Chapter 131: No Matter How Strong You Are in a Game...
Having thoroughly vented their frustrations, the trio stepped out of the simulation, their spirits considerably higher.
Although their recent mission had been more of a close call than an outright disaster, the client's deliberate concealment of critical information had been infuriating. If that mutated Proboscis Beast had escaped containment and spread, it would have dealt a catastrophic blow to the landing site's ecosystem—especially given the creature's ridiculously accelerated growth rate.
"Uncle Welt, you really don't hold back," Stelle said, giving him a thumbs-up. Her voice was filled with genuine admiration.
"I'm getting old," Welt replied, his expression as stoic as ever. "I can't always control my strength as well as I used to."
Soon after, Rekka also returned to the Astral Express.
"Wow! It's tons of vegetables! It looks like the Express won't need to buy any for a long time, Pom!" Pom-Pom chirped, absolutely delighted by the crates of fresh produce sent over by the healers of the Alchemy Commission.
"Let's start by making some carrot juice!"
"Buzz, buzz, buzz."
A small, blue, floating creature flapped its wings and drifted down from its perch on Pom-Pom's head. Time to eat again, buzz.
"Rekka!" Stelle called out, brandishing a small, metallic gadget in her hand.
"Look at this!" March 7th added, planting her hands on her hips with a proud grin.
Rekka glanced over. "A coin."
"Tsk, of course it's a coin, but it's a special kind of coin!"
"What kind of special?"
"It's for Aetherium Wars! Look!"
"...Oh, the tournament organized by Giovanni, right?" Rekka sat up from the sofa, a flicker of recognition in his eyes.
"You know the organizer?" March asked, surprised.
"He's a Masked Fool, but one of the more decent ones. Not like those unhinged, giggle-happy lunatics who just laugh like maniacs all day."
"What kind of description is 'giggle-happy lunatic'..." Stelle muttered, tossing the coin in her hand. "Hiss... now that you mention it, that does sound a bit familiar."
"You want to participate, too?" Rekka asked.
"Of course!" Stelle nodded, her expression dead serious. "Look, we just finished helping the Xianzhou deal with the Stellaron, then we spent a few days messing around on that entertainment planet, and now this competition just happens to pop up. Isn't it fate?"
"Why is the hand of fate everywhere lately? I'm terrified," Rekka deadpanned, then paused in thought. "This event seems to be..."
Oh, right. He remembered the lore behind this thing.
"This whole game is related to the legend of Player Zero," he explained. "It's probably based on technology the Interstellar Peace Corporation pried from them, but they couldn't fully crack it, so they could only make this half-baked product."
"Player Zero?"
"What's that?"
March 7th and Stelle tilted their heads in unison. Whenever an external brain was available, the two of them were more than happy to outsource their thinking.
"A legendary super-hacker," Rekka shrugged. "Silver Wolf probably knows everything there is to know about them. Or, it wouldn't surprise me if she turned around and claimed she was the real Player Zero all along."
"Let's all participate together!" March urged. "Aren't you the best at all this fancy, high-tech stuff?"
"I'm not good at playing these kinds of games."
"You can hand-craft a Planetary Annihilation Cannon, and you're telling me you're not good at games?" Stelle shot back, incredulous.
"Crafting cannons is reality; playing games is virtual." Rekka gestured with his hands to emphasize the difference. "No matter how strong you are in a game world, it's all fake. It's not real. Only by walking your Path and becoming a true master of it can you achieve real strength."
However, with nothing better to do, Rekka found himself accompanying March 7th and Stelle to the event anyway.
"Old Belobog is really doing well for itself," March commented, looking around at the massive tournament setup. "Hosting such a large-scale event and everything."
"Belobog is a holy land of Preservation now," Rekka explained, spreading his hands. "The IPC would host this here even if they took a loss. After all, this is an important project for them, and they wouldn't want to risk offending Qlipoth's most favored world."
"Reasonable," Stelle agreed. "So, have you contacted Silver Wolf?"
"No, why?"
"This whole thing is basically Aether Editing technology. What if Silver Wolf just changes one of her Aether Spirit's stats to all nines? You'd get blown away instantly."
Stelle blinked. "?"
"What? Is it really that ridiculous?"
"Eh, who knows?" Rekka mused. "But if she starts losing badly, she might just camp your spawn point. She'll kill you over and over until you quit the game in frustration..." He raised a finger, gleefully exposing all of Silver Wolf's gaming habits. "Silver Wolf is the type who's terrible at games but loves playing them. If she loses, she might even cry and throw a tantrum, going 'Waaaah, I'm so pitiful.'"
"I heard that. You're actually talking behind my back—am I really that classless?"
A familiar, deadpan voice cut through the air.
"Sorry," Rekka said, looking down at the pouting hacker who had appeared beside him. He offered a sincere apology. "I won't talk behind your back anymore. From now on, I'll talk bad about you to your face."
Silver Wolf's eye twitched. "..."
"Forget that. I have something for you," she said, pointing a finger at Rekka.
"What is it?"
"A bit of important cooperation. The reward is... something very commemorative."
"What kind of commemorative thing?" Although Rekka's tone was casual, there was no hint of dismissal in it.
"Introductory Aether Editing technology," Silver Wolf declared. "I'll teach you personally. You'll pick it up instantly."
Sometime later, Rekka found himself clad in a black hood and a standard-issue bandit mask.
"You want me to join you in breaking into an Interstellar Peace Corporation prison?"
"Don't you want to wander around the IPC's high-security prison and drop a few anchors?" Silver Wolf countered, her words strangely alluring. "This is a place that's notoriously hard to enter and even harder to leave. A perfect, untapped location."
Who could refuse the chance to establish a network of Space Anchors in a place completely devoid of Trailblaze markers?
Rekka stroked his chin, considering the offer. "How do you plan to get in?"
"I have my ways. And there's no time like the present," she said, her fingers already flying across her console. "Besides, I just hacked into the IPC's security system for a peek. Tonight's guard rotation is the loosest it's going to be, right during a shift change. If we miss this chance, we won't get another."
Soon, the hooded Rekka and Silver Wolf were slipping through the prison's outer perimeter.
"Silver Wolf, is this a prison for dangerous criminals?" Rekka asked, leaning over to look at the location data displayed on her terminal.
"There's a problem. Go down."
Without another word, Silver Wolf set the ground area beneath them to `Null`.
Rekka glanced down just as the floor began to rapidly dissolve into nothingness. The once-solid alloy plating vanished like a pencil mark being erased, dissipating layer by layer to reveal a pitch-black passage below.
"You're just... opening a hole like that?" he asked, mildly impressed.
"How else? Let's go, let's go." Silver Wolf was already hopping down. "I have some private business to attend to later. You can just wander around."
"Wander around? You think this is a walk in the park?"
"Pretty much," she replied, her gaze already glued back to the terminal in her hand. "The security system in this corporate dump is no different from a public restroom door in my eyes. You can go wherever you want. It's fine."
Following her advice, Rekka began to explore. He stopped in front of a cell door labeled 'CT-7702'.
The place was much quieter than he'd expected. There were no eerie sirens wailing like in the movies, nor were there guards with laser rifles suddenly appearing around corners. The cells lining both sides of the corridor were sealed shut, each door marked only by a tiny, darkened observation window that made it impossible to see who—or what—was locked inside.
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me!
Want to read ahead on our official home, or unlock 50 advanced chapters (plus an Ad-Free experience) to feed your addiction? Help keep this shameless translator alive here:
(P.S. Replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
🌐 Official Website: elysianreads[.]com
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters & Ad-Free): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]