kscans

Chapter 84 - The Treasure of the Dragon Soul

The day after Esha's arrival, Hayato finished his work at the cafe, firmly locked the entrance and windows, and turned off the lights.

The only light came from the artificial moonlight streaming through the window. After looking at the gentle light for a moment, Hayato sat down on one of the cafe's leather chairs and let out a slow breath.

On the table in front of him was a headgear. This was the headgear for logging into Another Frontier Online.

Hayato had been unable to log into the game for six months, but thanks to Esha, he was now able to log in again.

Esha was already in Hayato's room, wearing her headgear and logged in.

Hayato picked up the headgear with both hands and put it on. He then launched Another Frontier Online.

The word LOGIN was displayed before his eyes.

Six months ago, he had received an authentication error and couldn't log in.

Hayato took one deep breath and selected LOGIN.

The word AUTHENTICATING was displayed, followed immediately by AUTHENTICATION SUCCESSFUL. Immediately after, Hayato felt a sense of floating, and his vision went dark.

It's been a while since I felt this...

Hayato surrendered himself to the sensation, relaxing and leaning back in his chair.

Hayato woke up.

In front of him, he could see a large full moon and a starry sky. Though it was a virtual reality, it was a star filled sky that was difficult to see in the real world. Seeing it, Hayato felt that he had returned.

It was a little disappointing that his first login in a long time was in the middle of the night, but he had work, so it couldn't be helped. Thinking that this too had its own charm, he smiled a little.

His joy was short lived as Hayato became puzzled.

In this game, when you log in, you restart from the place you logged out. Under special conditions, you could be put in a jail cell, but Hayato had last logged out at an inn in the Royal Capital.

You could only log out safely from a bed at your base or an inn in a town or village. He would never log out in the open where he could see the sky like this.

Hayato hurriedly sat up. He then looked around.

He was in a pile of rubble. The place where he had been sleeping was the ruins of some building.

But that situation quickly became irrelevant.

Because it was night, he hadn't noticed until now, but five dragons, each about ten meters long, were watching Hayato from a short distance away. These dragons were not the generic monster dragons, but dragons with original appearances that were clearly strong.

Huh? What?

Those dragons approached him.

"He appeared out of nowhere, but who is this guy?"

"Did he come to attack us alone? We don't need to rampage here anymore, but should we take him out?"

"No, wait. I've seen that face somewhere before...?"

One of the dragons said this and scrutinized Hayato.

Though illuminated by the moonlight, the dragon's body was as black as darkness. In the current time of night, you had to strain your eyes to even make out its outline.

"Ah, isn't he the guy who was in Ash and Ren's clan? I think he was the leader of a clan called Daedalus, and his name was Hayato or something."

For some reason, a different dragon from the dark one knew about Hayato. And it knew the names of Ash and Ren too.

Hayato had a rough idea of what was going on.

Are the dragons here the ones called Genesis Dragons? If there are five of them, does that mean they're the hardline faction... then is Ash's father here?

He had suddenly logged into a very dangerous place, but there was nothing he could do now. There was a chance he would be killed, but he tried to start a conversation to gather information.

"Are you Ash's father?"

The dragon with the dark body didn't answer the question, but its body suddenly began to glow. And in the next moment, a human shaped man was there.

He was wearing a thin fabric suit sloppily, with his tie just hanging around his neck, a style that would get him scolded if he were a professional.

However, even with his appearance of being in his late forties, he was handsome, and his stubble brought out his masculine charm, making him look like a roguish older man. On the contrary, that sloppiness had a wild feel that would likely charm many women.

And Hayato recognized him as the man who had faced off against Ash in the final Clan War.

I see, he's Ash and Ren-chan's father alright. He must have been quite the ladies' man when he was younger. If I saw him in reality, I'd probably click my tongue. No, wait, he does exist in reality.

The NPCs in this game are humans from Earth a hundred years ago, who are in cryosleep on the spaceship Aphrodite and are permanently logged in. Their memories of when they were human are gone, and this game world is their only reality.

But it's strange. I feel like I've met him somewhere before. Even before that final Clan War... More importantly, it's rude to remain seated.

Hayato stood up. He then moved in front of Ash's father.

"My name is Hayato. Am I correct in assuming you're Ash's father?"

"Yeah, that's right. This is perfect, I'll let you go in exchange for you giving Ash a message."

"Before that, where is this place?"

"This is the Royal Capital Anhemudal."

"Huh?"

Thinking that couldn't be right, Hayato looked around. Though it was a pile of rubble, he certainly recognized the surrounding buildings.

Is this where the inn in the Royal Capital used to be? The inn was destroyed while I was logged out, so I started on top of the rubble?

"You'd understand if I said Stampede, right? We, the hardline dragons, attacked the Royal Capital. A fragment of the treasure of the Dragon Soul was in this capital, so we took it. There were those who tried to protect it, but they were no match for us."

In other words, they had failed the Stampede defense event.

There had been Stampedes before where large numbers of monsters appeared, but Hayato remembered this being the first time dragons had attacked. But more than that, this was the first time in Hayato's memory that a town had been destroyed in an event.

However, looking closely, it wasn't private houses that were destroyed, but facility buildings. He guessed that if they failed to defend, some facilities would have restrictions placed on them.

"And now for the message for Ash. Tell him not to seek the treasure of the Dragon Soul."

"I don't mind, but what's the reason?"

Ash's father showed a slightly surprised expression at Hayato's words. He then immediately raised the corners of his mouth.

"It's a good thing to question everything. But curiosity killed the cat. You don't need to know the reason. Besides, even if Ash and the others seek the treasure, I'll get it first. It's a pain, so you can think of it as me telling them not to get in the way."

"I see. Then I'll just tell him. I think Ash will be the one to decide what to do, though."

"Yeah, that's fine. By the way, are you Ash's friend, Hayato?"

"Yes, well. I consider him my best friend."

He thought it might be strange to think of an NPC that way, but Ash wasn't an AI, but a human. Even if he were an NPC, Hayato would have felt that way, but now he could say it with confidence.

"I see. So he has friends. It's not because of that, but I'll introduce myself. I'm Veru. Veru Brandle. Well then, I'm counting on you for the message."

"Understood. By the way, do you have a message for Ren-chan?"

"...Heh heh, interesting. To be able to act so normally in front of this many dragons, you've got some guts."

Well, it is a virtual reality. I'd be scared if a giant dragon tried to bite me, though.

"Tell Ren, that she's as beautiful as her mother... no, forget it. Just tell them to get along as brother and sister."

Ash and Ren's mother. Hayato had never heard about her. He had heard various stories at victory celebrations and such, but he remembered that topic never coming up.

"Understood. I'll tell both Ash and Ren-chan."

"Yeah, thanks. Please continue to be good friends with them. See you."

Veru glowed for a moment again and became a dark dragon. He then spread his wings with force.

The other four dragons similarly spread their wings, put strength into their legs, kicked off the ground, and took flight.

After seeing them off, Hayato thought for a moment.

Why did Ash and the others decide to become residents of this virtual reality, even to the point of abandoning reality? I hear the era of resource depletion was tough, but... well, thanks to that, we were able to meet. I'll think positively. Alright, first, the base.

Hayato took out a Ring of Teleportation and teleported to the base.