Chapter 53
It’s been two hours since Hiniru took my place in the execution. Up until recently, the floor just below the rooftop had been a grim and desolate space, but now it’s filled with joy and laughter.
The biggest reason is, of course, money. In this debt-ridden shitty game, getting a lump sum of cash is huge. With a daily interest rate of 1000%, I hope the law cracks down on it soon.
And just as important as that is the food. There are a few tables set up in the room, piled high with rations and water. It may look like a miserable sight to us, but in this world, it’s the ultimate luxury. The non-player types are devouring it all like they’ve gone mad. Their bodies, hidden by their gear and unseen until now, are more emaciated than I imagined. A diet of just rations isn’t good – they should be eating vegetables too, right? But if I said that to them, it would just provoke them.
However, that atmosphere is being spoiled by one stagnant presence. Shockingly, it’s Greg. He’s slumped over in his powered suit, glumly chomping on a ration bar. …Do ration bars really go 「chomp chomp」? It sounds like a daikon radish stick, which are delicious by the way.
I was spacing out, staring at the crowd of about 100 people gathered around. It’s not my imagination that there seem to be fewer than before – they’ve probably died. As I was thinking this, Reina, Momiji, Nakamoto, and Aika approached me. Aika fled to the opposite side to escape Reina and Momiji’s cold stares. Ah, I understand, it’s because she tried to sell me out. Betraying your comrades is a no-go, absolutely not.
「Mi… Ore… How should I address you?」
「I think ‘you’ is fine, right?」
「I go by Mika, but well, it’s a hassle so nevermind.」
「Y-you. There’s only three hours left until the update, so what are you going to do?」
「You’re really going to call me that…」
Nakamoto asks me seriously. Hmm, what could he be talking about? But his gaze is dead serious. Aika’s expression is also filled with pure terror. I’m not going to do anything bad, in fact there’s nothing I can do so I was planning to sleep. It’s already 9pm on the 9th day, and the update will happen the instant it turns midnight, so there’s not much that can be done in 3 hours, right?
But receiving upperclassman’s gaze gives me an idea. Why did he cover for me during the equipment inspection? Could it be that it was for this moment?! As expected of upperclassman, what a schemer. I want to learn from that out-of-the-box thinking.
「You’re right, there is something to do. …Let’s take out Greg.」
「Leave it to me, I’m good at making tataki.」
「It’s an outright hostile act, but I guess it’s not an issue at this point.」
「Yeah. Considering the ‘Scorch War’, the time limit must be approaching.」
「…What should I do, what can I do…?!」
◇
An hour later. As the saying goes, 「When the money runs out, so do your ties.」 People are leaving this floor as if to prove that point. Well, I knew they were a yakuza-like group, so they probably don’t want to stick around for long. And the few who were trying to get in good with Greg have given up in the face of his cold shoulder and are also disappearing through the door, their spirits crushed.
Next, we spied on Greg and his three followers as they turned their backs and headed for the corridor. By the way, only Nakamoto went on a separate mission to retrieve an Apollyon. My Apollyon should be arriving soon too, but it seems it’ll take a bit longer. I wonder when it will get here.
We’re not exactly tailing Greg. The 「Order」 folks will start tracking him once we figure out his initial destination. All we have to do is get to the destination ahead of them. So we all piled into the prison cell, headed to the commercial district, and then proceeded to the destination on foot.
As we went, the crowds thinned out and the number of rotting corpses in the back alleys increased. I recall hearing in this version that choosing to die like a human, not wanting to become a resource, was a trend for a while. But this is horrible. To avoid focusing on it, I opened my mouth to provide a different topic.
「What’s the mechanism behind Aika’s esper powers?」
「I’m exciting the imaginary atoms with a special electromagnetic wave to advance the reaction.」
「In Japanese, please.」
「Should I explain it? Ya know there are imaginary atoms mixed in the air, right?」
「Eep!」
Urairo is way too skittish. Anyway, I don’t understand any of that. When I say so, she replies that it’s like isotopes. I don’t get that either. When I tell her, she grins and starts explaining with gestures.
「First off, imaginary atoms are unstable. So there’s only a tiny amount that can exist in the air. The situation has changed a lot due to ‘UYK’ respiration, but it’s still not a big deal. …Putting that aside, just imagine there’s an invisible substance floating around. And ya hit it with electromagnetic waves. Sometimes ya combine it with light too.」
「And that advances the reaction?」
「Yep. It’s like photosynthesis, right? It uses the energy of light to convert water and carbon dioxide into glucose and oxygen. If ya provide energy, even reactions that wouldn’t occur spontaneously can proceed. For example, that upperclassman there hits copper imaginary atoms with electromagnetic waves to catalytically convert the nitrogen and oxygen in the air into NOx with heavy properties. When that tries to return to a stable state, it releases heat. She should have weaponry for that purpose too.」
When I look at Urairo as she says that, I notice she does indeed have some kind of firing device on her sleeves, with tubes connecting to her fingertips. I don’t really get it, but that’s how she blasts out the psychic powers, huh. I nod to myself, not understanding the principles at all.
「That’s why machines can imitate it and equipment can enhance it. That said, reproducing those wavelengths and identifying and synthesizing the excitation substances is tricky, so it doesn’t work well. And it’s limited to simple phenomena. But still.」
「Powerful espers can even convert normal molecules into imaginary atoms. It’s amazing that Urairo can do that.」
「Even my abilities have been figured out…?!」
Urairo looks even more terrified. I wonder if precognition and such could be mechanized if it’s just a simple reaction. As I’m pondering this, Reina suddenly leaps out, drawing a red knife. I barely manage to follow the crimson flash with my eyes as it deflects something. …A sniper?!
The filthy back alley where rotting corpses are visible suddenly seems darker. And he quietly appears in front of us. He doesn’t launch a sneak attack. No, he doesn’t need to. He possesses the arrogant strength to justify it.
「I don’t know what you punks want, but you’ve got about 2 hours left until you’re reduced to citation data. Let me have some peace and quiet.」
「We had a tail on ya.」
「That’s why. Guys who make moves like this get ahead of their target’s destination by taking a different route than me. And if they’re not familiar with the area, the routes they can take are limited. Well, I used the tail to guide you lot, then I just had to run here with my own two feet.」
Greg stands in our way. The legs peeking out from under his clothes are fully mechanized. Even more lethal-looking than Momiji’s, with many sharp blades protruding. Getting grazed by those wouldn’t end well.
But there’s a more fundamental difference. That equipment is clearly designed for anti-personnel combat. Armaments not meant for fighting Machine Beasts in this ruined world, but for battling humans. Drawing his blade, Greg – not Mr. Greg anymore – points at me with a vulgar grin.
「I’m in the mood to kill Orange. While I’m at it, I’ll kill you lot and rape that chick over there.」
Please don’t kill me! And by 「that chick」 do you mean me, not Urairo?! I wish I’d stop with the cross-dressing already!
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