Hikigaya took the lead, despite how he portrays himself as a loner, this guy has a silver tongue.
If I didn't know that he's a loner, I definitely wouldn't believe this guy is a loner, gaining people's attention and making them talk about specific information is vastly different.
Hikigaya did that with ease anyway and it didn't take long for us to find the nearest internet cafe.
And while getting this information, he learns that this world was in the 23rd century, almost in the 24th.
It was a surprise for Hikigaya, but since I know this information already my reaction was mild.
And before we stepped inside the internet cafe building, Hikigaya complained. "What's up with this world? The technological advancements don't match their timeline. In fact, they should have been a Type 1 Civilization by now. Yet their technology barely changed from the 2000s."
Hearing his assessment of this world, I couldn't help but agree. Aside from a few outstanding inventions, this world has barely anything that our own respective worlds haven't.
It's like the discovery of quirk made them stupid, heck even Cyberpunk 2077 is way more advanced than this.
Either way, I'm not going to think deeply about it as it's not my problem, and besides, the less advanced they are, the easier for us to hack their government files.
Though I'm not sure how Hikigaya would do it, since he's the one who has the skill then I will put my trust in him.
To put it simply, Hikigaya isn't the type to purposely embarrass himself. If he says hacking the government files with confidence, then he definitely could.
Then, as we arrived at the internet cafe counter, the manager was there.
Seeing us, she greeted us with a practiced smile. "How may I help you?"
Hikigaya went straight to the point. "We would like to rent a private booth for a few hours."
The manager's eyes lit up at that, why wouldn't she? Renting a private booth costs quite a lot.
Not many would try it, then she responded. "Of course, we have different tiers. Which one would you like?"
Then she took a tablet which consisted of different types of booths available for renting.
Hikigaya didn't hesitate to pick the most expensive one.
I wasn't expecting that, I looked at the price and was shocked to see that it was 10k per hour.
That's a ridiculous price for merely renting a private PC booth.
With that kind of money, I'll be able to afford ramen for a week straight.
Then it hit me. 'Wait, we don't have this world's currency, how could we pay for it?!'
When I was about to warn my teammates, suddenly Hikigaya took out multiple 10k yen bills from his pockets.
"We'll pay in cash."
The female manager brightens, in a literal sense, she's glowing.
'The fuck is this quirk called? Living lightbulb?' I was honestly speechless.
Hikigaya couldn't help but cover his eyes due to the sheer brightness, but one could see the surprise on his face.
Winter was also the same, but hid it better.
Then she became flustered. "I-i apologize. I tend to activate my quirk unconsciously when I feel excited or have some intense emotions."
Hikigaya waved it off. "It's fine, can we go now?"
"Of course! Here's the key for your private booth, the location is on the second floor of the building with the number 7 sign at the door."
After that, we left the counter and went to the second floor to find the booth.
While on our way, I couldn't stop myself from asking. "How did you get the bills to pay for this Hikigaya?"
Hikigaya answered. "I stole it."
I was surprised for him to admit it so readily, and Winter didn't even look surprised or alarmed by his statement.
Considering she's part of the military, which upholds justice, I thought she'd be more vocal about this.
As if feeling my gaze, she looked at me and said, "This isn't the first time it happened, while it's morally wrong and definitely illegal, it's very useful for situations like this. Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't like doing this type of act, but it is convenient and necessary."
I was quite surprised by that, not because of the act of stealing but simply because of Winter saying that with a straight face.
It certainly isn't a type of comment she would say, at least her original counterpart wouldn't.
Regardless I could understand where she's coming from, but still.
"I didn't even see you doing the act, when did you steal that cash?"
Hikigaya stopped his movement as we had already arrived at the booth we rented and replied without looking back. "Did you really think I talked to multiple strangers just to ask them for information?"
"Oh." No wonder he voluntarily talked to multiple individuals, especially those who wore nice suits.
It was to steal some cash, I couldn't help but think how fast he was considering I didn't even see him moving his hands.
This was coming from someone who has inhuman senses, and to think he considered himself weak?
No wonder Makoto was calling his excuse bullshit.
Then, as Hikigaya opened the private booth, we got to see the inside, and it was better equipped than I thought.
It's the kind of setup you see in a popular Twitch streamer. The room itself wasn't that big, but the furniture in this room was nice and didn't look cheap.
Neon lights were also lighting the room. Without hesitation, Hikigaya opened the PC, and it showed a brand I don't recognize.
It's not Windows, that's for sure. Even if it did exist in this world, that brand was from centuries ago; in this world, standards are practically ancient.
Hikigaya started doing his magic, he wrote codes that I can't even begin to comprehend, and after typing 1's and 0's for a few minutes, it finally showed a certain website that screamed government classified.
I can't even recognize the IP of the thing, it's completely different from public and private IPs.
This is where 90% of the classified data not available to the public is stored. Only those who are high enough in rank could access this site.
"That took longer than I thought," Hikigaya said.
'That was long for you?' If any hacker from this world hears that they might die out of frustration, to even find this super exclusive IP, they need weeks, if not months, of work to even find its trace.
Let alone gaining access to it through hacking, it might take years. If not decades worth of work.
And Hikigaya casually did it within a quarter of an hour.
What kind of godly hacking skill does he have? I want to know and learn it myself because it's extremely useful.
"I may not be well-versed in hacking, but what you did was something not anyone from this world could do," I said.
Hikigaya shrugged and replied. "Anyone could do it if they knew exactly the right codes. I didn't exactly hack this entire thing in the standard way; rather, I created an engine that could crack this world's government I.P. Don't ask the details, it's very complicated and takes a lot of time to properly explain."
"I wasn't going to ask anyway." I rolled my eyes at his words.
"Anyway, don't bother me for a while. I'm going to start making our IDs with a valid background story." Then, after that, he started typing on the keyboard once more.
Meanwhile, since I have nothing to do, I decided to check what games are available in this world through one of the PCs in the booth.
And to my absolute disgust, all of the top ones are from different top heroes, it's all about Heroes vs Villains type of games.
No, originally, no flair, and most of all boring. I quickly lost interest and decided to chat with Winter.
I sat right next to her, who seemed busy with her scroll, tapping furiously at the screen.
"Anything interesting about that?"
Winter paused her work and shifted her attention back to me in surprise, not expecting me to strike up a conversation with her.
"Is there anything you want?" Instead of answering my question, she asked a different one.
I tilted my head at that and said. "Why would I want something from you? I just wanted to strike up a conversation."
I saw her frown. "Is that truly what you want?"
"Why are you acting like I'm only talking to you because I wanted something? I don't want anything aside from your attention, let me be clear with my intention if you haven't grasped it yet. I want to get to know you as a person, not just as a person who is part of the group." I stated my intention toward her.
Winter lowered the scroll from her hand and looked at me with a weird expression. "Has anyone told you that you're quite straightforward with your approach? It's like I'm meeting Agnes again."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Winter shook her head and showed a slight smile. "Very well, let's get to know each other shall we? You might regret what you find by the end of it."
With a wide smile. "I'll be the judge of that."
—
A/N: Spoiler alert, they're going to U.A., but I believe you guys already knew that.
[email protected]/charlottes143
There's 7 chapters ahead.