Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Virtual On Chapter1 (section)

===Part 8===

If he loaded a whole bunch of credits at once, he would end up buying all sorts of useless apps and ebooks, so Kamijou only purchased 1000 yen’s worth. Afterwards, he realized the atmosphere inside the center had changed.

“?”

He felt a prickling on the back of his neck. It was a hostile aura, like an uninvited guest had marched right on in.

The center had a monitor large enough for a movie theater and it was divided into several small screens. The matches being played near the facility were being relayed there at random. Simply put, it was set up so people could do Let’s Plays if they wanted to. And based on the corporate logos dancing in the corners of some screens, the ones that stood out the most could even get advertisers.

When he looked closer, he realized everyone’s eyes were fixed on one screen in particular.

That seemed to be the source of the hostility.

Kamijou was the only person confused by this reaction and Aogami Pierce called out to him.

“This is bad. Real bad.”

“What is it, Aogami?”

“What is it? One of the Defected players is here. Man, and normally…well, I’m not sure anything about them is normal. But regardless, the Defected players generally ‘disappear’ so they can’t be traced or tracked, but this one’s making an appearance right in front of the center! They’ve got guts!!”

A Defected portable device.

For greater freedom and access to more services, those devices had their safety regulations removed. Accessing functions that should have already been there was one thing, but Kamijou felt no desire to go out of his way to step into dangerous territory.

Aogami Pierce used his thumb to point at the giant LCD monitor in the back of the center.

“Look at that blue Cypher. It’s a textbook example of someone who wants to stand out.”

The Virtuaroid moving about on the screen was very thin and angular. Sharp points that were not quite wings and not quite horns jutted out from far more than just its back and shoulders. The model looked like it would be very fast. And that lightweight and high-speed impression was overturned by the brutal-looking close-range sword that was longer than the Virtuaroid was tall.

It was colored blue with yellow borders. That too was not normal.

“The username is corrupted, but people are calling them the Blue Stalker. I feel bad for the Bal-Bados fighting them. Everyone was having so much fun with the tournament, but this person has to ruin it all. Oh, damn. The ref spheres are completely ignoring it. What kind of magic trick is this?”

“Wait a second…”

“Yeah, if the Blue Stalker removed their anti-tracking stealth and showed up at the center, they probably expected to show up on the screen here. Do they enjoy beating up their opponent while cheating like crazy?”

“No, not that. Did you say Bal-Bados?”

Kamijou shifted his focus from the mystery Cypher to its opponent.

It was a white Virtuaroid.

Instead of holding its weapons, its arms could detach as mobile cannons.

Due to the great customization, the Bal-Bados’s additional armor gave it a nun-like silhouette.

Kamijou’s Temjin had faced this opponent not long before.

“Hold on. Isn’t that Index!?”

“Well, that ain’t good! That ain’t good at all! We need to stop her Defected opponent’s Virtual-On!!”

“What, Aogami?”

Kamijou could not keep up with his friend’s panic.

It was true Index’s Bal-Bados was fighting an illegal Defected player. It might have included abnormal data to tamper with its own movement speed and attack power.

But this was only a game.

This was not a shootout between tanks and it was not two fighters struggling to get on each other’s tail. Even if she took a direct hit, even if she was enveloped in explosive flames, and even if her endurance was worn down to 0 and her unit was destroyed, it would only affect her points. Index herself would be fine.

Or so Kamijou thought until an unpleasant sensation ran down his spine.

He altered his thinking.

“No…is that part of it too? If she loses, do her device’s administrative privileges get taken so her opponent can hijack it!?”

“In a way, it’s even worse.” Aogami Pierce sighed. “I dunno how reliable this information is, but there’re rumors that some of the players involved with Defected players have shown certain symptoms.”

“Symp…toms…?”

“Loss of muscular strength, loss of autonomic nerve control, loss of consciousness… I could list plenty more. I don’t know how much of it is true, but where’s there’s smoke there’s fire. It would be best to stop this!”

That was all Kamijou needed to hear.

He and Aogami immediately made a mad dash for the center’s exit.

Once outside, the battle on the screen exploded within the actual scene around them. The Bal-Bados had detached both arms and sent them floating around. The blue Cypher was kicking off the walls, flipping through the air, and otherwise making quick dashes and jumps using its repulsion. It would swing its giant sword around to shift its center of gravity to assist its irregular acrobatics.

It was a one-sided battle.

Index had tossed Kamijou around like a rag doll, but she was helpless against the blue Cypher known as the Blue Stalker.

She was just barely avoiding an immediate defeat, but that forced her to focus entirely on dodging. However…

“Not good. She’s got no chance at this rate. She’s basically running straight toward a dead end.”

“Why? Look at all the crazy movements her enemy’s using. I would’ve been taken out right away, so she’s doing pretty good!”

“But there’s a time limit. If she keeps losing points and having her endurance worn down, she’ll have nothing to show for her performance when the time runs out. And then she’s done for.”

There were two ways to win in the Next Generation Game Virtual-On.

One was to take away as many of your opponent’s points as you could during the game.

The other was to destroy all of the opposing team’s units.

In a 1-on-1 battle, destroying your opponent was enough to end the battle. And Index was at a disadvantage in both those ways. Simply dodging would not allow her to turn things around, but if she changed tack and charged in, she would be killed instantly.

Meaning…

“She’s going to lose like this.” Aogami Pierce had a bitter look on his face. “Cypher can transform, so it switches between its humanoid Virtuaroid form and its airplane Motor Slasher form. Everyone uses it differently, but it’s weird not to use it at all. It’s like they’ve placed a restriction on themselves.”

“You mean they’re actually holding back…?”

Kamijou was watching from the sidelines and even he had to stay focused or lose sight of its ever-changing movements, and yet that was not all it could do?

“No, that’s not the issue here. Hey, Index, accept whatever penalty it gives you! Just cut the connection!! That guy’s one of those Defected…”

Kamijou trailed off.

Index was definitely there. Nothing had changed from when he left her. She was on the edge of the sidewalk to stay out of people’s way and she looked down at the portable device as her fingers moved.

But there was no light in her eyes.

Her fingers moved at blinding speed like they were independent creatures.

“Hey, Index…”

Finding this odd, Kamijou called out to her and shook her by the shoulders, but there was no response.

Her head wobbled on her neck, so was she even looking at the screen?

“Excuse me a moment.”

Aogami Pierce circled behind Index and suddenly placed a large bag over her head and the cat sitting on it.

“What are you doing, Aogami!?”

“Look! Her fingers are still moving even with her eyes covered and the Bal-Bados over there is moving just the same! How does this even work!?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

What was going on?

Was it due to the connection to a Defected portable device?

The situation was truly abnormal.

And how bad were the penalties for losing that Aogami Pierce had mentioned?

“Aogami.”

“What is it, Kami-yan? Should we take away her device? If that Bal-Bados keeps moving even then, I’ll just give up on trying to understand this.”

“No, I’ll save Index a different way. Virtual-On is more than just 1-on-1, right? I can join in as part of her team, right?”

“Yeah! So that’s what you’re gonna do?”

“I’m going in.”

Kamijou removed the ultra-thin goggles from the bottom of his portable device.

Kamijou’s skill could not reach Index’s level, so he would not stand a chance in a straight battle against the Blue Stalker.

But he did not have to fight a straight battle.

He only had to help drive the enemy back even if it was 2 against 1.

In the Next Generation Game Virtual-On, teams could have up to 4 people. Those spots were not filled, so he could join in. If all 4 spots were filled and one of them was destroyed, that did not open up the spot and the official tournament only allowed the registered members, but neither of those situations applied here.

That meant he could do it.

He could save Index.

“If this doesn’t work, you start trying everything you can think of.”