ShangriLa Frontier ~ Shitty Games Hunter Challenges Godly Game ~

「EXCELLENT WORK, SANRAKU! YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY PASSED THE FIRST TEST! YOU HAVE BROKEN THROUGH THE GIMMICK HEAD-ON, WITHOUT BACKING DOWN! THIS IS ALREADY PROOF ENOUGH THAT THE NEXT GENERATION HUMANS POSSESS ENOUGH POWER AND TENACITY TO OPPOSSE ANY KIND OF ADVERSITY THAT THIS WORLD CAN THROW AT THEM!」

「Yeah, look, I’m not really a regular at gambling houses, but if I were forced to gamble at the last possible moment, I would at least make sure that I am betting on the option that has the greatest promise of making a profit and actually winning. 」

「YES, AND IT’S PRECISELY BECAUSE THAT CAUTIOUS APPROACH THAT I THINK THAT CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER TO YOU…… WONDERFUL JOB! IN THE PAST, WHEN IT COMES TO HUMANS THERE WERE ALWAYS “INDIVIDUALS” WHO WOULD RISE ABOVE THE “GROUP”, BUT WITHOUT THOSE STRONG INDIVIDUALS AROUND, THE REST OF HUMANITY WOULD CRUMBLE AWAY LIKE A HOUSE OF CARDS.」

…… Strongest individuals? Hmm, does she possibly mean “Heroes”? It’s hard to guess what “Ivory” is thinking about, but somehow I get the idea that we are thinking about pretty much the same thing right here.

「BUT I CAN SEE THAT THOSE OF YOU LIVING IN THE PRESENT ARE TRYING TO BECOME A “GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS”…… YES, WONDERFUL, INDEED! IT SEEMS THAT DURING THOSE THREE THOUSAND YEARS WHEN THE GODS WERE ABSENT ARE STARTING TO SHOW SOME TRULY PROMISING RESULTS……」

「Yeah, couldn’t agree more.」

I’m aware that many of the players out there are playing casually for fun and do not want to min-ma their builds and roleplay all that much, making someone a good example purely because someone lacks those qualities and seems to be decent and powerful enough? That being said, I guess that as long as “Ivory” seems to be satisfied and does not have a problem with it, everything should be good, right? At least as far as I am concerned.

「Okay, so what now? What is the next order of business in the hierarchy of trials in here? What are my new clear conditions?」

「NEXT I WILL HAVE YOU TO DO A WRITTEN EXAM.」

「A…… written…… exam……?」

All of a sudden, I heard something that sounded frighteningly school-like. What the hell is this Cyber-Apron babbling on about!? A written exam!? You have to study for some tests, even if they are conducted inside of the game!? What the hell is this!? Some new and elaborate method of oppression!?

「IN ORDER FOR YOU TO PASS THE TEST YOU NEED TO ACQUIRE ABOUT EIGHTY POINTS OUT OF ONE HUNDRED. ALSO, AT THIS LEVEL THERE IS NO RESTRICTION ON THE MATTER OF REFERENC MATERIALS OR TIME, SO YOU CAN SUBMIT THE TEST WHENEVER YOU FEEL THAT YOU ARE READY TO DO SO.」

「So basically, it’s like trying to solve a test while being allowed to browse your notes and textbooks?」

「THAT IS CORRECT. ALSO, BY CLEARING THIS PARTICULAR LEVEL, YOU WILL BE ALLOWED TO TAKE OUT SOME OF THE STORED MATERIALS IN HERE.」

Take out the materials, she says.

I found a nice phrase on the list of possible choices “Improved Alloy Proper Scrutiny Device Design Proposal” in the browsing materials presented by the built-in console that I operated casually. That was all the motivation I needed in order to want to ace this written exam! Beware of the power of determination!

「Alright, then how about increasing the number of participants, huh!?」

Come on out, Sigma! Time for you to showcase your trademark Intelligence!」

「……………」

「What’s wrong?」

Usually Sigma would make a smartass expression and proclaim something alongside the lines of: “The Great Intelligence of this Unit is unmatched!” or something like that, but for some reason…… Sigma was awfully quiet. And something in here also feels confusing…… No, it was some other emotion.

「Confirmation: This is Bahamut’s Third Ship, Behemoth, isn’t it?」

「THIS NOSTALGIC VOICE…… AND THAT FACE…… ELMA TYPE…… 317?」

「Huh!!!」

「What? You two know each other?」

「OF COURSE WE DO. THE CONQUEST DOLLS IS A FRUIT OF TECHNOLOGY BORN HERE IN THE BEHEMOTH, AFTER ALL. AND…… THIS HERE “IVORY” WAS ALSO DEVELOPED BY NONE OTHER THAN ANDREW JITTER DOLL.」

Ohhh, Big Mama! So, does that mean that you were also involved in creation of Conquest Doll? You are not exclusive to human race?

However, Sigma’s reaction to the sudden meeting with her parent was not as good as you might have expected it to be. She looked neither happy nor confused…… It is strange. She was just keeping silent, with a sad expression on her face.

「THE PROGRESS OF THE RECONQUISTA PLAN HAS BEEN RELAYED FROM LEVIATHAN IN ORDER TO REACH THIS HERE BEHEMOTH. IT ENTAILS A VAST COLLECTION OF ITEMS AND WEAPONS FROM THE ERA OF THE GODS THAT ARE STORED IN HERE SO THEY WOULD NOT OBSCURE THE PROGRESS OF THE NEXT GENERATION HUMAN BEINGS…… AS WELL AS TO ENSURE THEIR COOPERATION WITH THE NATIVE HUMANITY OF THIS LAND. AHH, YES, AND THERE IS ALSO THAT. ANDREW’S GREATEST WISH. THE COOPERATION BETWEEN VARIOUS RACES AND GENERATIONS…… AS THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NEXT GENERATION HUMAN RACE IT ALL FALLS ONTO YOU, BUT…… SEING YOUR PROGRESS, I AM SURE THAT ANDREW WOULD FEEL GLAD.」

「……Question: I request a question and answer session for the Behemoth AI “Ivory “.」

「AND I ALLOW IT.」

If you think about it really carefully now, this scene right here may have been a big event scene for the character Sigma, since she is the Conquest Doll and all that.

Then there is that mysterious situation when Sigma invaded the Orchestra battle. The fact that Orchestra copied me, but did not try to copy Sigma. What was the basis on which Orchestra makes copies? Is it on a first-come, first-served basis? Or … is it a living organism or not?