Chapter 180: The Upgraded Book and the Act – D-Mail! (II)
…
[
Congratulations Contestant Kai Stormborn
Your Item is upgraded to the next Grade
…
Item: The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Original)
Grade: Uncommon (Growth - 3/5)
Specification: An anthology of magical tales handwritten by Beedle the Bard
Requirement:
1. Worth 80
2. A Glitch
3. Extreme Emotion
4. Presence of Characters
Attributes:
1. Store Magical Tales
2. Current Status: 8
Skill: The Song of History
Skill Effect:
1. In the presence of Characters, automatically write a tale about them
2. Proximity required: 20 ft
3. The Contestant must say the true name if multiple characters are present
4. The depth of the written tale depends on the current grade.
5. The tale can be expanded by repeating the procedure with the upgraded Item
Skill: Thousand Tales Parasite
Skill Effect:
1. Devour tales to upgrade itself
2. Automatically writes a Hidden-Tale of the Contestant.
3. When the Hidden-Tale is completed, devour the Contestant's memories
4. When opened, the Item gains an intention, rejecting an unworthy tale
Skill: Primordial Theater
Skill Effect:
1. Imbue life to the magical tales
2. The Characters within the tale come alive and can be used by Contestant
3. Activity Radius: 200 ft
3. The strength of enlivened Characters depends on the tale's completion-status
4. Each tale and its Characters have their own requirements and limitations
WARNING:
1. Only two tales can be imbued with life at a time
2. The enlivened Character cannot exist outside the Activity Radius
Quality: 100%
]
…
With one snap, Kai threw the book open to the latest tale. The Tale of Insane Scientist Hououin Kyouma in large computer typeface letters was written at the top.
This was his trump card. His salvation. His counter.
Come on, he thought, beaming. Part the curtains of your Primordial Theater. Now.
"El. Psy. Congroo." - words rang out, crossing the smoky veil.
The lanky figure of Rintaro Okabe walked out, wearing his long, white lab coat and holding a red-black flip mobile against his right ear. His short black hair was pushed back, and there was the faintest hint of stubble on his chin. The moment his golden eyes landed on Kai, he shut the mobile, putting it in the pocket of his coat, and threw his hands across himself.
"I am the mad, insane scientist Hououin… Kyouma! Muahahaha!"
Kai gawked at him.
"The God of Science has divined. From now on, I am Lab Member 001…" Okabe spun, standing at his place, and pointed his finger at Meg. "I declare you Lab Member 002, Ms. Virgin."
Meg blushed, color rising to her pale cheeks.
Then the young scientist pointed at Petyr. "And you are Lab Member 003, Mr. Finger."
At last, Okabe looked at Kai again and bowed sarcastically. "We bow to Lab Member 000, Mr. Storm."
Kai couldn't believe it. Meg had repeatedly told him about the eccentric and delusional manner of this character, and those fits of maniacal laughter. Yet, the reality of having a scientist like Okabe trapped in such a body with those unique traits hit heavily on Kai's thoughts.
It was then Okabe noticed the tank behind Petyr's figure, making him spring towards it.
"An animated life suspension mechanism!" Okabe cried. "Who did this?!"
Kai narrowed his eyes, thinking whether the young scientist had truly figured out the true mechanism of the tank or if it was just another random string of words.
Suddenly, Okabe gasped, and Kai almost jumped to his feet.
"What happened?!" Kai asked, preparing himself to burst out with strength.
"It's them!" Okabe cried, pointing at the cylindrical tank. He took out the flip mobile, flicked it open, and put it against his ear again. "The organization has attacked again. I repeat, the organization has attacked. One more innocent life now hangs between the doors of…"
Kai heard the nonsensical rant and fumed. On the other side, the corner of Meg's mouth twitched, and Petyr didn't hold himself back either, laughing out loud.
In just a few moments, the tense atmosphere had been turned upside-down.
"D-Mail," said Kai, begrudgingly sitting down. He did notice that Meg was giggling under her breath, and couldn't help but think that this weirdo's presence wasn't all bad for the group.
Okabe paused, looked over his shoulder at Kai, and came running towards him. "Message?" he asked, now showing uncanny professionalism. "And the number of days."
"Don't come to the planned station," Kai told Okabe. "Remove the spaces if it's over 36 bytes. Set it for 1 day."
Kai didn't like it. That he couldn't control the actual number of hours troubled him. By now, he had already figured out that Blood Prophecy failed because of the Primordial Tower. Whenever he had neared the time limit of the mission completion, it had failed to work. That's why it didn't work within the Tower as well. And he had shared these details with Meg on the train.
So, he was worried if the D-Mail would go back into the Random World or not, as one day ago, he was in the Random World of Game of Thrones.
"Hahaha! That's 28 Bytes, Mr. Storm," Okabe shouted. "I am adding the word loopyloo at the end to make it 36 bytes."
Why?! Kai made a face but thought better than speaking of it.
"Done!" Okabe cried.
Kai smiled, closed his eyes, and waited.
Nothing happened.
He opened his eyes and found Okabe looking at him with a wry smile flashing across his thin face.
"I meant I am done typing," the Insane Scientist told Kai, looking away. "OK. I am sending it now."
A click sound reverberated, small and sharp. Kai's eyes were glued to the mobile. Okabe tore his eyes off the mobile and looked at Kai.
Then he pressed the send button again.
Again and again.
And again.
"It's not working," Okabe said meekly. "Oh, no! The organization has hacked it finally. I must delete my browser history."
Kai lunged at the lunatic. "Give it to me!" he shouted, his hands wrapping around the phone. But no matter how much he pulled it, he couldn't take the mobile out of Okabe's hands.
"Let it go!" Kai shouted, his anger exploding, and his heart thumping like the hooves of thousands of horses beating against the solid ground.
"I am trying!" Okabe snapped back. "Mr. Storm, it's the organization. Ms. Virgin, Mr. Finger, Help! They must be coming. Hide the tank."
The muscles on Kai's hand bulged, and he tugged so hard at the mobile that both he and Okabe went tumbling down on the floor.
Send it!
Send the fucking mail!
Words bombarded Kai's mind like a chant.
A hand landed on his shoulder, light but firm.
Kai looked back and found Petyr looking at him, his smile gone.
"Accept it, my lord."
Kai didn't know what he was trying to imply. So, Petyr repeated. "Accept that the ACT can't be played."
Kai snapped. "No. The ACT can't fail."
"It hasn't failed, my lord," Petyr said, the sly smile returning to his face. "When Blood Prophecy had failed, even then it had consumed your HP. Accept it."
Kai's grip loosened, and hope abandoned him like a traitorous friend.
He never lacked in extreme emotions and opening the Book, whenever he wanted, was a testament to that. He also didn't lack the Will to Defy; Focus Punch had proved it for him. Yet, it was the thing that Kai had taken so much pride in that had failed him now. All his life, he had considered himself a scientist.
Then why couldn't he meet the ACT's requirement?! Kai felt lost, thinking that he, the son of the two greatest scientists, he, the Messiah, the Blood Demon, the genius of generations, lacked the Will of a true scientist.
How could he ever accept it?!