Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Virtual On Chapter2 (section)

===Part 3===

It was the second day of the long weekend.

Part of the reason Kamijou had waited a full day was simply because he had found the Blue Stalker that creepy. He would grow hesitant when he realized he might run into them again while wandering around before he came up with a perfect countermeasure.

But he soon realized something.

For as long as he remained motionless and did not work toward improving his situation, he would remain in danger. He would not grow and he would not become any stronger. The perfect countermeasure was not something someone would just drop in his lap. He had to get moving and accomplish it himself.

So he took action.

The Virtual-On tournament between the representatives of the 23 districts began that day. His portable device kept receiving PR emails and some of the events were introduced on TV.

“This is Nakamura Mary! The long-awaited tournament begins today!! If you don’t like crowds, you can stop by one of the viewing bars to enjoy a drink while you watch or you can laze around your home and watch on your portable device! As your Live DJ, I will help connect the footage together, so it might be even more intense than watching it in person. And the more viewers I have, the more advertising money I get, so make sure you watch!!”

“What in the world are you doing, you shill?”

The conversing commentators played in the background like music in a family restaurant as Kamijou took Index out into the city with him.

Posters were plastered across the walls, fireworks burst in the sky on some kind of cue, and stands selling goods lined the streets. There were also a lot selling telescopic lenses made to attach to a portable device. If those things were selling for a fight between giant Virtuaroids, it was easy to imagine how crowded the tournament battleground had to be. While the preliminaries had used a round-robin tournament system, the main tournament used a traditional tournament system. The matches themselves would move quickly, but anyone who was following a specific team or contestant would have to move all over the place, which could not be easy.

Index was entranced by colorful drinks in bottles shaped like Temjin or Fei-Yen, but Kamijou tugged on her hand and kept walking.

“Touma, what are we doing today?”

“Hmm.”

He wanted mobility and stability.

Altogether, that meant speed.

Thick armor and a special move that could turn things around in a single blow were meaningless if he could not keep up with the speed of that world. Plus, Cypher could transform to gain even greater speed and explosive attack power. It would not just stand there and take a rush from a blind spot.

And luckily, Virtuaroids were easily customizable.

No fancy tools or maintenance equipment were necessary.

“You can use the Material Analyze feature. …You’ve probably already forgotten about it, though.”

He had received an explanation from Aogami Pierce and Lilina who would show up on the screen when released from sleep mode.

“Just by holding up your portable device, you can read in the traits and features of any material in the real world and incorporate it into your Virtuaroid. It can be mechanical or biological. For example, you can incorporate the structure of a real weapon or the nature of an insect or other animal. Humans will refer to their surroundings as a mini universe, so your possibilities can grow endlessly if you are creative enough.”

That was apparently how it worked.

The portable device in his hands was all he needed to infinitely expand his Virtuaroid.

“If that’s what I’m doing, where should we go?”

He and Index discussed it as they walked through the streets of District 7 together.

Even now, they could see fluorescent-colored Virtuaroids clashing here and there.

The main tournament did not just have one location, so the matches were held in districts across the city.

The crowds were much larger than during the preliminaries that had ended the day before and the fields for the matches were much fancier. The same technology used to display the units in empty air was used to create something like bluish-white tape to demarcate the field as well as displays for the units’ remaining endurance, the remaining time, and what battles were gathering attention at other fields.

They could also hear the commentators’ voices, but not from giant speakers. They seemed to be playing from the spectators’ portable devices, creating something of an overlapping echo effect.

“Those midair moves really are the best. But maybe they want to gather more viewers because there’re adding in some unnecessary and illogical actions.”

“Yes, but the viewers will notice that right away. And did they think we were just showing the matches with the highest number of viewers? The world of videos isn’t that kind. Videos need ups and downs to keep people’s attention! And you’re the down! You’re just the necessary filler, so don’t get cocky! Gwa ha ha ha ha!!”

Kamijou and Index had a hard time weaving through the crowds. The rampaging Virtuaroids were scattering stray bullets all over, getting pushed down, and rolling along the roads, but the students were unconcerned as they cheered and used their portable devices in recording mode. In fact, they grew more excited as they shouted support or jeers.

“Fast, quick, speed… What could I use? An airplane? A rocket? But even if we walked to District 23, I doubt they’d let me near any of those.”

While waiting with the crowd for the light to change, he aimed the scanner on the back of his portable device at a red sports car stopped nearby.

It worked differently from a flashlight. A pale ring of light danced along the sports car’s surface, but it seemed to work more like a projector.

(Huh…this light. I could swear I’ve seen it before.)

He thought for a moment and remembered.

It reminded him of the ring scan light that passed over the players’ bodies when beginning a match.

A small light flashed and Lilina, who provided navigation and alerts during a game, appeared on the screen.

“Okay, okay! Material Analyze complete. Please give the new data a name and indicate a stored preset. Go!”

“Hmm. Name the data Sports Car Red, create a new preset, and name it Preset A.”

“That’s pretty plain.”

“There’s no good reason to give them confusing names. That would just make it harder to find what I want later.”

Temjin, Raiden, and the other Virtuaroids each had their own basic specs.

They could have high speed, powerful close-range attacks, a low jump height, poor brakes, and more.

But the Material Analyze was separate to that.

“How does this work…?”

Simply put, the scanner attached to the device could read the traits and features of a material and incorporate them into your own Virtuaroid. You could make up for a weakness by giving speed to heavily-armored Dordray, or you could further expand a strength by giving even greater firepower to Raiden. The possible combinations were endless and that was one reason why there was never a single best choice of Virtuaroid.

It could be anything from a shortcake to the thick wall surrounding Academy City. Some players had even earned a visit from Anti-Skill by carelessly posting that they had incorporated a Japanese sword or explosives.

“I guess I’ll start by scanning everything that looks fast.”

“Hm?” Like cats and birds?”

“I suppose that’s an option too. I really am from Academy City, aren’t I? All I could think of were machines I’d never get access to like a fighter jet or a rocket engine. Something found closer to home might be more constructive.”

For the time being, he captured the calico cat on Index’s head in the ring of light. …He doubted the yawning kitten would be the trump card needed to defeat that blue Cypher, but the more options, the better.

And where could he find other birds, cats, and dogs?

Partially because he was sick of the crowded sidewalks, Kamijou made a suggestion.

“Oh, I know. Let’s try going to a large park.”