Chapter 48

Well, first of all, I have to tell Liz that anything else is unthinkable.

She doesn't look convinced at all.

Sigh, what is this? It's unthinkable in Japan.

Ah, Liz mentioned it. Metabolism is a symbol of wealth. Plus, she can handle a 6th-grade monster.

Is it for the income?

Well, this world is harsh to live in, so I can understand her feelings.

But I'm troubled that she chose me as the target. I'm devoted to Liz.

I need to invite a guy to the party soon. I need a decoy.

"What are you going to do today? I don't have any plans."

Fia asks.

"Maybe Liz's adventurer registration and weapon selection?"

"Wait! Is Liz going to be an adventurer too? What about the hunter?"

Fia exclaims in surprise.

"Well, there's my father and my brother. It'll work out somehow. Besides, I'm getting married, so I can't be a hunter forever."

Personally, I want her to stay home, but Liz is surprisingly stubborn.

"Then, are you going to form a party together?"

"That's what I'm thinking."

"Again with Liz? Nice to meet you, Liz."

The two of them hug happily.

Since it's pointless to say anything, I head to the registration counter and leave the explanation of the rules and registration to the usual receptionist.

However, this world has no holidays. There are only a few days off at the end and beginning of the year.

They say the gods copied the stars, but the calendar and time are almost the same as Earth's.

There is a discrepancy in the date and season between when I arrived and now, but something must have happened when I moved the terminal. I manually corrected the date. I decided the time arbitrarily.

Apparently, the gods gave a few clocks to each country. Based on these, each lord corrects the inaccuracies of water clocks and the like. I'll have to get my clock synchronized when I go.

Everyone seems to have a sense of how many hours and minutes have passed, but since no one has ever lived without a clock, it's a mystery how they know.

By the way, the gods' items are called Artifacts and are strictly distinguished from magical items. It's definitely a loose translation. I think my original is the colorless one.

There is glass, and apparently lenses too. I've heard about telescopes, but it's a mystery whether astronomical observations are possible.

Also, it's a common understanding that the stars are round. I accepted it for now since I was told they are.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Hiro."

Liz returns while I'm lost in thought.

She has completed the registration and is showing off her card happily. It's kind of cute.

"Then, shall we go see the weapons?"

"Ah, but before that, I want to see Akihiro-san's magic."

Fia says with a grin.

"I want to see what kind of magic can defeat a 6th-grade monster."

"If you don't want to, we're in the same party, so you can just call me Akihiro..."

"Hiro?"

"Akihiro-san is fine. What should I do? I can show you, but where should I show you?"

The usual place is a bit far.

"Outside the village is fine. No one will get mad even if I practice there."

Let's go and see.

I move to the practice area at the edge of the village with the two of them. There is a clearing among the trees where cultivation has been temporarily stopped.

Looking at the ground, it seems to be quite trampled, and no grass is growing.

"I always practice here."

There are targets too. When I ask, she says she uses a wooden sword for practice, and there are some damaged trees.

It's fine since I'm just testing.

I recall the composition when I defeated the Dire Wolf.

I aim for the center of a random tree.

I imagine compressing a 10 cm diameter sphere of wind to about 5 mm.

"Attribute: Wind. Pressure defined. Shape: Cone with a radius of 5 mm and a height of 1 cm. Fixed 10 cm in front of the right index finger. Rotate the cone forward and shoot it at a speed of 150 km/h. Execute."

A "Baz" sound is heard, and the center of the target tree is gouged out in an irregular cone. Yeah, no problem.

When I turn to Fia, she looks suspicious.

"Are you a beginner, Akihiro-san?"

I am a beginner, but what does she mean?

"I'm a beginner, but why?"

"Because, the incantation you're using is from the beginning of school."

When I ask in detail, it seems that school is basically six years, divided into elementary, middle, and high school classes.

There are also skips, but generally, you move up every two years. Of course, not a few people are held back.

This incantation, it seems, is used in elementary school to get a feel for the process of returning from an overreturn and to confirm the composition and power of the spell.

After middle school, the content changes.

"You build an emulator environment in your head and simulate it with a simulator. If there are no problems, you execute it. That's what the mage in my previous party said."

I feel a bit dizzy from the loose translation, but I understand the meaning.

"He said to strongly and vividly imagine the result in your head."

I try to vividly imagine the result and syntax of the spell I just used.

Then I feel a sensation similar to the discomfort I felt when I met Shell and Alecto in my head, and a display-like image appears in my mind.

This feeling is unpleasant. I feel like I'm going to get sick from something being projected into my head that I didn't think of.

In the screen, I see myself from a diagonal rear view. When I imagine moving the camera, the camera moves. It's possible to adjust the distance to some extent.

Also, the me in the screen moves in sync with my movements. It's dangerous. I feel like I'm going to get sick. I feel a strong 3D motion sickness.

I aim at another tree and point my finger.

When I add the image of me executing the spell I just used to the screen, the me in the screen shoots the same spell at the tree, piercing it. "OK" in blue and "Enter" in black appear at the edge of the screen.

I position myself to recreate the situation.

"Execute."

A "Baz" sound is heard, and the center of the target tree is gouged out in an irregular cone. Just as the simulation showed.

When I imagine the slime, a depiction of the tree being pierced appears, but a yellow "Warning" message is visible.

When I imagine the entire area around the tree as the target and the Dire Wolf, the screen turns blue, and a red "Error" message appears.

It's the limit. I feel like I'm going to vomit from the unfamiliar sensation. I stop imagining.

Ah, I feel better now.

My thoughts are confused by a concept that has never existed before.

But I understand. This is it. I thought it was like programming, but it's a bit different.

Magic is like an application. The spells I've used so far are probably on a CLI, where you input the name of the attribute magic application and its various conditions.

Then you execute it. At that time, an image is also needed, but it's probably summarized as part of the syntax.

You send it to the server as a communication.

This is different. The image is like connecting to a 3D game running on a server.

You freely move the character in the game and use magic, simulating the result.

It's like a magic game and a game console connected to it, or playing an online game on a game console or PC.

Our terminals, which are us, don't have the performance to process a GUI-like environment.

So, the game environment is processed on the server, and the terminal only receives the rendered images.

In detail, they call it an emulator environment, but in reality, we are borrowing processing power from the server to build a game OS environment.

We are running a magic game application on that OS. We are remotely connecting to this emulator environment.

I felt the presence of the gods because of this. We are communicating with each other. This is a concept of communicating with the server side.

Of course, future predictions are possible. The server side can refer to all properties.

I understand the meaning.

When I overreturned as a slime, Watys was so enthusiastic about taking care of me.

When I overreturned as a Dire Wolf, Watys gave up so quickly.

Deed and the others felt so much gratitude, which Watys explained after the Dire Wolf.

If you simulate, you can see the result. In short, causing an overreturn is either foolish, thoughtless, or reckless.

I'm embarrassed. Why did it come to this.

The moment I thought this, I felt a sudden loss of strength and fell to my hands and knees, hanging my head.

He dropped out.

Of course. If he had been held back, he would still be in elementary school. It's natural that he only understands the CLI concept.

Learning overreturn with your body? It's to understand the fear of overreturn as a basic principle.

I understand, I understand. I was fundamentally wrong.

The mages in this world have the cause and effect reversed.

They create the cause because they know the result.

I almost feel crushed by the absurdity of what I've learned and the amount and magnitude of what I have to do from now on.