Chapter: 181
In my case, I ambiguously blur the participants’ consciousness at the start point of the session.
When the session begins, I need to detach the participants’ consciousness and link it to their avatars, and if their consciousness is too clear at that moment, things might get a bit tricky.
It’s like how you cover your eyes when you first enter an escape room, right? It’s as if you peek a little while entering.
The players might feel like they’re watching the world in a ghost state or like being out of body and then coming back in.
However, they could also accidentally pick up information that hinders their immersion in the game.
For example, if they were to catch a glimpse of some hidden session plot points or event triggers I’ve been carefully concealing… I would suddenly have to change the genre to something more like a time loop or regression story.
Conversely speaking,
From my perspective, where I must spare no means to save Yulie Lanster, maintaining consciousness despite the Queen’s interference brings an advantage.
Having infiltrated Yulie Lanster’s mental barrier, I currently have no body. The avatar hasn’t even been assigned yet. I quickly wrapped a shield around my consciousness to gather information about this world.
The time was 440. It was the time Yuna attained her position as the Purple Tower Master, and I, a nine-year-old little rascal, was growing up in my hometown village.
The past…?
Let’s check more data. It was encrypted for spoiler precautions, but I cracked it easily. The setting was shortly after Yulie Lanster had joined the Elimination Team.
Creak, creak, creak.
Something was clicking into place noisily, and pressure was coming in from all sides. Close your eyes right now! Stop snooping!
I briefly wrestled with it.
Grind. I’m losing.
Sure enough, there’s a weight difference in the territory they set. My eyes began to close slowly. Faced with overwhelming force, I couldn’t resist and shut my eyes tightly.
Instead, I opened my third eye from my forehead.
Click, click…?
There was a slight delay with the sound of gears turning. Am I catching them off guard? And then, to close my third eye, I began to apply some effort.
If not, I’d open my eyes at the soles of my feet or the backs of my hands. It’s like a spontaneous game of Whac-A-Mole.
Consciousness is a vague concept. Neither soul nor substance, and there’s still plenty we don’t understand. However, it is generally accepted that ‘the form of consciousness resembles my own image.’
A fish’s consciousness takes on the shape of a fish, and Pinkvalez’s consciousness takes on the shape of Pinkvalez.
So, she must have been flustered, thinking I might seriously be a Cyclops or doubting whether my self-identity has too many eyes.
The trick is simple. I am not a pure consciousness that has infiltrated here.
By borrowing the nature of the beloved 7% and magically enhancing my independence… you could say I am close to a half-spirit or an avatar. A bit more fluid.
Let’s delve deeper.
I scanned the information volume distribution of this world. Overall, the completeness is shoddy. The most concentrated information resides in Yulie Lanster herself.
And I sensed that the key to descending to the next layer also lies with Yulie Lanster. What I need to do is approach Yulie. Confirmed.
I acquired various miscellaneous information too, like this city being famous for its wine and that the lord is bald.
As I was getting the rundown with my keen eyes, the Queen eventually decided to give up on cost-effectiveness. She tightened her grip on the world at large, attempting to grant me a physical body in this world.
I could have resisted, but I didn’t.
This was a crafty tug-of-war. I would conserve my power as much as possible while making my opponent waste theirs. This setup would create a critical opportunity later.
My height of vision quickly descended.
It seemed the Queen had prepped my character. I could see the figure of a man awkwardly standing in a corner of an attic. It looked like they were planning to stuff me into that body.
Feigning compliance, I abruptly changed direction. I needed to check and remove any traps set in that body.
Sure enough, it was riddled with traps.
I burned away spiritual listening devices, thought inducements, and movement disruptors. Then, I had a moment to relax. I could probably fix one more thing.
The physical abilities were close to that of a squid—overall clumsy and slow, heavily overweight, and more importantly… ugly. Is it a human or an orc? I couldn’t tell.
It was a character absolutely stuffed with malice.
You want me to meet Pinkvalez like this…?
It really boiled down to improving my human-like physical abilities versus boosting my appearance stats.
I chose the latter, albeit a daunting risk. I’d erase my body data and change my appearance. Dying my hair jet black and my eyes a vibrant red. So… my own appearance.
…Should I make my nose a bit taller?
No. No. It’s fine as it is. It’s better to boost my power a little with that resource. Although if I had just a bit more height on my nose, this might just…
Click, click, click!
Alright, alright. I’ll go ahead and do it.
And thus, I finished my character creation.
===============================================================
I open my eyes.
My body creaked. While my original body wasn’t optimal, this one felt so frail it was more akin to a glasswork piece than a human. Ugh, maybe I should have raised my strength after all…?
Nah.
Even with any amount of strength, there’s no way I could win against a T-Rex when the game master has their eyes lit up, ready to pounce on me.
Could I resist if 300 Swordmasters appeared?
Additionally, in this world, the balance of power is determined by information quantity and technology. I am an exceptional illusion mage, and the Queen is also an illusion mage.
Even if she summoned armored dinosaurs, if the integrity of that data is flimsy, I could dismantle it back to nothing in one fell swoop. This was that kind of fight.
Also, surprisingly, coherence plays a significant role.
Despite the Queen’s interference, it ultimately resides within Yulie Lanster’s mind. Whether she believes it or not makes a profound difference. Adjustments would come into play.
Even if a bunch of Swordmasters were sent out, if it felt overly far-fetched and dreamlike, if Yulie Lanster were to harbor doubts about this world…
The amount of power the Queen needs to exert to control that disadvantage would shoot up exponentially.
This means there’s more to this fight than it seems.
Moreover, now that I’ve confirmed that the key information to break through to the next layer is within Yulie Lanster’s consciousness, it’s likely that things will flow more towards communication rather than me just pummeling her for the info.
So, caring more about my looks over brute force became the right call.
I had already pinpointed Pinkvalez’s location when I cast the scan. This body served as a direct neighbor, after all.
Let’s get to the point and make contact. I opened the trapdoor in the attic and descended.
I walked downstairs, opened the door, and began to stroll through the city, constructed based on past memories of the 440 year era. This wasn’t Crownhall. It was a city I didn’t recognize.
I took a deep breath.
Entering the lair of a trap-laden enemy should mean this is a serious and grave situation, yet thinking that I would meet Pinkvalez soon made me chuckle. Hadn’t I just seen her a few days ago?
Joy bubbled up in my heart, making it thump.
Yeah, show me more than just your lifeless sleeping form… I’m standing in front of the neighbor’s door, catching my breath, and I knocked on the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
And after a moment, the door cracked open just a bit.
I widened my eyes in surprise. Pinkvalez appeared to be much younger than I remembered… sporting the form of a girl who looked like a high school student.
She was small in stature and otherwise notably different in development. No glasses, no ponytail. Overall petite, but you could clearly sense the promise of her destructive body.
In her bright yellow eyes gazing up at me, a strong wariness flickered.
“…Who are you?”
I needed to choose my answer carefully.
“Who are you?” means she has no memory of me. She likely only holds memories up until the year 440…
The past version of her hadn’t yet shifted departments from the Elimination Team to Defense Bureau, wore no glasses, and had never met me. This was our first encounter.
It stung to engage in dialogue as relative strangers, but at the same time, I felt excited as it was a chance to see what Pinkvalez was like as a young girl.
So, I should choose my words delicately. I’ll craft a sentence that could be the key to getting close to young her. How about mimicking Selvier’s childhood friend?
Right, great. Let’s greet her warmly and gently. I’ll build up some affinity with that adorable young face of hers, making sure it’s filled with smiles. Ready and go.
“Hello, nice to meet you! I’m the new person next door…”
Click, click, click.
“Little Pinkvalez is so cute.”
“… … …”
The speech balloon changed. That darn Queen…!!
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
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Knock, knock, knock.
I reinforced my control over language and knocked again.
“No, my friend, I just stumbled over my words a moment ago… please, I still have things to say. I can explain everything. I am indeed the person who moved in next door.”
“I will warn you. If you want to avoid bloodshed, leave.”
“Then I’ll make it bloody for just five minutes. Just five minutes, I swear.”
“I’ve seen a few like you already.”
Hmph. I could hear a scoff coming from the other side of the door. And little Pinkvalez returned my bold statement in a way that suggested she was sick to death of it.
“I suppose you heard I’m a Succubus, right? You think we’re going to be friendly. Enough of this dog-like nonsense, just get lost. This is your second warning, the third one won’t exist.”
“Who the hell even said that nonsense…?”
“Of course, that was something you were thinking, right? Or do you plan to claim that I’m different from those other men… not like them at all? Isn’t that what they all said?”
“… … …”
Her wariness towards men is tremendously high. She must be quite guarded against outsiders too.
If we can keep the conversation moving, I’m confident I could get closer. I roughly know what she likes and who she is. It’s a matter of how to make the first knot.
First, let’s change the flow. In this situation, I can’t shift away from the image of “a lustful man trying to seduce me”.
Let’s shake things up.
“I’m actually impotent.”
“…Huh?”
“And I’m great at cross-dressing.”
“Huh?”
I can picture the expression of Pinkvalez, raising a question mark above her head on the other side of the door. This perplexity would soon lead to “So, what do you want me to do about that?”
Before that, I establish further. Let’s give a reason to the dialogue.
“I’m saying this to avoid misunderstandings, you see. So, in a way, let me reveal my secret. Because I didn’t come here to bond as neighbors… I’m here for an assignment.”
“An assignment?”
“Yulie Lanster of the Elimination Team, right? I’m someone dispatched from the Defense Bureau. Can you understand why some higher-ups would send someone here during this time?”
I hinted that I needed her to think of something, signifying I didn’t know the answer. Pinkvalez fell silent for a moment before quietly muttering from the other side of the door.
“…Thank you, I suppose.”
“Right. You’re sharp, aren’t you?”
I swiftly agreed. I’m an agent, and from now on, my aim is to express gratitude to the Elimination Team.
“Oh, you don’t need to be too cautious. I know all about what the Elimination Team is, and… I also understand that a bit of ‘flexibility’ can enhance operational capabilities in any organization.”
It’s true that I’m here to express gratitude to the Elimination Team, but I don’t plan on turning everything upside down. Wasn’t that just their way of life?
“To be honest, I’m just here on a holiday. I hear this place is famous for its wine, right?”
I added details while scraping up information, inserting tidbits that had come along.
“Well, since I’m staying here anyway… and since there’s an Elimination Team member next to me. I thought, why not stop by and show my gratitude.”
“…I see, but I have no reason to be part of your repayment scheme.”
“Aha. But that shouldn’t be the case…?”
A reason. Let’s think of it quickly.
Pinkvalez’s connection point and what she might wish for… Given her childhood, her hometown had likely erased not long ago.
Even matured Pinkvalez would definitively carry a firm hat of vengeance, so if it were her younger self, she must be bubbling over with rage like lava. Perhaps I could deal with the Succubus Queen’s information to strike a deal.
“I’ve taken over the case. Investigation on the ‘Queen’.”
“… … …”
I could hear a rustled breath as if she inhaled sharply.
From that quick breath alone, I could surmise just how deep the past incidents had wounded her. I felt guilty, but I couldn’t think of any other angle.
There wasn’t a better justification than this. With sincere remorse, I offered her my last words.
“I apologize for bringing up past memories, but… I need your help to catch the ‘Queen.’ May I come by to discuss this occasionally?”
“…Yes. If it’s to catch that murderess, then sure. Just please don’t contact me for anything else unless you want bloodshed.”
“Sounds frightening… I’ll remember that warning. Well then, see you next time.”
No response came back.
I sighed deeply as I walked away. For now, I had forged a link.
Confronting the young Yulie Lanster was like facing a prickly hedgehog. I had to gently lay those prickles down and approach her to obtain clues leading to the ‘Underground Second Floor.’
It shouldn’t be too tough. So, let’s proceed.
===============================================================
Knock, knock, knock.
“Yulie! Help! I got shampoo in my eyes, and I can’t open them!”
I’ll just push it with humor.
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