COI C128
Tabitha is very nervous, entering a hideout for special investigation. The samples or examples they brought to the storage data had proven remarkable results. She is sweating out even when the room is cooled with the air conditioning system. The woman still processing the data from Tabitha’s device. Slowly reaching into to private contents she personally used. Archivist stops her when she reaches the program called ‘incognito mode’.
“I think that’s enough for data gathering”
“You’re mistaken, there is called gigabytes of data not resurfacing yet”
“Because it is a private matter”
“Such matter like this . . . fine, as long as it doesn’t have viruses then I can skip it”
The woman has finally completed the accessibility for Tabitha’s request. As the agreement is assure for them, she pulls out some meals from the containers. She taking her brunch where she gives them the code for the computers.
“This is your access files. You will first receive the content we have so far. When you see the people who are involved in suspicious activities, you are no longer have the attentive actions to be with those suspects. These are classified information”
Dexter Guild, according to most Enders Guild, they are the best to collect information from. Due to different views and aspects based on the hypotheses. Their discoveries are incredibly accredited, but the conclusion is too undesirable because from the one of the answers with their complex solutions. Truly, they might give away such information. The consequences are dire who show the list of people who are participating. Like controversies they have made, it will sometimes permanently deleted, including the evidence; dead or alive.
Tabitha thanked Juela for the warning about the guild. Only thing she had to do is not be a part of it, learn from it, and never to speak to others about it. She has to know those people who are a threat to her. With the computer in front of her, the computer gives the reports of the Dexter guild members. She uses her device to translate every report available, and the meantime Archivist read the report that the advancement of this city’s technology is far better from what he read.
Report #003 “The first mana battery heist; The components are found near the northern part of Mihayara District. They are all dummies. Which those were the first batch to test the transportation tactics when it comes to smuggling. I assume that this is just training, don’t follow up this answer as the conclusion. Better models were not found as of late”
Report #018 “No Matching ID; Put this research under halt, I have been found out to a specific person from Fuku City being suspicious of me. The next report will be reanalyzing”
Report #036 “No Matching ID (2); I was able to differentiate the suspect. The strange observation I found is based on memory. Trying to make a conversation through their website to the last moment and talking to them in the same sequence. I found out . . . they are not the same person. Doing some reverse psychology in between like they did through day and night. I can disprove of their schizophrenia and other mental disorders. If the people from the ‘internet’ can be found”
Report #042 “Decoding; One of the team found an old device. It is clearly to be from one of us who managed to took off the owner’s hand. This should be the last report if they found out. Anyway, the device has some special encoding that might access you go through their ‘internet’ This called IP address will be essential to figure it out the Fuku City’s secret invention”
Report #043 “Hiatus; The Head of Archscientist calls for the postpone of ‘private matters’ We are almost reaching their private ‘servers’”
Report #039 “Accessing/Hacking; Unidentified users were bypassing our computer systems. They easily get through one through and caused a lot of corrupted files. The outbreak ceased after the attempt. It seems that they caught one of our viruses from the cyberspace. Sending request code: Private Matters”
Report #041 “Lost Files; The unknown hacker had stolen the computer virus, Code Red. The worst outcome will be that the virus is freed and ‘awaken’. There is no telling when it will wake up. Historical wise, this is the only cause for our cyberspace making the computers to slow down. But Isekai City shouldn’t deserve this”
Tabitha stops reading the reports and lead to the analyses to where are those people are now. The Fuku adventurers formed the guild through the modernization. Which is why the adventurers weren’t active going outside, Tabitha couldn’t comprehend it nor Archivist. The woman sees them having trouble understanding what’s going on as she takes first her glass of water.
“Gulp* I forgot to ask, why are you here again? It looks like you are not part of the topic you are looking for”
“I just want to know who are the people I feel threaten with. But why given me this?”
The woman sees what’s going on as she takes a look. Something is odd, and surprisingly connected. She has to explain it to her “You got yourself a domino effect, let’s make it easier for you here”
She goes to the directory, where they found what Tabitha wants to see. The woman explains it to her briefly “The people who are dangerous were busy to do something else. They are not threat to anyone who are not staying inside Fuku City”
“You’re not helping”
“Stated the obvious is better than lying”
“Hmph”
“. . . Anyhow, these reports must be the people who met your community. Which they can be your assets”
Tabtiha sees the list of people who wrote the reports, and one of them is the one who ate with them a few days ago. The man who wrote report #041. If she is going back to Fuku City again, these people will provide any information to help her not get caught of the action. She checks her device again, where she was able to access in the private group. The Fuku City is secretly fighting from within. No one knows about it except the defectors. Tabitha used the accounts she took from those defectors before she returned. Her eyes filled with rage until the woman shakes her on the shoulder.
“I am not going to pry your business, but if you want those people to talk. There is a need of exchange”
“There is no need, I think I have one. The one who wrote report #41”
“Him?! Well, I guess so. Then that means, he can be accessed back here again”
The woman picks a call to get him. Tabitha turned to Archivist mentioning what she said earlier “Again?”
Archivist shakes his head leaving no idea what the guild operates. The woman calls him out as the machine is running up. The cylindrical container starts to light up and a figure is form. Someone is being teleported.
A sudden bright light flashes to the room, and the man appeared fell to the ground on his knees and hands. The man stands up couldn’t see well from the sudden flash. Light smokes coming from his body, the brighten colors still remain on him, then slowly dims down as the visual effects from being teleported is slowly wearing off. He said,
“You must be the one who I seated with the gadget at hand. I just want to return the favor as soon as possible”
Tabitha shows to him her device. A recording in Fuku City and the people she pointed out as a threat. The man knows about his guild members’ reports. The things he need to do is to solve her predicament. Where he knows who are the Fuku adventurers are. Deliberately, he was being noticed so far. After hearing her situation to get through the threats, he nodded to her worries
“Yes, we found out about it. We weren’t able to fully observed what they are doing. Fortunately, I can make it a better solution indirectly”
The man looks at the woman as both of them have something to know about. The project hid well from this guild. The woman focuses her gaze on Tabitha, a citizen, to be their probable options. Along with the other reporters related to the investigation, she said to her
“We might be the one who will identify them”
“Are you sure? This place is a secret hideout, I might reveal something important”
“We have our ways. We just need an old account to access their dark web. In return, one of us provide you data for your man here”
Archivist stood there letting Tabitha to decide. She had come this far and not backing out. The fear of being surrounded by people is the disadvantages for a mage like her. The threats all around her and no preparedness to go through with it. Allies or none, she has to provide the strategy for Archivist to do. The cards alone are great, but not enough time for her to make it work. Being learned how to use the card effectively and Archivist will be front lining against the citizens. She will be at the vulnerable position if they targeted her. She complies
“Alright, but how long will it take for me . . .”
The woman quickly answers “Only just an account, secondary or dead account if I might say more. We will start the project again with anonymous account by the citizen itself”
The man pointed to Archivist “After we succeed that is, we will put you to the simulation projector trainer”
The machine opens up and shows a chair with technological tools. It closed back in as it switches to their equipment. Archivist heard something the word trainer, where Haw was able to understand craftsmanship and improving his reflexes. He said,
“Is that the same equipment meant for your corps?”
The woman smirks “It seems Rh-0 says something very rare. There is no problem where you will get the data. Anything goes that if we managed to finish the operation then proceed back to our mission. You’ll have the analysis to those people who are cautious about”
Tabitha feels something like they are going through an internet war or something. It is clearly shown how the internet possesses such information within the world wide web. Making her think that she did something bad for letting Enders to take control of it.
She doubts “What will going to do if you have my old accounts?”
“We need to take what they taken from us. I don’t think I can explain to you very well about cyberspace. After all this is happening, we will give you what you needed. Going through Fuku City, prepared without experience. You have to do some self-training yourself to have enough speed, endurance, and wits to deal with the enemies you have”
Tabitha tries to use her telepathy on Archivist, the silent didn’t help. She must make the decision to handle her situation and put everything into secret.
Tabitha and Archivist left the hideout, to take the rest of the day to train outside of the outskirts. The Dexter Guild provides them the necessary requirements when facing the people; Gangs, criminals, and other lowlifes are forming groups. They show them how they operate when a certain hour started. The illusion of the well protected Fuku City is nothing but a domain for the fugitives. Hierarchy secretly established, segregated areas where defectors pretend as normal citizens, normal citizens are quelled their innocence and take the opportunity.
The woman checks again the people who have researched the people from Fuku City. They have one of the accounts from Tabitha. The account they have is a troll account and nothing more. This is enough for them. The rest were teleported here, one after the other, they are here as they prepare an emergency call to the Head Archscientist. Lady Coheld immediately answers the call.
“Sigh* was it from the nun girl’s little child?”
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
“It is as predicted as you have said head archscientist”
“Then separate her from him. Make something up to be persecuted him again. I second thought, made him the cause of our hiatus”
The dark web, there was an internet war. The hacker somehow got the hold an old internet version of this world. Easy to bypass all of so much outdated systems. Ignoring where the servers are coming from, the hackers were able to go deep into unidentifiable websites that neither understand nor inactive. Their eyes are pointing out the active users. They tracked it from Rune Isles and Enders Bridge. Then it started, they were able to access really impressive confidential files from them. All encrypted but easily decoded so far. The technology they made is identical to sci-fi status.
It wasn’t enough, they want more. The materials needed for it is beyond impossible, even the design itself were to its best qualities. All they need now is the diagram and sketches of how it is being developed. They found one sketch though, pictures rather than drawn into the computer. Piece by piece, as if it was torn apart. They did their best to open it up until the defenses kick in. The first picture was taken, and it has the files inside to access through their cyberspace. Weeks later, they get themselves into their internet servers.
They know now that the pictures are the key to enter to the cyberspace. More and more pictures they take, and more users from Horsin were deleted. They have the vast and fast internet on their side. Given much effort for them to collect them all, they found the gateway into the internet. To the last piece they found, it was different. They are clever enough to see that it is a virus. With their anti-virus programs, they quickly removed the problem with ease. They have shown their dominance, and took the last piece.
Once its done, it is complete. The full records of going into the cyberspace. The people from Fuku City secretly shouted with joy as they retrieve the most popular tool for their people. Illegally done, as they take the first group to see inside the web. A realm into the internet. It wasn’t that long, where the virus returns. They updated their firewalls and the virus couldn’t go through, but there is somewhere else it is able to corrupt., the dark web. Now the hackers need to deal with it as their servers were able to get inside, but not the rest of the websites. This virus is blocking the access way to the other links. They have to deal with it if they want this opportunity.
Flashes wasn’t sure that the realm is made by their own people. The personal websites are clearly belonged to them. They somehow got inside in a digital space, with C down joining along and the woman who he is with during the siege. This is something they were impressed about. C feels troubled
“If only Magnet would see this. He shouldn’t be focusing on that guy”
The woman takes digital smoke and blows at him “I don’t care, he has a past that surely want that jackass killed”
“Yeah, and I still don’t know your name”
“Fuck you! I don’t want that bitch’s name. Look at me! I look like just like her!”
Flashes changes the subject. “Yeah, about that girl who entered your apartment yesterday. I didn’t expect the bitch you hate have visitors”
“It was the original tenant. I’m just glad she didn’t know her and going on her way. I just acted normal and tries to invite her for at least to relief myself from the bitch’s environment. Then again, his boyfriend was odd with his mask on. I don’t know what kind of couple they are, they seem not mind me taking their apartment”
“Seems like we’re taking our time here, Miss”
C says to her “Ma’am”
Miss feels so bizarre how C looks old, but realistically “I’m guessing you are disguised as a middle-aged man. But you are actually a kid”
“Same goes to Flashes, he is not fat”
She turns to Flashes and he slaps his belly as she sees him. Miss looks away in disgust and said “Ugh! Why can’t our own people take care of themselves”
Miss on the other hand is incredibly looking dashing. Thanks to her double being fake she is with filters all around her. She looks extravagant and at the same time dangerous for her own skills. C can’t go through the line while Flashes chuckles softly to her being a hypocrite.
They passed by from a bunch of crowds who are actual citizens, spouting around the area like some kind of video games. “Now this is the world we should live in”
“It’s like a VR chat, but you are actually in it”
“Imagine to some sites we can visit in person”
“I hope they could apply the apps as real tools for us here”
The conversation is normal, then it gets darker “We can go in person to our favorite sites and xxx . . .”
“Yeah, with our magic we can turned those pictures into xxx . . .”
“Hey! You guys! People will hear us”
“We don’t care, it is the internet. We can do the fuck we want”
Flashes hears clearly and never continue to listen to the worse parts of their conversation. Each of them has their own gripes from what they said. Miss just don’t want to bother them as she needs be. She checks her device from her double. There is nothing to update, what another hour for her to be relief. Flashes sees her checking her device again
“You know our bodies are still in the real world. You don’t have to worry much when you are using your VR headset”
“That is not why I am worried about. Ugh, C, how are you heading on hearing those creeps?”
C, on the other hand paused his actual expression. Back at his place, he is showing so much anger that he also muted himself. Not saying a word as the two keeps talking, Flashes tries to interact him but quickly guessed.
“I guessed this must be his first time not fully set up those character creation options”
“Neither do I, we both see that we can function really well here. We can just move on from here”
C takes his time trying to recuperate from his anger. He won’t say much about to both of them as he is the only non-defector.
Pretending to walkthrough the site, the slight of digital interference is starting static up. Their blending was finally come to an end as the queue is now connecting to the server was told to go. The loading screens pop around them showing notifications, note, and tips across the moment. The background went dark, the UIs here are just mix of black and white, nearly identical to an old black green screen. There the hackers managed to obtain this abnormal site. Heavily outdated of how it looks, but it belongs to the Horsin servers. The three knows nothing, and don’t want to be involved it until the situation went dire.
Miss spokes out to the other users “So, this is the cause of those error internet connections. How did you idiots want to know that there is an internet version of this world?”
The idiots were not part of the hacking group, they look at her looking so fine and beautiful. They want to talk smack back to her, but her fame is just too great not to get her into her bad side.
“They are over there” They pointed out to where those lights following through like grids.
Miss shows and embarrassed look “Oh sorry, my bad I was widdle . . . FUCK! What is this dialogue putting into this avatar?”
Flashes is filling up the connections here. Miss truly didn’t know how to use it. Then someone is helping her, or was it her double is using this opportunity like his double did. He has his device recording the places are available to go through without using the VR headset for safety. Again, with his disbelief that how these nobodies had the skill to turn their websites into the realm they have dreamed of. Another world into another world, such inception keeps these fools to lose themselves in their own safe space.
C walks first to the users who are taking it seriously watching the screen. Foreign websites that are not belong their servers and the servers that are not accessed by them. The user sees him coming from behind, he stops and said to him
“Do you ever wonder why most American websites or even the entire world websites also being brought to this world without their original servers?”
“No, I never heard of it until it was offered from the new guild”
“New guild? Ah the cult leader’s new fake organization. Tell me, how many suckers are interested?”
“. . .”
“No? I’ll just browse it. Laughs*”
The users are now distributing questlines, with the automated credits already in place. The user who is with C shows him at the exit.
“We are going to get busy here. So, if you want to be friends. Then I advised you to a specific girl with her boyfriend. They might hard to get close to them after what social media told about them. She can be proved useful as she was Fuku citizen”
C squinted his eyes out of suspicion with no idea who is this girl and the boyfriend. But mentioning that she was is just silly. No community in Fuku City left this district. It is the most privately protected for the highly privileged.
C down knows that the gangs are their bodyguards. Providing the luxurious lifestyle from the empty rooms they could muster, and homed for the worse people who were segregated between the rich people and the lowlifes. There is nothing so simple for them to leave with their arrogant wealth and already under the look out, especially for the defectors. Fuku City communities can’t leave because of that. Neither his idol trapped with that man. He seen the reality of his own people.
Back to the two, everybody is finally had the list of things to do. The rewards are being added just to look silly, like the hackers are trying to blend in junk advertisement as the pictures of the websites they are going into. While the flash quests keep going horizontally, the users announce the objectives.
“Ignore what you are reading and focus on the websites’ names. Lucky for us, we have sites you are familiar with. Unfortunately, you are focusing on the most popular one. That would take you longer than you’ve imagined”
Flashes reads the list “They are all from English-speaking websites . . . Hmm, I think it won’t be troublesome with our translator. Let’s go for the most controversial sites, pirate sites”
C reads to where he pointed at “Manga sites? I forgot that they have those”
“It should be easy to scout out there. There should be a lot harmful ads to get to the virus quickly”
Miss don’t want to suspect something but she had to guess “Are they going to be product scams there?”
Flashes tilt his head slowly groaning “Hmm, I don’t think so. I’ll bet on those crypto mining”
C added “I’m just going to bet on the most classic ones; malwares”
Their first adventure to the dark web, the dead sites. These dead sites always can be called as archived. The hackers kept calling them dead sites as nobody ever maintain it. Flashes thought about going there to be easier to go multiple sites with spams all around. One site to the other, the first web site is the pirated manga site. Without even a step forward, the borders and links already covered the homepage secretly when you click on it. Physically there without any trouble to touching the layers of spam links. This is the first step they didn’t get into an ad.
Miss reads the instruction from her UI “it says, we can differentiate the corrupted to the actual dead sites due to colors. The Horsin version has only blue colored links or dark background and thick bolded green letters, while ours are pictured links that can be animated or highlighted by click and drag to see the source code”
Flashes tries to click and drag with his hand. “Huh”
“Let me do it” C uses the controls of the VR headset as the mouse. The website shows link normally from what they expected. This website is not yet corrupted. The three first look around the content. C recognizes those mangas
“I have seen a nice collection. Sadly, there are no updates of completion”
Flashes gives them one of his component devices. “Yeah, but I never been into mangas. How about you Miss”
“Me neither, I have been doing my time with my friends when I was in Highschool. The school back then were very strict to those ‘explicit’ books”
“How daring, for me it is sure that they are asking for bullying if they showed it to my friends”
C down never would’ve thought that these two are not into it, but why Flashes recommended to be the place they have to go. “Uhm, then why here of all places”
“It is the catching trend to foreigners. I read it on the news about pirated sites leaking to the western countries. My previous job back then taken the attention to that trend”
That means Flashes was doing his research and come across to these sites. This is not the reason though, and he himself knows that this is the thing would attract any spams might interlink with the virus. It is just an assumption, and with his magic device on their hands he said
“Hold it, when I am going through the spams. Press that button when I disappeared. It will help me return here without any trouble”
Miss nods to his clever invention “Have you tested it before?”
“Yeah, I was abducted by monsters to the first time, then the second when testing it. I’d say I’m still wondering about that kid though”
Miss and C wait for him to get ready. They carefully stay away from the ads and look for a manga that is completed for them to read. A large good collection of mangas, as they browsing through the list. Miss was thinking about something else
“Should’ve went to some pirated movies instead. I don’t like reading this stuff”
C reads one of the mangas “Hmm, I have read this manga before, they really did a good job to redraw to look clean. Those special drawings when the fighters always splashing words with their attacks. This doesn’t have one. Full special effects”
“Nice art, but I like it better when it is in motion”
Flashes suited and ready to go “Alright, I’ll go web diving and remember when that device starts blinking. Pull me back right away”
He immediately touches one of the ads and sent him off to another site. The two sees the cover up ad disappeared, they see outside of the border that there is a timer and the ad will return back. Miss was not fond of this annoying pop ups.
“What will happen that the both of us accidentally go in there?”
It was not even 5 minutes and the alarm go off. Miss taps it as he appeared before them.
“SHIT! So, that’s what happened when you have never properly secured the server”
C asks “What do you mean?”
“Viruses, spams, and fake services. Lucky that the source codes are dead and the original sources were not even existed. This is going well far too fast”
Miss’s eyes widen “That fast! Then why aren’t you happy about it. We can find that virus faster”
“Easy to access in our internet speed is good, but it is also the same with the virus as well. Minutes like this will easily spread, let’s hope the anti-virus software are good enough”
Flashes saying that as he goes back in. The two left them thinking how dangerous this could be. They were taught simply to use their magic and the hardware they have to delete the virus. On the plus side, their avatars are not their real body. Except for the idiots who materialized their bodies to get into the internet. C down is on the other hand knows what will happen if the servers will be corrupted, he asked her
“What will happen if our internet shuts down?”
“Don’t be a smartass with that avatar of yours kid. That old man’s face of yours is starting to creep me out”
“I feel you”
“Wha?” her voice randomly turned cute
Another signal beeping to Flashes’ device, he reappeared again “I found it, it is in the deep encrypted websites”
C replies “How about the other sites it spread?”
“It didn’t spread, it moves one site to the other. I wasn’t able to see it clearly after being swapped around from site to site. Are you guys ready to figure out that internet virus?”
Miss is always ready, but her experience let her stop for a moment. Both of them saw her hesitated for a bit and they said to her
“You too huh? That’s the right way of being cautious”
“I am maybe new, but there is something always strange about this world. We can’t be that easily fooled”
She grins slightly as she has smartasses after all.
Without a doubt, they enter the site. It was Horsin website. Very different than first one, but a room. The three wasn’t prepared for this and Flashes already has his devices blinking for an escape. For now, they treated it as a room, a dungeon, and Flashes is going to check every traps it has. There he found weird alien containers. He tries his best to open it up. After a time, he manages to open. He pulls out his special USB rune drive and take control of the thing. Loading screen is up, putting his thoughts seriously on the interactions. Miss asks
“What’s going on here?”
The conversion is complete and the room changes to fit Flashes own personal design. The room changed into a normal real-world room. The man could not believe what he is interacting with. But he needs to follow it out. He said to them carefully. “If we want to continue our search. Always remember that this is a video game. We can’t understand how I interact with it, but . . .”
He paused and shows them the room. “This site took my personal data into existence”