Pandora of Fantasy And Reality Chapter 68

Ponsuke Fly Through the Sky

Five dragons were circling the sky.

Just defeating one dragon had needed uncountable efforts from the players.

Now there were five of such dragons. The Selectors could only be dumbfounded when faced with such fact.

Someone said.

「Has anyone contacted the outside? Are they not finished yet!?」

A female player shook her head.

「――Three hours. They said they want us to buy three more hours.」

Putting it simply, there was no need for the players to win against the dragons.

They just needed to stay inside the system.

If the Selectors opposed the system that was trying to remove them  and the staffs supporting them, the information broker’s comrades at the  real world would be able to stop the new reactor.

But, the mission would fail if all the players got completely removed from inside the system.

It was unbearable to consider that the mission would fail after coming this far.

Ponsuke looked up to the sky.

Alfie and Mariela were on each of his shoulder.

『We have come this far――』

Just a single dragon had managed to eliminate a lot of players. Five  of them would drive away the players from inside the system completely,  and it wouldn’t take them that long to do that.

In the middle of such despairing situation, it was Rook who walked forward in order to face it.

His hands were grasping his great sword and handgun. He pulled the trigger toward the dragon at the sky.

Mariela yelled at Rook.

「Wait, if you carelessly provoke them――」

But Rook was unwavering.

Far from that, he hadn’t given up even in this situation.

「It’s all the same. The remaining time is several hours……we have to  fight them no matter what in order to make the mission a success. We can  only do it!」

Usually he always acted flippantly. It was like a part of himself  wasn’t thinking of anything. That was the impression that he gave out.

(Rook……you’re that serious)

One player, and then one more started pointing their weapon or firing magic to the dragons.

Alfie talked to Ponsuke.

「Ponsuke, we too――」

Perhaps he had gotten whipped too many times or the two had  completely put him under their control――Ponsuke had regained complete  control of his body.

There wasn’t any sign that his avatar would move on its own. His five senses were sharpened to the limit.

He slowly grabbed the two gently and placed them on the ground. Then Ponsuke looked up to the sky.

Menu screen appeared around Ponsuke. It could be seen the number 100 going up to 120.

Mariela looked up at Ponsuke.

「Ponsuke, what are you――」

Because the skill got strengthened, Berserk stepped into a new territory.

He could advance further ahead by controlling the state of 100.

But, Berserk’s demerit would become even greater from surpassing the  limit, however it would also have an extraordinary performance.

Level down, thirty percent reduction of status forced on the avatar  for one month……and many other demerits. But even considering all those  things, Ponsuke decided to bet it in this moment.

『I can do it if it’s now. I also won’t be a bother to others.』

He never tested it before because he would go into rampage in his berserk state and bothered everyone around him.

But, thanks to Mariela and Alfie he would be able to go even further――become even more ferocious.

Ponsuke’s body became even bigger, then wings that looked like bat appeared on his back.

His visage wasn’t like an orc. Now he had the appearance like a boss monster.

Alfie and Mariela called out to him.

「Ponsuke, we too――」

「Wait, if you’re alone――」

Ponsuke who had become even more ferocious tried to forcefully subdue  his avatar that had gotten even more difficult to control than before.

『Look at the sky. My opponents are at the sky. Now, fly!』

The wings on his back moved freely as though they had been there from the start.

Ponsuke whirled up. He opened his large mouth and formed a fire ball  there. The large fire ball got compressed, then he created several more  and fired them toward the dragons.

The dragons were hit by the fireballs and fell down.

Ponsuke grappled the dragon that dodged and sank his teeth into it.

The mecha dragon was tore apart by the orc’s tough jaw. It was destroyed at the sky and changed into particles of light.

The players on the ground cheered and gave applause seeing that feat.

But, Alfie and Mariela alone were worrying that Ponsuke had stepped into a domain that must never be entered.

Alfie reached out her hand toward Ponsuke who was fighting at the sky.

「No. Ponsuke, don’t go any further than that!」

Mariela too, she didn’t understand why but her chest was filled with uneasiness. She yelled.

「Come down. Come down here already!」

At the sky, Ponsuke was feeling astonished by his senses that surpassed anything he ever felt before.

He was flying freely in the sky, dodging the beams that the dragons were firing and then he hit them back.

It was like the hard fight before this was just a lie. Ponsuke struck a second dragon to the ground and defeated it.

『Strong. So strong. I can do this!』

The Berserk’s value rose slightly to 125. The remaining dragons were firing their beams at Ponsuke in succession.

He crossed his arms to block them. And Ponsuke really managed to endure the attacks.

His skin was scorched. When his arm fell, the number rose until 130.

His scorched skin regenerated and his arm grew back. Then Ponsuke breathed out flame from his mouth and dyed the sky crimson.

The dragons were swallowed by the flame. They writhed while trying to  dodge. Ponsuke kicked on the ground and flew to the sky――right into the  flame.

The number rose until 150. Inside Ponsuke, Akito was――

『I can do this! I’m going to kill these guys and save the――anyone who get in my way should just die! Die! DIEEEEEEEE!!』

Swallowed by madness. He destroyed the dragons while laughing.

Ponsuke had truly turned into an avatar of violence. He was destroying the dragons that kept appearing one after another.

When the number was over 180, some parts of his red skin started turning into black conspicuously.

His body became bigger. His figure also became sinister. It became difficult to differentiate which side was the enemy now.

『DIE YOU ALLLLLLLLL!!』

Ponsuke destroyed all the dragons and caused a large crack to appear inside the system. Then he howled.

Ponsuke had forgotten his original objective and went wild. He turned his gaze from the dragons toward the players below.

Akito inside Ponsuke grinned.

『These guys……perhaps I should curbstomp them. It’s going to be fun for sure.』

The world’s fate?

Such thing didn’t matter to Ponsuke right now.

Ponsuke who had turned savage was going to swoop down to the ground.  The number was still rising until it reached 248 in the meantime.

『Now, just try to oppose me!』

But, the next moment――Mariela and Alfie entered Ponsuke’s eyes.

『……I, I』

He remembered why he was fighting here.

The two of them were persistently calling out to Ponsuke. They were  also stopping the surrounding players from attacking Ponsuke.

It seemed they had noticed his abnormality.

Rook was also yelling.

『That’s right. I……I want to get along with the two of them……I want to get along with them for real.』

The friendship meter was influencing the two of them because of Selector’s influence.

He wanted to get along with the two of them genuinely, not with such false relationship.

It was fine even if it was a relationship in the virtual world.

He wanted to get along with them in this world as Ponsuke.

When he reached out his hand toward those two, Ponsuke’s body burst and the orc Ponsuke fell to the ground.

The Berserk’s number returned to 0.

Mariela and Alfie caught the falling Ponsuke in their arms.

The surrounding players looked relieved and put down their weapon.

One Selector connected to the outside and heard news. He smiled.

「Everyone, the mission succeeded! Let’s gt out of the system quickly!」

When the players got forcefully ejected out of the system and  returned to Pandora, NPCs that were controlled by the management AI were  floating at the sky there.

The legless machines that looked like robot gave warning to the Selectors.

『All of you have committed a serious breach of law. From here, forced log out shall be――』

The robots surrounded the information broker and the Selectors to  forcefully log them out. Alfie and Mariela who were holding Ponsuke in  their arms looked worried.

But, the information broker made a surrendering pose――he raised both  his hands to show that he wouldn’t resist. He spoke to the two with a  smile.

「Don’t worry. Everything goes as planned……everyone will be able to  return back into the game soon. Well, we won’t be able to login for a  while but be patient okay?」

Ponsuke looked horribly tired.

He couldn’t even reply. His vision suddenly became dark and the  screen with the letters forced logout came out――he woke up in the real  world.

◇

Akito opened his eyes, got up and took off his headset.

It was still dark outside.

But, there was a mail in his phone. It was from Pandora’s management telling him that they would apply legal measure on him.

It seemed that what they did was judged as something really malicious.

「……Did we do the right thing?」

He became worried.

But, the next moment.

『Special news broadcast』

His monitor turned on by itself and there was an announcer reading a news in panic.

『According to the information that just came in, the new reactor that  is created using the technology that the moon provided was found to  have a fatal defect. The multiple Diet members who published the  information provided the data about the new reactor as well as  publishing the secret experiment that the government is carrying out.』

The image switched to several Diet members disclosing data to the mass media from early in the morning.

The data that was exposed there was obtained thanks to the effort of Akito and the pthers.

The female Diet member was giving explanation confidently.

『The new reactor will spread grave damage not only to human body, but  also to the ecosystem on earth. Just as you can see from this data――』

The information that got unveiled one after another immediately provoked reaction from the internet too.

He picked up his smartphone to check the reaction. There he noticed the uncomfortable feeling.

「This is too fast. Because, we succeeded only just now……don’t tell me, this had been prepared from the start?」

Certainly, considering how calm the information broker was, it  wouldn’t be strange that he had finished all the preparations  beforehand.

The Diet members continued――.

『This time, we obtained one more important fact when accessing the new reactor’s system.』

They exposed the Pandora’s plan there.

『The current administration is using VR game to perform human  experiment. This is unforgivable. Fortunately the plan is still in its  infancy and hasn’t managed to affect human body.』

「――Eh?」

Akito was astonished by the Diet member’s explanation.

The mass media was throwing questions one after another.

『Is the current administration trying to use game to brainwash the populace?』

『Yes. When we cross-examined it, the prime minister……was found death  in his residence just now. A will was also found nearby. It seems beyond  doubt that it was the prime minister who wrote it.』

The content was――.

『I had carried out an unforgivable plan. The responsibility lie on me, but this is a necessary thing to do.』

――Something like that.

A part of the letter was blotted up. The opposition Diet member said  that the content couldn’t be published, and it also wasn’t necessary so  that part was removed.

The situation was progressing rapidly.

The comments in the internet were also becoming intense.

One reporter asked a question.

『Then, shouldn’t the game be halted immediately?』

The Diet member smiled.

『We will make it stop operating temporarily, but it will resume operation eventually.』

The reporters didn’t say anything about that statement.

「Why……why isn’t anyone objecting? Normally something like this will get stopped right away.」

The comments in the internet were also mostly praising the opposition Diet member.

.

.

.

The next day, Pandora’s operating company’s executives, managers, and engineers were getting arrested.

The government people were also investigated about their  responsibility. With how big this was becoming, events were moving to  the direction of holding a snap election.

Every day the news was filled with the topic about the new reactor and the game problem.

Pandora’s player base had been swelling up until an outrageous scale.

There were many oppositions to the game being scrapped.

About the moon, there was coverage of the ambassador from there giving various excuses.

The new reactor was being put under a strict control.

It wasn’t activated, but the materials inside it were extremely  dangerous and even though there were talks of moving it somewhere else,  the problem was to where.

The news was broadcasted even internationally every day. It raised the awareness of the danger of VR.

.

.

.

At school.

Akito was sitting on his chair while staring outside the window in a daze.

Things seemed to be heating up in television and internet, but the daily life in the real world was continuing as normal.

The danger of the new reactor was confirmed. Many people talked about  it even inside the classroom when it came to light that it was the  truth, but that was all.

Riku sat down in front of him and muttered with a fed up look.

「Can’t they hurry up to resume service again.」

His friend said that he wanted to login again quickly. Akito couldn’t understand his feeling a little.

「You still want to continue playing a game that dangerous? What about waiting until other title come out?」

Riku looked disbelieving and spoke passionately to Akito.

「Stupid idiot. Even the clearing there is still halfway. Besides, the  clearers would be able to clear the World of Arrogance with just a bit  more time.」

Akito felt that the clearing speed was increasing, then he saw Maya entering the classroom.

Maya also looked toward him.

Maya waved her hand a little at him while he was wondering what to do. Then she headed toward her own seat and sat down.

Riku saw what Maya did and tilted his head.

「What? President is smiling just now. Did something happen between you two?」

Akito couldn’t tell him that Maya was Alfie. He forcefully changed the topic.

「R-rather than that, I wonder when the service will resume. O-one month perhaps?」

Riku joined his hands behind his head.

「Perhaps. The information broker also said that it will take time  because there are a lot of things to take care of, like transfer of  control. Do you know? That guy is going to be Pandora’s director after  this. He really climbed up high huh.」

Information broker――thinking back now, it was mysterious how he had  various connections to the political world, mass media, and other  places.

When he realized it, that man was about to get the top position in the company management while things were in chaos.

Riku looked like he couldn’t wait for the game to resume again.

「It seems that there are a lot of things that have to be checked out,  but after the service resume, apparently the game quality will also  fundamentally improve. I can’t wait.」

Akito thought.

(Can you do that much in just one month? It’s like everything has been prepared beforehand……)

Akito felt that the world was changing drastically amidst his everyday life.

Prev Table of Content Next