.hack//C.S.

Chapter 4

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Chapter 4
4. Shinigami X Shinigami

Divine leaves Ikaruga’s side after a while. He relishes the peace now that the noise has left, but at the same time, feels a dim sense of loneliness. Even though being alone is normal for him, he’s overcome by a strange emptiness.

Ikaruga grumbles a complaint for the first time as he watches the sunset. “Really, that woman… she’s to nosey.” His voice is so soft, no one hears him.

A fidgety harvest cleric[1] chases after an adept rouge.

“Pl- please, wait a minute~”

“Totto and clear[2]… This was nothing more than a trial run. You have my grat.i.tude for keeping me company during this pursuit.”

Their initial movement speeds makes the creation of a gap between the two inevitable.

Ikaruga glances towards the clamor, but then immediately returns his gaze onto the sunset.

The adept rouge nitpicks as he walks past Ikaruga. “Geez… I guess I’m ready for that quest with those Moon Tree guys. All for the sake of the guild…”

Jii… Jijii…—

A thought runs across Ikaruga’s eyes. It’s more of a sound, like a noise. Overwhelming pain brings Ikaruga down onto a knee. His surroundings sway as though he’s being a.s.sailed by vertigo. He clenches his eyes shut to try and wait out the feeling.

The harvest cleric notices Ikaruga’s condition and runs over to him. “He- hey, are you alright?” Ikaruga lacks the composure to respond and remains hunched over on the ground. Regardless, the harvest cleric continues speaking to him. The harvest cleric then says, “Haseo-san… something’s wrong with this person.”

The adept rouge stops and turns around. “He’s just exhausted from overplaying.”

“But….ah,” The harvest cleric backs away as Ikaruga slowly rises onto his feet.

Ikaruga grips the handrail and turns to the black adept rouge, the PC the harvest cleric called Haseo. “…Terror, of Death. Ske…ith.”

Haseo’s eyes widen at those words. “Huh!?” It’s their first meeting, but Ikaruga is speaking of a name only a few people know about. It isn’t an alias, but the name of an overshadowing G.o.d[3].

Ikaruga is still afflicted by the noise. It results in him speaking in broken intervals. “That’s, right… You’re the… Terror of Death.”

Haseo snaps at Ikaruga. He doesn’t care that Ikaruga’s eyes are blank and unfocused or that Ikaruga can only stand by clinging to the handrail. He says, “Hey, how do you know about Sole?[4] Are you part of C.C.? Tell me, or I’ll—”

“He~y, coming through,” Divine lands on Haseo’s head and hops off. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

Haseo’s patience breaks. He grabs Divine by her tail before she can land and says, “You chibi-neko! Don’t use people as stepping stones!”

Divine mutters to herself, “Uwah, I’ve been called chibi-neko by two people…” She then says, “Sorry about that, but this is an emergency. So (-人-) how about letting it slide?” and yanks her tail free so she can approach Ikaruga.

Ikaruga doesn’t appear to notice her despite breathing on her shoulder.

Divine says, “Ikaruga, can you hear me? The Terror of Death…”

Ikaruga responds to Divine’s last few word. “A, aah…” He becomes aware of Divine’s presence and sh

akes his head to clear away the noise. Even without the alias, they are somehow able to understand the significance of the [Eight Phases] from Terror of Death[5].

Haseo glares at Divine, ready to draw his weapon to force an answer from her if needed. “You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, tell me what you know.”

Divine stands up and speaks while raising the corners of her eyes. “If Yata hasn’t mentioned anything, then this doesn’t concern you.

“Yata… You’re part of the C.C. Corporation?”

“Well, I was “originally” an employee there, but Ikaruga is different. Yata’s group doesn’t know much about him either.

The harvest cleric tries to sooth Haseo upon hearing the gist of Divine’s situation. “Haseo-san, these people also have their own circ.u.mstances. We’re not any different, so…

Haseo makes a light click with his tongue. He begins to resume his original path while saying, “You know that b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Yata?”

“…Actually, we were a.s.signed to different departments. I don’t think we’ll be able to properly understand each other through just a PC name.”

Neither Haseo’s nor Divine’s lines of sight intersect, but both speak with the same lack of emotion.

Haseo gives a small, “I see,” and turns to resume his quest. The harvest cleric gives Divine a fl.u.s.tered bow and runs after him.

Once the two are gone, Divine turns to Ikaruga while mumbling, “As expected, the data up intervention must have finished…”

Ikaruga watches the sunset like always now that the noise gone. He feels as though it subsided with Haseo’s departure. He releases a deep breath and asks Divine who sits on the handrail, “…What was that just now?”

“Ikaruga, did you see the name of that adept rouge?”

Even though a question is returned to him instead of an answer, he doesn’t get mad. He gives an honest, “Nope.”

Without wasting any time, Divine throws him a second question. “Then, you didn’t know that that guy is the PKK Haseo?”

“I don’t know about anything like that. Just then was the first time I met him.”

“In other words, you shouldn’t be able to know his second name…”

Ikaruga gives Divine a perplexed expression as he says, “What’s that?”

“Don’t you remember anything that happened during the middle of that noise?”

Ikaruga’s gaze drops onto the river. Its gentle flow reflects its surroundings. He stares at it with an absent mind as he says, “Ahh, there was a mind numbing pain in my head… I sorta remember you talking with that guy in black.”

An indescribable anxiety a.s.sails Ikaruga. For the first time, Divine hears him take a vulnerable tone. “Is there… something wrong with me?”

Divine says, “Don’t worry about it. Part of the system is unstable right now, but it’ll be repaired before you know it.”

Two symbols of death,

Truthfully aren’t very different.

Therefore those,

Symbols will shake the world.

Crisis Symbol

[Crisis Symbol]

T/N: I translated 呪術士 as harvest cleric out of a guess, but after reading that exchange, I’m starting to wonder if that was Atoli. Will someone who’s played this game give a verdict?? As for that noise, from my understanding, that was something only Ikaruga could hear. How Divine knew about it, not sure. It might be that she recognized the symptom. I’m not sure about all of you, but I imagine that noise as fuzzy static.

-Gandire Alea

1 Like in chapter 2, the cla.s.s specified in the kanji, 呪術士, doesn’t exist. I’m again translating it as harvest cleric 呪療士 because their middle kanji somewhat resemble each other.

[2] とっととしろよ… I have no clue what he’s trying to say with this…

[3] The kanji, 憑神, says possession and G.o.d. I’m interpreting it as a G.o.d that possesses others hence my word choice.

4 ソレ I haven’t played the game. If the name is wrong, let me know and I’ll fix it.

[5] それは二つ名としてではなく、『八相』としての死の恐怖を意味していることが、何故か互いに了解出来た。 This sentence was tricky.

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