TN: And we're back! sorry for the week long hiatus, it was not intentional since I had to get my right leg in a cast after tripping 3 floors down a stairwell (like an idiot ://) and be unable to use my PC setup upstairs BUT I should be OK now.
Anyways, Thanks for Arcanic Madness, WeissAkumu and WolfWTF for becoming as Supporters!,
===BREAK===
Within the VR world of the HIA Club.
Watching the four members of Hollow Special Operations Section 6 press the icon to agree to log out of their accounts, Null_Face could not help but reveal a smile with their conspiracy's being fulfilled.
Once logout was confirmed, these people would no longer be able to exit this VR world through normal means.
And as long as he was given a bit more time to crack the HIA system, even abnormal methods of forced logout would lose their effectiveness.
With that thought in mind, he pretended to say to Miyabi and the others, "You've all worked hard, Executors. Hurry back to reality and get some proper rest."
"Mm."
Miyabi nodded lightly, feeling distinctly uncomfortable.
The malice seemed to be growing thicker, though she didn't know why.
Immediately after, Yanagi, Miyabi, and the others "logged out" of the VR system and returned to the real world.
Only, this reality was still fake—a reconstruction of reality using VR technology, a small trick Null_Face used to buy himself time.
And because Lumina Square as a whole was far too large, even with the Exaltists' capabilities it was impossible to perfectly collect data on every detail. There were bound to be many bugs.
For example, the repetition rate of products in shops was extremely high, product manuals were inaccurate, rooms inside buildings were almost identical, food was still inedible, and there were no people present besides Hollow Special Operations Section 6…
But none of that mattered. As long as he could delay them for a while longer, letting Hollow Special Operations Section 6 notice something amiss a bit later, and completely seal this virtual world, that would be enough.
At this moment, inside the HIA building of the virtual world.
The four members of Hollow Special Operations Section 6 appeared to awaken from the VR machines, returning to "reality."
"Are we back?"
Soukaku stretched exaggeratedly, a happy expression on her face.
Mm, work's over—time to eat the work meal.
But how strange. She wasn't hungry at all at this hour today.
Was it because she was working mentally, so her physical body didn't consume energy?
"While you were testing, I noticed some minor issues with the VR machines. I need to make some adjustments now."
The investigator guise adopted by Null_Face leaned over the VR machines, appearing to hurriedly adjust something. "Please rest well, everyone. My colleagues have already prepared a thank-you meal for you at the Simmer Hot Pot Restaurant."
Harumasa said in surprise, "Huh, that's rare. An official-to-official reception, and they're treating us to hot pot?"
Generally speaking, when official personnel like them handled matters for other departments, they'd at most eat in a cafeteria, choosing something simple and light.
Hot pot had a strong smell, and it wasn't exactly rest time either—this felt a bit too indulgent.
"Ha, ha—my colleagues just like everyone from Hollow Special Operations Section 6 too much and wanted to do something special."
Null_Face gave two dry laughs and casually spouted nonsense.
He wasn't familiar with Lumina Square anyway. There was only one hot pot place that was relatively famous. He could just fool them casually and let them search slowly.
After all, the moment they stepped outside, they'd see an empty Lumina Square. Trying to trick them too thoroughly would just be self-deception.
"..."
Yanagi frowned slightly, looking at him with a thoughtful gaze.
No matter how you looked at it, inviting them to hot pot was far too out of place. And earlier, Section Chief Miyabi had said she sensed malice—but now that they were out, there seemed to be only this one investigator present.
The investigator who guided them earlier had been warm and cheerful, even a fan of Hollow Special Operations Section 6, completely different from this person's behavior.
This man had a problem.
"The malice is coming from you."
Miyabi looked at the investigator with his back turned to them and said calmly. "From the moment we were in the test field until now, it's always been you."
She paused slightly, then stated with certainty, "We're still inside the VR system. This is not the real world."
Through cultivating the profound principles of the [Edge of Taixuan], her spiritual state had advanced tremendously. She had already reached the realm described in texts as a crystal-clear sword heart.
She faintly sensed that she still possessed another body—her real body in reality.
The body she was using here posed no issue either, since it was a model constructed through a full VR projection of bodily data.
"As expected, something is wrong!"
Yanagi, Harumasa, and Soukaku all raised their weapons, staring at Null_Face with vigilance. "Talk. Who are you, really?!"
They had already noticed something was off. With Miyabi confirming it outright, there was no way they would fall for it again.
"!!!"
Null_Face's prone body stiffened. He hadn't expected to be seen through so quickly.
What was wrong with this Void Hunter? She looked clueless and lacking in common sense.
So why had she pierced through his setup this fast?
"Heh heh, hahaha!"
Null_Face turned around, straightened up, and let out a sigh. "Worthy of the elites of Hollow Special Operations Section 6—great heroes who make all criminals in New Eridu tremble. Your powers of observation truly are outstanding."
"But this world is already completely under my control. Obediently die a mental death right here!"
"This is the world I rule. All you can do is despair!"
On the sunny investigator's face appeared an extremely incongruous arrogance and malice.
He gave Miyabi a provocative smile. His body then exploded into points of light, leaving behind a sentence that echoed repeatedly:
"With senses this sharp, try and find where I am!"
This was misdirection. The key to escaping this place did not lie in finding him.
The true solution was to exploit the HIA system's forced logout base logic and escape before he completely took control of all the critical nodes of this virtual world.
The cards in his hand were actually limited. He had to obey the underlying code of this virtual world. After all, this world had been built by the HIA. Many core codes were untouchable—he could only shut down certain switches.
When Hollow Special Operations Section 6 finished testing, there had originally been three monsters remaining. He tricked them away before those monsters appeared. Before he completed his modification of the system's core logic, as long as those three monsters were killed, the VR system would be forcibly terminated.
Those three monsters were not under his control. As long as Hollow Special Operations Section 6 entered combat, the three monsters would inevitably appear before them. He had to protect those three monsters at all costs.
And the only combat power he could currently rely on was the monsters whose parameters had already been set in this world.
He could mobilize all computational power beyond what was needed to maintain the virtual world's basic operation, mass-producing these monsters to deal with Hollow Special Operations Section 6.
But computational power was limited. The stronger a monster was, the more complex its data, and the greater the computational cost.
Moreover, this test had been commissioned by the HIA Club for Hollow Special Operations Section 6, designed as a complete progression from weak to strong for ordinary investigators to challenge later.
To accommodate ordinary people, the monsters' stats would not be raised to absurd levels. They were absolutely within Hollow Special Operations Section 6's ability to handle.
With his limited computational power, he could not create a monster tide that would leave Hollow Special Operations Section 6 helpless.
He needed stronger monsters—monsters that could at least match Hollow Special Operations Section 6.
But monster modeling and movement were extremely complex. He couldn't just fabricate something like Nineveh out of thin air. He needed a reference.
And here, no one was a better reference than that Void Hunter girl—the young monster of New Eridu.
As long as he could copy her data body, letting a Void Hunter fight another Void Hunter, supplemented by other monsters, he could win head-on.
And once his control over this virtual world reached a certain level, he could directly alter the bodies that carried Hollow Special Operations Section 6's consciousness.
Turning them into powerless little things, trapping them here forever—this was the reason he was buying time.
===BREAK===
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