“It’s finally over…”
Wise collapsed into his chair and disconnected from the HDD, severing his connection with Eous.
He rubbed his sore, swollen eyes and let out a long breath.
The situation was finally resolved.
“Wise, are you okay?”
Belle came over and gently rubbed around her brother’s eyes for him.
The HDD—the Hollow Deep Dive System—was a legacy of the Helios Academy.
It allowed unrestricted, zero-delay communication between the inside and outside of a Hollow, making it possible for clients and Agents to enter and leave Hollows much more safely.
It was also one of the reasons Belle and Wise had been able to become the legendary Proxy Phaethon.
“Come to think of it, one more person knows we’re illegal Proxies now,” Wise said with a faint sigh.
“You mean Cael?”
Belle thought for a moment.
“He’s been working here for a week now.
As far as suspicious behavior goes, there hasn’t really been anything unusual.
He serves customers, sorts tapes, cleans the store, and pets No.
18 whenever he has nothing else to do…
“But those theories you came up with before don’t really seem to fit.
“As for us being Proxies…
maybe he already knew?
Maybe he even knew about the HDD system.
Otherwise, why wasn’t he surprised at all?
“Every client we’ve ever worked with has been amazed when they learned we could communicate with people outside a Hollow.
Cael didn’t react at all.”
“Forget it.
There’s no rush.”
Wise straightened up and took a sip of water.
“Instead of sitting here guessing, we might as well ask him directly when we get the chance.”
“Fine.”
Belle nodded.
“Nicole and Billy are taking Anby to a hospital in the city for treatment.
I’ll drive over and pick Cael up.”
“All right.”
Outside the Hollow.
Cael walked along the road with Eous, looking at the scenery as they went.
From here, he could see the Outer Ring.
It was a vast, desert-like region dotted with small associated Hollows.
It seemed that, besides Ethereals being abnormally dangerous, Hollow disasters were also much more frequent in this world.
The normal version of the world definitely wasn’t like this.
So what exactly was causing Ethereals to possess Aberration Traits?
And why did he have this strange system?
As for the system itself, Cael was certain that not all of its functions had been unlocked yet.
At his current World Integration of 37%, the abilities he’d unlocked so far were:
Information inspection, allowing him to view information about Ethereals and Agents.
Special card drops.
If he participated in killing or personally killed an Ethereal, there was a chance for a special card to drop.
His current theory was that stronger Ethereals would drop more valuable cards, but he still had too little data to be certain.
And Life-Ether Perception.
A very useful support ability, especially inside Hollows.
It could help him locate people and avoid danger.
“En-nah?
En-nah-na?
(Cael, what are you thinking about?)”
Eous asked as he walked beside him.
Cael smiled and looked at the rabbit-like Bangboo in the orange scarf, whose ears twitched as he moved.
“I was wondering when I should buy you a new battery.
What flavor do you like?”
“En-nah?!
En-nah en-nah!
En-nah…
(Really?!
I’ve always wanted a strawberry-flavored battery!
But my owners never want to spend the money on one…)”
“Are batteries expensive?” Cael asked casually.
“En-nah…
(A strawberry-flavored battery costs about 500 Dennies!)”
“That cheap?”
Cael was surprised.
He’d assumed Bangboo batteries would cost tens of thousands of Dennies.
If they were that cheap, why hadn’t Belle and Wise bought one for Eous?
“Cael!
Eous!”
Cael heard Belle calling from a distance.
Her voice wasn’t particularly loud, but it was clear and carried remarkably well, even through the wind.
Belle pulled her car over to the roadside, rolled down the window, and waved at them.
“Get in!
You two worked hard today!”
“En-nah en-nah!
(My owner came to pick us up!)”
Eous happily bounced toward her.
Belle was an excellent driver.
The ride was smooth and steady as Cael sat in the passenger seat, watching the scenery slide backward through the window.
He opened his own status.
His level was still 3.
There was probably something similar to an experience bar, but he simply couldn’t see it.
Then he looked toward Belle, who was focused on driving.
[Name]: Belle
[Race]: Human (??)
[Level]: ??
[Identity]: Owner of Random Play, Legendary Proxy Phaethon, Child of the Sun, Child of God, ???, ???
[Skills]: HDD System Mastery, Perfect Ether Manipulation (Sealed), Golden Ether (Sealed), Ether Variant: Pyrois (Sealed), ???
(Sealed)…
[Talents]: [Perfect Ether Aptitude] (Sealed), [???] (Sealed), …
[Factions]: Helios Academy (Former)
…
In truth, ever since experiencing Replay through death twice and unlocking the ability to inspect information about Ethereals and other people, Cael had checked Belle and Wise’s information more than once.
And every time, it was shocking.
The two of them were absolutely loaded with abilities and hidden traits.
Some of their information couldn’t even be read by the system, appearing only as question marks.
More importantly, Belle and Wise were currently the only people other than Cael himself who possessed Talents.
Even Miyabi didn’t have any.
That was strange.
Logically speaking, Miyabi’s Ether aptitude should have been extremely high as well, yet it didn’t qualify as a Talent.
There was probably something about the system’s classification that Cael still didn’t understand.
However, most of Belle and Wise’s abilities were currently sealed, meaning they couldn’t use them.
Even so, the status screen alone was intimidating enough.
“Cael?
What are you looking at?
Is there something on my face?”
Belle glanced at him from the corner of her eye and noticed that he’d been staring at her.
Cael smoothly shifted his gaze away and smiled.
“No.
I just realized you’re pretty cute.”
Belle immediately gave him a bright, cheerful smile.
“You have excellent taste.
I’ve always thought I was cute too, and everyone else says the same thing!”
Half an hour later, they finally returned to Sixth Street.
Eous went upstairs on his own to recharge, while Cael headed to the bathroom to wash up.
Even now, his hands still felt a little weak.
He had actually dared to fight a Tyrfing.
His nerve really had been ridiculous.
After returning to the store, Cael sat on the sofa and rested for a while.
He was planning to continue going through the videotapes later, but then Belle and Wise approached him together.
Both were looking at him with faintly scrutinizing expressions.
…
So it had finally come.
Still, Cael intended to pretend he had no idea what was going on.
All he wanted was a peaceful, stable life.
The fewer complications, the better.
If he could stay out of trouble, he would.
“Belle?
Wise?
What’s wrong?
Want to play cards again?”
Cael put on a confused expression and pretended to reach for the scattered cards on the table.
Wise turned around and locked the door.
Belle looked at Cael as well.
Her expression was serious, though there was also a trace of apology in it.
Somehow, that only made her look even cuter.
“I know this is rude, but you know that’s not what we want to talk about.”
Belle stared at him.
“You…
“Who exactly are you?”
Cael’s hand froze slightly.
Then a sly, amused smile slowly curved his lips.
It really helps the fic grow!