Episode 1: Was It a Miracle or a Coincidence?

Side: Kazuma

The sun was setting in the west.  Dinnertime had arrived in this age without electricity.  Elle and the rest were already preparing meals.

The mansion still didn’t have an actual bath. So, for the time being, I was gonna wash my body using hot water in a large basin. But I needed to draw water first. 

「That’s the end of another day huh?」

It feels like time passes a lot more slowly here compared to the era I’m from.  I don’t really mind it though. 

The cry of a crow from somewhere reminded me of what happened a few weeks ago.

***

A countdown timer and live video footage of the final game event were playing on the main monitor of the space fortress Silvern.  

Many players were making a huge fuss because this was the last time they’d be able to enjoy playing the game. 

I was also personally invited by a player I was friends with to join in the revelry even though I was one of the top Galaxy of Planets rankers, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, so I turned the offer down. 

Things have been quiet in the central command room for a while. Previously, things were always lively here with me and my 120 gynoids and bioroids. 

It’s been 15 years. That’s how long I’ve spent my days exploring this virtual world. I was fifteen when I first played it, and now I was almost thirty. In a sense, I’ve spent my entire youth here. 

I, who lost both my parents at an early age and spent most of my time in the real world alone, have been with Elle since the game service first started, and I gradually spent more and more time in the game instead.

With less than 30 minutes remaining, more and more players who were trying to stand out have begun to appear one after another to participate in the event. 

I no longer felt like looking at the countdown timer and closed my eyes. 

I was reminded of the fact that the apparent harmful effects of virtual worlds that were too close to reality have become a social problem in recent years.  Nowadays, it wasn’t that uncommon for people to work hard in the real world with the goal of spending their lives in virtual worlds. 

Well, it’s not like I’m any better. 

「Commander, it’s almost time. Thank you for all your time spent with us.」

When I opened my eyes after hearing Elle’s voice, there was only a minute left on the timer.  All my gynoids have gathered around me. 

「Thank you so much for everything, guys.」

I thought everyone was strangely quiet, but I noticed many of them crying.  It felt like I was gonna break down crying as well if I said any more. 

「Commander, please live a fulfilling and wonderful life in the real world. It’s our final request.」

「Elle…… I understand. Thank you.」

An android in an advanced virtual space possessed an ego no different from a human’s.  Such a thing was commonplace in this era.  It was especially evident in Elle and the others since I fiddled with the settings to lower the restrictions as much as possible. 

And so……

Goodbye, Silvern.

Goodbye, everyone.

***

I felt my consciousness returning. I must have already logged out.

「……Elle?」

What greeted my eyes wasn’t the familiar ceiling of my room in the real world.   And when I turned my head, I found Elle standing beside me for some reason. 

「Please don’t move yet, Commander.」

I tried getting up, but Katie stopped me.  Now that I’ve taken a better look at my situation, it appears I was connected to an electrocardiogram and some other medical equipment. 

「What’s going on?」

I asked about this strange situation while being examined by Katie.  I should have already logged out from the game. 

「It’s currently been six hours since Galaxy of Planet’s end of service, Commander. Our connection with the main server was lost when the end of service came.  Also, the internet connection and all communication with the outside world were also cut off.  Furthermore…… it has become impossible to log out from the virtual system.」

I felt increasingly nervous as I listened to Elle’s report.  That can’t be. Real life isn’t like those internet novels that became popular at the dawn of the internet.  I should be able to log out no matter what. 

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「What does this look like to you?」

「Isn’t that blood? ……Wait, blood!?」

While I was busy wondering about what exactly was going on, Katie pointed a syringe at my arm and took a blood sample.  I was stunned silly when I saw the bright red blood within the syringe. 

Galaxy of Planets touted its realism as its selling point, but it was still subject to restrictions when it comes to sexual stuff and depictions of violence.  Naturally, it wasn’t possible to draw blood in the game. 

「Presently, we are conducting blood and DNA tests on all the gynoids, including us.」

「That’s……」

「Something that was supposed to be impossible has occurred.」 

She didn’t appear to be joking.  Both Katie and Elle were dead serious. 

「According to Silvern’s quantum computer, we appear to have been sent to another dimension.」 

Just what the heck was going on?

***

「Sevety-two hours have already passed huh?」

「Yes. It’s impossible for any virtual system to not initiate a forced log-out at this point based on previous cases of fatal errors in virtual spaces.」

I and all of my gynoids have gathered inside Silvern’s conference hall.  It’s been seventy-two hours since we’ve been cut off from the main server.  We’ve managed to glean a lot of info during this period. 

Elle searched the archives for cases of problems in the virtual space similar to what we’ve experienced, but it looked like there were no results.

「This is the report from our medical department.  We’ve completed the examinations of the commander and all the gynoids.  In a nutshell, all of us have live biological reactions.  Based on the results of the DNA test and various other tests, we have concluded that we have all turned into living organisms.  Unlike before, we have gained the weaknesses inherent in living biological organisms.  We recommend exercising an appropriate level of caution when going about our activities.」

「Combat department reporting. There are no signs of enemy or allied forces in this sector of space.  In fact, we have detected no man-made objects at all.  Also, we have confirmed Silvern’s present location.  It’s currently near Planet Jupiter. We haven’t detected any signs of communications from Earth at all as well, so we sent down a probe and found out something interesting.  We are apparently in the year 1547 AD. There are no planes, and certainly no electricity.  We’re in the middle ages.」

The conference hall fell silent after hearing Katie and Julia’s reports. 

All sorts of evidence and images were shown on the monitor, proving that this was not a joke. It was deadly serious. 

「Research department reporting.  Based on the previous reports and various other factors, we have concluded that we have somehow left the virtual space and transferred over to the real world.  According to the calculations of the quantum computer, it is almost impossible for us to return back to virtual space. In fact, the possibility is practically zero.」

「Developments and Manufacturing department reporting.  There are no problems detected in the Silvern, our various starships, robot soldiers, and bioroids.  There are also no problems with our stockpiled resources for the time being.   However, please consider obtaining additional resources if returning to the virtual world is indeed impossible.」

I divided my gynoids into a total of five departments.   Central Command, Combat Department, Medical Department, Research Departments, and Development and Manufacturing Department.   In order to play Galaxy of Planets effectively, I needed the right people assigned to the right jobs and an appropriate organizational structure. 

It looks like the various departments were still functioning smoothly even in this situation. 

「Commander, um, we’re very sorry.」

「Hm? About what?」

「Um, well, because you can’t return to your original world if you can’t log out.」

Everyone’s tense gazes were focused on me, so it made me wonder about what exactly was going on, then Elle bowed her head and apologized for all of them. 

「It’s fine, guys.」

Please don’t look at me like that, everyone.  I’m perfectly sane and quite calm to boot. 

「But……」

「To be honest, I think I’m quite lucky.  I don’t have any lingering attachments to my original world in the first place, and I also wanted to stay with all of you. And if this is really Earth in the middle ages, then we would cause quite a commotion if we get sighted.  It’s fine like this. And if it’s really 1547, then that would place us in the Early Sengoku period.  I’d actually want to try and see Oda Nobunaga in the flesh.  I also like history quite a bit, you see. Yup.」

Some of the girls gave me exasperated looks, while some sighed or giggled in amusement. 

It’s fine. Really. I’d probably be panicking more if I was thrown into an unknown dimension on my own though.  But since I had the space fortress Silvern that was touted as practically invincible in Galaxy of Planets along with everyone, there was nothing to fear.  

In my opinion, this was better than crying and despairing about wanting to go home.

「Please continue to be vigilant as usual, everyone.」

Resource allocation and procurement huh? I guess I have to arrange that as soon as I can. Also, we should prepare a defense net, just in case.

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