kscans

Chapter 166 - The Cause of Stress

A few days after the large ship was completed, the members Hayato had asked for cooperation gathered at the Royal Capital's port.

First, there were nine members of Ney's group, "Kokuryu." Then, ten members of Rosalie's group, the Black Rose. And finally, ten members of Cecil's mercenary group, the former "Crescent Moon Beast," now the "Dragon Busters."

Hayato had also reached out to Mist and Maris, but they were busy with other matters and declined. He had also asked Ash and Ren, but they were busy in the real world and apologetically declined as well.

Just in case, he had also asked Lunaria, who was confined under the guise of being grounded, but her only reply was, "I'm coming, so come rescue me," so he gave up.

That left four members from "Daedalus," Hayato, Esha, Relic, and Diite.

"Master, I've asked this several times, but are you sure I should come along?"

"I weighed the pros and cons of your attack power and the demerit of attracting monsters, and your attack power came out on top. Besides, if a pirate ship starts firing its cannons, we'll need to return fire. If it comes to it, just let loose with a Destroy. I've prepared a large amount of Melon Juice."

Esha's negative 100 in the Taming Skill had the demerit of making all monsters aggressive towards her. In return, it broke the skill cap for sniping and magic, which increased the power of her Beelzebub's attacks.

Hayato didn't know the manufacturing method for the cannons to equip on the ship. In other words, the large ship he had built had no offensive power. Therefore, he decided to bring along Esha, who was capable of powerful long-range attacks.

"I see, you want me to sink the pirate ship with a Destroy. In situations like this, I think it's best to jump onto the pirate ship and steal their treasure... Oh, you mean we sink it and then salvage it?"

"Just hearing you say that makes it sound like we're the pirates."

Doing something like that to a ship that wasn't attacking would certainly be an act of piracy, but if they were attacked, Hayato's thinking was that it was fine to attack back. Self-defense, in other words.

As they were talking, Relic approached.

"Hayato-sama, my apologies. It seems Sonia will be a little late. She's taking her time selecting her members."

"Oh, that's fine. From what Sonia-san told me, the salvage point is quite close, so I don't think it will take that long to get there."

"However, it is a problem to keep everyone waiting. I will tell her to come quickly."

Relic said this, turned his back, and seemed to be scolding Sonia via voice chat, saying things like "Hurry up" and "Why didn't you decide yesterday?"

(Relic-san is the meticulous type, but Sonia-san seems kind of sloppy... Hmm?)

Hayato felt a gaze on him.

Looking around, he saw the members of the Ten Black Rose Saints staring intently at him.

It was the first time Hayato had gotten a good look at the members of the Ten Black Rose Saints, but their stares were frightening. And the word he heard them saying was "ordinary." Anyone, not just Hayato, would be scared if a group of people were all saying "ordinary, ordinary."

This situation was troubling, so Hayato spoke to Rosalie.

"Um, Rosalie-san, is there something the Black Rose members want to say to me?"

"No, that is not the case. They are simply sizing you up."

"Hah, sizing me up...?"

"It started when you sent us the Super Eclairs, and everyone became interested in what kind of person you are, Hayato. Well, they mean no harm, so it is fine."

(Being stared at by a group of women and called "ordinary" is causing me a considerable amount of actual harm, though.)

If it was like Ash's fans who came to the cafe, Hayato might be a little happy, but it was clear that this was not the case. They were looking at him as if he were a rare animal.

For now, he turned his back to the Black Roses and tried to pretend nothing was happening.

Diite approached the troubled Hayato with a smile.

"It seems you're quite popular with the Assassin Guild, thieves, and all sorts of people, Hayato-kun. Does this mean my judgment was not mistaken?"

"Why is it that I'm not happy about this at all?"

Normally, Esha would be the one teasing him, but she had just started talking with Cecil and was not nearby. Instead, it was Diite who had come to tease him.

"Putting that aside, thank you for the invitation today. It's been a while since I've been outside, even if it is in a virtual reality, and it's a nice change of pace."

"I'm glad to hear that. It's a bit strange to say, but do even AI get stressed?"

"If I were just an AI, I probably wouldn't think so, but I'm closer to a human in that regard. I have likes and dislikes when it comes to work, and if I keep doing something I dislike, I get stressed."

"Is that so? By the way, why are you stressed? Is it okay to ask?"

"Of course. To put it simply, I finally started an event, and someone interfered. It's so infuriating."

"Interfered?"

"Hacking. There are people trying to hack into 'Another Frontier Online.' I don't know if it's an organization or an individual, but they seem to have considerable skill, and it's been difficult to identify them."

"Are there still people doing that?"

When the game "Another Frontier Online" launched, it showcased technology that was considered impossible. Moreover, the company that developed and operated it, "Aphrodite," was of unknown location, and that remained true to this day.

Virtual reality technology has applications beyond gaming. In fact, there were a certain number of people who believed that the latest technology shouldn't be used for games in the first place.

Naturally, various fields wanted that technology. But they couldn't contact a company whose location was unknown, even which colony it was in, and so they couldn't obtain the technology.

In that case, organizations and individuals emerged who tried to steal the technology used in the game through illegal means. They dismantled headsets, made unauthorized access to communication destinations, and so on.

But "Another Frontier Online" repelled all of them.

On the contrary, it went so far as to disclose the information of the organizations and individuals who tried to hack it, socially erasing them.

At the time, the organizations and individuals who were counterattacked claimed they were falsely accused, but the information disclosed by "Aphrodite" was so perfect that it left no room for rebuttal. Furthermore, it also revealed information about those organizations hacking other organizations, causing a huge uproar.

Because of that, it was a common topic right after the service started, but such topics hadn't come up recently.

"Basically, Infinity is handling the security, so there's no problem, but if it's tied up with that, the version updates for this world will be delayed. And this time, the opponent seems to be quite a good hacker, and we can't seem to catch their tail."

"Oh, I see."

Infinity referred to the program that constructed this world and Diite. It wasn't just a simple program, but an AI-like program that thought and acted on its own, and it was named with the meaning that it would evolve infinitely.

Basically, Infinity constructed the virtual reality, and Diite managed that virtual reality.

"I want to make this event a success somehow. To do that, various fine adjustments are necessary, but since Infinity is prioritizing security, I can't adjust things well. That's what's so frustrating and stressing me out."

"That sounds tough. I'd like to help, but I'm not good with programming or hacking."

"The thought alone is appreciated. Besides, even Esha-kun probably couldn't handle this. If anyone could..."

Diite stopped her words there.

Hayato tilted his head and looked at Diite.

"If anyone could... what?"

"...No, it's nothing. Well, it's probably impossible to break through Infinity's security. And we'll find the opponent eventually. Until then, we'll have to stay as we are, but I suppose it can't be helped. It seems Sonia-kun has arrived."

Looking in the direction of Diite's gaze, he saw Sonia running towards them with several people in tow.

"Sorry, we're late. We'll get ready right away, so just wait a little longer."

"Good grief, you've always been too loose with time."

"Don't be so angry, we'll get ready right away."

While being scolded by Relic, Sonia floated the miniaturized ship on the sea.

The ship immediately grew to its full size, a large vessel capable of carrying many people.

"Come on, get on! This is the ship's maiden voyage, let's make it a grand one!"

At Sonia's words, the more enthusiastic members raised their fists and shouted. With Sonia in the lead, they began to board the ship from the gangway.

"This is actually my first time on a ship. I've been looking forward to it since I got the message. Come on, let's go."

Diite said this to Hayato and headed towards the gangway happily.

(Diite-chan looks like she's having fun. I'm glad I invited her... Well then, let's go.)

Hayato started walking, as if to follow the happily walking Diite.