16 - CHAPTER XVI "Current Situation Arrangement"

Then ten minutes, fifteen minutes.

Not more than thirty minutes, Helian thought, his face still buried in the pillow.

He turns over with his right hand on the wrinkle-free sheet.

Fortunately, the pillow was not wet.

If it had been, it would have been bad for a man's pride and all that.

It is the role of a tragic heroine to be caught in an unreasonable situation and do nothing but mourn and lament, but it is not my role.

But, wasn't she carried in a princess's arms by Levee on the way back to the castle? I cover my face remembering that I was already treated like a heroine.

The pride of a man may have been crushed to pieces at that point.

......Well, what the heck.

That such a trivial thing started to come into my mind.

I guess it's time to change my mind.

"......Yes."

With a shout, he raises his upper body in reaction to the swinging down of his hands.

My mind was strangely calm.

I had expected it to take a little longer for my mind to change, but strangely, I felt calm.

I almost tilted my head and wondered why, and soon came up with an answer.

"Oh, ......."

I knew I was aware of it. This reality.

I guess somewhere in my mind, after spending a whole day watching all these impossible events, I had started to prepare myself to accept this impossible world.

Or perhaps my instincts forced me to change my mind in order to protect my ego.

Either way, it seems that the human mind is very conveniently made.

The capacity for self-preservation at the very core of an organism is truly great.

In particular, I have learned in a university lecture that the human mind is one of the most excellent among living creatures.

I took a course in clinical psychology just out of curiosity to see if it would be of any use to me, even though it is not my major. .......

"I never thought I'd remember that in another world, you know. ......"

With a sarcastic grimace, Helian held his hands out in front of him.

He moved his palms slightly away from his face and slapped them against his cheeks with all his might.

A dry sound echoed in the room.

......Maybe I was a little too forceful.

But it woke me up.

"-Then think about it."

I've already finished escaping reality.

Then it's time to face reality.

It's time to recognize the reality of this situation, which is impossible in reality.

Raise your head.

Look forward.

Start with what you can do and take concrete action.

Worrying and fretting at this point will not solve the situation.

Then, the first thing you should think about is "

Objective.

Determine a course of action.

"Pursuit of the cause of why this happened ......, no."

It is not.

That's just the process of achieving my goal, and my goal itself is--

"- to return to the real world."

That's right.

I want to go home.

I want to go back to reality.

It's true that I devoted most of my youth to the game [Tactics Chronicle].

I was even listed as a candidate for cripple on some message boards. I suppose that the champions of each world are all the same, to a greater or lesser extent.

But at least Helian himself is not a cripple.

He is not ready to devote his life to a virtual world.

He loved the box garden called [Tactics Chronicle] only as a pastime, as a game.

That's why I want to go back to the real world.

To do so.

I have to find a way to return.

So how do we find them?

So far there are no clues to investigate.

So we come back to the question at the beginning of this article, , and it is a cliche that anyone could come up with, that something in the Abyssal Forest (......) where the Alkimaira appeared might have caused the migration. I can only guess.

"......I should have read more books on the subject if this was going to happen."

Thanks to the renewed boom, I had many chances to see advertisements for other-worldly stories on the Internet and in bookstores, but I would have been playing games if I had time to read them. I only read a few books on otherworldly transfers on a whim.

Helian, who was not so much interested in the subject, only skimmed through the book borrowed from a friend, and his knowledge of the subject was only fragmentary.

Is it the so-called "game brain" or "manga brain" to think that there might have been some hints if he had read more books on otherworldly reincarnation or otherworldly metastasis?

These words have been dead for a long time now, and they are even fossilized words, but things that could only happen in games and comics are actually happening to me. If this is the case, the idea of using games and cartoons as a hint may be worth considering.

However, no regrets.

I have only superficial knowledge about them, so I can't come up with a good idea .......

"......Yes. I don't need to know anything myself. If I don't know something, ask someone who does.

It comes to me.

I'm not the only one (・・・・・・・・).

It occurs to me that there may be other people who have moved to another world.

There must have been such stories in the fictions that raged in the bookstores a long time ago, in which the original transferee was involved in the transference.

I remember that there was a book with such a story, because it was re-released in the wake of the renewed boom and was heavily advertised in recent advertisements (commercials). I wonder if I might be in a position to be involved in such a situation.

"It's a possibility, isn't it ......?"

Helian does not consider himself to be a special person.

In middle and high school, he has never been involved in leadership roles, and if he has, it has only been in a supportive role such as vice chairperson.

She was not involved in any club activities, was a homeroom student, and does not recall receiving any kind of commendation.

In the end, I am not the kind of person who can share the dazzling spotlight in the center of the stage. This has been proven in the eighteen years or so of my life.

So I don't think I am the only one who has transitioned. I don't think so.

Since I have metastasized, it is quite possible that other players have metastasized as well.

Then, one of our short-term goals is to

"Contact with collaborators ...... or people who have been in a similar situation. Yes, search ...... for people who have moved to another world."

If you are not the only otherworldly person, there must be some kind of trace.

There is nothing like that around you, but it is possible that you have been transported to a completely different place. If he or she exists, we should be able to cooperate with each other.

However, if there is no one in the same situation - and I do not want to think that I am the only one in this world - I will have to find a way to return home by myself from scratch.

In that case, I would have to investigate the Abyssal Forest and the phenomenon of transference in this world and search for a way to return home.

But whatever the case may be, we need to know about this world first.

......Good.

We'll work out the details later, but let's set a course of action.

First, our ultimate goal is to .

One of the short-term goals is to search for transplants to the other world.

If no other transferees are found, then we will <.

And as a stepping stone to achieve these goals, .

I think that's about it.

"...... No, one more thing."

Oh, yeah.

Oh, one more thing.

One more thing that we must never forget.

A principle that we must never forget.

That is .

I don't want to die.

I don't want to die in this world.

If I'm going to die, at least I want to die in the real world.

I can't stand the thought of dying alone in a world where I have no family or friends.

"......"

He holds himself with both arms, and his body begins to tremble on its own.

I remember the "death" I have just experienced firsthand.

It was scary.

I was scared from the bottom of my heart.

There is no one who is not afraid.

I was resurrected, but it was unmistakably the feeling of death.

The killing spirit that said, "You're the only one I'm going to take with me.

The fear of actual violence.

A sense of hopelessness that no small human being can resist.

The mace looming before him.

The stench of death in the air.

A head that has burst open as if it were crushed tofu, and brain plasma scattered haphazardly around it.

Above all, the sensation of death, of the life of Helian being devoured.

It was a horrifying sensation.

There are no words to describe it.

Death, experienced in slow motion, was beyond the realm of human language.

I'm not going to go through that again.

Although I did not feel any pain because I was able to die in an instant, it was almost like torture.

I don't want to die again, even if I can come back.

I don't think my spirit can withstand it again and again.

Besides--

"The number of resurrections is finite. ....... If you die five more times, that's the end of it: ......"

In the game [Tactics Chronicle], it is not possible for the game to be over immediately after the death of the king [player]. Although there is a penalty, the king "player" can be resurrected.

That is certainly true.

However, the problem with the death penalty is that if the king dies, all the demons belonging to his army suffer from a status abnormality (bad status) that reduces their stats by two ranks (down). This meant that the king's strength was almost halved. It takes 24 hours for the reduced status to be restored.

Since S is the highest status rank with no exceptions, no matter how powerful the demon is, its status will drop to D rank or lower when the king dies twice. At this point, the king's strength is as good as nothing.

Furthermore, the "life stock" is limited to a maximum of six.

Since he has just died, he has only five left.

If you die five more times, the game is over.

In the game, you could "continue" by paying a large amount of money after your death, but that is no longer possible now that the system site has been disconnected.

--And in [Tactics Chronicle], Game Over means the deletion of the save data.

There is no mercy there, and there are no chargeable items to restore the data.

The company that operates the game, no matter how many complaints they receive, stubbornly keeps up their belief that . Although there are some remedies to prevent the game from being over easily, once the game is over, there is no way to recover from it.

No matter how much you cry or how much you yell, the data deleted due to game over will not be restored.

"So, what will happen to me if I get a game over in this world ......?"

I don't even want to think about it.

What awaits us there is the real "death" for Helian.

"...... There are other conditions for game over."

Broadly speaking, there are three conditions.

(1) If the rebels seize the capital, the revolution is considered successful and the game is over.

(2) If you lose control of all cities, the game is over.

(3) If the "life stock" is used up, the player cannot be revived and the game is over.

These are the three.

In short, the game is over if the "king's (player's) country" is destroyed.

Among them, the most dangerous is <, which is a revolution by a rebel.

Once the king has taken control of the country, game over due to other conditions is unlikely to occur, but no matter how glorious the country may be, it will be destroyed in an instant (game over) if the rebels take control of the capital city.

"There is no way that the ogre's faction will be betrayed ...... anytime soon," he said.

Helian was conscious of the need for good government, even if it made him less efficient.

Thanks to his efforts, the people's loyalty and happiness are quite high.

In particular, he has paid more attention than others to the [loyalty] of the commanders of the army.

The castle is well defended, and it is unlikely that the capital will be completely seized by an ordinary demon rebellion.

At the same time, however, it was also true that he was worried that he would be easily ousted from his throne if he were to be given up as a "king" in this world.

Helian is the king of Alkimaira.

He is the king of the demons who live under the rule of the law of the law of the jungle.

He is the king who leads the army of all demons as the ruler of the world.

On the other hand, however, "Helian the Non-King" is nothing more than an ordinary man.

If the mask of a king is taken off, there remains only a weakest man who is easily beaten to death not only by the leader of the army but also by goblins.

That is why Helian must be king. He must continue to wear the mask of a king in the face of the most famous monsters. Otherwise, if he does not continue to be king of this land of all demons, he will not even be able to live peacefully anymore.

"----,"

--No.

No more thinking about this issue now.

If I keep thinking about it, I'll get stuck.

I'll be too afraid to do anything.

I won't be able to talk to the commander or the demons.

That's not good.

So think about something constructive.

Ask yourself what you should do.

Use your thoughts to walk forward.

There is no time to be discouraged here.

"...... other,things,to,think,about."

Something else must be thought.

Something constructive and not an escape.

Yes, for example.

It's part of the policy that we have just established.

Verification of the capabilities of Helian in this world.

"...... was able to resurrect. Helian was revived in the same way as in the game.

Well then.

What about the other abilities 《things》 that were available in the game?

"What is the difference between [Tactics Chronicle] and this world: ......?　As for the king's (player's) abilities that were available in the game, are they all still available?"

First, the typical virtual windows were usable.

Tactical windows are used for combat support and information reference.

for information sharing and other functions.

Communication (Chat)>.

to use logs, cameras, etc.

At least these are available.

The fact that the virtual window is invisible to others is the same as in [Tactics Chronicle].

Other virtual windows (windows) that are used regularly are the setting (system) virtual windows (windows) to adjust the brightness and sound, and to log out or to call the GM.... ...this is of little use now.

"Virtual window: open".

A virtual window invoked by a verbal operation is projected into the air.

By tapping on the semi-transparent "display" with a finger, information on the location could be retrieved.

Direct manipulation, thought manipulation, verbal manipulation.

The three types of virtual window recall operations seem to function as in the game.

When we tried to view the of the capital city by thought operation, we found that the happiness level had worsened compared to when we checked the information before going out to search. This may be partly due to the influence of the rebellion. .......

"In fact, it was probably worse to some extent at the time before we went out to explore ......"

Indeed, the level of happiness confirmed before the search was almost unchanged before and after the transition.

However, it is not because the level of happiness did not decrease, but because Helian could not grasp the fact that it had decreased as information 《data》, so it was not reflected in the status screen.

Now, however, the latest information 《data》 has been collected through domestic information gathering activities led by the Sixth Corps, and the results are finally reflected in the .

In the game [Tactics Chronicle], only what is "known" can be visualized.

Just as in the real world, players need to actively gather information from news, newspapers, and personal information.

In the real world of modern Japan, a politician sometimes makes a terrible mistake (a poke) that could lose his position and causes a sensation on the TV news as a result of making a decision based on old or false information he was given.

In addition, even if we speak of happiness in a nutshell, there are actually multiple elements that make up happiness - in game terms, various undisclosed numerical information that is subdivided - that exist behind the scenes.

Therefore, it is necessary for the player himself to guess the cause of the increase or decrease of the happiness level. ...... In this case, I will guess that the happiness level decreased due to the citizens' uneasiness caused by the metastasis or a series of rebellions.

It would be possible to find out the cause of the decrease if we conducted a survey of the public or ordered the 6th Corps to gather more detailed information, but there is no need to go that far at this time.

"Even if we find the cause, it's not a problem we can do anything about right now. ......"

Put it off.

Right now, our priority is to understand the current situation.

Next,

"

This was also the case with [Tactics Chronicle].

Information sharing (data sharing) is automatically executed for subordinates who are within a proximity range of ...... fifty meters.

For those within a certain range ...... of one kilometer, information sharing (data sharing) could be performed manually by a Helian. This has been proven by the connection (access) to the vampire tribe belonging to the Sixth Legion during the rebellion.

Normally, only the information at the time of connection is reflected, but as long as the connection is maintained, the information is continuously updated in real time as well as within the proximity range.

The maximum number of simultaneous connections was up to eight, but it will be necessary to verify whether this is still the case at .......

The ability to share information (data sharing) under combat conditions needs to be verified as well.

Although there is a limitation of a maximum of eight units among the subordinates participating in the same battle as the player, it is possible to share information (data sharing) no matter how far away they are from each other. Moreover, the information is continuously updated in real time, just as in the case of the proximity range.

In the battle during the exploration, all the subordinates including covert soldiers were in close proximity to each other, so it is necessary to verify separately whether this capability is usable or not.

There is another capability of information sharing (data sharing) between bases, but it is meaningless in the current situation where there are no bases other than the ...... capital.

"As for and , ...... it worked at least for the moment."

Communication with Balan was possible via text chat.

Instructions to each of the subordinates worked without any problems when they were given immediately after the transition.

Incidentally, the king's desired result may not always be obtained by giving instructions to his subordinates, depending on the NPC's performance, personality, situation, etc, How the NPC executes the instructions and what results will be obtained will vary.

This is still the case today, but we need to be more careful with our instructions.

I once ordered a subordinate whose [Intelligence] status was a little unfortunate to do a reconnaissance mission of an enemy base just to see what would happen. The result was a disaster. It would be unfortunate if the same mistake happens in this world.

"What about ......?"

In [Tactics Chronicle], not only players but also demons can be revived.

However, the nature is quite different from that of the King Player, and there are many restrictions.

First of all, only the nationals of the player's own country or country of belonging can be revived.

For example, if you find a rare demon in the wild, you cannot revive it even if you failed to capture it and killed it. This is because they are not citizens of the country.

Also, only demons whose full name is known to the player can be revived.

This is because the player does not select the target of revival by choosing from a list of candidates, but by typing the name of the target.

If even a single letter is wrong, the player cannot be resuscitated.

Since it is impossible for a human being to memorize the full names of more than tens of thousands of subordinates, naturally, only major subordinates can be revived.

Furthermore, demons that have been dead for more than 24 hours are not eligible for revival.

Even if you remember the full names of a million subordinates, 24 hours can easily pass just by typing their names.

And lastly, there is a limit to the number of revivals.

Each subordinate can be revived no more than twice.

The number of revivals cannot be increased by items or equipment, and the third death results in the loss of the demon's character data, which is a merciless death.

However, the counted number of deaths will be reset to zero after reincarnation, so if a player is reincarnated after two deaths, he/she can be revived twice again. However, since the disadvantage of reincarnation is that the LV (level) returns to 1, it is not a method that should be abused excessively.

Moreover, the ritual of reincarnation could only be performed in a special facility in a neutral country, so it is probably not possible in this world.

"We can't even verify ...... if it can be used, can we? This is also on hold. What else can we do?"

--Goo...

My stomach rumbled.

"........................ ah."

Come to think of it.

I don't remember eating since my transition.

"...... I guess you can still get hungry in a situation like this."

It was all too natural.

It seems that I should take good care of myself first.

I let out a wry smile and rang the yobu bell (magic item) on the side table, which is the only one that can transmit sound outside the room.

Within three seconds, a knock sounded silently and Lieve entered the room.