.Hack//New Testament Chapter 24

Published

at 16th of January 2020 06:10:08 AM

Chapter 24

The business card provided had ‘Freelance writer Junichiro Tokuoka’ printed on it .

It was my first time receiving a business card, so I looked at it closely with both hands .

“Just in case, this should make getting in touch easier,” Mr . Tokuoka said as though making an excuse for some reason .

We came to a coffee shop near a hospital .

It was not a chain coffee shop that I would use occasionally after school .

It was instead a coffee shop with a retro appearance and an aura of the early Heisei or Showa eras . On the glass wall were the words ‘Internet Cafe Okhotsk’ .

This is the first type of store that my generation will use as its top choice .

“Ha…”

I looked at Mr . Tokuoka in such a way so as not to be rude .

I didn’t think that Mr . Tokuoka’s suspicion would be reduced with just one business card .

He wore round sunglasses and a plain baseball cap . Top top it all off, a Hawaiian shirt with a purple tinge . Oh, I just remembered . It was the color of clay .

Was he about forty years old? I have a hard time telling people’s ages .

When I had been called, it would have been a reasonable response for a junior high school student like me to immediately escape from the place and rush to a children’s shelter or something like that .

In fact, I tried to do just that .

It was Mr . Tokuoka’s words that stopped me .

“Want to know why your friend fell into a coma?”

Does he know anything about what is happening in The World?

“I’m Junichiro Tokuoka, thirty-four years old, unemployed for a reason . Single . Please excuse me if I don’t care to tell you anything more private than that . ”

After taking a sip of the coffee he brought in, Mr . Tokuoka introduced himself .

I was indifferent . I tried to drink the cocoa served in front of me . Huh, wait a minute, I thought .

“You’re unemployed?”

I was a little surprised and spoke again .

“But your business card says you’re a freelance writer . ”

“Oh, I can’t just say I’m unemployed there . Being a freelance writer is similar anyway . No need to worry about the little details,” he said as though getting angry .

“Let’s get into the topic at hand . Your friend… uh, what did you say his name was?”

I answered his question .

“That’s right, Yasuhiko . There are at least six people like him across the country,” Tokuoka suddenly shouted . It startled me .

“And none of them has recovered yet . With one exception . ”

“One exception?”

“Yes, but, let’s skip that for now . All they have in common is that they lost consciousness while playing a game . ”

“The World?”

“Exactly . ”

Mr . Tokuoka nodded .

“Something has happened in The World . I’m investigating it . Would you please tell me what you and Yasuhiko experienced there?”

I last talked about it ten days ago . I was strangely nervous to talk to a real adult that I never met in the game . As I repeated the story, I talked about what happened to Orca . And of course, the black-clad character I called the “Reaper” . “Are you still playing The World?”

Mr . Tokuoka frowned when I told him I had logged in every day to save Yasuhiko .

I nodded .

“I think there’s a clue in the game, to get Yasuhiko back . ”

“It’s too dangerous . I advise you to stop . ”

“But…”

“What if you meet the Reaper again? Next time you could be rendered unconscious . ”

“No, I defeated the Reaper . ”

“Actually, I’ve come across him too, so I know you’re not lying or joking about it, and I know he’s a really dangerous guy . I understand your desire to help your friend, but…”

Mr . Tokuoka, who was trying to drink his coffee, had been one step behind and suddenly caught up .

“Huh, you defeated it?”

“Yes . ”

“You defeated it? That thing? By yourself?”

“No, I had others help me,” I said, referring to the previous day’s events .

Mr . Tokuoka groaned with his arms folded .

“I see… and Yasuhiko never regained consciousness . ”

It seemed like he was thinking about something for a while .

“I’ve heard your story and one thing is very clear,” Mr . Tokuoka finally said . “Defeating a specific monster in the game will solve it . This is not a simple incident . ”

This person knows stuff . He knows what’s happening in The World much more than I do .

“Would you tell me what you know, Mr . Tokuoka?” I said hurriedly .

“If you like, please make a character and log in to The World . I hope we can all talk directly . ”

I thought it was a good idea .

“No way . I can’t . ”

Mr . Tokuoka waved his hand exaggeratedly .

“CC is keeping an eye on me . If I register an account, make a PC, and log in, I’ll be immediately found out . It would be terrible . ”

They’re keeping an eye on him? What on earth could this guy have done?

I thought about this, but soon thought again that there might not be his fault .

Helba’s email crossed my mind . “You are being watched by management,” it said .

“So, don’t ask me to join the game . My name is out there, too . I will be marked,” Mr . Tokuoka said .

“Okay…”

“Yeah, but I wonder . ”

Mr . Tokuoka held out his hand .

“Hand me my business card . ”

Mr . Tokuoka took out a pen from his pocket and wrote something on the back of his business card . Looking at the other side, I could see an English word .

fragment

“Search the internet for this word . You’ll come to understand a lot . ”

“Fragment? What is it? What does it mean?”

“Actually, I don’t know the details myself . I’m still looking into it,” said Mr . Tokuoka with a laugh .

“But it’s probably a keyword that leads to the truth of the matter . ”

“The truth…”

“Of the time you encountered the Reaper,” Mr Tokuoka said .

“I could only run away . I couldn’t even imagine fighting it . On the contrary, if my companion could not help me, I might have become comatose too . ”

Mr . Tokuoka looked at me .

“But you defeated it, using the power of the bracelet that was passed on to you by the girl . Nobody else, just you got the bracelet . I think it makes some sense . ”

Even though he said it made sense, I didn’t really understand it myself .

“Well, don’t think too hard . Do some investigating in the game . I’ll do research outside the game . It’s all about the division of labor, the right person in the right place . It’s probably more efficient… we just need a way to exchange information . ”

Mr . Tokuoka took the pen back from his pocket and wrote a phone number in the margin of the business card .

He picked it up the edges and flapped it to dry the ink before giving it to me again .

“My phone number . Please call me anytime!”

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