Infinity - Side B

Chapter 3 - 2, Btooom.

Half covered in dirt and half in smoke dust, was very angry man glaring at a certain girl sitting seiza in repentance.

Shin: ...ARE. YOU. AN IDIOT, HIKARI!? Did you want me to die on the very first day that badly!?

Hikari: I said that I am sorry, so can you give it a rest? It has been over an hour ago and you are fine.

Shin: I AM FINE BECAUSE IT WAS ME! If that had been anyone other then me, you would have killed them in a fiery explosion. Thankfully I was able to quickly jump away in time.

Hikari: Sorry.

Shin: If I hadn't used KI to strengthen my legs in that split second, I , 100% would have been caught by the explosion.

Hikari: ...Sorry.

Shin: ...I geuss it is fine. I am safe and sound, and I should be happy that you have such fast reaction speed ( I am very thankful that it was a bomb and not a gun. God knows if I would have been okay ).

If it wasn't obvious already, the girl who spotted me with her radar scan earlier, who I was just about to ambush and who quickly turned the tables on me with a deathly explosion with a grenade was Hikari, one of my three original comrades along side Misaki and Aqua.

I had lost track of her and the rest of them on the descent down from the cargo plane and to the island. Aqua, Hikari and Misaki were all armed and had plenty of supplies ( Thanks to me ), so I wasn't worried about them, but who knew I would have my first reunion with one of them so soon... And in such an exciting ( Not ) way?

Shin: Anyway, I am glad that you are safe Hikari.

Hikari: Is, is that so? I too am glad that you are alright as well... Already hunting for Chips I see.

Hikari with a grim face looked towards the direction of the NPC that I killed not to long ago. It was unfortunate, but just because they are called NPCs, doesn't mean that they will just fade away like in a video game. The back of the man's head was still blown open from my splendid gunshot.

Shin: Well, yeah, I mean, this is the best time for us all to acquire Chips, right? Before the mysterious Btooom Soldiers and Btooom Commanders arrive tomorrow. It is literally now or never. Have you collect any chips yet?

I already knew the answer before I asked or saw Hikari sway her head silently. Hikari didn't have any BIM on her like I did, so she had yet to kill anyone for their chips yet. It was still early in the game, but...

Shin: *Sigh*. So it really is like that.

The first time I saw what the mission was, I was worried about this possibility.

Not just in this mission, but in the previous one as well, Hikari had yet to kill. Not any undead, rioter or an NPC here in H.O.T.D. For the most part it really was because she was too weak do anything, but now with her increased stats compliments to the 1000 points from the last mission, Hikari should now hold strength slightly above the average person. She has also learned that she is skilled with a gun, so she no longer has anything stopping her from fighting on her own or in a group as a valuable asset. If there was one... It would be her own hesitation to hurt or kill.

Hikari isn't a naive person to think she can survive this place without taking a life at some point, yet she is still a young girl. Not a girl like Aqua who was in the army, but a regular middle school girl and civilian. Hikari, as a former criminal hacker may have hurt people before with her actions, but never physically or where she could see them.

To some extent and more then others...Aqua, Misaki and I have crossed the line. The line where one one side people take action and on the other side are where those we call bystanders live. Hikari has still not crossed that line to our side, and she needs to if she wants to survive here on this island.

In the real world you don't have to and could possibly live your life in peace, but this isn't that world. This place is hell and if you don't adapt you die. This is, or should have been Hikari's problem to solve alone like the rest of us, but... For whatever reason I can't think of, I can't leave her alone. And now that I have seen the state that she is in, I...

Hikari: Shin.

Shin: Yes, what is it?

Hikari: You weren't paying attention were you? You have been doing that a lot lately.

Shin: Really, I haven't noticed. By the way... What is that?

Hikari: That what?

Shin: You know, that? Why do you have a laptop with you and out in the open?

Hikari: This? Nothing special. I was just checking the latest data from Tyrannos Japan network that is covering the island.

Shin: I see... What?

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From Hikari's explanation, Shin found that she hasn't been doing nothing this entire time since the start of the real world Btooom death game.

Hikari, the genius hacker who went by the name N3, as soon as she landed on the island hacked into Tyrannos Japan's security network, and secretly from them has been observing their security feeds and player data. She wasn't able to access everything without risking alerting Tyrannos, yet she has been able to get a lot of information that is border line cheating in this death game.

Every hour, Tyrannos Japan uses their system to pin point the movements of every player of the island, and to Shin's shock, Hikari has hacked into this system. That means that every hour on the hour she is aware of every living person on this island's last whereabouts.

With this information and some proper planning, Hikari could effective kill off every player on the island by hunting them down and laying out traps. It was... It was...

Shin: That is so cheating! This isn't even borderline unfair. It is unfair to everyone enjoying this game, Hikari. Turn it off.

Hikari: Are you stupid? Why would I do that, and who in here in their right mind is enjoying this death game?

Shin: Ahh, sorry. I lost my cool for a second there ( Since I am having fun ).

Hikari: Creepy ( THAT IS THREE ).

Shin: Anyways, this is great. Have you been using this to find the other?

Hikari: I gave been trying, but it isn't perfect. I can't tell the difference between NPCs and Players like us, and I can't get any names out of the system without alerting the admins. This island is also very huge and we are all so spread out... After looking at the records of moments of Players and NPCs, you Shin turned out to be the closest player to me.

Shin: How did you know it was me if you can't tell us apart?

Hikari: That is simple. In the last update I saw that near me that someone had already killed another NPC or Player. It is so early in the game and not even ten peopel have been killed on the island, I assumed that it was either you, Aqua, Misaki or the newbies that you handed guns to. And here we are.

Shin: Ok, but if you were so sure that I was an ally then why were you so jumpy that threw a grenade at me?

Hikari: Well, it wasn't like I was certain who it was, Player or NPC, or if the data that I took was real, so I was a little on edge when I arrived here. The player who was supposed to be here disappeared out of thin air, so I was beginning to think that this was a trap.

That kind of excuse was reasonable for throwing a bomb at me, yet I still had one more question.

Shin: Hey Hikari, you exchanged for that computer from God right?

Hikari: Yeah, so?

Shin: My concern is... How much was that very useful computer of yours worth point wise.

Hikari: ...

Shin: That doesn't look like a normal entertainment category computer, does it? More like... Isn't that an expensive hi tech or sci-fi computer?

Hikari: ...Maybe.

Shin: So... Out of your important, very important 1000 points to use to enhance your stats since you are an incredibly, incredibly weak middle school girl who I had to actually carry in the last mission in more then one way... How many of those points did you use?

Hikari: ...100 points.

Shin: 100 Points!? That... Forget it. Thinking about it again you made the right choice.

I honestly did want to get made mad at Hikari. With 100 points, with the average person being 100, she could have increased her Muscle Density, Reaction Speed or Cell Vitality by 10, or 1/10. For some one as weak as Hikari, a 1/10 of a increase in strength and endurance could go a long way, but I understand her reasoning.

Hikari wasn't too strong to begin with, so a small increase in power might not make her that strong in a street fight. That is why Hikari has chosen to increase her strengths then her weaknesses.

Hikari is a genius hacker who went by the name N3, took down dozens of corrupt companies and is wanted by 10 or more countries. Give her a computer and she can be both a powerful ally and a fearful opponent to our enemies. A tool like this computer can bring the best out of her ability and talent is most welcolmed, but I wished that she told me about this before.

If Hikari did tell me and ideally before she made the exchange, I could have warned her that we won't always be sent to worlds where her talents will be applicable. We could have been sent to Naruto or One Piece, worlds where there are no large networks for her to use her computer.

Yes, Hikari's talents are amazing and have a lot of potential uses, yet they are highly dependent on the surrounding environment. If we ended up in a historical samurai manga, she would have wasted her 100 points for nothing.

Hikari: Sorry for not telling everybody what I exchanged. I, I just wanted to surprise you all. In the last mission I was useless to say the least. You even almost died because of me Shin. I just wanted to make myself useful and whether I like it or not this is my only skill in life where I won't lose to another.

Shin: It's fine, but you are right, I wish you would have told me. I still had some points left over after everything, so I could have exchanged that computer for you or an even better computer for you.

Hikari: I couldn't allow you do that. Not just me, but you used your points to help everyone out and get us all supplies. You've already done enough. Save your points and get better weapons and enhancements for yourself.

Shin: It would be for myself since an increase in your abilities would help the team... But I understand. I won't bring it up again. So... With that computer you know the locations of everyone on the island?

Hikari: Not in real time unfortunately, but I do have recorded their last position from twenty minutes ago and I get an hourly update. Why?

Shin: Isn't that obvious? If we know their last known location then we can track them. Then I... We will kill them all and take their Chips and BIMs.

Hikari: ...Yeah.

Shin: ...

Hikari obviously reacted to the words "We will kill", but we didn't, especially Hikari didn't have the option of not hurting others here on the island. I already have two chips, so I can survive tonight's midnight excution, but with her one chip she couldn't.

And because of the rules of this game that the person who kills the NPC is the one who gets the chip and they are nontransferable, I couldn't kill for Hikari and give her chips. If she was going to survive pass to today and hopefully live through this week... I was going to have to hold her hand here and teach her how to kill.

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Tyrannos Japan: Game Planner Gemu Shusaisha's Report 3.

Real World Btooom Game, Hard Mode - Day 1.

8:22 A.M

Players Alive: 13/15.

NPCs Alive: 131/150.

Btooom Soldiers Inactive: 25/25.

Btooom Commanders Inactive: 5/5.

Ryota Sakamoto, Btooom Lord Inactive: 1/1.

Daily Minutes -

1. More battles have been starting all around the island.

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Authors Note:

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