Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Yuria's Shopping Spree is Touching (5)
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The Haunted Terminal arc.
This wasn't a serious episode with a proper battle against an enemy, like the Night of Blood or the Nemesis Incident, but one that was extremely close to a slice-of-life story. A summer horror special, I suppose.
The plot wasn't that complicated.
One day, a client comes to the agency, threatened by an unknown assailant.
The threats were as follows: a cursed message with unsettling content would arrive from an unknown sender, and soon after, it would become reality.
In this mysterious situation where no one knew who was sending it, how, or why.
Raven, having accepted the request, tracks down the sender of the message with David's help.
Surprisingly, the sender they found was a person who didn't exist in reality.
Ultimately, Raven realizes that the terminal itself was the source of all the threats against the client.
However, even if the recognition chip was removed, the power was turned off, or it was forcefully snapped in half.
The terminal would somehow return to its original state and stubbornly send its cursed messages.
Before long, the terminal traps the client and the fixers in the agency, slowly shrinking the space and threatening their lives…
Raven uses his wits and succeeds in dropping the terminal into a gap between disappearing stairs.
Having fallen into the space between worlds, the terminal falls endlessly toward the bottom, and thus the Haunted Terminal episode comes to an end.
‘It felt like one of those one-off horror episodes typical of long-running, omnibus-style shonen manga. A bit more focused on fun than on plot consistency, you could say.’
Well, to put it simply, it was just one of those common, passing episodes. But some readers seemed to have felt a small sense of incongruity in the story.
They argued that, even for a summer horror special, the terminal’s actions were too extreme for a single device to commit.
Trapping the group in some kind of infinitely repeating office, for instance.
Or making the incredibly suspicious curses from its messages a reality.
No matter how much you chalked it up to comedic effect, this was a power that defied the common sense of the setting.
So, the curious readers later asked the author about this part.
And the author casually revealed some behind-the-scenes lore during a Q&A session.
-Ah, actually, that haunted terminal was also a type of object, similar to the Tesseract. It made an early exit, but… if an enemy had gotten their hands on it, wouldn't that have been quite troublesome?
In terms of plot consistency, there wasn't a major flaw.
The Invaders' items were already considered overpowered artifacts that had destroyed the world.
If that terminal was one of them, it was more than enough to corner the fixers.
Of course, since this was revealed long after the chapter was published, it felt a bit out of the blue at the time.
But thinking about it now, there was no information more helpful to me than this.
It was cheaper than a normal terminal because of an unfixable, unknown error.
It connected to the internet on its own without a chip, and it was okay even if you happened to break it.
And on top of that, it was an Invader-related item, so it was even compatible with me?
It was only natural that I’d been giddy with excitement since morning at the thought of buying the terminal.
No matter how I thought about it, there was no other terminal with this much value for the price.
Well, since the Invaders weren't even looking for it that hard and it was just floating around the black market.
I'm not expecting much from the reality manipulation side of things. You just need to do your best as a terminal, and that'll be enough.
[Friend! Friend!]
[….]
Returning home and holing up in the closet in my usual fox mask, I immediately turned on the terminal.
The Tesseract instantly began to swing its body back and forth, looking incredibly excited.
Of course, since the Tesseract was hanging around my neck, my head naturally tilted forward with it.
Having inadvertently slammed my forehead against the closet door, I quickly caught the Tesseract with my psychokinesis.
Hey, I get that you're excited because it feels similar.
But calm down a little. Raven's going to hear you at this rate.
I rubbed my slightly throbbing forehead through the mask, a result of the Tesseract's antics.
Then, I brought the terminal, Echo, which seemed to be cautiously observing me, to my forehead and thought.
You can hear me, can't you? Right now.
If you keep ignoring me, I'll let the Tesseract use you as a toy. Or should I just let it eat you for dinner?
[Eek! N-No! Anything but that! Please have mercy!]
[Ah! It spoke!]
Echo shuddered, its screen flickering erratically.
Looking down at Echo, I confirmed what had until now been mere speculation.
‘…I knew it. It wasn't the Tesseract that was strange, it was me. Why can I hear their voices?’
I was trying my best not to show it, but it was a truly bewildering situation.
Setting aside the fact that there was never any description of the Tesseract or Echo speaking in the original story.
Considering that even the Invaders didn't converse with them and just used them as tools, I had no choice but to conclude that the cause was me.
Could it be related to the fact that I can't speak? Or is it because I'm a psychic who remembers my past life?
It was a question without an easy answer, and my thoughts inevitably deepened.
‘Sigh, I really don't know. Let's just move on for now. I'll figure it out someday.’
I scratched my neck as if to brush off my worries and watched the Tesseract and Echo, who were now chatting with each other.
Judging by their voices, the Tesseract sounded like a child under ten, while Echo sounded like a cool-headed career woman.
But strangely, Echo seemed completely intimidated in front of the Tesseract.
[What’s your name?]
[E-Echo, ma'am!]
[Echo… Okay! I’ll remember!]
[M-May I be so bold as to ask for your name!]
[I’m Tesseract! Nice to meet you!]
[Y-Yes, ma’am! Lady Tesseract! It’s a pleasure to meet you, too!]
A clear hierarchy had already been established between the two.
I had no idea what the basis for it was…
But seeing the Tesseract, who adored me, keeping it in line, I could at least worry less about the terminal doing anything strange.
Ah, maybe I should try out one of its functions.
I sat up straight on the closet futon and brought the terminal to my forehead.
Then I asked it to call Raven, who was right next door.
Of course, I hadn't exchanged numbers with Raven yet.
But Echo was a capable device that could handle things on its own. I figured it would connect me one way or another.
[C-Connecting a call to a nearby terminal!]
As soon as Echo finished speaking, a number appeared on the screen, and a call was connected somewhere.
Not long after, it seemed the call was accepted, and a familiar man's voice came from the speaker.
“Yes, this is the Crowley Fixer Agency. How may I help you?”
“…”
The man was Raven.
It seemed that since the call was from an unknown number, he assumed it was work-related.
Heh heh, I couldn't hold back my laughter. I collapsed on the spot, laughing silently.
Then I quickly ended the call and rolled around on the futon like a pill bug.
This wasn't what I intended, but I couldn't contain my amusement—it felt like I had just prank-called a friend.
Raven won't know, right? I didn't say anything, and he doesn't know the number.
As I was thinking that and rolling around in the closet, the closet door suddenly swung open.
And Raven, with a dumbfounded expression, looked down at me and said.
“That call just now was you, wasn't it, part-timer?”
“…!”
H-How did he know?
I quickly sat up and tilted my head innocently, feigning ignorance.
But Raven paid me no mind. He snatched Echo, which had been rolling on the floor, and frowned as he checked the call history.
“Yep, it’s you. I knew it, you little rascal. I didn’t even give you my number, so how’d you manage to prank call me?”
“…”
“Here, I saved my number. Contact me if you need anything.”
You can handle the rest of the numbers yourself.
Raven said, readily handing Echo back to me.
I can't believe I got caught less than a minute after making a prank call.
Next time I feel like making a prank call, I'll have to tell Echo not to leave a record.
As I thought this and poked Echo with my finger, Raven tapped on his own terminal, as if to save my number.
Seeing this, I urgently stopped him. There was no point in saving that number.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
“…!”
Watch this carefully.
I poked Echo with my finger and called Raven's number from the contacts.
Just like before, the call connected to him seamlessly, and a number appeared on the screen.
As soon as Raven saw it, his eyebrows twitched, and he looked at it in disbelief.
“What the, how did the number… no, what in the world is this thing….”
It was logically impossible.
I had called him the same way without touching anything, yet the number had changed in that short time?
Raven immediately declined the call and tried calling my number back.
The first time, it said the number didn't exist. The next time, some random person answered.
What kind of sorcery was this?
He gripped the back of his neck as if his head hurt and stared at the ceiling.
‘It doesn’t even have an ID chip, so of course it wouldn't have a number.’
But for me, this was an expected outcome.
A phone number, by definition, is a combination of digits assigned by a managing entity.
There was no way Echo, which made calls through a method akin to reality manipulation, would have a fixed number like that.
In other words, it meant this:
I could contact someone, but the reverse was impossible.
Looking at it this way, you might think Echo was just a piece of junk… but if that’s the case, I just have to change my method.
‘Echo. Can you make me an email address right now that can't be easily traced?’
[H-Huh?]
‘Please. Make one.’
[Echo! Work!]
[Y-Yes, ma’am! I’ll get right on it!]
I subtly turned my body away from Raven's view and made a small request to Echo.
Echo seemed a bit flustered by the sudden request.
But perhaps thanks to the Tesseract immediately cracking its whip, it got to work right away.
Not long after, an email address was successfully created.
I didn't know what site it was from, but the name was incredibly simple.
I then discreetly showed the screen with the address to Raven.
Well, if you need to contact me, use this! That was the general meaning.
“…Good grief, you're not even trying to hide it anymore.”
“…?”
“It’s nothing. Just talking to myself. So, I’ll just… save this for now, okay?”
“…!”
Nod, nod.
I nodded vigorously at him, who still looked utterly bewildered.
Hee hee hee, I have to show this to Alice and David tomorrow!
The day wasn't even over yet, but I was already looking forward to tomorrow.