Chapter 235: A Revelation at the Bottom of the World

Author's Preface
I successfully managed to pull Varuna with a single draw ticket, so from today onwards I will be calling myself "Varuna Katarina." That's a lie. It's a joke.

No, this is bad, right?
I'm not talking about the content. Well, the content is bad too, but am I really supposed to be seeing this right now? Clearly, this is a place you're supposed to visit a little further down the line... Specifically, after the Alarm Bell of the Abyss has been ringing off the hook, and that thing from the video—the thing that dragged the scientist in like... well, to put it mildly, like a cream puff being crushed—manifests itself as a clear and present enemy. Isn't that when you're supposed to come here?

N-No, wait... Since I have an order in the form of a quest from Vash, there has to be some method to activate the elevator... Wait, could it be that it's merely "available to accept as a quest," but the field itself won't actually be unlocked until later?

"No, no, no, no... I did say earlier that the debugging was lacking, but surely it can't be completely outside their expectations."

There's even a Unique that triggers from fighting an opponent over 100 levels higher than you. At the very least, a 300-meter wall run using consecutive normal skills shouldn't be considered a bug. I can't entirely deny the possibility of it being an exploit, but... it's a mechanic! It operates within the mechanics, so it's safe!

"Well, anyway... You get it now, right Emul? Evaluations are decided by what a person actually accomplishes."

"Yes sir... I felt the Vorpal Soul from that thoroughly unlikable person in his final moments desu wa..."

I've seen my fair share of these "side character bad endings" to the point where I'm sick of them, so I didn't feel particularly moved by it. But acting pretentious here would just feel hollow.
Besides, it's thanks to that scientist being here that I can obtain the Delta Devices.

"For now, we've figured out that this place is way more dangerous than expected, so let's wrap this up and withdraw immediately."

I have a feeling that whatever the "Alarm Bell of the Abyss" is warning about... the "Enemy" that will appear in the fourth stage of the World Quest, triggered by the defeat of one more Unique Monster, is probably that thing.
Because of that, I don't think there's much chance of any danger occurring right this very moment. But then again, this game sicced a Unique Monster on players in the beginner area, so letting my guard down is strictly prohibited.

"Emul, just in case, get ready to dive into the elevator at a moment's notice."

"Y-Yes sir...!"

No self-destructing... No self-destructing... Here goes nothing!
Kachank. I pulled out one of the Delta Devices slotted into the equipment. Keeping the Mirror Shield of the Nether-King (Dis Pater) equipped on my left arm ready to raise at any time, I kept a vigilant watch on my surroundings... particularly toward the hole.

After about ten seconds passed and I confirmed nothing in particular happened, I slightly relaxed my vigilance and recovered the remaining Delta Devices.

"Thinking about it calmly, that scientist was trying to pass the devices on to someone else. Activating a self-destruct mechanism here would just be a gag..."

Just to be absolutely sure, I kicked another piece of equipment with an unknown purpose down to the bottom of the hole... No reaction. Alright, standing down.
I've determined there are no immediate dangers. I've secured the Delta Devices, which was my quota, but since I'm here, I might as well get the other things I need to do out of the way.

"Pencilgon really is an unparalleled schemer, isn't she..."

To summarize, she half-forced me to buy this item called the "Recording Eyeball," telling me, "If we leave you alone, you'll just keep triggering important lore drops left and right, so carry a recording item."
So the God of Fate got her eyeballs turned into an item after her tears? That's rough. Anyway, putting that aside, this is what you'd call a recording item. Apparently, they used to be consumable items during the early days of service, but after a barrage of protests from players, it's now an item with infinite uses.

I played the recording of the scientist's final moments once more while using the Recording Eyeball. By hiding the location, I can extort money with the video, and then I can extort even more money in exchange for revealing the location.
As expected of Pencilgon. There's a reason she managed to build a completely crimson nation.

"Besides, there's no guarantee that puke-earthworm won't be here the next time I visit... Emul, keep quiet for a bit."

"Yes sir!"

Some noise mixed in here and there with a few "piuu" and "hyoe," but as a recorded video, it's a passing grade.
However, what concerns me are those two corrupted files. Is there a way to restore them, or is it just flavor text?

If it's the latter, that's fine, but if it's the former, I have to consider two options.
Namely, do I bring the means to restore them here, or do I take the corrupted files to a place that has the means to restore them?

"...Nn?"

I feel like I was just about to realize something... Nn?
Well, whatever. If I need to transport the data, I'd probably need some kind of item for it, or maybe I need to search for a location that has the item for restoration.

"...Nnn?"

Something just came to me. It rose right up to the back of my throat. It's not puke; it's an idea.
Alright, let's carefully scrutinize my thoughts. What I was thinking about just now was the corrupted data stored inside this sci-fi computer.
If it's merely flavor text, that's fine. But if it isn't flavor text, and it's something that can be viewed upon fulfilling certain conditions, the question is how to restore this data.

If I explore further and find a materialized Divine Age facility other than this one—like the Divine Age Iron Ruins, for example—and data restoration is possible there... In that case, do I bring the means to restore the data here? Or do I take the corrupted data out of here, and......... using what?

"A way to put data into something... and transport it............... Voh."

A revelation. Truly, a revelation.
It wasn't that I came up with a new idea. I remembered something I had forgotten.

"Daaaaaa-aaaaah-aaaaaah-aaaaaaaaaah!!"

"Pyaaaaa-aaaaaah-aaaaaaaah-aaaaaah!?"

Wait, wait, wait, wait! Will it work? Can I do it!?

"A slot... Where's the slot...!? Damn it, do you not physically plug things in in the super-future!? No, I have one half of it. I can guess based on its shape...!"

"S-Sunraku-san, what's wrong desu wa!? You're making a more dangerous face than ever before desu wa!"

"Of course I'm making a dangerous face! Ah, damn it! I had com-plete-ly forgotten about it until this very moment! Did the events just pile up too much, or did the impact of Inventoria completely overwrite it!?"

Inventoria... No, something I had completely forgotten about, and because of that, it had remained tossed into my inventory, entirely forgotten... A semi-transparent cube with lines of light running through it.
Put simply, it's a mere storage medium. But the information hidden inside it... contains the very essence of ultimate techniques that, no matter how hard I tried, I could only ever recreate as imitations.

The Seiten Style Secret Arts... By defeating the Unique Monster "Wethermon the Tombguard," Katzo, Pencilgon, and I each obtained different drop items. And what ended up in my hands was this small... yet unfathomably massive cube containing information.

"The Tactical Mecha Beasts didn't work. They're basically portable terminals, so they probably can't handle full-scale operations. But what about this?"

I don't know what that scientist was trying to do, but this is, at the very least, equipment he prepared to do something.
Shouldn't it be capable of reading and browsing...? Guh, where the hell is the slot on this thing! They had to make the form pointlessly stylish. At least put a locator arrow or something!

"Is it this? Here? It's heeeere!!"

I searched the casing as if licking it clean, and when I set the cube into a recess located where the hologram was projected, it was a perfect bingo. At long last, the cube—which up until now had only proved its worth as a stylish decorative die—revealed its true value.

"Ooh.........!!"

The light... overflows──────!

Author's Afterword

• Methods for Acquiring Skills
  The three basic methods for acquiring skills are: "Inspiration via the player's motion tracing," "Derivation into higher-tier skills by raising skill levels," and "Skill fusion via the Skill Gardener." The "Secret Tomes" sold at the Skill Gardening facilities run by NPCs have the effect of applying a correction to the motion trace judgment, making it easier to trigger the inspiration for a skill.

However, these are strictly the "basic" methods of acquisition. During the Divine Age, when both science and magic reached their absolute pinnacle, there may or may not have been a much quicker method to directly implant techniques into humanity...