Chapter 526 - How to Handle Information
"Hey there, Parfait-san! The Explorer Guild is buzzing thanks to the information you gave us!"
"Is that so? But, I only heard it from someone else..."
"The source doesn't matter. What's important is whether or not that information can be shared! Besides, the content really showed how information is handled in AFO! It's thanks to you, Parfait-san, that we figured this out!"
"Hah, thank you...?"
At the Explorer Guild in the Royal Capital Anhemudal, Parfait was being showered with praise by the Guild Master, Luty, after reporting the information about the Ghost Ship she had heard from Ruth via Rick a few days ago. However, since she had simply passed on information she'd heard, question marks were floating in her head as to whether it was really something worth such high praise.
Parfait understood that concealing information within the game was important. Depending on the content, if one weighed the potential profits, it was only natural to think about monopolizing it rather than making it public. However, in this case, the information was merely that the Ghost Ship was the Undead Research Institute, and she didn't understand why that alone warranted such acclaim.
To begin with, several pieces of information regarding the Ghost Ship had already been gathered. While the specific detail that the Ghost Ship and the Undead Research Institute were one and the same was entirely unknown, it was said that when various pieces of data were combined based on that result, it was proven to be correct beyond a doubt. It was a reverse process of understanding the content of information from the conclusion, but even just knowing that much was significant information.
Even with Luty explaining it this way, it didn't really click for Parfait, so the temperature difference between her and her surroundings only continued to widen.
"In short, it has become clear that in AFO, a single piece of information often has no meaning on its own. Well, people have been saying that for a long time, but Demon King Mikan's situation and this recent event have made it very clear. It's not early information for a Quest that hasn't been implemented yet; it's that it is implemented, but there's so much information that it can't be pieced together."
"A single piece of information has no meaning?"
"Collecting multiple pieces of information to make an inference—that exists in any game, but AFO has a lot of it. Of course, there are things you can understand from a single piece of info, but the more difficult something is, the more pieces you have to collect. No, it's the opposite. It's difficult because multiple pieces of information are required. Furthermore, even then, there is no direct answer, and inference is necessary. That's the pitfall, or rather, the reason why there are so many unknowns in AFO."
According to Luty's explanation, there were several pieces of information regarding the Undead Research Institute. There was information such as "There was an Undead Research Institute in a ruined city," "The director stole the research results and crossed the sea," and "A certain ship went missing around the same time." The answer derived from these leads to the information Parfait brought: "The Ghost Ship is the Undead Research Institute." Additionally, there were details like "Vampires are researching perfect immortality" and "A Vampire was on the ship that went missing," leading to the conclusion that there might still be a Vampire on that ship conducting research on immortality.
"It's good that we understand it now, but this is difficult. You don't know which information is a hint related to what, and these pieces of information aren't all found in one place. This time, it was only because we knew the answer that we realized multiple pieces of info were about the Undead Research Institute, but the fact that we don't even know if all the information has been gathered adds to the difficulty!"
"You seem to be enjoying yourself despite that?"
"Because there's a different kind of romance to it compared to stepping into the unexplored regions of space. Games are a bit like a battle of wits between the creator and the Player, right? Between the one who makes the puzzle and the one who solves it, I don't know which one feels more romance, but I'm definitely the latter!"
If one were to have a battle of wits with Diite, the creator of AFO, they would surely lose. Or rather, Parfait thought she should probably keep it to herself that Diite was the one losing her patience because AFO contained so many puzzles that were too difficult for anyone to solve. Even this time, since Diite was using her staff to release a large number of puzzle hints, it was essentially like she was going easy on them.
Perhaps Diite was thinking of making the Explorer Guild handle the task of combining and inferring information. Parfait thought it was quite a pampered setup, but she convinced herself that it must have many merits for Diite as well.
"Since I've roughly understood how information is handled in AFO, I intend to do more information buying from now on. If it's information that no one else knows, I'm planning to buy it at a premium. Parfait-san, do you have anything else? You seem like you'd know a lot of things."
"It hasn't even been a year since I started, so I hardly know anything. It's just that my parents played AFO, and many of their social circles are related to AFO, so I only happened to get my hands on this case by chance. Besides, I usually keep spoilers forbidden."
"I see. That's certainly true. It's a game that has continued for twenty years. Hayato-san and Esha-san likely hold a lot of information, and their acquaintances probably hold a lot of information as well!"
As Luty said this, she crossed her arms with her eyes closed and nodded repeatedly.
Then, Luty's eyes opened, and her face became serious.
"So, Parfait-san, the truth is, the Guild is planning to issue a Quest to discover the Ghost Ship. Of course, the Guild staff and I will be going, but if you'd like, why don't you invite your Clan members and participate?"
"Discovering the Ghost Ship, huh. It seems like the luck factor would be high."
"We know the general sea area from various pieces of information. Also, we didn't pay much attention to it before, but in AFO, there are staff members who give weather forecasts in various regions, right? It's about a one-week forecast; do you know about it?"
"Now that you mention it, they do exist. Those forecasts are posted on the bulletin board at the Maid Guild too."
"Apparently, you can even tell which days fog will occur, and it seems that sea area will be foggy tomorrow."
"Does that mean you know the day the Ghost Ship will appear?"
"I think the possibility is high. Major Clans have their own ships, but our Guild will prepare a ship as well, so how about it? Of course, there's a possibility of coming up empty-handed, so it's not like we're guaranteed to find the Ghost Ship."
Parfait had no reason to refuse. Furthermore, she had mentioned the Ghost Ship to Abel, and he had bitten so hard that he'd explained things down to the most trivial details. Given that situation, she wanted to see it at least once, even if it was just a game.
However, due to various circumstances, the members weren't really gathered at the moment. For example, Rick. Natsu was currently calm, but Rick, who had almost run into Ruth and Natsu on their date, was shifting his login times, saying, "I can't let my guard down yet." Additionally, Natsu was logging in while being cautious about what Rick might say to her, so it looked like it would take a little while longer before they could all play AFO together.
Besides them, Chris was practicing in reality because of a boxing exhibition match, and Ginny's logins had decreased slightly lately because she was helping out at Mikan's company.
The only one who could definitely come was Wilnel. Abel was usually busy so she didn't know, but Parfait thought she'd try inviting him anyway.
"Um, we might have few members, but would that be okay?"
"Of course I don't mind. We don't know what might happen, but our scale is no different from a major Clan. There might be unforeseen circumstances, but we can at least protect people like you, Parfait-san. Well, I am expecting a lot from your individual combat power, Parfait-san."
Saying that, Luty gave Parfait a wink.
Thinking that a wink from a woman who was also the next head of the Aries Foundation had high attack power, Parfait immediately sent emails to everyone, including Abel, regarding the meeting time and other details.
As a result, as expected, the only one who could definitely participate was Wilnel. Many opinions were that the condition of "suddenly tomorrow" was difficult. However, the reply from Abel was quite a surprise. She was surprised that he said he would make time to participate somehow, but he also said there was someone else he wanted to bring along. So, she hurriedly made a voice call.
"Lion-chan wants to come too?"
Lion was a Player belonging to the video streaming Clan "Fight☆Club." She was a "pitiable-type" magical girl who boasted a significant number of views in AFO video streaming, but her acting skills had been recognized, and she was now active as an actress belonging to the same agency as Abel.
Recently, because she was busy with schoolwork and acting activities, there hadn't been many opportunities to meet her in AFO, but it was said that Lion wanted to participate.
"It seems like stress is piling up from work and school. Plus, she recently made her acting debut in a minor role, and it seems like there was more pressure than she expected. Tomorrow is her first day off in a while, so she apparently wants to go wild."
"Go wild, she says. But if that's the case, I definitely want her to come. However, the objective is the Ghost Ship; will she be okay with that?"
"Isn't that exactly why it's good!"
"That's only coming from you, Abel-kun."
There are no girls who would be happy about going to see a Ghost Ship—or so Parfait thought, but on second thought, she realized she was one of those girls. And since Lion was coming, she decided to send out more messages to see if Kazatoki, who was in the same Clan as Lion, or any of her other acquaintances wanted to join.
[Author's Note]
I apologize for mentioning a different work, but the comicalized version of "Slow Life of the Dead" has been released on the TO Books website. Please check the Activity Report for details. Since three chapters were released at once, please give it a read!
Also, I have posted one chapter of the web version of "Slow Life of the Dead," so please take a look if you like.