*
"Will this do?"
I couldn’t think of what to send her.
Especially since the head mod had reported to the Situation Room... no, posted a gallery notice saying she was going to sleep quite a while ago.
Still, just in case, I decided to ask whether she was asleep and wait for a reply.
If it didn’t work out, I could just do it tomorrow.
Ding!
[Not an Eraser]
- Not an Eraser: No...! What is it, Wiki?
Is that... a relief?
I gave a faint smile at the reply that came in. Maybe she had woken up because I’d sent three messages.
Honestly, I had no idea what I was supposed to say.
Our exchange so far had brought the count up to thirty-two, so I only needed eighteen more, but...
- I just wanted to talk for a bit.
- Not an Eraser: About what...? Didn’t you say it costs money...?
- I can spend this much on the head mod.
- Not an Eraser: Ah... I see...!
Do I look too weird?
Not like I’d ever done this before.
I didn’t know what to talk about, or how much distance I was supposed to keep in the way I messaged her.
The head mod in my mind felt really familiar, but she might not see it that way.
- Is there anything you want to ask me? I’ll answer anything right now, specially.
- Not an Eraser: Anything...??
- Yeah, anything is fine.
Whether it was about anomalous phenomena, TP, or the wiki.
I needed to fill the conversation count anyway, and there was no separate censorship, so I intended to answer whatever she asked.
- Not an Eraser: Then... what do you usually do with your time...?
- ? Climb the Tower, browse the gallery, that’s about it, right? Other than that, train a little?
I didn’t know how many years the head mod had been here, but someone like her couldn’t possibly not know that.
What did she mean, what did I do in the Tower...? There were only so many things you could do.
- Not an Eraser: Ah... right!! That was a dumb question, haha...
- lol no, you’re cute.
- Not an Eraser: Huh? Ah, um... I-I see...
Ah, is that kind of a weird thing to say?
Did I sound too sweet?
She seemed a little different from the head mod I was used to, so I’d said it without thinking, but I should probably be careful.
- Not an Eraser: How do you train...?? You used to ask the gallery, didn’t you? But lately you haven’t really made any posts like that.
- You know a lot, huh??
- Not an Eraser: Yes! I read every post you write, Wiki...!
That’s kind of embarrassing.
All the pointless crap I posted on the gallery was being seen by someone....
It felt like my shameful secrets had been exposed. Of course, I knew the head mod was an even bigger gallery addict than me... but I still felt my face heat up for some reason.
Was it because I’d seen the head mod’s photo?
- Not an Eraser: Ah, it’s because I’m the head mod!! I absolutely don’t mean anything weird by it...!!!!
"...Or do you?"
I let out a hollow laugh at the message that immediately followed.
The prettiest cool-beauty bishoujo in the gallery, the head mod with an S-rank body, read every single shitty post I made....
In its own way, um....
Maybe that wasn’t so bad?
- Not an Eraser: Is there... anything you’re curious about regarding me, Wiki...?
"...Something I’m curious about."
[49/50] [49/50] [49/100]
That message from the head mod had brought us to forty-nine.
I’d already almost filled the count.
Sending short messages made it go faster than I’d expected.
I could bring it to exactly fifty, check what function got unlocked, and end the conversation there without any issue, but...
Whatever.
I had to unlock up to a hundred anyway, so it wouldn’t hurt to talk a little longer.
[TP Held: 17,206]
As long as I kept around ten thousand TP for emergencies, I’d be fine.
Rather than stopping here, wouldn’t it be better to fill all one hundred today?
- What run are you on now, head mod?
- Not an Eraser: Ah... that’s what you were curious about...?
"...?"
What was that? Wasn’t this the kind of thing she meant?
I blinked at her immediate question. I couldn’t think of anything else to ask.
The only thing that came to mind was asking what had happened to her.
- Sorry, should I have asked something else?
- Not an Eraser: Ah, that’s not what I meant...!
Ding!
[An additional Starlink function has been unlocked.]
I was smiling bitterly at the head mod’s quick reply when a notification appeared over the chat window.
I immediately pressed the [+] button below and checked the function that had been [???].
[Star Voice]
Nothing unexpected, then.
I smiled bitterly at the more or less expected function in front of me.
It was probably a phone call. I took that in stride, but the one next to it was...
[Star Lounge]
A lounge?
The Star at the beginning probably didn’t mean much. It was just a brand name or something.
I understood the phone call, but what exactly was a lounge?
Ding!
- Not an Eraser: I’m currently on my 1,535th run...! I’ve been here for a really long time compared to you, Wiki, right? Hehe...
"Holy shit."
I voiced my shock at the head mod’s reply that had just arrived.
Fifteen hundred years.
I’d never imagined the head mod had been trapped for that long without even obtaining an Irregular.
Didn’t that mean she was even more entrenched than most gallery users?
No, didn’t they say you had to obtain an Irregular to become the head mod?
I was sure I’d seen people say that in the gallery.
They appeared once every thousand years on average, so she had to have gotten one. Maybe she’d become the head mod instead of using it to escape.
I don’t understand why she’d do that, though....
Just how crazy about the gallery did someone have to be to make that choice?
"..."
[Star Voice] [Star Lounge]
I silently looked back and forth between the head mod’s reply and the newly appeared functions.
Should I test them myself?
I wasn’t sure if pressing one would activate it immediately or if a notification would appear first.
If it connected the moment I pressed it, that would be awkward in its own way.
Ding!
- Not an Eraser: Wiki...? It says something called Star Voice and Star Lounge...? appeared...
So she can see them too.
Well, I’d received a photo directly from the head mod, so it made sense to assume she had the same functions on her side.
Of course, even if she connected to me or sent a request first, the money would still come out of my pocket.
- Head mod, want to test something with me?
- Not an Eraser: A test...?
The Philosopher's Stone had told me that it was better to make sure of everything concerning my abilities in the end.
The very existence of Irregulars was strange to begin with, and the ability I’d acquired was stranger still.
I hadn’t revealed all my information, but since I was currently the only person who could approach the Tower’s secrets, it told me not to overlook even the smallest thing.
- I don’t really know what any of this is either. If possible, I want to figure things out together with you, head mod.
- Not an Eraser: Figure things out together...? Okay...!! What should I tell you about...?!
Okay.
[Star Voice]
Press.
After getting confirmation from the head mod first, I immediately pressed Star Voice.
Star Lounge beside it had caught my attention more, but I needed to check everything first.
[You can connect to a phone call with the other party.]
[Limited to once per day per target, for a maximum of 10 minutes.]
[Consumes 10 TP per second.]
Ten TP per second.
Thankfully, it didn’t connect right away.
I frowned lightly at the notification window floating on the screen.
Six hundred TP per minute.
It felt expensive, yet cheap at the same time.
One message cost a hundred TP. And because the other person’s messages also consumed TP, this might be more efficient.
That must be why it has a limit.
Once a day, with a ten-minute limit.
The Tower’s timer would probably serve as the basis for a day. Ten minutes meant six thousand TP... six hundred thousand won.
I take back what I said about it being efficient.
It was fucking outrageously expensive.
Not even an international call would cost six hundred thousand won for ten minutes. Hell, even if you called outer space, it surely wouldn’t cost that much.
[Connecting Star Voice with Not an Eraser.]
[ O ] [ X ]
I pressed the X button on the notification window that appeared.
I should check Star Lounge first, then test it afterward.
[Star Lounge]
Press.
[You and the other party will transform into holographic states and move to a subspace that lasts for five minutes.]
[Can be used with the same target, limited to 3 times per day.]
[Consumes 5,000 TP per use.]
"A subspace...?"
Transform into holographic states and move there?
Did it mean some place packed with semi-transparent blue blocks, like the kind you saw in movies or games...?
This time, I could even use it multiple times on the same target.
Five thousand TP per use. It lasted five minutes, so that was one thousand TP per minute.
A phone call cost six thousand TP for ten minutes, so was this about twice as expensive?
[Moving to Star Lounge with Not an Eraser.]
[ O ] [ X ]
"..."
I pressed X again on the notification that appeared.
She’d be startled if we suddenly moved. Shouldn’t I... call her first?
I’d only seen her face for the first time today, and even if we were holograms, the thought of facing each other directly felt strange somehow.
Ding!
- Not an Eraser: Wiki...?
- Not an Eraser: Was I talking too much...? I’m sorry...
I’d forgotten to reply for a moment.
I’d been so busy checking Star Voice and Star Lounge that it slipped my mind.
She had replied above, sounding almost excited as she asked what she should tell me, but when I said nothing, she must have gotten the wrong idea.
Sigh... I’ll just call her.
I’d gotten her permission, after all.
I’d make a very short call first, apologize to her directly, and then ask about Star Lounge.
"Whew.... Ah, ahem."
My mouth was dry as hell.
Messaging alone with a woman... no, with another person in general, was already a first for me. And now I was going to call her.
I cleared my throat and gargled lukewarm water, trying to ease my tense body.
- Not an Eraser: I’ll go to sleep now...! I had fun, Wiki. I’m sorry for bothering you..
"She really is unbelievably nice."
And timid, too.
If I dragged this out any longer, she might get hurt, so I needed to call her quickly and apologize.
[Connecting Star Voice with Not an Eraser.]
Press.
[ O ]
*
"Did I get too excited...?"
At Wiki suddenly going quiet, the corners of my mouth drooped.
I’d felt good just moments ago, but now it felt as though everything was suddenly going cold.
When I saw the message asking whether I was asleep, and when he said he wanted to talk or that he could spend money for me.
Even when he called me cute or said he wanted to figure things out together, I couldn’t stop smiling.
Wiki doesn’t seem very interested in me....
Calling me cute or pretty.
Saying he wanted to get to know things together—none of that was a big deal.
Those were things anyone could say to anyone, weren’t they?
What mattered more was the meaning behind those words.
Maybe what Wiki was curious about was only what run I was on... why I had become the head mod... things like that.
Rather than me as a person, he seemed to simply be curious about the gallery’s head mod.
- I’ll go to sleep now...! I had fun, Wiki. I’m sorry for bothering you..
Blaming myself for suddenly becoming too burdensome, I shut off my terminal and squeezed my eyes shut.
"Ughhh...."
Feeling both regretful and happy at once, I made an incoherent sound and pressed hard against my eyelids.
Still, I’d had enough fun, so I should just go to sleep now.
If another message came next time, I’d be a little more careful then.
I was just about to fall asleep with those thoughts when—
Ding!
"...!"
Whoosh—!!
At the sound, I sprang up like lightning and checked my terminal.
[Permission request to connect Star Voice from KingGodWiki.]
[ O ] [ X ]
...The thing I saw earlier?
I wasn’t sure what it was, but it had appeared in the chatroom earlier.
At the message saying Wiki was asking for my permission, I wasn’t quite sure, but I pressed O first anyway.
- Ahem, can you hear me?
"!!!!!!!"
A voice.
A man’s voice.
- Can’t you hear me?
A fairly pleasant voice for a man, but not a soft or delicate one.
Gulp.
—Probably Wiki’s voice.
"..."
It wasn’t as though this was the first time I had heard another person’s voice.
Of course, I had talked normally in my original world, and during my more than fifteen hundred years in the gallery, I’d watched countless videos uploaded by others.
But still, why...?
Thump!
Why was my face getting so hot?
Why was my heart trembling as though I were nervous?
"...I-I can hear you, Wiki."
- That’s a relief.
A-a relief....
A voice that seemed to be smiling came through in response to the answer I’d barely managed to force out.
Why was it a relief?
What exactly was a relief?
I didn’t know. I didn’t know, but for some reason, I smiled too.
I couldn’t keep my hands and feet still.
Staring at the terminal playing Wiki’s voice, I kept wetting my dry lips with my tongue.
- Sorry. I was checking something for a moment, so I couldn’t reply.
"I-I see...!"
- Um... did some kind of notification appear for you? You saw it and gave permission, right?
"That’s right...!"
- I see. It feels a little awkward calling you the head mod out loud.
"I-it’s okay, Wiki...!"
- Hehe... Being called Wiki feels kind of new too.
I wasn’t quite sure why, but he laughed.
It was such a relief that we seemed to be communicating properly.
"I-is this one of your abilities too, Wiki?"
- Hmm... it’s a little different from calling it my ability, but I think you can understand it that way.
"I understand...!"
- Speak comfortably. You don’t have to be formal with me.
"No!!"
Considering everything I had received from him, it was only natural that I should at least be this polite.
More than that, I was too nervous about this very moment to speak casually.
- Sorry, but do you remember what I said earlier?
"Huh? Which part...?"
- About doing an experiment together. About wanting to figure things out together.
"...!"
What could there be to figure out while hearing each other’s voices directly?
What was it? What could it be? No, that couldn’t be it. Wiki wasn’t actually interested in me or anything.
- If you feel uncomfortable, just tell me anytime—
"I’m not uncomfortable at all!!"
I raised my voice without meaning to at what I heard.
I interrupted him and answered in an urgent shout.
- ...Okay, then I’ll hang up for now.
"Huh? What do you mean, hang up—"
Beep— beep—
"..."
I had clearly said I wasn’t uncomfortable at all, yet somehow Star Voice disconnected.
I bit my lip as I silently stared at the terminal, which now gave off only cold sound effects instead of his voice.
Did he not hear me...?
I’d answered right away, and he had definitely said okay.
Was something making him uncomfortable, so he wanted to go back to messaging?
I didn’t particularly mind messaging, of course... but still....
That’s disappointing....
For some reason, it felt a little disappointing.
Swipe—
With no message coming back, I slowly scrolled up through the chatroom.
Wiki’s messages, sitting beneath the photo I had sent.
Thanking me, saying he felt better thanks to me.
Saying I was pretty, that he should treat me even better from now on.
Looking at them now, they were nothing more than simple words of thanks, yet like an idiot, I stared at them again for a long time.
"..."
I glanced once at the cola I had carefully set down in a corner of my hideout, then secretly looked at Wiki’s photo in my gallery.
"Hngh...."
I lightly slapped my cheeks, which were somehow heating up.
- Wiki, is there anything I need to do—
Just as I was about to quietly send the rest of the message.
[Permission request for a Star Lounge invitation from KingGodWiki.]
[ O ] [ X ]
"Star... Lounge...?"
As with before, I pressed O immediately without hesitation at the message that appeared in the chatroom.
And at the same time—
Vwoooong—.
Shrrrrrrk—!!
"W-wait...?!"
My body suddenly floated into the air, then began breaking away piece by piece like fragments.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register