kscans

Chapter 176 - The Treasure Right in Front of Me

Urged on by Diite, Hayato moved closer to Ban.

Ivan, Sonia, and the others had their weapons ready but made no move to stop them. They were wary of Ban.

"A rather understanding NPC. Saves me some trouble."

Did he just say NPC? Has his memory returned? Well, if he's blocking logouts, he must know the concept, so it’s only natural for his memory to be back. But how is he changing the settings?

Ban waved his right hand to the side, and a black door, or something like it, appeared there.

In a virtual reality nearly indistinguishable from the real world, this door alone felt distorted, its image unstable. It looked like a glitched video from a bygone era, Hayato thought.

"Get in."

"I’d rather not enter a buggy-looking door like this."

"As if you have a choice?"

When he put it like that, Hayato had no choice but to enter. Ban found it a nuisance to carry him, but he had no problem defeating him here.

"Let’s go, Hayato-kun. I will protect you no matter what happens."

I always seem to think this, but everyone is always protecting me…

Havato felt some semblance of calm because Diite, the administrator of this world, was with him. Her administrative abilities were partially restricted, but her presence was still reassuring.

"I’m impressed that an NPC likes you this much. From my perspective, you’re just a powerless person. Well, whatever, hurry up and get in. I’m a man of little patience."

Havato steeled himself, grabbed the doorknob, and opened the door. The inside looked like a room enclosed by stone. It clearly felt like a separate space had been forcefully connected.

As he and Diite stepped inside, Ban entered with them. He closed the door, and it vanished.

"Welcome to my hideout. Now, you two, sit down over there. I won’t restrain you, but don’t try any useless resistance."

Havato and Diite sat down in the chairs as told, without any particular resistance.

The room was simple. A ten-meter-square room with four chairs and one table, and nothing on the walls. There was no light source, yet the room was bright.

"Now, Hayato. I’m telling you, you can’t log out here. No teleportation, no return from death, and no voice chat either, so don’t try anything foolish."

"That’s fine, but why are you doing this? Didn’t you want the airship blueprints in the first place?"

Ban gave a sly grin.

"The fact that you don't seem bothered when I say ‘log out’ means you know our secret, doesn’t it?"

Crap. I don’t know how much he knows about me. I can’t say anything careless, but staying silent isn’t a good idea either…

"Well, something like that. So, your answer?"

"The blueprints? Don’t be ridiculous. You think I’m interested in some virtual reality game? I only demanded those to lure out your entourage. For some reason, you have a lot of strong people around you, which is a pain. Besides, just demanding you alone would have been suspicious."

He’s quite talkative. He must have absolute confidence, or maybe he’ll tell me anything if I just ask. With this kind of person, it’s best to keep him in a good mood. He’ll probably start blabbing about things I haven’t even asked.

"That’s logical. So, I understand the part about the blueprints, but what’s your reason for kidnapping me?"

"You must be connected to this world’s God, the administrator AI. No, it’s more like you’re in its good graces. You are my bargaining chip for negotiating with God."

Those words alone told him something. Ban didn’t think Diite was the God of this world.

Looking at Diite now would be a bad move. Hayato made a conscious effort not to look at Diite, who was sitting right next to him.

"A bargaining chip?"

"That’s right. As long as I have you, that AI will have no choice but to listen to what I say."

"Is there something you want to demand from the administrator AI?"

"Many things. Besides, I have no intention of spending my entire life in this virtual space. I’m returning to reality. Of course, I don’t plan on going back empty-handed. Not until I’ve gotten a hefty sum of money."

"Money?"

"Hey, hey, do you not understand how much this virtual reality is worth? They seem to be running some kind of treasure hunting event in the virtual world right now, but I want to call them fools. Not when there’s this much treasure right in front of them."

"The treasure right in front of you is?"

"The treasure is the technology of this virtual reality itself. The visuals that are indistinguishable from reality, the replication of the five senses, and even the technology to jack into some neural signals. It can be applied to all sorts of fields. With that technology, you won’t just be a millionaire. You’ll get enough money that you couldn’t spend it all even if you lived ten lifetimes."

Havato thought, I see.

This "Another Frontier Online" was clearly several steps ahead of current technology. It was hard to believe this technology was a hundred years old. Applying the technology used in this virtual reality would make all sorts of things possible.

If one could take that technology, they would undoubtedly obtain an amount of money that would be impossible to spend in a lifetime.

"You’re going to use me as a hostage to pressure God into providing the technology?"

"I don’t dislike people who catch on quick."

Will Diite-chan agree to that? And isn’t it impossible to escape from the spaceship Aphrodite? No, I guess he’ll include that in his demands too.

As Hayato was thinking this, Ban looked over at Diite.

"I’m sure you didn’t understand what I was saying, but you’re going to be my liaison with God. You should be able to communicate with God, or at least convey words to God. And even if you can’t, there should be someone at the church who can."

"It’s true I didn’t understand half of what you were saying. However, I did understand that you wish to use Hayato-kun to negotiate with God."

Of course, her claim of not understanding was a lie. As the administrator, AI Protection, the system that protects NPCs from words that could restore their memories, had no effect on Diite. She must have heard every word.

"But, could you tell me something? From my perspective, you seem to be outside the laws of the world. Why is that possible?"

Ban looked puzzled for a moment, then, as if realizing something, said, "Ah."

"You mean the modification code. The ‘laws of the world’ is a good way to put it. Well, you wouldn’t understand, but I had countermeasures in place from the moment I came here. I set it up to be outside what you call the laws of the world. It seems the AI didn’t notice either."

"Are you saying you had something set up before you lost your memory?"

"You know that much, huh. Then you must know this too. The NPCs have lost their real-world memories and are living here. How stupid can someone be to accept losing their memory? Virtual reality isn’t reality. To entrust yourself to a fictional world that could end at any time. I had a machine implanted in my body to prevent that from happening to me. Even if I temporarily lost my memory, I could recall it immediately. I only just recently remembered."

Ban also boasted that the machine allowed him to hack into the virtual reality and mess with various things. He said this room and his cheat abilities were the result of that hacking.

However, to Hayato, none of that mattered. He was filled with indignation at Ban for mocking everyone who had chosen to live in the virtual reality after losing their memories.

"That’s just how difficult that era was, wasn’t it? Is it wrong to want to have hope in life, even if it’s a fiction?"

Havato knew why Esha and the others had chosen to live in virtual reality. They had wanted hope, even if it was virtual. There might have been hope in using resources from other planets, but there was no guarantee it would work out.

Virtual reality was also a gamble, but they must have felt it had more potential than reality.

As Hayato thought this, he noticed Ban’s puzzled expression.

"That era…? What are you talking about?"

"Um…?"

Havato didn’t understand what Ban was surprised about. For some reason, Ban was growing restless.

"Ban-kun does not know," Diite said suddenly.

"Doesn’t know what?"

"That a hundred years have already passed in the real world."

"A hu, a hundred years!? N, no, you, how do you know that…! Who in the world are you!"

"You know my name since I introduced myself, right? Ah, I see, a name alone doesn’t count as a self-introduction. I am the AI that acts as the administrator in this world. A pleasure to meet you."

Diite said with a smile.