At a later date, Wiseman gave me his conditions and they were surprising.
“I want you to add me to your party,” he said. “If I’m with you, I’m sure I could learn more about The World.”
BlackRose and I looked at each other.
“Is that all? You want to join?” I said with a sigh of relief since I was secretly nervous about what kind of price I would be charged.
Wiseman looked at me in amazement for some reason.
“You don’t know your worth. The chance to work with you is invaluable.”
“What do you think?” I consulted with BlackRose.
“It’s a little weird, but it’s okay, I guess,” she shrugged and said.
“I don’t mind. “
So, with that, Wiseman joined our party.
“Nice to meet you, Kite and BlackRose. I’ll send you an email about the Epitaph later. For the time being, I won’t give much weight to combat. However, I think that I can help with trading, negotiations, etcetera.”
Wiseman said with a smile.
But I quickly realized that this was his own expression of humility.
Wiseman was a hardcore heavy user of The World.
He was familiar with the various game strategies and tips in The World.
His advice led us to a dramatic increase in strength and an efficient level up.
Even that day, we were trying to look up a rumor posted on the bulletin board at Wiseman’s suggestion.
There was a character in the area who kept talking incoherently and it was suspicious.
“What do you mean by suspicious?” BlackRose asked.
“Suspicious in the sense of a hidden game scenario? Or suspicious in The World?”
“Of course the latter,” said Wiseman.
“Since it’s just a rumor, several players are already trying to contact the character. However, no event is released and they will not get any new rewards. The character is just there, without any meaning. At least, the players feel that way.”
The area was on the Lambda Server.
When I got to the dungeon, I found the character in the deepest part. At first glance it looked like a normal PC, but if you looked closely, you could see that there were cavities all over the PC’s body.
When targeted, his name was displayed. It seemed he was named Plaird.
As I approached, Plaird turned to me with a dancing gesture.
“Do you know? I’m looking for something, but do you know where it is?”
He spoke in a bland tone.
“What are you looking for?” I asked.
“I’m looking for it because… I don’t know. I don’t know. What do you not know?”
“Are you messing with us?” BlackRose said.
“Coming? Not coming?* We will meet in Net Slum whether you’re coming or not. We can meet without deciding the time. If we meet, it’ll be a nice rendezvous. I’m sure we can meet. I don’t know I don’t know.”
Wiseman stood at a distance and looked at Plaird with great interest.
Plaird turned away as if he had suddenly lost interest in us. He started walking as if to dance.
“I don’t know I don’t know. Now I know. I don’t know I don’t know. Definitely don’t know.”
Suddenly, someone transferred in as though obstructing Plaird.
Shortly before ascertaining who it was, the man stuck out his right hand and gouged out Plaird‘s torso. Plaird vanished without a trace, having been pierced in a place where he was solid.
“You… Lios!” yelled BlackRose.
With his hands on his hips, Lios spoke as though spitting.
“Garbage data.”
“Lios? Why are you here?” I said, surprised.
“Debugging. Deleting bad data. That’s my job.”
“Defective data…”
“That doesn’t concern you,” Lios said to her and yelled at us.
“Didn’t I tell you to lay low until my next instructions? Why did you disobey me?”
I was at a loss for a reply.
“No matter now. Laying low means doing nothing. Do what you’re told. Understood? Over and out!”
Translator’s Note:
Plaird seems to misinterpret what BlackRose said. She said “ochokuru” meaning ‘to tease,’ but Plaird only seems to emphasize “kuru” meaning ‘to come’ and then talks about meeting Kite and BlackRose.
.hack//Translate 