6 Chapter 6: Altair, Selesia Upitiria
Seven days had passed, and Rozen had grown immensely stronger than before, all thanks to the life simulation he had experienced over those days.
He had undergone a total transformation. Once just an ordinary human, he was now an incredibly handsome, genius-level, talented, and powerful man, rivaling Captain America.
His attributes, exceeding a score of 20, made him formidable. Rozen was confident enough to consider himself the strongest non-superpowered human in this world... perhaps?
Who knew what strange and powerful characters Rozen might encounter in this chaotic, merged world? After all, that was the charm of anime.
Here is his current status:
[Personal Status:
Name: Rozen Tendou
Age: 17
Race: Human
Alignment: Chaotic – Neutral
Personal Attributes:
Intelligence: (24)
Physique: (21)
Charm: (22)
Talent: (22)
Luck: (20)
Personality: Introverted, Fun-Loving, Chaotic, Imaginative, Cautious
Destiny/Template: [King of Hackers], [Tribal Hunter], [Legendary Knight], [King of Hunters], [The Wanderer]…
Simulated World: —]
The reason behind his drastic change in attributes was the system granting him a bonus whenever his attributes exceeded or matched 10, and it activated again when they increased tenfold.
This shattered his expectations and made him realize the immense power of his 'golden finger,' particularly when considering the skills he mastered and learned during the simulation.
Rozen was quite confident that soon, he could become a powerhouse in this world.
However, he had been unlucky not to encounter any world containing supernatural elements, magic, or superpowers during his seven-day simulation, which is why he still considered himself a non-superpowered human.
Turning back to Rozen, he was currently busy operating his computer. Alongside Alpha, the AI he had developed in the past seven days, he was ardently working on their joint project.
The project was a game named 'Oasis', inspired by a sci-fi movie from his previous world. Even though games like Sword Art Online existed in this world, he was undeterred and continued his work.
His motivation was not the financial gain from the game's release but to establish the first foundation of his company in this new world.
Without a successful project or a well-known reputation, his planned company, YoRHa, could easily fall under suspicion or be overtaken by others. This made laying a solid foundation for his company all the more crucial.
"Haaa, finally the coding is done. Alpha, give me a report on the project!" Rozen said, stretching out his hand.
"Report! The graphic section and all designs are completed, 100%. Only the 5-sense stimulation system and the random world generation system are left, currently at 40% completion!"
"Alpha, how long will it take to finish everything?" Rozen inquired.
"About one more month, given our lack of experience in these areas," Alpha replied. Rozen nodded, acknowledging the complexity of these tasks, even for a genius like him.
Of course, if Rozen wanted, he could accelerate the process to less than a month, but he was in no rush to finish the project.
"In that case, continue and keep me updated on any important developments."
"Understood!" Rozen then stood up, changing his clothes for another date with Asuna later.
During those seven days, many things had happened beyond his simulation, like his evolving relationship with Asuna, which had grown to be more than friends but less than lovers.
It was inevitable; with his increased charm attribute, Rozen had become an irresistibly handsome man, attracting many women, including Asuna. Thus, their relationship had significantly improved in just one week.
[Rozen Tendou: Are you sure you want to go to Comic-Con? I thought a girl like you wouldn't enjoy such an otaku gathering.]
[Yuuki Asuna: Absolutely! Though I'm not as hardcore as some otaku, I too am an anime lover.]
[Rozen Tendou: Huh…that's surprising, see you there then.]
[Yuuki Asuna: See you there, Rozen-kun! Remember, don't forget and don't be late!]
Smiling at her reply, Rozen turned off his phone and left his room, quickly heading towards the nearest Maglev train.
On the train, he used his phone to pass the time, browsing the internet. He saw many foreign anime and manga that were not present in his previous world.
"All these animes... they're really terrible," he couldn't help but comment while browsing through the foreign titles.
Indeed, most of their stories and plots were inferior compared to the animes Rozen knew from his previous world, although some were unique and interesting.
Rozen's browsing was interrupted when he experienced a sense of déjà vu upon seeing an illustration of a character.
He saw a girl in a black and gold military uniform, with a large hat, long white hair trailing to her feet, and a mechanical brace on her forearm.
Rozen was stunned upon recognizing the character - it was Altair, from the anime 'Re:Creators' that he had watched before.
Altair, the main antagonist of the anime, possessed overpowering abilities. Being a fanfic character, she gained new powers from the fanart created by humans.
With her ability to travel between fictional worlds, Altair could easily destroy the protagonist's world if not for her emotions influencing her in the final episodes.
"You're kidding me, right? She exists in this world?" Rozen's lips twitched at the sight.
Thinking about other fictional characters that might appear, Rozen felt dizzy and could only hope that the Blue King and other superpowered individuals could handle the overpowering figure of Altair.
Little did he know, he was about to become entangled in this unfolding scenario.
His phone started to glitch, and suddenly, everything around Rozen transformed, morphing into a beautiful natural scenery of water and land.
Initially on the train, he now astonishingly found himself in the middle of a river, somehow walking on water.
"…" He stood stunned, watching a battle between a Gundam and another girl in a military uniform, who was Altair.
"This familiar scene... damn it! Do I have to get involved in this plot too?!" He shouted frustratingly, unconcerned about the impact of the two figures fighting.
Perhaps his habit of dying and battling in simulations was why he was not afraid of this situation. No ordinary human would stay calm under these circumstances, as seen by the confused bespectacled man nearby.
"Watch out!" Rozen quickly pulled the bespectacled man, dodging in the nick of time.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
At their previous spot, water sprayed high into the air with a loud boom, indicating the destructiveness of the attack that had almost hit them.
"Are you okay?" Rozen asked, keeping a vigilant eye on the battle ahead.
"Y-Yes, I'm fine, thank you for saving me," the bespectacled man answered with a trembling voice.
"Don't worry, after all, we both are unlucky to be involved in these troublesome events." Little did Rozen know, the bespectacled man was intricately connected to Altair's creation.
Minutes before the attack, the battle between the massive mecha and Altair had intensified. The mecha, piloted by Selesia, launched a flurry of high-speed attacks at Altair.
But all these assaults were futile as each strike launched by the mecha was repelled by a rotating circle of swords surrounding Altair.
"This is useless, Selesia-dono. Your attacks can't harm me, a being of a higher dimension than you," Altair confidently stated with a smug smile.
"I can't believe I can't injure you at all!" The angry voice of Selesia resounded from within the mecha, followed by an onslaught of even more powerful attacks aimed at Altair.
Regrettably, like before, the stronger attacks had no effect on the formidable defense of Altair's spinning sword barrier.
"How boring... I've already told you that your attacks are ineffective against me, why don't you listen and just surrender to my request?" Altair shook her head in disappointment.
"Bastard!" The words ignited Selesia's rage, but before she could unleash her full power, Altair struck first, launching a swift sword attack towards her.
BANG!!!
"Kuh!" The mecha was pushed back, accompanied by Selesia's cry of pain. Before she had time to react, another assault from Altair forced Selesia to quickly dodge, though she was still partially hit by the attack.
One of the errant swords had nearly struck Rozen and the bespectacled man, alerting both Altair and Selesia to their presence.
Seeing the appearance of the handsome man and the bespectacled man, both were shocked, especially Altair, who did not expect a 'god' or a real-world human to appear in this fictional world.
But the shock was even greater for the bespectacled man, who was completely stunned upon seeing him. In his memory, the boy with glasses was the one who betrayed and couldn't prevent the death of Altair's creator.
"He…"
"You can't be distracted in a fight!" While Altair was completely stunned, Selesia quickly seized the opportunity to attack her.
Altair was thrown back before stabilizing herself, her expression a mix of annoyance and anger. If it weren't for the hateful bespectacled man, she wouldn't have been hit.
"It seems negotiations between us are impossible. In that case, I'll show you my Holopscon!" Altair smirked evilly, manifesting a submachine gun in her hand.
"Stop her!" Rozen exclaimed urgently. Although Selesia didn't understand why Rozen was so concerned, she knew that Altair's use of her power must be prevented.
Unfortunately, she was too late, and Altair had already begun casting her Holopscon, swinging her sword at her weapon as if it were a violin bow, with blue waves like data appearing and striking the mecha.
Selesia watched in disbelief as her mecha slowly vanished like data being erased from a computer. She fell to the ground, staring warily at Altair.
Indeed, the power Altair had just displayed made Selesia a bit fearful due to the strange effect of being hit by that attack. She even wondered if she would be erased like that if hit by the wave?
"Holopscon is an omnipotent power, everything is flow, the power of eternal reincarnation. Dust to life, life to dust. Thus the world will reverse until it returns to complete oblivion," Altair stated casually and cringingly. Rozen even twitched at how cringe-worthy her statement was.
"Such nonsense power," Selesia muttered, summoning a sword into her hand.
A rapier once again lunged towards her, and with the sword in her hand, Selesia deftly parried while skillfully dodging away from Altair, obviously also concerned about the two men who had suddenly appeared in the distance, whom she considered ordinary bystanders.
DING!
Parrying the last sword attack, Selesia approached both Rozen and Sōta Mizushino, the bespectacled man, and asked, "Are you two alright?"
"We're fine, but it seems the enemy won't let us three go so easily," Rozen replied, and there he saw a barrage of rapiers descending towards them.
Fortunately, luck was on their side. The tablet and phone held by Rozen and Sato began to glitch, and eventually, all three of them disappeared from the world just before the rain of rapiers hit them.
"Tch," Altair clicked her tongue in annoyance at their disappearance and slowly faded away, dissolving like data.
Meanwhile, Rozen and the other two unexpectedly appeared inside a train, startling a few passengers. Fortunately, as the train came to a stop, Rozen quickly led a bewildered Selesia and Sota away.
Realizing that the handsome man was holding her hand, Selesia felt a flush of surprise, but then remembered she was in an unfamiliar place.
Swiftly, Selesia released her hand from Rozen's grip and moved her sword to his throat, demanding, "Who are you?! And where am I now? I thought you two were just ordinary bystanders, but it seems you're not what I expected."
Unintentionally, Selesia's actions drew the attention of all the pedestrians in public. Given the popularity of Selesia Upitiria as an anime character in this world, it wasn't strange that her current appearance matched exactly what everyone in the real world imagined.
"Yes, you'd better calm down first. Look, you're drawing attention and everyone's looking at us," Rozen advised. Realizing this, Selesia became aware of their situation, then she flew away, carrying both men, which again surprised the bystanders.
Before long, the existence of Selesia and other fictional characters would surely be noticed by the Japanese government here.
