Rilorid (1)
It was a shock big enough to stop every user fighting in the Sun Battle in their tracks.
"The Operator—"
Shirone's hand, having driven through the solar plexus, protruded from her back.
An unmistakable mortal wound.
"Ugh."
When Shirone pulled his arm free, electricity coursed through the staggering Operator's body.
She gritted her teeth and lifted her head, and the frame of her machine detonated with a pop.
"Dead."
It was the same death effect any user could see, but somehow it looked more dazzling.
Users felt even fear at this unprecedented turn in High Gear history.
What were they supposed to do now?
No one could answer. Then Shirone glanced toward the Eastern forces and shouted.
"All right, move out!"
Like a magnet to his voice, the Eastern users erupted in cheers.
"We took down the Operator! Not invincible! The East's era begins!"
When the Eastern soldiers activated their turbos, the taut front line was pushed back three hundred meters in an instant.
Yolga's son gave a bitter smile.
"Just momentum, literally."
They were so hyped they couldn't wait to fight.
Aegis received a message.
- Should we try to control it? If they press too hard now, there might be delays later.
- Leave it. This can't be controlled anyway.
They'd just put one loss on the strongest High Gear frame.
- Conversely, creating this kind of momentum wouldn't have been possible without Yahweh2. Lure the Eastern forces to the key capture points. If we hold those, it's to our advantage.
- Understood.
Fermi looked back at the little witch.
"You going to keep going?"
A moment ago she'd been driving forward with murderous intent, but now she seemed to have no will to fight.
"Took down the Operator in a duel—that condition's cleared. Does Yahweh2 have anything left?"
"Yes."
Shirone wouldn't stop.
"You know what kind of guy he is."
If his goal had been just to get a result, he wouldn't have left any room for the Operator.
"I won't give up until I'm satisfied. So we have to keep going."
"After-service is thorough. Big company, as expected."
"...The customer is picky, you know."
From the Golden Wheel's perspective, Shirone was a total pain.
"Haha, still want to catch him." Fermi didn't answer that; he fired his boosters and took off.
"Let's make it interesting. The East will win."
As he headed for the Eastern hideout, the little witch turned toward the Sun Palace.
"Hmm."
She wanted to see the Operator's face.
Operators' meeting room.
The Operator's death shocked not only the users but the administrators as well.
"...She lost, didn't she?" Messages that had arrived individually to each admin began popping up in the shared channel.
"Ugh! Jeez. What the—what happened?"
Smile Mark said, "The boards are swamped. Users are posting videos of the Operator's death scene."
When everyone checked the boards, footage poured in like a waterfall.
"Title: Operator Dead! The first board that posted it already has over seven thousand views."
"That shows how shocking it is. Honestly, I didn't expect the Operator to lose either."
Lollipop Mark said, "About that, it's weird that Yahweh2 jumped the code twice at the end. It's like he knew where the second gate was before opening the first."
"Hmm, a guest can't do that."
"No. Only the host would know all gate locations. This is clearly host authority."
Gear Mark said, "The Operator is a host too. Even in a surprise situation, it shouldn't have been unpredictable."
"The logs show a momentary stun. After all, humans are human. The real problem is Yahweh2. His individuality has risen beyond what you'd call mere personality—his senses are off the charts."
Silence filled the room.
"Look at this."
Black Circle Mark opened a window.
"This is Yahweh2's movement right now."
What appeared wasn't images but a torrent of code—so much the more shocking.
"The code—"
As Yahweh2's code changed, the entire codebase was altering in real time.
It had a strange texture, like a convex lens sliding over the screen.
Smile Mark asked, "How's that possible? Can one user arbitrarily change external code?"
"He isn't changing it."
Gear Mark said, "It's not manual manipulation. The code is being redefined automatically to match Yahweh2's changes."
Yo mumbled, "Because it moves with the system, the balance doesn't break—right?"
Lollipop Mark agreed. "Yeah. Yahweh2's stats aren't swinging wildly. It seems like the system as a whole is hitting its limits to compensate for Yahweh2's vibrations."
"Hmm, if it can't be understood logically, then it's fair to say it's completely assimilated. Like resonance—shaking together."
Black Circle Mark said, "So High Gear is safe. It's not an error. But host authority has already been exceeded, and the Operator lost the engagement. Now what do we do?"
Silence lingered, and someone made a thin, anxious sound.
"Where the hell did Number Seven go?"
The Ascension Guild, which holds First Constellation authority, revives in the Sun Palace upon death.
The Mid Gear that had finished its twenty-minute rapid recharge opened, and the Operator slowly opened her eyes.
Everything looked foreign.
She didn't open the comm channel until she reached the Sun Road where Low Gear waited.
'I'm dead.'
Checking the satellite feed, the Eastern forces were charging toward the Sun Palace.
'I'm still okay.'
Tide after tide, they usually edged closer to the Sun Palace bit by bit.
Kneeling politely in front of the Low Gear, the Operator scanned the battlefield.
She could see nothing.
"Ha!"
She threw her torso back, straightened the bent knees, and sprawled flat.
"What do I do?"
She really had died.
Leaving aside whatever promise she'd made to Yahweh2, there was no world left for her to run to.
"This was everything."
Because she'd believed that once she died it was over, High Gear could become real.
But at the same time...
'What's different?'
She was revived and thinking thoughts as usual—everything about her looked intact.
"Haha! Hahahaha!"
It felt ridiculous.
'Yeah, I know. I know, too. There isn't any real world anywhere. I was just... afraid to throw my heart in.'
'Yahweh2.'
Through the satellite feed she watched Yahweh2 fighting a strong Western player.
'Oh? A tiger?'
Third in the Western duel rankings.
A competent pilot in a cobalt-blue frame with gleaming armor and razor claws.
'Not bad. I even invited him to our guild back then...'
Recalling that time, a massive flash from the Mikelan Gun struck the tiger head-on.
'It wasn't quite enough. Looks like the Mikelan Gun's power dropped. Did it keep fighting?' As expected, the tiger—missing one arm—lunged at Yahweh2's back.
'Oh—Air Gat.'
An air round from the Air Gat mounted on Shirone's left arm slammed into the tiger.
'Ignores durability. Excellent choice. But the base damage is fixed at ten.'
Even if struck by the Mikelan Gun, it would take hundreds of rounds to break a single piece of armor.
"Rilorid. The ammo will never run out, right? The motif was... Gaold, wasn't it?"
It had been an intense fight.
Yahweh2 leapt through codes and kept stacking damage on the tiger's armor.
'That was annoying. Of course he wouldn't get hit twice. But of all times, right when I panicked.'
The tiger's frame exploded.
"Really good."
He was an enemy, but Shirone praised him aloud—Yahweh2's skill had leapt forward.
"Nobody can catch that. If it were me, I'd..."
Her voice trailed off.
'I want to do it again.'
She wanted to smell gunpowder and stand among many users in the world of High Gear.
"One win, one loss, then."
Ah, right.
The Operator bolted upright, smiling as she opened the comm channel.
"It was one win, one loss."
- Hey! Why'd you leave comms off? Can't you see the Sun Battle is tipping? What do we do?
- Oh! Boss revived! Don't get down just because you died once! Just win the Sun Battle!
When she opened every gate of the Sun Palace, a rush of sound hit them full-force.
The Operator drew her black blade.
- West front, assemble at the Sun Palace! Lure the East in, then finish them! That'll flip it!
- Okay! Good plan!
Aegis, who'd quickly caught the West's change, messaged Yolga's son.
- They're baiting us. What should we do?
- They'll try to pick off only the rankers. Smart, but it won't be that easy.
- The Golden Wheel hires pros. In terms of rankers' skill alone, the West is superior.
Which is why the West had gambled.
- They're coming out strong after a while. It must mean they think they can take Yahweh2. Match them. Let's go in.
- But if they just agree to—
- After-service.
Aegis nodded immediately.
- Understood.
Watching the Eastern first line head for the Sun Palace, Fermi snorted.
'An adolescent girl's burning heart, huh?'
Anyway.
"There are too many brats." Six hours after the Sun Battle began, renowned rankers pushed into the Sun Palace, leaving the battlefield's users behind.
Skill favored the East, but the West had the home-ground advantage.
- Don't let it turn into a war of attrition. Reinforcements from the West arrive twice as fast as the East. Twenty or forty minutes—if it goes longer, you'll lose on delay tactics.
While Yolga's son and the little witch fought to the death, the Operator charged.
"Yahweh2!"
The Operator—already having cut down thirteen rankers—raised her black blade at Shirone.
'This is the last one.'
By baiting enemies into the Sun Palace, the West had also committed to a do-or-die defense.
"All right, do it—do it."
Where every eye in High Gear watched, Yahweh2 and the Operator collided.
"Guh!"
A headlong physical strike shoved Yahweh2's frame back at terrifying speed.
A shadow that had punched through the wall split in two, then slammed back together at incredible velocity.
"Whoa."
Host level.
A golden flash burst, and a black magnetic sphere deflected and spun it away.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Fist against fist, firearm against firearm, output against output—everything collided.
'This is real.'
They both thought the same thing.
'We can't win.'
After testing everything, both reached the same final conclusion.
"I—"
"You—"
Shirone activated Davinci and thrust his right arm, clad in heavy plating, forward at terrifying speed.
"I lost."
The Operator.
Wind pressure tossed her bangs aside, and a fist smashed through her solar plexus.
"So, Yahweh2?"
Users watching the scoreboard stared hard at her unveiled face for the first time.
"High Gear's fun, isn't it?"
Shirone nodded sincerely.
"Yeah. Really fun."
"Hehe."
Her smiling, eye-crinkled face looked much younger than they'd imagined—
"I knew it."
She looked like an ordinary girl.