kscans

Chapter 840 - Interlude: A Medley of Voices from the World

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‘Weird, another day just ended without me realizing it.’

‘Enjoying your life of infinitely replaying the archive?’

‘Yes (mindless)’

‘I also stared at my phone for a day and now my paid vacation is gone. This sucks.’

‘Non-players are innocent. Players are guilty.’

‘Stop spacing out and go climb the tree, you guys. It’s your duty.’

‘Climbing the tree is fun, but rewatching the limit-break hero show on repeat is also super fun…’

‘While you limit-break otaku are breaking your limits, I’m heading on up (to the upper floors).’

‘Oh, a serious player appears? Hey, upper-floor bro, what level are you at now?’

‘Floor six.’

‘You’re a total newbie!!!’

‘lol’

‘Floor six lol. Are you a beginner tree-climber?’

‘Be nicer to the lonely solo tree-climbers who are trying their best, okay?’

‘You’re going in solo???’

‘A hardcore player disguised as a newbie, rofl.’

‘Even the lower floors must be tough to clear alone, you’re doing well…’

‘If a hot guy or a heroine would just fall from the sky and form a fixed party with me, I’d graduate from being single too, y’know? Ugh, this sucks. I’m gonna use Haru-chan’s shout as a lullaby and go to sleep.’

‘You’re just as much of a limit-break otaku as the rest of us.’

‘That’s just plain creepy, I’m laughing.’

‘A lonely, unpopular guy… Maybe we should have been nicer to him.’

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‘Just shut up already. It’s been confirmed that HaruNia is the way to go.’

‘Shut it, or I’ll hit you with the URL for the Arena clear archive.’

‘Hey, stop that. Please don’t try to melt the time of countless bored people.’

‘It’s gotta be AiHaru.’

‘What have you guys been watching? Bow down and worship the advent of HaruSora.’

‘Haru-chan’s full-bloom smile after the genuine applause was devastating, yes indeed.’

‘Don’t forget UiHaru, the greatest Haru, or rather Spring, of this century.’

‘The master’s sense of affection is incredible, isn’t it…’

‘But Nia-chan was cute, wasn’t she?’

‘She was cute.’

‘Yes.’

‘Her voice is unfair.’

‘Her voice…’

‘It’s nice that she has a lot of cool parts too, somehow.’

‘She has a surprisingly big-sisterly vibe, which was surprisingly surprising, and I died.’

‘We couldn’t see her face, but… her movements and everything else were just genuinely cute.’

‘Stan her. Stanned her. Stanning her.’

‘In other words, NiaHaru… we’re all in agreement, yes?’

‘It’s obviously HaruNia, don’t get it wrong.’

‘Newbie. NiaHaru with a strong big-sister vibe is the pinnacle…’

‘Nia-wbie.’

‘Huh?’

‘What is this comment section. Is this hell?’

‘H-HaruNatsu… (in a small voice)’

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‘I keep telling you, she just doesn’t fit Istia’s ranking criteria.’

‘Even so, it’s just too hard to accept.’

‘Her monstrous strength, yeah. It’s just too far beyond the pale…’

‘Realistically speaking, even just as a solo fighter, she’d easily break into the upper ranks, right?’

‘Well…’

‘Hmm…’

‘To say that so easily feels like you’re underestimating the current Ten Seats, though…’

‘This. When you talk about monsters and demons, every last one of them fits the bill.’

‘But still. But still, you know?’

‘Can’t be helped. She’s pretty much a humanoid raid boss at this point.’

‘I want to see her have a trial of strength against the current Ten Seats, one by one.’

‘I’d love to see that…’

‘Besides the Sword Saint… who would be a guaranteed win?’

‘Screen. The matchup is just too terrible.’

‘True, if her magic sword control is disrupted, she could fall apart easily, I guess.’

‘I think Genkotsu-san would probably win too. In his invincible mode, he could just punch right through her.’

‘I feel like he could get into her range even without it…’

‘After that, well, maybe Mi-na and Ri-na, due to their experience with the same type of character?’

‘I can accept that pretty easily. That’s about half?’

‘The rest would be Irori-kun and Haru-chan pushing through with their own invincibility & absurdity.’

‘Sakura Memento.’

‘Are you forgetting about the Sakura Memento?’

‘This. If anything goes and no holds are barred, the Acrobat is her number one natural enemy.’

‘Can the Sakura Memento eat magic swords?’

‘Don’t know, but probably? They’re magic swords, after all.’

‘It’s not a magic sword anymore, it’s a Demon Lord’s sword.’

‘I don’t care about the logic or the mysteries. I just want to see Sora-chan’s crown.’

‘I get it.’

‘I get it.’

‘I get that.’

‘That’s something all of humanity has to agree on.’

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‘I mean, there’s just not enough information. It’s impossible to really theorize about it at this point.’

‘Saying that in a theory thread is kind of the end of it, isn’t it?’

‘Well, it’s a total mystery from top to bottom, so it can’t be helped.’

‘Even Enra and the others who were there at the scene are saying they can’t even guess.’

‘The fundamental question is what the “covenant” is in the first place, right?’

‘Yeah. Like, who’s the promise with, and what kind of promise is it…’

‘If the NPCs were more cooperative, we might learn a few things.’

‘They are cooperative, though. They tell us honestly that they can’t talk about it.’

‘Maybe that itself is related to this covenant thing…’

‘That’s totally possible. Ugh, my brain is buzzing from this lack of theorizing material.’

‘That’s a unique way to put it.’

‘First of all, is the Green Connect raid over or not?’

‘There was no announcement of its defeat or vanquishing, so it’s likely still ongoing.’

‘So is it happening right now, or is the door to part two waiting for us somewhere…’

‘No idea.’

‘No idea at all.’

‘It’s frustrating. But for us theory crafters, it’s a gift.’

‘Do we wait for more news, or do we seek it ourselves by climbing the tree?’

‘Man, this is fun. Let’s go climbing.’

‘Another day, another trip to Vestol.’

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No continuity, just some random excerpts from the bustling chatter of the electronic sea.

Trying to put the chaos of the festival when it first happened into words is impossible, so I gave up. It's pretty much just what all you veteran Arcadians would imagine.