Chapter 74: Luck Strikes Back

After Shiro fully woke up, the two decided to go back to their base, which is a mansion in the 1st Floor. They got it cheaply since there's not much player competition in this city; due to the fact that most of them got traumatized by Kayaba's announcement here.

Kuroneko decided to rest even though it's only late afternoon, leaving Shiro alone in this house.

Well, he's not actually alone as he saw someone in their private library.

"Oh, you're here."

Roman said while he read a book. In actuality, he's actually reading the contents of the Chat Group panel. The only reason why he did this is that SAO's Cardinal might find something amiss if they kept staring in thin air for a long time.

It could also see the player's main menu, so this is the only way.

"I've been meaning to ask you something..."

"What is it?"

Shiro sat down beside him as he randomly picked a book and said, "How did you handle your romantic relationships before?"

"Ah?"

From the looks on his face, Roman hadn't expected him to ask this question. Shiro's not the type to ask things about romance, but Roman didn't knew that he only didn't care about it in the past.

With all the rising romantic tension in Shiro's surroundings, only someone as dense as a neutron star wouldn't notice it!

"Even if you ask me about this, it might not be helpful, y'know?"

"I know, but I would like a reference, to say the least."

"If that's what you like..."

Soon, stories of Roman interacting with his wives were told by him. Upon hearing some of this, he thought, 'As expected of the harem king.'

By what he meant by that, he meant it literally.

During his time as a king, his harem is so large that even Shiro was shocked by it. Yes, it might be due to politics that he decided to marry them, but he really "cared" for each of them despite his true nature of being unable to share their joys and suffering.

'He's a playboy like Merlin, alright. Nothing less from Grand Casters.' He thought.

Likes attract likes. Perhaps this is why they got acquainted.

Unknowingly, it turned from a normal lecture to "How to Handle Your Harem 101" kind of teaching. Roman continued telling his story with a nostalgic look while Shiro listened while praising him internally from time to time.

By the time it ended, the sky turned dark.

"Phew. I didn't expect that I'll be telling some of my past like this."

"Looks like I owe you one."

"Then, you can just fulfill it after you pay Chaldea a visit."

"Your world, huh? I'm lying if I say that I'm not interested in it."

Looking at the unopened book on top of the table, he saw that it is entitled "Faraway Lights: Astrology".

'Hm..? F...L...A..?'

(A/N: FLA=Fluctlight Acceleration)

The unsettling feeling inside of him became very stronger after seeing this familiar abbreviation. All of a sudden, he flipped the book open, surprising Roman who is about to get some snacks.

Pages were being turned in too fast that it almost created an afterimage.

"No way..."

"What is it?" Roman asked with interest.

Knowing him, only very shocking things can move Shiro like this. Meaning, he would be just as shocked as him once he learns of it.

"This book... It tells us how to fucking copy-paste souls!"

Roman: ???

It took him a second before realizing what he'd just said. When Shiro told them about fluctlights before, they had to re-evaluate this world as it's simply impossible to create it without the help of True Magic or the ones equal to it, Age of Gods magecraft.

"It's the guide book on how to create souls!" Shiro exclaimed.

*****

"Tsk tsk. Even my luck isn't this ridiculous, Shiro."

"It can't be blamed..?" Shiro replied to him with uncertainty.

"I refuse to believe that yours isn't EX Rank. You might 'accidentally' find a conceptual weapon one day."

When someone with A++ Rank Luck says this, then it's most probably right.

"Like Atlas' superweapons? Wait a moment, there's a world where Gaia is dead..."

Going further this train of thought, Shiro realized that travelling to the Land of Steel seemed quite plausible!

"Thanks for the suggestion."

"Uh, you're welcome?" Roman replied, finding his expression strange. He left the room, leaving Shiro behind.

"My bad, I was too preoccupied with those wills intervening. But even if Gaia's gone, there should be Alaya left."

In Angel Notes, it documented bits of life of someone named "Gun God", the final remaining pureblood human in the Land of Steel. Due to humans being too weak to resist the planet's pollution on their own, he had to use medications constantly.

What's important here is his seemingly normal weapon that resembled the Mossin Nagant.

This is the weapon that he used to kill Type Venus during the operation "Bird's Fall"!

In the story, the angel (which is Type Venus herself) confirmed that it killed her body in one shot. The only thing that's left of her is her mind. However, it could also mean complete death as something like the concept of "mind" doesn't exist within her.

How would she control her body when she doesn't even have a consciousness? That's why death with the "Black Barrel" is the same as "Eternal Sleep" for Types.

The only reason why she came back to life is due to the subconsciousness of people that shaped her mind once more.

Assuming that every other Types are like this, the prowess of Black Bullet can be seen. Even without the grain-rich environment of "Land of Steel", it can mess up an entity just as how Emiya Kiritsugu's Origin Bullet can mess up a magus with Magic Circuits.

"But there's Alaya, a major variable. Sigh... What a pain in the ass..."

He could only set aside that plan of his for now. Picking up the book about fluctlights, he turned off the lights in the library before heading to his room.

Shiro laid down his bed before reopening it.

"The first words in every line, alright..."

To read the knowledge of fluctlights, its author made it so that the first words in every line formed coherent sentences. Only by knowing fluctlights can one also notice this as it's too elusive without any prior knowledge.

Alas, it could only disappear forever once Sword Art Online gets erased by Kayaba in the ending.

"Dive consciousness in the <<Replicator>>... Wipe memories in the copied consciousness... Retrieve the <<Evanescent Photon>>..."

In front of him, Kayaba's lifetime research findings revealed themselves. Something that is impossible to be created by ordinary human beings, he made them in less than thirty years - all with his human hands.

"No wonder he's a genius, he literally predicted what JSDF would do two years in the future!"

Right now, he felt cautious towards Kayaba more than ever. Who knows whether he has some guesses towards them or not...

"Still... I want to meet him."

In the entire night, he didn't sleep and finished off the rest of the book.

*****

A/N: Fate fact this time~!

Fact #31: Did you know that "The Angel" (Type Venus who became an "Angel) mastered every single housework in less than a week? However, what she couldn't master that time is the Guitar. Even when she played the Guitar of Gun God's older sister, she couldn't play it. But then, it turns out that the only reason why is that it isn't tuned! Quoting from Gun God:

"No shit. That guitar hasn't been tuned."

Yep. It was screwed up from the beginning.

PS: Decided to share this since I found it funny while reading Notes (despite its depressing theme)...