However, it was clear that Wise's words were not enough to convince the people present, even though they all felt a strange sense of familiarity with the person standing before them.
Given the current situation, trusting a suspicious stranger who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere would have been abnormal, wouldn't it?
Miyabi was almost unable to restrain herself. Her sword was already halfway out of its sheath.
Originally, she had been worried about hurting the others and intended to let Yanagi knock her unconscious.
However, with this sudden turn of events, she could no longer leave everything to Yanagi.
Just then, an angry voice suddenly rang out from the display screen above.
"You despicable bastard! Who are you? How did you get in here? I have no grudge against you, so why are you trying to ruin my plan?!"
The moment she saw the logo displayed on the screen, Yanagi immediately recognized the speaker.
It was Null_Face.
"Sorry, but I'm a fan of Hollow Special Operations Section 6 too. When I heard my idols were in danger, of course, I had to step in and help."
As he spoke, Wise casually snapped his fingers. Although it was purely for dramatic effect, it worked surprisingly well.
The three people who had been under control instantly felt a sense of relief.
"Eh? Eh! My body is mine again!" Soukaku exclaimed excitedly.
"To restore control of our bodies so easily, who exactly are you?"
Unlike Soukaku's carefree excitement, Harumasa immediately asked the most important question.
Everyone's attention shifted to Wise as they waited for his answer.
"Me? I'm just a passing Proxy. Or, if you prefer, you can call me... Phaethon."
Wise spoke calmly, but the moment he revealed his identity, everyone except Soukaku and Miyabi showed expressions of shock.
"What? You're that famous legendary Proxy, Phaethon?!" Harumasa exclaimed.
At a time like this, someone had to point it out.
Upon hearing those words, Null_Face became even more furious.
Phaethon's reputation on Inter-Knot had always far surpassed his own, and now the man had appeared in person to ruin his plan.
Even through the screen, everyone could practically hear him grinding his teeth.
"You damned Phaethon! Then you'll be trapped here with them!"
After shouting those words, Null_Face immediately cut the connection, seemingly afraid that his location would be traced.
Seeing this, Wise felt a little regretful.
Although his innate ability allowed him to digitize himself and appear beside Yanagi, tracking down Null_Face through the network would still require considerable time.
And while doing so, he wouldn't be able to keep an eye on the situation here.
After weighing his options, Wise decided it would be better to get Yanagi and the others out of the virtual world first, then slowly track down Null_Face afterward.
"Hmm? Why is everyone looking at me like that?"
Lost in thought, Wise suddenly noticed the gazes directed at him from all sides.
"No reason. It's just that I didn't expect Phaethon to be a fan of Section 6 as well."
Yanagi said it casually, but inwardly, she was still puzzled by the sense of familiarity she felt toward Wise.
Although some kind of ability seemed to be interfering with their cognition and preventing them from identifying him, that inexplicable feeling remained.
It was something beyond the influence of the ability itself. More importantly, she was curious about the form in which he had appeared here.
"Because I found a loophole in the system. You can think of it as creating a controllable avatar, similar to a player character."
Wise offered a simple explanation. After all, something like body digitization would be difficult to explain.
As for his earlier comment about being a "fan of Section 6," there was no need to elaborate.
At the same time, Yanagi quietly began another experiment.
"Ouch! Deputy Chief, why did you hit me again?" Harumasa complained after suffering a chop to the head.
"Sorry, but it seems the system's pain feedback test has been fully activated."
Yanagi withdrew her hand apologetically. Since she had activated Safe Mode herself, she couldn't serve as a reference target.
And since it wasn't appropriate to test it on Soukaku or Miyabi, Harumasa had become the unfortunate sacrifice.
"The current situation is a bit grim, Mr. Phaethon. Do you have any solutions?"
As Yanagi posed the question, the other three turned their attention toward Wise as well. He was somewhat surprised by how quickly they had come to trust him.
"I don't have much authority right now, but according to the underlying code, we should only need to eliminate the designated enemies to force an exit."
Although Wise was an invincible existence in the network world thanks to his innate ability, the only thing he could use in this situation was his B-Rank talent, Code Programming.
"If that's the case, can you guarantee that what happened earlier won't happen again?"
Yanagi was naturally referring to the moment when the other three had lost control of their bodies. Wise could answer that concern with confidence.
"I can."
"Good. In that case, the situation isn't as bad as it seems."
After all, this was a virtual space. With sufficient system permissions, one was practically a god here, capable of doing almost anything.
"Then, Mr. Phaethon, where should we go to find those enemies?" Yanagi asked directly.
However, upon hearing this, Harumasa quickly interrupted.
"Wait, wait a minute, Deputy Chief. You're the most cautious person I've ever met, but you're trusting a suspicious person who suddenly appeared this easily? Isn't that..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was obvious.
Yanagi adjusted her glasses and replied calmly, "Harumasa, I also believe I'm the most cautious person you've ever met. And what you just heard is the course of action chosen by that very cautious person."
After saying that, she turned back to Wise.
Although her intuition told her he could be trusted, she couldn't stake her companions' safety on intuition alone.
"Mr. Phaethon, I will evaluate your suggestion carefully. If there truly is a problem later, Chief..."
"Understood," Miyabi replied, placing a hand on the hilt of her sword.
The implication was obvious.
Wise wasn't quite sure how to respond, but Yanagi continued.
"Taking risks is not the same as being careless. On the contrary, I believe our current situation is extremely dangerous, and we must take the initiative if we want a chance to survive. My apologies, Mr. Phaethon. These are extraordinary circumstances, and extraordinary measures are necessary. However, if we can get out safely, I will represent Section 6 in expressing our gratitude to you."
As Yanagi finished speaking, Wise nodded in agreement.
The other three, trusting Yanagi's judgment without reservation, accepted the plan as well.
Now, naturally, they needed to return to the test stage and eliminate the remaining three monsters.
In truth, Yanagi had already considered this possibility. However, she doubted the enemy would simply leave the monsters there as stationary targets.
But with Wise's assistance, the situation was different.
At the very least, things would proceed far more smoothly.
With that in mind, they returned to the VR simulator and shouted the activation slogan.
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Zenless Zone Zero: The Almighty Incubus of Sixth Street
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