Chapter 184: Wizard of Wizards (4)
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"Hmm-hmm-hmm~"
"Professor Park? Looks like something good has happened to you? You're even humming?"
"Oh, it's nothing special. Just a simple man's simple happiness. Ha ha ha ha!"
Professor grinned foolishly as he recalled his morning meeting with Dana.
Like waves have crests and troughs, so do emotions.
Of course, it’s impossible to just hold onto someone forever (though if it were possible, he would have no regrets), and after cautiously distancing themselves, they began to unwind their conversation, albeit awkwardly at first.
The first thing Dana mentioned was an apology.
——–
"I'm sorry. From your perspective, a woman you don't remember suddenly appearing and saying, ‘Actually, I was your lover. So please love me.' must have seemed outrageous."
——–
What in the world is there to apologize for? Even at that moment, Professor was internally exclaiming ‘Your grace is immense!' over a hundred times.
——–
"But… I didn't want to hesitate. I'm frail, and I thought someday I'd just be someone's longing… But when I saw you brought in like that, I thought perhaps time wasn't abundant for either of us. This place is a wasteland. So… I couldn't hold back my desire. I'm sorry. In fact, even two months ago, you and I were merely friends who had just met as man and woman, not deeply involved—ugh!"
——–
"Hehe, hehehehehe…"
"Professor Park? I need to check the connection status with GG…. Professor Park?"
"Hehe… It was warm… and soft…. Heh…."
I was the one who couldn't hold back. How could I, when a perfect woman I would never find again in my life was tearing up saying ‘I'm sorry I love you'? It was only natural that my reason would fly beyond the Milky Way.
Our excited breaths mingling, her surprised eyes softly closing.
When she softened and approached me again. When we both realized our mutual desire.
The satisfaction of that moment!
Right before I drowned in a tidal wave of rosy emotions, [the rational Professor Park] didn’t think ‘the researchers outside are monitoring!' Otherwise, I might have just gone through with it. What would have happened? Hmm… Let’s keep it to our imaginations. It's not like we're physically connected anyway. What could happen? It’s all platonic, right?
"Um… The brainwave readings are very unstable. Are you sure you want to proceed with the connection? I must reiterate, if you connect now, you won't be able to exit until you clear at least World 3."
"100% fine, so just put me in already. I want to finish quickly and go out on a date."
If he goes in, he can't exit until he clears. He can come out, but then he'd have to redo the ‘data soul search' that took two months while he was unconscious. Not to mention, every time he’s plugged in and out, there’s a risk that these backed-up memories could be lost.
Blink. Blink. Ding!
The researcher shook his head and manipulated the system here and there, and finally, a light came on in the gray, lifeless icon of GG.
"Can I go in now?"
"Yes. There might be some interference, so I'll leave before you connect. There probably won't be, but… it’s better not to aim for clearing within the next three months. Your current body… the mutated part needs about that much time to regenerate."
"….Before, didn’t you say it would take 43 years?"
"That was how long it would take for the regenerated body to revert back to a human form. Didn’t you hear? ‘The virus levels are decreasing, albeit minutely.' And human proteins have been detected in some of that black tissue. So try to clearly and consistently visualize your body from when you were human, and even if you can come out after clearing, discuss with us before moving around with ‘that' body."
Damn. They should have just said ‘3 months for monster body recovery, 43 years to revert to human’ from the start!
Anyway, it was still good news. At least after three months, he could move, even if in that monstrous form. Whether his mind would remain human or twist into something bizarre of the Variant Type 3 was secondary.
At least he wouldn't have to just suck his thumbs for 43 years. Yeah, that’s something.
After laying out all the precautions, the researcher left, and there on the bizarre communal podium, only the icon of ‘GG' twinkled.
A dark, strange, and expansive space all his own. That guy comes to mind.
"Hyde. Hyde?"
Still no answer from him. It seems he's still pouring all his consciousness into sustaining life in my original body. I don't know how he's doing it, but he seems to be manually manipulating all the involuntary muscles including the brain and internal organs to keep the body alive.
In other words, he's too busy to even talk.
"….It feels like I'm always in debt to him."
Even though he doesn't speak, I could still clearly feel his presence. This must mean that my consciousness and Hyde's are still connected. That means, without saying, he can read my thoughts.
That alone was a great comfort.
Ding-!
[Welcome. Would you like to log into Gedroits' game, Professor P#@!&^er?]
Crunch-
[YES]
[Hero, please save the continent of Gedroits….]
With the familiar yet somewhat strange login message.
Whoosh-!
I found myself logged into the game from a completely different perspective than before.
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Swoosh-
Chirp, chirp, chirp!
The distant feeling disappeared, and sensation gradually returned to my body.
"This feels… somewhat unfamiliar."
The sound of leaves rustling in the wind like ocean waves.
The chirping of unknown grass bugs and birds.
The cold touch of moss wet with morning dew, and the fresh sensation only felt in the forest.
"Is this… the game of Gedroits I knew?"
Everything was vivid. Excessively vivid, unbelievably so. The GG play I had experienced until now was merely ‘play', and this was like a showcase of the real world created by Gedroits.
"….Technically speaking, the difference could be said to lie in the process of the Gedroits server relaying through a satellite, then the signal sent back to the connector and directly felt by the brain as compared to the data soul stored directly on the server."
Professor plucked a clump of wild grass and chewed it. The intense grassy aroma filled his mouth, and the bitterness tormented his tongue.
"Indeed, it's too vivid."
The one flaw that all players lament about the game of Gedroits.
Though the world of GG boasts a splendid array of gourmet experiences, the satisfaction of eating is inevitably less than that of reality.
In the community, it's said that the act of eating is not merely about gustatory stimulation but about a deeper instinctual satisfaction that includes satiety, and thus, no matter how perfect the food recreated in one's mind in the game, it can't match the pleasure of actually eating.
That's why, even though one can enjoy exquisite delicacies in the game, people go crazy over a real can of yellow peach.
The stench of my unwashed body. The dew at my fingertips. The strange energy pervading the surroundings. It was too vivid to be considered just a game.
"Is this what it feels like to be an NPC? There seems to be quite a bit more that's changed."
First, the system window. No matter how much I typed commands, it wouldn't appear. Being connected in a different state than the players, the perks given to players were also gone.
Fortunately, the community and chat rooms embedded in the connector were still functioning normally.
=========
– Jokass: Nachoman.
– HighwayNachoman: Hand.
– Jokass: korekorekorekore.
– korekorekorekore: Hand.
– Jokass: Cholucky.
– Jokass: Not there? How about 朝樂氣多際?
– noru_is_druig: This one seems dead too.
– Jokass: Damn it. It's not ‘dead,' it's ‘missing.' Missing, damn it.
– noru_is_druig: Yes, yes. Cholucky missing. I wrote it down.
– Jokass: ….what ghosts? Noru, don’t let me catch you, you bastard.
– GoldmanSUCKS: Sorry, but may I ask what you are doing right now?
– Jokass: Elder, what brings you here at this hour? Aren't you doing business?
– GoldmanSUCKS: There's nothing to dream about for domestic sales only, turning in the market. Even the market is stabilized by freezing food prices in Dome, so there's not much selling going on. Just give goods and take money, that's it. This isn't even business. So what are you doing?
– Jokass: This? Year-end event. Attendance as well as a funeral and inheritance distribution ceremony.
– GoldmanSUCKS: Attendance? Funeral? Inheritance?
– Jokass: Well, it's kind of like a joint funeral. You know, when the cold wave starts, raiders and scavengers prepare for winter, so they raid a lot. So after that period, around mid-December, we check who survived. Despite what it seems, everyone's at home, typing in black clothes. It's like our chatroom culture.
=========
"Ah, that."
It's already that time of the year.
The annual chatroom event. Every December 15th, personal sealing accounts are linked to chatroom number 47, with the decryption set for the same day next year. If you don't survive until next year—the sealing from the account spills into chatroom 47. If you survive—temporarily disconnect the link to stop the money from going out, and after the funeral is over, link it again, looking forward to next year.
It was a small event started a few years ago by Jokass for those who were alone and without family, to send off the dead, saying even the dead should at least throw something for the funeral costs, but it has now become the year-end event of chatroom 47.
Even those who usually don't show up often would pop their faces in the chatroom on this day. If you don't want all the money collected in the player account to be spit out, you have to hold onto the linked account.
=========
– GoldmanSUCKS: You folks…. really live amusingly.
– takealook: You're included now, old man. Link your money quickly before you can't take it with you when you die.
– noru_is_druig: Yeah, if you want to laugh and enjoy here, you definitely have to do this. Elder, how old are you this year? Isn't it about time? You're not planning to carry all that shillings to the afterlife, are you? It's too heavy, you'll get a hernia on the way, old man.
– GoldmanSUCKS: You're like bandits.
[Professor has joined the chatroom.]
– Jokass: Next, HeungAnMandu.
– HeungAnMandu: Stop, stop!!! Here, I'm here!
– takealook: It's Professor.
– noru_is_druig: Hey, fuck, weren't you dead? You were alive!
– Holli: …They even made a documentary like you were some dead great person of Dome. You were alive?
– Jokass: What have you been doing all this time? Holli said you weren't even at the hospital. Hey, say something!
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"….You bastards. Usually, you rant about dying…."
Ziiiing-
It's kind of touching. I don't even know their faces, but still, to welcome a friend who died and came back to life like this-
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– noru_is_druig: You're filthy rich! I came here expecting Professor Park's hidden BDSM assets to pour out at today's funeral! Did you crawl up from the underworld because you didn't want to give up your money?
– takealook: I'm barely scraping by with my food reserves. Can we count you as dead for now? We'll use it well.
=========
Absolutely ridiculous. Consistently infuriating, damn them. Was it all about my money?
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– Jokass: Just kidding, anyway, I'm glad I can leave your name on this year's attendance list, Professor Park. But why are you so quiet?
– Speedwagon: Currently, Professor Park is seriously injured in many ways, so he's playing GG for treatment. As you'd know if you saw the documentary, he suffered a brain injury making it hard to use the connection system smoothly. Live broadcasting is impossible, and only recorded videos stored in the connector can be uploaded.
– takealook: Thanks as always for the quick info, Dana.
– Speedwagon: ….Who?
– takealook: DOOMGuy uncle told me? He said Professor Park cared a lot about the people here, and if you're an acquaintance, you need to know the current situation, and he went on and even mentioned your name. It was as shocking as finding out Professor Park was down. You're a woman?
– Speedwagon: Oh dear.
– noru_is_druig: Why? Is that surprising? I'm a woman too.
– takealook: Aaaaack! Don't lie! Anything else is fine, but not you! Don't destroy my dreams, my fantasies of women!
– noru_is_druig: Huhuhuhu. Honey, it's better to wake up from dreams quickly~. That way you face reality, meet a woman within your league, and contribute to the advancement of humanity by having plenty of kids.
– takealook: Kyaaaaa!!
– noru_is_druig: Hahahahahaha!
– Jokass: It's really the end times.
– HeungAnMandu: This is madness! I'm out of here!
[Player ‘HeungAnMandu' has left the chatroom!]
=========
"Pfffft, really, they're as crazy as ever."
….I'm glad this exists. Playing in such a realistic world without a real system, it seemed like I might not be able to tell what's real and what's fake.
Watching their banter, I felt the reality that I was still playing GG, not dropped into some strange world. Yeah, let's just say it's a graphic update or something. I'll find out more changes later. For now, I'm in the middle of playing, and need to focus on what I'm doing. Wouldn't want to die stupidly from being distracted.
"Let's see… The last time I logged out was when I arrived in the middle of the Blueline Mountains, at an exiled elf village? They asked me to wait until morning, so I decided to wait?"
Looking around, various members of the party were scattered near the carts, and a magician was soundly asleep tied to a tree. It seems it's still too early for the weary party to get up.
"….Should I make some food?"
Professor started to pull out utensils from the cart, wondering what the top-grade jerky from the Ro Haram Church would taste like.
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Astounding!
The more Idrasil looked, the more curious she became about the strange nature of these humans.
It had been a day since she started observing the humans who had settled in front of the village of Caneran.
Their behavior was utterly bizarre.
The old magician, smelling strongly of damp, seemed to be in heat upon seeing his long-time friend, a spirit.
A man-eating troll had eyes like the Mother Tree, and her abundant eyes emitted a strange scent of death, not unpleasant, which was all the more bizarre.
Just what she saw yesterday was strange enough, but the most concerning person, the hero, as soon as he woke up at dawn, began to ferociously eat raw grass, saying, "Hmm, bitter! Really bitter!" then blankly stared into space, giggling.
"….Narim? Is this normal for humans?"
"I don't know. But if humans naturally behave like this… I think I understand why the Great Mother told us to stay away."
Idrasil, convinced that the human group was mad, slowly backed away.
Crunch!
Somehow, she felt that as long as these people were around, she couldn't stop chewing on tree roots.
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