[Watching VTuber streams is a problem. You can burn through endless hours without getting any work done.] [Being a character you can actually talk to in real time already makes them pretty strong.]
Chapter 488: Resound, Grateful Legacy — That Which Calls Out, “O Human, O Human”
Isana: "Wonderful! Congratulations on clearing the First Shell Layer, 'Welcome Gate'!!"
Sunraku: "Yeah, thanks, thanks. Anyway, I want to go home."
Isana: "First, as your reward for defeating the boss enemy designated as the First Shell Layer's overall trial target, I present you with this: 'Amberjack Pass: Level 1'!"
Sunraku: "So I'm at the wakashi stage, huh? Anyway, I want to go home."
Yellowtail's great simmered with daikon, but personally, I prefer a simple grilled collar.
No, that's beside the point.
Is this one of those systems where, like a fish whose name changes as it grows, raising the level gets me corresponding benefits?
Isana: "And we'll add to your 'Score'... Ah, and here is your reward item, the 'Manned EVA Protective Armor — Replica.'"
Sunraku: "Oh, thanks. Anyway, I want to go home."
Judging by the flavor text, it's basically a replica of a spacesuit from the Divine Era.
There are a few lines in there that catch my attention, like how it fell out of use at one point only to become necessary again later...
Isana: "In that case, I shall transfer you to the Second Shell Layer, 'Path of Instruction'!"
Sunraku: "Hold it right there."
I've repeatedly said I want to go home, you know!
And don't give me any bullshit about the conversation not registering because this is an event sequence!!
Isana: "But...! L-look, all the dazzling wisdom of the Divine Era is waiting for you, you know?"
Sunraku: "I never said I wasn't interested. I'm willing to learn. I'm just saying let me commute instead of making me live on campus."
Isana: "Mmmmmmm... No, you're right. 'Isana' is something that stays close to people and guides them... Yes. Perhaps I shouldn't do anything that restricts the path you choose to walk. Very well. That said, I do still need to transfer you to the next Shell Layer so I can record the coordinates to use when you return. Is that acceptable?"
Sunraku: "Yeah. If that's all, go ahead."
Isana: "Then, activating Directional Gravity-Acceleration Transfer!!"
Sunraku: "Hmm??"
Wait.
What was that weird wording just now?
Accelerate with directional gravity... and transfer?
Huh?
This isn't teleportation?
Going by the sound of it, isn't that an incredibly brute-force way of—
Sunraku: "Whoa."
Araba: "What—"
Saina: "This would be an Intelligence Float."
What—
Isana: "And now, onward to the Second Shell Layer... Ascension, please!"
Sunraku: "WHAT THE HEEEEELL IS THAAAAAAAAT...!?"
After a brief instant of weightlessness, an overwhelming pressure hits us like some invisible hand has grabbed us and hurled us with all its strength, sending us flying straight upward.
Looking down, I get a bird's-eye view of "Welcome Gate," stretching all the way to the horizon.
Looking up, part of the ceiling that serves as both the lighting and the "sky" slowly begins to open.
I flail around for a bit before managing to stabilize my posture. While nudging Araba to calm him down when he starts trying to swim through the air, I look upward.
At a speed vastly greater than anything we could've managed on foot, I, Araba—and Nereis—along with Saina pass through the ceiling of the First Shell Layer...
And lay eyes upon the second.
Sunraku: "A grassland?"
Araba: "What is the meaning of this!?"
Saina: "An Intelligence Analyze appears necessary."
Sunraku: "Your Intelligence vocabulary is getting dumber, Saina."
Saina: "Hmph. Intelligence comprehension..."
You useless piece of junk...!
Anyway, they at least weren't sloppy enough to fling us into midair and call the transfer complete.
Several shutters close beneath us, and the opening disappears as though it had never existed, leaving nothing but grassy ground. We slowly descend onto it and look around.
Sunraku: "I don't think this is what 'open terrace' is supposed to mean."
Isana: "I-it's an aesthetic consideration! This was fashionable during the Divine Era, you know? Yes, what you might call... totally groovy...!"
That phrase is already dead slang in the real world. Wouldn't it qualify as classical language by Divine Era standards?
A vending machine, something resembling a drink bar, tables, and chairs are all sitting completely exposed in the middle of a grassland.
Feeling something indescribable about the whole scene, we take seats at the completely exposed tables for now.
Sunraku: "I'm definitely heading back for a bit, but before that, I've got a bunch of system-related questions. Mind?"
Isana: "Please, ask away."
Then don't mind if I do.
...
......
............
................
Sunraku: "—Yeah, that should about cover it."
Long story short, nothing really starts until I raise the level of the Amberjack Pass.
In particular, isn't reaching Level 3—where I get fast-travel privileges—basically urgent?
I'm still going home for now, though.
Sunraku: "Oh, and one last thing..."
I'm not expecting much, but I should ask just in case.
I pull the gun-shaped object out of Inventoria. Since Araba and the others are busy having fun at the drink bar, this last question is between Isana and me alone.
Sunraku: "—Can you repair the corrupted data inside this?"
Some kind of data left behind by the jobber... I mean, Edward Oldkring.
The final research results of a man who very obviously got written out of the story because he'd learned too much are stored inside this BC Beacon in a damaged state.
If parts of it were unreadable, I could've accepted that as flavor text.
But if the whole thing is unreadable, then the possibility of "repairing" it starts to come into view.
Leviathan is practically the very heart of Divine Era technology. Wouldn't repairing it at least be possible here?
I mean, now that this whole Amberjack Pass system has appeared, I'm not expecting to be able to read it immediately...
What I want to know is whether it's possible at all.
Isana: "...Hehe. I see. So he really was someone worthy of being called a best friend by that person, right up until the very end."
Isana's answer comes with a smile.
It looks mocking.
Then gentle.
Then wry.
Every time I blink, the impression I get from it changes—an emotional chaos so complex it's hard to believe she's an AI character.
Isana: "The repairs are already complete... but I'm sorry. I've placed a Special-Class Confidentiality Lock on it."
The whale woman speaks.
Isana: "That contains the truth of this world. It is wisdom of no use to those of you who do not even know how to cross the sea of stars."
Sunraku: "You're saying we don't need to know?"
Isana: "No. No, that is not what I mean, human of the new generation. The shortest path is not necessarily the correct one. You must take the long way around."
Sunraku: "Specifically?"
Isana: "Obtain Amberjack Pass: Level 5, as well as the necessary qualifications."
Ugh. Sounds like a pain.
The Pass level is one thing, but maybe I should just feed the information to Library and have them handle the rest for me...
Eh. I can leave it on hold for now.
Sunraku: "Got it. It's not like I desperately need to know right away, so I'll take my time clearing everything."
Isana: "Then... shall I send you outside the ship for the time being?"
Sunraku: "Oh, hang on. I'm gonna go spend my Score first."
The Isana floating in midair performs a full-on pratfall animation.
Sorry.
It's the gamer instinct. I can't help it.
◇
Any attempt to enter from outside was physically repelled, and no matter how much anyone called out to it, all that appeared was a window displaying a bureaucratic apology.
Several days had passed since it appeared, and the players had already exhausted just about every approach they could think of for getting into Leviathan.
Player 1: "Whoa, there's a magical girl sitting on the beach hugging her knees... What's up with that?"
Player 2: "Oh, that's the leader of [Library]. Apparently he's been logging in for about three days just to sit there and stare at Leviathan."
Player 1: "You can feel the sadness just looking at him..."
If he'd looked like his real-world self, the sight would've been difficult to describe.
Fortunately, the fact that he looked like a girl dressed in an aggressively pink and fancy outfit softened the image somewhat.
Professor had barely gotten any of his real-world work done over the last few days. Today, just like every other day, he sat on the coast staring at Leviathan...
And precisely because of that, he was the first to notice the "change."
Professor: ".........Huh?"
How should one describe it?
A gigantic gate, perhaps.
Or, if you interpreted the shape biologically, something corresponding to a "mouth."
The lower front section of the enormous spaceship was slowly opening.
With [Library] at the forefront, analytically minded players had already approached Leviathan repeatedly for testing, so they knew that it was floating several meters above the ocean surface, fixed in place.
But the overwhelming majority of people had been so awed by its gigantic form that their attention naturally went toward Leviathan's upper half—or toward the absurdly oversized "horn" extending from its bow.
Professor: ".........!?!?"
With agility utterly unimaginable from his age in real life, Professor whipped a pair of binoculars out of his inventory and peered through the primitive lenses.
And he saw it.
It was difficult to make out, sandwiched between the sea and Leviathan's enormous body, but light was gathering inside the now-open gate hatch.
The light swelled.
Then burst.
And the instant it did, a road of light began forming in a perfectly straight line from Leviathan toward the beach where Professor sat, extending at tremendous speed.
Professor: "No way..."
Sunraku himself had given them no answer, and the people around him had only responded to questions with wry smiles and evasions, but Professor had formed a hypothesis.
Whenever someone spoke words expressing a desire to enter Leviathan, a window appeared in front of them.
It always displayed the same message:
[Please wait while preparations are underway.]
There had been a theory that the content simply hadn't been officially implemented yet.
But the player who, as far as Professor knew, had delved deeper into this world's unknowns than anyone else had abruptly vanished after Leviathan appeared.
Not through logic, but through instinct, Professor had believed there was a connection.
And now, at this very moment, that possibility was proven true.
Sunraku: "THEN WHY THE HELL IS THE TRANSPORTATION METHOD SO VIOLENTLY PHYSICAL!?!?"
Araba: "Just drop me in the ocean! That would be better!"
Saina: "Mockery: Fool. Choosing an easy solution due to a deficiency of Intelligence is an unwise course of action. If you were to strike the ocean in your present state..."
Araba: "Then what!?"
Saina: "You would most likely be pulverized."
Araba: "GYAAAAAAAH!?"
Sunraku: "Araba, shut up! Feet together, keep your balance! Adin! Dva! Tri!"
Three figures come sliding down the road of light with enough momentum to put curling stones to shame.
For the first time in several days, Professor's eyes blaze with excitement.
Professor: "Ha... hahahahahaha!! YES! HERE WE GO!!"
The magical girl pumps a fist with everything he's got.
The people around him turn to stare, wondering what the hell has gotten into him, but by now Professor sees none of them.
Other players have already begun noticing the disturbance and gathering one after another.
Drawn in by them, Gigants gather.
Bugmen gather.
Beastmen gather.
A massive ring forms around the three "returnees" as they land on the beach.
A brief silence.
Fragile enough that the slightest trigger could shatter it.
Perhaps understanding exactly that, the man standing at the front of the returning group raises a hand and gestures to the crowd as if to say, Hold on a second.
He's wearing a strange, spacesuit-like helmet on his head, and for some reason two horns made of golden aura are protruding from it.
Still saying nothing, he continues communicating entirely through body language.
See? Nothing in my hands.
All right, everyone, watch this.
Then he operates a window.
And produces something that, until now, should never have existed in SLF.
He raises its "muzzle" toward the sky.
Two gunshots pierce the silence.
At the exact moment the meaning of those sounds causes the surrounding players' silence to collapse—
The man raises his voice and shouts.
Sunraku: "FIREARMS UNLOCKED————!!!"
A tremendous roar of cheering shakes the entire beach.