The truth

"Dad, you are alive? How is that possible? Did not you die?"

"Hey Shinji, what are you doing? Hurry up."

"Shut up, Yuuki."

"Huh? Did I say something wrong?"

"I have seen this man before. He's in Shinji's family photo."

"You mean that..."

"He's Shinji's father."

"Huh? Was not he dead?" said Miko and Yuuki at the same time.

"I do not know what's going on here, but one thing's for sure. He is indeed Shinji's father."

"I know you thought I was dead, but there are many things I need to explain to you."

When I saw my father again, I was about to burst into tears, I could not control myself. I felt a little giddy looking at him. He was trying to help me, but I accidentally slipped and got too close to him. I just wanted to feel his warmth, that's all I wanted since he died. Mom would be happy if she saw him again, I just want things to go back to the way they were. With my father I do not feel alone, with him I have strength, I can do anything. Now I realize how weak I was. I realize that I lost the one who valued me the most....there was nothing but absolute sadness, with Ruby it certainly got better, but the one I need the most in my life is my father.

"I missed you so much dad..." i managed to say stuttering."

"I know, son, I know..."

"Why did not you come back? Mom prays for you."

"I will explain everything to you. But not here. This place is not appropriate. Let us go outside."

So my father and I made our way to the door. Before leaving the guild, I turned to Miko, Yuuki and Ruby.

"You do not have to say anything, Shinji. I completely understand how you feel." said Miko, patting my head.

"Yes, take your time. We will wait for you in the square." said Yuuki and Ruby nodded.

"Thanks guys. We will see you in the square." said I and left the guild.

My father was waiting for me at the back of the building. I walked up to him. I still could not believe he was alive. Everything looked like a dream.

"Dad...how did you survive the ambush? Why did not you come back?"

"Son... I can not explain everything to you now. I'll just tell you what you need to know."

"All right, I am listening."

"Let us start with what happened. As you already know, I was ambushed by the other companies that day. But it was not because of the A.I. It was because of the diving gear you use."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"The real purpose of this gear is military training. It's designed to improve a soldier's speed, strength, and instincts, in addition to transmitting martial arts techniques, healing techniques, and generally anything that would take a human years to learn."

"But if they have the device, why are they selling it as VR equipment?"

"If my guesses are correct, it's because they do not know how to activate the process, so they have given up trying and are selling it for money."

"And how do you activate it?"

"First of all, you have to have a special chip in your head. But that's not a problem for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when you were eleven years old and I took you to the company I work for?"

"Hmm, no?"

"That's right. You see, I took you there to implant the chip in your brain."

"Wtf? How could mom agree to something like that?"

"She did not. And that's why you should keep it a secret. Otherwise, I'll be dead for sure."

"Is it safe?"

"Of course it is. The test subjects survived the process. Most of them."

"What do you mean, most of them? So there was a possibility that I would die?"

"Of course not. The test subjects were rats. Their brains were too small to handle the current from the French fries."

"So after you experimented on rats, you tried it on me right away? What if I had died?"

"Do not worry about it. We had everything under control. There was no risk at all. I would never do anything to harm you."

"That's good to hear. And when are you coming back?"

"I..."

This time I sensed a strong killing intent.

"Dad, watch out!" said I, pulling my father's head down just in time to dodge an incoming arrow.

"Son, be careful."

I turned my head and saw a second arrow flying toward me. With a quick upward slash, I cut it in half.

"Ah, not bad, not bad. You seem to have some skills, kid."

"Who are you and why did you attack us?"

"The dead do not need to know."

(What is he talking about?) " You can not really die here."

"Son, you have to be careful. He's really dangerous. He uses special arrows that, when they hit you, signal the dive gear to increase the current and burn your brain. You will really die if you get hit."

This time the unknown man shot another arrow, which I managed to parry just in time.

"I see you know a lot, old man. No wonder they pay so much for your head."

"Dad, what's he talking about?"

"I'll explain that to you later. Right now, concentrate on the battle. Your life is on the line."

"Hey kid, do you really want to go up against me? Looking at your skills, you have potential. Do you want to join me? We will split the money 10-90. How does that sound?"

"Not interested."

"Ah man, what a shame. Now I'll have to kill you."

"We will see about that."

"Ha, I like your guts, kid. Let us get started then."

He shot three arrows and made them six with {duplicate} to confuse me so I did not know which was the real one.

But he did not succeed, because I cut them all in half.

"You are starting to piss me off, kid."

Then he dropped his bow and what looked like a minigun.

"Now you are done for."

Well, it was exactly what I thought, a working minigun. But how the hell did he get a modern weapon in a mediaeval game?

I managed to convert my dagger into a shield just in time to protect myself from the impacting bullets.

My heart was beating too fast. Just the thought that I could die here gave me the creeps. This really is a matter of life and death.

"Haha, let us see how long you'll last."

I need to clear my head. I should not let him bother me. I need to find a way out of this situation.

He fired for about ten minutes without reloading. Damn, how many bullets does this thing have?

Aaah, I might as well try that.

I pulled eight knives out of my pocket and used my {Restore} ability to reduce the size of the knives so I could throw them into the minigun's barrels to sabotage it.

I kicked the shield to prevent the bullets from hitting me, while I jumped to the left side and used {perfect vision} to accurately calculate the trajectory of my knives to block the minigun's barrels.

Good thing my plan was successful. But as I blocked the barrels, something happened that I did not expect. The pressure in the barrels caused the minigun to explode, throwing the man five metres away.

"Good job, son."

"Damn brat. You destroyed my gun." He said, coughing up blood.

I walked up to him holding my dagger, which I had previously changed back to its original form to be ready in case something happened.

But the man was so badly injured that he could not move.

I put my foot on his chest.

"I am going to ask you one last time, who are you and why did you attack us?"

"Go ask your dad. I am sure he has a lot to tell you."

"Papa, what is he talking about?"

"Well, you know..."

"Hehehe."

"Why are you laughing?"

"It seems I have lost the battle. But I always have a plan B. I think I'll have a talk with your mother sometime, Mr. Tokihiro."

"What are you talking about?"

"Ha, you'll soon find out." He said and logged off immediately.

F***, I could not stop him in time.

Then I saw my father running towards me.

"Son, we have a big problem. Your mother is in great danger. This man was one of the top twenty mercenaries in the country."

"Why did we insult someone like him?"

"We do not have much time to explain. You need to focus on saving your mother."

"How can I take on a mercenary? I am too weak. I do not stand a chance against him."

"You must use the diving equipment for the purpose for which it was created. You will be the world's first super soldier.

"Huh?"