CH 52

—- Arakawa Kouki Point of View —-

I was holding my head while sitting on a desk dedicated for the Director of ‘Special Media Entertainment Division’. The office is set up on the 3rd basement level of Hakone Base.

I raise my head and saw each department making arrangements and are busy moving around.

“How did this happen?”

I drank my cold coffee while murmuring those words to myself. Claire-san who was appointed as my exclusive adjutant again brings a lot of electronic memory cards in front of me.

(TN: This is where story is starting to branch out from the LN. In LN, Shingo is with Kouki on this part)

“Director, please confirm the animation which we will broadcast tomorrow, along side it is the CM that arrived from Noah Island. At the same time, I have given the same exact copy to Shingo-kun who is acting as Deputy Director and is on his way to Noah Island with skinhead”

I thank Claire-san who is reporting all of this while smiling, but rather than helping me with my work in this place… is this really ok? Claire-san is officially registered in Noah’s PMC Department right? Is it really alright for you to stay here?

Ma~ without her, I will be busy coordinating each and every department and that heavy work will surely kill me. When I confirmed that the painting drawn by skinhead was sold, I judged that ‘This will work’. I submitted a ‘Culture Creation Plan’ to mom and she made prompt decision and led the necessary personnel and equipment to Noah Island to create a cosmetic CM for only 2 days in Earth time and then started satellite broadcasting in a blink of an eye.

In relation to broadcasting rights, our broadcast did not start until 19 o’clock(7PM) but we have gained the rights to repeatedly broadcast all 5 types of our CM between each program… as a result, all cosmetic products of Noah were sold out.

Mom made a special dedicated facility on Noah Island for advance shooting and to increase productivity. 5 days has pass after broadcasting our CM but we will be broadcasting our first Anime on satellite channel 452─ ‘Noah Channel’, tomorrow. All the staff of Noah, including Claire-san, are too excellent that it scares me.

“It’s been a week since I drew that painting, we did a lot of things in such a short time”

“Yes, but that is because all the staff of Noah is supporting us while we are establishing the new department. Please keep in mind that we will not be able to produce the same speed next time. Also, about the broadcast of ‘Mahou Shoujo Alice’ for tomorrow, just as planned, Alice-chan plays the role of the main character while Aikawa-san is in charge of voicing the rival. Since both of them haven’t finish recording the final episode yet, they will return after 2 days which already include the time for their sightseeing”

“Is that so”

Ma~ maybe its impossible to complete everything in just a week, in the future I should schedule production period of at least two weeks. Rather than that, Alice and Aikawa-san are enthusiastic in helping the production of anime but are they getting paid? I think there should be no problem since mom most of the time takes care of it but I should ask Alice about it later via mail. Next are the VR Games and movies that I asked macho to try, but I wonder how it went?

“Claire-san, I asked dad to test the VR. Is there any progress?”

“Yes, first of all. The adult-oriented content proposed by director was divided into two for both male and female. This is a directive from Miki-san.”

“Ah, I figure that will happen. How about the horror games? I was confident about it…”

“…Among the 46 PMC members of Noah who participated in Beta Test, 15 people suffered Transient Unconsciousness, 3 of those developed mild nyctophobia” (TN: Nyctophobia = extreme or irrational fear of the night or of darkness.)

“They lost consciousness? Is there any technical problems? Mom made sure that the device are safe for Beta Testing”

“I apologize, it seems I said it in a wrong way. 15 of the 46 people fainted due to fear and three of those became afraid of going to the toilet at night”

Haaa!? Are you kidding me? They were once member of a formidable UN Force Army. Its true unlike TV Screens, VR feels more realistic since it feeds sensory data directly to your brain… but to the point that it makes them scared to go to toilet at night, you guys are not kids you know. The setting of the Beta Test is to solve the mystery and escape from a large abandoned hospital in the mountain so why are they fainting? I did not sleep for a long time to think of ideas for puzzles and jump scares but did I waste my time?

“Ja, Game clear…. Is there anyone who solve the mystery and was able to escape?”

“I’m the only one who was able to escape. I’m sorry but allow me to be blunt, the early part of the game is good but the part where you encounter the nurse with broken legs in the west ward is unfair!! Almost all of testers gave up on that part, especially when the nurse started chasing after you at high speed while in a wheelchair and without saying anything. Also, in the basement where you have to take the key. Please stop the random event where a ghost doctor suddenly come closer every time the light flicker! Also at the last part where you should return the medical record to the correct place, how should I know where that is! It took me so many tries to figure it out”

“Well, but the fact that you played it until the end means that you enjoyed the game. I understand, I’ll consider adding hints for the players and an option to change difficulty and reduce visual effects”

Claire-san seems to have enjoyed the game a lot and that is more than I can ask for. However, it is like that after all. The difficulty of the game is too high for the people of this world who never experienced games before. Since I wanted to make it realistic, I did not set a lot of save points but now I need to add more save points and set positions of enemies for low difficulty. Is there anything else I need to check─

(TN: For those who read the LN, from here onward is totally different. I’m actually excited to translate the next chapter)

“Keep quiet, what is it?”

My terminal is playing its ring tone for receiving a mail so I unintentionally said those words. I open the mail that I receive and the name ‘Skinhead’ is displayed on the screen. I thought he is just reporting that he is back from Noah Island but there is only a single word written in the content when I open it. “Please Help Me(助けて欲しい)”  I have no idea what that means, but he is someone who is always composed. He is not as composed as macho but he is not someone who will ask help from me without any reason.

Did something happened? While thinking so, I send a reply and call out to Claire-san

“Claire-san, skinhead is coming back so I will have a meeting with him to discuss new designs for our new anime. Please contact me via my terminal if you need me”

“Understood”

While looking at the back of Claire-san who bowed towards me and go away, I stood up from my chair for the first time today and head to the warehouse where I will meet skinhead─

—- Skinhead Point of View —-

“Please come to warehouse H-52 in 20 minutes”

I was looking at my terminal where the message that I sent Kouki-kun is displayed. I was waiting for him to arrive in this room. I have two conflicting feelings swirling in my hear right now, “He will surely do something about it” and “I should not get him involved”. However, there is no other way for the helpless me but to rely on him… I was thinking that while biting my nail and staying inside the dimly lit warehouse. Later on, I heard small strokes of footsteps coming closer and Kouki-kun came inside the room.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. So, what happened?”

“Ah, uhm… well”

Kouki-kun asked a question while making a gentle smile similar to Miki-san when she is in good mood. I felt discomfort along with the feeling for his sense of security that I thoughtfully depressed the word. Kouki-kun asked a question again with a gentle voice.

“Its unusual to see you like that, what’s wrong?”

“… I’d like you to lend me your strength”

“Sure, I’ll do whatever I can to help you, so tell me in detail what happened”

“My former superior in my home country was caught, my old colleagues contacted me just a while ago and I heard the full story. Apparently, they are being suspected of selling confidential information to other countries. However, they are not the type to do such things!! It’s false accusation, or─”

“Or?”

“I can only thing that someone is behind all of this”

After I finish talking, Kouki-kun seems to be thinking something while tilting his head. The appearance of him where he narrow his eyes when thinking is similar to Kon, apparently she got that habit from her master. I was trying to erase my anxiety where I consider Kouki-kun leaving and judge that it will be a waste of time but he suddenly opened his mouth.

“I believe that the previous work of Skinhead is part of a special force that belongs to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, but am I wrong?”

“There is no mistake, I was a combat expert working externally”

“Also, the reason that you requested help from me instead of mom or dad is because you do not want to make a big deal out of this situation?”

“”Aa, I think Miki-san and Shuichi-san will surely help me if I ask them but I’m pretty sure that it will be a large scale rescue operation while applying political pressure. If so, it may cause troubles to other operatives lurking in other countries. Their work is on the side but they are sill in a dangerous situation, I do not want to cause inconvenience for my old companions who inform me of their situation”

I know that my idea is selfish but I still want to save that person. When I look at Kouki-kun while praying it my heart, he seemed to be thinking while tilting his head. He then began to use his personal terminal when he suddenly thought of something. He is manipulating the screen at high speed and after a while, he raised his face and smiled.

“Skinhead, 2 hours from now, we will board a plane in Academy City heading to Russia. We will return tomorrow morning so there is no need to bring any change of clothes. Let’s head to the airport immediately”

No no! Wait a moment! Even if you say it similar to “Let’s go shopping”, it is so sudden that my mind cannot keep up. Besides, what can you do if you suddenly go to Russia? Also, I cannot take Kouki-kun to a place where I cannot secure his safety.

I was just…, he doesn’t need to do anything himself. I just want to borrow the power of his information network similar to how he gather information about Alice’s true identity. I explain to Kouki-kun in a hurry but he just show a smile similar to Shuichi-san when he is giving instruction in battlefield and training.

“It seems that there is some misunderstanding about the information that skinhead got but it’s okay. When Alice was kidnapped before, Claire-san said something about me. To be specific, I am a researcher who developed an effective drug against the European Tragedy and all countries have the ‘obligation’ to provide me special treatment so I don’t think that I will be detained when I suddenly visit Russia. Skinhead, who is my ‘escort’ should not be restrained as well.”

“but, even if you say that…”

“Ma~ I do not want to use that privilege too much but we can use it effectively this time. Though its hard to say, I think we have the upper hand right now. We will present free broadcasting channel to Russia in exchange for your superiors”

“What are you talking about!? You are gaining huge profit from that right? You should not give it to them for free”

Kouki-kun probably didn’t know the result of the cosmetic CM. He intends to offer it for free. What on earth is he thinking? It is true that Kouki-kun is in charge of Special Media Entertainment Department. However, something of this level is cannot be decided without the consent of Miki-san.

“I hope the other party thinks so too. Skinhead, the CM is just ‘on the side’. In the end, our main goal is the production, development and the broadcast of anime and selling products related to that. It will be too late before the other side notice it”

“Kouki-kun, what does that mean?”

“Although its alright to tell you all about it, no one in this world are able to understand it yet. Rather than that, I will need to come back tomorrow by any means necessary, we need to watch ‘Mahou Shoujo Alice'”

Kouki-kun beckon at me while he is standing at the entrance of the warehouse. However, what does he mean by “No one in this world are able to understand it yet”? It was as if he is someone who does not belong to this world… am I overthinking about this?

No, more importantly, he is a person who is trying to help me. I must show proper courtesy. While thinking that, I opened my mouth while looking at Kouki-kun’s eyes.

“Anton”

“Hai?”

“You asked my name before right? My real name is Anton Volkkievich,  I used to work in a special unit of Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Intelligence Bureau’s External Special Force Unit called ‘Chernobog'” (TN: Chernobog is a Slavic deity, whose name means black god. I don’t know if it has different meaning in Russian)

Chernobog… when someone hears it, they will immediately think about ‘Shinigami’. I was worried as to what kind of reaction he will do but Kouki-kun with his usual expression just said “Anton-san then”. I’m glad, I’m sure we will be okay. I decided to go to the airport with Kouki-kun while feeling some relief── (TN: Shinigami = Grimm Reaper)