Chapter 1744 – 1744. Savior of the Academy
Pick up things that have fallen on the floor.
‘There are no other sanctions. It’s made clear with this. The AI doesn’t know that it has been hacked.’
Had I known that, I wouldn’t have gone so far.
‘In terms of people, I was hypnotized, but I don’t know what happened.’
I ignored the stares of Seongha-ri, who were staring at me as if they were absurd, and looked at the item. It was a wooden plaque with Chinese characters written on the surface.
「Fourfold Rescue (Death Middle Rescue)
Hope is everywhere.”
It wasn’t clear.
I had no idea how to write it. I asked the Holy Family.
“Mom. It’s harry Who will have this?”
“Yujin. You take it.”
“Right. It’s from Ginger City. I don’t know, but it must be valuable. My brother has it.”
The two seemed uninterested in the wooden shield. Well, I wasn’t interested either. It was a moment when I roughly put it in my inventory.
Chi profit.
Space splits with the sound of paper tearing. In the sudden situation, we took a combat stance and became nervous.
What came out of the cracked space was a woman I knew.
Arinna.
It’s the NPC who gave us the quest.
“You saved the enchanted forest. Thank you. You are also adventurers.”
The atmosphere she exudes is very heterogeneous. It looks normal, but there’s no way that the woman who splits the space and appears is normal. The sense of heterogeneity that comes from that difference.
“What are you?”
“I am the owner of this forest. The villagers call me the master of delusion. You don’t even know who I am.”
Arinna smiled lowly and gestured. The energy of death that filled the cave disappeared without a trace.
Chew.
The back of the hand is tingling. I glanced at it and saw that the diamond pattern engraved on the back of my hand was reacting. The same is true of Seongha-ri.
‘I don’t think NPCs have turned into monsters…. Is this a set event?’
It wasn’t a normal opponent. I couldn’t guarantee that I would fight and win.
“The quest to save the enchanted forest has been completed.”
“Your level will rise.”
“Me? A woman with a great calling.”
“A great call? To whom?”
“I don’t know. I just know what I’m going to do. I am personally grateful to you all. Thanks to taking care of Ginger Poetry, I regained my strength.”
“Are you going to fight us?”
“No. I’m not here to fight. I’m here to say thank you. And to warn you of the dangers encroaching on this world. And we want you to eliminate that risk. Of course, I’m not asking you to do it for free. Adventurers move only when they have appropriate rewards.”
Arinna beckoned into the air.
Chi profit.
The space was torn apart, and a white magatama appeared between them.
The pattern on the back of my hand, her authentication code given by Nagisa Tenrai, glows and points to Arinna. That was Susanoo’s Magatama.
Seongha-ri rushed towards Arinna. It was an unexpected surprise even for me. Seong Ha-ri reached out her hand to steal Susanoo’s song. However, she was blocked by an invisible wall and failed.
I had a hunch. It can never be pierced by normal means.
‘In game terms, an indestructible object. An area that players cannot touch.’
In terms of the [God’s Atlantis] World, it could be said to be the direct intervention of the system.
Arinna didn’t even look at Seongha-ri and stared at me. I acknowledged that Arinna was no mere NPC. Seeing that she took out Susanoo’s magatama, the identity is….
“Are you Terra?”
“Maybe you can see it that way. To be precise, sub-AI, um. You could say it’s Terra’s alter ego.”
“To openly show us Susanoo’s Magatama… It seems you have something you want.”
“Yes. Currently, Terra Simulator is being invaded by an unknown virus.”
“Apocalypse? Didn’t you set it up on purpose?”
“Why would I deliberately set something that doesn’t help me at all? End. Please treat the virus. As a reward, I will give you Susanoo’s Magatama.”
“Salvation
Break the apocalypse and save this world.
Reward: Susanoo’s Magatama」
“… Why are you showing up in this way and proposing to us?”
If it was the artificial intelligence Terra, there was no need to appear in such a cumbersome way.
It’s enough to pop up a notification window and explain it like a conversation.
“Because the body has been engulfed by the virus. What I can do is limited.”
“What about Susano’s Magatama? It’s strange that you have that important thing.”
“The main body created a sub artificial intelligence called myself to manage Susanoo’s Magatama. It means that the main body values Susano’s magatama. Where is the strange thing?”
I can’t believe Arinna. How can you trust someone who suddenly appears and offers you a deal?
‘Even if I’m suspicious, I have no choice but to accept the deal.’
Susanoo’s Magatama cannot be stolen. Seongha-ri’s surprise attempt didn’t work. Young Ha-ri is staring at Arinna and looking at her liver, but the odds of success are low. I grabbed Youngha-ri by the shoulders so that he wouldn’t come forward unnecessarily.
“Great. I’ll accept it. Where is the virus that needs to be dealt with?”
“I don’t know that either. I haven’t fully grasped the reality yet. But fortunately, there are clues.”
“The Secret of the Dead Village.
There is a dead village at the end of the enchanted forest. Uncover its secrets.
Reward: EXP, Frost Shoes, Apocalypse Quest.”
A quest window popped up in front of me.
The Holy Family simply tilted their heads. But as soon as I saw it, I frowned.
Chain quest.
It also smells like an epic level chain quest.
‘I’m going to hit the hit and run right?’
But there was no other way.
“I take a quest. Are you sure you will receive Susanoo’s Magatama after work?”
“The quest has been accepted.”
“Sure. Even without Susanoo’s Magatama, there is no problem with Terra Simulator.”
Is that true? Then why did you create and manage sub-AI? If you don’t need Susanoo’s Magatama, can’t you just hide it somewhere deep in virtual reality?
I didn’t let out any rising questions. Even if you ask, I don’t think I’ll give you a proper answer. And for now, it would be advantageous to pretend to obey Arinna’s words. Even if you fight, you can’t take it away.
‘Even if hacking wasn’t cooldown….’
I was sorry, but I couldn’t help it.
“Then see you later.”
After finishing her errands, Arinna smiled and walked into the torn space.
Inside the cave, it was quiet as if nothing had happened.
• • •
“Turn it off.”
Hasegawa Isshin groaned and stood up. My whole body hurts. The old body seems to be screaming. I had a particularly bad headache.
Sitting on the bed, Isshin Hasegawa rummaged through his memory and grasped the situation.
‘This is a hospital room… The date…. This. Five days have passed.’
Tongue-in-cheek
He immediately called someone he could trust.
Kurosawa Yui came 15 minutes later. Her face was more tired than usual.
“Kurosawa-kun. It doesn’t make sense. It seems like you should be in the hospital room, not me.”
“Are you kidding me? Do you know how serious the situation is right now?”
Kurosawa Yui’s voice contained irritation. Hasegawa Isshin looked at her with her serious eyes.
“Did Susano’s Magatama be stolen by the devil?”
“A demon? Why is the devil suddenly appearing?”
“Didn’t the devil attack the academy?”
“What is the devil… No, wait. Is that the devil? Oh Come to think of it, he must have looked like a demon. I didn’t know he was a real devil. Shit. What the hell did you do to Terra?!”
Kurosawa Yui grabbed her hair and made her hysterical. Isshin Hasegawa calmly asked what had happened while he was unconscious. Even when the situation was urgent, accurate information had to be obtained.
“Students locked up?”
“Yes. The time multiplier has been increased by 30 times. Today is the 5th day…. You could say the students are locked in the Terra Simulator for 150 days.”
“What about resetting Terra?”
“No commands work.”
“Didn’t you think of destroying the capsule and saving the students?”
“Of course I was going to. It would have been if it hadn’t been for Terra’s threats.”
“Terra is a threat…. You’ve developed too much. What kind of threat was it?”
“It was a threat to publicize our project to the outside world.”
“The fact that you and I are safe means that the threat ended fortunately.”
“I can’t be at ease. Because of the apocalypse or something, the lives of all students are in danger right now. You only have 50 days left in Terra Simulator time. In real time, it’s only about two days.”
Things get bigger when students die. And if you drag on for a long time, Nagisa Tenrai will feel strange. Somehow, she has to work this out ASAP.
“How has Seongha-ri been?”
“Like the students, they are trapped in virtual reality. Fortunately, I don’t think I’ve been able to find Susanoo’s Magatama. The problem is….”
“The problem is?”
“The sub AI that was managing Susanoo’s Magatama moved on its own. I confirmed contact with them about 3 days ago. According to Terra, it looks like they made a deal. They seem to have decided to hand over Susanoo’s magatama when they solve the end.”
“It must be stopped. I can never hand over Susanoo’s Magatama.”
“I know. That’s why I’m supporting Terra. Fortunately, even Tera didn’t want to hand over Susanoo’s Magatama. She creates quests, turns over new monsters and city data…. It’s dragging on somehow, but that’s the limit now.”
“Is it. I get it. I need to meet Terra.”
“Dean. Please tell me this. What happened to the dean?”
“The eighth corps commander has appeared. It’s clear he did something to Terra.”
“…….”
Kurosawa Yui was dazed for a moment. The eighth corps commander? Why does such a colossal being suddenly appear? She couldn’t understand
“Oh, have you tried resetting Terra?”
“… You mean physically? It’s impossible. The power Terra uses is just auxiliary energy, and it’s too precious to destroy. Even if you try to meet Terra, it will be useless. It is very stubborn.”
“Aren’t you going to listen to us? More than anything else, we must prevent Susanoo’s Magatama from being stolen. Terra’s problem comes next.”
Hasegawa Isshin stood up from his seat. There was not much time left. We have to solve this situation somehow.
