"So you do have a way! Hurry up and tell us!" Hearing Wise's words, Nicole's eyes lit up, and she instantly jumped to her feet in excitement.
"The method is actually very simple. It just needs your agreement, Nicole."
"I agree!"
"Uh, that was a quick agreement? Alright. That hacker mentioned before that the item inside this safe has a value similar to the Rosetta Data. With it, we can freely enter and exit the Hollow. But this way, your commission, Nicole, probably won't be completed, so..."
Hearing this, Nicole stated the obvious. "Come on, our lives are on the line right now. Making a small sacrifice to survive is a bargain no matter how you look at it, right? So stop dawdling and get on with it!"
"Okay, then I'm opening it."
He then entered the password and opened the safe. Inside, on a red velvet lining, lay a single black chip.
"This is what's in the safe? So how do we use it?" Nicole picked up the chip with two fingers, examined it from side to side, but didn't find anything special about it, and handed it back to Wise.
"We'll have to see what's special about it." As he spoke, Wise used the Bangboo's small, short hands to insert the chip into Eous's body. Don't get the wrong idea; it was inserted into the forehead area.
After a moment of data loading, a mechanical female voice echoed in Wise's mind. Listening closely, it seemed to be some kind of contract. He didn't have to worry about how to get out of the Hollow anymore. Instead, he had to worry about how to solve the problem of the five-fold electricity bill. After all, Phaethon's account had just been deleted. He no longer had the corresponding income to handle this electricity fee. However, if he used Emotion Value to exchange for Dennies, then he wouldn't have to worry for the time being. After all, if he exchanged everything, he would have a full 28 million Dennies.
While Wise was still thinking about these things, he was unaware that his unusual state in the outside world was making everyone extremely worried. Belle, seeing the unconscious Wise, was instantly filled with panic, even having the thought of whether she should perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Fortunately, she soon discovered that Wise was just asleep.
On the other side, Anby, who had exited the Hollow, saw the constantly twitching Eous and anxiously told Nicole to drive to the video store at once. Nicole also knew the situation was urgent, so she didn't pay any mind to Anby's unusual behavior and immediately drove through several more "R-value 255 green lights."
An unknown amount of time passed...
After Wise agreed to Fairy's almost-forced protocol, he finally regained consciousness. "Brother, you're finally awake! That's great!" Seeing Wise open his eyes, a joyful Belle threw herself into his arms. Without her usual tsundere attitude, she was acting like a real little sister, snuggling in his embrace.
"Ahem, if you keep pressing on me like this, it won't be good." It really wouldn't be good. After all, having such a beautiful girl wriggling in his arms, there was a limit to Wise's endurance as a normal man. So he reached out his hand to push her away... (Content Deleted)...
"Hmph, you're so unromantic, Wise. I was worried about you! I should have recorded all your embarrassing moments just now!" Belle misunderstood, thinking Wise was saying she was heavy. She stood up angrily with her arms crossed, looking like she was sulking.
"Alright, alright, it's my fault. Can you first tell me what happened while I was unconscious?"
Although Belle was still pouting, she slowly recounted the events that had occurred during his coma after hearing Wise's words, omitting the part where she herself had wanted to give him mouth-to-mouth.
"Is that so? And what about the chip? Did it cause any abnormal reactions?" Wise asked, feigning ignorance. Hearing this, Belle showed an expression that said, 'You finally asked,' and then mysteriously led him to the computer. "Hmph, brother, don't be scared after you see this. Ahem, Fairy, please respond if you can hear me."
As Belle's voice fell, the computer screen flickered, and a data loading panel appeared, followed by that familiar female electronic voice.
[System startup complete. I am the Type III General-Order Integrated Universal Artificial Intelligence, codename: Fairy. Hello, my dear Master.]
"Hello there, Fairy." Hearing the other party greet him, Wise tried to respond. Isn't she an artificial intelligence? Why does her tone sound so sycophantic?
['Ding! Host, please do not be suspicious. The charm points granted by the system work on all intelligent life forms, objects, and artificial intelligences.']
Alright, that explains it. Hearing the Succubus System, Wise no longer dwelled on it. In any case, he would be the one paying the electricity bills from now on, so it was normal for her to flatter him a little. It's just that this method of flattery was a bit too direct.
"My wise and handsome Master, you don't seem surprised by my existence."
"Hey! Why don't I get any of those titles? But for my brother, it's 'handsome' and 'wise'!" Belle was a bit dissatisfied at this point, but Fairy didn't seem to pay her much mind.
[Negative. As an artificial intelligence, I treat the Master and Assistant No. 2 with equal impartiality. It is simply that the Master's charm compels me to address him in such a manner.]
"Aargh! I can't take it anymore, you suck-up!"
[Negative. I am not sucking up. I am merely stating the facts, a point that even Assistant No. 2 cannot deny.]
"You! ...Fine." Belle really didn't know how to refute that. After all, her brother was just that good-looking.
"Alright, speaking of which, if Belle is Assistant No. 2, then who is Assistant No. 1?"
[Answer: It is your Bangboo—Eous.]
"Ah! I can't take it anymore!"
"Belle! Calm down, you can't smash the HDD!"
Seeing Belle's stance, Fairy didn't dare say anything more to provoke her and obediently answered Wise's questions from then on. However, most of the key questions couldn't be answered by Fairy due to insufficient clearance. But at the very least, Fairy could help them quickly rebuild their Rope-Net account.
"Alright, Fairy, as a mature artificial intelligence, you have to earn the money for your own electricity consumption through your own efforts. After all, you wouldn't want to be shut down due to a lack of power, would you?"
"...Affirmative. What you say is very correct, Master. However, based on your words, I have found some content that is not suitable for minors to view. According to the content, what you should do next is..."
"Ahem! Anyway, I'll be counting on you from now on."