Episode 287
“I have something to tell you.”
Everyone’s gazes turned to Hanbit’s calm voice.
The remnants of light, shimmering like a hallucination even though they had already vanished.
Momo, having raised her upper body from the capsule beneath, was breathing quietly with her eyes half-open.
“Ah, I would appreciate it if you could check Momo’s condition first.”
“I’ll check right away.”
Kazuki, who had been outside the glass wall just moments ago, approached wearing medical work clothes.
She cautiously met Momo’s gaze.
“Miss, this is the first time you’ve seen me, isn’t it? I was checking on your condition while you were asleep…” *
Squeeze*
Just then, Momo, who had been wary of her surroundings, grabbed Hanbit’s clothes.
The fear emanating from her trembling hand was intense.
“It’s alright. Dad is over there, too.”
“Momo!”
Kenji, who had followed her inside, was clutching a thick blanket.
After quickly dressing Momo in it, he turned his gaze away and spoke.
“Lord Black Dragon, your daughter…”
His voice trailed off, but everyone knew what he wanted.
He must have been curious whether the daughter who had returned to reality was the Momo of the past, or the Momo who had lost her memory and wandered within the game.
Unfortunately, the answer was clear.
“You can just think of her as the exact same Momo as in the game.”
“Understood. Thank you.”
Nodding, he meticulously checked on his daughter’s condition and looked after her.
He refrained from asking directly about her memories to avoid causing her anxiety.
Wrapping Momo in a blanket, Kenji met her gaze and spoke affectionately.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. You don’t have to be scared.”
“…Dad.”
The time they had spent together at the Guild Headquarters.
Momo had been wary at first, but she gradually opened her heart to Kenji’s efforts.
Even though it was still a little awkward, she clearly recognized him as her parent.
“Kazuki, would you check on her condition again?”
“Of course. Miss, excuse me for a moment.”
Kazuki began to slowly examine Momo’s condition once again.
In the meantime, Kenji looked at Hanbit and asked,
“Lord Black Dragon. What happened?”
He had never let go of his efforts to pull his daughter out of the game for a single moment.
That is why this sudden situation was both joyful and bewildering.
“I’m not sure if I should call it the internal structure of the Gear… but I saw something hidden inside. Momo found it in there, too.”
“Something hidden…”
Kenji expressed his lingering doubts, unable to easily picture the story.
Hanbit slowly continued his explanation, sorting through sensations that were difficult to put into words.
“It was a space where countless screams and deaths were condensed. It was the final memories of the dead, seemingly stored inside the Gear by someone’s intent. It wasn’t just a simple hallucination. They were scenes that actually happened, and they included figures I knew, including Adventurer A. And the perpetrator was always Sirius.”
“Huh?”
“Sirius?”
At the sudden appearance of the name, even Lee Min-ho, who was standing outside the glass wall, opened his eyes wide.
The influence between in-game characters and real-life bodies.
Both of them were aware of the assumptions and questions stemming from Adventurer A’s death.
“Could it be that the assumption you mentioned back then was actually true?”
“It seems so. Seeing Momo return here like this, it couldn’t have been an illusion.”
The probability that everything they had experienced just moments ago was a delusion caused by shock
was, inevitably, infinitely close to zero.
Kazuki, who had been watching the conversation, spoke while manipulating a monitor installed inside.
“The medical work suit the Black Dragon is wearing is equipped with various monitoring sensors. Looking at the records from just moments ago… it appears that rather than an illusion, you suffered from unbelievably extreme stress.”
“Well, it was an unpleasant experience. It felt like I was actually experiencing death.”
Hanbit sighed and looked at Momo, who was sitting in the capsule.
She looked a little calmer than before.
“Momo, do you remember anything?”
“…I’m not sure. I closed my eyes and opened them, and suddenly I was trapped in a strange place…”
Momo, who had been caught up in the situation, also seemed unable to fully grasp the circumstances.
It seemed there was insufficient information to properly interpret the situation.
“You know the sphere inside the chip we saw together? It was cracked.”
Just then, Lee Min-ho spoke up.
“Cracked?”
“Yeah. I’m not sure if it’s the cause or the result of the phenomenon you experienced, though.”
The sphere inside the chip, which could not be destroyed no matter what was done.
It was certainly strange that it had cracked.
“There really isn’t enough information. After all, the core structure of the Gear hasn’t been revealed.”
Kazuki, who had been continuously checking on Momo's condition, shrugged and spoke.
Certainly, the people holding the answer to this situation were limited.
"I have summoned the representative of Mirai Tech. This time, surely they will give us a proper answer."
"…I hope so."
The gear manufacturer, highly likely to possess information regarding this situation.
They seem to know something, but unable to disclose it.
The details they had heard beforehand could be summarized in this single line.
Whirring—
just then, a sound came from the direction of the elevator.
"You have arrived."
Kenji turned his gaze and said.
*Swoosh*
—as the elevator doors opened, a middle-aged woman in a black suit appeared.
Intellectual glasses, an emotionless expression, and the fatigue hidden beneath them caught their eye.
"I will wait inside."
At Kazuki's words, Hanbit and Kenji stepped out through the glass wall.
Having removed their medical work uniforms, the two stood facing the middle-aged woman.
"It is nice to introduce myself. I am Yoshiko Takahashi, the representative of Mirai Tech."
“Nice to meet you. I am Black Dragon, Kang Han-bit.”
Han-bit returned the greeting with politeness.
“Please take a seat.”
Kenji pulled up a nearby chair and offered a seat.
Lee Min-ho also joined the conversation, as he had interacted with them a few times regarding Gears.
“First, let me explain the situation.”
Kenji conveyed everything that had happened just moments ago, including what he had heard from Han-bit.
Yoshiko, the CEO of Mirai Tech, listened quietly with her gaze lowered.
“CEO, regarding this incident… how much do you know?”
Kenji’s question held a hint of desperation.
Although Momo had returned, this tragedy could only be brought to an end by recovering the child’s memories as well.
“…….”
Yoshiko raised her head and silently gazed at Momo inside the glass wall.
Then, she opened her mouth with a heavy tone.
“Gears… were divine artifacts created by two goddesses. While most of their structures were coordinated through consultation, they also clearly embodied each other’s unique characteristics.”
“Are you saying there are two types of Gears?”
“There are Gear companies that remain largely hidden. You could say they supply Gear exclusively to players of the Holy Kingdom—currently the Sacred Body Faction.”
“…I get the idea.”
Hanbit nodded as the situation unfolded vividly before his eyes.
The most critical factor in the rivalry between the two goddesses was divine power.
It was only natural that many things would differ depending on where and how much of it was used.
If it were the Goddess of Turmoil, she likely invested heavily in the growth of her power.
“By the way, where did you hear that story? Was it from the administrators?”
“Of course, it was something we worked on together with Team Zero. However, before that, I was someone who had met the Goddess of Silence in person in the other world. It wasn't just me; the same went for the others deeply involved in the Gear supply.” “
…So you’re saying you’re all experienced in the other world?”
“To be precise, we are not experienced travelers, but those who were saved by the Goddess of Silence. She saved us so that our souls, which had been blown away by anomalies, would not perish. We didn’t undertake life-threatening adventures like Lord Black Dragon, though I don’t know much about the Sacred Body Faction.”
Yoshiko added that she had become an ally to repay the favor.
Those who had survived through divine power established a Gear supply chain under the mediation of Team Zero, becoming aware of each other's existence and helping one another.
That must be how grateful she feels to the Goddess of Silence.
Saving a soul that was on the verge of being abandoned was truly an act typical of her.
Hearing this, Kenji asked in a low voice,
“Why… have you kept it a secret until now? You could have given me even a small clue regarding Momo.”
“I was bound by a restriction not to disclose information. It wasn't my own will, but something determined by the two goddesses. And that restriction was broken by the recent revolution. It is likely a situation far removed from the goddesses' plans.”
She spoke, pointing to her head.
A divine restriction engraved in her body, not merely a verbal promise.
The fact that it was broken was no ordinary matter.
“I am sorry regarding the matter concerning Momo. However, putting aside the restriction, it was difficult to obtain clear information about this part. It was such a unique case.”
Yoshiko confessed that she could not properly interpret the beings influenced by the Goddess of Turmoil.
Of course, she hadn't simply been sitting idly by.
"We were looking for a way to enter the Sea of Souls to find a way to save Momo. Aside from clearing the RP, it was practically the only method."
"The Sea of Souls…"
"It is the space Lord Black Dragon visited just moments ago. It is an alternate dimension connected to the Gears, or perhaps it could be called the Space of Consciousness."
“…So, was everything inside just a soul?”
“To be precise, it is the soul that connects the RP character to the real-world body. If that is damaged, recovery would be virtually impossible. In that sense, it is truly surprising that Momo returned to reality. We will need to interpret how all of this happened. There is much to examine, from the cause of that spark, the conditions for entering the Sea of Souls, the reason the core inside the chip cracked, to various other issues.”
Yuzuko added that it was a considerably complex and difficult task.
The soul is the central entity connecting the character and the body.
In other words, the countless deaths experienced in that space meant the annihilation of souls.
Hanbit raised another question.
“How was Sirius able to kill that soul? Can you freely enter and exit the Sea of Souls?”
“I believe it is a special power prepared by the Goddess of Turmoil. Rather than entry, I suspect it is structured to inflict massive damage on the soul by killing the character.”
“That… is dangerous.”
The power of the number one ranked player was incomparably strong compared to that of other players.
If it were possible to destroy a soul by killing a character, it was a grave problem.
There was a high possibility that it could lead to a major catastrophe.
“Is there no way to stop this?”
“I cannot give you a definitive answer, but finding a way is the way to repay the Goddess.”
Yoshiko slowly rose to her feet.
Turning her gaze to Hanbit, she spoke.
“I will escort you to headquarters. Let’s look for that possibility within the capsule.”
