Crossing the World

LVIII - Underworld (Karen)

The Prussian Empire was one of the last bastions of mankind. You see, they were directly adjacent to the forest that separated the Holy Land with the world outside the barrier.

Weak monsters often broke into the barrier, making the forest region here extremely dangerous. Therefore, at least once every two years there will be a large expedition conducted by the military from the Prussian Empire to simply reduce the population of the monsters. In addition, there is also a neutral multinational mercenary organization that moves on demand from both the state, nobles, rich merchants, and from ordinary civilians.

Yes, as long as they had the money, whoever it was, they could hire the services of mercenaries.

I'm sure players will start referring to this organization as the Adventurers Guild or the Hunter Guild not long after the game is inaugurated.

Other than mercenaries, there were actually all sorts of organizations in this world that moved based on money. Examples are murderers, thieves, rats, dealers, human trafficking specialists, and many others. It's just that, since their actions belong to criminality, the groups are moving behind the scenes.

People may question the inability of guardian robots to catch criminals. However, in fact they are not unable, but indeed let it be as it is.

It would be very unfair if Aura were to interfere too much with this world. Therefore, any criminal acts committed by both players and NPCs, as long as they were not seen by the guardian robots, they would survive. Even so, when reporting is submitted by other players and NPCs who happen to see the criminal incident, the guardian robots will conduct an investigation and put a bounty on the head of the perpetrator. Depending on how high the crime rate is, the penalties will be imposed differently when they are arrested.

Yes, a concept like this would be more realistic than directly imposing a sentence once a crime is committed.

This time we were teleported to a forest rim that was usually used for hunting by the mercenaries when they received the request. The grasses here do not grow too high, maybe someone always cut them periodically to facilitate them in hunting. In addition, trees that are not too close together also make us more flexible in moving.

A gust of wind blew on me slowly, carrying a very characteristic smell of leaves and moist soil. The sounds of insects were also heard from all directions, inexplicably bringing about a feeling of peace and fun.

I was amazed at the sight before me. It felt so real that I couldn't believe that this place was just built through a bunch of bits of data.

Different ... The sensation feels different when compared to the virtual world that I used to use at the time of training first. I'm sure Tyraell will be amazed too ...

"... um?"

My daydream was instantly shattered when I noticed Tyraell. He was crouching right in front of a huge black wolf that looked furious. It seemed that the girl was not disturbed at all, even though the large canine teeth appeared not far from her face.

"You .. do you not feel worried in the presence of such an animal?"

Rather than being referred to as a wolf, the animal before us was more suitable to be called a wolf-like monster because it was much larger in stature. Its size alone might be able to rival that of an adult lion. It just looks identical to a wild wolf.

"Worry?" Tyraell turned his face to look at me, ignoring the huge wolf that was still emitting hostility towards him. "Isn't this just a simulation? Even if he attacks, I'll still be fine, right?"

Well, what he said does make sense. Moreover, it seemed that Aura was doing something to the wolf that she was unable to move. You see, the behavior of wolves who just silently stare while putting on a scary facial look feels very unnatural.

Even so, does not fear arise from one's subconscious? How could he suppress his fear of wolves with just the understanding that he would still be fine even if the wolf attacked?

Let's just forget it. I won't prolong this matter anymore because there are indeed too many oddities that the girl before me has shown up until now.

"There are unique things I want to talk about the fundamental difference between monsters and ordinary beasts."

I began my brief explanation to Tyraell, explaining things I thought he should know.

"Ordinary beasts are created through bits of data processed by Aura, an AI that I carry exclusively from my world. However, for monsters themselves, this was a completely different case."

Hearing my words, Tyraell turned his gaze towards me.

"These monsters weren't created, they appeared by themselves. And so does their world. There may be a bug in the program we are running, but even the smartest AI we have cannot detect it. To be honest, a strange phenomenon like this has never happened."

The virtual world created by AI covers only the universe in which we belong. However, the world where those monsters appeared was not a world that existed in this universe. How should I call it? It may be the same as where my planet is and the earth itself. We are not in the same dimension.

The world of monsters has its own dimension. Their appearance can be regulated by the system, but their movement cannot be controlled. Therefore, it is very difficult to predict the direction of the game ahead of him.

To make it easier to understand what the problem is, I explained various basic things about this.

Unlike the monsters that appeared by themselves, every material in this world was created artificially. This affects the authority of the system itself in decision making. For example, Aura can raise or lower the number of people in this world freely. He could also control or even send one's consciousness to the NPCs in this world like what he had done before at the time of sending my consciousness into the body of the Boss Raid and the herding AI people in the past to reach for ancient artifacts through the body of an archaeologist avatar named Aria.

As for the case of the monsters that appeared suddenly, that authority simply did not exist. The system could not force them to submit to any commands, but it could still be handled easily.

"In that case, why can this wolf be forced to not move?" Tyraell asked me.

"Hm ... good question-" to the point that I myself do not know the answer!

[It was a stoppage of time. By freezing a series of systems that organize animation around objects, the object will be confined in a solid air that cannot be moved. Right now, the air around the wolf was the same as a hardened concrete. Of course, the air around the nose and stomach is not included]

Oh, I don't get it. Therefore I said what Aura said for what it was and hoped Tyraell would understand it.

"Is that so? It's quite interesting. Dimensional manipulation is theoretically impossible, but it seems to be possible in simulations."

Eh?! You understand what that means?! And again, what do you mean by that dimensional manipulation?!

I surrendered. It is better that in the future I just let him discuss directly with Aura.

"Well, the next unique thing is here." I raised my hand towards the wolf monster. As if understanding my movements, Aura created a railgun out of nothing like before. "Look good."

I pulled the railgun trigger in my hand and shot the wolf in the head. The aura had unleashed a time freeze that was occurring around the wolf's head, so there shouldn't be any problem for my bullet to pierce through the monster's head. However, instead of penetrating it, the bullet bounced off like it hit an invisible strong wall right before it touched his head.

"Every monster has a strange protector that reacts reflexively so that firearms can't penetrate them."

Tyraell who witnessed it could only fall silent. He probably did not expect that there would be such an absurd thing happening before him.

"To injure them, we need special materials created from their own skeletons. The skeleton also had to be fed with odinium in order to split this strange barrier. Trouble ... "

Aura began to replace the railgun in my right hand with a thin sword that had one sharp side. The blade slightly emitted a faint blue color, signifying that there was some odinium energy contained within it.

"... it's too hard to make it into a bullet. The smallest weapon that can be made with this system is only as big as a regular kitchen knife. The circuit required for the activation of odinium takes up quite a lot of space. Therefore, making a bullet using such a circuit would be a difficult thing."

There was a pause of a few seconds before Tyraell replied to my explanation. Maybe he needs a little time to digest what I just said.

"Odinium?"

Well~ I haven't explained it yet. So, I started explaining what odinium is to Tyraell.

Just like ordinary RPG games, these monsters strangely had blue-colored crystal stones right next to their hearts. These stones are the source that makes them able to bend the laws of physics in the world. Unfortunately, even now Aura was unable to artificially string the rocks together to create what people commonly refer to as a magic wand. Therefore, instead, we created a circuit that is more like a power supply and uses odinium like a battery.

Yes, its properties are similar to DC electric current, so it is not difficult to build electronic equipment through odinium. That is why AI decided to replace electricity in this world with odinium instead of teaching them to mine actual electricity. As a result, only the guardian robots and Deus themselves actually use electricity as their power source.

Tyraell suddenly extended his left hand towards me, asking me to lend him the sword I was holding in my right hand.

Well, since it wouldn't hurt to let her try, I lent her out just like that.

"Are you able to bring up another one like this?"

Hm? I tilted my head a little because I felt weird. I mean, isn't just one sword blade enough? Why hold two?

"I just feel like it would be so much cooler if there was the same pair of swords in my hand."

Without me having to ask, Tyraell raised his childish opinion.

... okay. Since there was nothing to lose, Aura created one more sword and I gave it to her. Now Tyraell grasped each one of the swords in his right and left hand. Then, he stepped back away from the wolf.

"Now untie the wolf's bond."

Eh? Ehh?! What are you saying?!

"No, no, no. You can't possibly do it in one try!"

Hearing my protest, Tyraell even frowned as if astonished.

"Wouldn't the game go like this? If I don't try it, how can we know if someone else can do it or not? Or am I misunderstanding here?"

True, the game is not specific to hunting monsters. However, hunting monsters is still part of the content that can be enjoyed later.

Alright ...

I walked away from the wolves too. However, unlike Tyraell who remained in the presence of the wolf, I walked away from the wolf's line of sight to avoid any misattacks.

Then, Aura ...

[Understand]

A moment after Aura responded to me, the wolf jumped straight ahead, darting very quickly towards Tyraell. His speed is absolutely insane. Even myself would be hard enough to fight something like this. I'm not sure Tyraell will be able to handle it alone. However, since Aura was watching us, Tyraell should still be able to be saved even if he could not handle the wolf attack.

I didn't really see the fleeting events that appeared before me. However, as soon as the wolf pounced towards Tyraell, the girl was suddenly already in a bent position and both of her swords stuck at the neck of the wolf.

Wolf blood began to flow soaking through the surrounding grass, even soaking into the white clothes that Tyraell was wearing. Even so, the wolf was still alive and seemed to struggle to pull out the swords that pierced his neck. Tyraell who noticed that immediately forcibly pulled out the two swords and swung them simultaneously, slashing the neck of the aching wolf with a single slash.

The blade of his sword was indeed so sharp that it did not take too much effort to cut off the neck of a monster. However, seeing him able to defeat a wolf in one try is something that amazes me.

Ah, but .. blood ...

[Now this is only you seeing blood and other disturbing sights. Tyraell's vision was set to remove the parts and overwrite them with a polygon glow]

Ah, then I'm grateful. I guess he'll throw up if he sees this horrible scene in person .... or not? I mean, he can hunt a wolf. It shouldn't be a problem with a scene like this, right?

I forgot, Tyraell doesn't look like a native. He may have come from abroad that legalized animal hunting. This girl probably already had animal hunting experience before. No wonder he can do it well.

"That's amazing. It was like actually cutting an animal."

The girl was suddenly standing near me and stretched out her hand to return the swords she had borrowed. I received the swords and gulped slightly.

Em ... The aura? Can you remove the blood on his body?

[Understand]

He was soaked with blood. Even his face was splashed with so much! I think he acted casually because he didn't realize it, but to be honest the people around him would definitely be disturbed.

Aura, please add the automatic cleaning feature when the players will enter populated areas.

[Understand]

It would be a terrifying sight if they all walked in the city with bodies full of blood like this.

Well, at least in this way, our business here is done. Now just continue some other discussion and adjust the settings again small settings in this world based on Tyraell's request.

...----------------...

Behind a virtual world built from a set of data bits, there is a dimensional passageway connecting it to a region outside the administrator authority. The place was so unfamiliar, it was enveloped by a fiery red sky, and the plains were scorched by the scorching weather.

The creatures that live there - created by a bug - have managed to adapt and survive such extreme weather, but a world worth living in remains their dream. Therefore, when something is stranded in their world and causes dimensional cracks that coincidentally connect it to the virtual world, the creatures begin to attempt to migrate.

Far above the highest mountain range in the world that no one would dare to go, in a dark and slightly damp cave, a snoring sound echoed through the walls of the land. Each gust of wind from inside the cave carried a deep blue powder that emitted a faint beam of light, a sign that high concentrations of odinium powders were diffusing and mixing in the air.

The silent atmosphere that was only accompanied by the snoring was now turning increasingly silent. This coincided with the killing of a wolf some time ago.

An uncomfortable growling sound began to rattle the walls of the cave, making the surrounding dust grains fall to the ground and activating the odinium powder that settles. In an instant, the dark cave passage was now filled with a powerful and dazzling blue color radiance, illuminating a gigantic black shadow that seemed to be lying down.

The hard-looking black feathers and sharp glazed were bathed in blue light. A pair of pointy ears and an inflated tail twitched for a moment, visibly disturbed by the dust floating around it. The creature has four legs overgrown with sharp claws, resembling the shape of a black wolf with a size that matches eight elephants.

A pair of sharp red eyes began to open, reflecting a scene that was in stark contrast to the surroundings. Both eyes seemed to be observing something that was not nearby. His right eyeball saw the shadow of a brown-haired girl while his left eye looked at the corpse of a wolf lying down just like that.

The two eyeballs were not normal eyeballs built using programming language like spies owned by NPCs, but rather a pair of magic eyes that could affect the system itself, tearing apart space and time, then peeking into a very distant place.

The creature again growled, showing its sharp and intimidating canines. He looked angry with something, but then his anger slowly began to fade.

The room was again dimmed as the odinium powder settled on the ground as before, bringing the room back into darkness. Now only a pair of eyes that emit blood red. However, slowly the two eyes also closed again and a light snoring began to sound again. Indicates that the monster has slept as well as before.

...----------------...

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