Chapter 87: Let's Make a Scene The world is doomed.
Well, it hasn't technically ended yet, but since Akito—the one who's supposed to solve the Whitening Phenomenon—missed the mission that serves as the starting point for the solution, the apocalypse has basically been scheduled.
Does the world really end just because someone missed a single exam?
"I think I did pretty well on the test."
"You too? Man, me too."
The Comedy Duo is over there grinning about how they aced the exam, but do they even know?
Do they know this world only has a few years left?
By the time you guys graduate, everyone will be dead. Don't bother studying; just enjoy the rest of your lives.
Akito and his followers didn't show up until the exam was completely over.
The guy has good grades, so if he'd only missed one subject, he might have squeezed by and gotten his license.
But today, he missed all four subjects.
Even if he gets a perfect score on everything else, there's no way he's getting that Temporary License, right?
I anxiously check Akito's location on my smartphone, but nothing comes up.
"Did you fail that badly? Why do you look like a statue?"
"God Sayoshi, this thing shows the signal no matter where they are as long as it connects, right?"
When I show him the hacking app he made right in front of everyone, Masayoshi panics and covers my phone screen with his hand.
"I told you not to take that out in public."
"Who cares? It's over anyway. It's the end of the world."
"…Did you really fail that hard?"
My worries are on a global scale, unlike yours.
The fact that Akito didn't show up seems to have caused a stir, as the other students are whispering about him.
However, no one is taking it too seriously. The only one looking grave is Chika.
Why didn't she come with Akito today?
Don't tell me her 'corrupted' state where she attacks allies has escalated to something like murder or kidnapping Akito?
Ah, now isn't the time for this.
The exam is already over, but I have to fix this somehow before the world goes to hell.
Whether I have to burn all the answer sheets so the exam never happened or whatever.
It's better than the world ending, isn't it?
"Where are you going?"
"To save the world."
"…Don't go committing suicide just because of your grades."
Leaving Masayoshi and his weird misunderstanding behind, I walk out of the classroom.
"Yeon-woo! You didn't forget our promise for today, right?"
"Ah, sorry. I have to go save the world for a bit."
"… …?"
Mary, who had called out to me brightly, wears a blank expression along with Jade, who was with her.
Hey, I'm serious.
Do you think I'm crazy enough to blow off a 4P appointment for no reason?
Only Yukina stares at me with an expressionless face before approaching to whisper.
"What's going on?"
"Akito."
"…Do you know where he is?"
"No, I have to find him now."
For some reason, it feels like my role is increasingly becoming 'the guy who cleans up Akito's shit.'
Unlike the others, Yukina doesn't ask questions and immediately offers to help.
To be honest, I wouldn't have known what to say if she asked why I cared about Akito, so this is a relief.
Since Masayoshi's hacking app isn't working, we have no choice but to find him through sheer numbers.
Yukina talks to Mary and Jade, and they agree to help search for Akito as well.
"Yeon-woo is just too kind-hearted."
"It's because of his bromance with Akito."
It's not a bromance, okay? I actually hate the guy.
Mary and Jade's comments are annoying, but I endure it since I can't explain the truth.
I'm grateful to Yukina for helping find Akito, especially since she's probably still upset about the Haruna incident.
While I'm talking to Yukina's group, the Comedy Duo snoops around, and Mary quickly grabs them and adds them to the Akito search party.
The captured Rio drags in Mio and Takeo; Mio drags in Toby; Toby drags in… is this a pyramid scheme?
In the end, most of Class A joins the search for Akito.
The exam is over, and even though they don't know what happened to him, their proactive attitude is very 'Yggdrasil-like.'
In the real world, people would be saying things like, "Is that our problem?" "What's the point of us looking?" or "Leave it to the police." But these kids are different.
Honestly, I think the latter mindset is more logical, but…
Regardless, I have to find Akito for reasons I can't explain to them.
Otherwise, I'll have to lead this mob to raid the faculty office and burn the answer sheets.
Finding Akito is a much better option than fighting the teachers, right?
What a pain in the ass, all because of one guy.
We scatter to search for Akito individually.
In the group chat, messages keep popping up about how the 'top-tier recruiters' have pulled in even more students.
Among them are seniors like Scarlet.
The members are really good at sales.
Once Scarlet joins, it suddenly turns into a massive commotion involving the entire Yggdrasil student body.
All I did was agree to let Yukina help, so it's a bit scary how quickly this ballooned into such a large crowd.
Anyway, let's find Akito.
Think. Think.
What was the next event after the exam?
No, don't think with a 'game brain.' Let's track the route from Akito's house to Yggdrasil.
I spent a lot of time waiting in front of his house for the Pungyu-hwan merchant, Rebecca, so I saw him commuting often.
Past the residential area, turn the corner at the ramen shop, through the market-like shopping district, straight ahead, the second crosswalk…
I follow the path in reverse toward Akito's house.
What if Akito is dead?
Can the Whitening Phenomenon still be solved?
…It can be.
It's not like there isn't a secret medicine to treat it.
But the ingredients are so rare that the cost of production is astronomical.
I could probably treat the people close to me, but if everyone else dies, that's technically the end of the Whitening Phenomenon too.
I'm just not sure if having only twenty people left alive on the entire planet counts as a 'solution.'
As I walk, contemplating a world without Akito, a shop catches my eye.
A plain vegetable shop in the market.
It's a place he often stops at with Shiori to buy groceries on the way home.
He seems to get along well with the diligent owner, and there's even an event where he helps carry boxes if they run into each other during the morning commute.
How do I remember this? Because I had sex with the owner's daughter.
I might forget other things, but I never forget an H-scene.
The shop door is closed.
Wait, is the owner not here?
Goods are piled up outside, and the shelves are half-organized.
It looks like someone was in the middle of opening the shop and stepped away for a moment.
That shouldn't be possible. The exam is over; it's time for students to go home.
If they were going to open, they should have opened long ago. It makes no sense to be preparing to open now.
And then, another event linked to the sex scene with the daughter comes to mind.
A Zone.
A space governed by special laws.
You idiot. Why didn't that occur to me immediately?
Why is it that 'game brain' is the correct way to think at times like this? Is the world trolling me? Or am I just bad at guessing?
In terms of game systems, this is the segment that introduces the 'Zones' that Akito is supposed to solve like crazy from now on.
Right, there was a Zone tutorial after the exam.
But I didn't realize it would overlap just because the Yggdrasil schedule was pushed back by two days.
The event summary is simple.
Akito, who was helping out at the vegetable shop on his way to school, suddenly hears the daughter scream and rushes inside with the owner.
Inside the shop, invisible from the street, a Zone had manifested. Despite his followers' protests, Akito—driven by a desire to save the daughter (and definitely not just to have sex with her)—rushes in without hesitation to save the owner and his daughter who had wandered in blindly.
The followers? They obviously followed where Akito went.
Without even bothering to report that a Zone had appeared, the idiots.
I stare at the undulating black veil inside the shop, which looks like a dark sea at night, and then step back outside.
It wouldn't matter if I didn't go in… right?
It's just a tutorial, after all.
No, wait. The tutorial or the Zone isn't the important part.
The important part is the fact that Akito missed his exam and won't get his Temporary License.
I need to blow this incident out of proportion to give Akito a justification for a retake.
Think, think.
How can I make this incident so big that everyone talks about it, and Akito is so praised for his discovery that Yggdrasil is forced to give him another chance at the exam?
I ponder for a moment and then walk out of the shop.
"Excuse me, sir, how much for that bag?"
"Huh?"
A man passing through the shopping district looks around in confusion before answering.
"Oh, I'm not selling anything…"
"Whatever. I'll buy it for 100,000G. Give me your account number."
"Eh? What?"
"200,000G. Hurry up. I don't have time."
I buy the bag from the bewildered man and start hitting up the nearby shops.
"Sir, those croquettes look delicious. How much for one?"
"Thank you, customer! They are 250G each."
"Is that so? If you can make 100 of them in 10 minutes, I'll buy them for 100,000G. I'm putting them in this bag, so pack them carefully."
"C-Customer?"
Ignoring his skeptical look, I pay in advance, tell him I'll be back, and head to another shop.
I buy everything edible I can find and stuff it into the bag. When I run out of space, I buy another bag from a passerby and fill that too.
After picking up the croquettes, I return to the vegetable shop and cram some raw vegetables that can be eaten as-is into the bags. Just then, the Comedy Duo arrives.
Wait, why is Takeo with them? And Scarlet too?
"Ah… I was helping out too."
I know. You naturally took the lead in the group chat to search for Akito.
Scarlet speaks awkwardly while glancing at me.
Is it because she didn't get first place? Ever since the Tournament, Scarlet has been acting cautiously around me.
Still, I can feel that she's different than before.
If she used to be scared and avoided me, now she seems a bit shy? And maybe a little apologetic.
Whatever the case, Akito is the priority right now.
"I found Akito."
"Really? Where is he?"
"Go take a look inside."
Rio looks at me suspiciously but heads inside, followed by the others.
I finish what I'm doing, filling two bags to the brim, and stand up.
Right on time, my phone rings.
— Hello, is this Seo Yeon-woo?
"Yes, it's me. You're the reporter recommended by Moai, right?"
— Yes, that's correct. The Chairman told me to call this number.
The connections made through being fellow auction house nerds are coming in handy again.
I give the reporter the address and head inside with the bags.
"This is a Zone! Why is this here?!"
"Yes, yes. That's the right address. The government hasn't discovered it yet."
Ignoring the panicked Rio, I continue talking to the reporter.
"It's quite terrifying. It's undulating as if it's about to swallow everything nearby. Ah, a wall just crumbled and got sucked in. Is it growing? It's huuuuuge! Extremely dangerous!"
The Comedy Duo looks at me like I've lost my mind.
A Zone isn't a black hole; why would it suck in the surroundings?
A Zone just exists in its spot; it doesn't have a force that forcibly pulls things in.
But there are so many baseless rumors among civilians, right?
Since the government usually controls and resolves Zones as soon as they appear, the general public doesn't know much about them.
And the less people know, the more they believe ridiculous stories as if they were gospel.
I keep talking on the phone and gesture to the Comedy Duo and Takeo.
Following my gesture, the three of them look at the Zone I'm pointing at. They stare at the undulating black veil without a hint of suspicion.
"Yes, there are already many victims. Two civilians and Yggdrasil students… Akito and… five others, plus let's see, one, two, three, four, five. That's ten people in total. It's a disaster."
As I point at them while counting, Scarlet stares at me blankly.
Meanwhile, the three in front of me are still staring intently at the Zone.
For these innocent… no, for these people who trust me so much, I pull out my Etiquette Infuser and swing it with all my might.
"Gah—!"
"H-Hey, don't push!!"
"Wait a sec—"
Tangled together, the three of them are sucked into the Zone. Scarlet looks at me with a face full of shock.
"Y-Yeon-woo?"
"Are you coming too? I'm going in."
"… …It's dangerous. We should report it first…"
"Yeah, I'll do that. But I need to go in."
Scarlet isn't like the Comedy Duo; she wouldn't get caught just because I attacked her.
Scanning my face in a panic, Scarlet gulps.
"I can't let you go in alone."
"Well, there are plenty of comrades who went in first."
"You're trying to save Akito, right? You really are amazing. You don't hesitate to risk yourself for a friend."
I don't particularly plan on saving him.
He'll find his own way out anyway.
What I'm saving is the world.
Having steeled her resolve, Scarlet reaches out to me.
Taking her hand, I speak to the reporter who is still on the line.
"Are you still there?"
— Yes, I'm listening.
"Give me a breaking news report. Title it: '10 Yggdrasil Students Swallowed by a Zone?' Well, you're the reporter, you can write a better headline. Just make it good. Oh, and make sure to write a 'specially' long section about how a student named Akito was the first to dive in to save the civilians."
"Specially… long? Understood."
After hanging up, I finally report the Zone to the authorities and step inside with Scarlet.
Alright, let's go clean up Akito's mess.
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