Surprisingly, the call really came.
The next day, shortly after returning home from school, a call arrived on my mobile device.
“Hello.”
It was a man’s voice. It was not familiar to me.
Who could this be, I though as I wondered how to respond, but the man coughed and spoke.
“This is Lios. I’m the system administrator for The World.”
Suddenly, yesterday’s conversation about The World came back to my mind.
“Oh, yeah,” I replied dumbly.
“Thanks for the other day…”
Once I knew who he was, I had no clue how to react.
He said my name and confirmed he hadn’t made a mistake.
I replied with a yes.
“Actually, I’m near your house right now,” said Lios.
“I would like to talk to you directly about future developments in The World. Is school now over?”
“Yes.”
“Is there a place where we can talk? It won’t take too long. About thirty minutes is all I need.”
I mentioned the hamburger chain in front of the station.
That’s not to say that it was a particularly easy place in which to talk. It’s just a good place to go.
“Understood. I’ll be there in about 30 minutes. Okay?”
The call was disconnected.
I changed from my school uniform to plain clothes and went to the station by bicycle.
The man was already waiting for me when I entered the store.
A man in a suit stood up and beckoned me with his hand.
“You must be Kite, right?” said the man.
“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lios.”
He offered me his business card as he spoke.
It seemed the likelihood of me getting business cards increased recently.
I received it with an awkward motion.
CyberConnect Corporation System Management Department Manager
Kouji Tsuchiya
“Please have a seat.”
As he spoke, I, somewhat flustered, sat back in the seat he pointed to.
But this can’t be helped, I thought.
When I entered the store, I unknowingly looked for Lios. In other words, the appearance of a man with an atmosphere similar to that of Lios. Fat, large, middle-aged. I was using that image as a clue.
But now, the man who sat opposite me was completely different.
First, he was young. Probably young, I thought. He seemed to be younger than Mt. Tokuoka who I had met last time. No, is that really the case? I don’t know how to tell the age of adults.
He also had broad shoulders. Yet he was not fat, but rather thin, sharp and powerful. Was it the look of a top athlete? I didn’t know any top athletes. In any case, he was totally different from the rich and merchant-like Lios.
“First of all, I apologize for the frivolous behavior of my subordinates the other day.”
Waiting for me to relax, he bowed.
“Huh?”
Subordinates? Perhaps he meant those PCs he appeared with who looked like a copy of him?
“Umm, you mean those… pig race squad people?”
“That’s right.”
Mr. Tsuchiya frowned faintly.
“A system administrator’s job shouldn’t extend beyond the sense of their role in the game as it should be. Their attitude had a significant lack of self-awareness as a system administrator.”
He continued with a deep sinking look, without worrying about being embarrassed.
“But… they were also tired of working overtime after already working overtime. Banning that would drastically reduce their motivation to work. Sorry if you felt uncomfortable.”
“Yeah…”
Apparently, this person seemed to be struggling in a way I could not imagine.
However, if I wanted to say that I was uncomfortable, I thought that it was more shocking when I was called out by a false email and told that I was going to be deleted, but I thought it was wiser not to say anything more, so I refrained from putting it out there.
“So, let’s get into the subject…”
I realized that there was only one thing he and Lios had in common. It was the unfriendly sour look on their faces.
“The world has long been an Internet society, but I have never been face-to-face when judging people. You know?”
“Yes.”
“That woman, Helba said – ‘Managing them is not controlling them. Why don’t you look at these kids a little more?’ I’m not in the least willing to follow the words of a hacker, but…”
He coughed.
“In order to do that, I need to get to know you. I wanted to meet with you, talk, and learn about you.“
Then the interview began.
It was nothing but an interview
Mr. Tsuchiya asked a question and I answered.
When did you start The World? Why did you start?
When did you get your bracelet? From whom?
What do you know of the series of incidents? And so on.
For some of the questions, I felt that Mr. Tsuchiya already knew the answer and was checking with me just in case.
“Are you talking about the incidents outside of the game?”
When I was asked this, I remembered Mr. Tokuoka.
However, Mr. Tokuoka was extremely reluctant to let CC know about him.
“No,” I answered.
“So, one last thing. Why do you keep playing the game?” said Mr. Tsuchiya.
“A mysterious phenomenon is happening in The World, which I have to admit. And you are probably one of the people most often facing the anomaly. So why continue the game?”
“I want to help my friends,” I answered, and Mr. Tsuchiya nodded lightly.
“The PC named Orca, Yasuhiko in the real world, is in hospital because he is unconscious.”
He leaned on the table and he looked directly at me.
“Do you really believe that if you continue the game, Yasuhiko will recover?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“All the answers are within The World. I think so anyway.”
There was silence for a while.
“Alright, understood.”
Eventually, Mr. Tsuchiya gave a small nod.
“”I will refrain from commenting on your opinion right now. I’m was a CC employee before being a system administrator in The World.”
Mr. Tsuchiya himself did not want to recognize the causal relationship between The World and the coma cases.
“In any case, we want the system to be stable,” he continued.
“And you want to save your friends.”
I nodded.
“If we cooperate with each other, we may open the way,” said Mr. Tsuchiya.
Surprisingly, the call really came.
The next day, shortly after returning home from school, a call arrived on my mobile device.
“Hello.”
It was a man’s voice. It was not familiar to me.
Who could this be, I though as I wondered how to respond, but the man coughed and spoke.
“This is Lios. I’m the system administrator for The World.”
Suddenly, yesterday’s conversation about The World came back to my mind.
“Oh, yeah,” I replied dumbly.
“Thanks for the other day…”
Once I knew who he was, I had no clue how to react.
He said my name and confirmed he hadn’t made a mistake.
I replied with a yes.
“Actually, I’m near your house right now,” said Lios.
“I would like to talk to you directly about future developments in The World. Is school now over?”
“Yes.”
“Is there a place where we can talk? It won’t take too long. About thirty minutes is all I need.”
I mentioned the hamburger chain in front of the station.
That’s not to say that it was a particularly easy place in which to talk. It’s just a good place to go.
“Understood. I’ll be there in about 30 minutes. Okay?”
The call was disconnected.
I changed from my school uniform to plain clothes and went to the station by bicycle.
The man was already waiting for me when I entered the store.
A man in a suit stood up and beckoned me with his hand.
“You must be Kite, right?” said the man.
“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lios.”
He offered me his business card as he spoke.
It seemed the likelihood of me getting business cards increased recently.
I received it with an awkward motion.
CyberConnect Corporation System Management Department Manager
Kouji Tsuchiya
“Please have a seat.”
As he spoke, I, somewhat flustered, sat back in the seat he pointed to.
But this can’t be helped, I thought.
When I entered the store, I unknowingly looked for Lios. In other words, the appearance of a man with an atmosphere similar to that of Lios. Fat, large, middle-aged. I was using that image as a clue.
But now, the man who sat opposite me was completely different.
First, he was young. Probably young, I thought. He seemed to be younger than Mt. Tokuoka who I had met last time. No, is that really the case? I don’t know how to tell the age of adults.
He also had broad shoulders. Yet he was not fat, but rather thin, sharp and powerful. Was it the look of a top athlete? I didn’t know any top athletes. In any case, he was totally different from the rich and merchant-like Lios.
“First of all, I apologize for the frivolous behavior of my subordinates the other day.”
Waiting for me to relax, he bowed.
“Huh?”
Subordinates? Perhaps he meant those PCs he appeared with who looked like a copy of him?
“Umm, you mean those… pig race squad people?”
“That’s right.”
Mr. Tsuchiya frowned faintly.
“A system administrator’s job shouldn’t extend beyond the sense of their role in the game as it should be. Their attitude had a significant lack of self-awareness as a system administrator.”
He continued with a deep sinking look, without worrying about being embarrassed.
“But… they were also tired of working overtime after already working overtime. Banning that would drastically reduce their motivation to work. Sorry if you felt uncomfortable.”
“Yeah…”
Apparently, this person seemed to be struggling in a way I could not imagine.
However, if I wanted to say that I was uncomfortable, I thought that it was more shocking when I was called out by a false email and told that I was going to be deleted, but I thought it was wiser not to say anything more, so I refrained from putting it out there.
“So, let’s get into the subject…”
I realized that there was only one thing he and Lios had in common. It was the unfriendly sour look on their faces.
“The world has long been an Internet society, but I have never been face-to-face when judging people. You know?”
“Yes.”
“That woman, Helba said – ‘Managing them is not controlling them. Why don’t you look at these kids a little more?’ I’m not in the least willing to follow the words of a hacker, but…”
He coughed.
“In order to do that, I need to get to know you. I wanted to meet with you, talk, and learn about you.“
Then the interview began.
It was nothing but an interview
Mr. Tsuchiya asked a question and I answered.
When did you start The World? Why did you start?
When did you get your bracelet? From whom?
What do you know of the series of incidents? And so on.
For some of the questions, I felt that Mr. Tsuchiya already knew the answer and was checking with me just in case.
“Are you talking about the incidents outside of the game?”
When I was asked this, I remembered Mr. Tokuoka.
However, Mr. Tokuoka was extremely reluctant to let CC know about him.
“No,” I answered.
“So, one last thing. Why do you keep playing the game?” said Mr. Tsuchiya.
“A mysterious phenomenon is happening in The World, which I have to admit. And you are probably one of the people most often facing the anomaly. So why continue the game?”
“I want to help my friends,” I answered, and Mr. Tsuchiya nodded lightly.
“The PC named Orca, Yasuhiko in the real world, is in hospital because he is unconscious.”
He leaned on the table and he looked directly at me.
“Do you really believe that if you continue the game, Yasuhiko will recover?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“All the answers are within The World. I think so anyway.”
There was silence for a while.
“Alright, understood.”
Eventually, Mr. Tsuchiya gave a small nod.
“”I will refrain from commenting on your opinion right now. I’m was a CC employee before being a system administrator in The World.”
Mr. Tsuchiya himself did not want to recognize the causal relationship between The World and the coma cases.
“In any case, we want the system to be stable,” he continued.
“And you want to save your friends.”
I nodded.
“If we cooperate with each other, we may open the way,” said Mr. Tsuchiya.
