kscans

Chapter 91 - Infinity

The Collector, Cecil Arven.

According to Esha’s story, she belonged to the Empire’s knight order.

However, her position was special, and she apparently only took orders from a person called the Grand General of the Empire. It was more fitting to say she was a member of a special forces unit rather than a knight order, Esha had said.

"That’s all well and good, but that person is dual wielding, right? And it looks like she’s equipped with quite a few weapons. What’s that all about?"

"Clans that performed well in the previous Clan War received a reward from God, that is, Diite. For me, it was the raising of my skill cap, or the ability to interfere with the program and create item recipes. It’s the same as that."

"I heard a little about that at the cafe the other day. Something about receiving a reward so great it could change the virtual reality’s system."

"That’s it. Thanks to that, the members of the top eight clans at the time have skills and items that would normally be impossible. Of course, there are limits."

"So that person named Cecil can dual wield and equip a large number of weapons because of that reward?"

"That is correct."

Hayato nodded in understanding. But there was something he still couldn’t accept.

"Um, I don’t know much about programming, but is that kind of thing normally possible? Things like dual wielding or raising the skill cap might be possible with an update, but for a character in the game to interfere with the program and create a recipe for an item that doesn’t exist in this world. And while the program is running, right?"

Normally, the game would be shut down for maintenance time under the guise of an update.

This "Another Frontier Online" had never done such a thing. It was said to have no bugs, and in the first place, it had never once stopped running since it launched.

There are announcements that an update has occurred. When the last Clan War was about to start, it was announced via a World Announcement. But even then, the service never stopped.

Even in this era, there were a few online games that could perform updates without stopping the service, but since there was also equipment maintenance, it was normal to stop the service periodically.

"Normally it would be impossible, but the program that constructs this virtual reality is not normal. In the first place, this space was not originally intended for a game, but for humans to live in virtual reality. It was created with the idea that stopping it would be a problem in itself."

"I see."

Hayato had heard from Diite that the program for this virtual reality could not be fixed by modern programmers. It seemed that Esha, who was a programmer at the time, could have done it, but even she took a considerable amount of time to fix the data.

Hayato became interested, wondering if the program was that complex.

"By the way, what kind of programming language is it written in?"

"It’s an autonomous, self-expanding programming language. It’s called ‘Infinity’."

"Infinity? As in, limitless?"

"That’s right. It was apparently named that because the program infinitely expands and optimizes itself. Oh, and Diite was also made with the same programming language. That’s why she has an automatic repair function."

Diite, whose program had been damaged by Hayato, had said that although it would take years, it would automatically repair itself. This must have meant that the program would repair itself.

(Maybe my biometric data could have been fixed too if given enough time? It might not have been meaningful twenty or thirty years later, though. In that case, Esha, who could fix it in about six months, must be a pretty amazing programmer.)

Hayato suddenly became curious about what jobs his clan members had in the real world. He tried to imagine what kind of work would suit Ash and the others.

But he quickly stopped that train of thought. His conversation with Esha was still ongoing.

"I understand that the program is amazing. Ah, could it be that the reason this game has no bugs is…"

"Basically, there probably are no bugs, but even if there were, they would be corrected on the spot. Furthermore, recipes are created on the spot from the creator’s knowledge and information from the internet, giving them plausible materials, performance, and even taste. It’s a system where if you write down what you want made on a piece of paper, those things are decided automatically. As for Manga Meat, well, it tasted like meat. It was delicious, though."

"You remembered Manga Meat even though you had forgotten your real-world memories?"

"I did remember that. I didn’t remember where or how I learned about it, but I just had the memory that such a thing existed. It must have remained in my memory as something I wanted to eat someday."

"Come to think of it, you received a reward great enough to change the system, and you used it to create a recipe for Manga Meat?"

"Is there a problem?"

There was no problem, but it also felt like everything was a problem. However, he also felt that with Esha, it couldn’t be helped, so Hayato didn’t say anything further.

And there was another reason he didn’t say anything.

Lunaria had come close to Hayato and Esha.

"What have you two been whispering about for a while now? As the Demon Lord, I am curious."

"It’s not about being the Demon Lord, you’re just curious, aren’t you, Lunaria-san? I was asking about that Cecil-san person. Apparently, she was the vice-leader of the clan Esha was in. And she’s the second strongest after Hero Ivan."

Since the talk about the program was about the real world, he fudged it by saying they were talking about Cecil.

Whether she believed his excuse or not, Lunaria nodded at Hayato’s words.

"Cecil-chan is certainly strong. I’ve never fought her directly, but I watched her a lot during the last Clan War. But she’s a bit of a handful, so she’s as difficult for me to handle as Ivan."

"It’s not so much that she’s difficult, it’s that you have social anxiety, right, Lunaria-san?"

Once she got even a little friendly with someone, she would become quite forward, but with people she didn’t know well, she could barely speak. For some reason, she didn’t seem to have a problem with Esha, though.

"There’s that too, but Cecil-chan is a weapon collector. When she sees a rare weapon, she asks you to give it to her. She even asked me for my Arondight. And it’s my exclusive equipment."

"Ah, so that’s how it is."

Esha agreed with Lunaria’s explanation.

"It was the same with me and Ivan. The first time we met, she asked me to give her Beelzebub. I gave her a Destroy instead. After that, she just kind of ended up joining the clan."

"She sounds like a handful in a different way from Ivan."

The Demon Lord’s Arondight, the Hero’s Excalibur, and Esha’s Beelzebub were undoubtedly unique items that were one of a kind in this world. As a collector, they were certainly desirable pieces. Hayato thought so and understood.

Hayato thought that was the end of the conversation, but for some reason, Lunaria was staring at him with a slightly dissatisfied look on her face.

"I noticed something while watching the monitor. What is the meaning of that? I want a satisfactory explanation."

"The meaning of what?"

"Why does Ney have an Excalibur Replica?"

Lunaria must have seen Ney’s equipment on the monitor. But he didn’t understand why that would make her angry.

"Why, you ask? I can only say it’s because I made it."

The Excalibur Replica was the pinnacle of weapons that could be made with the Blacksmithing Skill. For Hayato, it was a challenge he had to take on.

He had good memories of gathering the materials with the members other than Ney and secretly making it to give to her for her birthday.

Lunaria pouted at Hayato’s words. Then she took out a piece of paper, wrote something on it, and handed it to Hayato.

"Um?"

"I’ve written down the manufacturing method for an Arondight Replica. Make it for Ney. It’s cooler than the Excalibur Replica."

"What…? I can make it, but I don’t think she’ll equip it. That weapon was also a birthday present."

"Then I will place my hopes in Cecil-chan."

"What do you mean?"

Lunaria didn’t answer the question and looked at the monitor. Hayato was drawn in and looked at the monitor as well.

It seemed that Ney and Cecil were talking.

"That’s an Excalibur Replica! And it’s five stars! This is insane! Sell it to me!"

"I refuse. This is an important sword."

"Come on, please! I’ll pay whatever you ask!"

"I’d refuse even if you offered ten billion G."

Cecil seemed to be begging Ney to sell her the sword. Seeing her enthusiasm, it looked like she was about to prostrate herself.

"What are they doing with dragons all around?"

"Cecil’s illness is acting up. As I said before, when she sees a rare weapon, she starts asking you to give it to her. She still asks me to give her my Beelzebub, which is why I don’t want to see her."

Esha said this with a look of exasperation.

"Go, Cecil-chan, fight. If you take that from her, Ney will have no choice but to equip the Arondight Replica."

"Lunaria-san, sometimes you become as wicked as a Demon Lord, you know?"

"You’re making me blush."

"That wasn’t a compliment."

Hayato sighed. He wished they would just deal with the Stampede first and worry about weapons later as he watched the monitor.