[691] Divine Pupil (3)
* * *
Imperial Kashan.
Uorin wakes up in a secret room in Aganos, the golden castle, where no one knows except those closest to her.
Feeling the cool water bed, I turned my head to see Gando, who is biologically male but mentally his son, reading a book.
“Are you awake?”
When Gando, who brought the water, held out the cup, Uorin stretched.
“How long has it been?”
“Approximately…”
Gando regretted bringing up the word approximately.
“An hour and 42 minutes have passed.”
“Hmm, it’s been quite long.”
After drinking the water, Wu Lin put on slippers and went down and passed Jiandao.
“You’ve been going in often lately.”
It was Uorin, who has been spending time at Under Coder lately.
“fun. It’s quick to become strong.”
The program she linked to was a virtual reality world called ‘High Gear’ created by professional coders.
One of the most popular paid contents in Under Coder, you can enter by taking the Dream Star exclusive to the High Gear Code, and it is said that the price of one pill exceeds 2 million gold.
There, there are cyborgs who can modify their bodies at will and even have 100% mechanized work done.
“Is it fun to change your body?”
Gando, who had never encountered Undercoder, felt sadistic when he thought of human body modification.
“Because it is as strong as it is modified. It’s a kind of competitive mentality.”
Uorin grumbled, pointing in her ear.
“I need to upgrade the low-frequency detection function. Coming into stealth mode sucks.”
I wanted to buy it with real gold, but the operators of High Gear were strictly cracking down on cash transactions.
“Well, if you buy everything with money, you might get tired of it right away?”
Gando asked worriedly, looking like he was really immersed.
“…what are you doing there?”
“It’s just meeting people and chatting, sharing items and modification information, and fighting against the other camp.”
Uorin said as if she had just remembered.
“Right, did I level up this time? 260 levels. In short, it means that you can equip Magnan.”
Gando did not know what Magnan was.
“Is that so?”
“Still, it will be difficult to get into the top 10 of the rankings. The top 10 characters are absolute monsters. In particular, the control of ‘White Snake’ is enough to be mesmerized just by looking at it.”
Uorin’s ranking in High Gear is currently 17th, and her user code is ‘Little Witch’.
Uorin, who was talking with excitement, pointed to Gando and said.
“Would you like to come along too? I’ll give you full support. Our faction doesn’t have enough raid groups.”
It was the first time Uorin asked to do something together.
It was definitely touching, but Gando was rather bitter.
‘Is it because it’s fake?’
In reality, nothing could be shared with Uorin.
“Thank you for your words, but I will decline. I will help the Empress in real life.”
Uorin blinked.
“huh? reality?”
Gando, who grasped her intentions, added.
“Of course, this reality I live in may also be someone’s dreams are all fake.”
Thoughtful, she smiled and shook her head.
“No, it’s not like that, Gando. You shouldn’t think that this world might be fake.”
“then…?”
Uorin raised her index finger.
“This world is fake. It’s the right answer to think like this.”
“Fake…?”
Uorin, who was watching Gando’s reaction happily, sat down on the sofa and crossed her legs.
“If you link to high gear, you can enjoy a much higher level of technology than in reality, but not all of them were created by coders. It is to drag and use numerous modules floating around in Dremo.”
These are skills that cannot be applied in the current world of Uorin.
“So there may be some clunky parts, but I don’t feel the difference from reality. It’s because it’s a brain in a vat.”
Only what the brain accepts as reality is real.
“By the way, High Gear has one interesting system. It’s a service that allows you to see how your body changes before modifying it on the screen.”
Uorin patted his head.
“It’s called artificial intelligence simulation, and an incarnation with the same information as me appears and shows how to respond to various situations.”
Gando was just listening.
“It’s so precise that you can’t tell the difference between me on the screen and me on the outside just by looking at it. The problem lies at this point. What would happen if I handed control over to myself on the screen and gave the command to create a new artificial intelligence simulation?”
Uorin opened her arms wide.
“The virtual world is created endlessly. The beings in that world will live in reality without even knowing that they are nothing more than a program. If so many billions of worlds have already been created…”
Uorin asked.
“What are the odds that this place we live in is the real reality, the beginning of everything?”
Gando did not answer.
“Very few. It’s reasonable to think that we too are the midpoint of a system that never ends. Maybe it’s fake? you’re welcome. This world is fake with a 99% chance.”
Seeing Gando’s face hardened as if in shock, Uorin smiled.
“Of course, there is a very small probability that this place might be real. It’s a good way to believe and live like that. But I would like to suggest a slightly different way.”
“what is that?”
Uorin smiled and pointed at the bed with her thumb.
“Never mind, let’s go into high gear.”
* * *
Sirone and the others ran quickly and left the concealed facility area.
Occasionally, remnants of the spectrum blocked the way, but they were no match.
Upon entering the slums of Radum, starving residents were roaming around like stray dogs, but the sight of them eased their tension and the party moved on foot from then on.
Kido asked again as he gazed at the shabby scene of skinny and boneless people rummaging through trash cans.
“I am a little disappointed after hearing what you said. While I was in Speedkiller, I thought I was living a better life than those humans. But if this world is also like a dream.”
“That’s not the case, Kido.”
Sirone said confidently.
“Whatever world this is, the important thing is that I exist.”
You live by breathing, you die if you don’t eat.
“To me, this world is everything, and even if there is something outside the world, that is not the end.”
“Hmm, is that so? But after hearing it, it seems like there is no point in worrying about it.”
said Ryan.
“We survived the battle. It will be like that in the future. Everything we love is here.”
Even life was of this world.
“that’s right. That’s why we’re trying to stop La Enemie. Because when Ankera becomes a god, all the standards we thought were important would collapse.”
“We fight to uphold standards.”
Kido slung the spear over his shoulder and laughed.
“I don’t know what it is, but it’s great because it’s grandiose, right?”
* * *
The core members of the Sirone Mercenary Corps each went to Brooks’ mansion after their mission was over.
Since Jane died, an association employee sent by Rufist was waiting and collected the Nemesis processed in the form of a ring.
However, the one Nemesis that Chagall took never returned.
Two days later, Kargin and Joshua, who had fled from Radum, found Brooks’ mercenary broker.
Even when they were safely resurrected, they were worried about how they would lead their mercenary life in the future, but when they heard that they were the only ones who survived except for the core members, they were grateful for their cowardice.
Contrary to his initial expectations, Kargin felt relieved after signing the contract for the failed mission and leaving the front door.
“Ha, it feels like I was born again.”
“What kind of senile noise are you talking about? The inspiration to be coffined in soon.”
It felt good to hear Joshua’s bitter jokes.
“Chuck! It doesn’t. If you live, how long will you live? But this is the first time in my life I feel like this.”
It was the same with Joshua that sprouted in his heart.
“I will go this way. Contact me if you have anything to do with money. We have to live by helping each other.”
I had to earn diligently to pay the penalty.
“I was sincere.”
Kargin said with a serious look.
“Aren’t you going with me? If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have this life.”
“it’s okay. pretend it didn’t exist Did you come back alive anyway?”
I didn’t think that the feelings in Radum would lead to this point.
“how are you.”
Kargin grabbed Joshua’s wrist as he was about to leave.
“I love you.”
And he said it with a look that seemed to jump into Joshua’s shaking eyes.
“Let’s have our child. A beautiful child just like you.”
Tears ran down Joshua’s cheeks.
“Really… I am senile. Why am I with you…”
There is nothing more important than living in this world.
“Aaaagh!”
Joshua jumped into Kargin’s arms with open arms.
“I’m tired of playing. How much debt do you have?”
Brooks, who was watching from the window of the mansion, muttered grimly.
At the request of Sirone,
the mercenary commander, they were recorded as ‘mission failure’ rather than ‘leaving the battlefield’.
He was heartbroken by the death of Venezia, so he wanted to pay a large amount of money as a penalty, but Rufist’s words that the mercenary army completely followed Sirone’s opinion were decisive.
Especially at that time, Lufist’s planting was really not good, so even if he took out the opposite half, his neck would have fallen.
“The boss, Mr. Aria, has woken up.”
Brooks immediately turned from the window and walked to her room.
Arya, who had regained some of her complexion after treatment, was preparing to leave.
“Are you going already? How about a few more days off?”
“I have had enough rest. You must enter the royal castle. I have to write a report.”
Perhaps Lufist was in charge, but she also had work to deal with.
The doctor said she needed to rest for a week, but her posture in the coat was undisturbed.
‘What a wonderful woman.’
Who would have known that the meeting that started with playing with fire would light a real fire in their hearts.
“Thank you. I’ll contact you.”
Brooks blocked Arya’s way to the door.
“for a moment. I have something to tell you.”
“Do it later. I’m a bit busy right now.”
“I love you Aria.”
“huh? what?”
“Let’s get married. I want to share the future with you. And have a baby too.”
Arya looked at Brooks with her arms outstretched in bewilderment, then turned away coldly.
“Raise the kid you have, human.”
“…”
The door closed with a thud.
* * *
The case in which the masters of the three wizarding guilds of the kingdom of Tormia died at the same time was a hot topic in the capital.
After disbanding the mercenaries and submitting police reports to their respective guilds, Sirone was able to embark on her next journey.
“Whoa, that’s hard. Building a team is not an ordinary job.”
Kido, who covered his face with a hooded hood, mumbled food sold on the street.
“Because humans are a species that attaches a lot of meaning to death. In fact, when you die, you just have to eat it.”
Sirone looked back at the lamb skewers with Kiddo.
“Even if you eat something like that, do you remember it?”
“no. When cooked in fire, memories disappear. It’s not like witchcraft. It digests the memories contained in the cells of living things.”
Rian looked back at Kido.
“Isn’t that witchcraft?”
Kido, who swallowed the skewer in one bite, said while sucking his finger.
“What do you know? Anyway, where are you going now? I don’t even know where La Enemy is hiding.”
“I have something in mind. But before that, let’s stop by for a moment. There is someone I really want to meet. I have something to ask of you.”
“Huh? Who is it?”
Sirone smiled and pointed in the direction of the royal castle.
“The Mercodyne family.”
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