Full Armament (1)
Only then did Rubymix and Yagui, finally realizing it wasn't a joke, flinch back.
"How—how did you do that?"
Of course they knew.
A sudden disconnection during an attack meant something had happened to the player in the real world.
But the real question was how the little witch had found Taedaecheon in reality.
'The operators don't hand out users' personal info. Not that it's really "personal"—this is the undercoder scene, after all.'
Their heads swirled with doubt, and a long-range transmission came in for the little witch.
-Your Majesty, I've woken him. Shall I kill him?
The codename was 987392.
He was one of Kashan's soldiers covertly embedded in High Gear, acting as a communications relay.
-Don't. Just scare him a little. But when he reconnects, his attitude needs to be different.
-Understood.
The transmission cut off.
'I didn't expect them to use this method.' Woorin, who'd joined the Ascension Guild, put surveillance on High Gear's key figures.
Not because he had some grand scheme—he did it because it was easy.
'For now, though, things are different.'
If he wanted to enjoy the Solar Tournament with Shirone, he still had to stay with the Ascension Guild.
At that moment the door opened and Taedaecheon walked in.
Inside a guild, a disconnected member reappeared at their own Mid Gear start point.
When Rubymix and Yagui stepped aside, Taedaecheon approached the little witch.
His knees bent slowly.
"I was wrong—"
"Ah, it's fine."
Woorin held out his hand.
"Seriously, why did you do that? We were getting along fine—then that awkwardness. Look, I don't bear you any ill will."
Taedaecheon straightened and asked, "What should I do?"
"Just keep doing what you were doing. Don't interfere with my work. Besides, I'm planning to win the Solar Tournament too."
"Understood."
"Speak casually. It's so awkward otherwise, you know?"
"Okay."
Rubymix and Yagui just watched.
'Taedaecheon is the friendliest in Ascension—what on earth happened out there?'
The little witch raised a finger.
Her pressure was stronger than before, and the guild members' upper bodies recoiled.
"Piu."
She said, "Get out."
Those who'd been frozen in place slowly turned and filed out.
The little witch looked up at the ceiling.
"We have to win."
If Shirone asked her to help, she would protect him—even if she had to kill everyone in High Gear.
'No way,' she thought.
She had endured endless ages just to claim Shirone; there was nothing she wouldn't do.
'Even if I had to sell my soul to a demon.'
She snorted, then asked herself in a self-mocking voice.
"Do I even have a soul?"
Democracy — midnight.
-High Gear charging complete.
The Mid Gear door opened.
Shirone blinked his eyes open and found himself staring at the dim interior of the charging station.
It had been only an instant, but he felt as if he'd returned from a long dream.
'An ordinary mind.'
Of course he had no memories.
When he turned his head, the Mafia crew were still nearby, not going anywhere.
Sona came up to him.
"Done? Then let's get moving." Shirone stepped out of the Mid Gear with his selective option on and asked, "Where do we go to get Donatello?"
"Lunar Conception. Also called Moon Island. It's an island out at sea, so you'll need boosters. Equipping the constant-speed driving mode in the selective option will help."
Shirone flipped the option smoothly, and when he stepped out of the station a crowd had gathered.
They'd come after seeing the bulletin.
"Wow! It's really a Mikelan Gun!" A legendary-tier item rarely even seen on video—interest was at a peak.
As always, a reporter appeared.
"I'm HitdaHit, a freelance reporter from the Western Country! As far as I know, you're only level 100—why equip a Mikelan? Wasn't that wasteful?"
The Mafia cut in.
"Tch! Who says? As long as we get our payout, we're fine. We'll upload verification footage—watch."
They were locking things down so Geumhwaryun couldn't later renege, but the reporter didn't care.
What mattered now was Yahweh2's stance.
"Say a few words. All High Gear users are focused on Yahweh2's actions right now."
"Uh—"
As Shirone opened his mouth, the murmurs died away as if by magic.
"I just equipped it without much thought. I planned to use it since I got it from hunting anyway."
The bland reply left the reporter stunned.
"More importantly, I have something to say to the Operator."
"Oh, of course!" The atmosphere surged again, and the reporter double-checked the recording.
"Users watching the news now, it seems Yahweh2 is about to make a shocking announcement."
It was common knowledge that Geumhwaryun and Ascension were involved in Yahweh2's moves.
And for an Eastern Country user to get a Mikelan in a Western hunting ground was startling.
"Say whatever you want. All High Gear users support you. Is this a declaration for the Solar Tournament? Or a personal challenge?"
"When I first came here, I communicated with the Operator. We argued. I said some terrible things."
People whispered.
"He communicated with the Operator?" Their minds spun up stories that slowly took shape.
The reporter trembled with excitement.
'Personal grudge. So he joined Geumhwaryun for revenge! Now that fits.'
Today's biggest scoop was his.
"But as I played, I came to understand the Operator a bit. Why he was so confident, why he was angry with me."
"Huh?"
"Of course there are still principles I can't concede, but I want to correct my misconception. Operator, I'm sorry for back then."
Shirone stared straight at the reporter as if the Operator were standing before him.
"I'm enjoying it. You really… made an incredible world."
People's faces went blank.
"That's all. I'm pressed for time—"
As Shirone left, the Mafia crew fell in behind him, not wanting to lose him. The reporter, stunned a moment longer, regained his composure and closed the segment.
"This is shocking in another way—Yahweh2 apologizing to the Operator. What happened between them? And how will the Operator take Yahweh2's words…?"
Ascension Guild.
-How will the Operator receive Yahweh2's remarks? With Western and Eastern relations tangled, the Solar Tournament approaches.
The Operator sat on the runway.
Her wrist rested on bent knees as she listened to the news; her eyes flashed.
-This is HitdaHit. I'll continue to track and report developments between the two guilds. That concludes today's breaking news.
The light in her eyes dimmed.
After a moment's thought she stood and walked to the end of the runway.
She murmured quietly.
"Shirone."
The person who had inspired the Mikelan Gun.
Her sleek silhouette, like a thin keel cutting the night sky, vanished as if it had evaporated.
A delicate outline floated at the center of the moon.
The western sea.
The Mafia crew flew over the ocean with their rocket engines blazing, silent.
They were conflicted.
'We're going, but what's the chance Donatello will drop? If this keeps happening we'll just be running in circles.' The Mafia came up beside Shirone.
"Let's be clear. We'll check for one day. If it doesn't drop, we contact Geumhwaryun and demand settlement—start with the Mikelan."
"Got it."
Shirone nodded plainly.
They were surprised—he'd agreed so easily that even the Mafia looked puzzled.
"Really? This is being recorded."
"I said I understood."
If they didn't slip up, they could finish in one go.
'It's not perfect RNG.'
If the designer's intent led to the drop, a pattern existed.
'Figure out this world's system.'
In the real world they'd call that enlightenment—after that, people talk about reaching Buddha's level.
'Here you'd be a programmer, though.' In any case, unless it was Havitz-level randomness, Shirone could read it.
"We're almost there."
Even with the constant-speed mode, their power had dropped to seventy percent by the time they reached Moon Island.
"Wow."
But it was beautiful.
"Pretty, right? Even if you're not hunting Maginus, users gather here for fireworks sometimes."
The island ringed a freshwater lake at its center, and a giant moon hung in the sky.
"Lunar Conception."
Hence Moon Island.
"The hunting ground is beneath that lake. If you drop below it, it's cut off from the outside like Ergos' sanctuary, so set your selective option here."
After sorting options they shut off boosters and landed near the lake.
-Start the Maginus event?
Kukukukuku!
The ground trembled and the center of the lake split open, revealing a pit as deep as an abyss.
"What happens if you go inside?"
Sona answered, "You'll find a space made of ice. Maginus freezes the sea to make tunnels it travels through."
Having heard the gist, Shirone shot upward and dove into the pit first.
-The event is starting.
How deep did they fall?
They'd already passed through the island's thickness; it was clearly the deep sea.
"Creature, why do you refuse immortality!"
Suddenly the surroundings brightened—like being trapped inside a diamond.
Beyond the clear walls, marine life swam back and forth.
"Kiaaaah!"
When a massive eel-like machine opened its jaws, shoals of fish-like bodies shot out at high speed.
"Fire! If you miss even once it's over!" While the Mafia rounded up the minnows, Maginus changed direction and smashed through an ice wall.
"Follow it!"
Tons of seawater rushed in but froze almost instantly under the interior cold.
'Ah, so that's how it works.'
Maginus' specialty was spraying cold—freezing the sea and creating ice tunnels to kill users.
'Its striking power is purely physical. But this—'
Rapidly following it through a maze of tunnels like an ant colony was dizzying.
"Be careful. If you leave the route it's just open sea. The pressure will crush you. You have to get into the tunnels."
The effective engagement range with Maginus, which made knot-like tunnels, was no more than two hundred meters.
Behind them the sea surged in and the weakened ice walls kept collapsing; their power began to fall.
"Ah, it's really not hitting!"
Especially for low-level Shirone, his power plunged below thirty percent.
'I don't have time.'
After analyzing Maginus' pattern, he reached one conclusion: this was the last chance.
'Here.'
Maginus, looping the deep sea in a figure-eight, charged toward the tunnel Shirone was in.
'It's going to break through.'
It was trying to sever its own tunnel to shorten the effective distance.
"Move! It'll kill you if it hits!"
The Mafia shouted, but now Shirone had a weapon to fight with.
"The Mikelan Gun."
When the lens in the palm of his hand activated, particles of light compressed at tremendous speed.
'This won't do.' Recalling his sense of reality, Shirone raised his concentration and the sphere of light swelled as if about to explode.
The Mafia crew were dumbstruck.
"W-what the—!"
Shirone levitated a globe of light large enough to cover a person's torso and altered his course.
At the same time, Maginus smashed through an ice wall and charged in.
"Kiyaaaaa!"
"Come!"
Donatello.