Estimated reading time: 7–9 minutes
Chapter 39
After that, Urairo Aika took off with the glasses upperclassman, Nakamoto. I remember her desperate plea that there was no need to entertain him.
Apparently, she’s also an upperclassman. She transferred into this university and is actually one year above Nakamoto. Though, looking at her strange behavior, you wouldn’t really think so…
Anyways, I open the door and enter my room. I feel like I’ve been running into the neighbors less often lately, but it doesn’t really matter. College students don’t have much of a concept of neighborly relations.
I toss the cookies I bought onto my desk as I navigate my slightly messy room as usual. Underneath them lies a rare sight these days – paper documents. They contain information about course registration.
University classes come in three types. One is in-person. Another is online in real-time. And the last is online lectures you can take whenever. Recently, the last type has become the most common, giving current college students even more freedom with their time compared to the previous generation.
However, this leads to the problem of students failing to properly pace themselves and having to repeat the year. Convenience has its pros and cons.
In any case, this has created a situation where it’s easy to get completely hooked on 「HAO」. I need to be careful not to let Momiji and Reina become one year above me.
With that thought, I boot up 「HAO」. The usual inorganic screen fades to black and— the next moment, I find myself in a prison cell.
「Huh?」
It seems the rumors about a major update were true. The surroundings have completely changed. First of all, my unit is nowhere to be seen. Moreover, unlike that collapsed building, there isn’t a single crack in this prison cell. All that’s here is a bed with some stains and a terminal I don’t really understand.
In other words, just like with that artificial planet, some kind of event must be occurring. Having made that judgment, I immediately try to tamper with the lock on the cell. Usually in these situations, there’s an item for escaping somewhere, or if you make a fuss, something will happen.
Contrary to those expectations, there’s nothing here. The electronic lock doesn’t even have a place to insert a card. I could probably destroy the iron bars themselves with 『Beast Slayer』, but there’d be nowhere to go from there. Some kind of security force would show up and I’d get shot dead. The end.
As I fiddle with the bars for a while, the terminal that had been powered off starts up and red text appears on the screen.
『Warning: You have not purchased the exit permit.』
…An exit permit? What the heck is that? I approach the terminal, puzzled. Covered in dust, it has a touch panel not much different from the tablet I’ve been using recently.
『Welcome, player. We expect results that exceed the value of raw garbage.』
『Let me explain the system. Due to limited resources on this ark, resources will only be distributed to those among you who are capable and have made significant contributions.』
What a cruel way to put it. I squint at the string of numbers displayed along with it.
『Rations: 1,000,000 yen』
『Drinking Water (500ml): 300,000 yen』
『Replacement Parts for Apollyon Joints: 38,230 yen』
『Used Cyborg Weapon Arm, Kōmitsu Solutions-Made Machine Gun: 82,345 yen』
『Exit Permit: 1,600,000 yen』
『Used Desktop Computer: 8,000 yen』
Are they trying to kill us? Overall, the more essential something is for living, the higher the price, while machinery and such is dirt cheap. This is just like when a large number of people got hit with login restrictions on the artificial planet. The upper right of the screen displays 0 yen, indicating I can’t purchase any of them. By the way, the meeting spot with the upperclassman is outside the prison cell. To buy the exit permit, I need 1.6 million yen. It’s way too harsh for someone with no money.
Um, since I don’t know what to do, I click on the dolphin-like navigator in the lower right of the screen and type in a question. The answer comes back immediately.
『You can borrow 1 million yen using your own body as collateral. The interest rate will be 100%. You can also participate in events that contribute to the overall community and produce results.』
「100% interest!?」
It’s outrageous. Considering the common wisdom that an annual interest rate of 20% is the norm… I don’t even want to think about how cruel this is. Or maybe that’s how risky it is to lend out money – it’s a situation where the money might not come back. But still.
And as if to add insult to injury, the text string hurls the facts at me.
『1,000 yen will be charged for using Q&A… You do not have enough funds, so we will lend you 1 million yen with your body as collateral.』
That costs money too? The balance in the upper right shows 999,000 yen. It’s a forced debt system. Not even that certain animal crossing in the forest had such a cruel debt system. Moreover, the only time you can repay is during the one hour when the date changes. In other words, you’ll always get hit with 100% interest. My debt is already 2 million.
『Arena: Dispose of unproductive humans and provide entertainment to passengers.』
『Other contribution methods will be unlocked as your overall contribution level increases. 』
But I can understand the gist of this event. It’s a time-limited tournament with a high degree of freedom. By setting monetary restrictions, it encourages participation in the tournament while allowing for self-expansion within that scope.
I don’t quite understand the management’s intention in suddenly starting an event like this. But I can kind of see what they want us to do. In other words, I have to use this 999,000 yen today to win in the arena and pay back my debt.
「…Which means the most important thing is how much you can make in the arena. Some big shot said you have to consider income and expenses or you’ll go bankrupt for sure.」
Upon investigating, it seems the prize money varies depending on your opponent. The lowest F rank pays 100,000 yen, while the A rank can net you 10 million yen. There’s also a betting system, and the odds change based on your opponent’s rank. You make money by combining these two, but there’s also a rank restriction for matches.
My current rank is F, but since beating me won’t fetch much of a prize, no one will take me on. Well, it can’t be helped with such a crappy system.
There’s no way I can earn enough to pay off my debt in just one day. It’s an absolute fact.
So there’s only one thing to do. Nakamoto, please lend me money!!!
It seems you need to purchase the right to leave (1.6 million yen) in order to borrow money.
『You can borrow 1 million yen using your body as collateral. 』
In other words, there’s a way to convert your body into a sum of 1 million yen. By the way, there was something in the shop with a strangely high market price, right…?
The interest on the debt, a certain KP Unlimited had a similar system, right? You can’t cancel except during specific hours.
Q. Isn’t this system total crap?
A. Everyone on the bulletin board is screaming. One of the reasons it became such a crappy system is the massive number of players. More on that later.
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