RUMBLE—.
Though faint, the ground shook once again.
'It's definitely a Mole Cricket.'
No. 9, Mole Cricket.
A monster that dug tunnels underground and moved whenever it detected vibrations on the surface.
"Underground detection?"
"None."
Damn it.
I take back what I said about it having plenty of uses.
"Let's get out of here for now."
"Agreed."
I hurriedly turned around and spoke.
"First, we're leaving this area."
I tried to move carefully, but.
"Not permitted."
D-Pal blocked the way.
"Why?"
"Leaving designated route will be considered refusal of mission."
"Then are you going to kill it?"
"Possible."
What do you mean, possible?
"We're leaving."
I tried to get out of there with the old man.
D-Pal blocked us again.
"Not permitted."
"......"
Fine.
I guess you need a harsh lesson before you'll come to your senses.
Besides, this was also a chance to assess its armaments.
RUMBLE—.
The vibrations from underground grew stronger.
There was no longer any doubt that the Mole Cricket was approaching.
Without hesitation, I said to D-Pal.
"Then we're sitting this fight out."
"Confirmed."
Twenty years had passed in game time.
The information I had on Android combat capabilities might no longer be accurate.
This was a good opportunity to gather data.
And with a Mole Cricket, my life wasn't in danger.
For an Android, it shouldn't amount to more than a warm-up.
RUMBLE—!
The stronger vibrations were coming straight toward us.
It seemed to have noticed us as prey.
"Combat Mode activated."
Let's see how much firepower modern Androids have.
GRRRT—.
D-Pal's arms disassembled and reassembled in different configurations before transforming into blades.
So the Body Transformation function was still around.
"Let's step back."
We slowly retreated.
THUD— THUD—.
D-Pal apparently knew how to deal with Mole Crickets too, because it began stomping the ground.
"Commencing combat."
The moment it finished speaking, the Mole Cricket burst out of the ground.
SKREEEE—!
The creature, which looked like a gigantic worm covered in protrusions, launched itself toward the spot where D-Pal had been standing.
But D-Pal had already moved away and taken position.
'What the hell? It's still a juvenile.'
Judging by the Mole Cricket's size, it wasn't fully grown.
Adults started at a minimum of fifteen meters.
That thing looked about five meters long.
Back when I was playing my last character.
Something that size would've died from a single kick.
In terms of pure combat power, it was roughly equal to six of those Pillagers we'd run into earlier.
Though that comparison was based on weakened Pillagers that had been driven out of their pack.
SQUELCH—!
While I was lost in thought, D-Pal began fighting in earnest.
It drove its blade-transformed arm into the creature.
SKREEK—!
The monster thrashed in pain, spraying green blood everywhere.
Then it immediately burrowed back underground.
RUMBLE—.
It started circling us again, probing for an opening.
THUD— THUD—.
D-Pal stomped the ground again.
SKREEEE—!
The Mole Cricket burst upward at that spot.
After that, the same pattern repeated.
D-Pal stabbed it again, it fled underground, then it created vibrations once more.
'Completely one-sided.'
Maybe because it was still a juvenile, there were plenty of rough edges in the way it fought.
As a veteran, I almost felt like giving it a combat lesson.
Well, anyway.
STAB— STAB—.
I lost count of how many times D-Pal's blades tore through its body.
THUD—!
Eventually, the Mole Cricket collapsed, no longer even having the strength to burrow underground.
"No biological signals. Elimination complete."
D-Pal delivered the finishing blow, then transformed its arms back to normal.
"Resuming movement."
The entire fight had taken nine minutes and fifty-eight seconds.
According to my game knowledge, its firepower was unchanged.
No ranged weapons.
Melee attacks only.
No special functions.
That was about it.
'Just as expected.'
Still, I couldn't afford to let my guard down.
Even if I'd accepted a request to kill this Android.
A request was a request, and my life was my life.
My own life was far more precious to me than the life of the masked workshop owner who was living on borrowed time.
Of course, anyone would naturally value themselves more.
'For now, I'll keep watching.'
Even if D-Pal attacked us first, it probably wouldn't happen on the surface.
There was no telling who might be watching up here.
"Let's go."
We soon headed toward the subway.
"Mission area reached."
I quietly examined the subway entrance.
'The exterior is exactly as I remember.'
Fortunately, the subway looked just like it had in the game.
Then the inside should probably be similar too.
'But there shouldn't be anything useful here.'
In the game's original time period.
In other words, twenty years ago, subway exploration requests had already been common.
Even back then, there hadn't been anything special.
Except for one thing.
'But not just anyone can go there.'
And that "anyone" included me.
It wasn't a place you could reach through skill alone.
You needed luck.
An absurd amount of luck.
Then why had Pentatech moved on this place?
There was no way they'd figured out how to seize that luck by force.
"What are we supposed to do from here?"
"Detailed instructions will be provided after reaching mission zone."
D-Pal said that and led the way inside.
Step......
As we descended the stairs one by one, a cold wind brushed across my cheek.
Tap—.
I nudged the old man's arm with my elbow.
"What is it?"
The old man asked quietly.
I mouthed the words without making a sound.
'Let's say we need the bathroom.'
Nod—.
The old man gave a slight nod.
As expected, he was quick on the uptake.
"Wait."
The moment we reached the bottom of the stairs, the old man spoke up to draw attention.
"Anomaly detected?"
"May I relieve myself?"
"Permitted. Do not leave the ar—"
"You need not tell me."
The old man cut it off and quickly walked away.
After watching for a moment, I spoke too.
"How about we take a short break while we're at it?"
When no answer came immediately, I continued as if urging it on.
"You might not need one, but we're human."
"Permitted. Ten-minute rest period granted."
"Then I'm going to the bathroom too."
I immediately followed the path the old man had taken.
"Reporting current status. Arrived at subway."
D-Pal remained standing there, apparently communicating with Pentatech.
"So what did you want to say?"
The old man and I moved far enough away from D-Pal that it couldn't eavesdrop, then began talking.
"Do you know Chapter 8 of Paradise Law?"
"I do not know the details of that law, but I know it concerns Androids."
The old man fired questions at me in search of an answer.
"Do you mean the provision that Androids cannot attack humans on the surface?"
"That's part of it, but I'm talking about something else."
Paradise Law, Chapter 8.
Android Special Act.
Article 101, Android Surface Exploration.
"Androids are strictly prohibited from deploying to the surface alone."
The reason a human accompanied every mission.
It all came down to that one sentence.
The reason such a law existed was obvious.
It was probably meant to curb excessive surface exploration and prevent corporations from monopolizing it.
But if that were all the law said, corporations would've pushed back.
There was an exception.
"However, if every human dies in an accident during a surface mission accompanied by an Android, the Android is permitted to return alone."
When I finished, the old man let out a quiet groan.
"......Are we disposable pieces, then?"
I shrugged without answering.
"Why are you telling me this?"
I didn't know what D-Pal was looking for.
Because it hadn't told me.
But.
'Pentatech D-Grade Android. Abandoned subway.'
If I assembled those keywords into a single story.
Then in that scenario, I had to hide the workshop's request while completely deceiving the old man, whom I still couldn't fully trust.
In other words, I had to weave together D-Pal's hidden intentions, which the old man didn't know, with the old man's suspicions and his desire for revenge against Pentatech.
A seed tangled in revenge would blind him and grow faster than ever.
"Why do you think a D-Grade Android, and a Pentatech one at that, came all the way here?"
"Are you saying this request is not simply an exploration mission?"
"Maybe."
The old man's expression stiffened slightly at my words.
It was something he couldn't help but believe.
Because I wasn't stating a lie.
I was simply not revealing the hidden truth.
"Maybe nothing will happen. But......"
I paused for a moment before slowly continuing.
"What if all of this is unfolding exactly as Pentatech intended?"
"But I do not know what their intention is."
"They may have accidentally discovered you, a Pentatech traitor, and decided to kill you."
"......"
"Or they might kill us to silence us, then take whatever it is they want from this place."
The old man's expression settled into calmness.
It looked like he'd made some kind of decision.
"When do we act?"
As expected, he was quick on the uptake.
He understood even without me saying everything.
"Are you okay with drawing Pentatech's attention again?"
"As long as Berry can remain safe, I do not care."
"Good. Then we'll act once we reach the request objective."
I held out my hand.
GRIP—.
The old man took it.
"Then lend me everything you're capable of."
"Understood."
***
"Resuming movement."
We started moving again.
I could roughly guess our objective, but I pretended not to know and asked.
"So what was that information you said you'd give us once we came inside?"
"Providing detailed instructions."
CLICK—.
D-Pal inserted a red chip into its neck.
WHIRR—.
Bright light spilled from its left wrist and formed a hologram.
'A map?'
The hologram displayed a map of the subway's layout.
"Current location indicated by red point."
We were on Basement Level 1.
And on Basement Level 3, a blue point was glowing.
"Blue point indicates target location."
"What's the target?"
"Special device."
A device on Basement Level 3.
I knew exactly what it was.
Aside from me and a handful of higher-ups, almost no one knew about that device.
At least, that had been the case until now.
'Because nobody who used it ever came back alive.'
Once the device was activated, a horde of crazed monsters would come pouring out of the tunnel, breaking through onto the platform.
It was basically a suicide button.
"So what exactly is that special device?"
I knew everything, but asked with an innocent expression.
"Subway track and tunnel opening-and-closing device."
Pentatech, you crazy bastards.
You know exactly what it does and you're still planning to activate it?
Gulp—.
I swallowed dryly and continued questioning it.
"What happens when you activate it?"
"A subway train enters the current station."
'What bullshit.'
I suppressed the anger rising inside me and nodded.
"That's it? What are we supposed to do?"
"Activating device is the request objective."
"And you?"
"Will remain on tracks."
Ha.
So you'll hide here, hop onto the subway the moment it arrives, and run away.
And we're supposed to stand there and become monster bait.
Is that it?
"Mission area reached. Awaiting communication with headquarters."
While I was thinking that, we quickly reached Basement Level 3, the objective area.
"Unable to communicate. Anomaly detected."
D-Pal began looking around restlessly.
'Communications still don't work down here.'
Even in the old game, external communications always cut out whenever you descended to Basement Level 3 of this subway station.
That meant no one outside would know what happened down here.
"Will relocate alone temporarily to submit report."
"Sure. We'll wait."
"Confirmed."
It hurried back up the stairs.
A short while later.
"Execute mission. Proceed to position."
After returning from contacting headquarters, D-Pal handed us radios and headed toward the tracks.
'It's about time......'
I rolled my shoulders and headed toward the device.
"Let's go."
"Agreed."
I could feel the old man's worried gaze following me from behind, but I ignored it.
Everything was going exactly as expected.
'This is my first time getting into an actual dirty fight myself.'
Of course, I was trying to stay calm too.
Controlling a character in a game and moving my own body were completely different things.
Thump— thump—.
My heart gradually began beating faster.
Was it because I could finally play my favorite game with my own body?
Or because of the pressure that death would mean the end?
Even I couldn't tell yet.
"So what is the plan?"
As we headed toward the device, the old man and I began laying out the details.
"First, we'll tamper with the device and call him over here."
"And after that?"
"We kill him."
The old man quietly nodded at my answer.
"Understood."
The two of us looked around and studied the terrain.
"Judging by the layout, an ambush doesn't look bad."
"This side seems especially suitable."
Instead of doing the request we'd been given, we were busy figuring out how to attack our escort.
But this old man and I worked surprisingly well together.
Maybe because he'd been in a special unit, he was also very skilled at using the terrain.
"Then hide here."
"Will you lure him in?"
"Yes. I might as well interrogate him a little too."
"Understood. And since it may be dangerous, take this."
The old man handed me a revolver.
It must've been well maintained, because the revolver gleamed silver.
CLICK—.
I opened the cylinder and checked the rounds before turning away.
"I'll put it to good use."
"Be careful."
"I will. I'll give you the signal."
After hiding the old man somewhere well suited for an ambush.
Step—.
I reached the device without incident.
And there, as if begging to be pulled, was a lever.
All right.
Time to show off my hacking skills.