BA G 04-20 (Patreon)

BA G 04-20

Chapter 4: Giving people Gashats is not as good as giving them development skills.

"Aris is entering the mysterious building! Currently sending a team invitation!"

Alice smiled and waved to the people behind her, eager to start exploring this mysterious factory together. Midori and Yuzu felt relieved as they looked at each other.

"The problem with the Millennium Prize has been solved."

"Now is the time to enjoy the game, right?"

The two hit it off.

"Alice, wait for us~"

The dessert factory building is the factory in the background setting of "Mighty Action X."

In the game mode, players use their bodies which was strengthened by the Game Area to complete various difficult parkour actions, just like a famous game with a Plumber, and make their way to the final boss of the entire game—Count Salty.

"In short, this is the game."

Kuroto Dan explained the game's mechanics dutifully, just like when he faced enemies in the past.

He would first tell them what type of game his Gashat was—he is the president of Genm Corporation! Isn't it his duty to promote his own Game Gashats?

"An action game... I don't have much confidence in my physical strength."

Yuzu was a little worried. She was still wearing slippers, indicating she was an otaku who never exercised. Her physical strength must be poor.

"Parkour? Isn't it too difficult?"

"Naive! Do you think I didn't notice this situation?—This genius has already considered all factors!" Kuroto Dan's voice suddenly rose several degrees. "The unfolded 'Game Area' is a special space dedicated to players enjoying the game! Here, even people without legs can be given two legs to play games! The limitation of physical strength can also be strengthened with items!"

Kuroto Dan pointed to the various Energy Items scattered inside the game area. "Those are the 'Energy Items' that appear randomly in the game. Although these Energy Items were collected because of someone's mess, I added them back myself!"

Alice didn't understand Kuroto Dan's words, but she didn't need to understand much. There was no need to think too much about the game.

Once you get a good game, you just need to know how to play it, just like the three of them exploring the huge factory.

"Yuzu-chan, you've become so big! Is it because of the item you ate just now?"

Midori sighed as she stood on the steel platform of the factory.

Yuzu in front of her was already more than three stories tall, and even the gun in her hand had become as big as a giant train cannon. She looked like a giant about to kick the city gate.

"It seems to be... the effect of the item just now?" Yuzu carefully raised her feet. "Midori has become so small. It feels like the feeling of a giant looking down at the ground that was once simulated in a VR game."

"Bang Bang Ka Bang~ Aris got the rubberization item~"

Alice, on the side, encountered the item called 'Rubberization' and laughed. Then she out her rubber-like arm like a cannonball, sweeping several enemy soldiers walking on the steel bridge of the factory in the distance into the chocolate pot below.

"Aris' attack power has been increased~"

"Items, it's really interesting to see." Midori looked up at the top of her head where the chocolate cube was floating in the air a it ignored the laws of physics. "The Items are made by breaking that brick-like object, right?"

Raising her rifle, Midori fired directly to break the brick and raised her hand to catch the Item that fell out of it.

Energy Item: High speed!

"Oh oh oh oh! My body has become so light!"

Midori felt that the sensation under her feet had changed, as if she were standing on a horizontal conveyor belt at the mall and running in the direction of the conveyor.

The whistling wind swept around, and the speed of running beneath her feet felt like suddenly riding a motorcycle!

After Kuroto Dan finished the tutorial guidance, he disappeared without a trace, leaving Midori and the others to explore this unknown game world.

Without Kuroto Dan who is an outsider that was somewhat familiar but still a stranger, the socially anxious Yuzu gradually spoke more.

"It's hard to imagine that the experience here is a 'game.'"

The giant Yuzu seemed to be able to destroy blocks and Momo in the game. As Yuzu walked forward, the monsters and obstacles in front of her were knocked away one by one.

Surprised by this feeling, Yuzu gradually immersed herself in the game, and her initial timid feelings slowly faded.

"Maybe this is the future of games." Midori followed Yuzu on an aerial railing next to her. With the added bonus of high-speed mobility, she could easily keep up with Yuzu's giant steps. "I used to play virtual reality games and augmented reality games at game conferences. The concept is to immerse players in the game world more. The game cartridge that Mr. Kuroto Dan brought out have realized this concept in a way that goes beyond that."

"However, the rapid improvement of technical capabilities does not mean that the improvement of gameplay is also rapid!" Yuzu said seriously. "Retro games pioneered various game types, and narrative games, that is, RPG-type games, in addition to better picture quality and cooler light effects, the core gameplay is actually not much different from the old games!"

"What can move people is not the stronger picture quality and higher-definition rendering, but the plot throughout the game!"

It seems that the game brought out by Kuroto Dan had shaken her inner persistence in retro games, and Yuzu's voice became more passionate. "That's right! The gaming experience brought by next-generation machines is richer and more realistic, but there are more and more bad games in it!"

"Those developers think that as long as they use the most mainstream game engine, the most detailed textures, cool enough light effects and actions, and models of handsome men and beautiful women as the protagonists, they can create fun games. But the games made with such lofty ideas are often criticized as bad games!"

"Yuzu-chan, what you said makes sense." Midori nodded. "But our 'Tales Saga Chronicles' doesn't have any of the above content, and it also won the title of the worst game of the year."

"Uh uh uh... Midori..."

Yuzu's eyes squinted, turning into a heart-wrenching expression of >_<.

"Real damage, this is real damage!"

"Aris, the boss is found!"

Alice walking in the front suddenly spoke.

Midori and Yuzu looked forward.

A strange creature with a blue body, a top hat, and a scepter in its hand stood in front of a bubbling chocolate pot.

Seeing the three girls approaching, the strange creature waved the scepter in its hand and announced its name loudly.

"Jiejiejie! I am Count Salty! I am the one in charge of the dessert processing factory! Let me use the boiling chocolate syrup to make you all into chocolate figures! Hehehe!"

Midori's face was full of disgust. "Wow... it's 'Jiejiejie'..."

Yuzu turned her head away awkwardly. "It's 'Jiejiejie'..."

Alice was confused. "Hehehe?"

"Ah, that's it. In the comics published by the comics department of Shanhaijing Senior High School before, they used the unimaginable sound of 'hehehe' as the laughter of the villains." Midori simply explained to Alice. "But no one can imagine how to laugh with 'Jiejiejie,' so this thing has become a meme."

"I didn't expect that someone could really laugh out 'Jiejiejie.'" Yuzu held her grenade launcher. "Mr. Kuroto Dan might also be a retro lover?"

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! How dare you ignore me! Even if it's a female strategist, I will never let you off easily!"

Count Salty stomped his feet in anger. "My men! Turn them into chocolate! Jiejiejie!"

As Count Salty finished speaking, a group of orange-headed monsters wearing white aprons and looking like chefs emerged from all over the factory.

At the front, Alice had a serious expression. "The enemy is approaching! But Aris isn't equipped with weapons!"

"Aris-chan, hide behind us!" Midori rushed in front of Alice with a rifle in hand, blocking the monsters that tried to approach. "I need to go to the Engineering Department later to request a weapon for Aris-chan. I've been recommending games to her but I forgot about this!"

"This time, my grenade is key!"

After becoming huge, Yuzu's confidence grew for some reason, and even her tone was higher than usual. Then again, the usual whispers of giant Yuzu could now make people's heads buzz.

Raising her giant grenade launcher, Yuzu pulled the trigger.

The giant gun—no, it should be called a shell now—shot out from the muzzle.

Midori standing in front of her quickly pulled Alice, turned around, and ran without hesitation.

"Run, Aris-chan!"

"What?"

Alice asked curiously, but the next second, a huge grenade fell from the sky, followed by a mushroom cloud rising behind her.

Boom——!

"Wooooo——! My processing plant!"

Even though the people and machines were blown up, Count Salty didn't looked harmed. He just stared at his chocolate blast furnace with heartache. "My most important chocolate!"

"If you value it so much, don't fight here!" Midori complained, but at the same time, she looked at the crater blown out by Yuzu's grenade with lingering fear. "Yuzu's gun is so much more powerful than usual!"

"Sorry, I didn't know it would be so powerful..."

Yuzu was a little panicked, as though she felt she'd done something wrong. She wanted to hide but found that her giant body couldn't hide anywhere.

Finally, she gave up struggling and stood there dejectedly. "I'm sorry, Midori, Sister Aris..."

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm not blaming you," Midori waved her hand. "Better to say, we are in the game now. Yuzu-chan, have you forgotten that we're playing Mighty Action X?"

"That's right!" Yuzu blinked and remembered they were in the game world. "The game world is too realistic... I almost got used to this huge body!"

A loud bang sounded in the sky.

Kami made a brilliant appearance!

A thunderbolt from the sky attracted everyone's attention, and Kuroto Dan, who had been absent for a while, appeared.

He landed from the sky with the posture of a superhero landing, a way he adjusted himself to appear with the administrator's authority just now. It was really cool!

"Is everything okay?..." Midori asked curiously. "Mr. Kuroto Dan, where did you go just now?"

Kuroto Dan waved his hand. "Although interrupting the player's exploration fun isn't what a game developer should do, considering the time, I’ll appear early!"

Yuzu was puzzled. "Huh?"

"Before 'Count Salty' finds the weapon 'Gaschacon Breaker,' any attack will only cause very low damage to him!" Kuroto Dan explained directly, while Count Salty on the side struck a bodybuilding pose to show off his muscles.

"After obtaining the Gaschacon Breaker, you can deal normal damage!"

As Kuroto Dan typed the code, a white hammer appeared in his hand. "Just like this!"

Count Salty immediately changed color. "Don't come over!"

Kuroto Dan casually threw the hammer.

Kuroto Dan caused 9,999,999 points of damage!

Count Salty fell!

"Bang, bang, bang, bang?" Alice blinked. "Kuroto Dan won the battle?"

Midori asked in confusion, "Why did you suddenly make such a spoiler statement, Mr. Kuroto Dan?"

"Because Momoi has arrived at the door of the activity room, and I think that after experiencing the games in my Gashat, you should understand what kind of game development technology you're about to learn."

Kuroto Dan took out his Game Gashat and pressed the button. The surrounding factory scene turned into blurred pixels, revealing the real-world space.

Midori, Yuzu, and Alice didn’t even change their standing positions.

The first to arrive at the door of the activity room without mourning the sudden death of Count Salty, was Momoi, who came to prepare an identity certificate for Alice.

"Everyone, I'm back!"

Momo-chan rushed in from the door excitedly and handed Alice a student card. "Sister Aris, this is for you!"

"Bang, bang, ka bang~" Alice raised the card. "Aris got a strange piece of paper!"

"Uh, this isn't a strange piece of paper. It's the student ID of Millennium Science School."

Momo-chan explained to Alice. "I asked everyone in the Veritas to help add Sister Aris' information to Millennium's student records. From now on, Aris will be a student of Millennium Academy!"

"Oh, oh, oh~ It's really worthy of the Veritas," Midori applauded. "Congratulations, Aris-chan will be a formal student of Millennium from now on!"

"Is it so easy to hack into student records?"

Kuroto Dan complained from the side. "...But it’s also very simple for me."

"Everyone in the Veritas is a super strong hacker," Momoi explained to Kuroto Dan. "With their help, it was possible to register Aris’ name. Otherwise, we’d have to wait until this time next year for enrollment."

"By the way, here’s your spare school uniform," Momoi thoughtfully handed Alice a few more school uniforms. "So you can change into these!"

"Bang, bang, ka bang~ Alice got a new school uniform~"

"Oh, oh, oh! Sister Aris’s speaking manner is much smoother!" Momoi nodded repeatedly. "It must be the game I recommended that worked!"

On the side, Midori and Yuzu exchanged glances. "Aris-chan... is the way she learned to speak a little strange?"

"But it's better than before, right?"

"Can we get away with it like this? It’s not easy for Yuuka to pass it considering Seminar... and the situation is actually quite tense recently..."

Yuzu and Midori’s concerns were not unreasonable, but there was clearly no better way at the moment. Just as the two finished their small, uneasy discussion, Kuroto Dan had already claimed the sofa without hesitation.

"You guys, prepare to start making your own Game Gashats!"

"Huh?"

"Huh, what?" Kuroto Dan frowned in dissatisfaction. "With your qualifications, it's hard to say whether you can make Gashats, not to mention that your Millennium Prize starts in a month. How long are you going to delay?"

Everyone stood up. "——Yes, yes!!"

-------

Chapter 5: Veritas: Kuyashi!!

"The development of a game project is not something you can see at the beginning. This is a mistake that many novices make on this road – they think they can come up with a well-conceived and grand game right away. This idea is wrong!"

Kuroto Dan knocked on the table with the paper tube in his hand. Momo-chan, Midori-chan, and Yuzu were sitting at the small table with pens in their hands, worrying about their notebooks. Alice followed suit, sitting on the side with a pen and a notebook, imitating everyone's actions.

"Well... making games requires inspiration, right?" Momo-chan raised her hand in distress. "I feel that my inspiration is missing, and I need to play games to replenish it!"

"Rejected." Kuroto Dan glanced at her. "From your daily life, I can see that you have played a lot of games, right? Now is the time to make use of past experience!"

"--Kuyashi!"

"I also wrote scripts when developing Tales Saga Chronicles, but this is the first time to do this..." Yuzu twisted her fingers and wrote something on the paper from time to time. "It's been a long time since I wrote by hand... Isn't it more efficient to use a computer?"

"Because what you need now is not 'efficiency,'" Kuroto Dan answered Yuzu's question. "For things like efficiency, this genius has a hundred ways to speed up game development. What you need to do now is to determine the 'direction' of the game!"

Midori-chan raised her head. "Direction?"

"A ship can only go to the right place if it knows its destination. Otherwise, it can only wander aimlessly or stay where it is."

Kuroto Dan gave a simple example to illustrate. "And what you are doing now is the same – you are a group, and now is the time to unify the direction of all of you!"

"-What kind of game do you want to make?"

"Me, me, me!" Momo-chan was the first to raise her hand. "I want to make a strategy RPG game that conquers cute monsters as pets!"

Kuroto Dan pointed at Momoi. "Write it in your notebook!"

"Is this okay?" Midori asked in confusion. "Then I want to make a battle RPG game with a war system. Is that okay?"

Kuroto Dan nodded. "Then write it in your notebook too!"

"I... I still want to make Tales Saga Chronicles better..."

Yuzu appeared to be brooding over this matter. Even though she had accepted the negative reviews of the game she made on the surface, she was still unwilling to recognize this matter in her heart.

Kuroto Dan stood with his hands folded. "A sequel is also an idea; write it down!"

"Aris wants to be a hero!" Alice raised her hand, and on the notebook in front of her was a miniature Alice holding a sword, looking majestic. "I want to get a holy sword with light attributes!"

"A hero-type game? I already have one!" Kuroto Dan pointed the paper tube in his hand at Alice. "That's also one of my IPs! But you can also add it!"

Under Kuroto Dan's urging, Momo-chan and the other four wrote a lot of games they wanted to make. Finally, Kuroto Dan posted these ideas on a whiteboard that he had taken out at some point.

"Now, you have so many ideas." Kuroto Dan tapped the whiteboard. "At this time, how are you going to choose?"

"I want to do them all... I can't choose." Momo-chan's eyes turned into circles. "Well, anyway, just pick one!"

"Wrong!" Kuroto Dan tapped the paper tube. "If it's just normal times, it's okay to pick one at random, but you have restrictions!"

Kuroto Dan tapped the whiteboard. "This is it!"

In the middle of the whiteboard, it was written with the large words "Millennium Prize" and "Award."

"Your restriction is the Millennium Prize!"

"If you want to create a game worthy of the award within a month, which direction is the most likely among these topics?"

Kuroto Dan's words made the people in front of him a little confused. Momo-chan was confused. "But, with your help, can't we just come up with the most powerful game?"

"Yes. But didn't you choose to let me teach you the method?" Kuroto Dan sat down. "There is no regret medicine now."

"What!?" Momo-chan was shocked. "I clearly found the ultimate producer! I thought I could reach the top in one step!"

"You wish, little girl." Kuroto Dan waved his hand. "There is no such thing as getting something for nothing in the world. Instead of that kind of thing, you should think about the questions with the highest success rate here."

"Momo-chan, I think... Kuroto-san is right. This is indeed our own business from the beginning."

Midori turned her head and said to the frustrated Momoi. "If we hadn't found Mr. Kuroto-san, we would have to do this ourselves. I think what Mr. Kuroto-san has to do is to 'guide' and 'cover the bottom line,' right?"

"Indeed, it's really hard to find a way out. If it works, I can help you." Kuroto Dan nodded and generously admitted his plan. "But since I promised you to help make the best game, I will naturally contribute to it."

"Great..."

"But!"

Kuroto Dan's serious words pulled everyone back from the sky. "I require you to make something that meets my passing line! Otherwise, I won't help!"

"——What!?"

"Don't think that you can be lazy and mess up just because you have the backing of the God of Games." Kuroto Dan snorted. "The grace of the gods will only be 'Pity the ascetic who has gone through hardships!'"

"In that case, we can only start working, right?" Yuzu hummed, but suddenly became serious in her words. "I think using Tales Saga Chronicles. As my experience in production with working with it makes it most likely to succeed!"

Momoi looked at Yuzu in surprise. "Yuzu, you suddenly became confident!"

Midori also nodded. "You are much more confident than usual, Yuzu-chan."

"No, no..."

As soon as she was praised, Yuzu suddenly returned to her original state.

Although she was still very shy, her face showed happiness from the bottom of her heart.

Ding ding ding~

Momoi's phone rang, and she picked up her Momoitalk.

It was a call from the Engineering Department she had contacted before: "Momoi? This is Utaha. You mentioned before that a child wanted a new weapon. We've prepared it here. When will you come over?"

"What's the matter? Retro game discs on sale?" Midori looked at her sister.

"It's about Aris' weapons!" Momoi nodded with her hands on her hips. "Alice is different from us. She doesn't have any weapons yet! I contacted the seniors in the Engineering Department, and they said they can prepare weapons for Aris for free!"

"You know a lot of people." Kuroto Dan was curious. "You’re so popular, but no one wants to join the club?"

"Uh-huh!" Momoi was choked. "How come an adult like you hasn't been beaten to death yet?"

"I was already beaten up and died." Kuroto Dan nodded. "You still have things to do now, right? Then go."

Momoi was puzzled. "You won’t let us work overtime?"

"It won’t take long." Kuroto Dan waved his hand indifferently. "I also need to make some preparations. Come back to me after you finish your things."

Yuzu naturally refused to go to the Engineering Department with Midori and Momoi. Although Yuzu knew the seniors in the Engineering Department, she certainly refused all unnecessary outings — being able to tolerate Kuroto Dan staying here was already Yuzu’s highest level of concession!

"Um, Mr. Kuroto Dan..." Yuzu finally asked Kuroto Dan for her occupied laptop. "Can you give me back that laptop? I’ve saved a lot of files on it..."

To be honest, Kuroto Dan doesn’t really need this computer. For him, as long as there’s a network interface, he can get information through it, and the computer isn’t even necessary. However, in some cases, the computer is still useful.

"Then you can take it back." Kuroto Dan waved his hand. "Momoi, are you going to the Engineering Department? Bring me a computer! There must be a lot of scientific products in Millennium Science School, right? Bringing a computer should not be a difficult task."

"The Engineering Department should have quite a few slightly older computers. Is that okay?" Midori asked. "After all, it's a bit embarrassing to ask them for the latest models. Senior Utaha and their work all require calculations."

"Need calculations? That’s perfect, get me one server too." Kuroto Dan’s order was a matter of course. "I plan to get a company server as the update address for the Gashat's data, and you can solve all these things at the same time."

"At the same time?" Yuzu was stunned. "This is not at the level of being at the same time!"

"This is called reasonable allocation of resources." Kuroto Dan didn’t care at all, even proudly puffing out her chest because of her own operation. "That’s how it is in the early stage of starting a business! Be thick-skinned and make use of all resources!"

"Dirty, dirty adults!"

Momoi waved to Alice. "Okay, okay, sister Aris, just come with us to the Engineering Department. We’ve already agreed!"

Alice asked in confusion. "What kind of place is the Engineering Department?"

"Good question! I don’t know how to answer this question!"

Momoi said a little embarrassedly. "But I still know that the seniors in the Engineering Department have been providing weapons maintenance and replacement services for students throughout the school, but their main achievement is still in manufacturing rockets, which is a super project that can fly into space!"

"Oh~ Aris sighed in confusion." Alice’s eyes lit up with little stars.

Although Alice is just a child as innocent as a newborn, it seems that someone has instilled some basic common sense into Alice’s mind. Alice still has no big problem using most of the nouns and items and naturally understands what a rocket is.

"That’s right. If we talk about who can provide weapons for Sister Aris, it can only be the Engineering Club."

Momoi said confidently. "Let’s go, Sister Alice! Let Utaha-senpa pick a suitable weapon for you!"

Momoi and Midori took Alice out of the activity room of the Game Development Department.

The Engineering Department can be said to be a very important department in Millennium Academy.

From the repair and renovation of school buildings to the maintenance and replacement of student weapons, the role played by the Engineering Department can be said to be the backbone.

Therefore, the Engineering Department has always been one of the departments with the most funds. Therefore, the activities of the Engineering Department are on the other side of the school, in a factory with a very large area — that is not comparable to the students of the Game Development Department who are nestled in an activity room the size of half a classroom!

"Mr. Kuroto Dan... what are you doing?"

Yuzu looked at Kuroto Dan on the side.

From just now, his body twitched from time to time. It was not the twitching of a human body, but the kind of twitching that flickered like the frame loss of a picture.

After Momoi, Midori, Alice, the other three left, Kuroto Dan’s eyes began to light up.

Kuroto Dan waved his hand. "Don’t talk, I’m fighting with a group of people."

"Fighting?!"

In the cyberspace that cannot be directly observed, Kuroto Dan’s clone data turned into his own Kamen Rider image, fighting against the various attack programs and virus packages that were overwhelming!

"Hoo! You should have a taste of a Kamen Rider’s power!"

Kuroto Dan swung his sword to cut off an attack program that had transformed into a female student holding a rifle.

At the same time, the Gaschacon Bugvisor (Shooting mode) equipped in his left hand pulled the trigger and fired, shooting the virus data robot that came to support from a distance into a sieve.

"I’ve been fighting with these things since just now! Someone must be attacking me with data!"

"Data attack? Hacker?" Yuzu was confused. "Don’t hackers attack computers? Mr. Kuroto Dan, your body will also be attacked by hackers?"

"Ah... It’s a long story, just think so." Kuroto Dan answered Yuzu’s question here.

The offensive in the cyberspace on the other side became more and more fierce.

...

...

...

"Hare! This strange virus program is so tenacious! I’ve been attacking it for so long and still can’t take it down!"

The red-haired girl, the righteous hacker of the Veritas, Maki, discovered a "network virus program" without any license or label which was nakedly hanging on the Millennium Academy network to steal data during the routine network security inspection today.

Someone has so obviously released a virus that steals data, and it is so brazenly posted on the public network of Millennium Academy? This is simply a provocation!!

How can this be tolerated? Maki can't tolerate it!

"At first, I thought it would be solved quickly, but I didn’t expect it to be dragged on until now..." Maki tearfully begged her good friend Hare. "Please, help me!"

"Is there a virus program that you can’t fix yourself?"

The one who came over with her long white hair tied into a ponytail and holding a Yokai MAX drink was another powerful hacker from the Veritas, Hare.

Her eyes swept across the screen in front of her, and the initial carelessness turned into confusion after a few seconds. "Is this a virus program? So smart??"

------

Chapter 6: Be brave, my friend~ Even if there is no rainbow tomorrow~

"Is this a virus program? It's too smart, isn't it?"

Hare looked at the various attack codes sent by his attack program and destroyed as if they were "intercepted." There were even several code packages of the attack program that were directly tracked and cleaned up by the other side. She couldn't help but frown even deeper.

The members of the Veritas had encountered quite a few hacker attacks. Maki and the other hackers had to patrol the network security of the campus every day. There would always be criminals who wanted to invade the Millennium Academy network, students who wanted to make trouble on the Internet, or maybe it was just that everyone in the Veritas was in a momentary mood and wanted to use hacking technology to get what they wanted...

There would always be various reasons to encounter things that needed to be solved by hacking technology, but every time, everyone in the Veritas could solve it perfectly!

"Kotama, are you free? Come and help me!"

Hare's brain was working hard, and she began to call more attack programs. "Lend me all the attack codes you wrote!"

"What happened Hare? Don't disturb me while I'm collecting intelligence."

Kotama was still watching the news. Recently, other academies had not been very peaceful, and various news reports showed a worrying trend. Kotama was sorting out the information and trying to reach a correct conclusion to analyze the situation.

"It's more important than watching the news!" Maki's eyes turned into circles. "We encountered a very strong virus program on the Millennium Science School website. Hare and I have already put all our attack programs up, but we still can't do anything about it! It's very tricky!"

"Is there such a powerful virus?" Kotama pushed her glasses. "Hasn't the attack program left by Minister Himari been activated?"

"No matter what, the self-esteem of hackers doesn't allow them to use their ultimate moves directly!" Maki also had her own insistence. "I can only use that when there is really no other way!"

Everyone in the Veritas was a hacker, and the Minister Himari mentioned by Kotama was the former minister of their Veritas, Akeboshi Himari.

Claiming to be a super genius sickly hacker which only three people in the history of the millennium were allowed to have the degree of "omniscience"... maybe so?

The hacking skills of the genius were stronger than the three members of the Veritas combined.

The attack program package left behind was also called the "trump card" by the three people.

Using that kind of thing meant that they and others had really encountered a problem that was difficult to solve, and at the same time, Himari would also receive an alarm.

"If we use that, it means we have given up!" Maki muttered in frustration. "If we invite Minister Himari who has already left the Veritas, doesn't that mean that none of us three can do anything about this strange virus?"

"But is there really such a tricky virus?"

Hare no longer looked as relaxed as she did at the beginning.

Hackers didn't have to keep typing like a fool in the movies. Most of them used pre-written programs that attack by themselves, but they just occupied the computing power of the host here.

Under the attack of this "unknown virus," more than two-thirds of the hosts and servers of the entire Veritas were running at full power, the air conditioning system was fully started, and the entire studio was busy.

In cyberspace, Kuroto Dan, the incarnation of a data life form, had transformed into his Kamen Rider LV2 appearance, holding two weapons and continuously outputting damage and facing the increasingly surging enemy troops!

"Why do I feel like I'm facing my own zombie army? Is this playing 20 Minutes Before Dawn?"

Kuroto Dan directly pressed the special move button with the ray gun in his hand, and the burst of ray special moves cleared a large area of data debris in one breath, but more debris surged up, replenishing the space that was previously defeated.

One of the advantages of Kuroto Dan as a data life form was that when in cyberspace, he could look at things happening in cyberspace in a concrete form.

The hostile antivirus software became a visible enemy, and defeating the enemy would block the enemy's attack in the code. Problems that needed to be solved by typing code outside the computer were the same as daily life battles in the eyes of data incarnations!

"It's probably some antivirus software that wants to eliminate the alien in my network."

Kuroto Dan also figured out why he was being attacked.

In the past, there had been no one who could catch up with him in cyberspace. As long as he hid in the network, the antivirus software of the same era couldn't do anything to him.

However, there were computer experts in this world. In this Millennium Science School dominated by technology, not only the Veritas, but also ordinary hacker enthusiasts, had the ability to launch attacks from the Internet.

Especially the Akeboshi Himari, who was known as the "genius sickly beautiful girl," was a one-in-a-million hacker technology expert - the kind that could potentially compete with Kuroto Dan.

So, after the Veritas finally surrendered and used the "super virus countermeasure toolkit" left by Himari, the firepower attack suffered by Kuroto Dan suddenly went up a level!

"Tsk! If it weren't for the fact that God Maximum X couldn't be used, how could Kami be suppressed like this!"

Kuroto Dan shrank behind the wall made of data. He had already thrown his real-world body directly into cyberspace. On the side, Yuzu in the game development department saw Kuroto Dan swooped into the network interface on the wall and disappeared, leaving her alone to look around in panic.

"Mr. Kuroto Dan!? How did he suddenly disappear?!"

Yuzu turned around in the activity room in confusion, but Kuroto Dan had no time to explain.

Faced with more and more data attacks, Kuroto Dan, who could not use the "Billion" that could crush everything, could only use "Mighty Action X" to transform into LV2 form.

He was indeed in crisis for a while!

"Have the opponent's attack frequency and firepower become stronger... Is there any foreign aid?"

Kuroto Dan stretched out his hand and pulled up a light curtain to block the barrage of bullets pouring down. The army composed of data on the opposite side had changed from an ordinary "miscellaneous fish sauce" student army to a regular mechanical army with standard weapons and armored vehicles.

And Kuroto Dan presently was indeed suppressed in a corner and could not move!

"The ability of Mighty Action X armor to deal with such a large group of enemies is indeed still lacking..." Kuroto Dan reached out his hand and used the Bugvisor gun's special move to knock down an advancing armored vehicle. "If only I had the 'Shakariki Sports'... The flywheel weapon would be a piece of cake to deal with this situation."

Kuroto Dan tried to reach out and feel the power of the "God Maximum X" Gashat in his body. But for some reason, this Gashat could not be taken out and used as his Transformation Item.

"The power of Billions cannot be used either. Is there any necessary condition missing?" Kuroto Dan shook his hand irritably. "I originally wanted to destroy all these things and then search along the network line. Without full recovery of strength, I can't even do something well--"

Kuroto Dan snapped his fingers, and his remaining life count lit up on the side.

To be honest, after developing the God Billion, he didn't think he would lose his life. But this idea disappeared after a certain Rider pierced through all his life.

"There are 99 lives left. After the reset, even the remaining life force is reset."

Kuroto Dan closed the panel and inserted the Gashat into the Kimewaza slot beside the side of his belt. "This is actually cheating - but I don't care!"

Kimewaza (Finisher) -!

Mighty Critical Strike! !

All the finisher power in his body gathered at his feet. Kuroto Dan jumped high in the air and aimed at the port in front of him that was reinforced by the wall of data. "I can't do anything to you online, but you are real offline!"

"I'm going to the network cable to hit people offline!!"

------

Chapter 7: I'll be at the door of your activity room soon!

A powerful rider kick pierced through the defense line formed by the data soldiers in front of him, much like a cavalryman on a heavily armored warhorse charging into a group of plain soldiers with a lance.

The power of the Rider Kick was enhanced to the limit.

If idealistic power had supplemented it, the force would likely be so terrifying it would be unimaginable. However, in the world of data, Kuroto Dan used this power to break through the enemy's defense line and rush toward his destination—the gateway port!

"Let me see who gave me such a big gift—"

As Kuroto Dan rushed forward and neared the network interface, the three girls from Veritas showed panic on their faces.

In their eyes, the ‘strange and powerful virus program’ that had finally been suppressed by the super attack package left by Minister Himari, which now seemed to be under siege by various attack programs.

Then, In a way they could not understand, it suddenly broke through the siege of many disinfection programs and locked the IRL location of Veritas!

"Wow! Kotama! What should we do?" Maki panicked, pacing back and forth. "The IP address of Veritas has been discovered! Us hackers failed in her duty!"

"Strange... It should be a virtual address..." Kotama, the girl with glasses, pursed her lips, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Her hands moved quickly. "I’m re-encrypting our IP address!"

Hare standing nearby shouted, "It's too late! An unidentified data stream is attacking our server!"

"Mobilize all the computing power to block it! Maki!"

"The speed of the other side is incredible! We can't stop it!"

A red light lit up in the room of the Veritas, and an alarm rang out.

This was the alarm that would sound when the most important server of Veritas was about to be breached. When this red light came on, it meant that all the network defenses of Veritas were about to fail.

At that moment, there was only one final option left—the most shameful plan.

"Maki! Turn off the power!"

Maki stood up. Above the array host where she was, there was a lever closest to her, covered by a plastic cover with a conspicuous yellow and black logo. Pulling it down would physically cut off the power to all computers, servers, and terminals in the Veritas. After that, the Engineering Department’s mechanism would automatically unplug all network terminals, saving Veritas at the cost of giving up their cloud.

"It's over..."

Without hesitation, Maki pulled the power-off lever.

The surroundings went pitch black, and Maki sat down sadly in the chair.

"Veritas... is lost..."

"I’ve never lost so badly..." Hare’s heart was full of bitterness. The Yokai MAX drink can in her hand crumpled. "Even with the weapons left by Minister Himari, we couldn't defeat it. We were forced to this point..."

"I don’t understand how the program cracked our attack," Kotama said, removing her glasses and rubbing her dry eyes. "If it were before, at least I could understand the structure of the program and its offensive strategies. But this virus program..."

Recalling the random and seemingly selective attack method of the strange virus, a thought popped into Kotama’s mind. "Could it be... artificial intelligence?"

Maki looked up. "Kotama, are you saying the virus that attacked us is intelligent?"

"It’s just a guess," Kotama nodded, speaking seriously. "Its attacks aren't like regular virus attacks; every move it makes is selective. Each time this strange virus attacks, an unrecognizable data stream suddenly appears within our attack program."

"The last time, when the alarm sounded, that unrecognizable data stream suddenly increased dozens of times and broke through our firewall in an incomprehensible way."

Kotama continued, "Maybe it’s some kind of artificial intelligence created by technology that surpasses our Veritas..."

Zi——

A strange sound interrupted Kotama’s reasoning.

What shocked everyone was that the sound came from the server room of Veritas!

"What’s that sound?"

Maki reached out to hug her machine gun, while Hare and Kotama, also tense, pulled out their small pistols.

"Impossible? The network and power have been physically disconnected. Can they still track us?"

Creak.

Tap, tap, tap.

In the activity room which was now without power, a strange sound came from the sealed server room, a place where no one could confirm who was there.

Then, footsteps were heard.

Colder than the air conditioning set to 16 degrees was this ghost-story-like segment that no Millennium student would ever believe in.

"Could it be a ghost?" Maki’s eyes widened. "The server room can’t be used! Let's open fire together! Use incendiary bombs! Use mortars!"

"No, don’t scare yourself!" Hare shouted. "Excellent materialists are not afraid of ghosts in legends! They're all just scary stories!"

Squeak—

The door of the server room was pressed open by a purple hand.

"Ah!!"

As the server room door slowly opened, a pair of huge red eyes emitted a faint red light from the darkness.

"I found you!"

"Aa..." Kuroto Dan looked around, his voice cold. "You’re the ones who greeted me earlier?" He then saw the three girls huddling together, trying to face him. "You’re the ones who made such a big fuss about the antivirus software on the Internet?"

"You’re the one who broke through our network defense just now?" Hare huddled behind Maki, looking at the strange figure in front of her. "What’s your relationship with Kezaritan?"

Gashu~

Kuroto Dan pulled out the Gashat and canceled his transformation. "I don’t know the Kezaritan you mentioned. I was just online collecting information when I was attacked by an unknown network virus, so I followed the clues to find out the cause. Now I’m here to see who did it."

"Yes, it’s us, adult..."

Kuroto Dan looked at the three girls in front of him. "You’re the ones who made me so embarrassed? The last strong network attack almost got me, but fortunately, I was more skilled! I found you through the network!"

"Through the network?" Kotama’s curiosity was piqued. "Can you get into the network cable?"

"Otherwise, how else could I find you?" Kuroto Dan glanced around. "I say, aren't you going to turn the power back on? It's pitch black, and uncomfortable in here!"

Flick!

"If we were dealing with this guy just now..." Maki blinked.

"It’s like a virus ran out of the computer and became a real person?" Kotama punched her hand.

"Ha... I found the answer." Hare sighed. "We—what exactly did we fight against just now...?"

------

Chapter 8: The Power to Insult the World at Will!

Maki, Kotama, and Hare turned the power back on in the activity room, and the lights returned.

After flipping the switch and reconnecting the computer to the network, just as Kuroto Dan had said, the network was restored to normal, and the troublesome virus program vanished like a dream.

If it weren't for the attack program they had set up, the three of them would have truly thought this was a dream in broad daylight.

"Kuroto...san."

Having regained her composure, Kotama took on the responsibility of speaking to Kuroto Dan as the only third-year senior in Veritas. "Was the purpose of coming to the Veritas just to figure out who the opponent is?"

"On the one hand, yes," Kuroto Dan replied, surveying the room.

Upon entering, he realized that although he had breached the Veritas's defenses, their network security was indeed at a fortress level. Even though he was now inside, there were still electronic databases he couldn’t access, heavily blocked to an extreme degree.

"I have to admit, your excellent hacking skills gave me a lot of trouble—but that's because I couldn't use my full strength yet!" Kuroto Dan praised, then quickly added, "If Billions had been useful, I would have destroyed all your attack programs from the front and entered through the front door! I haven’t used my full strength yet!"

"Is this supposed to be praise or an insult?" Maki blinked. "And what are you really here for? To take over Veritas?"

"Ah? What do I need here?" Kuroto Dan looked around. "Though many of the equipment here are impressive..."

"If you need a computer, there are plenty of stores selling them in Millennium," Hare spoke, turning on the computer to check the damage to the server. At the same time, he began searching for information about Kuroto Dan. "Kuroto Dan... you're a strange adult. Neither Millennium nor the General Student Council has any registration for you. How did you enter Kivotos?"

"I don’t even know myself."

Kuroto Dan shrugged. "I didn’t even know where you are. Some kids from the Game Development Department went to a strange ruin to find the 'method to make the ultimate game.' I heard they were looking for me, so I followed them out."

"Wait... ruins?" Kotama's eyes widened. "You said you came out of the ruins?"

"Ah, right?"

Kuroto Dan didn't see the need to hide anything. He was proud of his strength and usually didn’t care. "Do you know Momoi and Midori?"

"More than knowing..." Maki smiled awkwardly. "I’ll have to make them spend a lot to treat us later. After all the twists and turns, it turns out Momo-chan and the others caused all this trouble..."

As Kuroto Dan mentioned, he had come to Veritas just on a whim. When he encountered an opponent who could fight with him online, he became genuinely interested in seeing who it was.

When asked about the last attack, the three hackers from the Veritas looked at each other and spoke the name. "It was the attack data packet left by Minister Himari who left Veritas."

In front of the person who had penetrated their firewall and demolished the special data packet, Hare thought for a moment and still said Himari’s name. "She said that if we encounter a virus we can't handle, use this data packet. It will automatically unpack the virus, and the former minister will also receive a notification."

"So, it’s just the data packet left behind?" Kuroto Dan thought seriously. "In that case, this woman named Himari is more powerful than the three of you combined?"

"Uh-huh!" Maki said awkwardly. "Although that's the truth, it’s a bit sad to hear you say it!"

"Minister Himari is indeed the strongest hacker in Millennium. This is an irrefutable fact."

Kotama nodded. "And she must have received the data packet contact. Maybe she’s secretly watching here with a camera right now."

....

....

....

After visiting the most powerful hacker headquarters in Millennium as the victor, Kuroto Dan took an entire set of computers and digitized them, moving them into his own Game Area. His packing technology was top-notch, which severely shocked the worldview of the girls in front of him.

After Kuroto Dan left Veritas, a hidden camera was turned off.

Just as Hare said, when the data packet left behind was automatically unpacked, Himari had already discovered that Veritas was facing Kuroto Dan.

However, Himari was also curious.

When she observed the internet, she could only see a bunch of data. Kuroto Dan whom she had thought was an artificial intelligence, actually surpassed her understanding. When he approached Veritas, he had a physical body in the real world.

This was an unexpected and extraordinary emergency.

"What an interesting development..."

In the dim room full of monitors, the long-haired girl sitting in a wheelchair showed an interested expression. "Why does an adult without a halo appear in this form? Is it related to the seriously ill adult in the General Student Council? The existence found in the ruins... Momo and the others did find something interesting in the 'ruins.'"

"And this Mr. Kuroto Dan... his senses are indeed sharp."

Himari felt that before leaving, Kuroto Dan had glanced in the direction of the camera she controlled. Fortunately, the camera had been installed by Veritas itself, and she just borrowed it from the outside with a fake IP. With foolproof preparations, Himari was confident that she had not been discovered by Kuroto Dan.

"Is this the calmness that adults have?"

...

...

...

Unable to distinguish whether it was a peep from the outside or internal monitoring, Kuroto Dan didn’t care about such things.

He had just received a high-configuration computer from the Veritas for free. In a good mood, he had collected a lot of information and was planning to start his project to redevelop a new cassette.

"The members of the Game Development Department are all very talented players. There is a high chance they will develop a new Gashat. This could be an opportunity to prove how the Gashats in this world are different from the world I used to live in..."

Kuroto Dan could clearly see that this world where everyone had a halo above their heads, students managed themselves, carrying guns on the street was as common as eating and drinking, and fights broke out over disagreements, was definitely not the world he originally lived in.

Unless this is the paradise of America where even angels carry guns.

"If it's because of the different nature of this world that I can't use Billions..." Kuroto Dan pondered. "God Maximum X is a 'miracle' that can only be activated when I fully understand the essence of the world. Maybe after I understand the 'fundamentals' of this world, I'll be able to use the power of the billion?"

Chapter 9: It's the 100kg Fat-Ass Devil, Yuuka!

Modify reality, create games—just like the world's modifier—knead the 'world' itself like plasticine.

The God Maximum X Gashat is so powerful and invincible that the guy who conquered God Maximum doesn't count!

Go away! There is no natural enemy of Kami here!

Let’s get back to the point. The artifact that can insult the world so much must be the highest level of ‘mystery,’ one that can only be used by those who understand the laws of the entire world and hold it in their hands.

In addition to Kuroto Dan's genius mind, the 'dark genius' who is almost like a demon, what’s more important is—

If we use the world view of FGO as an analogy, Kuroto Dan is the 'person who touches the root,' and the root of this world—the dark genius—has not yet touched it. Moreover, in other places, there are also people who hope to 'touch the root' and complete their own ‘mystery’ in Kivotos.

"It seems that we have to find a way to understand the laws of this world. In this case, it may be necessary to carry out activities in the name of the company..."

Kuroto Dan ignored the gazes of other students in the school and walked on his own, thinking, "So, maybe the Millennium Prize is also a good opportunity for me to increase my popularity. If the Game Development Department can win first place, the establishment of Genm Corp will go more smoothly!"

Opening Genm Corporation worldwide is an idea engraved in Kuroto Dan's instinct. Even as the world changes, as the president—or rather, the "shrimp dumpling"—Kuroto Dan still remembers his original intention!

"Suspicious person ahead, please stop!"

Just as Kuroto Dan was distracted, a serious voice came from behind.

"Hmm?"

Kuroto Dan turned his head to see a purple-haired girl behind him, holding a submachine gun, facing him nervously. "Who are you? Why did you appear in Millennium?"

"Who are you?" Kuroto Dan asked.

The girl in front of him looked a little nervous, but she wasn’t panicked by his attitude. "I am Hayase Yuuka from the Millennium School Seminar. I need you to explain!"

Hayase Yuuka had been busy with some matters recently. The Sensei who came from outside to support suffered serious injuries in Abydos. Now, he could only hang on to life, but his vital signs were still declining.

Originally, the teacher was supposed to activate the "Shittim Chest," helping Kivotos solve some current troubles.

But now, with his condition deteriorating, the entire General Student Council had just started to improve fell into an unbearable situation again.

Because of this, the talents from various academies who had gathered under sensei's leadership had dispersed, and the joint forces became empty talk.

Yuuka returned to school because of this, and on her way back to Seminar, she encountered this strange adult.

In such a tense situation, how could Yuuka not be vigilant when encountering a suspicious person in Millennium?

Raising her gun and pointing it at Kuroto Dan, Yuuka asked sternly, "Tell me your name! Unknown visitors to Millennium need to register their information. Who are you?"

"I am Kuroto Dan! I don’t know how I got here!"

Kuroto Dan answered straightforwardly.

For him, it wasn’t something that needed to be concealed. But in Yuuka's eyes, this raised even more questions. "How long have you been in Millennium Academy?"

"I just came here yesterday." Kuroto Dan moved his neck. "There’s no need to hold the gun all the time, girl. I didn’t do anything bad."

"It’s hard to believe..." This was Yuuka's first time facing such situation. A strange adult had appeared in the school at such a troubled time, which naturally made her more alert.

"The last question, where have you been from yesterday to today?"

Yuuka’s eyes were fixed on him. Even though she had only met the teacher a few times in Kivotos, both of them were mysterious adults. Yet, Yuuka could immediately tell the difference between Kuroto Dan and Sensei.

Sensei in SCHALE gave Yuuka the impression of gentleness—someone who could give patience and kindness to all students.

Kuroto Dan on the other hand, didn’t seem like a teacher at all.

He resembled the chairman of the Kaiser Corporation, arrogant and domineering. He was full of confidence in his words and actions. His eyes were calculating as he looked around, like a dirty adult who put interests at both ends of the scale.

He gave Yuuka a very bad first impression.

"Where have you been these two days?"

"In the Game Development Department."

Kuroto Dan answered honestly. "Several students in the game development department have a passion for making the best game. I’m optimistic about their potential in game production, so I plan to use my technical skills to help realize their dreams. What? Is there any problem?"

"The problem is huge!"

Yuuka scratched her hair irritably and sighed. "Are Momoi and the others under pressure to come up with all kinds of tricks?"

"Let’s not even talk about whether they can catch up with the Millennium Prize within the development cycle. Given the current situation, it’s hard to say if the Millennium Prize can even be held..."

"And they actually brought outsiders into the school without the consent of Seminar. This is a serious offense!"

Yuuka couldn’t remember how many times she had sighed today. She really wanted to play a Rubik’s Cube to calm herself, but when she thought of all the problems she had to deal with, she could only suppress the idea.

"You said the Millennium Prize can’t be held, what do you mean?"

Kuroto Dan suddenly came closer. He had been thinking about what level of game he could come up with to beat others and win the Millennium Grand Prize. But when he heard Yuuka say that the Millennium Grand Prize couldn’t be held, he approached her immediately.

"It means... literally."

Yuuka explained, "The original joint force plan proposed by the GSC was to ease the friction between the districts and concentrate the power of the elites of each district to solve the problem. But now, the whereabouts of the president of the General Student Council are unknown, and the Sensei who could manipulate the Shittim Chest is seriously injured and unconscious. So, this plan has failed."

"What does this have to do with the Millennium Prize?" Kuroto Dan asked in confusion. "They have nothing to do with each other, right?"

"Because the original joint force plan to ease relations was cancelled, the prestige of the General Student Council has declined. There might be conflicts between the districts in the future. Millennium will likely enter a stage of four-way melee and territorial expansion."

Yuuka’s eyes were filled with concern. "Sitting next to the two largest school districts of Kivotos, Trinity and Gehenna, Millennium will probably strengthen defenses and improve firepower. The Millennium Prize is time-consuming and labor-intensive, so it will surely be rejected by the president of Seminar. It’s a competition that only serves entertainment and relaxation."

"I know Momoi and the others want to keep the game development department, but..." Yuuka looked in the direction of the game development department activity room.

"If war breaks out, their entertainment clubs, which contribute nothing, will definitely be eliminated first."

-----------

10 Speak out loudly about the conspiracy!

"Nothing! How can games be nothing?"

Facing Yuuka's lofty remarks, Kuroto Dan sneered. "Since the birth of mankind, 'games' have existed with humans, and even animals have games that are naturally inherited. It can be said that games have existed for as long as humans have developed wisdom. Games are such a great existence that even though they have evolved into the modern era, they have only changed their skin and flesh."

Yuuka was so angry that she wanted to stamp her feet. She had never seen an adult who spoke so much nonsense. "You are talking about great principles. The forces of Gehenna is coming. Games alone can't stop them!"

Kuroto Dan crossed his arms and snorted. "What if they are blocked? Nothing has happened yet!"

"You...! This is called taking precautions before it happens!"

Yuuka was so angry that her teeth itched. "In short, you entered Millennium without permission. You should be expelled! And the game development department let outsiders into the school without permission! Although I don't want to punish them, all their club activity funds will be deducted!"

It was really a vent. There were already many trivial matters, and the situation had changed drastically. Yuuka didn't want to think too much at this time. She raised her hand at Kuroto Dan and pointed to the direction of the school gate. "Now, please leave Millennium quietly! I still won't do anything!"

"Young girls nowadays are really more difficult than each other..."

Kuroto Dan shook his head. "I still have to wait for Momoi and the others to finish their work and help them develop new game Gashats. Don't think that my plan to transform the game development department into my game company will fail!"

Yuuka complained loudly. "The conspiracy is out! Is it really okay to expose your conspiracy so bluntly?"

"This is a legitimate exchange of rewards!" Kuroto Dan retorted unceremoniously. "Since they let me help develop their game, they must pay me an equal reward! Letting the god of games help them and not let them work for me for a lifetime to pay off their debts is a super discount, right?"

"What! You're so shameless!"

Yuuka stared at Kuroto Dan in front of her angrily, and Kuroto Dan stared back like a child.

The two of them were in a stalemate for several minutes.

Seeing that the students around them had already started to walk around, Yuuka finally spoke again. "...So, you won't listen to advice, right?"

"I stick to my judgment." Kuroto Dan crossed his arms and stood in a godly posture. He was actually ready to take out his belt and Gashat at the first opportunity.

"Then... don't blame me for being rude."

Faced with this unreasonable adult, Yuuka finally made up her mind to use physical means to directly eliminate the interference options in front of her. "I'm going to use force on you—"

"--Please wait a moment, Yuuka-san."

Just as Yuuka was about to load the bullet and pull the bolt, her headphones were suddenly invaded by someone, and then a voice that was not very familiar, but whose voice she would remember when she heard it, rang out.

"Himari, what's the matter with you at this time?"

Yuuka obviously didn't expect that there would be incoming calls at this time, and it was even from the head of the Paranormal Investigation Department, who was usually elusive. "I'm dealing with an intruder in the school right now. Let's talk later if you have anything."

"I'm talking about the 'intruder' in front of you, Yuuka."

The nearby cameras are Himari's eyes. There is no corner in the whole school that this genius hacker, a sickly beautiful girl, can't see. Under the surveillance array covering the school, everything that happens on campus is known clearly, and naturally, they can also see the two people who are confronting each other in the school courtyard.

"Okay, Himari, what do you want to say?"

Yuuka paused her arm that was about to raise the gun.

In the headset, Himari's voice chuckled. "I'll vouch for Kuroto Dan and let him move freely on campus, okay?"

"You want to vouch for him?" Yuuka frowned in confusion. "Is he someone you brought?"

"Yes and no." Himari explained simply. "This Mr. Kuroto Dan was indeed brought by Momoi and Midori, but you can't guess where they brought him from."

"If Himari said that, then he must not be an outsider on campus."

Being an outstanding member of Seminar, Yuuka could understand the meaning of Himari's words with just a simple improvement. She tilted the muzzle of the gun to the ground and asked with her head tilted. "Just tell me the answer, Himari. I'm not in the mood to guess riddles, and I can't imagine that President Rio would keep a man in private."

Silence.

A silence of more than five seconds.

Then, there was a shocking laugh from the other end of the communicator.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha"

Himari choked on her own saliva and wiped away the tears from her laughter. "Rio-chan keeping a man... haha~ I can laugh at this joke for a whole year—although the answer is not this, this answer scores very high in my heart."

"I'd better announce the correct answer—"

Himari no longer kept it a secret and directly said the answer. "The adult Kuroto Dan was brought out of the 'ruins' by Momoi and Midori."

"Huh?! They even went to the ruins secretly?!" Yuuka's eyes were full of astonishment. "Where did the two sisters get the information about the 'ruins'? Did you tell them?"

"It was just a little help." Himari covered her mouth and chuckled. "Even I am curious about what will be in the ruins, so in order to satisfy my curiosity, I revealed this news to everyone in the Game Development Department. Unexpectedly, they would bring back an 'adult'."

'Actually, there is also a cute child, but I won't talk about this.' Himari thought to herself.

"Strictly speaking, the 'ruins' also belong to Millennium. So Mr. Kuroto Dan, in a sense, is also the 'property' of Millennium Science School." Himari cleverly changed the concept for Yuuka. "If you count it this way, this gentleman is actually a native of Millennium, right?"

"Is that so?" Yuuka was confused by this statement. "Because he came out of the ruins, and the ruins belong to Millennium, so this gentleman is also a Millennium person?"

"Yes! That's it~" Himari nodded repeatedly. "So how can you expel a member of Millennium?"

"It seems true?"

A little confused by Himari's wordplay, Yuuka just believed Himari's words in a daze and put away her gun.

Kuroto Dan in front of her was about to take out the cassette and drive, thinking that this battle had to be fought, but the girl on the opposite side put down her gun herself?

"Mr. Kuroto Dan, someone has guaranteed you. Seminar will allow you to move freely in Millennium Science School."

"Is that all?" Kuroto Dan was stunned for a moment. "Your school relationship is quite chaotic?"

Although she got the explanation, Yuuka was still a little worried. After putting down her weapon and hanging it back on her body, Yuuka spoke to the unreliable adult in front of her. "Although someone has guaranteed you, I still have to go to the Game Development Department with you to clarify some things."

Yuuka said seriously. "It's strange that an adult like you came from an unknown place. Momoi and others will also be punished for entering the ruins without permission. We also have to announce the possibility that the Millennium Prize will not be held, so that they... can be mentally prepared."

"You don't have to worry about this matter." Kuroto Dan raised his head, with a confident smile. "With me, nothing is impossible!"

------

Chapter 11 Overcoming Difficulties! Game Development Department!

"Hey! Kuroto-san! We have equipped Aris with weapons! -- Guga?! Yu, Yuuka-san!?"

Momoi pushed the door open happily, and before she could finish her words of good news, she choked on her words

Because in the activity room, besides Yuzu sitting there sweating profusely, and Kuroto Dan sitting there but didn't care, there was the lifelong enemy of their game development department – the great devil Yuuka of Seminar!

"Are you not happy to see me as a guest?" Yuuka held a teacup, knelt on the cushion, and looked at Momoi, Midori, and Alice, who came in from the door.

"No, you're not here to urge us to disband, are you? Isn't the Millennium Prize coming yet?" Momo-chan's eyes turned into white circles. "We have found new members! So we have already met half of your request!"

"Huh~? New members?"

Yuuka narrowed her eyes in disbelief. "No one has applied to join the game development department for a long time, and suddenly, there are new people joining at this time?"

"That's because we didn't recruit new members!" Momo-chan said stubbornly. "As long as we explain it carefully, there will still be people who recognize our club... ah, haha..."

Yuuka narrowed her eyes slightly, revealing a scrutinizing expression. "In this case, I'll confirm it a little bit, there's no problem, right?"

"Confirm?" Momo-chan trembled. "Confirm what?"

"According to the rules set by the student union, students who are forced to join the club are not counted in the club's membership. You know this, right?"

Yuuka's eyes swept over Momoi and Midori in front of her, and the two sisters couldn't help but show a frightened expression. "How, how is it possible! Sister Aris voluntarily joined our club!"

"Let me judge that kind of thing myself." Yuuka put on a smile and waved to Alice gently. "Aris-chan, come and sit here? Don't worry, I'll be very gentle~"

"It's just like a tiger choosing its prey..."

Kuroto Dan nodded. What he got in return was a glare from Yuuka. "Mr. Kuroto Dan?"

Kuroto Dan raised his hands decisively in surrender. "I didn't say anything."

"It's the big devil..."

Maybe because Momoi had instilled some strange concepts into Alice, Alice appeared to be very afraid of Yuuka and even called her the 'big devil,' which made Yuuka who was meeting her for the first time very confused. "What big devil? – Momoi, is it you!"

After scolding Momoi a little, Yuuka finally turned to face Alice, who was trembling like a frightened little animal. She looked at Alice's face and said, "It's really strange. I should have the contact information of all the cute children from Millennium. There's no reason why I wouldn't notice Aris' cuteness?"

"Because Aris is a serious homebody. She stays in her dorm every day to study programming software, so she doesn't often appear in front of everyone..."

Alice recited the self-introduction that Momo-chan and Midori-chan taught her to handle the inspection in a serious manner. Momo-chan had already expected that Yuuka would ask questions about Alice's identity!

Yuuka crossed her arms and said, "Then, what is Aris' job in the club?"

"Light attribute tank profession..."

"Huh?"

"Oh no! It's a programmer! Programmer!"

Alice almost let it slip, but fortunately, Yuzu kept winking at her and quietly raised the tablet with the keywords written on it, which made Alice stop and change back to the correct script.

"Hmph~ Is that so? It seems that Aris-chan is still very capable." Yuuka found the registration information of a student named 'Tendo Alice' in her electronic student book, so she believed Alice's words without any doubt.

After all, there are really many weird students in Millennium.

Just the attributes of gloomy homegirls are numerous in the clubs that write codes next door.

Seeing that Yuuka's interrogation was finally over, Momo-chan and Midori-chan couldn't help but high-five and cheer. "Great, the club can stay!"

"Our efforts have not been in vain!"

"As long as we keep moving forward, the road of the game development department will continue to extend!"

The two sisters cheered and hugged Alice, but Yuuka was obviously confused. "You... did you forget something?"

"Of course we know, the Millennium Prize, right?"

At this point, Momo-chan put her hands on her hips and said very confidently, "This time we are sure to win the award!"

"Yes, speaking of this, I finally got to the point I want to talk about."

Yuuka's face put on a dangerous smile, like the smile of a great devil. "Momo-san, Midori-san, you two—— sneaked into the 'ruins,' right?"

"Were we found out?" Momo-chan was horrified, and Midori-chan beside her quickly reminded her, "Sister! You just admitted it! What if it was a fraud!"

"No fraud. I already know that this Mr. Kuroto Dan is the adult you brought out of the ruins."

Yuuka's words made Momo-chan and the others look stunned.

They knew that Kuroto Dan was brought out of the ruins, but she didn't recognize Alice, who was also brought out of the ruins.

Yuuka continued, "However, because someone is willing to help you guarantee Mr. Kuroto Dan, we will put this matter aside for the time being and not discuss it."

"Don't scare me..."

"My little heart is beating..."

"But!" Yuuka said seriously. "The Millennium Prize may not be held. You must be mentally prepared to be abolished."

The atmosphere froze.

Yuzu, Momoi, and Midori were shocked.

Kuroto Dan was calm and composed.

Alice was confused.

"Why, why, why, why!" Momo-chan almost jumped up in anxiety. "Just to abolish the game development department, is it necessary to directly stop the entire Millennium Prize? Devil! Demon! Inhuman!"

"No, how can the affairs of a game development department stop the Millennium Prize!"

Yuuka explained the whole story. "...So, under the impetus of the general trend, the Millennium Prizes may not be held, and the student union is more likely to directly lay off some entertainment clubs that have no contribution. The possibility of you being directly laid off is quite high."

Pah.

Momo-chan lost her strength and knelt on the ground. Behind her, a song of appear to to ring out. "No——!"

"But, it's just a possibility, right?" Midori-chan said anxiously. "If Gehenna and Trinity hadn't started a war..."

"Maybe the Millennium Prize would be held as scheduled." Yuuka nodded. "However, this may not be something that our class of students can influence, but the people who can really influence these..."

"He is still lying in the intensive care unit."

Yuuka left, leaving a group of girls shrouded in sorrow.

Whether it was Momo-chan, Midori-chan, or Yuzu, they all lay on the table with frustrated looks on their faces.

"Is it really going to end..." Momo-chan leaned her face against the table. "Can the Millennium Prize still be held..."

Snap.

Kuroto Dan clapped his hands vigorously to draw the attention of others away from the sad atmosphere.

"Self-pity can't solve anything." Kuroto Dan snapped his fingers loudly. "Start with what you can do, such as—now continue to prepare for the Gashat generation!"

Chapter 12: Create a Game! Momoi's Cassette!

"By the way, Mr. Kuroto Dan, this is the computer I got back..."

After Yuuka left in a hurry, Midori took out the computer she retrieved from the Engineering Department.

Then, she saw a pixel light flashing next to Kuroto Dan, who had taken out a complete set of computers with the highest configuration.

Midori's jaw dropped immediately. "You—you can make a computer out of thin air? Then why did you steal Yuzu-chan's computer?"

"I can't make it now. I got this from Veritas." Kuroto Dan stretched out his hand and swept across a table full of clutter in the activity room, pushing comic books, potato chips, and toys aside. He then carried both computers to the table and started installing the power supply. "Momoi, help me clean up the things on the floor!"

"Veritas?" Yuzu blinked. "So, in the afternoon when Mr. Kuroto Dan disappeared. Did you go to Veritas?"

"Didn't I say there was a cyber attack?" Kuroto Dan turned on the computer, watched the system load, and pulled a chair to sit down. "Let me set up the server first..."

The server Kuroto Dan was referring to was the cloud server used to store all the game data and update programs for his "Genm Corporation." Unlike him, a powerful cheater with God Maximum, other people needing to use Rider Gashats to play games or transform into Kamen Riders would rely on Genmn Corp's server to transmit data remotely—after all, even the Gamer Driver was developed by Genm Corp!

In this world, to prepare for a rainy day, Kuroto Dan started building his own server.

Although many studios provide cloud server services in the millennium, it is clearly better for the company's fate to be in his own hands.

"—Okay, the server will use my Bugster virus as a defense program." Kuroto Dan stretched with satisfaction. "As long as someone attacks my server, the Bugster Virus will counterattack, infect the opponent's attack program, and turn it into its own computing power. If the attack continues, it can also infect the opponent's server along the network cable, so it's foolproof!"

A few hours passed unknowingly, and Alice, over there, also cleared a few more games.

Kuroto Dan looked up from his computer screen. In the activity room in front of him, the lights were on. The three little ones were eating the takeaway pizza delivered to them and still commenting on the movie in front of them.

"The appearance of the dragon at the end is indeed too old-fashioned a plot development..."

"But the protagonists of this movie are two sisters! They're very similar to me and Midori!"

After swallowing a piece of pizza covered with cheese and chicken, Momoi took a sip of her drink and made a satisfied sound.

"Guha——!"

"Yo, you guys look so happy."

Kuroto Dan stood up from the computer desk and took a piece of pizza without hesitation. "The preparations for developing the Gashats are complete. Now it's time to turn your imagination into reality!"

Seeing Kuroto Dan approaching, Midori remembered what Yuuka had announced in the afternoon. She had forgotten about it while waiting, and her relaxed mood from watching the movie became heavy again. "Millennium Prize. Mr. Kuroto Dan, do you really have a solution?"

The Millennium Prize was the only thing they could do to save the game development department. After all, whether it was Momo-chan, Midori, or Yuzu, they were just the most ordinary students in Millennium.

Kuroto Dan put his hands on his hips and said with full energy, "I haven't thought of a solution yet!"

"Huh?" Midori was dumbfounded. "Are you bragging? There's actually no way?"

"It's just that I haven't thought of a suitable solution yet, but it doesn't mean there's no way, right?"

Kuroto Dan sat down next to Yuzu without care and pushed the three little ones aside with his hips. "Let me sit too!"

"Bang Bang Ka Bang! Aris has conquered New Moon Waltz!"

Lifting the game disc like a Hyrule hero, Alice looked excited.

After playing games for the past few days, although Momoi's plan of "learning to speak through games" had deviated somewhat, Alice had learned many lines from retro games.

The expression on Alice's face had become very rich—besides, those game lines were not incomprehensible to what Alice wanted to express. Wasn't that enough?

"Oh, Aris is really fast at solving games." Momoi nodded and said, "It seems Aris has already mastered the ways of gamers. Should we prepare some more difficult games for you to challenge?"

Alice raised her hand energetically. "The heroic Aris is ready to challenge the enemy!"

Today, Momoi and Midori had accompanied Alice to the Engineering Department.

They were originally planning to pick a simple rifle weapon, but Alice was attracted to the super-large electromagnetic cannon with space laser weapons taken out by Utaha, the director. Now placed in a corner of the activity room was the sword of the hero that Alice called "Sword of Light: Supernova."

Perhaps because she got her own sword of the hero, Alice was in a very high mood now and even had so much energy that she could solve twice as many retro games as usual!

Just as Momoi was choosing a game disc for Alice, Kuroto Dan took out a machine he had just made from parts. It looked like a monitor connected to VR glasses and a host with exposed wires.

"Come on, it's time to test your talents!"

Kuroto Dan clapped his hands and asked everyone in the game development department to stand in a row. "This is what I just made. It can refine your imagination and accelerate the convergence into a machine that creates Gashats! Don’t worry about the appearance; after all, time and materials are limited."

Kuroto Dan was unable to use the power of God Maximum due to some obstacles. He could only feel that the power was still sleeping in his body.

But even so, the power of miracles still overflowed in Kuroto Dan’s body—it was originally a miracle he created, so it was naturally 100%, or even 1,000%, compatible with himself!

So, although Kuroto Dan could not take out God Maximum X now, he could still borrow some of the miracle power that overflowed from it to change the world.

"Just put these VR glasses on the head? Weren't you setting up the server just now? Do you have time to make this machine?"

"Time is like a ditch. You can always find it if you squeeze it."

Momoi took a pair of VR glasses with strange colors and looked at them curiously. "Is this the machine that can directly generate the game cartridges?"

"It's still a little inefficient. In fact, I can directly create new games. Otherwise... Forget it, let's not discuss this."

Kuroto Dan is debugging a blank Gashat in his hand. He has done this countless times. Although the materials are a bit limited, as long as Kuroto Dan thinks, "This thing can be used to make game Gashats," then it is not impossible to make it with a little effort.

Yuzu noticed something. She picked up the glasses and looked at them for a moment. She was shocked. "What color is this? You took apart my VR glasses!?"

"It's just a pair of VR glasses. Why should I feel bad about taking them apart?" Kuroto Dan looked indifferent. "When the game development department wins first place in the Millennium Prize and you all become famous, let alone a pair of VR glasses, you can bring them back by the box for wholesale!"

"This..." Yuzu wanted to cry. "You took apart my glasses just to make this?"

"This is the equipment you will use to make Game Gashats later." Kuroto Dan patted the console. "There is a more convenient way to let you do so, if you are infected with the game disease, I will manually implant game disease antibodies in you, but I cannot guarantee that you will survive the erosion of the game disease."

"Why does it sound so terrible?"

"It will only hurt for a while." Kuroto Dan used his fingers to form a fingertip universe. "At first, you may feel pain all over your body due to the erosion of the virus, but when it is completely eroded and transformed into a Bugster, it will not hurt at all!"

Kuroto Dan put on a salesman's appearance. "How about it? Who of you wants to try it?"

"No, no, no, no..."

The three little ones shook their heads like rattles, and Yuzu have guessed Kuroto Dan's true identity with this question.

"Could it be that... Mr. Kuroto Dan suddenly disappeared this afternoon..." Yuzu looked horrified. "Is it because you are a Bugster virus that can turn into data?"

Kuroto Dan turned his head. "Huh? Didn't I say that?"

"No, ah ah ah!"

After finally calming the three little ones down, Kuroto Dan began to instruct them on how to use the latest machine he had made, 'Creator MK1'. This machine was created with the help of the miraculous power that overflowed from his body, which could change the rules of the world, and the power of Level Billion.

If someone else came, using the same method, the same process, and the same materials, the replica would be a useless machine that could do nothing. Only the one made by Kuroto Dan himself would be meaningful.

"It should be said that this machine does borrow some of the concepts of creating games with the VRX Gashat... but it still can't compare to my God Maximum X!"

Kuroto Dan instructed Momo-chan to put on the VR glasses, and at the same time inserted a blank Gashat he made into the reader.

"After putting on the glasses, I will start the machine here and bring you into a blank game space, where you can fill in the blanks with your imagination and create your own game."

That's right.

Just like the world's first operating system that turned the computer desktop into a visual icon, Kuroto Dan's 'Creator MK1' turned the originally boring game development project of typing code, modifying models, and writing scripts into a straightforward operation that can be seen and understood. Even Momo-chan can do it directly!

"Hey! I feel like someone is saying that I'm stupid!" Momo-chan who was wearing glasses snorted in dissatisfaction.

"Era-changing technology... Is it that direct input of consciousness used here?"

"Then..." Seeing Momo-chan put on the glasses, Kuroto Dan stretched out his hand and pulled the lever. "God of Creation, start!"

Momo-chan was already adding things to the game space with great interest, while Midori-chan and Yuzu outside were completely shocked by Kuroto Dan's introduction.

Even if they were really just otakus who knew how to play games, they could understand what kind of technology this machine contained.

"Just by thinking, you can create games... Completely exempt from all the red tape and boring operations. This kind of machine, students in those game studios would probably want to buy one no matter how much money they spend?"

Yuzu looked at the screen displayed on the machine.

The pure white game space had changed greatly. Under Momo-chan's operation, a group of cute cats stood on human feet and built their own home.

"Cat Kingdom! Build it!"

Momo-chan stood atop a wall as she transformed into the chief engineer of the Cat Kingdom in the game space.

Below her are countless cats who are building the kingdom in a mighty manner. Thousand-foot-high buildings rise from the ground, and medieval magic castle elements common in retro games continue to appear. The cats are taking Momo-chan's ideas as the guide to complete the remaining construction work of the game.

"So that's it, is it a game that includes city construction and strategic defense?"

Kuroto Dan watched the gradually constructed game space become complete, and now his palm has been pressing on the blank Gashat.

Because his miracle power is just overflowing in his body, if he wants to transmit the power of creating a Rider Gashat, he must touch the blank Gashat so closely.

"Ninety-nine percent... one hundred percent!"

Kuroto Dan looked at the screen, and the game space created by Momo-chan had been filled with the last touch of color.

The soldiers of the Cat Kingdom pointed out the final technology tree and lit up the infinite energy tower for the city.

Momo-chan put down the creative brush in her hand with satisfaction, sat at the highest point of the city, and looked at the prosperous cat kingdom.

"The Gashat has begun to transform--"

An orange lightning suddenly flashed across the blank game Gashat in Kuroto Dan's hand.

There is no doubt that this machine also uses the technology of the Bugster Virus, or rather, all Gashats are made with this technology.

The orange lightning constantly gives a new color to this white blank Gashat. The Gashat is painted pink to represent the creator, and the cover image is printed. A group of cute cats and a king in pink clothes are holding their heads high.

"Oh oh oh oh!!" Midori-chan didn't even blink.

"It's done like this!!" Yuzu is full of expectations.

"Bang Bang Ka Bang?" Alice was also attracted.

 It was Alice who was the most serious in watching the machine screen just now. "Momo-chan, did you make a game?"

A pink Gashat suddenly flew up from the pedestal and was held in Kuroto Dan's hand.

As usual, Kuroto Dan personally explained the name of this game.

"Neko King (King of Cats)! A cute construction simulation and strategic simulation game that leads cats to build a country and conquer the universe!"

"It's a game with Momo-chan's style." Yuzu laughed.

Momo-chan who had just taken off her VR glasses, had not yet recovered from the ending of her Neko King, but she also noticed the pink Gashat in Kuroto Dan's hand.

The feeling from the bottom of her heart made her conclude that it was undoubtedly the Game Gashat she created!

"Then, next, it's time to test this game." Kuroto Dan played with the Gashat for a while and took out his Gamer Driver. "Let's try the first game Gashat created in this world. Can it be compatible with my Gamer Driver?"

-------

13. Multi-platform Compatibility is Very Important!

"This is... my game?"

Momoi's eyes lit up as she looked at the game Gashat in Kuroto Dan's hand.

The peach-colored handle of the game Gashat was the same color as Momoi's own. It seemed that it was influenced by the creator itself.

Many of Kuroto Dan's personal Gashats were purple, so Momoi's Gashats naturally became peach-colored.

"Let me see, let me see!"

Momoi couldn't wait to take the Gashat from Kuroto Dan's hand, but he held her head and raised the Gashat high.

"Don't worry, let me test the compatibility of the Gashat first."

Kuroto Dan had already taken out the Gamer Driver from his own Game Area storage. This brightly colored belt which looked like a game console and a toy was also one of Kuroto Dan's genius inventions.

"What is this? A new game console?" Midori also looked at the wonderful thing that Kuroto Dan had pulled out from nowhere with curiosity.

Midori and the others were already completely accustomed to the fact that this man could often reach behind his back and pull out random things.

"This is called a Gamer Driver. It used to be a medical device."

Kuroto Dan raised the Gamer Driver in his hand. "But here, there should be no chance to use it as a medical device, so just treat it as a dedicated reader that can read this Game Gashat."

Yuzu asked curiously, "What is compatibility?"

"The first Game Gashat created in this world may be completely different from the ones I made before. So I have to check whether it can match the Gamer Driver I made earlier."

Kuroto Dan briefly explained what he was going to do and stretched out his hand to bring the drive to his waist.

The two sides of the drive immediately extended from the belt, which adapted to the waistline and firmly secured the driver around his waist.

"Then game... Start!"

Kuroto Dan pressed the button on the Gashat, and with a familiar brisk sound.

It was not the original passionate and cheerful male voice, but a girl's voice as cute as Momoi's, full of energy as she announced the name of the Gashat.

"Neko King!"

The surrounding environment changed rapidly, and its Game Area spread out on the spot.

After a burst of pixels covered the surrounding world, a group of cats that Momoi had just added to the game world turned from pixels on the Gashat and flew into this world.

"Meow meow meow!"

After these cute kittens turned from pixels into entities, they quickly occupied the entire activity room, and their fluffy figures were everywhere.

It seems that Momoi did not impose too many restrictions on these cat characters when she was creating them. So when the game started, these cats jumped out of the game on their own and then began building their own cat homes in the surrounding environment.

"Can I touch these kittens? I want to touch them!"

"Feel free to touch them!"

There were suddenly so many furry creatures in the activity room, and the four little ones in the game development department were immediately overwhelmed by the sea of cats. However, judging from the shining eyes of Yuzu, even the socially anxious Yuzu was very tolerant of these cute cats.

After all, who doesn't like cute things?

"Ah! Aren't these the ones I just drew? So cute!"

Reaching out to pick up a cat, Momoi curiously stroked it up and down.

Just now, these kittens could only be realized with the help of the VR console in the Game Area. Now, these game characters that had just been made appeared in reality and could be touched, which greatly surprised Momoi.

"It seems that the Game Area in this world is similar to the previous one."

Seeing that this new Gashat had the functions and developments that he was familiar with, Kuroto Dan nodded with satisfaction. "The general game mode shouldn't be affected much. Then what's next..."

The blank Gashat that Kuroto Dan worked so hard to make by hand was naturally not an ordinary one with only game mode, but a Rider Gashat equipped with a Kamen Rider mode.

The reason he took out the belt was to test this function. It is more accurate to say that this was the reason Kuroto Dan had encouraged the game development department to create a new transfer Gashat.

Hooking the handle of the Gashat with his fingers, Kuroto Dan turned the Gashat in a circle, let it fall with gravity, and inserted it into the card reader slot of the Gamer Driver.

"Grade... what is it? Should it be 1?"

Before shouting out his transformation lines, Kuroto Dan paused for a moment.

He was wondering whether the Gashat made by Momo-chan was level 1 or lower.

For a fledgling game producer, being able to make a level 1 game Gashat is already very promising. Not everyone can be like the pediatrician possessed by a genius player and make a level 10 Gashat by hand!

Beep beep beep - diu~

"Has it reached the output of a level 1 Gashat? This is an unexpected surprise." Kuroto Dan nodded with satisfaction. "Although Momo-chan's ideas about games are childish, she has a rich imagination. Perhaps it is this wonderful imagination that makes up for the difference in the output of the Gashat and reaches level 1. If she spends time polishing it, she will surely become a first-class game producer."

Momo-chan laughed embarrassedly but proudly puffed out her chest. "Hey~ Is this true? Hehehe, I knew I must have talent in this area!"

While speaking, Kuroto Dan had already inserted the Gashat into his belt.

"Henshin! (Transformation!)"

"Gashat!

Let's Game! Metcha Game! Mutcha Game! What's Name!?

I'm a Kamen Rider!"

After completing the transformation, Kuroto Dan appeared in the original place in the first-level fat man form.

However, this transformation using a different Gashat did not appear in his original purple fat man form but as a Kamen Rider with cat ears, Kamen Rider-style goggles, and red patterns as the main feature.

"Transformed! Wait, something is wrong!" Momo-chan was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, amused by this naive form. "Ahahahaha!! What a cute little fat robot!"

"The same transformation as those guys from Kezaritan, but the result is such a cute robot?" Yuzu boldly reached out and touched the rider armor. "It's made of metal, so amazing, it's really a transformation like in tokusatsu dramas!"

"Brave man, this is the best armor in the village!" Alice was also very excited and turned around him, but according to Alice's vocabulary, what she said were still lines from a retro game.

"It can actually be done to this extent. Where did these metal parts come from?!"

Midori was completely shocked by Kuroto Dan's ability to create armor out of thin air.

After all, just now, Kuroto Dan had inserted the Gashat made by Momo-chan into the strange belt. After a strange light and sound effect, Kuroto Dan disappeared from the spot and was replaced by the little fat robot!

"What little fat robot? Speak with respect!"

-----

Chapter 14: Bank Bad Song

"What little fat robot? Speak with respect!"

Kuroto Dan wanted to put his hands on his hips but found that he couldn't do so in his Level 1 state. So, he had to wave his short hands in the air. "This is the level 1 form of Kamen Rider Momoi! Although this form is a serious medical form used to deal with the Bugster Virus, in this world, I think the ability at this stage should be the most useless."

"Then, let's test the Level 2 transformation--"

Kuroto Dan stretched out his hand to pull the lever, and a beam of light was projected from the glass panel of the belt, directly covering Kuroto Dan's whole body.

"Grade 2!"

Gachan!

Level Up!

Neconecobuilder~ (catcatbuilder~)

Neconeconecoking! (King of Cats!)

"Why is it like singing a nursery rhyme... it's a little embarrassing."

The big face on his chest transfered to the back, and normal-sized hands and feet extended from the inside of the exploded armor.

The style was basically similar to the Kamen Riders who used the Gamer driver to transform in the past. There was a Rider Gauge on the chest, and the armor plates on the whole body were changed to peach color in the same mold.

It was related to the gender of the person using the transformation Gashat. The head part of Kuroto Dan still had the same hedgehog head hairstyle as when he transformed into Kamen Rider Genm.

However, what was different from his original self was that when he transformed into Kamen Rider Momoi, he had an extra pink coat on his body.

"This is the so-called characteristic product."

Kuroto Dan stretched out his hand and pulled the coat on his body. The style of this coat was a bit similar to what Momoi and the others were wearing, like the school uniform of Millennium Science School, but it was different in the details. It seemed that it only retained Momoi's peach-colored coat as the clothes created by the impression.

"This kind of hood... I saw it when I was making the Legend Rider Gashat." Kuroto Dan narrowed his eyes. He remembered seeing it when he was making the Legend Rider Gashat, the "Ghost Gashat." It also had a coat after transformation.

"Could it be that... Momoi is a child of the same level as the Legend Rider?"

With this thought, Kuroto Dan turned his eyes to Momoi beside him, and Momoi also turned her doubtful eyes to his mask.

"Hmm?"

"...It seems that I think too much. It's impossible."

After testing the whole body data after he transformed into Level 2 and recording this data, Kuroto Dan withdrew from the transformed state.

Facing the four pairs of curious big eyes in front of him, Kuroto Dan was very satisfied with the successful completion of the Gashat and allowed Momoi to play with the Gashat she developed.

"Oh, is this my own game Gashat?" Momoi excitedly raised the "Neko King" Gashat she developed and turned it around happily.

"Mr. Kuroto Dan, is it our turn next?"

Seeing that Momoi already had her own exclusive game Gashat, Yuzu, Midori, and Alice came over with some impatience.

But Kuroto Dan just put his hands in an open position and shook his head.

"Sorry, I can't do it."

"Why? Didn't it look easy just now?" Midori raised her voice in surprise. "Don't we already have machines?"

"Because the materials for making blank Gashats are gone."

What Kuroto Dan hadn't told Momoi and the others just now was that in order to make this blank Gashat, he had to dismantle a lot of their "treasures."

There were all kinds of materials popular in Kivotos, some of which were just ordinary metal materials and chemical materials, but there were also some materials with mysterious properties.

Only these mysterious materials meet Kuroto Dan's requirements for making blank Gashats.

In order to make this blank Gashat, Kuroto Dan searched the entire activity room of the game development department and disassembled all the items containing mysterious properties that could be found, then extracted the materials from them that were enough to make a blank Gashat.

"A good cook cannot cook without rice." Kuroto Dan shook his head regretfully. "What a pity, if there were more materials."

"Materials?"

Yuzu and Midori looked at each other, then turned their eyes to the machine, the broken VR glasses, and stayed on them for a few seconds.

Then, the two who figured out what Kuroto Dan meant by this sentence suddenly shouted in panic and immediately began to check their collections!

"Ahhh!! The ultimate collector's edition disc limited to 500 copies!"

"The ancient game console I bought back!"

"Why is my strategy book torn up too?"

After searching their collections with all their strength, the two grabbed Kuroto Dan's collar and began shaking the hateful adult in front of them with all their strength!

"Collections, my collections!" Yuzu was incoherent, so angry that she even forgot her social phobia for a moment. "Mr. Kuroto Dan, you can just tell us what materials you want, and we can buy them for you. Why did you tear down our game discs?"

Midori on the side was also so angry that her teeth itched: "And the limited edition discs of retro games that I queued up all night to buy! That thing is gone now!!"

"So, haven't these things you are talking about become the Gashat in Momoi's hand next to you?"

Kuroto Dan was calm and didn't think he had done anything wrong. "They just changed their mentality and continued to accompany you. Don't worry, the old ones don't go, and the new ones won't come."

"I...you...!"

Yuzu went back into the cabinet angrily. Midori was left shaking Kuroto Dan's collar for a while, then she let go of her hand holding his collar with a decadent look on her face and sat down on the sofa.

At this time, Kuroto Dan coincidentally added, "By the way, the thing that Momoi made, although it is a perfect made one and Momoi's own Rider Gashat, you will definitely not use that Gashat to participate in your Millennium Prize. So you have to prepare a few more materials for making blank Gashats. I will make a list for you later. If you don't want me to dismantle your things again, remember to go and purchase them."

"Purchase?"

After Midori took the list printed out by the printer, she rolled her eyes. "Mr. Kuroto Dan, our club's monthly activity funds have been deducted and are almost gone. This month, we spent a lot, so the material cost above, I think it should be even on the level that we can't even collect one."

"You can't even collect one? You are too poor, aren't you?" Kuroto Dan was shocked. "In that case, we have to find other things in this activity room to dismantle..."

"Wait a moment!!! Don't dismantle the things in this room anymore!!!"

Midori hurriedly stopped Kuroto Dan. "We can go to work and earn money to buy materials. Please be generous and let our game collection go!"

"Work? But there is no time."

Kuroto Dan had already sat back in the swivel chair, with his hands crossed, posing like Commander Ikari. "Do you have any work that makes money quickly, takes a short time, and has high returns?"

"Then there is only..."

----

Chapter 15: Make a Good Relationship with the Young Lady!

"Do you have any jobs here that can make money quickly, take a short time, and have high returns?"

"Then there's only..." Midori thought for a moment and was shocked. "You’re not going to rob a bank, are you?!"

"What are you thinking? Why would I use such an inefficient method?" Kuroto Dan said disdainfully. "Using a weapon something called the economy to rob money is the fastest. It's hard to say whether you could even spend it if you just took a gun to a bank and stole some banknotes."

"I'm asking—do you have a reward that’s particularly large?"

Kuroto Dan asked the question without much thought. Over the past couple of days, as he gathered information online and learned about the world, he had seen people offering money for rewards. He hadn’t paid much attention to it at the time, but now that he was short on cash, it came to mind.

He now needed money, not only for the list of materials he had written, but also for the startup capital for the company he planned to launch.

In this world, Kuroto Dan was penniless. If he wanted to start his "Genm Corp" in Kivotos, he needed a lot of money.

In other words, Kuroto Dan was short on cash right now!

"Bounty commissions..." Midori lowered her head and thought for a while. "There are many students and citizens who aren't short on money and choose to post commissions online for others to solve their problems. Kivotos also has many organizations like the Yorozuya, so this route is possible..."

Midori was a bit embarrassed. "The problem is, the general commission amounts aren't that large, and the big orders have already been claimed by professional organizations. It’s like a difficult souls game to save up enough for the material list."

Just as Midori continued to feel embarrassed, Kuroto Dan, who was connected to the internet, began searching for commission information that met his needs on a large scale.

"Isn’t it here? It also looks like the amount is quite large!"

Kuroto Dan shouted, causing Midori to curiously lean over and take a look. "What? There really is a commission that’s easy and lucrative? Shouldn’t this kind of commission have been claimed by professional organizations long ago?"

"It shows that I'm still lucky~" Kuroto Dan laughed three times, clicked the mouse, and opened the commission details. "Let’s take a look at the specifics."

The commission window opened. This wasn’t an encrypted commission. To make it visible to others, the person who posted the commission had even used a conspicuous information window and added a very high reward at the top.

Yet, no one had claimed this generous commission until now.

"Commission: Clean up the Helmet Gang and Kaiser PMC soldiers who attacked Abydos High School. Reward: 5 million credit points. Contact email below..."

"Commission: Find the missing Abydos students—Takanashi Hoshino and Kuromi Serika. Reward: 5 million credit points. Contact email below..."

"No wonder no one has answered..." Seeing the name of the Kaiser Corporation, even Midori understood that this commission undoubtedly offended Kaiser Corporation, a very large organization in Kivotos.

"What do you mean?" Kuroto Dan asked. "What’s wrong with the Kaiser Corporation? Is it very powerful?"

"It is indeed a very powerful group," Midori nodded. Even if she didn’t pay special attention, she knew the name Kaiser Corporation. "Besides private security companies, Kaiser Corporation also has credit companies, industrial contracting, banking, and other profitable businesses. It’s a well-known large organization in all of Kivotos."

"But who would mess with the soldiers of the Kaiser Corporation for no reason..." Midori leaned over from in front of Kuroto Dan, slid the mouse, and carefully checked the commission.

"Abydos? I remember that school is very poor. I haven’t heard the name of that school in years."

Even Midori, who surfs the internet all day, had a relatively unfamiliar impression of Abydos. "It should be an autonomous region with a lot of sand, right? But how could the school be connected to Kaiser PMC?"

"Let me look it up..."

Kuroto Dan typed on the keyboard for a while, found the official website of Kaiser Corporation, then found Kaiser Loan, and finally hacked into their server using his own virus to find what he wanted to see.

"Let me see... the Abydos Student Council, the loan to be repaid—700 million?!"

Midori’s scream attracted those behind her.

Putting away her "Neko King" cassette player, Momoi, Yuzu, and Alice all came closer.

"What 700 million? Midori, what are you talking about?"

Momoi came over curiously. "Are you talking about this Abydos Student Union? How can a student council owe 700 million credit points?"

"It’s probably the 700 million accumulated through interest," Kuroto Dan understood the trick at a glance and said with some disdain. "This company called Kaiser Loan is engaged in usury. The Abydos Student Council is also brainless. How could they borrow from such a problematic usurer?"

"And if I’m not mistaken..."

A purple light flashed in Kuroto Dan’s eyes, and he hacked into Kaiser’s network again. "Sure enough, Kaiser controls most of the land in this autonomous region called Abydos. According to your concept that schools are autonomous regions, this was Kaiser’s plan from the beginning to take over all of Abydos."

Playing dirty tactics.

The same goes for starting a company—using various commercial methods to rob and plunder, intrigue and deception are the true nature of business.

Yuzu was surprised. "If you look at it this way... Abydos High School will be completely swallowed up soon!"

Midori frowned. "Moreover, the Sensei of the General Student Council was seriously injured, and it seems it was because of Abydos..."

"The school swallowed by the company will become the only one in Kivotos," Kuroto Dan crossed his legs. "So, the identity of this client is very obvious."

The person who sympathizes with Abydos, who can afford to offer this amount of money, and will continue finding ways to help Abydos but can’t disclose their identity—Izayoi Nonomi.

After Kuroto Dan hacked into the General Student Council and obtained the student information from Abydos, the only person who could meet the requirements was the eldest daughter of the Izayoi family.

"It seems she’s left Abydos. Otherwise, her support wouldn’t be posted anonymously online," Kuroto Dan nodded. "Seems like Abydos is in a bad situation."

"But... wasn’t the sensei of the General Student Council seriously injured because of intervening in this matter?" Midori asked uneasily. "Mr. Kuroto Dan, are you going to take this commission?"

"Yes, why not?" Kuroto Dan cracked his knuckles. "Why not take a good five million for free? I’ll use the money to buy materials and start the company. Maybe I can even make a good relationship with this rich lady."

----------

Chapter 16 [We thirst for the seven wailing]

"Miss, please stop being willful! This is your father's order. You must be taken away!"

A luxurious, comfortable private room, with all the decorations that she liked or bought herself. Compared to the student dormitory in Abydos which has been in disrepair for a long time and always leaks sand, this is ten times better.

"But... Serika-chan has not been found yet, and there are Hoshino and the others! Everyone——"

Her weapon, "Mini Machine Gun V", was placed aside, and the mottled wear on it silently told of the past she had experienced.

"Miss, forget Abydos. The master has arranged for you to enter Trinity Academy. Before that, please wait at home and don't think too much; everything will pass."

The gold card has been left. Will Shiroko-chan use it?

... Maybe not? Shiroko is that kind of person, and everyone in the Foreclosure Taskforce is also like that.

Click.

Nonomi pressed the button on her bedside and sat up stiffly from the soft big bed. The window was covered with heavy blackout curtains. If the lights were not turned on, the room would be pitch black.

"Everyone..."

She was a despicable deserter.

She pulled herself out of that bottomless quagmire and no longer cared about the remaining people who were still struggling in the quagmire.

Nonomi scolded herself like this.

The anonymous reward posted on the Internet was more like a way of self-comfort and escaping reality than actual help.

After all, the enemy was clearly written.

"Kaiser Corporation".

One was Abydos, which was already on the decline, and the other was the Kaiser Corporation, which was in its heyday. That super-large group was the target the Izayoi family was unwilling to provoke.

Who in all of Kivotos would have the courage to fight against the Kaiser Corporation?

So, this was destined to be a commission that no one would take. It was just an excuse for Nonomi, an excuse that "I am still helping Abydos," which made her feel a little relieved.

"Let's see if anyone has accepted the commission today..."

Even checking every day to see if the commission has been accepted was a form of self-comfort. Clicking on the commission meant that she had not "forgotten Abydos" and had not forgotten the others who fought in Abydos.

Even though she already knew the result, Nonomi still stretched out her hand and clicked on the commission interface as if hypnotizing herself.

"Sure enough, no one has accepted it today..."

It was accepted.

"What!?"

The commission was accepted.

"Here, who is it..."

Nonomi refreshed the page in disbelief, unable to believe her eyes. There was a prompt on the page that someone had accepted it, and the coordinates of the person who accepted the commission were - Millennium Science School.

"Really, there is someone... willing to help them..."

Nonomi's nose grew sore, and tears burst out.

She wanted to say something to thank everything in front of her. However, the person who accepted the commission had not left their name, so Nonomi blurted out:

"Thanks... Kami-sama..."

Except for miracles, Nonomi did not think there was a more straightforward and clear word to describe what happened. Maybe the word "God" is something only the Sisters of Trinity Academy would use, but Nonomi felt for the first time at this moment that there are "miracles" in this world.

"But... why didn't this person contact me?"

Nonomi wiped her tears and looked at the commission acceptance interface again.

There was no contact information, no name, only a certificate of acceptance for the commission, and a location that showed the commission was accepted from Millennium's forum. Other than that, all the information was blank.

And where is the person who accepted the commission now?

"I've made an agreement with Momoi and the others to come back after finishing my business. Veritas has also given us the address of the Abydos school district. Well, this way everything is safe!"

Kuroto Dan used the network port to move at high speed in Kivotos, instantly crossing several school districts and moving forward along the direction provided by the Veritas.

"Mr. Kuroto Dan, I'd like to remind you that there is no Internet in Abydos. The school's Internet has been shut down for a long time due to arrears, so the Internet cannot reach there."

Before Kuroto Dan left Millennium, Hare of Veritas gave Kuroto Dan the address.

"So, the hacker support from Millennium cannot reach there. Are you sure you don't need to bring a few more people to protect you? We are fine if a bullet hits us, but an adult like you will be finished if a bullet hits your head, right?"

"Don't worry, I am an immortal existence!"

Kuroto Dan went along the network port to the Abydos school district, which used to be the largest school district in all of Kivotos. But now, due to a sandstorm, not only was the city of Abydos destroyed, but the entire school was desertified. This was the beginning of all disasters.

This also led to the fact that the only port that could be used in Abydos was the gateway set by the Kaiser Corporation. Kuroto Dan swaggered through other people's networks, so naturally he triggered the alarm on the Kaiser Corporation's network.

"Viruses have been detected invading the network!"

"Clean it up!"

"No! The computing power is completely crushed!"

"Hurry up and start the backup hidden computing power!"

The hackers of the Kaiser Corporation were in a mess, trying to clean up the foreign entity in Kuroto Dan's network. But unfortunately, Kuroto Dan just used 20% of the virus and electrocuted the hackers of Kaiser Corporation!

"Tsk, you can't even hold up 20% of my power, and you dare to show off your tricks?"

Kuroto Dan snorted disdainfully and continued on his way.

What Kuroto Dan didn't notice was that part of the Bugster Virus he spread to attack the Kaiser Corporation had infected a server of the Kaiser Corporation and had hidden inside it.

Drilling out along the network port closest to Abydos High School, the clustered Bugster Virus turned into Kuroto Dan's appearance.

"The Kaiser Corporation's building has been built to the gate of Abydos." Kuroto Dan looked ahead at the Abydos High School, which was just two streets away, and took a step forward. "Although they are both school districts, Abydos and Millennium are completely different."

Crossing the street, Kuroto Dan walked toward the small school. The ground at the school gate was originally cleaned by someone to ensure that sand would not pile up every day. Now, because no one cleans it, the sand covers the road at the gate and even spreads into the school.

In the pile of sand on the ground, you could see the shells dropped in it.

Kuroto Dan kicked it casually, not knowing whether there were more sand or shells, and the waves rustled.

"The sandstorm is really serious."

Kuroto Dan shook his head and continued walking toward the only school building.

After he stepped into the school playground and passed halfway, a gunshot suddenly rang out, accurately opening a hole at Kuroto Dan's feet.

The loudspeaker in the school made a "sizzle" sound, and then a tired, cold voice sounded.

"...Stop. No, keep going."

Kuroto Dan raised his head and saw the lonely white wolf hiding behind the corridor wall.

-----

Chapter 17 [We bear the koan of Jericho]

"... Stop. No, keep going."

Using the half-wall of the corridor in the teaching building as cover, Shiroko peeked at the man on the playground through the bullet holes in the wall.

'An adult, like Sensei.'

Shiroko clenched the gun in her hand. In her pockets were ammunition that she could count.

Was the man in front of her an enemy? Or a helper?

No, she shouldn't expect help.

After Serika was kidnapped, Hoshino-senpai disappeared, and Ayane fell critically ill, she was the only one left in the entire Abydos High School to resist the attack of the Helmet Gang.

The Kaiser PMC soldiers who had once tried to persuade them to surrender came once every three days. The Helmet Gang, on the other hand, came every day to cause trouble. When the situation in Abydos became precarious and Hoshino was captured, the Kaiser PMC soldiers stopped coming, and the Helmet Gang launched an increasingly fierce offensive instead.

It looks like they had received support from Kaiser. The Helmet Gang which was originally just a small gang of hooligans, now drove a tank and used a rocket launcher to gradually weaken Abydos.

'This should be the time for the Helmet Gang to attack...'

Shiroko calculated the time in her mind. Every day at this time, the Helmet Gang would gather a large army to attack Abydos High School. Shiroko would snipe them once a day, but she was alone and could only do so much. She had only injured a few of them before being bombed several times by tanks and rocket launchers. The teaching building had been crumbling under the artillery fire for days.

The people from the Kaiser Corporation had already surrounded the entire block outside the school, meaning that even if Shiroko could request support, it would likely never arrive.

When Shiroko's ammunition ran out, Abydos High School would undoubtedly be overtaken by the hooligans of the Helmet Gang.

'Is the adult coming to Abydos now from Kaiser Corporation? Is he here to give... an ultimatum?'

Reaching out, Shiroko touched the blue scarf around her neck.

She had thought about rushing out of the school to find other survivors, but as the only one left to defend the school, and with Ayane’s life support device requiring attention, she simply didn’t have the time.

"It's really a shabby school... There's not even a usable network."

Kuroto Dan sighed. He had just scanned Abydos High School. The feedback data told him that this school was merely a branch of the Abydos complex. Beneath the endless sand dunes in the distance, there were still a large number of buildings and facilities buried by wind and sand.

The information given to him by Veritas was basically correct.

"What on earth are you... here for?"

Shiroko raised the muzzle of the gun slightly, following the crater in the wall caused by a shell, and aimed at Kuroto Dan's head. He was an adult without any visible halo, and a bullet could easily take his life.

"...If you’re here to persuade us to surrender, forget it. The Kaiser Corporation... Abydos and Kaiser Corporation have been enemies for a long time."

I'm a little hungry.

Shiroko licked her dry lips. Nonomi had finished the snacks she bought, but before Nonomi was taken away by her family, she sent a lot of military rations and mineral water. Shiroko had barely survived until now with those hard biscuits. And now, even those compressed rations had to be eaten sparingly.

'I want to eat Shibaseki ramen... I want to eat Taiyaki... I want to drink sports drinks...'

Wow... she accidentally thought of the delicious food she had eaten in the past. Her stomach couldn’t help but make a gurgling sound.

"You are Sunaookami Shiroko, a student of Abydos, right?"

Kuroto Dan looked in her direction. Suddenly, his body dispersed, turning into a mass of Bugster Virus, and drilled into the only network port in the school.

A wired transmission was all that was needed—along the network cable, he appeared in the classroom behind Shiroko and reformed his body.

"What——!"

Shiroko swung the gun around. Kuroto Dan had already pushed open the door of the classroom behind her. He leaned on the threshold and looked down at her. "I received a very lucrative commission contract. The job is to help repel the Helmet Gang and Kaiser PMC soldiers who are harassing Abydos, and to find two people..."

"One is Kuromi Serika, and the other is Takanashi Hoshino. Do you know these two people?"

It felt as though her throat was being constricted.

Shiroko couldn’t make a sound.

When she heard the names of the two people she missed day and night, Shiroko felt something lodge in her throat. Straining her voice, she managed to squeeze out a sentence: "...I know them."

Fear.

Shiroko was afraid that this adult might be deceiving her again.

But she was also hopeful.

'The more you suffer, the more you pray for miracles.'

After hearing the details of the commission from Kuroto Dan, Shiroko instinctively knew who had issued it.

To be honest, neither Shiroko nor the others in Abydos had any complaints about Nonomi's departure. If Nonomi's depression and self-blame were revealed to everyone in Abydos, they would surely understand, right?

"That's good. I was worried I had found the wrong person."

Kuroto Dan smiled, an invincible and confident smile: "With me as your teammate, the end of this impossible game is already determined!"

"Then... thank you?"

Shiroko couldn't stop crying. She didn’t want to cry, but the tears fell from the corners of her eyes, shattering on the ground like crystals.

"I just came here for the 10 million credit points. With that, the company’s startup capital problem will be solved," Kuroto Dan sighed. "If this order didn’t promise quick money, I wouldn’t have come to Abydos."

As long as someone was willing to help her, that was enough.

Shiroko understood the content of the commission, which clearly stated it was to deal with Kaiser Corporation. Those who could take on the commission were either fools who didn’t understand the power of Kaiser Corporation, or—ruthless people who could ignore Kaiser Corporation.

Shiroko sincerely hoped that the strange adult in front of her was one of the 'ruthless men' who could drive away all the suffering.

"Oh? It seems the commission is about to begin."

Kuroto Dan had a keen eye and noticed the smoke and dust outside the campus.

Those were the armored vehicles and tanks driven by the hardened Helmet Gang. No armed helicopters were visible, but it made sense. They already knew there was only one active student left in the entire school. If not for the fact that Shiroko had blocked all their attacks previously, Kaiser PMC would never have given all the tanks to a small gang like the Helmet Gang.

"Helmet Gang--!"

Shiroko stood up subconsciously and squeezed the ammunition in her pocket with her empty left hand. Without supplies, the ammunition in her hand was running out, and she had to rely on picking up the opponent's bullets. After figuring out her tactic of "the enemy makes it for us," the Helmet Gang didn’t even give her the opportunity to collect ammunition.

Kuroto Dan looked at Shiroko and noticed her predicament. "Not much ammunition?"

Shiroko lowered her head. "Well... we have no supplies."

"In that case, leave it to me this time."

Kuroto Dan confidently wiped his hair, as if his hands were covered in hair gel, and smoothed it back, exuding the aura of an elite. That was his favorite hairstyle when he was the president.

Raising his hand, the Gamer Driver and the "Mighty Action X" Gashat appeared in his hand. Kuroto Dan buckled the driver around his waist with his backhand. The driver quickly extended from the belt, firmly securing itself on his waist.

Releasing his fingers, the purple Gashat fell with gravity and was inserted into the driver by Kuroto Dan’s palm. Then he pulled the upgrade lever.

"Henshin!"

Gashat!

Level Up!

Mighty Jump! Mighty Kick!

Mighty Action X!

Pixel light covered his body, and the brilliance of genius flashed divine purple at that moment.

Kamen Rider Genm stood in the desert of Abydos!

He raised his thumb, from the right side of his chest to the left side.

"I'll clear this game, even if I use all my Continues!"

-------

Chapter: 18 Wow! Back off, there's a master!

"What, what is that..."

The purple Kamen Rider is something that Shiroko has never seen in her life.

The only thing that can be known is that this man who claims not to know who she is, after a strange flash of light, turned into this weird 'Kamen Rider.'

"Kamen Rider Genm, you can call me that."

Kuroto Dan said to Shiroko, who was a little surprised. "Come to think of it, I haven't formally introduced myself yet, right? Although it's taboo for a Kamen Rider to reveal his true identity, I have a feeling we will meet often in the future. So, I'll tell you my name."

"I am the Supreme God who is invincible in heaven and earth! Kuroto Dan—yes!!!"

Putting on a cool pose, he successfully stunned Shiroko in front of him. Seeing her cute, stunned expression, Kuroto Dan reached out and rubbed Shiroko's head.

"It's actually a real ear... four-ears?"

After confirming what he wanted to confirm, Kuroto Dan took out the Gaschacon Breaker and told the still-stunned Shiroko: "Don't move here, I'll go buy two oranges."

"Ah? Okay, you..."

Shiroko was a little overwhelmed by Kuroto Dan's words. She didn't understand the meaning, but she still got the gist. Perhaps seeing that she was in no state to fight, Kuroto Dan planned to face the thugs of the Helmet Gang alone.

"Are you worried that I can't beat them?" Kuroto Dan smiled, holding the white hammer in his hand, jumping up with both feet, and landing on the fence. "Impossible, just watch here."

At the gate of Abydos High School, the roar of the chariot sounded.

The tracks rolled over the sand, and the steel chariot passed the school gate, rushing into the Abydos campus along the sand dunes formed by the accumulated sandstorm. Following these chariots into the school were about a dozen thugs from the Helmet Gang.

"That damn Abydos student won't be able to hold on! She has no ammunition!"

The female thug, dressed in a red sailor suit, a full-face gas mask, and a red helmet, shouted: "We will take Abydos today! I want to have a barbecue in the classroom of this school!"

"Today, we dispatched twice as many tanks and armored vehicles as usual. The white-haired girl’s shooting skills are very good, but our armored vehicles can definitely advance to the bottom of the teaching building where she is."

The two thugs in black sailor suits and helmets, who followed the armored vehicles, marched and talked. "That person is called... Sunaookami Shiroko, right? Her shooting skills are really sharp... As long as you don't hide well enough, even if you show a little bit, you'll be hit by her..."

Students in this world won't die even if hit by bullets or shells. Although they will be injured, bleed, and faint, they can retain the most basic life. After proper rescue, they can wake up from a coma.

The specific principle is still unclear and incomprehensible. It seems to be a form of protection by Kivotos for "students." However, there is a way to break this protection, but Kuroto Dan is still unclear about the exact method.

After all, in the past two days, Kuroto Dan has seen several street thugs and the Valkyrie Police Department fighting each other, holding fully automatic rifles, single-shot revolvers, and pump-action shotguns, but few people died. Even though bullets hit heads directly, there were no blood holes—just knocked unconscious. After the battle, they climbed up from the stretcher again. They were like Kivotos Supermen.

"So, it's okay to fight with all my strength, right?"

Boom!

Jumping from a high altitude, Kuroto Dan landed like a superhero, creating a big hole in the ground.

"Who is that?"

"I can't see clearly! There's so much dust!"

The force of Kuroto Dan's landing was so strong that it splashed a cloud of dust, stopping the advancing chariots and tanks. The female gangster wearing a red helmet raised her gun. "Who's in front to Dare block the way of the Helmet Gang? I'll tear you into pieces!"

"Roar↑Roar↓"

The purple figure stood up from the smoke and dust, staring at the clueless gangsters with red Rider compound eyes. This sharp gaze made the gangster at the front feel a sense of fear for no reason.

"It seems you have great confidence in your weapon."

The strange enemy was without a halo. They wore tights and armor that looked very odd, covering his face, making it impossible to tell who he was.

This was the thought that flashed through the mind of the Helmet Gang's gang leader when he first saw Kuroto Dan.

"Who the hell are you?"

The gang leader shouted nervously, "Let me tell you, do you know how many tanks we have here? Ten tanks! Five armored vehicles! One tank shot can knock down this broken building! It's a done deal to flatten Abydos today!"

The thug next to her quickly added, "Boss, it's a done deal..."

"Shut up! How could I not know!"

The gang leader looked flustered, but she still tried to maintain her image. She attempted to persuade Kuroto Dan to leave: "Hey, I'm talking to you. I don't know what you mean by wearing this, but I can tell you, do you know who’s behind me?"

"Oh?" Kuroto Dan held his chin with his fingers and watched her performance, "I know, Kaiser Corporation."

"It's Kaiser—you know it?" The gang leader wanted to show off, but the man in front of her didn’t play by the rules: "You know it and you dare to go against us? Abydos is already a candle in the wind! I advise you to mind your own business and let us take this place!"

Kuroto Dan smiled at the group of thugs in front of him: "What if I say no?"

"Then don’t even think about leaving today! Turn into sand with Abydos!"

The little gangster waved her hand: "Fire for me—"

Before the order to fire was spoken, Kuroto Dan had already moved.

Proto Gear Suit.

Equipped with the function of increasing attack and defense power according to level and combat experience, it can use speed to shorten the distance with the opponent in one breath and carry out agile attacks. The enhancement parts are distributed all over the body of the Rider armor.

In an instant, Kuroto Dan leaped up like black lightning and hit the gang leader's abdomen with the power of the Gaschacon Breaker!

"Puff——"

The gang leader felt the air in her stomach squeezed out instantly. The heavy hammer hit her abdomen, and her muscles and bones made a tooth-grinding sound. Under the high-speed full-strength hit, she felt her soul, along with the air in her stomach, spurt out of her mouth—

Her consciousness gradually faded, and before she fainted, she heard the man counting from under his strange mask.

"One."

-----

Chapter 19: How can you be a match for Genm! Fight!

"Such a fast move, I can't aim at him!"

"Strafe, strafe!"

The panicked voices of the hoodlums came from all directions, and from time to time, someone was hit by a hammer from the Kamen Rider who suddenly approached, and then turned into a meteor in the sky.

"If we just talk about physical fitness when attacking, these guys are only at the level of ordinary people..." Kuroto Dan recalled the feeling of swinging his weapon and knocking down these panicked hoodlums in front of him. "However, with this Kamen Rider armor and the combined power of the gashacon weapons, ordinary people would have turned into a pool of meat paste long ago. These hoodlums who are wearing nothing can still keep their bodies intact and fall to the ground just fainted..."

"Indeed, it's very interesting."

Kuroto Dan didn't know that the protection from Kivotos was also limited. Just like the gangsters who fell to the ground and were not directly hit by Kuroto Dan, especially the gangster leader who was hit by Kuroto Dan's full force at the beginning. She fell to the ground and fainted directly — this is probably what would happen if one were hit by a main battle tank.

"Is that guy still human? He can't be a combat robot!"

The gangsters felt their hands holding the guns shake, and their companions were like golf balls hit by golf clubs. They really flew high! Even if they stepped on the overcharged mines of Kaiser, they would not be blown up so high!

Someone shouted, "Where's the tank! Where's the tank! Bomb him to death with a cannon!"

"It's slow, and the distance is too close."

Kuroto Dan stepped on the ground with his combat boots and immediately sprayed air. With the jumping ability of Kamen Riders and the fact that "Mighty Action X" is an action game, Kuroto Dan's figure was like a rubber ball thrown with all his strength in a small space!

Jumping sideways repeatedly! Z-turn!

Double jump in the air!

An action player using dazzling moves to completely tease the enemy!

Whenever he stopped, it was always accompanied by a heavy hammer from the Gaschacon Breaker. Those hard tanks and armored vehicles, even the largest and strongest ones, couldn't withstand three hammers.

After three hammers, there were scrapped parts all over the ground!

"Wuwaaa—I can't fight! How can I fight this? Puuuu—!"

The thugs of the Helmet Gang threw away their armor and cried for their parents. They were originally the least popular thug group in Kivotos. They only knew how to fight with the wind. Once they met a strong opponent, they immediately threw away their armor and were defeated!

And now, these second-rate thugs, even if Kuroto Dan's Rider level is only 2, it's enough!

The assembled tanks turned their guns, and the thugs in the car, who were responsible for aiming, almost turned the steering stick to smoke, finally aiming the guns at the Kamen Rider who stopped in front of them. But would Kuroto Dan stop for no reason?

Kimewaza!

He raised his hand to pull out the cassette and inserted it into the Kimewaza slot bracket hanging on his waist. The gathered energy light extended from the special move slot to his right foot. The huge energy even brought a faint wind pressure around him, stirring up the flying dust.

He chuckled, "Game Over."

As the energy reached its limit, Kuroto Dan jumped high and disappeared from the tank's sight in an instant!

"Where are you——!?"

Mighty Critical Strike!

The flash of pixels symbolized the amazing wisdom of the God of Games. The crystallization of Kuroto Dan's talent showed its brilliance for the first time in this world. Circling in the air, Kuroto Dan fell like a meteorite and tore a tank directly in the middle!

Then, the unused energy drove Kuroto Dan's body again, like a purple lightning galloping on the ground, blowing away all the surrounding chariots and helmets!

"Amazing... He easily solved all the problems..."

Shiroko hiding behind the wall stood up at some point. Her tired eyes which had been dull due to days of perseverance finally showed a glimmer of light and gradually regained their spirit.

"If this continues, maybe we can really... save everyone."

"Wow, hahahaha!! Blame it on you for choosing the wrong opponent!" Kuroto Dan laughed loudly in the ruins of a chariot. He looked like a villain.

The vehicles brought by the Helmet Gang were all destroyed, and none of the gangsters escaped. They were either hit by the hammer or fists. The worst was that they were hit by a special move and fainted.

And now, there was only a trembling gangster in front of him. Her mind was overwhelmed by Kuroto Dan's horrible record. Her legs were weak, and she fell on the hot sand under the sun.

"Mercy... Mercy..."

The gun in her hand had fallen to the ground without him knowing when. When facing this purple Kamen Rider, she had initially mocked and despised the funny helmet, but now seeing the pair of red compound eyes, she was left with endless fear!

The thugs wearing black helmets had their gas masks blown off by the strong wind caused by Kuroto Dan's high-speed movement during the fierce battle just now, revealing a face mixed with shock and fear, with tears streaming down their faces.

"I, I surrender...!"

They couldn't even stand up and wanted to crawl back with their hands and feet, but their hands and feet were limp from fear — they knew they would not die, but the severe pain was enough to break these thugs' defense.

"It's a pity. If you go back, you will definitely get into trouble."

Kuroto Dan laughed under the helmet, "You... don't seem to be able to die, right? Then I'll let you rest here for a few more days?"

"Wait..."

Without waiting for the thugs in the Helmet Gang to finish their words, Kuroto Dan picked up the hammer and hit the head of this Helmet Gang mercilessly. The force was so strong that the motorcycle helmet on her head was directly smashed, and the last Helmet Gang fainted at the same time.

"Anyway, you want to give out information to save your life, right? That kind of thing, wait until I knock you down and ask slowly."

Kuroto Dan snorted coldly. What tricks can these childish school thugs come up with? How can he, who has been in the business for many years, not see it?

Gashu~

Kuroto Dan lifted the transformation. The battle was over, and it didn't even take more than ten minutes in total.

The battlefield was completely silent.

Including the Helmet Gang, who was knocked out of the block and the driver of the chariot, a total of fifty Helmet Gang thugs were moved by Kuroto Dan to the outside of the teaching building in Abydos. Kuroto Dan and Shiroko had captured a large number of enemies, but now they were worried about how to detain these thugs who had not yet woken up.

-----

Chapter: 20 There is no need to be so clear about the game!

"That... thank you, Mr. Kuroto Dan, for protecting Abydos."

Shiroko was full of gratitude to Kuroto Dan in front of him. If it weren’t for this adult who suddenly appeared, even if she had really survived today, Shiroko would probably have met her end in the next attack, which was a scene Shiroko absolutely didn’t want to witness.

"It’s a small matter." Kuroto Dan waved his hand. "Since I’ve accepted the work order, I will definitely satisfy the customer! If I can’t handle these little brats, would I have lived all these years in vain?"

"But... so many captives..." Shiroko turned his head and looked at the Helmet Gangs piled up in the open space in front of the teaching building, feeling embarrassed. "Mr. Kuroto-san, Abydos might not have cells to hold them, and there is no food to feed these captives..."

"They’re captives, so why do they need to be fed?" Kuroto Dan asked, puzzled. "They’re the ones who wanted to take over your school. If today... I hadn’t been here, and you’d been defeated by them, what do you think the consequences would be?"

"Probably..."

Shiroko shuddered. "It wouldn’t be good..."

"That’s right." Kuroto Dan snapped his fingers. "The other side is the enemy who wants to take your life. You can’t be so soft-hearted toward them. But as for the problem with the cells..."

Kuroto Dan awkwardly touched his chest, and, in the puzzled gaze of Shiroko beside him, he sighed. "I still can’t take it out..."

The power of God Maximum X was disturbed by an unknown force and couldn’t be taken out smoothly. Kuroto Dan twisted his chin with his fingers and suddenly remembered something.

Clapping his hands, Kuroto Dan was overjoyed. "Got it!"

Shiroko was frightened by his clapping, and the wolf ears on her head suddenly stood up. "Is there, what is it?"

"A good way to imprison these people."

Transformed, Kuroto Dan rushed out of Abydos School, using the network route of the Kaiser Corporation again, and burned the electronic brains of several Kaiser Corporation hackers. He then returned to Millennium Academy as fast as he could, rushed into the game development department, and grabbed the "Neko King (King of Cats)" Gashat from Momoi’s pocket, who hadn’t reacted yet.

"——Momoi, let me borrow the Gashat!"

"Eh? Mr. Kuroto Dan? When did you come back?"

Momoi was stunned for a moment, realizing her pockets were empty. Although she didn’t know why Kuroto Dan suddenly came back, he didn’t say a word before rushing out again and disappearing into the network port of Millennium Academy.

"He... came back so quickly from Abydos?"

The ability to swipe cards out of thin air was something that Kuroto Dan, who couldn’t make "God Maximum X" leave his body, do yet.

After all, the power of God Maximum X only existed within his body and couldn’t be used directly.

Fortunately, Kuroto Dan’s network travel method was surprisingly fast. In just half an hour, he had returned to the school in Abydos.

"I almost forgot about this." Kuroto Dan held the "King of Cats" in his hand. "The Gashat made by Momoi can be used right now. As long as I can use the power I can mobilize, building something is easy~"

Shiroko looked at the cassette in Kuroto Dan’s hand in confusion. "Mr. Kuroto Dan, what is this?"

"A wonderful tool that can make things easier for the next task."

Facing the open space in front of him, Kuroto Dan’s eyes flashed with purple light, and he reached out to press the button on the Gashat.

A pixel light curtain immediately unfolded behind him, featuring a large group of cute cats huddled together in a ball!

"Neko King!"

Accompanied by the announcement that sounded from nowhere, "Neko King," with Kuroto Dan’s one billion power, was activated.

In the shocked and surprised eyes of Shiroko, the mighty cat squad emerged from the light curtain!

"I remember, this is a city-building and management simulation game, right?" Kuroto Dan thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "I’ve completely understood this game!"

In the eyes of Shiroko who couldn’t understand, Kuroto Dan arrogantly commanded the cats who wore safety helmets and carried pickaxes and shovels, walking on two legs.

"Team No. 1, go build a prison that can hold so many people!"

"Team No. 2, clean up the sand here!"

"Team No. 3, build a greenhouse that can grow vegetables!"

"Team No. 4, recycle and decompose all the metal garbage! Pack the guns and ammunition separately!"

Under Kuroto Dan’s command, the cats split into several groups and began leveling the ground and cleaning the battlefield. The cats wearing helmets seemed to have taken out a roll of blueprints and discussed the plans with each other. "Meow meow?"

"Meow meow meow!"

"Meow~"

When passing by Shiroko, these cats would nod at her. As Shiroko watched these cute, fluffy creatures, half a person’s height, start to work, a rare smile appeared on her face.

After all, Shiroko was

a girl and liked cute things. The sight of these adorable cat construction teams made her feel a little more relaxed, until she saw an incomprehensible progress bar on the construction site the cats had planned.

"What is that?" Shiroko had already asked this question many times. What Kuroto Dan showed her—whether it was Kamen Rider, the Gashat, or the cat construction team—was something she couldn’t understand. "Looks like a bar?"

"It’s a progress bar." Kuroto Dan explained to her. "As long as the progress bar reaches the end, the building will be complete. This is an element in all construction games~"

"Huh?"

Shiroko turned her head to look at the cats again, but when she was distracted talking to Kuroto Dan, she noticed that the dusty open space had been cleared of several clean blocks.

When the building below the progress bar, one-third complete, came into view, the foundation and house frame had already been built!

"No, this, that... Where are the materials?" Shiroko expressed her doubts incoherently. "Where do they get the materials from? Does cement solidify so quickly? Those wooden frames? There are no trees outside Abydos!"

Kuroto Dan proudly put his hands on his waist. "There’s no need to be so clear about construction games! Don’t worry about it~"

"How can this be something you don’t need to worry about?!!"

The cat construction team worked quickly. After all, they were a product of the game. In the not-so-realistic game, the construction process could mostly be seen as a large cloud of smoke with clanging hammers and picks, and then the building was built—don’t ask! There’s no need to be so clear about the game!

"By the way, Mr. Kuroto."

Looking at the prison built by the cats, Shiroko asked in confusion, "Why do you need so many captives?"

"Well... to verify something." Kuroto Dan didn’t clearly explain what he was going to do. "Anyway, these gangsters are scum. If I catch them and make them do some labor reform, isn’t it just a chance for them to atone for their sins?"

At this point, Shiroko suddenly had an idea. "That’s right! We’ve just caught so many Helmet Gangs. We need to find out the whereabouts of Serika and Hoshino!"