Chapter 639: Sesame (Complimentary Service)

Author's Preface

When you're in the lead, you can afford to have some leeway in your heart; this is a story about the Ancient Battlefield.

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"Hey, don't hit me with a baby stroller."

After dying in mid-air by doing three and a half spins in a 卍 pose, I received applause for my highly artistic death before equipping the hat I had left on the floor. I then approached "Ivory," who had somehow moved from hovering over the center of the hole to closer to us, to press her about the state of what I saw down there.

Baby stroller? The players floated question marks above their heads, but as for Ivory herself, she slightly softened her sharp expression into a smile that practically screamed, "You understood perfectly."

『Splendid, to see through it on your very first try... It seems the wisdom that conquered the Leviathan is the real deal.』

"A baby stroller... I see, a newly spawned player."

Oh, The Professor. I was wondering why you were being so quiet, but it seems you've finally decided to join the conversation.

"Given that she's been calling us her children since earlier, and inferring from the coordinates where Behemoth was lurking, it's only natural... So this is the birthplace of the PioneersPlayers."

『Splendid, truly splendid, The Professor. Yes, this place is the womb where you—the Second Humanity, who appeared with the wind and shall leave with the wind—were born, and the birth canal from which you departed on your journeys.』

"Wait, is it really okay for all of us to just waltz back into our hometown together?"

"So we're gonna act like babies inside a spaceship...?"

"I can roll with that."

"Please stop suddenly pulling a pacifier out of your pocket, you massive heavily-armored warrior... Under what exact circumstances did you even prepare that item for?"

The true identity of what sent me and the other players flying was an elevator used to transport test tubes packed with pre-birth players, zipping around inside the hole. Because it's sci-fi, those chunks of metal naturally move wirelessly in all directions, and only when a player falls in, they probably get launched upward at a speed lethal enough to one-shot them.

"So what do we do then?"

"Maybe dodge it physically?"

"No, that's impossible. Skills and magic definitely won't keep up, and at worst, we'll just get knocked back by an area-of-effect suppression."

"If Tsuchinoko-san says so... Exploding Green Peas, do you have any ideas?"

"Oh, I know this one! It's the classic trope where the kid with a weird last name gets constantly called on by the teachers at school, right?"

"No, no, as a teacher, even I wouldn't single out a specific student to that extent... Though maybe across multiple days it gets a bit suspicious."

"I don't need the official endorsement of a real-life professorrr!!"

While watching Exploding Green Peas-san crouch down and scream, I turned my gaze toward The Professor, wondering what we should do next. The reason he hadn't joined the conversation until now wasn't because he was zoning out; while we were all staring down the "hole," this fake little girl had been constantly examining the "floor," "walls," and "ceiling."

"So, what's the verdict from the leader of the investigation team?"

"My current theory is that this giant hole itself might actually be a fake. Well, not a fake in the sense that it doesn't function—it's certainly operating—but rather... is this place truly the 'Outer Rim'?"

"Meaning?"

"Behemoth, or in this case, Bahamut. Bahamut is a massive ship. Naturally, it has a length from head to tail, a depth from belly to back... and it also has a certain size around its girth."

"In other words, there's no guarantee that this hole actually extends all the way to the very edges of Behemoth's interior, right?"

"Exactly, Sunraku-kun. My theory is that instead of the hole itself, there must be a way down somewhere around the perimeter of the hole... perhaps directly beneath where we're standing right now, or maybe a door hidden within the walls..."

Well, it's pretty massive... Even searching for it is going to be a pain. Hmm... hm?

"Oh, Rei-shi and Akitsu Akane?"

"Ah, Sunraku-san! So this is what you meant by a festival!!"

"H-Hello..."

Among the players who were trickling into the Behemoth, I spotted some familiar faces, so I walked over and, sure enough, it was Rei-shi and Akitsu Akane. Rei-shi was in her usual... slightly too villainous-looking armor, while Akitsu Akane seemed to have come here without Noirlind, perhaps because this was the Old Continent.

"Ah, so you made it in time, Rei-shi."

"U-Um, yes."

Rei-shi's household seemed pretty strict about manners and stuff just by looking at them, so I didn't think she'd be able to pull off the "Get home! Instantly! Log in!" routine as easily as I do at my place... No, wait. That just means I took longer than expected. Damn you, Pencilgon siblings! Wait, is Orcelott-kun the bad guy in this situation?

"Anyway, if you jump into that hole right now, you'll get punched by an elevator and die, so we're currently looking for an alternative entry route."

"An elevator... punches you?"

"I don't really get it, but basically we just need to find the entrance, right!!"

Fufufu, that's right, go forth, Akitsu Akane! Use your real-life luck to sniff out the entrance!!

Well, not that things would ever go that smooth— "Could it be this right here?"

"No way!?"

Wait, wait, wait, setting a record time of fifteen seconds is way too much bullshit, come on!! No, wait, woah, is this seriously the entrance? Blended into the sci-fi patterns on the floor, there was indeed something that looked like a hatch, big enough to fit four people if we squeezed.

"What's wrong?"

"Hm? Ah, Big Sis Exploding Green Peas, our resident Strong Luck just found a hatch."

"Are you kidding me!?"

This is no joke. People had scattered widely to investigate the outer rim, but hearing the commotion, a crowd started gathering. I gestured for them to make some space while I went to check the hatch.

"Hmm... Doesn't feel like something I can just break. If that's the case, it must open under some specific condition... 'Ivory,' open this."

『You must figure out how to open that on your own as well, Sunraku.』

Alright, got her commitment on record.

"Okay, so it's confirmed to be a gimmick-type that needs to be opened... It's not the Amberjack Pass, and there are no machines that look like readers on the outer rim..."

Do we really have to break it? No, let's change my perspective. This is an intelligence test from Ivory. She still seems to think we're kindergarteners or something.

While the possibility of prying it open by force isn't exactly zero, it's far more likely to involve one of the other "means" players possessed upon entering Behemoth.

A fantasy it may be, but it's a scientific, cybernetic, and space-faring fantasy. Even if it opens with an "Open Sesame," it should be rooted in science. A hatch, a door, a gate... What we need is a "key," right?

"The BC-Beacon?"

No reaction. So it really is just for calling it... Let's shift my line of thinking again.

A "key" isn't always physical. For example... facial recognition or fingerprint scanning. But if it's that, there's nothing we can do. There probably aren't even any bone fragments left of the Divine Age humans. Or maybe there's a mummy lying around somewhere... but what, are we supposed to cast healing magic on it to bring back its youthful skin?

"...No, wait. Authentication?"

"Did you figure something out?"

"No, or maybe..."

It's a method of "entering" that's almost too obvious, but wait, we've already entered. Furthermore, Ivory, just like Isana, is essentially... yes, the landlord.

"Hey, 'Ivory'... I don't know if it's a pass to enter or an account to bypass security, but......... We can just register a new one, can't we?"

『Fufufu... Well done.』

The very next instant, at almost the exact same time I realized my body was suddenly faintly glowing...

"Eh."

My body slipped right through the hatch and plummeted downward.

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Author's Afterword

Next Time: Spilling the beans about Q.E.D. in the next chapter.