Fully Armed (2)
The end of probability.
If you imagine rolling a die an infinite number of times, what lies beyond that number—
Now.
It was a hard, vivid certainty, like the whole world focusing to a single point.
"Mikelan—fire!"
A sphere of light stretched into a flash and shot into Maginus's gaping maw.
"Kaaaargh—!"
Time seemed to stretch into an eternity before the next transformation, and Maginus thrashed violently.
It was ten meters in front of Yahweh2.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Chain explosions ripped through its insides and its body began to writhe unnaturally.
As the Mafia crew watched in stunned silence, Maginus suddenly shifted direction.
"Chase it! That's the last pattern!"
It carved an ice tunnel and plunged under the sea, finally breaking apart.
Cold sprayed in every direction, forming a huge ice cavity—and an item dropped inside.
"Eek!"
When the Mafia reached the cavity, their AR pinged and they got goosebumps.
-Unidentified item drop: Legendary grade.
"Again, it dropped again!"
A legendary item from hunting Maginus—needless to say, it was Donatello.
Shirone, knowing the priority system, turned his body away instead of taking the box.
"All right, shall we use cards again?"
The Mafia team felt it instinctively.
'This isn't a coincidence.'
They couldn't guess the method, but Yahweh2 clearly could control probability.
So if it chose to, it could pull legendary-grade items at will.
'Once equipped it can't be traded, so the price won't fluctuate much. He could sweep up the Eunha.'
Having thought that through, a Mafia spoke up.
"Priority doesn't matter anyway. You take it. But we need to change the terms."
They wouldn't be able to trade after the event ended, so this was their last chance.
"Change the terms?"
"Don't need a payout. But spin one more time. You can pull another legendary, right?" "We could each match one, right? We've been together this whole time—seems fair."
"Sorry. Can't do that."
Sona asked, "Wh-why? That's ridiculously easy for you! It's worth more than giving Eunha away."
"I'm an outsider. I don't want to upset this world's balance. I'll go back once the Solar War's over."
Dex snapped.
"How rich. It's because of that Solar War we're doing this in the first place. Do you know how different the charging fees are?"
They didn't have to advertise—the Western nation wouldn't lose the upcoming Solar War—but there was no reason to reveal more.
"I'll take care of the settlement properly. That'll help you too. It'd get messy if we got too entangled."
Too many forces were already tangled up in the Shirone–Operator duel.
'Tch! So it's the Eastern nation after all?'
Their interest in the Solar War was obvious, but it was best to wait until the settlement was finalized.
"All right. Then as soon as we get out, contact the Golden Wheel. Tell them to settle immediately."
"I don't have long-range comms. How about we meet at a neutral zone first and exchange?"
"Are you kidding? Don't say that now."
Was it even necessary to spell it out?
"No—everyone here knows my level. I assumed you'd think of it."
"Hah."
If they didn't know, it would bruise their pride.
Sona suggested, "Then we'll make the contact. Meeting in neutral territory is suicide. If a large guild like the Golden Wheel intervenes, we're done. Too risky."
"Fine. Try contacting them once we're out. Use Olga's son or Aegis."
They all knew the rankers' codenames.
When the Mafia set their priority on Yahweh2, Shirone obtained the box.
Everyone crowded in.
"Look."
When the box opened, a smooth porcelain flask sat in Yahweh2's hand.
"Ooh! This is—"
-The event has ended.
The sound of waves.
The start point was not the freshwater lake but a beautiful white beach on the outer edge of Moon Isle.
Shirone let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew. Finally over."
Regardless of difficulty, just hunting in the Western nation had been a heavy burden.
Sona approached.
"Congrats. Are you equipping it right away this time?"
Shirone stared at the flask in his hand.
"Yes. I have to."
Others might wait, but mentally it was easier to equip it now.
"Equip."
The porcelain trembled on its own, cracked, and a clear liquid metal—like mercury—hovered in the air.
"Whoa—"
Just as everyone admired it, the liquid metal surged into Yahweh2's mouth with ferocious force.
It was a system that couldn't be resisted, and Shirone's whole body went cold, as if plunged into ice water.
Not an unpleasant feeling, though.
-A new program will be installed.
A message popped up in AR and the familiar scenery resolved into something completely different.
"Huh? This?"
It felt familiar to Shirone.
'Spirit Zone.'
It was as if every light around him bent inward; there were no blind spots in his vision.
Sona asked, "You okay? It looked really disorienting in the footage. Like someone staggering drunk."
'I suppose.'
It was the brain, not the eyes, that had to adapt.
'Recorded footage just outputs what the eyes saw. It was probably a layered image of broken pieces. If that moved in real time, anyone would get nauseous, but...'
In Shirone's brain, those fragments reorganized into a perfect spherical panorama.
Of course, this still wasn't the kind of "seeing" most people mean.
Sona asked, "Can you move? In the footage they stagger and fall like they're drunk. Even over level 300."
Dex added, "I saw that too. That's why Donatello's price dipped for a while. Legendary items already vary wildly by skill, but this one's said to be brutal."
Shirone understood.
It was like handing a Spirit Zone to an ordinary person whose concentration couldn't handle it.
"Still, there are people who handle it well, right?"
Sona said, "The number released is tiny. In the Western nation the representative user is Yagwi. I watched them dodge bullet patterns in the Solar War—it was insane."
'Yagwi.'
A member of Ascension.
'A real-world mage? Well, someone with high concentration might adapt.'
The Mafia sneered.
"You've been standing there quiet. Are you dizzy? I told you not to equip it recklessly."
"Hmm."
When Shirone took a step forward, the Mafia—who'd been smirking inwardly—jerked in surprise.
"Let's see then—"
He pushed off the sand and surged across the white beach at high speed.
A massive flood of visual information.
But for Shirone, who could extend beyond the Spirit Zone to Elysion, it posed no problem.
'Not bad. This should offset some of the output gap against the Operator.'
At least he wouldn't lose any blind spots.
Turning again, Shirone tested not only sprinting but precise movements.
A dazzling, circus-like display unfolded and the Mafia watched, temporarily stunned.
"What the—? He runs so well. Is that really what we saw in the footage?"
"Probably. Yagwi did the same."
Silence fell. Then Shirone slammed on the brakes and stopped in front of them.
"Phew, test complete. This is really good."
A sudden flush of irritation rose for no reason.
"Maybe you don't get it, but Donatello's a tough part to handle. People still go crazy for it because of one special feature."
"Special feature?"
"You can lock onto stealth states."
"Oh?…"
"Of course it doesn't make things perfectly clear. It's more like shapes blur or shimmer."
Even before devices that refract light, stealth can't be perfect.
"But that alone is huge. You can skip the low-frequency detection option. You free up a slot."
"How does it look when you use that option?"
"You can't see—only the coordinates show as points. That's why stealth users are hard to deal with."
"Won't everyone just use stealth then?"
"Certain selective options require specific parts. To use the stealth option you need compatible parts, but their combat performance is abysmal. At high levels, if you get caught, you die instantly."
"Kill or be killed. Binary choice."
"Exactly. That's why Donatello's so strong. You save a slot and it actually detects forms. Okay, explanation over. Want us to contact them as promised?"
When Shirone nodded, the Mafia tried to contact Olga's son.
"Will they pick up?"
Rankers usually blocked comms from everyone except specific users.
The group waited anxiously and the Mafia's face darkened.
Then his eyes widened.
"Huh? It picked up."
Everyone crowded around.
"They answered? Really?"
The Mafia stuck a hand out to keep them at bay, bowed awkwardly, and spoke.
-Hello? Hello?
-Speak.
-I—I'm a Western user, Mafia...
-I know. Saw the news. Donatello?
The dismissive tone stung, but the other side was a ranker and from the enemy nation.
-I just acquired one. We want to settle. Yahweh2 promised. The settlement amount is...
-Verification first.
The Mafia relayed Fermi's words verbatim.
"Hey, Yahweh2 says they'll verify first. They want us to send a recording, so put your eye up close."
Shirone leaned his right eye in close.
"Zoom. Zoom."
When his pupil filled the screen, characters circled his iris.
"Authentication complete. Next... um, do a victory pose to show you're unharmed?"
"Enough, just send it."
Not one to fall for Fermi's teasing, Shirone nonetheless left the Mafia flustered.
-Hey, they said just send it! Sending now.
The recorded footage uploaded, and after about thirty seconds Fermi's voice came through.
-Paid for seven people.
The line went dead.
The Mafia stood stunned, then, as if the comms were still open, shouted.
"Hey! We haven't even adjusted the price! If this keeps going like this, we'll—!"
"Ma-mafia."
His comrades stared blankly into space as a message popped up in the Mafia's AR.
-Eunha has been deposited.
Following the link, a number blinking in the personal vault was unlike anything he had ever seen.
"W-what?"
His hands trembled as the zeros climbed. Sona threw her arms up and yelled.
"Yahoo! We did it! We did it!" While the others high-fived in joy, the Mafia still couldn't believe it.
'Insane.'
Faced with a sum beyond ordinary comprehension, he didn't even feel greedy for more.
Sona shook him.
"Hey, hey! Let's go to the shop, the shop! There's so much I want to buy! We'll sweep up all the limited stuff."
Watching them celebrate, Shirone smiled, but a bitter aftertaste remained.
'Fermi.'
It wasn't a bluff.
Based on perfect insight into people, and an amount tidy enough to get things done.
There are plenty of strong people in the world, but among allies and enemies alike, Fermi ranks among the top ten you don't want to pick a fight with.
'I don't know what they're thinking. If they're an enemy, I still couldn't take them down easily.'
A thought crossed his mind.
'Why did Fermi... choose the codename "Olga's son"?'