204 総合支援強化服
アキラが自宅の車庫で訓練に
溜
吐
「......今度は10秒持たなかったか。アルファ。手加減しろとは言わないけどさ、もうちょっとこう、敵の想定を緩めるっていうか、俺が蹴散らされるだけの戦闘にならないように調整できないか?」
離れた壁の位置にいたアルファが瞬間移動をしたようにアキラの目の前に現れた。旧世界風の露出過多の戦闘服を着用しており、現在の感覚では機能性を疑う露出部から胸の谷間や腰の一部、脇や
『運次第と言っても、アキラの運なら適切な設定だと思うわよ? 何しろ実際にその武装の敵と戦ったばかりなのだからね。私としては、その不運に対処できる実力を早急に身に着けた方が良いと思うわ』
実例付きの根拠を聞いたアキラが顔を
アキラの視界から訓練用に拡張表示されていたものが消えていく。床に転がっているアキラの死体や、その周辺に飛び散っている血の跡。車庫内を近距離戦闘訓練場に変えていた壁や通路。戦闘の余波で崩れた壁の穴や残骸。床や壁の弾痕。それらが全て消えると、アキラの視界に広々とした車庫の光景が戻ってきた。
「しかしこの訓練は便利だな。弾を好きに撃っても実際に撃ってる訳じゃないから弾薬費も掛からない。高価な弾を撃ち放題だ。これならもっと前からこういう訓練をやっておけば良かったんじゃないか?」
これはいずれはアキラが実在しないアルファを体感的には触れられるようになることを意味する。そして同時に、実在しないアルファがアキラの首に手を伸ばせるようになることも意味する。幽霊が、人の首を絞めるように。
「アルファ。ちょっと疲れた。休憩にして良いか?」
『良いわよ。何なら今日はもう終わりにしておく?』
「そうだな......。もう少し続けるかどうかは、少し休んでから考えるよ」
アキラは通信量の負荷による疲労を訓練の緊張によるものだと思っている。更に体感時間の圧縮を自然に行う訓練も一緒に行っているので、訓練の時間から考えて少し疲れすぎている異変に気付くことはなかった。
休憩中にシェリルから通話要求が届いた。アキラが情報端末を操作してそれを受けようとすると、アルファが口を挟んでくる。
『一々情報端末を使わなくても、言ってくれれば私が中継するわよ?』
「良いんだよ。そっちに慣れすぎると、情報端末を使うって考えが消えそうだからな。下手なボロを出さない
『完全にごまかすつもりなら、アキラも頭に埋め込むタイプの情報端末を買った方が良いかもしれないわね』
「いや、それはちょっと、何か嫌だ。せめて脳波コントロール式の外付けタイプだな。でも脳波を読み取られるってのも何だかいろいろ筒抜けになっていそうで......、今更か? 少なくとも24時間いろいろ見られている訳だしな」
『良いじゃないか。俺も蹴散らされ続けるのは飽きてきたんだ。気分転換にもなるし、シェリルの話にも興味があるしな。それにアルファとの訓練は、今日はもう終わりにしても良いって言ってただろう?』
『でも、今更エリオ達との訓練を再開しても、アキラにとって良い訓練になるかどうかは微妙だと思うわよ?』
『まあ、そこはシェリルの話がどこまで本当なのか、それ次第だな』
自宅の車庫での訓練を一旦中断した後にシェリルから連絡があった。内容は暇ならエリオ達の訓練に付き合ってほしいというものだ。アキラは訓練内容の詳細を聞いて興味を持つと、自宅での訓練を切り上げてエリオ達の訓練に付き合うことにした。
荒野の指定された場所に到着すると、そこには数台の大型トレーラーが
「アキラ。今日は急な誘いを受けていただいてありがとう御座います」
背広の男がアキラに愛想良く挨拶する。
「アキラ様ですね? 私は機領の営業をしておりますヨドガワと申します。今回はシェリル様共々、我が社の総合支援強化服の性能テストにお付き合いいただけるとのことで、大変ありがとう御座います」
「え、あー、はい」
アキラがシェリルにいろいろ説明してほしそうな視線を送ると、シェリルがそれに応えて口を挟んでくる。
「ヨドガワさん。まずは私とアキラで話がありますので、その間にエリオ達の方の準備をお願いします」
ヨドガワは会釈してトレーラーの中に入っていった。
に寄り、手を取ってじっとアキラを見詰める。
「それにしても、お久しぶりです。また会えて
「ん? そんなに会ってなかったっけ?」
不思議そうにしているアキラに、シェリルが少し寂しそうな口調で続ける。
多少誇張して着飾ってはいるが、シェリルの態度に
シェリルがアキラに改めていろいろ説明する。
イナベはシェリル達が自身の対抗馬を裏工作で失脚させた見返りとして、シェリル達に卸す遺物の質や量の向上の他に、戦力の提供を申し出た。
一応アキラがシェリル達の戦力的な後ろ盾になっているとはいえ、シェリル達の拠点に常駐している訳でもない。基本的に報復目的の抑止力であって、直接の防衛力ではない。スラム街の店舗に高価な遺物を流している以上、イナベとしても盗まれました、奪われましたでは済まないのだ。
そこでイナベは自身の伝で新興企業の新商品の実戦テスト、商品モニターの先にシェリル達を
その状況でイナベの提案は渡りに船だった。開発中の装備の商品モニターを建前にしているので、シェリル達にも費用は掛からない。
それらの話を興味深く聞いていたアキラが軽い疑問を覚える。
えると、カツラギが文句を言ったりしないのか?」
「ふーん。まあ、そこは好きにしてくれ。それにしても、強化服か。それも総合支援強化服って、何か
そこでヨドガワが戻ってくる。そして一緒に来た男がアキラの話を耳にして話に加わる。
「総合支援強化服に興味がお有りですか! 是非とも購入の検討を! 当社が自信を持ってお勧めする新世代の強化服です!」
少々押され気味のアキラに対して、タバタが熱っぽく
「失礼。私はタバタ。今回の総合支援強化服、正確にはその総合支援システム、システム名キングスマインドの技術責任者です。その総合支援システムの利用を前提とした強化服の設計、開発にも関わっています。強化服の枠を超えた次世代の運用を目的に......」
放っておくと長々と続きそうな話を、ヨドガワが口を挟んで止める。
「タバタ。営業の方は俺がやるから、試験の準備を進めてくれ」
「それじゃあ、一応俺の銃で大丈夫か確認してください」
「分かりました。ではこちらへ」
アキラがタバタに連れられてトレーラーの中に入る。各種機材が乱雑している内部は、研究室と整備場を混ぜたような独特の雰囲気を漂わせていた。
「......最後のやつ、命中判定が出たけど、あれ、外れた気がする」
「そうですか? こちらのシステムでは命中判定が出ていますけど」
「もう一度あの距離の的を、当たっても消えないようにして出してくれ」
アキラが再び表示された的を再度狙撃する。今度は意図的に少しずれた位置を狙い、一度
「結構誤差が大きい気がするけど、ある程度離れた場所の目標に対しては、銃や弾丸の集弾率を計算した上でランダムで命中判定を出している感じか」
「分かりました。あ、調整はこれで大丈夫です」
アキラがタバタと一緒にトレーラーから出て行く。その姿を他の技術者が見て
「なあ、さっきのさ、本当だと思うか?」
「さあな。命中したはずだって文句を言うやつは多いけど、外れたはずだって難癖付けるやつは普通いないからな。それっぽいことを言って格好付けてるだけかもな」
「ログは残ってるし、精度計算を限界まで上げて試してみるか」
銃器の性能試験でもないので、システムでは命中判定をある程度省略している。厳密な命中判定を実施すると計算量が多すぎて試験に支障が出るからだ。敵や味方が被弾しているかどうか分からない状態で、結果が出るまで動きを止める訳にもいかない。総合支援システムの試験では、被弾したかどうか即時に分かる方が重要だ。
「......結構掛かるな」
「まあ、本部のコンピューターでもないし、トレーラーに積んでいる性能のやつで厳密に計算すればそうなる。お、出たぞ。うーん。まあ、この程度なら、難癖の
軽く笑っている者の横で、別の技術者が少し真面目な顔で再度処理を実行しようとしている。
「何やってるんだ?」
「周辺の大気の状態とかだ。空気の粘性とか、微量な色無しの霧の濃度とか、いろいろだよ。入力データに入れられるものは全部入れてみよう」
データ量を増やして再度計算処理を実行する。先ほどより時間が掛かった後に計算結果が表示される。それを見た技術者達が顔を引き
「......合ってる。これ、照準を交互に左右に振ってるけど、命中判定のぎりぎりを探ってるんだ。当たりと外れが交互に繰り返されてるぞ」
「いや、まて、無理だろ。これ、下手をすると、あいつが俺達のシステムの弾道計算式を知ってないと不可能なレベルだぞ!?」
「......照準調整用でランダム要素は無い設定だ。何度か撃って、その命中判定から逆算したとか......。いや、実際に計算した訳じゃないんだろうけどさ、感覚的に何となく分かったとか......」
いハンターらしいが、やっぱりそういうやつって、何か違うのかもな」
妙な薄気味悪さを覚えた技術者達は、気を切り替えるように作業に戻った。
技術者達の予想は大体合っていた。いろいろ計算して指示を出したのはアルファだ。そして強化服と照準器の性能に助けられたとはいえ、その指示通りに撃ったのはアキラだ。アキラの実力は既に一般人の感覚では十分異常な域に達していた。
総合支援強化服の性能テストを兼ねたアキラとエリオ達の模擬戦が始まった。以前の模擬戦と同じようにアキラ1人対エリオ達全員で、どちらかが全滅するまで交戦する。以前と異なる部分はエリオ達も全員強化服を着用しており、フルフェイスのヘルメットに内蔵された機器で総合支援システムからの支援を受けていることだ。
総合支援システムは部隊全員の位置や状態を把握して、司令塔として部隊全体の指揮も執る。各員の情報収集機器が収集した情報の一括管理を実施して、敵味方の位置の共有や、隠れている敵位置の推測も行う。敵味方識別装置による誤射の防止も行う。無秩序な集団を統率の取れた組織に変貌させ、効率的な部隊運用を可能にするのだ。
これは強化服が本人の意思以外で動くことを意味する。これを便利だと考えるかどうかには個人差が出る。体が勝手に動くことに拒否感を覚える者も多い。だが自然な動作補助のおかげもあって今のところエリオ達から不満は出ていなかった。
何度か模擬戦が続く中、エリオ達は5割ほどの勝率を保っていた。タバタ達はその様子を観戦して満足げな様子を見せていた。自分達が開発した総合支援強化服の性能に手応えを感じているのだ。
所詮はスラム街の子供であり素人同然の者達が、自分達の総合支援強化服の支援を得たことで、1対部隊であるとはいえ、高ランクのハンターと五分に渡り合っている。営業の宣伝としても、技術開発の成果としても、十分な内容だ。
何度目かの模擬戦の後の休憩中に、タバタが上機嫌でエリオ達に声を掛ける。
「どうだ? この総合支援強化服の性能は。君達でもこのシステムの支援を受ければ、まあ部隊での運用が前提とはいえ、君達の後ろ盾になっているというあのハンターにだって勝てるんだ。
「ん? 不満点があるなら遠慮無く言ってくれ。まだまだ試験運用で商品としては開発中の段階なんだ。使用者の意見はどしどし取り入れて改善に努めないとな」
「いや、そういうのはあんまりない。強化服は慣れるまで初めの内は走るのも難しいって聞いたけど、俺達は普通に動けているし......」
「ヘルメットに出る指示の画像とか声とかも、邪魔だったりうるさかったりしないし......」
「そうだろうそうだろう。通常の視界を遮らず、小さく単純で見やすく、識別も容易で分かり
「それで、何が不満なんだ?」
「不満は無いんだけど、俺達がアキラさんと五分に戦っているってのは、ちょっと言い
「いや、どっちかと言えばハンデかな? 俺達は前にもアキラさんと似たような訓練をやってたんだけど、その時も俺達の勝率は5割ぐらいだったんだ。勝率がそれぐらいになるようにアキラさんの方でいろいろ調整したって話だった。強化服の出力を落としたり、情報収集機器を使うのを止めたり、アキラさんだけ銃の射程を短くしたりしていたって聞いた。多分今も似たようなことをやってるんじゃないか?」
タバタは少し真面目な表情でそう言い残すと、エリオ達から離れてアキラの方へ向かっていった。
めている。休憩中にアキラ達と雑談を交えながら商品を勧めていたヨドガワも、勧める根拠を否定されたことで苦笑いを浮かべていた。
シェリル達が総合支援強化服の商品モニターに選ばれた理由には、イナベの権力以外にヨドガワ達の都合も含まれている。アキラを自社の強化服の宣伝に利用する
難色を示すアキラを見て、ヨドガワが口調に軽い挑発を含ませる。
「別に1対1ではありませんし、本気を出して負けたとしても仕方ないですよ」
挑発に気付いたシェリルが表情を僅かに不満げに変える。だがアキラは挑発だったことにすら気付かずに普通に答える。
「別に勝ち負けはどうでもいいんだ。ただ、実戦を想定して動くと余計な金が掛かる。強化服のエネルギーパックだって
本気を出して負けた事態を避ける口実か。それとも素の態度なのか。ヨドガワが少し迷っているとタバタが口を挟む。
「分かった。その経費はこっちで出す。加えて1戦ごとに10万オーラム出そう」
「おい、タバタ?」
「10万オーラムか。うーん」
急に勝手に話を進めるタバタの態度にヨドガワが少し慌て始める。アキラは興味が薄いように軽く
「分かった。じゃあこうしよう。連勝するたびに報酬を10万オーラムずつ増やしていく。代わりに条件はそっちも同じだ。負けた場合はそっちも払ってもらう。これでどうだ?」
アキラは軽く笑って答えた。逆にタバタは表情をかなり真面目なものに変える。
タバタがトレーラーに戻っていく。ヨドガワは少し迷ってから、アキラ達に会釈して急いでタバタの後を追った。
「いえ、アキラがそれで良いのでしたら構いません」
シェリルはアキラが連敗して大金を支払う羽目になり機嫌を大きく損ねるのを心配していた。だがアキラの態度から、これなら大丈夫だろうと考え直して、細かい指摘を口に出すのを取り
Ch 204
Akira was spending his time training in his garage inside his home. Ever since he bought a large vehicle, he had to renovate his garage to fit it in. But now that it was out for repair, the garage was large enough to use as his training ground.
The record showing that the system allowed a group of amateurs from the slum city, who were mere children, to defeat a high ranking Hunter, was basically the perfect record to advertise the system. But both Akira and the children were saying that the 50 percent winning rate was because Akira was not taking the fight seriously. Thus, that record was basically meaningless. If that information also leaked out with their rumour, it would be ineffective. Yodogawa who thought so then smiled and said to Akira.
"Hmm, well, even if you say so..."
"...This time, I didn't even last 10 seconds, huh. Alpha, it's not like I'm asking you to pull back your punches, but like, can you go a little easy on me? This is just a one-sided fight, can you make some adjustments for the training?"
Alpha, who was behind a wall some distance away from him, suddenly teleported in front of him. She was using an old-world fighting suit which was exposing too much skin according to the current standard. The suit gave a clear view of her shoulder and thighs as well as a part of the valley on her chest. She had blades on both of her hands which she used to attack Akira just now, and her rifle was not only equipped to shoot bullets but also lasers from its muzzle.
"Even if you say luck as an aspect, I think your luck is already in the correct setting though? After all, you did fight someone with a similar weapon in the past, right? Personally speaking, it would be great if you can get strong enough to fight against your bad luck as soon as possible."
Akira could not help but frown since Alpha did give him a real example. Although he accepted that reasoning, part of him still could not accept it for a different reason. It was obvious from his face that he was feeling conflicted about it.
All the virtual objects from Akira's augmented vision vanished. Including all the images of the dead Akira, the blood that was scattered on the wall and the floor, the walls that were put there to make the huge garage suitable for close-ranged fights, the holes on those walls from the bullets, the scorch marks on the floor. Everything vanished and his vision returned back to normal, to his original garage.
"But still, this is really convenient. It's not like I'm using real bullets, so it's not like I'm paying for the bullets that I shoot. I can shoot as many expensive bullets as I want. We could have used this kind of training sooner."
This also meant that one day, Akira would be able to feel Alpha, who was nothing but virtual data through the same means. While on the other hand, Alpha, who was nothing but virtual data, would be able to choke Akira to death through the same means too, just like a ghost choking someone to death.
"Alpha, I'm tired, can we take a short break?"
"Sure, in that case, we can finish the training here for today."
"Hmmm, let's see... I'll decide later after a short break."
Akira thought that his mental fatigue was from the nervousness during the training when it actually came from the burden of the huge data transfer. Not to mention, he was keeping his time compression up throughout the training as well, so it further prevented him from noticing that.
While Akira was taking a break, a call from Sheryl came in. He was about to pick the call up when Alpha suddenly interjected.
"You don't need to use your terminal, instead just pick that call through me."
"It's fine. If I get too used to doing that, I feel like I will progressively stop using my terminal. In the worst-case scenario, it might cause me to make a blunder somewhere, so it's better if I keep using my terminal like usual."
"If you want to commit to it, you can just say that you have a thought-controlled type terminal planted inside your head, you know."
"Hmm, for some reason, I just don't like that idea. If we're going down that route, I prefer the external equipment that I can control with my brain wave. But considering that brain waves can be read through several means, I feel like someone can eavesdrop on that too... I guess it's too late for me to be worrying about that, huh? In the first place, my brain wave is already readable all the time after all."
"It's fine, isn't it? I'm bored of getting my ass kicked by you. It'll be a good change of pace. Furthermore, I'm also interested in what Sheryl told me. Moreover, you did say that you don't mind ending the training there, didn't you?"
"But to be honest, I'm not sure that training with Erio and the others can serve as a good training for you anymore."
"Well, that would depend on how far what Sheryl said is true."
While Akira took a short break from the training inside his garage, he had got a call from Sheryl. Basically, she asked him to help Erio and the other children's training if he had the time. When he asked about the details of the training, something piqued his interest, so he decided to stop his own training and went to help Erio and the others.
When he arrived at the training location, which was in the middle of the wasteland, he spotted a big trailer parked there with Erio and the other children undergoing mock battle near it. Sheryl and some people in sleek suits were watching their training.
"Akira, thank you for coming although it was rather sudden."
One of the men in suits politely welcomed Akira.
"Akira-sama, I presume? I'm Yodogawa from a company dealing with machines. We're really thankful that Sheryl-same is volunteering to work with us to test our Group Coordination Support Augmented Suit."
"Eh? Ah, yeah, sure."
Akira glanced at Sheryl, seeking an explanation. So Sheryl interjected.
"Yodogawa-san, I have something to talk about with Akira first, meanwhile, can you prepare Erio and the others for the training?"
Yodogawa lightly excused himself and went back to the trailer.
Sheryl sat next to Akira, grabbed his hand, and stared at him.
"But still, it has been quite a while since the last time you came to see me. I'm happy to see you again."
"Hm? Has it really been that long?"
Akira looked honestly confused, so Sheryl longingly said.
Although Sheryl was acting to some extent, she was not lying. She seemed to be genuinely happy to see the person she loved after quite some time. In contrast to that, Akira replied in his usual manner. Even after she affectionately held his hand and looked at him with endearment, he only showed the bare minimum reaction to her.
She then went on to explain Akira about the situation.
In return for removing his rival, Inabe had offered Sheryl some support for her relic shop, which included equipment as well as firepower. These equipment were not counted into their deal, which was only for the quality and the quantity of relics sent to her shop.
Although Akira was the backer and guardian of Sheryl's gang, it was not like he was always in Sheryl's base to defend it against attackers. He was basically like a firepower reserved for retaliation and not firepower for direct defence. With Inabe sending expensive relics to slum city, he wanted more insurance so that those relics would not be stolen or robbed.
That was why Inabe used his personal connection to seek help from an experimental technology from a certain company and get Sheryl involved with the testing of that technology. It was technology that they were thinking of offering to the city defence squad eventually. Thus, it would be meaningless if it was not even good enough to be used in the slum city.
That was when Inabe came with a timely offer. Since they were volunteering to test the system, it did not cost Sheryl any money.
Akira, who was listening to her explanation, found something that was bothering him.
"Won't Katsuragi complain if you use another company's product for your gang?"
"Hmmmm, well, I leave that part to you. But still, augmented suits, huh? And with coordination support too. That sounds pretty amazing."
That was when Yodogawa returned to them. The other person that he brought with him overheard what Akira just said and excitedly interjected in Sheryl and Akira's conversation.
"Oh, you have some interest in it?! By all means, feel free to try our product! It's the latest product from our company and we can guarantee its quality."
In contrast to Akira who was a bit overwhelmed by Tabata's excitement, Tabata continued with his high enthusiasm.
"Ah, sorry, I'm Tabata. I'm the developer of the coordination support augmented suit, or to be more precise, the coordination support system King's Mind. I'm also involved in creating the augmented suit to use in tandem with the system as well as its development. We're aiming to create a new standard for the next generation augmented suit and..."
Seeing that it would continue indefinitely if left alone, Yodogawa immediately cut him short.
"Tabata, I'll do the business-related stuff, so you go prepare for the test."
"In that case, can you check if my rifle can work with the system?"
"Of course, over here please."
Tabata guided Akira to the trailer. The inside was littered with strange equipment and it looked like a mix of a laboratory and a workshop.
"...That last one, the system said that it was a hit but I'm pretty sure that was not a hit though."
"Is that so? The system says that it was a hit, you know."
"Can you put up a practice target at a fixed distance away? And keep it there even after I hit it."
Akira then started shooting again. This time he deliberately shifted his aim bit by bit to investigate the hit calculation of the system.
"I feel like it's not accurate though. Like from a certain range, the system calculates the hit using a random chance based on the bullet landing radius."
"Alright then, by the way, I'm okay with the adjustment now."
Akira then left the room together with Tabata. The other technicians who saw him leave looked at each other with a frown.
"Say, about that just now though, do you think it's true?"
"No idea, there are a lot of people who complain that their shot should have hit when the system doesn't recognize it, but normally, no one would complain when their shot hit though. Usually, those who do that are people who just want to look cool."
"We still have the log anyway, I guess I'll try to recalculate it with better accuracy."
Since it was not a weapon test, the hit recognition of the system was not that advanced. After all, a more accurate recognition system would demand more calculation time. In that situation where the system was still calculating for the hit, they could not afford to stop the experiment while waiting for the result to come out. It was better to adopt a faster hit recognition during the testing since their main goal was testing the coordination support system.
"...This is taking some time."
"Well, it's not like we're using the headquarters's computer after all. It's to be expected that it'll take some time since we're using the computer in the trailer. Oh, it's out, hmmm, well, if it's only this much, it's not that bad though? Though it looks like he was just shifting his aim left and right."
While those technicians were laughing, another technician beside them restarted the calculation with a serious face.
"What are you doing here?"
"Like the wind, humidity, temperature, the effect from the light colourless mist. Basically, everything that I can add together."
With more data, the calculation takes longer as well. As expected, it took more time than the last calculation, but when the result was out, it really surprised all the technicians.
"...He's right. This data, although it seems that he's just shifting his aim left and right he was actually checking how close he needs to shoot at the target to register a hit. He deliberately made the system calculate a hit and a miss in turn."
"Wait, no way, that's impossible unless he knows how our system works, you know?"
"...The system is set to recognize the hit not from a random chance. He might have calculated and backtracked the hit recognition calculation with repeated shooting... No, it's not like he actually calculated it, it's more like he understood it instinctively..."
"I heard that guy is a great Hunter despite being young. As I thought, people like him are just built differently, don't you think?"
The technicians shook off the shiver that ran down their spine as they returned back to their original job.
The technicians were more or less correct. But Alpha was the one who told Akira where to shoot to check for the system's hit recognition. And although he received some support from his augmented suit, Akira was able to execute accurate shooting following Alpha's instruction. His skill had already exceeded the shooting skill of a common human after all.
The mock battle between Akira and Erio plus other children which also doubled as a test for the coordination support system started. Just like usual, Akira was alone versus Erio and the rest, the mock battle would stop every time one side was completely eliminated. But unlike usual, Erio and the other children were all using augmented suits and they were receiving instruction from the coordination support system in the display visor under their full-face helmets.
The coordination support system recognized the current situation and the location of all the members, it then gave instructions for all the members to work as a team. It gathered information from the individual information-gathering device carried by each person to share the information of their locations and flush out the location of the opponent. At the same time, it also prevented friendly fire. It transformed the members under its command from an uncoordinated group to a well-oiled group, increasing their effectiveness as a team.
This meant that the augmented suit would be able to move outside the user's wish. Whether it was a good thing or not, different people had different opinions on it. There were many people who did not like the feeling of their body moving without their consent. But since it was moving following the movement of its users at the moment, Erio and the other children did not feel any discomfort using it.
After a few rounds, Akira's loss rate was floating around 50 percent. Tabata was smiling happily after seeing that result. It seemed that the system that they developed was performing really well.
In the end, Erio and the other children were complete amateurs, they were nothing more than children from the slum. Although it was a single person against a huge group, they were able to maintain that winning rate against a high-ranking Hunter thanks to the coordination support system. It was a good result from the system developer's as well as from the business point of view.
After a few rounds, Tabata happily went to Erio and the other children while they were taking a rest from the mock battles.
"How was the system? With this coordination support system, if you work together, then you can even beat the hunter that you guys are relying on all this time, you know? Isn't it amazing?"
"Hm? Is there anything that you find unpleasant? No need to hold back. We're in the middle of development, so we're also collecting opinions from its user to improve it."
"No, it's not like that. I heard that it's difficult to move inside an augmented suit until you get used to it, but I don't feel anything like that."
"And the voice, as well as the instructions shown in the helmet, don't block our vision that much as well..."
"Yep yep. We made sure that it won't block your view, the voice is soft enough to be heard but not too loud, and the instructions are concise and easy to understand. The instruction display and design are all calculated. The voice volume and the length of the instruction are adjusted to be easy to catch depending on the situation that you're in and..."
"So, what problem exactly are you having then?"
"Nothing exactly, it's just that.... About why our winning rate is 50 percent... Well, it's difficult to say this nicely, but I'm pretty sure that he's not taking this seriously, or more like, he's pulling his punches."
"It might be more correct to call it a handicap I guess. We actually had similar training before with Akira-san, and back then, our winning rate was also 50 percent. He said that he put in some adjustments to keep the winning rate around that number. Like, decreasing the power output of his augmented suit, or he would stop using his information-gathering device, or reducing the firing range of his rifle. I'm pretty sure he's doing the same thing this time too."
Tabata said so with a serious face as he left Erio and the other children and headed towards Akira.
Tabata frowned. Yodogawa, who was recommending some of the company's products during the break, also smiled bitterly. He had lost his ground in recommending their products.
The reason why Sheryl's gang was picked to test the new system was not only because of Inabe's connection but also for Yodogawa's sake as well, they were trying to sell their augmented suit to Akira.
Akira seemed a bit troubled there, so Yodogawa tried to give another push by provoking him.
"It's not like it is a one on one fight, so you can use that as an excuse if you lose."
Sheryl, who noticed that cheap provocation, frowned in displeasure. But Akira did not even notice that it was a provocation.
"It's not about losing or winning. But, if I take it seriously, it means that I'll have to use my money too. It's not like the energy pack for my augmented suit is free, you know. Not to mention, the medicine that I need to take in case I need to push my body to execute certain maneuvers too. There are cases when I get too tired and have to take a short break from my Hunter work as well. So if you are telling me to take the fight seriously, I will have to charge you, you know? I'm just here helping with the training purely out of curiosity. So I have no wish to go that far for free, you see."
Yodogawa was trying to see if it was just an excuse to avoid having to take that fight seriously or if Akria was being serious there. But before he could say anything, Tabata suddenly said.
"Alright, I'll pay for it then. I'll pay you 100,000 Aurum per round."
"Wait, Tabata?"
"100,000 Aurum, huh? Hmmmm..."
Yodogawa started to panic since Tabata suddenly made that suggestion without consulting with him. And Akira seemed to be interested in that offer too. Seeing that, Tabata just ignored Yodogawa and gave another push.
"Let's do this instead then, I'll pay you 100,000 Aurum more for each round. But if you lose, I'll have you pay instead, how about that?"
Akira smiled and said so firmly. In contrast to that, Tabata made a serious look.
Tabata returned back to the trailer. Yodogawa was at loss for a bit before excusing himself and went to the trailer too.
"No, if you're okay with it, then it's fine."
Sheryl was actually worried if Akira would incur consecutive losses and lose a lot of money instead. But judging from his reaction, it seemed like it should be fine as she prevented herself from saying anything further. After all, she could not afford to ask what he would do if he kept losing since it would sound as if she was doubting his strength and that might offend him.
Rebuild World (WN)
リビルドワールド
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/rebuild-world/
Action Adventure Drama Harem Mecha Mystery Sci-fi Seinen
Abandoned Children Adapted to Manga Adventurers Alternate World Anti-social Protagonist Apocalypse Artificial Intelligence Beautiful Female Lead Cautious Protagonist Child Protagonist Dense Protagonist Determined Protagonist Distrustful Protagonist Futuristic Setting Gangs Gunfighters Harsh Training Lack of Common Sense Male Protagonist Manipulative Characters Monsters Near-Death Experience Older Love Interests Poor Protagonist Poor to Rich Ruthless Protagonist Shota Sudden Strength Gain Survival Twisted Personality Unlucky Protagonist Weak to Strong
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9736dt/
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