kscans

Chapter 304 - Restrictions on How to Play

That night, on the day they arrived at the Floating Island, Jolto from the clan "Bandit" approached Hayato with a proposal.

To put it simply, he suggested they hunt monsters together.

Both Hayato and Jolto had come to this island to seal the rare dinosaur monsters in their Monster Sealing Encyclopedias. To seal as many monsters as possible, having more firepower would be more efficient.

However, acting together with Jolto's group was a problem.

If Hayato were only with Ney and the others, or only with NPCs, it wouldn't be an issue. But unlike before, many of them now knew the circumstances, including the members of Kokuryu and Ash's group, who had regained their real-world memories.

They had fought alongside Bandit during the Stampede event to defeat Agres Berion.

At that time, the members of Kokuryu didn't know much about the game's circumstances, and the only NPC who had regained her memories was Esha. This time, however, many more people knew the truth.

There was a high probability they could be found out by a chance remark. On top of that, Bandit had members in a so-called verification team who were investigating the game's specifications.

If they were found out, Hayato couldn't predict whether Jolto would make it public. He had almost no interaction with the other members of Bandit, so he was even less able to judge them than Jolto.

As a result, they decided it was too dangerous to act together.

Jolto didn't seem to mind, saying, "Well then, I guess we're rivals," and went back without getting angry.

When he told Diite about this, she apologized to Hayato in a sorry-sounding voice. It was so faint that he imagined this was what a mosquito's buzz would sound like.

"Hayato-kun, I am sorry..."

"I don't understand why you're apologizing."

"I want you to enjoy yourself in this virtual reality, Hayato-kun, but I have placed various restrictions on how you can play. Normally, acting together with players like Jolto-kun would be one of the great pleasures of an online game, right? But I am forcing you to limit that because of our circumstances. I am truly sorry..."

"Ah, so that's what this is about."

The fact that NPCs were human was a secret, with the exception of a few members. Diite had asked him to keep it a secret as much as possible. That was the reason he had refused to fight alongside Jolto.

The only ones who knew the circumstances were Hayato, Ney, and the others from Kokuryu, and Esha's group who had regained their memories.

Being found out was a problem, but as more people learned the truth, the probability that the NPCs they interacted with would regain their memories would increase. Ney had been warned by everyone to be very careful about that.

There were countermeasures in place, called AI Protection, to prevent them from regaining their real-world memories, but they weren't perfect.

Many NPCs who had interacted with Hayato so far had regained their memories. It was more accurate to say that Hayato had been dragged into it, but still, regaining their memories had led to good results.

If someone other than Hayato were involved and they regained their memories, it was uncertain if the result would be as good. In the first place, the NPCs were not intended to regain their memories. The majority of them were people who had entered this virtual reality with the intention of living out their entire lives here.

"I was the one who invited everyone to live in this world. Whether that was the right thing to do, I don't know now. But at the time, everyone decided to spend their lives in this world. In that case, as the one who invited them, I have a duty to provide that for them."

"I think I understand, more or less."

"However, that is my duty, not yours or Ney-kun's. And yet, I've placed restrictions on you and gotten you involved in so much. I'm truly sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure Ney and the others feel the same way. There are restrictions, sure, but we're also playing in a way that others can't. I mean, fighting alongside the Demon Lord, other players can't do that, right?"

Only Hayato, Ney, and the others could do that. Compared to the various restrictions, it was probably a net positive overall.

"It helps to hear you say that. By the way, are you sure you don't want any money? I'm giving Ney-kun a portion of the sales under the pretext of being the owner of this virtual reality, but I'd like to give you a portion as well, as an apology for the trouble."

"I don't need it. The prize money I get from game events is enough."

"I see. If you change your mind, please let me know at any time. I'm grateful to you, Hayato-kun. It's sad that the only way I can repay that kindness right now is with money, though."

"The thought is enough. So let's end this topic. By the way, are you still busy, Diite-chan?"

"The events have calmed down to some extent, so I'm starting to have some free time. But why do you ask?"

"In that case, let's go on an adventure together again. We're on the Floating Island now, but we're planning to go to the Eastern Country next, so how about joining us then?"

There was no response from Diite to Hayato's proposal. Even though the voice chat wasn't cut off, he couldn't hear anything.

"Diite-chan? Can you hear me?"

"...Ah, yes, sorry. Thank you, Hayato-kun. I see. You'd still invite me, even though I've put you in this situation. In that case, I'll definitely accompany you. Even if a meteor should fall, let's go."

"It's not like it's a Meteor Swarm... It won't actually fall, right?"

"I will just say that there are monsters in the sea that use Meteor Swarm."

"Oh, I see... And this time, no spoilers, okay? Last time, with Mist-san's situation, I ended up asking a lot of things."

"Of course. The Eastern Country also has many undiscovered elements, so please do try to find them. In particular, it would be good to defeat all of the Four Divine Beasts, like Genbu and Suzaku."

"That's a spoiler, isn't it? I was planning on doing it anyway, but please don't say anything more."

"You're right. Well then, I'm looking forward to going to the Eastern Country. Please contact me again when it's time to go."

After that, Hayato chatted with Diite for a while longer before logging out.

The next day, Hayato and the others immediately set out to seal the dinosaurs in their Monster Sealing Encyclopedias.

There were buildings to the northeast and northwest of this island, and another one in the center of the lake. To get to the central building, they needed to retrieve switches from the northeast and northwest buildings, which they had confirmed during their previous exploration.

Although they wouldn't be fighting alongside Bandit, they decided to divide the locations to conquer so they wouldn't get in each other's way.

After some discussion, it was decided that Jolto's group would conquer the northeast building, and Hayato's group would take the northwest one.

"This building, or rather, this basement, is a first for me. I'm excited!"

Ney said cheerfully on their way to the building. She had apparently been playing card games with Rosalie and the others last night, and her high spirits seemed to be carrying over.

When they had come to this island before, they had split into two teams to conquer both locations simultaneously. The building Ney and Cecil had gone to was the one on the northeast side. That was the location Lunaria's Demon Lord's Army had headed to.

"There was a Stegosaurus on the lowest floor. The spikes on its back were cool. But it was dangerous because it would curl up and charge while rolling. Not that it was a match for the Demon Lord, though."

Lunaria said that with a smug face.

He thought it was still a very fantasy-like dinosaur, but Hayato laughed a little, figuring it must be Diite's preference.

Among them, there were three members with low spirits.

They were Maris, Surya, and Noat.

For Maris and Surya, it was related to yesterday's taming situation. While Hayato was logged out, the two had tried to tame a Raptor and an Allosaurus on the surface, but it had been a failure.

It was unclear if there were conditions or if they simply couldn't be tamed, but since the Pteranodon could be tamed while the other two couldn't, their spirits were low.

So, their spirits weren't high because there was a high probability that the Stegosaurus where they were headed couldn't be tamed either.

As for Noat, needless to say, she disliked going to dungeons, so her spirits were low, and she was being dragged along by Cecil. Seeing this, Esha commented, "She resembles a dog resisting a vaccination shot that I saw in an old video."

While they were doing this, they arrived at the building they planned to conquer.

Unlike the metal apartment-like building they were using as a campsite, this one was made of white concrete. There was nothing but an entrance, and no windows.

From Hayato's knowledge, it looked like some kind of shady research facility, but given the circumstances of this island, that probably wasn't far from the truth.

Hayato, Esha, as well as Ash and Ren, had work at the cafe in the afternoon. They immediately stepped inside, intending to reach the lowest floor by noon.