Chapter 102 : Chapter 102
Chapter 102
A knight.
Those who protect the weak against injustice and never lose their pride, even in the most desperate situations.
That was what Dirk had learned.
He was taught that a knight should be so, and if he didn't have the confidence to be one, it was better to leave the training ground immediately.
That was the reason.
The reason he had willingly become bait for his comrades.
“Isn’t that what all you knights do? I thought that was the case.”
“Not everyone can do that.”
“Then I suppose they aren’t knights. The knight I know would have done so.”
Dirk grinned.
It was clear who the ‘knight he knew’ was referring to.
“You, Sir Knight, are the first knight I have ever met. Do you know what I thought of first when I was given the chance?”
“I do not.”
“I thought that I must become a knight who is truly knightly. I thought of becoming like you, Sir Knight.”
To Dirk, Reinhardt was the very model of a knight.
He always put others before himself.
He took steps of courage in the face of fear and was more proactive than anyone in annihilating evil.
In the end, the knight named Reinhardt became Dirk’s standard.
Once he decided to become a knight, he came to think that he should be like Reinhardt.
“Try not to die, if you can. Dirk.”
“Are you worried about me?”
“Because your sister would be sad.”
Dirk grinned slyly.
“I will live a long life.”
“Good. That’s enough. And from now on, you are also a knight.”
“…Pardon? Me?”
“As soon as we return to the knight order, the Commander will hold an investiture ceremony for you.”
Knight commanders were individuals to whom the Emperor had delegated the authority of investiture.
Thus, the fact that a knight order was founded meant that its founder had the capability to obtain the necessary permissions from imperial officials.
“…I’m a knight?”
“Don’t make me say it twice. I have no intention of going easy on you just because you’re in a sickbed.”
“I’m a patient… Oof.”
Dirk grinned from ear to ear, even though he had been flicked on the head.
He had finally become a knight.
Today, he felt he could take a beating all day long and still be smiling.
“Then am I also Sir Dirk?”
“You will be Sir Dirk.”
“Wow…”
“More importantly, Dirk.”
“Yes?”
“Did you swing your sword at the magical beast?”
“Yes. But it didn't work. I figured I was going to die one way or another, so I thought I’d at least put up a fight.”
“You blocked an attack with your sword, right?”
“I think it clashed with its claw, but I don’t remember exactly. I was sent flying right after that.
I really thought I was going to die.”
His memory was not intact.
He had tried to do something, and he had, in fact, done something.
But the impact must have been next to none.
On the contrary, Dirk himself had just been helplessly sent tumbling to the ground.
“Good. From now on, you will be fighting creatures like that.”
Dirk’s face contorted.
It was a declaration like a bolt from the blue.
“Pardon?”
***
Dirk needed rest.
It was unclear whether it was because of the battle with the magical beast or because of Reinhardt’s declaration.
“You should return as soon as possible. If they were targeting me, then this place isn't safe either.”
“I’ll heed your warning. I was thinking of heading back soon anyway. Things are more or less sorted out here.”
As Ethan said, the atmosphere at the training ground was much more stable.
The treatment of the injured was finished, and most of the trainees who had been psychologically shocked had recovered.
“I believe Dirk will be fine as a knight.”
And Reinhardt relayed his judgment on Dirk.
Ethan nodded as if he had expected it.
“We’ll proceed as soon as we return. You said you would teach him yourself, right?”
“Yes.”
“Do so. I’d be grateful for that. I should hurry the preparations to return. Will you be coming with us?”
“No. I have something I must do.”
“I thought so. As always, good luck.”
“It is merely something that must be done.”
Reinhardt was in the middle of conducting a search through Bitdori.
The creature circled a wide area around the training ground.
‘Whatever it is, I have to see the result before I go.’
They might try to make contact, they might try to eliminate him, or perhaps there would be no one there at all.
There was even a possibility that the training ground was the real target.
And not Reinhardt.
Thud.
Reinhardt found a suitable spot and sat down.
He watched as the members of the Taton Knights packed their things.
‘I have no choice but to wait until Bitdori returns.’
A time of tedious waiting.
But fortunately, Reinhardt had an excellent means to pass the time.
<Reinhardt>
[It’s been a while…]
The once-white page was now filled to the brim with text.
After writing down all sorts of long-winded stories, images, and his current situation.
[Post has been successfully uploaded.]
In front of numerous users, Reinhardt presented his latest update.
***
Skylines Development Office.
Lately, the dark circles under the eyes of genius developer Han Yura had become particularly pronounced.
For a developer, dark circles were practically a friend, but even so, her current state was excessive.
“Um, Section Chief.”
“Hm?”
“Would you like to go to lunch with us? We’re about to head out now.”
“Lunch?”
“Yes.”
“What was lunch again? Ah, food! You want to eat?”
“…Yes.”
“I’ll grab something on my own later. You guys go on ahead, go on.”
Han Yura waved her hand with a playful smile.
Seeing her like this, her team members looked worried.
“You didn’t eat yesterday either, did you?”
“Skipping one meal won’t kill me.”
“Did you have dinner?”
“Dinner? Uh, did I? I think I did. I’m not hungry. Anyway, go on. I’ll eat on my own.”
Han Yura shooed her team members away with a casual wave of her hand.
‘Where is the time to eat.’
Eating was not what was important right now.
She looked back and forth between two monitors.
On one, a complex calculation process was running, and on the other, she had the Soul Calibur community page open.
‘Is he not going to post today either?’
The community page was automatically refreshing its search.
The keyword, of course, was [Reinhardt].
But the posts were all ones she had seen many times before.
It had been quite a while since a new post had been uploaded. It was as if he had completely stopped his community activities.
“I don’t know, I just don’t know.”
Han Yura looked back at the left monitor.
The program she had coded herself was running busily.
[Kim Sung-hoon: Suitability 0.33%]
[Park Hee-won: Suitability 0.02%]
[Baek Ha-jin: Suitability 1.67%]
[Seo Jun-cheol: Verification in progress…]
…….
Han Yura puffed up her cheeks and then deflated them repeatedly as she checked the results.
All the names being outputted were employees of Skylines.
And today as well.
The results were not to her liking.
“Was I wrong…?”
Perhaps the culprit wasn't at Skylines.
It was just as she was pushing up her glasses that had slid down her nose.
“Section Chief. Has anything come up?”
Team Leader Choi Ho-jun approached.
Checking the clock, it was clear he had rushed over as soon as lunchtime began.
“Unfortunately, not at all. Was the highest suitability 4 percent?”
“Four percent…”
A regretful sigh escaped Team Leader Choi’s lips as well.
It was an absurdly low number.
To even narrow down the suspects, they needed at least a few tens of percent.
“Section Chief. But is this really accurate? Is it possible to extract results from a survey that’s only a few pages long?”
“It’s possible. Why wouldn't it be? As I mentioned before, human tendencies aren't that diverse. In the grand scheme of things, there are only a few types. Of course, the story changes if you get into the details…”
“I did understand that part.”
Team Leader Choi Ho-jun looked at Han Yura’s monitor with a troubled expression.
The task being performed here was simple.
The tendencies of the company's internal staff.
Also, the actions Reinhardt had shown so far.
It was a process of finding people who were likely to produce similar results by comparing the two sets of information.
‘Does this even make sense?’
Honestly, Team Leader Choi Ho-jun was skeptical.
Did it make sense to find a culprit based on a person’s personality?
And the basis for that judgment was merely a questionnaire.
A questionnaire.
It meant they had only asked a few questions like, ‘In this kind of situation, what would you do?’
“When was this survey conducted?”
“When we were in the thick of developing Soul Calibur. I requested it from the CEO, and he gladly helped. Thanks to him, we were able to conduct it with all employees.”
That much, Choi Ho-jun could understand.
Han Yura was a genius, and at the same time, an eccentric.
Above all, it was possible because the survey content was not particularly provocative.
“Is there a reason you specifically used the employees? There are sites like that, aren’t there? Places that conduct psychological tests. You could have requested help from them.”
“I can’t see those people with my own eyes. I needed to compare. People who answered like this, do they actually behave like this?”
“Whoa…”
“That’s how those characters came about. I bet none of the users felt that the characters’ lines or actions were awkward.”
“Well, that’s true. I know that.”
Indeed, the lively characters were one of the success factors of Soul Calibur.
But.
Even so.
“Section Chief, but still…”
“Just a moment. Let’s think for a moment. When Reinhardt was first transmigrated into this world. What did he do then?”
“He beat up some bandits.”
“And after that?”
“He went back to the knight order and…”
“That’s right. He returned to the knight order.”
Han Yura’s eyes sparkled as she continued.
“Right there, 30 percent were eliminated. That means 30 percent of people would choose not to return to the knight order.”
“…Yes.”
“There he meets Ethan, right? And he meets Evangeline, too.”
“Right.”
“Most were filtered out there. In the process of using emotional expressions sincerely, choosing the correct script, and so on.”
“Correct script… What do you mean by correct?”
“I’m talking about the choices that would produce the exact same result as the Reinhardt on the community.”
It was not entirely incomprehensible.
It was because there was an underlying perception that features like ‘emotional expressions’ were merely supplementary elements in the process of playing the game.
“Do you understand what this means?”
“I don’t. Not at all.”
“It means this is a person who can completely immerse themselves in the game. That’s the minimum prerequisite. They use emotional expressions appropriate for the situation, imagine what Reinhardt would feel in this situation… and further…”
Han Yura’s eyes shone.
“They have to think that they have truly become Reinhardt. Only with that kind of personality can they produce such results. Though it’s not a situation where they could produce them just by intending to.”
In short, what Han Yura was saying was that [Reinhardt] was a person who easily became overly immersed in games.
A person with such a tendency was playing the game when luck was on their side, leading to the current situation.
“So what you’re saying, Section Chief, is…”
“That there’s no one. How can there not be a single one? Isn’t this a game company?”
“It is.”
“But there’s not a single person who’s serious about games. Seriously, as in, there’s no one with a personality that enjoys games as if they’re role-playing.”
“By serious, you mean it’s not just about enjoying it for fun, right?”
“Of course not! I’m telling you, they have to truly become Reinhardt!”
Does that even make sense?
Could a person like that be common?
Team Leader Choi Ho-jun struggled to suppress the thought that reflexively came to mind.
After all, at this moment, Section Chief Han Yura was his only lifeline.
“In that case, Section Chief. First of all…”
“Huh? Oh? Wait a minute. What’s this?”
Just then, Han Yura’s gaze snapped to the monitor.
She stared intently at the screen as if Team Leader Choi Ho-jun wasn’t even there, and then said.
“A new post is up. It’s Reinhardt.”