The Time of Truth (4)
“Team Leader Yamashiki! Urgent call!”
At the mention of an urgent call, Yamashiki spilled the bottled water he had been drinking and grabbed the phone.
—We found them! They were sprawled out at a car wash.
“What? All four of them?”
—Yes. All four have been located.
Upon hearing that all four testers had been found, Yasuke Yamashiki let out a sigh of relief. The water he had been drinking sprayed from his mouth, but he did not care. His throat had felt so parched it seemed ready to ignite.
“Where? Which car wash?”
The four men were loaded into vehicles and rushed back by the hastily mobilized staff. All four had vacant, unfocused eyes, as though heavily intoxicated. Their eyes were open, yet they showed no reaction whatsoever.
“They don’t even look conscious.”
Even when staff members waved their hands in front of their faces during transport, their pupils did not move at all. Once they arrived at the condo, Lieutenant Colonel Schultz, the military doctor, ordered IV drips and administered several medications. Only then did consciousness slowly return.
“…Mmm…”
Aoyama, Lucas, and Bortas woke up one after another. Sergeant Hobbs was the last to regain his senses. They soon realized their phones, wallets, and any valuable accessories had been stolen. Since everyone knew the four had been frequenting clubs and bars while smoking marijuana, the conclusion was that they had been drugged by petty thieves.
“…”
Once everyone had gathered around the table, Yasuke Yamashiki pondered how to handle the situation. Their return deadline had been 6 a.m., yet the four had only been found at 8 a.m. He hesitated over whether to report to Elon Busker and Major General Michael that they had missed the return time due to intoxication.
The atmosphere was heavy with silence. Aoyama, however, could not understand why Yamashiki and Lieutenant Polman were treating the matter so gravely.
“It was wrong of us to miss the deadline because we got drugged while hanging out with women. But there’s no problem with logging into the game, is there?”
“Exactly. I don’t understand why everyone is making such a fuss over being two hours late.”
Lucas, steeped in Brazil’s notoriously lax attitude toward punctuality, chimed in as well. Of course, their words were technically correct. Because they believed Cliché World was merely a virtual-reality game, their reaction made sense. From their perspective, the Changing staff’s anger must have seemed like excessive immersion.
Yamashiki considered revealing the truth about Cliché World to them, but he had no choice but to follow the higher-ups’ decision to wait until after “Arho” had been dealt with. If they learned the truth now, they might hesitate to kill.
Yamashiki imposed a one-month punishment: none of them were allowed to leave the condo. He then handed the rest of the matter over to Polman, the party leader.
“They left without checking the car wash and simply took the people away.”
“We left them there because time was tight. As expected, Americans can’t do anything without a warrant.”
Wang Shuchun of the People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force turned his attention back to the interrogation report he had been reading. He pondered how to proceed.
“What I don’t understand is this. They’re all part of the same project, yet some believe the world is real while others think it’s virtual reality.”
“We isolated the four and administered truth serum. All four gave the same story, except for the American soldier named Hobbs, who claimed the world was real.”
“So the Japanese, Greek, and Brazilian civilians who came from overseas believe it’s virtual reality, while only the soldiers know it’s actual reality?”
“Yes. We have already placed the man named Hobbs under hypnosis.”
“It may be difficult right now, but we should be able to extract information from Hobbs using that hypnosis.”
“Yes. Combined with our comrade Jin Haliu, who is working as a developer inside Changing, we should be able to obtain hardware information quickly. However…”
“However?”
“As you can see in the report, they keep insisting that the method of traveling to the new world is through divine authority. That divine authority appears to be some kind of advanced technology. It will take time to uncover the principle through Hobbs and Jin Haliu.”
“Hmm. That might actually be easier. Once we receive photos or development materials from those two, locate the factory that produced the hardware.”
“Ah! If we trace backward from the component manufacturing plants, we can figure out the principle as well.”
At his adjutant’s words, Wang Shuchun smiled confidently. Seventy percent of the hardware components produced in the United States were manufactured in China. Even if some parts were produced in Korea, Japan, or Mexico, over ninety percent of those components would still contain Chinese-made materials. Unless the core parts were produced domestically, China could reverse-engineer the components and determine exactly how and where they were used.
“Make sure those two pass on the information as quickly as possible.”
“Team Leader Yamashiki, I have a question.”
Polman, who had been left in charge of in-game operations, stopped Yamashiki as he was about to leave the condo.
“We’re going to eliminate the target Arho. If he’s also a user, couldn’t we just prevent him from logging in? I heard he’s already under staff supervision in Turkey. Why do we have to handle it over there?”
“You’re right. We could do it that way. But if we did, no one else would be able to take the slot he’s occupying.”
“So we have to deal with him in that world to free up all twelve slots?”
“It’s not just any slot. It’s a position granted by the gods. Unless the user dies or their soul disappears, we can’t touch it. So even if it’s a burden, please do your best.”
Lieutenant Polman had no choice but to enter the capsule.
“Then, as we discussed, we’ll target the daughter of a powerless noble house or a sheltered merchant’s daughter?”
“Yes. Since we can’t go to the clubs for a while, let’s try that instead.”
Aoyama, Lucas, and the others who enjoyed nightlife continued their crude conversations even after logging into Cliché World. The Antarian priest, unaware of the situation outside, tilted his head at the sudden change in atmosphere but did not pay it much mind.
However, Jinwoo took the matter seriously. It seemed the freedom they had been given had led to debauchery. Elon Busker had originally handpicked professional gamers and thoroughly vetted them to prevent such deviations. Yet as testers kept dying, even those lacking emotional self-control or discipline had been allowed to participate. This was the result.
Jinwoo could not think of a clear solution. Polman’s mind was equally troubled. He regretted not stopping them from smoking marijuana from the very beginning. After hearing them discuss rape while under the influence, Polman finally understood why Tablon’s priests wanted to capture and kill the Transmigrators. They believed that because this world was completely different from their own, they could do whatever they wanted. Only now did Polman realize how deeply that mindset could corrupt people.
For now, he simply wanted to finish dealing with the target Arho as quickly as possible.
Despite the chaotic public security caused by the large number of men, they reached the Rotiple Kingdom without being attacked.
“The atmosphere feels different once you cross the border.”
In truth, the landscape had begun to change a full day before they crossed. While the Splain Empire was an agricultural powerhouse built on vast plains, the Rotiple Kingdom, located in the southwest of the Entrick Continent, was a nation of mercenaries. The land lacked enough pasture to support farming or livestock, so its sturdiest mountain-dwelling people became its most famous export. With no other way to earn money, the men of Rotiple Kingdom would, upon reaching adulthood, don leather armor, take up a spear, and head to the Splain Empire or the Loghi Principality to work as mercenaries. After earning a fortune, they would return home, marry, and settle down. Of course, many never returned because they were too weak, so only the strong and resilient remained—creating a kingdom of mercenaries.
“We’ve confirmed your mercenary badge. You’re looking for Arho, the one called the Storm Sword, correct?”
“I heard he lives near Uksten.”
“Yes, that’s right. He’s something of a local pride. May I ask why you’re looking for him?”
“We worked together a long time ago. We’re just stopping by while passing through the area.”
At Polman’s words, the guild clerk Becky recalled Arho’s arrival here about a year ago. Arho had never spoken much about his past, but this mage seemed to be visiting because of something from that past. Moreover, seeing the people waiting outside the guild building with him, she doubted their intentions were good.
“If you follow the road heading south, you’ll see a rocky mountain on the right. He lives there.”
“How far is it?”
“Half a day’s journey.”
“Thank you. This is for the information.”
After Polman left the guild building, Becky reported to the guild master, who immediately sent someone on horseback. Because he owed Arho a debt, he wanted to warn him of the danger.
“Our target is at the rocky mountain visible if you keep going south. We’ll have to cross three large mountains.”
Following Polman’s words after leaving the mercenary guild, they set off again. Instead of staying on the main road, Polman suddenly turned toward the mountains. Even while climbing, he demanded maximum speed, forcing them to abandon the carriage.
“The enemy doesn’t know we’re coming, so why are we in such a hurry? Wouldn’t it be better to rest for a day, recover our condition, and then attack?”
“I’d like to do that too, but I don’t think we can. We got a map when we crossed the border, but without the military map Patrick gave us, we would have been fooled.”
“Fooled?”
“The guild clerk tried to send us on a longer route. She was obviously trying to buy time to prepare. Bortas! Send out the eagle. Check if anyone else besides us is heading toward the black rocky mountain up ahead!”
The Tamer Bortas released the eagle he cherished and scouted the surroundings through its eyes.
“…Three… no, five… six people climbing the mountain. And there are people at the house on the black rocky mountain too—two? Three? I can’t confirm how many are inside the house.”
“Damn it. Jinwoo! Cast active buffs on everyone!”
Once Jinwoo applied the buffs, Aoyama—uncharacteristically excited—rushed ahead, urging them to move faster.
Despite abandoning the carriage and hurrying, by the time they reached the top of the mountain, eight people were already waiting outside the house as if they had known they were coming.
“May I ask why you’re looking for me? I don’t believe we’ve met before.”
A burly man with a thick beard stepped forward holding a blue longsword. At his question, Polman stepped up.
“We received a request to kill someone who uses a magic sword. Are you Arho?”
“A magic sword? Who gave you the request?”
“I can’t reveal that. If we fight, the people behind you will get caught in the crossfire. How about we settle this one-on-one?”
“One-on-one? Are you, the mage, going to fight?”
“No. This friend here will.”
From Polman’s right, one person stepped forward—Aoyama. Given his usual personality, he was the last person anyone would expect to volunteer first. The fact that he had done so made Polman suspicious.