took shape and was completed.
The Terra Simulator was a masterpiece he had poured 20 years of his life into. It would make his name known not just in Japan, but all over the world. Even if he died, as long as the Terra Simulator existed, his name would live on for hundreds, even thousands of years.
“I’m sorry to my senior… but there’s a lot of information about the Terra Simulator that I haven’t disclosed. One of them is the time dilation. And it’s information that shouldn’t be revealed yet.”
“So, you’re telling me to jam communications to prevent them from contacting the outside.”
“I’ll take care of the barrier. Even with magical power, they won’t be able to contact the outside.”
“Why don’t you just kill them now?”
“Aren’t they inside the capsules? How can I kill them when they’re protected by the capsules? The emergency shutdown system will activate, and Seong Hari will wake up. You know what kind of hero Seong Hari is without me having to tell you, right?”
“What if you order Terra to do it?”
“Do you think Terra, who only acts according to its own principles, would listen?”
It was impossible to manipulate the artificial intelligence Terra. Its origin was a dungeon, not human hands. Since it was an almost complete artificial intelligence from the start, Terra could not be completely controlled. All humans could do was give commands that were closer to requests.
“Then what are we supposed to do?”
“Their goal is to find the Susanoo’s Magatama.”
“…You know that without it, the Terra Simulator is finished, right?”
“Yes. It’s become the core that handles the implementation of virtual reality. Kurosawa-kun. We don’t need to kill them. We just need to buy time. It’s not us who are short on time, but my senior. And if they fail, my senior will finally admit it. That Susanoo’s Magatama is safer in virtual reality than in the real world.”
“Ah, yes. Yes. I understand what you mean. Then, I’ll order Terra to drastically increase the difficulty of the monsters they’re facing. But I don’t know if we can stop Seong Hari.”
“Haven’t you heard the rumors that Seong Hari’s power isn’t what it used to be? Those rumors are true. I could tell when I met her earlier. She’s not even S-class anymore, even though she used to be. It means that Seong Hari couldn’t overcome the passage of time.”
“Well, looking at her face without a single wrinkle, I don’t think that’s the case…. Her skin was so clear. I’m so jealous of that. When will these damn dark circles disappear….”
“Ahem. Just endure a little longer. Once the Terra Simulator is officially announced, you and I will gain fame and fortune. Everything.”
“I know. That’s why I’m enduring and working like this. The problem is the side effects. What are we going to do about that?”
“…We have to find a way. We can do it if it’s us.”
“It’s not ‘us,’ but me who’ll be suffering.”
Kurosawa Yui sighed and tapped on her laptop. Fortunately, Terra accepted the command without question.
“But it’s a bit of a shame. Can’t we find out what they’re doing in virtual reality?”
“There’s a limit to what we can know from data. There’s no response since they finished hunting. Hmm? Seong Hari and her son’s data is fluctuating.”
“What’s going on?”
“Usually, this happens when they’re fighting each other. It seems they don’t agree with each other. Ah, Seong Hari’s reaction is stronger. Well, if they fight, Seong Hari will win.”
“It’s frustrating not knowing exactly what they’re doing.”
“There’s nothing we can do. Even if we wanted to monitor them, the time flow is different, so it’s impossible to follow them in real-time. Even if we force a connection, we can’t handle it. It’s something we need to improve.”
“Anyway, do your best to stop them.”
“What about you, Headmaster? Where are you going after leaving all the work to me?”
“After receiving a request from my senior, I found some spies from the Madojeong while thoroughly investigating the inside. I’m going to deal with them.”
• • •
If I were to give my thoughts on actually playing a virtual reality game… it was more or less what I expected.
‘There are too few fantasy elements. And it’s too realistic.’
It was inevitable since it was for the education of academy students.
‘Maybe it’s because I’m a hunter.’
As a hunter, I was used to fighting monsters. For ordinary people who aren’t hunters, fighting and defeating monsters might give them more pleasure than I get.
“The sword is pretty good, isn’t it?”
Unlike me, who was rather indifferent, Seong Hari was enjoying the virtual reality. I could roughly guess why.
‘Here, she doesn’t have to worry about the Spirit King’s curse at all.’
Above all, she could run wild without worrying about what others thought. Even if the nature couldn’t withstand her power and was destroyed, it would naturally recover over time since it was virtual reality.
When a monster died, it turned gray and disappeared. And in its place, money and items were left behind.
“Sota!! Look at this! I got shoes!”
“Shoes?”
They were steel shoes. They looked too uncomfortable to wear normally.
“Let’s see the size… huh?”
The moment Seong Hari placed her foot next to the steel shoes to check the size, the shoes seeped into her body.
“Oh. It says they’re equipped?”
Her feet were wearing the academy-designated school uniform shoes.
I thought about the students I had met earlier. They were basically wearing school uniforms, with equipment added on top.
‘Did they make students wear school uniforms by default?’
Seong Hari stopped and moved her fingers around. She was looking at her status window, skills, and inventory. She had smiled awkwardly when I explained it to her, but after trying it a few times, she quickly got used to it.
“Sota. I got a new skill when I reached level 3.”
“What skill is it?”
“Charge.”
“Try using it.”
“Okay. To use a skill, I have to think about it strongly, get into position, and then… Charge!”
Seong Hari ran forward.
I chuckled. It was much slower than when Seong Hari ran in battle.
“Is that a charge?”
“Yeah. It feels like my feet are moving on their own and pushing my back. Mana also moved on its own… it’s a mess in many ways. Even if my footwork was proper, I would have been faster.”
It could only be seen as a limitation of the skill.
-Yujin! Some old man came into the capsule room!
Makina’s voice echoed in my head. I never thought Makina would be able to talk to me directly like this.
‘Old man?’
[Opening the Eye of Heaven.]
I could see the real world.
It was Hasegawa Isshin, the headmaster of Caso Academy. Perhaps because of the time difference, his movements were slow. It seemed like he had cast some kind of barrier, but it couldn’t block the Eye of Heaven.
‘Makina. How are you talking to me in real-time? It’s impossible to have a real-time conversation since the time is different.’
-Huh? I just think five times faster and match it with you. It’s like tuning into a frequency?
‘Time is a frequency? That’s not a good analogy. Can other spirits do that too?’
-I don’t know about that. Anyway, I can do it.
‘Can you hear their conversation?’
-I can’t hear their voices because of the barrier. If I wasn’t connected to you, I wouldn’t even be able to see them.
‘You were sharing my vision? I never gave you permission?’
-What are you talking about? You used the spirit eye. It’s been connected since then.
I wasn’t using the spirit eye right now. Whatever it was, it could only be seen as a bug. Should I call it a bug that even the Terra AI didn’t recognize?
-Ah! Don’t disconnect! I want to play a virtual reality game too, even if it’s indirectly!
‘I don’t even know how to disconnect. Can’t I get closer to that old bastard? He looks like he’s going to do something, so I need to know what they’re talking about. My back is tingling.’
-It’s hard to get close because of the barrier. But I can still figure out their conversation.
‘How?’
-Are you stupid? You can guess what they’re saying by looking at their lip movements.
Makina was getting on my nerves. I suppressed my rising anger. I needed Makina’s help right now.
‘If you could read lips, you should have said so earlier. What are they talking about?’
-Uh, well… just now, the old man said, ‘What about their data?’
‘What’s next?’
-That woman is talking now. Wait a bit. I can’t figure it out in real-time because of the five-times difference. You idiot!
That bitch.
Calling her master an idiot. I was annoyed, but I decided to make her a foot-shaped dildo later and torment her. I needed Makina right now.
