Estimated reading time: 6–8 minutes
Chapter 18: Long Time No See
Two suns are illuminating the world. One is the light source at the center of the solar system well-known to Earth. But I had never seen the other sun before.
It’s like a half-destroyed satellite. It looks like something has been gnawed away or something has come out of it. Its shell-like shape was emitting light with intensity rivaling the sun. Around it floated the lifeless remnants of what looked like artificial rails.
And the moon did not exist. Some say I’m just looking at the far side of the moon, but it felt strange. A group of floating mummies surrounded me as I looked up at the sky. Players who knew nothing were repeatedly logging in and immediately dying.
「This is… a space station, I guess? But it’s too big for that. What the hell is this, it’s completely destroyed. Please don’t make me deal with a Strain before I can even get my bearings.」
The floor around my AP was covered in metal plates. What made this different from the old Osaka city was not just that, but also the increased feeling of desolation. Many small domes were lined up around me, but they all had holes in them. The places we players respawned were also domes once upon a time, protecting us from the vacuum of space, but now many looked like flat ground.
It was completely silent. The only connection left to other people were the livestreams.
『Why is Orange the only one able to move, shouldn’t we get space-capable equipment from the update?』
『Uggh what is this scene…』
『Is that burning thing the moon?』
『Orange is at it again…』
『Congratulations on trending #1!』
『Isn’t this worse than before? What’s going on?』
『Space lgnition Industries stock price lmaooooo』
The number of concurrent livestream viewers remained steady at 380,000. Given the technical expertise and news coverage around HAO, there’s no way such view counts can be real… I see, people are still falling for the viral marketing tactic! They’re treating this like a famous person playing a popular game.
I shouldn’t let the viewers lose interest. To provide new information for now, I silently progress forward. It’s best not to talk too much for things like this, I’m not very good at livestreaming anyway.
I check the remaining activity time – 4 hours of oxygen left. There are no leaks and system functionality seems normal. The low gravity feels strange but does make it easier to move around and run.
I run through the silent black sea. Pushing through debris and bodies, I head into a nearby dome, only to find ruins there as well. There was a square that must have once supported human life.
I scour the square for anything of note. Places like this often have things to uncover. I don’t find anything of interest, but I do notice what’s missing.
Weapons. In old Osaka city, there were armed guards with machine guns, at minimum pistols. But here I couldn’t find anything beyond batons and stun guns. Something else missing – people who looked poor or desperate. Furthermore, there were no signs of fighting. It was like something swept in and wiped this place out in an instant.
The severed arms and bodies are grotesque but tolerable since this is just a game. But it seems only I and some others can handle these scenes, as viewers drop by the tens of thousands just passively showing this footage.
The bodies also seem quite degraded, crumbling when I touch them. A rare mechanical clock, stopped at 7:25 AM on August 24th, 2055.
『Oh, this place has been abandoned for 5 years?』
『Feeling nauseous, I’m out…』
『Please tell us the cause already!』
『That stuff about Space lgnition Industries seems real, they’re apparently holding a press conference lol』
『Login limits not lifted yet smh』
『Even Hiniru bit it instantly lmao』
I realize one more thing. The attack came from the sky. In this relatively undamaged dome, the only holes are in the ceiling. Makes me wonder if they were shot up with machine guns from above or something.
But I’ve abandoned it all. What happened to that stuff about the Strain, or Hiniru and the others? In this dead space where everything has stopped, it all starts to feel meaningless.
I look up at the sky. The positions of the suns have changed from earlier. To be precise, the half-destroyed sun’s position is the same, the other one moved. Seeing the Earth’s position change as well, the abnormality must be with the destroyed moon.
And the rotation speed is anomalous. Compared to before, it rotated over 30 degrees. At this rate, a full rotation every 30 minutes – the change is visible to the eye. Based on the horizon, this seems to be a fairly small planet(?), but could such fast rotation be normal?
Seeking signs of human life, I leave the dome. Heading straight along the path I came from, still only soulless, destroyed domes as far as the eye can see. Then finally, about 200 meters ahead, I spot a change.
Utterly ravaged earth. Countless artillery bombardments left massive craters everywhere. But this was some kind of military base. Remnants of what looked like gun turrets and missile silos could barely be made out. Then a voice comes from the terminal in my AP’s cockpit.
「d…e…」
「What? Who’s there, someone alive!?」
「vad…e…!」
「Can’t make that out, say again please!」
The moment that voice broke the silence, I scream at the terminal. But it remains choppy and disjointed. Shouting repeatedly as I approach the facility, I notice an oddity –
――the ground darkens, something’s shadow covers me.
「Incoming fire from above, evade!」
I urgently focus energy into the AP’s legs and roll hard right at full speed. My ungraceful evasion is rewarded by a metallic mass stabbing into where I just stood, sending shockwaves and debris flying. That would have been instant death for this armored unit…!
Looking up, an enormous moth-like machine floats overhead unnoticed. Wings, tendrils and face insectoid, but limbs are tentacles and the body armored in metallic scales – a biomechanical lifeform. But before I can examine it further, I cry out. That voice from the communicator – I recognize it. Have been hearing it for days now. Calm but more mature than I remember.
「Momiji?!」
「Yeah. Long time no see, it’s been 5 years, no considering your age… it’s been 20 years since we met, Orange. Ah, I really can see ya again…」
『Equipment Update via Game Patch』
Updates only occur when equipment does not exist in that state of the game world. For example, Orange’s initial AP participated in the 2055 campaign in Ver 1.06, but was never produced in Ver 1.07 (after the Orange Incident). However, since other areas remain unchanged from Ver 1.07 this time, both powered suits and APs were still manufactured. Hence, no equipment update occurred.
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