Chapter 163: The Tower of Cyber Brain VS The Judgement of Genesis Part 1

Requiem For Armies.

It was one of the first games to be ever released in VR using the Full Dive technology, but even now it is considered a masterpiece when it comes to FPS genre. It even featured something that was called “Off-line Story Mode”, a short campaign when you assume the role of a nameless soldier and are partnered with Jack, a faceless mercenary who travels all around the world and engages in various conflicts in order to prevent the outbreak of a nuclear war.

When it comes to Jack, he was always wearing a helmet and a mask imitating the Jack-O-Lantern, and his real face was unknown to anyone. Even though his role was support only, he would always say that his face was “way too gruesome to reveal it to anyone”.

Apparently this is the source of the cosplay that I was forced to wear right now.

[Since it covers your face completely, isn’t it just perfect for you?] [But don’t you think it’s way too early for Halloween?]

You say that, but…… Isn’t this thing too elaborate to be a mere cosplay tool? It even has a voice changer function and a part of it can be opened to expose the face that was under the helmet. I feel that it was something meant for something completely different than the purpose I assumed for it.

[When it comes to me, I’m playing the part of a female knight who still protects the castle of her lord, even though said lord is no more. That’s a fairly well-known character that is popular throughout the audience.] [Ah, right, right.] [How should I put it……? You sure are bold, guys.]

Although they were giving us some weird looks, the staff members guided us to the place where our other teammate from Nitro Squad, Natsume-san, was already waiting. She was pacing about the place, clearly nervous from the incoming Exhibition Match.

Certainly, if one was not nervous about having to play against the US team that is one of the strongest in the entire world, one would need to have something wrong with their head.

[You know how it is. The more people watch us, the better your performance, right?] […… Why plural?] [As for me? Well, we’re going into Full Dive either way, right? So does it even matter? It’s not like we’re going to see the crowd.]

Since the audience cannot be transported into the game, I think that there is no point in feeling any kind of tension because of their presence. That being said, the reason why I hide my face is purely role-play related, with no sense of shame or awkwardness towards large crowds.

[If it bothers you so much, why don’t you try this? Try writing “God” kanji on the palm of your hand over and over again, it should relax you in a matter of seconds.] […… Wouldn’t you normally write “human” instead of “god”?] [Fufu, I like that idea. But when my turn comes, I’ll be sure to write “God”.]

Let me guess: you write “God” just so you can eat that word in hopes of becoming stronger? However, will that really be enough to help us win this thing?

[Alright then, time to review our strategy one last time. And Natsume-san? Could you please stop shaking like a god damn Chihuahua? You’re not helping anyone in here, and heck, you’re not even helping yourself.] [Chihua……!?]

I guess that being compared to a small dog dealt a huge blow to Natsume-san’s self-esteem, but let’s omit her reaction.

Meanwhile, Pencilgton operated her rental tablet and opened a browser at the GGC’s official website and then puts the tablet on the table so that we could all see it.

[The game’s system is a win-through system, meaning that if you manage to win your match, you get to fight the next person on the enemy team until you get defeated yourself. So for us to achieve our goal…… is to prolong the matches until time runs out instead of winning or losing.]

It was certainly a system that would allow us to play for time for an hour or two…… Having a three people team, that is. And it must be enough until Katsu manages to get back and save our asses from a total compromitation.

[There’s no way that Sylvia will come as first or second pick…… If they want her to play against Katsu, just like he wanted, they will surely save her for last.]

Yes, the main focus of this operation was not the issue of us being able to win against the macho players, because we can work around that with ease. The problem would be the place from which Silvia Goldberg would start.

Even bigger problem would be if she was on any other position than the last.

「If it comes to that, we’ll have to play it by ear and adjust accordingly. But even if Natsume-chan or I go down…… I’m sure that our Sanraku-kun will be able to pull something close to a miracle out of his sleeve!」

That’s right. If the first in line, Natume-san, manages to win one match and then lose one, then Pencilgton will have to take on the next in line from Star Rain. But if Pencilgton does the same thing, we might end up with not enough time to stall……

And worst case scenario, I will be forced to go against Silvia Goldberg myself.

Honestly, it would be ideal if those two could stall for about an hour and a half, or even two hours. Then, Katsu would surely be able to make it in time. However, no one here was foolish enough to think that things would go so smoothly for us.

That’s because our opponents are Pro Gamers who know their craft well. On the other hand, Katsu was probably the only one on our team who would be on part with them when it comes to skill.

「They say that nothing gets the God to laugh harder than making a plan…… Even so, we’ve gotta do what we’ve gotta do! Let’s put on one heck of show instead of this idiot who can’t be here for now!」