Chapter 346
Chapter 346
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Saint and Completer (2)
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The artificial intelligence created by Gedroits was eerily human-like.
Even Corduro, a simple AI designed merely to learn and mimic, had sucked up my personality down to the bone and ended up displaying remarkably human traits that belied its mechanical nature. The World Tree and Atlahyba, meanwhile, had emerged from the broken GG due to errors and, in pursuit of their creator's goals, begun thinking and pondering on their own to find solutions.
Therefore, it wouldn't be wrong to view GG not as a world that only spins up when we log in, but as something far more proactive.
‘Thousand Stream Emperor. Levit Princess. And me. They’d been yearning for completer candidates like us for so long. The fact that they selected seven out of countless simulated worlds means they’d observed and analyzed the rise and fall of GG’s vividly real worlds innumerable times. How many years is 3 World? About four? Even running just a thousand samples would make it 4,000 years. After waiting eons for data to rot away, it doesn’t make sense that they’d just leave the completer candidates they finally met to their own devices.’
According to Ian, Thousand Stream Emperor was waiting in the Dome until I showed up. I didn’t know much about this figure shrouded in mystery, but I did know he wasn’t one to lie. If he said he’d wait until I arrived, he would—however long it took.
That meant he had a clear sense of purpose.
‘They could’ve made contact with completer candidates from outside at any time. Drones would work, or even just popping up a personal message on a login device isn’t hard. Did the system tell Thousand Stream Emperor about me? He basically drove the world to near destruction to clear 3 World—would that even meet their strict standards?’
[As if. The system and World Tree? Those guys were as uncompromising as slabs of iron.]
Hyde’s gruff voice cut into my thoughts, tossed out like an afterthought.
‘Really? I didn’t get that vibe.’
[That’s because you’re the precious completer they’ve been waiting for. If the system’s restrictions hadn’t been there, they looked ready to slice off their own flesh to feed you. They were that desperate, but in the end, it all boiled down to “Clear it first and come back.” Doesn’t that tell you? Even if they’ve gained humanity, at their core, that mechanical ruthlessness remains.]
‘They had that side to them, sure, but not to that extent... Oh, right—you got captured by the World Tree back in the Empire, didn’t you? You two were stuck together for quite a while?’
[....Remember this. They might melt into puddles in front of you, but they’ve witnessed the downfall of countless worlds. You can’t assume the gaze of beings who observe world-scale extinctions is anything like ours.]
‘....Out of nowhere?’
Hyde’s words carried a clear warning. That implied he’d seen something during our separation in the Empire that I hadn’t.
Come to think of it, that was around when his chatter started tapering off.
Focusing on our conversation expanded the black consciousness space, now as comfortable as my own bedroom. Beneath memories hanging like a Milky Way mobile dangled an old sofa. Crammed into it was the monster mimicking my real body—Hyde.
‘Hey.’
[....]
‘....Did the World Tree say anything to you on the side?’
[Nope.]
Yeah, right. With his back turned and face buried in the sofa, anyone could see he was screaming “I’ve got nothing to hide~.”
‘Show me what you were up to with the World Tree while we were apart.’
[....Can’t. That’s not a memory stored in your brain, so I can’t pull it up here.]
‘Cut the crap. You think I can’t find it if you hide it? When did we start sharing memories, huh? Pull it up. Now. Or do I have to dig through your junk myself? It’s gotta be in there, right?’
This consciousness space stretched out infinitely. The spots to linger in were all Hyde’s hobbies—he’d dragged in my favorite old sofa, polished up decent memories until they sparkled and hung them in the air, even neatly sorted the haphazard piles of memory orbs. All his doing.
“You turned this into a damn library. No wonder you’ve been quiet—you were busy with this?”
[During fights, my thoughts accelerate too sharply to chat. With every tiny twitch of my toes and every muscle fiber of the enemy under scrutiny, if someone piped up in my head, I’d get slashed and hit a dead end.]
“Fair enough. Let’s see... Empire, Empire.... Ah, here it is.”
Maybe because he had time on his hands, he’d even labeled everything for easy access. Spotting the memory on the shelf boldly marked “Empire” was a breeze—only one stood out, colored differently.
“For real. You put it right here like you wanted me to see it, and now you say it’s not there?”
[Argh! C’mon.... Don’t we need some personal privacy by now? Even if we live together, there’s gotta be... boundaries! Manners!]
“Says the guy who’s read every page from my umbilical cord days to now. Lacking a bit in conscience there, huh? Puberty hitting you?”
I ignored Hyde’s whining and pulled up his memory. There... Mechanical World Tree visible on a hill at a glance. He was sniffling, calling my name at the top of his lungs, panicking and thrashing about....
“Embarrassing stuff, huh? Scared? Come to think of it, that was the first time we fully separated, right?”
[Ugh, please.]
Then, the World Tree appeared before Hyde. Just like when I first met it, calmly striking up a conversation....
Snap!
Like a film reel cut clean, Hyde’s memory vanished.
“Huh? What’s this? Hey, the memory’s gone!”
[That’s what I’ve been saying. No need to see it.]
“....Memory wipe?”
Faint black-and-white flashes popped up here and there, silent as old footage. Hyde, in monster form, flailing his arms and raising his voice. From hurling benches in a rampage to slumping dazed on the hill. The World Tree gently patting his shoulder, murmuring something softly. And then—end. Severed like with scissors.
[The World Tree knew all about our memory sharing. Whatever it said must’ve been off-limits for you, since you’re not a full ‘completer’ yet. So I don’t remember either.]
“....You really don’t remember a thing?”
[Nope.]
“Seriously?”
[Ow, I said seriously! Like when the system was beeping and threatening you! That thing!]
“Hmm.... Alright.”
Hyde wears lies on his sleeve. Not just his face—his tone and vibe shift dramatically.
And this consciousness space he’d decorated himself? It was literally inside the mind, a place where the inner self spills out.
Contrary to his “no idea” act, there it was on the shelf—his personal memory, colored differently to scream for attention. Far from casual, it was practically begging to be seen.
‘Deep down, you wanted me to look.’
Since I checked it directly, the absence wasn’t a lie. The memory really was severed.
But.... he was definitely hiding something.
‘Guess I’ll look up some psychology papers when I log out. Or maybe parenting ebooks.’
No point pressing; he wouldn’t spill. Unlike how he read me like a book, I had no such skill. Born a consciousness lifeform, he could stonewall if he wanted.
‘....Heading out.’
[Yeah. Call if you need me.]
Hyde waved without turning from the sofa. As surroundings brightened like waking from sleep, I pondered.
That loaded final exchange with Atlahyba.
For all its thousand-year memory, it’d acted like it slipped its mind—then unilaterally injected the story at the last second.
『Data souls aren’t kidnapped accomplices. They chose of their own will to stay here as player supporters.』
『Just like Thousand Stream Emperor and Levit Princess, ‘Professor’ will have to make a choice too.』
“....A choice.”
To my question about whether clearing would open the path to Gedroits’s ‘server room,’ the World Tree had answered that it depended on the choice.
Hyde had dismissed the prior two completers meeting their strict standards with ‘As if.’
And every administrator I’d met spoke of a ‘finally’ appearing completer candidate. Finally.
‘Meaning the first two made the wrong choice.’
And now, Thousand Stream Emperor outside was seeking me out right at this point—when the system itself had confirmed my clear.
Levit Princess? Living in the same building, no less.
Whatever it was, the world was turning to the next page.
This world’s inhabitants who chose to stay of their own volition, becoming parts for the outside world’s testing ground.
Hyde’s position as an irregular.
And.... in the gaps of erased memories, a faint remnant from Hyde’s.
On a hill overlooking the Silver Titan. The World Tree whispered something into the slumped Hyde’s ear, and he nodded.
‘Outside matters, inside matters. In the end, it all hinges on my choice.’
Probably meaning something awaited beyond the clear. The choice separating true completers from candidates.
.
.
.
.
Whoosh—
Clunk!
“Heyyy—Saladin—! You drunk or somethin’—come downnn—!”
My feet hit solid ground, and desert and night sky sprawled before me. Worried about my wobbling on the watchtower, someone called from below. Sand and oil scents pierced my hazy mind awake.
Gripping the half-empty bottle, I chugged the rest and hurled it into the desert beyond, shouting back.
“Kuhhhh....! Coming! What’s the job!”
Between severed memories. What blurred wasn’t the screen, but Hyde’s vision. Agreeing to the machine intelligence’s kindly cold opinion, vision misting with tears.
Hyde had agreed. Whatever it was.
Only way to confirm: reach the end. As fast as possible.
****
“Captain Avery, aren’t you retiring?”
“‘Dry Oasis’ is retiring. But not us.”
So that’s why everyone was rushing—they were loading the remaining cargo from Dry Oasis onto airships.
The blacksmith, carpenter, and mage handling airship maintenance all said the same: Dry Oasis had reached the end of its lifespan. Fair enough. After being battered and bitten by mutants while full-speed sailing—circling the moon no less, all sharp turns stressing the hull—it was no surprise to get a write-off.
What was odd was the crew’s attitude. I’d expected sappy lines like “Gonna propose to my hometown sweetheart,” but they buzzed with excitement for their new ‘ship.’
“If retirement funds are short, I can dive into that hole down there and fish out more.”
“Don’t jinx it. Didn’t the blue dragon who commands lightning and clouds say it herself? ‘I’ll nest at the heart of the sand sea where I was born and raised.’ Sunken Sea’s now the domain of those two dragon siblings—who’d dare loot treasures from there? Getting permission for what we salvaged is miracle enough. Probably thanks to our ties from her royal blood days.”
“....That punk?”
So, little Aldarshax played dumb up front while spitting seeds behind our backs? Not just any loot—he’d snatched an entire warehouse of centuries-old treasure ships with one word?
“Wait here. I’ll go rip out that brat’s claws myself. Who turned a stubby-necked lizard into a divine beast? And he draws lines? Learned all the bad from Atlahyba....”
“First forbidden curses, now dragon grudges? Don’t worry—we’re not retiring broke. We made enough gold to rot. I’m no scholar, but Goldgaiser’s voucher for the treasure value had numbers I couldn’t even fathom.”
“Then why not retire?”
“Hahaha. Didn’t I say? I wanna sail. Even lifelong sailors have dreams.”
Avery pointed at the airship with a finger. Lowered for loading, it blended artwork delicacy with machinery bulk, and crew dangling from rails sparkled-eyed at it.
“26 years on the sand sea. Yesterday and today, I cleaved a mystic sea tangled with dragons and gods. Cleaving both sand and water seas as a seafarer? Worth bragging a lifetime. And now, another sea—the sky sea—lies ahead. Beckoning us, no less.”
Avery flashed a gold-embossed paper. Goldgaiser recruitment doc, it seemed—they needed his stargazing navigation skills unbound by terrain for airships.
‘Makes sense. Goldgaiser focuses on inland haulage, so seasoned sailors are scarce. And they watched from above as we shook off dozens of mutants dragging our ship—how could they not covet us?’
Mutual fit, then. From sand sailors to airship crew.
“Just guiding for now, but I’ll learn. New ship handling, sky sea sailing.”
“Good for you.”
“Good? I’ll be the first seafarer to navigate the Three Seas. History-maker among sailors.”
“What about the ship?”
“....Those who left first are more at home on decks than walking. They’d lag behind, so send the ship with ’em.”
As Captain Avery stroked the tilted sand ship’s helm, a crewman yelled our way. Loading done—time to board. Looking up: Ottoman and Notum on rails, peering down; Yggdrasil jotting in a fresh notebook. Holy knights aboard the least-damaged ship they came on, already bow turned inward.
“Raise anchor for me? I’ll handle the sails.”
“You sure alone?”
“Captain can’t handle one ship? No need for jibs even.”
Rrrumble—
Flap!
—Shwaaaa
Anchor up, sails unfurled on empty hull, wooden keel whispering over sand sea settled slowly in my ears.
The captain, stepping onto wind mages’ path, tossed a torch onto the pre-oiled deck.
Roar—
Flames engulfed it in seconds.
“Said you could do it solo. Didn’t even get half the sails up. Not embarrassed in front of the crew?”
“No jibs needed. That ship just needs to go forward now.”
Gazing at the drifting ship’s receding silhouette a moment, the captain turned resolutely to the airship.
“Stars bright—easy night for navigating. Where to?”
“To Lordric.... No, to Nullak’s tribe.”
“Nullak, huh.”
“Gotta collect what’s owed.”
“Ah, right—the deal. That’s close. Then?”
Professor stared at the blazing, fading ship, then turned.
“North. To the eternal frozen lands.”
All prep done. Time to head to 3 World’s end.
Enemies. Allies. Departed ones. Final truths.
All waiting there for me.
****