kscans

Chapter 72 - To the World Beyond

"Ugh, information overload..."

Well, let's just put that aside for now.

The fact that my level suddenly maxed out due to some mysterious evaluation criteria, that new systems including the long-awaited status reset function were unlocked, and that some other system I don't know about was also unlocked—I'll deal with all of it later.

Sora is frozen solid next to me, but we can figure it all out together later.

So for now, for this moment—

—Children of conflict, you have done well to come this far.

The event seems to be proceeding without any regard for our confusion, so my priority is to pay close attention.

"Eek! W-who are you...?"

The countless stars above—no, even beyond the translucent platform we stood on—were still darting about in every direction. Sora, who had been vaguely following them with her eyes, jumped and cried out in surprise at the voice that echoed without warning.

The trial is now complete. May the brilliance of your swords shine just as brightly in the true world that will henceforth open before you.

"H-Haru-san...?"

"Mm, well, it's pretty standard stuff."

The voice was delivered not so much through the space around us, but directly into our minds. Sora had built up some courage against monsters and the like through her experiences, but she wasn't yet at the point where she could calmly handle sudden situations like this.

She nervously tugged at my sleeve and moved closer. Was it conscious or unconscious? And what was it about this voice? I feel like I've heard it somewhere before... As I racked my brain, the answer came to me quickly.

"That's it, the voice from the cave at the very beginning of the game."

Since I started playing Arcadia, I've only ever heard one voice that seemed to be from the system side of things.

Apparently, Sora recognized it too, because she relaxed her tense posture at my words, muttering, "Now that you mention it." She didn't seem to be moving away, though... I'm a man, too. I wouldn't do something as foolish as pointing that out.

Is just the sleeve okay? Want to borrow my whole arm?

"You mean the one from when we received... the blessing of the war god, right?"

"Yep. When we chose our faction, and our level and skills were all unlocked—whoa!"

"Wah!"

The echo of the voice faded from my ears, and just as we were nodding and talking to each other, a sudden tremor hit us. A startled Sora leaped onto my arm, this time completely reflexively, but unfortunately, this was no time to be grinning like an idiot.

At some point, the stars had stopped their frantic dance. And what those countless stars had drawn, like a constellation, was a massive geometric pattern—a magic circle—of incredible scale, with the disc-shaped platform we stood on at its center.

"Tch..."

"Well now..."

With the entire backdrop being a starry expanse, the scale was so insane that I couldn't even grasp the full picture.

How many times had it been since I first came to this virtual world? A spectacle so overwhelming it felt like my brain was being struck, something I would undoubtedly never witness in the real world.

Beside me, Sora held her breath. As for me, though I felt like I had said something, all that escaped my lips was a faint, hoarse breath.

As we stood there, utterly captivated, the transformation continued unabated.

The countless lines filling the black expanse pulsed with light, and numerous circles spun like the second hand of a clock. The speed seemed unchanging, yet slowly and surely, their cycle shortened—and then, a tremendous shattering sound, as if a crack had formed in the world itself, roared through the space.

"Ngh...!"

She was probably already so overwhelmed by the situation that her mind was adrift. Sora, who reacted so earnestly to every single change, was now completely clinging to my arm as if for support.

And as for me... well, even if the main boss fight had been a disappointing mess, considering the whole journey, this was a milestone. The “End of Chapter One,” so to speak.

Being shown such a magnificent sight, and on top of that, being touched so intimately by a presumably beautiful girl (heroine) who was perfect in looks (avatar), voice, and personality... well, it's only natural to get caught up in the excitement.

I felt a slight twitch of surprise from Sora's hand and realized I had, at some point, taken her hand in mine. Crap, I thought, surprised myself, and reflexively turned to look at her. Our eyes met.

Big, round, amber eyes that shone as brightly as her brilliant golden hair. I was surprised by how close we were, though that was often the case due to Sora's actions.

But we had rarely been this close. Close enough for our noses to almost touch—if I tilted my head, we were close enough to kiss.

Both Sora and I stared at each other, surprised... but even after one second, then five, no hint of rejection ever appeared in her wide eyes.

In a scene that couldn't be described by words, one that even a movie scene couldn't do justice.

If this really were a movie, this might be the most perfect timing imaginable—I still had enough composure to think such things, but I wasn't about to do something so foolish.

So please, Sora-san, don't blush at my forced, awkward smile. When you react so honestly, it makes me think I might be misreading things... or maybe I'm not, and it makes me want to get carried away too.

Just as I managed to brush off the recent rom-com-esque moment and tear my eyes away from Sora, the source of the shattering sound immediately came into view.

Actually, I would have noticed it no matter where I looked. Whether it happened all at once with that first strange sound, or whether it spread while we were having our sudden rosy moment—'cracks' had filled the entire starry expanse.

The stars no longer moved. They seemed as if they had been pasted onto the cracked celestial dome from the very beginning, their brilliance and depth gone—as if to deliberately show us that this was all a fabrication...

I haven't told Sora, but I've actually already figured out the mechanism, or rather, the setup of this [Trial Spheres of Partition] with near certainty.

The inconsistencies that have been clearly shown throughout our journey so far can be grasped by anyone with a certain level of gaming experience through what's called “meta-reading.”

For example, despite claiming to be a completely open-world異世界, the maps aren't connected, and movement is limited to teleportation gates.

For example, despite the developers putting an insane amount of effort into capacity and processing power everywhere, the variety of mobs placed in each map is strangely limited for the environment.

There were other so-called “foreshadowing” elements scattered about, but to put it bluntly, this place was a farm.

Not in the meta sense of being a game created by developers, but in another sense, our journey so far has been designed in a way that makes one acutely aware of “intent.”

In other words, the [Trial Spheres of Partition] is a tutorial area in a dual sense... not just for the game, but an artificial world created by someone in this world to raise us.

"Artificial... no, more like god-made, huh?"

"Yes...?"

My unconscious mutter drew a confused upward glance from Sora, who was on the verge of crashing from processing all the different factors. It seemed the thought of meta-reading hadn't even crossed her mind.

"It's nothing. And I don't think we're in for a panic like in the desert. You don't have to be so tense."

If I were to be completely honest, I'd really appreciate it if you'd calm down and promptly move away.

I might have gotten swept up in the mood and held your hand, but this is not good.

And the fact that you, Sora-san, don't seem to mind at all makes this really, really not good.

I might get carried away, or mistake things, or even become convinced, and look, now you're wrapping your arm around mine so tightly, that soft warmth has been pressing against me for a while now!!!

"Um... ah, well, I kind of understand, but..."

"Yeah... yeah?"

Suppressing my rather flustered heart, I tried to telepathically communicate, “Please move away a little,” but for some reason, Sora moved even closer.

Wait, stop. Don't stimulate my innocent young heart (lol) any further.

"I'm sorry, um—I'm just plain scared...! Even though I know it's a game, the scale is too big, it's like, instinctively, space, you know...!!"

"Ah..."

Wait, is she just... scared? Not in the sense of being overwhelmed or awed by the magnificent sight, nor wary of what's to come, but simply, purely frightened.

Looking closer, the girl's legs were faintly trembling—fortunately, or perhaps because of it, the moment I understood, a surge of protectiveness welled up and washed away all the messy boy-girl stuff in my mind.

I patted her head with my free hand, and it was my own heart, rather than Sora's, that began to calm down.

"Haha... Well then, good news for you, Sora-san—it's almost time."

She hadn't been looking at me so much as desperately trying to look away from the frightening sight. I gently prompted Sora, who had been facing me the whole time, to look up by nodding my head towards the sky.

"Eh... —"

And it happened the very moment Sora's eyes were drawn upward.

In place of the now-darkened stars, a singular, brilliant light erupted from the countless pulsing cracks. As we squinted against the sheer brightness—the universe shattered.

""—""

Leaving us speechless, the fragments of the cosmos broke apart and separated. As they melted away, they revealed an infinite space filled with white light that lay beyond the walls of the starry sky.

"Is that..."

Reflected in Sora’s eyes as she whispered the words was a single sphere—no, seven spheres in total.

One showed an endless grassland.

Another, a cliffside bridge overlooking a sea of clouds.

And another, a tower of ever-flowing sand.

[Trial Spheres of Partition]—the private garden of some unknown being, crafted to bring us to this point.

One of the spheres showed a familiar cityscape, likely the city of Istia. I had my doubts about the game being “open world,” but it turns out even that hub was just another isolated realm.

"...!"

"...Well, looks like we're not getting any explanation, as usual."

As we were captivated by the strangely wondrous scenery, each lost in our own thoughts, a familiar blue light of teleportation enveloped us. Its destination—was surely a place different from the familiar city of Istia we called home.

"Heheh...!"

An image suddenly popped into my head: the blunt message from an MMORPG I once played, “This concludes the tutorial.”

The fact that this unparalleled grand adventure we had charged through together was nothing more than “that sort of thing” in many other games sent an undeniable thrill through my heart.

"Ah... dammit, what is this—this is a god-tier game...!!"

"Eh, wha-what is it... what's happening!?"

Yeah, it was a masterpiece.

I couldn't hold it back and burst into laughter, while a surprised Sora started to panic at my reaction.

The light of teleportation carried us away, two newcomers who had shed their newbie status to become rookies, throwing open the door to the main stage.

To a new frontier in a virtual world that would surely stretch on endlessly—to what lies beyond.