Chapter 49
CHAPTER 49
I was in an awful self-loathing phase .
In fact, it was exactly as Lios had said . His words were right . His logic was impeccable .
I talked with irresponsible thoughts and tried to impose my values on him based on arbitrary judgments .
That was not all . I promised to follow him, but disobeyed his instructions . If I had a complaint about his instruction to wait, I should have argued it out with him .
Nevertheless, Lios repeatedly forgave me for ignoring his instructions . Aside from his unfriendly attitude, he didn’t try to hold me back without at least listening to me . This was the first time he had put me to good use . Although he was rough, he explained the reason to us and explained the actual situation .
He was the type of person I had never met in the real world . He was a sincere adult .
And I was the stupid brat who fell to pieces before a sound adult argument .
As time went by, I was reminded of my careless and stupid behaviors and it bothered me .
When parting ways, Balmung spoke .
“Basically, I have the same opinion as system administrator Lios . Speaking of trusting hacker Helba… it’s a no from me . ”
Balmung’s words made me look down .
“But still, I support you . Kite, I have hope for your idea . If Lios and Helba form an alliance, then system administrators and hackers can work together in The World to solve any issue . That’s how it feel about it anyway . ”
He slapped my shoulder .
“Don’t worry about us . The road you are walking is surely right . ”
When he turned his back, his white wings fluttered like a cloak .
“Email me if something happens . I’ll rush over right away . ”
After that, he transferred and disappeared .
“It’s okay, I’m sure we’ll be able to manage . ”
BlackRose looked into my eyes .
“I think you’re right, so be sure to do it . ”
With that said, BlackRose also logged out .
I was the only one left in Carmina Gadelica . I needed some time to gather my thoughts .
I was too young at this time . I could not hold a candle to Balmung and BlackRose . I was grateful for their kind words, but I felt that my own uselessness was becoming even more evident .
I was a big idiot who couldn’t really complain that I had been kicked from here to the Kamchatka Peninsula .
But – I thought .
If my current state is depressed, then I should be depressed .
Like the protagonist of “Makai Tenshi GIGA,” who continued to select the correct route without causing any trouble and immediately settled any troubles, I wanted to do the same if I could if I could . After a hop-skip-jump and interacting with friends, I wanted to grow into a noble hero who was pure, just and handsome wherever I went .
However, as if I were hitting a button repeatedly, the events proceeded and I was not in such a simple world where people around me could understand the event while I stood silently .
I gritted my teeth and looked up at the night sky in the city . The sky with its eerie strings of characters .
Anyway, I had no choice but to continue learning as I made mistakes .
Nothing more than that, Kite, nothing but that .
Before I knew it, it was December .
There was a lot of news about network troubles across the planet .
When I turned on the TV, the related news was being delivered on marquees in most programs .
The various incidents that had been occurring frequently may have been signs of the return of Pluto’s Kiss .
A special program was repeatedly broadcast on TV .
In those programs, the names of CC and “The World” were placed on the chopping block and were criticized openly . There was some connection between the current series of incidents such as unconscious people and network troubles and the online game “The World” . The case was such that the incident would not be resolved without tapping into the source of this connection .
Apart from the end-of-the-year hecticness, it felt like a troubling atmosphere was beginning to descend .
Progress had been made with Yasuhiko . To be precise, not with Yasuhiko himself, but the environment surrounding him .
Although I just watched him through the glass in the unit, I was allowed to visit .
That meant that his comatose condition had “stabilized . ”
In my class, some people started to ask for volunteers to go and visit the coma victims .
On weekdays in early December, I would skip classes in the morning and go to the hospital . This was to avoid double-booking with classmates .
Yasuhiko was unconscious with a breathing tube and sensors all over his body . Equipped with a transfusion line, a urinary balloon, an airway tube, an arterial line, and a saturation monitor, his eyes were closed such that it didn’t seem he cared . He had a calm expression .
Hi, Yasuhiko . I haven’t seen you in a while and they have you hooked up to some heavy equipment, I said to him in my head .
Spaghetti Syndrome . That’s what I called a patient who had tubes all over their body .
But I always had one question about spaghetti .
I didn‘t know the difference between spaghetti and pasta .
I understood that spaghetti was one type of pasta . However, pasta with a thickness of about 2 mm would be called spaghetti . I wanted to punch anyone who came up with such a name right in the sternum .
That kind of rule is good . However, I only understood it logically . I couldn’t grasp it in my soul .
Was there no spaghetti of 1 . 9 mm or 2 . 1 mm? Was it boiled when measuring the size? Or with dry noodles? Freshly made? Any number of questions would come up .
So, taking everything into consideration, Yasuhiko, if the tubes you are equipped with are not the same size, it should be called Pasta Syndrome, or if it is unified into an elliptical shape with a minimum diameter of 1 mm and maximum diameter of 3 mm . If you have that, they should call it Linguine Syndrome . Ah, what the hell am I saying?, I thought to myself . What should I do with a person who calls pasta spaghetti?
I couldn’t do anything without thinking of something too unscrupulous . I couldn’t stand the current situation .
When would Yasuhiko wake up?
There was a way to help him . I had an idea .
But I couldn‘t explain it to people in a convincing way . The other person is an adult who is in charge of managing the game’s systems, and I’m just a selfish kid . I couldn’t be a partner in this .
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The hammer was in my hand, but I couldn’t reach where the boss was .
Yasuhiko, you said that it could change in the game, but I am still a powerless junior high school student and I’m having a lot of trouble .
Hey, why don’t you wake up soon? How long are you going to sleep?
It’s your turn, Yasuhiko .
There’s a bit of trouble in the world, and it’s likely that your addictive game is the cause . Are you enjoying this?
It was fun to be entrusted with the opening performance . I’m satisfied already . Well then, please hang in there . Let’s eat some popcorn and watch the rest of the show .
No one answered my call . The world was indifferent to Yasuhiko .
Yasuhiko had his eyes closed as if he were not interested .
In my family, only my father had changed significantly .
I didn’t know what kind of connection it had to the Minatomirai incident, but it seemed that my father was busy with his work, and he started to leave home frequently .
As a result, I no longer had the opportunity to catch him and ask him questions about our family moving away .
Once, I tried to confirm the matter with my mother instead of my father, but I was told to ask my father directly . She had the kind of old-fashioned idea that the patriarch should take charge of the important matters of the home .
But making such a statement was halfway to admitting the fact that he was planning to move us .
When would that be?
Would I be able to wake up Yasuhiko by then?
On this day, after finishing dinner, I had returned to my room and lay on my bed, and the mobile terminal that had been left on my desk began to rang .
“Yo, it’s been a while . Good evening . How’re you doing?”
It was a type of greeting that you wouldn’t hear much these days .
It was from Mr . Tokuoka .
We exchanged information with each other .
To my surprise, Mr . Tokuoka was now in northern part of Gifu prefecture .
To my surprise, Mr . Tokuoka knew about Helba . For the past few days, he had been doing research on “The World” under the direction of Helba . What on earth did he learn?
“It’s interesting . Two people studying separately outside and inside the game have reached the same important person, Helba,” said Mr . Tokuoka .
“That is interesting . ”
“What’s wrong? Did something happen? Your voice is dark . Are you okay?”
I told him what I was doing over the phone .
Taken by Mr . Tokuoka’s kind words, I talked about the problems I was facing .
“I see . You can’t move forward unless you convince the system administrator,” said Tokuoka .
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“Okay . Can you tell me the name of that person? I could use your hand . ”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t I say I’d help? Even if I don’t look it, I’m a former CC programmer . I might be able to manage it secretly using the power of connects . ”
I was surprised by his saying something so unexpected .
Was Mr . Tokuoka actually a former programmer at CC?
More than that… could he solve my problem?
“Please wait a minute . I have his business card…”
Although I felt the use of the word “connects” to be a little uncomfortable, I felt as if I was helped by this unexpected turn .
Perhaps it would happen .
I took my business card out of the drawer in a hurry .
“Um, he is Mr . Tsuchiya . Kouji Tsuchiya . ”
Since I didn’t get a reply, I thought I couldn’t hear it, so I repeated Lios’ full name again .
“Kouji Tsuchiya?” Mr . Tokuoka said as though muttering .
“That is spelled K . O . U . J . I . T . S . U . C . H . I . Y . A?”
“Yes, that’s right . ”
“Ahhh, I see,” Mr . Tokuoka spoke in a voice as though in admiration .
“Wow, he’s a system administrator now . Ah . I can imagine . Hahahahaha . ”
He burst into laughter as if he remembered something nostalgic .
“… Do you know him?”
“Kind of . We lived together . You could say he’s a friend . ”
Mr . Tokuoka’s story was shocking . It seemed that Mr . Tokuoksan had been the director of the Japanese version of “The World” development team, and Mr . Tsuchiya was the leader of the debugging team .
Anyway, I asked a terrifying question to get us back on track .
“What would that mean for the power of connections?”
“It’d be no use . None . That’s because Tsuchi is such a character,” Mr . Tokuoka simply said .
Tsuchi?
“The power of connects doesn’t work . Even if I could convince you, it’s useless since I can’t be upfront about it . “
I was disappointed . It didn’t happen .
I was disappointed not because I expected it not to happen .
Rather, I was angry with Mr . Tokuoka’s frivolous arguments . I wanted to not have any strange expectations .
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“If you want to capture Tsuchi, there is only a straightforward way,” Mr . Tokuoka said .
“For example, in this case, we explain that Helba is a trustworthy person . ”
Helba a credible person? Hacker Helba?
That was impossible . We only interacted in an online game . Furthermore, to let system administrators trust hackers was another matter .
“That is……”
“Oh no . Are you telling others to trust someone you yourself can’t trust?”
I was lost for words .
“Umm…”
“Hmm?”
“So, why do you trust Helba, Mr . Tokuoka?”
That’s right . Mr . Tokuoka said earlier that he was acting under the direction of Helba and was investigating in Hida .
Wasn’t it the case that Mr . Tokuoka trusted Helba?
“In my case, I have no choice but to trust Helba,” Mr . Tokuoka said in a silly tone .
“I have nothing to protect, nothing to lose . If Helba was going to trick me, my intuition would be wrong . ”
“But that’s not the case for system administrators . They have something to protect . Responsibilities . Obligations . A point of view . I am opposed to irresponsibly tempting such people . ”
I didn’t think these were remarks from the same person who would talk about the power of connections .
But the word irresponsible perturbed me deeply .
“I agree…”
“But well, there’s no way I can trust her . ”
“What?”
I listened without expecting much .
“Credit collateral,” Mr . Tokuoka said .
“Submit something to get credit . Something irreplaceable to her . The more important it is, the more credit it has . ”
“What do you want to do?”
“Don’t think about it yourself . Well, one thing that can be said is that without the right method, Tsuchi can never be persuaded . But to put it the other way around, he can be convinced if we do it the right way,” Mr . Tokuoka said . His statements seemed meaningless, yet deep . Then he hung up .
I lay in bed with my mobile device .
The words of Mr . Tokuoka lingered in my mind .
Credit collateral . There was no point in me giving collateral to Lios .
It would be useless if Helba didn’t offer anything to Lios .
But what could I do? How could I explain it to Helba in the first place?
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