The Fortuitous Encounter in the Game Becomes Reality Episode 6
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The Fortuitous Encounter in the Game Becomes Reality Episode 6
2. Pay-to-Win (3)
Chronicle Online, where Duke Lucas's fortuitous encounter lies dormant, is a second-generation virtual reality game now in its tenth year of service.
Considering that the statement about the fortuitous encounter became known 20 years ago, the gap in time might seem strange, but the reason is simple once you know it.
"Because the fortuitous encounter is not fixed in one place, and moves elsewhere when the time comes."
A sharp Treasure Hunter or a national organization with excellent intelligence might have figured out that the fortuitous encounter is hidden online, but it is not something you can find just by randomly poking around everywhere.
"The fortuitous encounter possesses a will."
The fortuitous encounter can go anywhere that is connected to the Hollywood virtual reality system, and no matter what security system exists, it penetrates it and builds a domain of its own.
You can tell just by the fact that "Main God," the management system of Chronicle Online, plays the role of intermediary administrator for the fortuitous encounter.
Therefore, to obtain the fortuitous encounter, you have to take a different approach.
You cannot just obsess over the place where the fortuitous encounter is hidden; you have to research Duke Lucas himself as a person.
Naturally, there is no need to elaborate on how helpful knowledge related to Earth is in that process.
Now, one question that arises here.
"Putting aside my in-game status, how can Chronicle Online-specific options like the supporter 'Arcia' be applied even to reality?"
If there had been no such thing as supporters in Chronicle Online, Arcia should have remained asleep.
And understandably so, because the Arcia in reality said that she was created by Duke Lucas.
Even though Chronicle Online's system was created after Duke Lucas's death, it matches too perfectly with the fortuitous encounters he prepared.
"This is impossible unless he could see the future."
But this is exactly where you begin to feel the frightening nature of the fortuitous encounters left behind by Duke Lucas.
As mentioned earlier, the fortuitous encounter possesses a will.
If a place is connected through the Hollywood system, it penetrates any defense and establishes a domain for itself.
But it doesn't end with merely implanting the fortuitous encounter system; it even adds or modifies settings to suit its own taste.
Virtual reality is a system where the human brain connects directly to the server through a terminal, and the fortuitous encounter used this to brainwash the game developers and make them obey its instructions.
In other words, it means it controls humans.
"This is no different from hacking the brain."
How terrifying is that?
It is a method you would only expect to see in a science fiction movie.
If Duke Lucas had so wished, he probably could have controlled all humans using the Hollywood system.
* * *
"By the way, Arcia."
"Yes, Master."
A brief moment of downtime while we hunted Orcs for leveling and waited for them to respawn.
I called out to Arcia, who was standing still, staring into empty space.
"What happens to your physical body in reality while you are logged into the game?"
"It switches to Eco Mode and rests. However, monitoring functions are active to protect you, Master."
"So if something happens outside, you can immediately notify me or respond to it?"
"That is correct."
It was more convenient than I had imagined.
While I am logged into the game, my body in reality is completely defenseless.
But now I have a means of protection.
From now on, even if there are misunderstandings, I should keep Arcia in my room.
"Master."
At that moment, Arcia informed me that the monsters had respawned.
I raised my magic staff and began casting.
"Magic Missile."
Our combat style was extremely simple.
Once Arcia, the tank, drew the monsters' aggro, I finished them off with magic.
It is common knowledge that the offensive power of a typical first-class mage is inferior to a sword, but I have pay-to-win-inflated stats and low-level, high-performance gear that I bought without caring about the price.
Thanks to that, monsters at the same level were always one-shot kills.
Ever since Arcia appeared, I no longer had to get beaten up by monsters and feel pain.
In that sense, I felt very fortunate that my class was fixed as a mage.
In the end, the hardest period of hunting was the level 1 10 range when I had no skills and only swung a sword.
[You have reached Level 30.]
That ever-sweet level-up message, no matter how many times you hear it.
I clenched my fist.
[Fortuitous Encounter Quest Stage 2]
Condition: Reach Level 30 (Clear), Subjugate Orc Warrior Kants
Reward: Unlock the 3rd Floor of Manuel Lucas's Magic Tower
Now all I have to do is kill the named monster "Orc Warrior Kants," and the quest will be complete.
Once I clear Stage 2 of the Fortuitous Encounter Quest, the 3rd floor of the Magic Tower will be opened.
With that, together with reaching the realm of the 2nd Circle, I will be able to recover an even better fortuitous encounter, so my anticipation inevitably grew.
Now that the only remaining task is a single named monster, I will probably be able to obtain the reward before my connection time limit runs out.
As expected, when the experience of raising a max-level character is combined with the power of pay-to-win, the growth rate becomes incredibly fast.
I will probably be able to maintain this pace steadily up to Level 100.
"But 'Orc Warrior Kants'… I've never heard of it before."
I used the auxiliary function in the quest window to track the location of Orc Warrior Kants.
But Kants's location marked on the map was somewhere unexpected.
"He's here?"
Because it was none other than "Manuel Lucas's Magic Tower 1st Floor."
This meant that he was not a normal Chronicle Online monster, but one created for the fortuitous encounter.
Thanks to that, a small furrow formed between my brows as I lightly searched for my target.
For now, I would move according to plan.
But what is this…?
This unsettling feeling?
[You will be moved to a secret space by Lord God Ariel.]
Right after that, the scenery around me changed along with a teleportation message.
The 1st floor of Manuel Lucas's Magic Tower feels like a waiting room.
An empty space surrounded on all sides by marble.
But this time, there was something different from before.
A green giant of a man was glaring at me with a glaive resting on his shoulder.
"If I kill this human, I become special."
And the guy with the name "Orc Warrior Kants" floating above his head began approaching challengingly, accompanied by a meaningful line.
If this were a normal Orc Warrior, there's no way a mage supported by a tank-type supporter would lose, but this guy radiated the feeling that he would be far from easy to beat.
[Use of consumable offensive items such as bombs and scrolls is prohibited.]
Furthermore, with the use of items that would make the hunt easier now banned, it was not hard to understand the meaning of this battle.
"So this is a mechanism for real combat experience."
Does it mean he wants to raise me, his disciple in all but name, to be strong?
I let out a brief, wry chuckle and focused on the front.
"Arcia."
"Yes."
A moment later.
The guy gradually picked up speed and started running.
I hastily ordered Arcia to defend.
She raised a shield larger than her own torso and braced for the impact to come.
"Die, human!"
The distance closed in an instant.
The muscles covered in green skin swelled greatly, and the tightly gripped glaive came swinging down fiercely.
It might look impossible in terms of mass and momentum for the seemingly delicate Arcia to block the attack of a monster about two meters tall, but…
-KWAAANG!
With a shock like a bomb going off, the one who took a step back was not Arcia, but Orc Warrior Kants.
As expected of a supporter with top-tier stats even among Uniques, her defensive power was outstanding.
"Kh!"
As if he couldn't believe he had lost the contest of strength, Kants wore a shockingly realistic expression for a mere game monster.
Jiiiiing.
However, that expression did not last long.
Because the casting of my offensive spell was completed at the very moment the two collided.
While I was stepping backward, I pointed a finger at Kants's face, which was completely exposed.
"Magic Missile."
The blue energy gathering at my fingertip turned into a beam of light and destroyed his right eyeball.
KWAJIK!
[Critical Hit!]
"Gyaaaah!"
Thanks to being covered head to toe in pay-to-win gear, my Magic Missile had surpassed the typical 1st Circle level.
Against monsters of the same level, I could easily take their heads with a one-shot kill.
Bwoong!
"Wh-what?"
But even after his eye, a critical point, had burst, the guy showed tenacity by counterattacking.
KWAANG!
Once again, Arcia thoroughly blocked the enemy's attack, allowing us to overcome the crisis, but when I looked at the HP above his head, I couldn't help but grimace.
[Orc Warrior Kants]
HP 5,300/5,500
"Ha, you've got to be kidding me."
Never mind the total HP; how could he be this absurdly tough after taking a critical wound?
KWAANG! KWAANG! KWAANG!
Even though Kants was excited, he must have decided it was inefficient to swing his weapon at Arcia's shield after that first clash, because he kept stubbornly aiming for me behind her.
Arcia was protecting me extremely well despite the fierce attacks, but because my senses in the game and reality were synchronized due to the fortuitous encounter, the shockwaves felt threatening enough to register on my skin.
Ting!
Sparks flying right before my eyes from time to time.
If that glaive were to pierce through Arcia's shield even once and stab into my body, the pain would be beyond imagination.
It would be a lie to say I wasn't tense from the terrifying momentum of the enemy, but I've already lived over forty years including my previous life.
I've already experienced death, and even drank poison as a child, so I wasn't about to get scared by something like this and let my judgment be clouded.
"Dig!"
Thud!
When wielding not only glaives but all kinds of blades, your stepping foot is extremely important.
I used an earth‑digging spell to take away his stepping foot right as he took a step forward, and when the green giant staggered as a result, Arcia used Shield Charging and managed to knock him flat.
"Got scared, huh."
I clicked my tongue briefly and started casting Magic Missile.
The flustered Kants hurriedly tried to get up, but Arcia did not let him.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"C‑coward!"
Whenever he tried to stand, she swung her shield to knock him down, and whenever he tried again, she swung her shield to knock him down again.
In response, Kants tried swinging his glaive, did side rolls, and even threw himself bodily in various ways, but under Arcia's thorough marking, who was like a wall, he couldn't easily get back on his feet.
"Magic Missile. Magic Missile."
Meanwhile, I very comfortably repeated casting and activation, firing off Magic Missiles in a barrage.
No matter how tough he was, under the continuous attacks Kants's HP was shaved away helplessly.
Only after quite some time did he finally manage to escape from the shield hell, but by then his HP was already down to about ten percent.
"If he'd just dropped his weapon and tried to imitate some ground techniques, he could've gotten out of it much faster."
In the end, no matter how enhanced he is, is there no escaping a prewritten program?
The glaive he stubbornly refused to let go of only ended up hindering his movements.
"Krrrk!"
Kants, thoroughly worked up, charged at me headlong like a berserker, but any sense of pressure from him had long since disappeared.
Simply continuing to defend and attack as safely as possible was enough for the battle to end before long.
[You have subjugated Orc Warrior Kants.]
You could say this battle was the result created by wit and unshaken cold‑bloodedness.
[You have cleared Stage 2 of the Fortuitous Encounter Quest.]
[The conditions to unlock the next area of the Magic Tower have been met. The 3rd floor of Manuel Lucas's Magic Tower is now open.]
I nodded in satisfaction and immediately headed for the 3rd floor of the Magic Tower.
Manuel Lucas's Magic Tower, 3rd Floor.
A space similar to the 2nd floor, but a little wider and more splendid.
As expected, the enormous bookshelf occupying one side of the wall drew the eye, and in front of it stood a chest marked by ornate patterns.
[Treasure Chest 2]