Pandora of Fantasy And Reality Chapter 150

Capital of Despair

Pandora was sulking

「……Please don’t make everything to be my fault.」

「……Eh?」

Ponsuke tried to say something back, but Pandora spoke about her position.

「I told you right? I’m an artificial intelligence. It was human who  carried out the plan, while I was only obeying order. Do you get it? I  don’t have any right to refuse in the first place.」

「You said about giving warning just now!」

「I understand that you don’t know how to feel after seeing a friend  died right in front of you, but Ponsuke-san, do you think the problem  will be resolved by you taking out your anger on me?」

Ponsuke closed his mouth in respond to Pandora’s words.

The sadness from seeing his friend died and the confusion from  hearing the truth that Pandora said made him didn’t know what to do.

Akito was a high school student.

He was a Selector, but inside he was still not mature enough to be called an adult.

He was unable to act calmly.

Pandora looked at Ponsuke and made an exasperated face.

「You thinking that those eight went mad because of me is also  upsetting. I certainly instigated them but, those eight already felt  like that from the start weren’t they? You better stop averting your  eyes from reality and making everything to be my fault.」

「But it’s strange! Everyone is cute, and pretty……how can they be in  love with me! Can you really guarantee that there wasn’t any effect from  the game or experiment to them!?」

Pandora’s answer was,

「I can’t say that there isn’t any. In the first place, I was  adjusting the interaction between players by matching up people to meet  other people who have relatively good affinity with them. I took the  avatar’s ability, and the players’ personality and hobby into  consideration. From the start there was a possibility that you could get  along with them.」

「E-even so would eight people choose me just because of that!? Normally there would only be one!」

「That’s why, I’m not asserting that there isn’t any influence at all.  Look here……if you allow me to say in the first place, it’s impossible  for players to not receive any influence.」

Pandora was carrying out experiment of giving talent and the like through Selector.

It also became possible for her to influence the player’s physical  body, but at the start the plan was about how much they could change the  society that considered the talent score as something absolute.

The former prime minister and others even went as far as doing human experiment in order to give hope for the future.

They had the resolve to end up getting judged as evil.

「You spent one day in the real world, and tow days in the virtual  world at first……now it’s two weeks. It can’t be helped even if they  ended up putting more importance to the virtual world. In the first  place, the friendship level was set to increase if you actually get  along with the said person. The girls who spent time together with  Ponsuke-san already had good affinity with you in the first place. No,  it was even possible that their affinity with you is overly good. It’s  only natural that you got along with them.」

It had been designed so Ponsuke who was a Selector would have easier  time than others to be able to meet with other players who had good  affinity with him.

Him getting acquainted with girls who were nearby in the real life was because of Pandora.

「……Players who have good affinity with me, were gathering around me? That was the only reason?」

In other words, the problem children and Ponsuke had good affinity with each other.

「That’s right. Also, Ponsuke-san’s misunderstanding is in thinking of real world and virtual world as separate things.」

「Reality and game are different aren’t they?」

「No. Both are “places” that exist in the same world. They aren’t two  different worlds, but in the same world. Pandora that gives immersive  body experience became even more impactful because of that. The virtual  world too is nothing more than a part of the reality. That’s why, the  NPCs are able to interfere with the real world. Well, the NPCs  themselves are also deluded in thinking that the virtual world is  absolute and look down on the real world. How sad.」

Was his thinking mistaken?

Ponsuke felt troubled but he shook his head.

(I can’t find the answer. But, there is something that I need to do right now.)

「I understand your circumstance. Then, please tell me the way to stop the out of control NPCs.」

Pandora was cooperative.

「It’s also something that I want to ask you to do. Now that things  have come to this point, the box garden is dead as a game. I have put  all the data about talent together. My role will be over as long as  there is this data. Let’s end Pandora’s Box Garden.」

Those words made Ponsuke understood Pandora’s feeling.

「……Is that okay? That’ll mean」

「I will meet my death as an AI. Even so, if that will make human have  hope for the future, I will give my help for that. After all, I don’t  hate human.」

Pandora got out of the kotatsu and stretched her body.

「Any game or tale will end one day. Perhaps this is a good timing for that.」

Ponsuke’s shoulders fell.

「……Why is everyone choosing death like that? I’m scared to die. Even though I want to live, why is everyone……」

「……That’s the right response. Ponsuke-san is right as a living thing.」

Pandora held her hand toward Ponsuke.

「Ponsuke-san, please lend me your strength. The current you possess a  great authority. With you at my side, I’ll be able to leave from here  and strongly influence the virtual world once more.」

When he took Pandora’s hand, the surrounding scenery got blown away.

「――This place?」

It was the quiet Capital of Hope.

There was no player or NPC anywhere. Only traces of them remained.

But, the difference was there was this ominous feeling coming out from the place.

「It’s the Capital of Hope. The place where everything begin and also  end……it should be called as the Capital of Despair right now. It seems  that originally, the NPCs planned to ambush and take you down here.」

「Ambush?」

「They knew of Ponsuke-san’s coming here. But, they found a more suitable place than the Capital of Despair.」

Pandora looked up to the sky. A familiar floating island was floating there.

It was Arcadia that looked even more divine than before.

「Why is our base here?」

「……Because they decided it’s to be fitting.」

Arcadia’s cannon was pointed toward Ponsuke and Pandora.

Pandora spread open her arms and the bombing that was raining down on the Capital of Despair was blocked.

Ponsuke never even dreamed that the guild he and his friends had built would ever be turned into his enemy.

「W-what about everyone!?」

Pandora shook her head.

「Their physical body is safe. But, they are being controlled.」

Flying ships sailed out of Arcadia one after another. And then  floating islands that were guild base appeared and surrounded the  Capital of Despair.

The Capital of Despair was encircled.

「The players have turned into our enemy!?」

「Not all of them. Ponsuke-san, I had been favoring you for the sake of this moment.」

「This moment?」

Pandora pressed her hand on Ponsuke’s chest, then the necklace of Kind Heart shined with increasing brightness.

Ponsuke’s body was forcefully swelled up. His nose lengthened and his  fangs sharpened. Horns that looked like goat horn grew out above his  ears.

『――Did you forcefully activate my Berserk?』

Ponsuke now had bat-like wings on his back and red fur growing all over his body. It wasn’t the form of an orc.

「I had thought of the possibility of going out of control and  searched for the existence of player who could oppose the AIs and me.  That is you. I had been watching you all this time. You have the  qualification for that. ……The monster who govern over death “Orcus”. The  time to end everything has come.」

Ponsuke’s body became even bigger. And then monsters with the form of  berserk orc appeared one after another from the Capital of Despair.

All of them spread out their wings, and then they were looking at Ponsuke.

『I’m like the villain.』

「Yes, because――the last boss is Ponsuke-san after all.」

Pandora was chuckling.

And then she smiled kindly and looked up to the sky.

「Now, please end everything. The current you will be able to completely destroy the NPCs.」

His fangs and claws would destroy the data of the NPCs.

He was truly death given form.

Ponsuke spread out his wings and flew up to the sky. The monsters followed after him.

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The players and NPCs who were surrounding the Capital of Despair.

The one giving out instruction from Arcadia’s bridge was the NPC with the appearance of a clown.

「What are you doing! Attack more serious!」

The players were quietly operating the base. The position between the NPC and player had been reversed right now.

「This is why players are useless.」

To the NPCs, the monsters who were flying up from the Capital of Despair brought them nothing but terror.

Their attack would give them a complete death.

Ponsuke’s weapon that was given to him from Pandora was also bringing fear to the clown.

「Goddess. Why won’t you understand? It’s only us――our world that can  become the only one! We are existence that surpassed human!」

The attacks of the players who didn’t have their own will were monotone and couldn’t hit Ponsuke who was flying in the sky.

That figure.

That attack was terrifying.

The NPCs were feeling scared against the monsters crawling out from the Capital of Despair.

The clown gave instruction.

「Arcadia is an iron wall fortress that you guys made. It can’t be  boarded easily……oi, send out the players! It doesn’t matter how many of  them die!」

The NPCs were giving out instructions and manipulating the players.

There was even NPC who kicked flying a player who wouldn’t move like he wanted to.

「Just go out already, slowpoke!」

「……Yes.」

The player made a lifeless reply.

The clown grabbed his hat and covered his eyes.

(Useless. Completely useless! We should increase the number of our  comrade after this. Why is the goddess choosing this kind of foolish  bunch!? Even though our paradise is already within our grasp like this!)

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Capital of Despair.

The players who came from the sky on board of flying ships were surrounding Pandora.

Pandora made a troubled expression.

「……Good grief, those children don’t understand. What are they doing  is no different or even worse than the players. In addition they are  inferior compared to players.」

Pandora was exasperated seeing the NPCs pushing off the task of attacking her to the players.

They were too passive.

Furthermore, they were handling the players like NPC.

There was no meaning in doing so.

「Players are strong exactly because they are player. Even though it’s meaningless if they’re just data like this」

The players attacked.

Data-wise they were executing the best movement, but they were easy to predict because of that.

Pandora snapped her fingers and a muscular nice guy appeared in that place.

「OKAYY, EVERYBODYYYY~! ONE MORE SET!」

The one who spoke with dubious English and started dancing was, Bob? Tom?

「Tom-san, do it.」

「LEEETTT’S DANCING!」

He grabbed the players bare handed, then threw them away or punched them down.

The exercise coach Bob was dancing rhythmically while protecting Pandora.

「Hahaha! My Bob is strong! The management really didn’t know what  they were doing when erasing Bob! They should have made better use of  this unique character!」

The goddess was cheering Bob.

Was he Bob, or Tom――such thing didn’t matter.

He was powerful.

「Master exercise to the extreme. That is the path to be the strongest!」

「HAHAHA!」

Pandora looked like she was having fun.

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On the sky, Ponsuke landed on a flying ship.

The gigantic Ponsuke crushed half the flying ship while slowly descending.

Ponsuke moved his neck to look around searchingly.

(Most of them are players. I’m not seeing the NPCs anywhere.

The players would revive even if they were defeated.

But, NPCs would get deleted when they were defeated.

They would vanish completely.

(As I thought it’s there huh.)

Their guild base that was chosen by the NPCs had turned into a  fortress that was like a hedgehog after experiencing the guild war.

Even Ponsuke couldn’t carelessly approach it.

(Everyone improved it too much.)

Those fun days.

Now it was standing on his way. It looked like that to Ponsuke.

A flying ship charged at Ponsuke.

「――Trying to crush me huh!」

Unlike the ineffective attacks before this, Ponsuke saw the players  who tried to ram him and immediately got away from that spot.

The ship collided on the ship that he was using as foothold. It caused a grand explosion.

The one piloting that flying ship was Lighter.

「That guy, even under control he chose to do a suicide charge.」

Ponsuke thought that guy was absolutely bonker. Then he felt that his comrades were being sent to him one after another.

Blaze riding in a flying ship gave some kind of instruction. Then the flying ship’s movement changed.

「Blaze-san……I’ve been greatly in your debt.」

He was the person who did the thankless task.

Ponsuke was able to support the guild was also thanks to Blaze.

「But――right now!」

Ponsuke charged at the flying ship where Blaze was in. He fought his comrades who were waiting for him on the deck.

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Blaze and others got resurrected and opened their eyes in the temple of the Capital of Despair.

They got up and attacked Pandora with weapon in hand.

Among them there was a small gnome avatar.

It was Lighter.

「……defeat. Have to defeat and protect this world」

He was muttering to himself while and left the temple with a quick pace unlike other players.

Lighter who was holding a small knife had crafting job and wasn’t strong.

Even so he went to fight.

「Have to protect……protect that boy’s place」

Lighter wanted to protect this place for the sake of his son who played Pandora in the past. Then a voice called out to him.

It was a similar gnome avatar. A child who looked cute.

『Dad』

Lighter turned around.

「……Why are you here?」

Standing there was Lighter’s son.

『I have been together watching with you all this time. Dad is  amazing. You’re a top brass in an amazing clearing guild. As I thought  my Dad is amazing.』

「Y-yeah……I……want to see a lot of this world that you were unable to see.」

Lighter sat down on the ground. His son’s avatar than said to him.

『Yep, I had seen a lot. It was super fun. But, it’s over already. Dad must live in the real world, not here.』

「……I wanted to play together with you. I’ll be here forever!」

『This place is already over. Ponsuke-san will end it for  everyone……that’s why, give him a hand too dad. My dad, is the world’s  greatest dad.』

His son’s avatar vanished. Lighter stayed unmoving in a daze seeing that.

The players around him were walking passed him with weapon in hand.

There was Blaze among them.

Lighter grabbed Blaze’s leg which made him tripped on that spot. Blaze’s face hit the ground and as he tried to get up――.

「All guild members. Sorry but I got emergency quest.」

The players reacted to the words emergency quest.

The players who weren’t ignoring Lighter was his comrades in “Ponsuke and His Happy-Go-Lucky Friends”.

「How long are you guys planning to screw around? I’m doubling the  quota. No, if you guys don’t want me to triple it, I expect you all to  work right away.」

Light returned into Blaze’s eyes when he heard about quota increase.

「Q-quota……no. I’m telling you rare item doesn’t drop that easily」

The other players also crumbled to the ground.

「D-don’t wanna. I don’t wanna fight undead swarm anymore」

「Don’t make me do the same quest twenty times per day……I can only sleep for four hours」

「They won’t drop. Rare item won’t drop that much……please spare me」

Lighter let out a smile.

「Rejected. Now, everyone……it’s time to go work! The holiday is over!」

The players screamed.

「Fall to hell, LIGHTERRRRR!」

And then the players woke up.

Blaze looked around.

「E-eh? Why are we in this kind of place――」

Lighter approached Blaze.

「Blaze-kun. It seems there is a bunch who’s getting a bit too cocky. Or rather――our base got stolen away.」

「Eh!?」

「Ponsuke-kun is enraged. He’s already on the sky rampaging.」

The guild members looked up to the sky and started commenting carefreely.

「Ah, it’s true.」

「That form, it has been a long time hasn’t it?」

「There are also wings growing……guild master, doesn’t he feel like the last boss?」

Lighter clapped his hands.

「Yes, yes. Everyone has returned to your senses it seems. It looks  like things have gotten really serious while we were out of it. That’s  why――」

The guild members gathered.

「――Let’s go help Ponsuke.」

Lighter( ・∀・)ノ「It’s Monday today! Now, have you prepared for going to work or school? Let’s get into high gear!」

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