One-Sided Kindness Is Suspicious, but a Transparent Deal Is Rational
For thirty minutes I quietly hopped from tree to tree, carefully watching the eat-or-be-eaten battle unfolding in real time below.
Far from improving, the situation was only growing more dire, as if racing toward a climax. Virtual Beasts were shrieking every manner of howl and attacking everything in sight, all to devour even a little more of the data raining down from the sky. Worse still, the number of Virtual Beasts waking from their slumber seemed to grow with every passing moment. Some were even attacking other Virtual Beasts that had come to feed on the fallen data.
The one silver lining was that no winged Virtual Beasts were in sight, which made the treetops where I'd taken position something close to a safe zone. Of course, the occasional Virtual Beast would try to hide up here and launch an ambush… but compared to the ones that strode boldly across the ground, they were far weaker. A light swing of the Scissors Blade was more than enough to drive them off.
Haa… Bad timing. This isn't going to work.
Having just cleanly sliced through a sloth whose mouth had split into four, I secured the Scissors Blade at my waist and came to an unavoidable conclusion. Wandering the Abyss Forest any longer was too dangerous. Time to give up and head back.
This forest was a pure slaughterhouse — a hellscape where dozens of monsters roamed, intent on killing everything in sight. Calling it a war zone wouldn't have been an exaggeration. If I valued my life at all, retreating immediately was the only wise and correct call.
Granted, with the Scissors Blade — which had never failed to cut through anything so far — I could probably handle the Virtual Beasts somehow… but I couldn't forget that using it consumed EP. And I was already mentally exhausted.
With my remaining EP, even used as efficiently as possible, twenty swings is probably the limit. And I've already seen more than thirty Virtual Beasts.
It was simple arithmetic. There were more Virtual Beasts roaming the Abyss Forest than times I could swing the Scissors Blade. Run those numbers, and the possibility of running into a Virtual Beast after I'd exhausted the Scissors Blade wasn't far-fetched at all. And without the Scissors Blade, could I really hold an advantage against a Virtual Beast?
…No. The Scissors Blade is a cheat weapon that can cut through anything — but that doesn't mean I'm a cheat.
That was the obvious truth. Even with a pistol that never ran out of bullets, if you lacked the strength to pull the trigger, it was just a heavy lump of metal. So I made a clean decision: withdraw from the Abyss Forest, and quickly. If there had been even a few fewer Virtual Beasts, I might have reached a different conclusion… but that was just wishful thinking.
Having settled on my next move, I quickly turned and began retracing my path. Fortunately, I'd carefully marked the route with my entrenching tool as I came, so whenever I got confused, I just had to find the markers and set my direction — no chance of getting lost.
Kieeeeeek!
Kii, kii, kii…
Takagagak, takagagak.
As I moved as silently as possible from high branch to high branch, the sharp, grotesque cries of monsters echoed thunderously from every direction. Perhaps it was the harsh environment of the Abyss, where survival meant constantly eating something — most of the Virtual Beasts living here had vicious appearances and terrifying power to match. Maybe that was because when they failed to claim the data falling from the sky first, they had to hunt their competitors — other Virtual Beasts — as a substitute.
Left from here… and that tree at eleven o'clock…
But that had nothing to do with me. Those monsters were roaring and bleeding down on the ground; I was using the treetops. As long as I didn't deliberately climb down, I wouldn't run into them. What I needed to focus on now wasn't those monsters, but whether I could get out of this forest safely.
But as I was diligently hopping between trees, a sharp, electric sensation ran down my spine. It was the kind of feeling that naturally stopped me mid-stride — an important sensation I couldn't afford to ignore. Unable to tell whether it was good or bad, I stopped without thinking and, following instinct, hid myself among the branches.
And sure enough, moments later… something fell from the sky and slammed hard into the ground!
…Data. So this is how it falls from the sky.
I glanced up at the faintly shimmering sky, then looked back down at the data that had just fallen, turning the situation over in my mind. What exactly should I do with a data mass that had fallen like that?
Given the situation, ignoring it would be the right call…
The Abyss Forest was dangerous right now. The impact of that data mass hitting the ground would have radiated outward in every direction, and hungry Virtual Beasts would almost certainly be heading this way before long. Once they gathered, they'd fight to the death over this data mass — and the fallout might even reach the spot where I was hiding.
In other words, rationally speaking, the best move was to turn my back and run without wasting time on this kind of deliberation. No matter how valuable Ooparts were in this world… if you asked me whether they were as precious as my life, the answer was an absolute no.
So why was I standing here fretting over something that already had a clear answer? The reason was simple. Near the data mass that had fallen from the sky, something faintly glittering was quietly making its presence known!
That glitter near the data mass… that's a Virtual Spirit, right?
For some reason, I was certain that faint glitter was a Virtual Spirit — the same kind as her. I'd wandered this Abyss Forest for a long time without finding even a trace of one. That presence was what made me hesitate to simply abandon this place and withdraw.
Even one Noise has been a huge help to me. If there were two Noises…?
I closed my eyes for a moment and imagined twin Noises. Both expressionless — one a maid type with a side-up ponytail like Nia, the other a butler type with a short cut that reached the nape of the neck and a well-tailored suit. If Noise were doubled like that… work efficiency would double too. Edited videos would go up on a faster cycle, and maybe with a bit of armament, she could even hold down my territory safely while I was away for a while. No matter how I looked at it, there were nothing but upsides. That made this incredibly hard to give up.
…Let's go down. I don't care about the data mass, but I at least want to secure the Virtual Spirit.
Moving through this space, I'd come to understand intuitively to some degree how hard it was for a Virtual Spirit to survive in the Abyss, and how abandoning the body to leave only the mind returned as a massive threat to one's life. In other words, if I let this chance slip, I might never get another opportunity to secure a new Virtual Spirit. And then I might regret this day forever — for letting the last chance slip away so emptily.
Reason and emotion, both wearing serious faces, struck a compromise. Climb down from here right now and secure the Virtual Spirit, at the very least, by any means necessary. I knew it was dangerous, but considering the return, it was an opportunity too hard to pass up. That meant moving even a little faster was the better play.
"Eup… cha!"
Almost the same moment the conclusion formed in my head, I slid down the tree trunk and landed softly on the ground. Glancing left and right as if I were jaywalking, I gripped the Scissors Blade's handle tightly and sprinted toward the data mass.
Up close, it looked somehow like a massive industrial air conditioner — the kind you'd find in a big factory. With that rough impression in mind, I slid almost to a stop in front of the data mass — and immediately understood why the Virtual Beasts went crazy for these things.
This isn't an ordinary air conditioner. The inside is packed solid with separate data — like an apple bursting with juice. No wonder those monsters lose their minds…
If I had to put it another way, it was like a pie whose hollow interior was instead filled to the brim with thick honey. Taller than I was — I had to tilt my head up slightly just to see the top — this industrial air conditioner radiated an unusual intensity. But I had no time to marvel. Right now, I was racing against the clock. I had zero room to haul away data this hard to carry, so its value to me wasn't all that high. Sour grapes, basically.
Anyway, I gave a light shake of my head to shake off the temptation of the air conditioner, then fretted over how to recover the Virtual Spirit… then swallowed hard, steeled myself, and spoke to the faint cluster of light still circling the air conditioner.
"Hey… can you hear me?"
To a third party who didn't know the situation, I might have looked like a lunatic talking to an air conditioner — but fortunately, my choice seemed close to correct. The cluster of light spinning around the air conditioner began drifting toward me, as if responding to my voice. This was probably… asking why I was calling it. As someone who'd talked with Noise, a former Virtual Spirit, I could roughly read the meaning just from the movement. That was good. It meant it at least had enough will to understand my words and hold a conversation.
"You need help, right? I'll give you a body. Can you come with me?"
No time to waste. So instead of beating around the bush, I threw a straight pitch aimed right at the solar plexus. Borrowing from Noise's knowledge, a Virtual Spirit drifting without a body had roughly the intelligence of a young child. It shouldn't fail to understand something said this directly.
But unlike with Noise, the Virtual Spirit began to show signs of slight retreat, as if somewhat suspicious of me. Did it think I was going to trick it and then eat it? This was a problem. Getting bogged down for a reason like this.
"I need someone who'll work for me. Come with me. I'll give you a body and help you stay alive — and in return, you help me with my work."
So I looked seriously at the faint cluster of light and held out my hand. If the other party was the suspicious type, you didn't offer kindness — you persuaded them with the sense of a mutual deal. One-sided favor is suspicious, but revealing your purpose and making a deal is rational. And if the other party fully understood that intention…
"…! Thank you."
Like that, achieving what both sides wanted wasn't difficult at all. As those words indicated, the Virtual Spirit seemed ready to accept the offer — it drifted over and began spinning around near me as if winding itself around my arm. Mm, I really was short on time. Thanks for deciding so quickly. I might have had to consider leaving it behind.
"Then until we get home, will you stay in here for a bit? It's too dangerous here to make you a body."
Saying that, I held out a palm-sized orb I'd stashed in the outer pocket of my backpack to the Virtual Spirit. I'd tossed it in thinking I might need it someday — never expected it could serve as a temporary storage container. Glad I'd prepared it in advance. The somewhat suspicious Virtual Spirit circled near my hand, then — apparently understanding the situation well enough — slipped into the orb without complaint, as if being absorbed.
I carefully tucked the orb containing the Virtual Spirit against my chest, then surveyed the surroundings with a resolute expression.
Alright… time to pull out. Staying here long isn't good. It wouldn't be strange for Virtual Beasts to come crashing in any second. Well, I can handle most of them just fine…
Thinking that, I quickly adjusted my stance and took the Scissors Blade — which I'd had strapped horizontally at my waist — into my hand, ready to use at any moment… when suddenly, far too abruptly, an absurdly powerful presence registered from nearby.
An outrageous shock, like a massive whale thrashing up out of a calm water's surface. Caught by that dizzying sensation I'd felt once before, I went blank for a moment and stared vacantly in the direction of the presence.
"N-no way…"
How could I forget? How many times in a lifetime do you feel something like this? An existence that reigned at the apex of this Abyss — a monster that, as I was now, I could never defeat no matter what I did. What was emerging now from between those trees…
Was unmistakably a Predator Species.