I was able to get in touch with a PC that knew Orca.
It was a good idea to read the BBS every day. I discovered that she had written “I haven"t seen Orca recently” in a chat.
After contacting her and revealing that I was a friend of Yasuhiko, Orca"s real-life user, we decided to meet at Mac Anu.
I sensed something in the other"s entries. I got the feeling that I knew Yasuhiko well in the game, but I didn"t know him well in other details.
I met the PC, named Linda, on the Stone Bridge. She was a Long Arm with heavy armor.
"Are you the one who contacted me? Orca"s friend?" she asked me.
"Hi, I"m Linda. I"m an information merchant in The World."
"An information merchant?"
"Well, it"s a type of role-play."
"No, that"s not what I mean," I said.
"Did you say that Orca was investigating something?"
Linda nodded.
"Orca was investigating a rumor related to The World."
"A rumor?"
"You haven"t heard it? The World is not just an online game. Something with a different purpose is moving behind the scenes…"
I swallowed my saliva.
"Something with a different purpose?"
"I don"t know. Orca seemed to arrive at something with information that didn"t go through me, but he didn"t tell me."
Linda shook her head.
"In the end, it"s just a rumor. No idea whether or not there is such a thing, but Orca and his pal seem to have done a lot of research."
"His pal? There was someone else besides Orca?"
Linda looked at me as if to say, "you didn"t know that either?"
"Balmung."
I was surprised to hear that unexpected name.
"Balmung of the Azure Sky and Orca of the Azure Sea. They are the top two players in The World."
Speaking of which, Balmung certainly said that Orca was his partner.
And when I met him for the first time, I learned about “virus bugs” and BlackRose and I tried to escape.
“The Descendants of Fianna, as they were known, were warriors who defeated numerous events such as The One Sin, Soul Totoru Gate and Red Iteria.”
After arranging a lot of words that I don"t understand, Linda hung her head with a look of sadness.
“But since Orca"s been killed… I think I"ll retire. I think you should do the same and forget about the rumors.”
"I can"t do that." I said.
"Orca is my friend."
Linda shook her head and looked at me.
"Okay, well, I"ll give you a piece of advice," she said, lowering her voice.
"There"s a rumor that management is involved in this matter."
"Management?"
"Be careful. You can"t trust the officials."
"You are being watched," those were the words of Helba.
And my BBS entry was deleted.
Linda and I parted ways and I logged out to find that I received two emails.
Subject：*e#
From: Au#*
Message:
I [email protected]"t go on @nym*re.
If Sk*ith catches me… I…
It"s not too late. It"s n*t too late.
It"s not t#o late. It"s n*t too la*e.
It"s n#t to# late. It"s not too &ate.
It"s not too ^ate. It"s not to) late.
It"s no$ to% lat(.
Subject: Dear Kite
From: Helba
Message:
Θ Server Chosen Hopeless Void
A girl and a black-clad character with a cross were witnessed here.
The girl"s name is Aura.
The capacity of this area continues to grow.
They may still be there.
I removed the FMD, Face Mount Display, and set it aside.
A mail from Helba. A notice from an unfamiliar PC. Is it a good idea to trust them?
If this is true, why tell me?
I remembered the other day"s exchange. Helba had some ulterior motive and she wasn"t trying to hide it.
Is she using me?
No, I shook my head and reconsidered.
In today"s situation with few clues, you have to believe everything.
The girl is called Aura and is still being chased by the “Reaper”.
Perhaps the garbled e-mail was sent by her.
She is a clue to recovering Yasuhiko. I must help her. I have to go to this area.
That is the action I should take.