East and West (3)
Dawn broke over the wasteland.
"Shall we get moving?"
The three who'd been playing all night shook themselves and stood, and Shirone stretched with them.
'That was a long time.'
In the world of High Gear, the urge to sleep simply didn't come.
They were already dreaming.
Maybe the setup of replacing human bodies with machines was exactly the sort of thing an undercoder would prefer.
For Destroyer 707 and the others, their night's play had, in a sense, been a way to kill time.
Death Gongju, helmet on, asked, "Yahweh2, you okay? You weren't bored? We didn't mind you joining in halfway through."
"No, I was just thinking about a few things. But it's strange not to feel like sleeping."
If it were Yahweh's mind, he could probably endure a month in reality, but he felt no fatigue at all.
"Dreaming still uses the brain. If you play too long, don't you get tired?"
The Strongest codename said.
"Of course. That's why I sometimes disconnect and log out. But you don't have to worry much. High Gear's time runs totally differently from reality."
"How different?"
It made sense that signals for simultaneous events wouldn't carry across High Gear.
When Shirone dreamed, another Shirone in a different space wouldn't see that dream.
"I haven't measured it precisely, but I heard from someone else that about thirty days here equals one day in reality."
"Thirty days…"
Shirone clicked his tongue.
'So in reality, not even an hour's passed. It's much deeper than Drimo, then?'
Thinking over the human-made void's implications, Shirone slung his rifle over his shoulder.
Destroyer 707 said, "Let's go. We raised our levels a lot yesterday, so Atogram should be within reach soon."
After roughly two hours' walking, they came to a five-meter-high iron wall at the edge of the wasteland.
"This is the final gate of the eastern wasteland. If we get any closer, gun muzzles will pop out of the wall and attack us."
"Right. To get past that we need this feature—Reflex Response Compensation."
They'd been hunting without rest on the way here and had hit level ten.
Shirone checked the HUD.
- Reflex Response Compensation (On/Off)
A function that activates at level 9; it analyzes incoming attacks and automatically evades. Death Gongju explained.
"Reflex Response Compensation counters auto-aim. Since you're auto-targeted, you need an auto-avoid. But if two people are the same level, auto-aim is much more efficient."
Shirone nodded in understanding.
"True. If Reflex Response Compensation were better, no one could ever land a hit."
"Right. That's why top players sometimes turn it off. They trust their own skill. Or they toggle it quickly to get only the info they need. But for low levels like us, it's essential. At output around level 10 you can't dodge bullets otherwise. Ah…"
Death Gongju's voice changed as realization struck. "You can dodge, huh? Then you can turn it off. Your senses are still far better."
"No, I want to keep it on. I should get used to the system now so I can apply it later."
Decision made, the party started sprinting toward the wall five hundred meters away.
At level-10 output they could clear five meters in height—the problem was the bullets.
"Here they come!"
Hundreds of muzzles popped out of the wall and spat fire at them.
Tat-tat-tat-tat!
Dozens of auxiliary lines appeared in the augmented reality display, each showing a hit probability.
With Reflex Response Compensation—movement correction—active, Shirone's body moved in a blur.
"Huk! Huk!"
Because the AI operated essentially inside the user's brain in High Gear, it didn't feel alien.
'It's really convenient. Thought isn't imported from outside—it's triggered from within.'
Destroyer 707 shouted, "Jump as far as you can! Once it drops below fifty percent, it gets rough!"
The closer they got to the wall, the more painfully the evasion probability fell.
Leaving the hail of bullets to the AI, Shirone calculated the distance.
'Now.'
He ramped up his High Gear output, slammed his feet into the ground, and the four of them launched into the air at once.
"Yaaaah!"
They shouted as they arced, and finally the four cleared the wall and landed.
The gunfire stopped and silence fell.
"Phew, done."
As Shirone scanned the area, the AI output spatial information.
- Beginning of the Royal Capital.
Beyond the wall lay a dense conifer forest and a path winding up a hill.
He glanced toward what sounded like birdsong, but they were creatures—level-8 enemies, even.
Death Gongju said, "The Beginning of the Royal Capital gathers users who crossed the eastern wasteland into one place. No matter which wall you jump, you end up on this path."
Destroyer 707 added, "Atogram is the neutral zone players first arrive at in High Gear. Even low-level districts here can be surprisingly large. It's where East and West are decided. That's why rankers come here to listen for news or sometimes to scout."
Their real journey was beginning.
Ascension—first place in the West guild rankings.
A strong gust burst from a user-customized capsule and its door clanged open.
Inside stood a graceful female figure with curly blond hair obscuring her eyes.
- High Gear charge complete.
With a metallic clank the chassis shook and a pair of black flats touched the floor.
Height: 172 cm. Weight: classified.
If she had a human body, it would be a slim frame not exceeding fifty-five kilograms.
User codename: Operator.
She was indisputably top-tier hardware and software in High Gear.
She deliberately projected her voice and, catlike, sauntered around the room with a hint of seduction.
"Not bad."
The damage from the last raid had been repaired.
Ascension Guild occupied the whole building—twenty-three floors—and her room was on the twenty-second.
When she opened her door and stepped into the corridor, a small girl about 130 cm tall was waiting by the elevator.
A codename appeared in the Operator's view: Little Witch.
Level 482, ranked thirteenth overall but seventh in the Dual field—an accomplished player.
'Annoying.'
Rapidly becoming a ranker was rare, and the Little Witch carried an aura that made her hard to read.
The Operator walked toward the elevator and asked, "What's up on the twenty-second floor?"
The guildmaster's floor was private; members generally didn't come up unless summoned.
The Little Witch turned.
"Oh? You're logged in? I knocked but it was quiet."
Her face was doll-like, expressionless; even her jaw looked like a jointed figurine.
"I stepped out briefly to get my body repaired. You came to look for me? What's going on?"
"Nothing much. Just—I've been feeling weird lately." This was precisely why the Operator found the Little Witch difficult.
"Do you know Yahweh?"
"Yahweh?"
The Little Witch, glancing at the elevator panel, turned her head a beat faster than usual.
But her emotions couldn't be read.
"Hmm. If you know him, you know. If you don't, you don't. But why Yahweh? Is it because you've been feeling sentimental lately?"
"I came into High Gear. I made a bet. If he beats me in a duel, he'll grant me anything I want."
"Oh?"
Though the Little Witch still smiled, the Operator felt a chill.
The elevator doors opened.
The Little Witch stepped in first and asked the Operator following her, "Why does that make you uneasy?"
"I've done some digging. He's far more impressive than I thought. Fine up to that point. But he looked down on High Gear. He only thinks of using me for the sake of people in the real world."
"Ha! Completely closed-minded, huh?"
Her tone sounded almost sympathetic, but there was a strange glee beneath it. That only annoyed the Operator more.
"Of course things won't go his way. He can't beat me anyway."
"Oh right—press the button."
The Little Witch tapped first floor and said, "Of course beating the undefeated Operator won't be easy. But it won't be simple. I actually know a bit about Yahweh—he's no ordinary player."
"I know."
That was why the Operator was in such a foul mood.
"There was a lot of talk at yesterday's meeting. He seems to have a special sense of time. He even dodged rifle rounds in his bio-state. It means he's already transcended the human body."
"Wow, really? Amazing."
At the Little Witch's exaggerated reaction, the Operator scrunched her nose slightly.
"The problem is he denied my world. I can never lose to someone like that. Honestly, I'm angry. I'll smash him to pieces. If he still doesn't get it, I'll shock his real brain if I have to…"
"Operator."
The Little Witch's voice shifted, and when the Operator looked, the Little Witch was staring with the same blank expression.
"Do whatever you like. I'll cheer you on. But if you harm the real-life Yahweh—"
That made it all the more chilling.
"You will die to me."
A machine couldn't swallow, but in the Operator's mind she felt herself gulp.
"…Yeah."
Even someone who ignored the outside world knew how terrifying reality could be.
'Little Witch. She's really strange.' The Operator considered asking the tutorial administrator but refused—breaking the rules was out of the question.
From watching her in guild life, one suspicion had formed.
'Maybe she was the Empress of Kashan… or someone like that.'
From what the Operator had researched, Kashan was now ruled by an emperor named Kando.
'He has unlimited funds and is extremely well-read. Above all… he knew the secrets of the holy war. Of course I learned that by hacking dreams.'
The clearest sign was that no matter what, she couldn't access the Little Witch's dreams.
'There's a strong chance she's not human.'
The atmosphere turned heavy as the Operator finished her thoughts and said, "Don't worry. I'm not interested in outside matters. And I'm not concerned about your relationship with Yahweh. In High Gear, all I need is to smash Yahweh."
"Heh heh, I'll be eager to see it."
The Little Witch's voice softened and the Operator tilted her head slightly.
'Curious,' she thought. How could a face that barely changed hold so many emotions?
"It's here."
The elevator reached the first floor.
"It's here."
At the last point of the Beginning of the Royal Capital, Shirone took in the sight of a vast city in the distance.
Was this what the world looked like before the apocalypse?
"It's really something."
Countless skyscrapers rose into the sky and trains ran between them.
Destroyer 707 said, "From now on it's all about getting stronger. Sure, it might get annoyingly tough, but we'll be fine. After all, we have Yolga's son with us."
Though they were effectively playing a second run, Destroyer 707 and his party felt far more excited than the first time.
'We're about to enter the Gold Wheel.'
Dreaming of a hopeful future, Shirone and the others raced down the hill.
Spatial info: Free City, Atogram.