Terror Infinity Side B
Chapter 16, Apocalypse Alice Intermission
Shin: It's sad to think of this place as home, but I'm glad to be back.
Hikari: Seconded.
Misaki: I'll agree to that. I just want to embrace Mokoto now. That Genetic Constraint stuff is a bitch! I was already injured by the Demonic Knight and then I started to spasm on the floor! Without repairs I would have died.
Aqua: Well at least you unlocked your constraint at the very end of the mission. Shin and I had to... Jin?
Jin: Ha... Haha... Hahahahaha!!! Amazing! This is God's Dimension! A flying ball of light that gives out any of the abilities right out of video games, the power to repair my body to perfect condition, human creations, and who knows what else! Hahaha!! For the first time in my life I'm glad to be alive!
Shuai: ...Is this guy okay?
Kampa: Who knows.
Connor: ...
Shin: As they say... It's always a pain in the ass to break in new neighbors, but this saying was created for this exact situation. Though I don't know who says this. Anyways, the point I'm trying to make is SHUT UP Jin!
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
After a wave of repairs, all eight Players of Team Japan standing on the platform sighed with mixed emotions. Shin, Aqua, Hikari, Misaki, Kampa, Shuai, Jin, and Connor all looked somewhat defeated despite surviving their latest mission.
Even Shin himself had to rest on the floor due to his mental exhaustion. The last ten minutes of fighting was a roller coaster ride between life and death which they all barely survived. It was the type of battle that gave them a glimpse of hope while pushing them into hopelessness at the same time.
The experience was worse than it was in BTOOOM thanks to being forcefully separated at the start of the mission, along with the betrayal of Derrick and the other newbies, so they were all really fortunate that they made it back to God's Dimension alive. Shin was just glad they were able to meet up before the final battle against Kiri and he was sure that the others felt the same.
Shin himself was just glad that, in the end, Team Japan made it out alive in one piece. None of the original six members; Aqua, Hikari, Misaki, Kampa, or Shuai died. Shin was disappointed that he couldn't win most of the newbies over this time around and that they died despite there being a small chance they could have become allies, but he still believed that he fulfilled his responsibility as leader by making sure the ones he acknowledged as comrades came back alive and well.
Additionally, the only two New Players that didn't betray Shin and the rest of Team Japan showing the most potential, Connor and Jin, survived to make it back to the Terminal Lobby.
Connor, similarly to Shin, Aqua, and now Misaki, had unlocked his constraint, but before even arriving in God's Dimension, so even without enhancements he was a reliable comrade. If the mission of Apocalypse Alice wasn't magic themed, or if only Connor had a better weapon, then the final battle would have went much smoother.
As for Jin, despite having an average man's physical fitness and a personality that clashed with everyone, held a brilliant mind that rivaled Saki's, and was both reliable and scary at time. Jin was also somewhat skilled with the Magic Attack Scrolls. Jin might possess the talent for wielding magic, so he would have been much better off with some simple magic enhancements and skills.
Shin: Haha! No matter what happened, we are at least alive and our numbers increased by two. We suffered a penalty for the deaths of a member of Hero Team and that Newbie bastard Derrick, but we made off with a lot of points. We definitely gained more than what we lost and most importantly: we survived.
Aqua: Shin, can you stop your monologue for a moment and do your job as leader. We're all healed now. We need to go over our points and we also have new newbies with us. Stop sitting on your ass.
Shin: Sorry.
Aqua: Ah... no, you did a very good job back there and you even saved my skin. Sorry for getting nagging at you like that.
Aqua offered Shin a hand to stand up, which he accepted with a wide smile on his face, as she pulled him up. Shin saved the day by defeating Kiri, yet he didn't exactly save Aqua from any life threatening event. For the first time, Shin somewhat kept up with Aqua in battle, yet she was still a cut above him.
That last move of Aqua, Eclipse Fang, which nearly killed Diseased Girl Kiri in one shot, said it all. Additionally, if Aqua had full control of her mutated full wolf form she could have taken out Kiri and the Demonic Knights alone. When Shin thought of it like that, if Aqua just soloed the mission without the worry of comrades she would have had an easier time of things.
Shin: No problem. Girlfriends are supposed to nag their boyfriends a little.
Aqua: Whatever you say, but I wouldn't know anything about that.
Shin: So stubborn. Well, that's what I love about you.
Aqua: Fool.
Aqua, slightly blushing, looked away, yet that action only excited Shin more. He was about to go on, but Hikari, who was glaring at him from a distance, made him aware that he was ignoring his other girlfriend/wife to be. Aqua saw this and smiled mockingly at him, and an embarrassed Shin had to turn away.
Feeling ganged up on by girls on two sides, Shin gathered everyone's attention. In an attempt to change the mood in the room, Shin chose to get the team discussion right back on track.
Shin: So... How many points did everyone make this time around? We all received different amount of points, right? Hell, even I don't know how many points and rewards I have due to all the Side Quest and Hidden Side Quest rewards notifications in this mission.
Wanting to know, I immediately closed my eyes to get in contact with God. The amount of points I now had shocked me. It was a grand total of 7050 Points and two B rank rewards even with the Hero Team Fall penalty that I thought had ruined us.
Now that it was coming back to me I recalled that due to the death of Yousuke of Hero Team everyone ended up as a penalty, including myself. I was deducted 1,500 points, but completing the mission rewarded 1,000 points and another 1,000 and two D rank rewards for it being a combat mission, so that about more than evened out. My worst fear that no one else of Hero Team died in those last moments didn't come true.
On the way to the Diseased Girl I defeated quite a number of labyrinth monsters and elites as well. Defeating over five hundred monsters awarded 50 points. Defeating twelve Elite Monsters awarded 600 points. There was also a small gift of a D rank reward for just keeping Shinnosuke alive to the very end.
I received 4,000 points and even two C rank rewards in the final battle for being the one to defeated Diseased Girl Kiri. Then everyone including myself was awarded 2,000 points and C rank reward thanks to me defeating her with Holy Sword Magic due to the Hidden Side Quest.
Shin: I was really starting to worry when we lost so many points thanks to that asshole Derrick and the other newbies, but in the end we all came out on top. My repairs only cost 103 points, so I made a bit over 7000 points and I have two B rank rewards. I made the most, but everyone here has around 5000 points or so, right?
Connor: My total says I made 5260 and a B rank reward. 10 points for my repairs, so it's now 5250. Also, I was busy fighting, so I don't know how I made an extra C rank reward and 2000 points.
Hikari: Yeah, I also received that extra C rank reward 2000 points. Ah, by the way my total is 5000 Points and a B rank reward. I didn't need repairs.
Misaki: After repairs 5,020 points and a B rank reward.
Kampa: After repairs 5300 points, one B and one D rank rewards.
Shuai: After repairs 4600 points, one B and one D rank rewards. The D rank reward is from the last mission that I never used.
Jin: After repairs 4,850 points and a B rank reward! Hahaha! Points and rewards to power myself up! This really is like a game... except for being slashed in the shoulder and stabbed in the stomach part... this is the best time of my life!
Aqua: Shut up! One Shin is bad enough. Anyways, I made a 5,030 Points and B rank reward, but after the repairs from the final fight it became 4,510 Points. I made a lot of points since I killed so many elites and normal monsters, so I'm around the same as everyone else even with the penalties. Still, it feels like a loss. If not for those Newbies I would have had an extra 2,500 points putting me up there with Shin! Tch, whatever. No use crying over spilled milk. Anyways, Shin, you did something right? We all received an extra 2,000 Points C rank reward, so it had to have been you. Doing crazy stunts for points and rewards is your specialty.
Shin: You’re right, but I wouldn't call it a crazy stunt... just a life or death, do or die action to save the day. Nothing special.
Hikari: How is that not exactly how Aqua just said you were? Shin please explain what happened.
Everyone wanted to know exactly what happened in the final battle since most of them were either knocked out, or busy fighting for their lives, so Shin had to explain what happened.
The Diseased Girl Kiri Kiryuu knocked away the main character Shinnosuke's weapon, Holy Sword Switch, and then I picked it up on whim. Maybe to even give it back to Shinnosuke since it strangely didn't disappear despite being formed from magic. That was the plan, but I was immediately notified by God that the sword was a Quest Item and informed about a Hidden Side Quest.
Shin then used Holy Sword Switch to defeat the Diseased Girl, which saved Kiri. It was what Hero Team wanted from the start and it completed the Hidden Side Quest. Everyone was awarded 2,000 points and C rank reward. Additionally Shin was given the right to exchange for the Quest Item and magic weapon Holy Sword Switch from God for 500 points.
Everyone looked at Shin with envy, but no one was upset at his good luck since he is a main combatant of Team Japan and, despite gaining a powerful Quest Item, in the end Shin didn't gain that much more than everyone else. Just an extra 2000 points or so from the average of Team Japan.
After going over the team's gains, only Hikari and Shuai received the least since she had no combat ability to defeat any of the labyrinth monsters, much less the elites. Aqua was at rock bottom only because of the penalties she faced.
Furthermore, everyone received at least an extra thousand and two D rank reward points due to the high level of fighting that was demanded of them by the mission. Even though this mission was dangerous, the rewards were also generous due to the dangers they faced.
Shin: Maybe I shouldn't say this as the leader, but it really was a miracle that we all made it, and even that two newbies survived to make it here. Not only was it that Apocalypse Alice story, it was a twenty man mission on top of that. Maybe you really can't understand without in depth knowledge of the Light Novels, but even a seven man mission should have killed most of us.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Aqua: No Shin. We all lived through the Labyrinth, so we know how bad of a situation we were in. At a full twenty Player difficulty and God having a field day with rewriting the story like that, and even having us appear at random levels of the Labyrinth separated... 100% we should have been wiped.
Hikari: If you two are right then maybe there are still some things we do now know about God's Dimension and the Mission Worlds. We should have wiped, yet we didn't. Why?
Jin: Yeah. I'm new here, yet even I can see that. Difficulty may not just be determined by the number of Players either. Sure it's one factor, but there could be more. Our initial actions, the strength of each individual Player, who is our strongest member, skill sets and so on. I could keep going on forever if I have to consider all the possible 'ifs'. Heck, we don't even know if this God makes plot changes beforehand, or if he is watching over the game board and his making changes in real time.
Shuai: Like Game Masters in old role playing games?
Jin: Yes. Typically, the role of a game master in a traditional role-playing game is to weave the other participants' player-character stories together, and control the non-player aspects of the game, creating environments in which the players can interact, and solving any player disputes. The basic role of the game master is the same in almost all traditional role-playing games, although differing rule sets make the specific duties of the game master unique to that system.
Aqua: Our main concern is that we don't have the full scope of the system in this world. God never had a real sit down with us about the rules, so we can't call him on anything even if he changes the rules, or outright breaks them.
Shin: Then since we don't know; let’s not worry about it, okay? We will do our best to survive no matter what he throws at us. Simple right?
Hikari: You’re the simple one here Shin.
Shin: ...
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Since there were two new people, Shin and the others had to explain to Connor and Jin about how to use the rooms in the Terminal Lobby and arranged a meet up the next day to discuss their enhancements. Everyone was exhausted from the six hour hell thrill ride called Apocalypse Alice, and so they wanted nothing more than to rest.
Then everyone aside from Jin, Connor, and Shin went to their room.
Shin stayed to watch over the two newbies as the leader of Team Japan. Jin stayed behind to create his human. Despite Connor also having the option as well, he didn't make anyone, but that could just be because he was not interested in such things due to living his life on the battlefield even before arriving to God's Dimension of horrors, or just being the young age of ten.
Shin: Go take a rest you two. Jin, Connor, go get a room. You just have to hold onto the door handle and imagine the environment you want. The room will then change to match. Also, God gives everyone a chance to create a free living being as you’re already aware.
Connor: I have no need for a sex doll.
Shin: They are not sex dolls, and especially don’t say that to Misaki. His girlfriend is a human creation based on his childhood friend who died in the real world. Anyways, the Human Creation can be a man or woman, at any age, size, face, B-W-H, but keep in mind that this being can be created with two times a normal person's stats. I am referring to muscle density and reaction speed, so you can create a powerful bodyguard for yourselves. That's basically it, but don't use the points yet. We will discuss what everyone should enhance tomorrow. For now don't exchange for anything other than food and drinks. Its cheap point wise, yet the food would make billionaires cry in envy.
Jin: I see. Good to know, but it was probably someone else that told you about bodyguards, right? Can you tell me who it was? Is he still alive?
Shin: Why do you think so? Don't I look like someone that can come up with that?
Jin: The deduction is simple, I won't go into details. Judging from the fact that you are similar to me and see this place as a form of entertainment, you definitely won't be one to think about creating a bodyguard. Anime and Manga characters are what we would create and not for fighting outside the bedroom. That's why I am curious as to who this person is? Did he die in a previous mission?
Shin nodded in silence. That calm women with glasses, she was definitely the strongest mastermind that surpassed Jin in wisdom and military judgment. Even though there was no contest between the two as they are fundamentally different types of masterminds.
Saki was colder and more calculating than Jin, but what Jin had, and what Saki lacked, was emotion to understand the human heart... but in Jin's case it was madness and ruthlessness used to take advantage of his opponents and destroy those in the way of his fun. Essentially, a willpower to overcome what's in his way in life was what he possessed that Saki ultimately lacked.
Using a certain LightNovel as a reference, Saki was similar to the calculating and perfect female half of []. Jin was much like the male half of [] who dominated over the sister in games where human thoughts and emotions took priority over logic and absolute rules. It would have been nice if our team had a [] with the two of them together, but it was not to be.
Shin: That person was a she, not a he. They're gone now. Anyways, if you want to go over the exchanges I won't stop you, but do not actually exchange anything other than food, drinks, and normal clothes that cost next to nothing here.
Jin: Okay! Even though I am excited to check out all the exchanges, I am dead tired though I just held everyone back and was hardly useful, so I won't stay here for long.
Shin: There you go again. Whatever, see you tomorrow then. Connor you too.
Connor: ...Yeah.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Shin returned to his room and immediately fell unconscious. It was understandable how tired and worn out he was after the mission. The third mission was by far the shortest, yet it was also his most intense mission that didn't allow him any peace of mind.
Everyone else must have been in a similar condition since no one came to visit Shin as he was asleep, but about twelve hours later, with somewhat good rest, Shin woke up to the sound of someone yelling at him to wake up. Without even looking at who it was he knew it had to be one of the two girls he was in a relationship since only they had permission to enter his room. Shin then pushed his body off the bed and looked over towards the girl looking at him.
Shin: Hikari, if you wanted to do some bed things couldn't it have waited ‘til later? I am still tired.
Hikari: Shut up, Shin! I just came to get you because everyone else is up and they asked me to come get you.
Shin: Really, what is wrong with everyone? We just had a marathon run through a twenty man mission in a magic Labyrinth. To be up and about after that is inhuman. Preparation for the next mission is important, but I am more than okay with everyone taking the day off.
Hikari: It isn't that we don't want to, but it's important.
Shin: Did something happen?
Hikari: Yes, but it is better if you see it for yourself. Also...
Hikari looked hesitant to say what she wanted to next not knowing if what she wanted to say should be said. Shin couldn't help but think that she was incredibly cute right now, yet he knew that something was going on with her. Shin didn't hurry Hikari and waited for her take as it seemed important, yet personal.
Hikari: Shin, I know we just came back from a break and... ten days are long enough for us to rest up, but that last mission was too much. If you make one mistake than that's it for us. Death. We came out alive this time and we should be saving up points and rewards, but I think another break would serve us all some good. What do you think Shin?
Shin: ...I agree with you that we shouldn't be so wasteful with points, but I don't see the harm in another break. Of course we can't spend too much time on a vacation like we did last time and we definitely can't go back to the real world as we are now. Would you be up to taking a ten day trip? That with the time we have here should be good enough to calm our nerves a little... but I see your point. Let's take a break.
Hikari was happy. She thought that her suggestion was too selfish since she, more than anyone else, wanted a break, but she was excited that Shin agreed with her idea. So much so that she jumped into Shin's arms and kissed him. Shin responded by going in for a deeper kiss and was about to do more, but Hikari stopped him when his hand grabbed her-
Hikari: Too far! Remember that I came in here to get you, right? If we do that now then by the time we come back out they would wonder what went on in here. Anyways, is it really okay to take a break?
Shin: Of course. We'll have to discuss this with the others, but I am sure they are all up for a break as well. We might have to use a D rank reward to unlock a new world, but it would only cost each of us 100 points for ten days of rest.
Hikari: D rank reward? Why open a new world?
Shin: We can go back to Apocalypse Alice without using a reward, but there most of the world should have been overrun by Labyrinths. Who knows if there are still vacation spots left in that world. Would the military really protect those places? We have unlocked the real world as well, but it's too dangerous with the Four Pillars and the cost of each day is 50 points instead of 10, so if say we want to stay 10 days it would cost 500 points. D rank rewards are worth more than 500 points in my opinion since you can get a useful weapon or tool like my Na Ring, but this time around we just have a lot of them. It's probably best that we unlock and take our vacations in BTOOOM since only that island is strange. We can discuss the finer details with the others later, so let's go and meet them now and discuss our enhancements and whatever it was you came to get me for.
Hikari: Are right... And thank you Shin. I, I, I lo-
Shin: Love me right? No problem. I love you too my second wife.
Hikari: WHY NOW OF ALL TIMES ARE YOU MENTIONING MY RANK IN YOUR HEART!
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Authors Note:
Rate/Follow/Favorite/Comment.
Proofread by Hoebagger
I believed that in day in a movie/mission world is ten points no matter what unless it is the real world when I wrote this. When Zheng went back to the mummy he spent 50 points per day. Anyways, I can't afford it, so it's ten points per day for the mission worlds in this Fan Fiction.