Chapter 449: The Plan to Save the World

Chapter 449: Chapter 449: The Plan to Save the World

Chapter 449: The Plan to Save the World

After entering a roadside café, taking their seats, and ordering their drinks, Iwanaga Kotoko continued their previous discussion.

She carefully considered the question Asagiri had raised.

"This really is troublesome."

"Nyx symbolizes death and brings about the end of the world. Both its existence and its power are far too abstract, almost like the evil gods from Cthulhu myths, terrifying in a way ordinary people can barely comprehend."

"And ultimately..."

Iwanaga Kotoko paused.

She picked up the cold drink on the table, took a sip, then continued.

"Players at our level, and even those one tier below us, have already surpassed what ordinary people can understand."

"If we simply describe our strength with words, it will feel distant and unreal to them, like some castle floating in the sky."

"And if they can’t truly comprehend our power, they won’t be able to place all their hope in us."

"Indeed..."

Sakurakawa Rikka rested her cheek against one hand.

A thoughtful light appeared in her calm eyes as she considered the problem.

After several seconds, she looked toward Asagiri, who sat beside Iwanaga Kotoko.

"What if we first reveal the existence of the Death Game to the public?"

"Then we deliberately create several crisis events and resolve them one by one, allowing people to gradually build a clear impression of our strength."

"Would that work?"

"There’s not enough time."

Asagiri shook his head.

"Only twenty five days remain before Nyx invades this world."

"If we want the final battlefield to be the Blackwatch world, we can’t wait until the countdown reaches zero."

"We need to enter at least several days in advance."

"That means we have roughly twenty days."

"If we had six months or a year, your plan might work."

"But we don’t."

"Hmm..."

Iwanaga Kotoko frowned.

Her cute face showed obvious frustration.

After thinking for quite a while, her amethyst eyes suddenly brightened.

A smile appeared on her lips.

"But what if we let the people of this world experience our power directly?"

Sakurakawa Rikka looked puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

"Aren’t we discussing how to achieve exactly that..."

Before Sakurakawa Rikka could finish, Asagiri had already understood.

"NERvGear?"

"Exactly."

Iwanaga Kotoko smiled confidently.

"Ordinary people can’t comprehend our power in the real world."

"But using NERvGear’s full dive virtual reality, we can first give them superhuman abilities themselves."

"Let them personally experience what it feels like to possess strength far beyond ordinary humans."

"Then..."

"Have them fight us inside NERvGear."

"And let them experience the overwhelming difference between their strength and ours firsthand."

"Wouldn’t that give them the sense of reality we’re missing?"

"A massive virtual online game."

Asagiri spoke calmly.

"That was what Kayaba Akihiko originally intended NERvGear to become."

"And it’s probably the only way to let ordinary people understand our strength intuitively within such a short period."

"Once they’ve experienced that difference..."

"We break the dimensional wall."

"We reveal that the bosses they were fighting weren’t artificial characters created by the game."

"We’re real Death Game Players."

"After that, we reveal that Nyx is about to invade this world."

"That should give humanity a concrete reason to place its hope of salvation in us."

"In that case..."

Sakurakawa Rikka had personally used NERvGear for training, so she understood exactly how powerful the brain computer interface was.

Although everything inside it was virtual, if she had not known that beforehand, even with her mental strength, she might have struggled to distinguish the simulation from reality.

More importantly, inside NERvGear, Asagiri and the others could display their full power without worrying about destroying their surroundings.

The real world offered no such luxury.

Their abilities had become far too destructive.

At best, a serious demonstration might destroy several city blocks.

At worst, it could erase an entire city.

If they displayed that kind of power publicly in reality, ordinary people would not see them as heroes carrying the hope of salvation.

They would see them as villainous bosses.

"Then we’ll proceed with this plan."

Asagiri took out his phone and began composing a message to Miwa Ashikaga while speaking.

"Kayaba Akihiko will modify the NERvGear units originally prepared only for Player training and turn them into full dive online game devices."

"He’s already completed the relevant preparations, so the conversion can begin immediately."

"Then we’ll have the Shinomiya Family, Shijo Family, Dai Sakura Bank, and the officials promote it simultaneously."

"Time is tight."

"So the official launch..."

"Let’s set it for the day after tomorrow."

"The leveling speed should be accelerated."

"And there should be no penalty for death when players challenge the bosses based on us."

"We’ll also distribute heavily edited footage of people challenging those bosses."

"That way, even those who never enter the game will still develop a strong impression of our power."

"In short, that’s the general process."

"Everything up until now really is converging here..."

Sakurakawa Rikka looked at Asagiri with a complicated expression.

Kayaba Akihiko’s technology.

The support of multiple powerful factions.

Companions possessing both strength and unwavering resolve.

The research accumulated over many years by the Sakurakawa Family and Laughing Coffin.

And finally, Asagiri’s Supreme Magic Bullet, a conceptual power capable of severing an existence from its very origin.

At this moment, just before the final battle, every necessary condition for eliminating Nyx seemed to have gathered in his hands.

Was this what it meant to be chosen by the World Will?

Was this what people called the Chosen One?

"No..."

Sakurakawa Rikka immediately rejected the thought.

She possessed the ability to observe possible futures.

Precisely because of that, she believed less in fate than almost anyone.

Destiny and the future were nothing more than the inevitable results created by countless choices stacked upon one another.

People were not controlled by fate.

Their decisions created the fate that followed.

"As time passes, that crack keeps growing."

Asagiri looked through the café window toward the sky.

The pitch black fissure, which had been no more than a thin line several days ago, had already expanded several times over.

The endless black crack divided the sky in two.

There was nothing inside it.

No light.

No color.

Only a dead, empty void.

"Whatever we do, we absolutely cannot accelerate Nyx’s invasion."

"We’re already running short on time."

"Understood."

Iwanaga Kotoko nodded.

Then she pursed her lips and murmured,

"If only we had another month."

"And one more opportunity to enter a Dungeon world."

"Then we could contact the people in the Blackwatch world in advance and determine whether they’re willing to cooperate with us."

"Having to negotiate with them during the final battle itself is still far too rushed."

"It doesn’t matter."

Asagiri shrugged.

"If the people of the Blackwatch world still possess the will to resist their predetermined fate, they’ll join forces with us against Nyx."

"If they don’t..."

"If they’re still willing to remain under Nyx’s control, then they were never qualified to stand beside us in the first place."

"Their help would obviously be useful."

"But ultimately, it’s only an advantage."

"We can’t base our victory on whether they cooperate."

"In the end, we’ll have to rely on our own strength."

"Indeed..."

Iwanaga Kotoko nodded.

Then she looked across the table at Sakurakawa Rikka.

A complicated expression appeared on her face.

Several seconds passed before she gave a light snort.

"Hmph. According to our agreement, I’m leaving first."

"Leaving?"

"Yes."

Hearing Asagiri’s question, Iwanaga Kotoko raised a hand and pointed at Sakurakawa Rikka in annoyance.

"I made a deal with this woman."

"If she helped me develop a plan that gave us an advantage in the final battle, then I’d agree not to interfere if she wanted to go on a date with you."

"Whether you agree is your own business."

"I’m simply neither supporting nor opposing it."

Before Asagiri could respond, Sakurakawa Rikka smiled.

"I was only joking."

"You don’t need to take it so seriously."

"Huh?"

Iwanaga Kotoko immediately stared at her.

"Were you deliberately messing with me?"

"What I mean is..."

Sakurakawa Rikka rested her chin against one hand.

Although she was speaking to Iwanaga Kotoko, her eyes remained fixed on Asagiri.

Her voice became softer.

"My feelings for him aren’t fundamentally different from yours."

"Being able to help him is already enough to satisfy me."

"I don’t need anything else."

"Tch."

Iwanaga Kotoko could clearly tell that Sakurakawa Rikka’s feelings for Asagiri were genuine.

Even so, she still gritted her teeth and retorted,

"You can dress it up however you want, but you’re still interested in him physically too, aren’t you!?"

Asagiri could not help laughing.

"I feel like you’re the least qualified person here to say that."

"I’m different."

Iwanaga Kotoko immediately wrapped one arm around Asagiri’s and shamelessly embraced the double standard.

"Physical affection is secondary."

"What matters most to me is the spiritual compatibility between lovers."

"It might not look like it, but this is Platonic love!"

"Then I’m also interested in spiritual compatibility."

A faintly amused smile appeared on Sakurakawa Rikka’s face.

She looked toward Iwanaga Kotoko and spoke calmly.

"Although, if you’re really that reluctant to leave us alone together..."

"I suppose I could also accept your presence while we pursue that spiritual compatibility."

Iwanaga Kotoko’s expression immediately stiffened.

....

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