Himeko: [Are all those cannons aimed at the rift? What happened?]
Akeno: [And those enormous sealing arrays!]
Sagiri: [(*.Д)o]
Raiden Mei: [Is there an enemy?]
Kaguya Houraisan: [My goodness!!]
Bronya: [(??Д?)!!]
Suoh Mikoto: [Sssss... Just looking at that gives me goosebumps.]
Boros: [Need help?]
Zhongli: [Did an enemy appear?]
Everyone was shaken.
Had Takumi encountered some monstrous enemy?
This kind of force was unheard of.
Everyone knew what a single planet-busting cannon could do.
But now he had dozens of them lined up like mortar launchers?
That could only mean something terrifying was on the horizon.
Takumi: [Nope.] [That's the rift in our world's membrane.] [I detected some lingering foreign energy there from hundreds of years ago.] [I don't know the details, but better safe than sorry.]
No, there was no enemy.
If there was one and Takumi couldn't win, he'd bail.
He'd just pack up Earth and run.
No need to stick around.
He could always come back later.
He had mentioned beforehe was bound to this world, yes. But even if civilization here were destroyed, it wouldn't affect his power.
He could escape anytime.
It would just make future progress a bit trickier.
But nothing too serious.
Everyone digested Takumi's explanation, shocked nonetheless.
Zhongli: [Foreign energy residue? Then your caution is warranted.] [If someone can cross into another world like that, they must be incredibly powerful.]
Zhongli's tone was serious.
Anyone who could move freely between worlds had to be a threat.
Takumi's preparations made sense.
If Zhongli were in his shoes, he would've done the same.
Takumi: [In any case, better to be prepared.] [For all I know, they might already be inside this world.]
[The universe is vast. Maybe they're already here.]
[And the spiritual energy resurgence might be their doing.]
[If that's true, then they're humanity's enemy.]
Because of the spiritual awakening, every human in this world had already perished.
That made them mortal enemies indeed.
Chapter 104: The Industry's Hardest Worker Joins the Group Chat
Everyone in the group was stunned by what Takumi had just said.
Come to think of it, he had a point.
What if those mysterious figures were already inside Takumi's world?
After all, the world Takumi was currently in was a fully functional universe.
With so many planets, who knew which one they might be hiding on?
Naturally, the chat erupted into discussion over the matter.
Takumi: [Let's leave it at that for now. Once I get stronger weapons, I'll install more.] [Tch, what a pain. If only I had the power to destroy an entire universe, I wouldn't be the least bit worried.]
In the end, Takumi just wasn't strong enough yet.
He couldn't wield universe-destroying power.
He shook his head. The only solution was to help the people of his world grow.
Once they could step beyond the Milky Way, that's when his strength would truly begin to evolve.
Or rather, even just leaving the galaxy would be a major milestone.
For now, Takumi's reserves were sufficient. The rest depended on how the people below developed.
Some things couldn't be rushed. It was better to focus on civilization-building first!
Next, he needed to bring in another batch of researchers.
Just as he was thinking this
['The Industry's Hardest Worker' has joined the group chat.]
Takumi: [Welcome, newcomer!!]
Sagiri: [Welcome, newcomer!!]
Chika Fujiwara: [Welcome, newcomer.]
Zhongli: [Welcome!]
Bronya: [Welcome!]
...
Everyone chimed in to welcome the new member.
A newcomer? They were at fifteen members now, weren't they?
Many quickly checked to see if any new functions had unlocked.
Unfortunately, it seemed there were no new features this time. A bit disappointing.
['The Industry's Hardest Worker' has changed their name to 'Yuuki Asuna'.]
When this message appeared, Takumi's eyes immediately lit up.
Takumi: [It's Bonzuna?!]
Sagiri: [Wife!!!]
Chika Fujiwara: [Ehh? I just finished watching Sword Art Online yesterday!!!]
With the name change, everyone was stunned.
It really was Bonzuna.
Especially Sagirishe even called her "wife."
Clearly, she must have drawn Asuna more than a few times.
Yuuki Asuna: [!!!!] [I am NOT some sort of Bonzuna!!] [Wait, this is real?] [This doesn't feel like some embedded game system at all.] [If it weren't for the knowledge that just popped into my head, I'd think I was losing my mind.]
Asuna was both shocked and delighted.
The group chat had appeared just as she was lost in darkness.
She'd gotten trapped in a game just yesterday.
When she was at her lowest, most helpless momentthis chat had appeared like a ray of light.
Takumi: [Your brain is perfectly finedry, even!]
Takumi couldn't help but chuckle.
Asuna, however, was exasperated.
What kind of group was this? They all sounded like absurd meme lords.
Chika Fujiwara: [@Yuuki Asuna, are you stuck in the game right now?]
Yuuki Asuna: [@Chika Fujiwara, how did you know??]
Asuna was stunned.
How did she know? She hadn't said anything yet.
Kaguya Houraisan: [Full-dive technology?!] [@Takumi, hurry upI want to play too!!]
Bronya: [@Takumi, me too!!]
These two game enthusiasts were overjoyed.
Full-dive VR was finally here!
Hurry up, Takumi! Go grab the tech from her world already!
Chika Fujiwara: [Because I watched your BonzI mean, I just finished the anime from your world.] [I'll upload it for you to watch!]
Chika promptly uploaded the episodes she'd just watched.
Since joining the group, she had been binge-watching anime.
After all, the new members were often characters from anime worlds. Watching ahead was never a bad idea.
Asuna blinked at the uploaded file.
She opened it quickly and began watching.
Anime?
That meant this was her future?
Asuna was desperate to find out what happened to her.
And so, she began her own anime binge.
Takumi: [Full-dive tech really is amazing.] [Kayaba Akihiko isn't bad. I should bring him over too.] [Also, I think I can recreate the real Aincrad!]
At that moment, Takumi's eyes gleamed.
Full-dive gaming? Cute.
Takumi could literally build the actual Aincrad in real life.
He could recreate the monsters from the game.
He could even add in-game mechanics like monster respawns.
Don't forgethe had a divine skill:
Monster Creation!!
With that, Takumi could endlessly generate monsters.
Once killed, they'd vanish.
With a few tweaks, he could even make them drop loot.
In other wordsa perfect grinding dungeon.
Thinking of this, Takumi's eyes sparkled.
This was getting interesting.
Plus, Asuna's world had top-tier technology.
They had already built full-dive systems.
That meant there were plenty of researchers there.
Takumi decidedhe would go fetch some.
He glanced at the chat.
Naturally, a few people had already started complaining.
Kaguya Houraisan: [Even if you build it, so what?? We don't have the points to visit your world!]
Bronya: [Exactly. So hurry up and bring back the full-dive tech. I'll buy it with points!]
[I don't care about a real AincradI just want full-dive!!]
They both understood.
Even if Takumi created a real Aincrad, they wouldn't be able to play.
Better to get the technology and make the game themselves.
Just imaginefull-dive Genshin. Full-dive Honkai.
It sounded amazing.
Takumi: [Bronya, fine. But you, @Kaguya Houraisanwhat would you do with it?] [Do you even have an ISP? You're just going to use it for single-player games?]
What was she even going to do with the tech?
Did she think the kappa from Gensokyo could run online servers?
Good luck with that.
Kaguya Houraisan: [I am playing single-player games!]
She pouted.
That's all she played anyway.
All the games Takumi uploaded were single-player.
Didn't he realize that himself?
Chapter 105: Im the Guy with a Million Lolis!
Even though Gensokyo had internet, the connection was terribly slow.
So Kaguya mostly played single-player gamesones that Takumi had uploaded.
And she bought them with points.
Takumi should really know what games she played.
Some single-player games work great with full-dive tech, okay?
Takumi: [Emm... yeah, you really do only play single-player games~.]
He shrugged.
Fine, forget it.
Kaguya probably just wanted full-dive equipment for single-player use.
As for Bronya, she clearly wanted to develop full-dive games.
Alright thengo fetch the tech, upload it to the group, let them buy it.
But to get the source tech, he'd need to go there in person.
He'd ask Asuna about it later.
Right now, she was probably still binge-watching her anime.
She was still trapped in the game, after all.
Takumi chatted in the group for a bit longer before deciding to leave.
"Ophis. I'm heading out."
"Remember that terminalit works across worlds. Contact me anytime."
"Our contract should soon be finalized. Once it's complete, you'll be able to contact me freely."
Ophis nodded in acknowledgment.
After their brief farewell, Takumi vanished.
He headed back toward the world.
Once Takumi left, Ophis looked over the defenses he had set up.
She then used her own power to alter the spatial structure.
A gray mist enveloped all of Takumi's weapons.
This fog filled the rift with a hazy atmosphere.
For ordinary beings, touching that spatial mist could cause confusion or even lead them astray.
Satisfied with her adjustments, Ophis happily floated around in the rift.
She really loved it here.
...
Takumi returned to his world.
Then retreated to his private villa to relax.
No one else was home.
Lilia was off handling business.
Everyone else had their own responsibilities.
Back at home, Takumi went online to check updates.
The Holy Maiden had already taken action.
She'd promptly published announcements that had been drafted the night before.
As of today, the Magic High School was officially accepting applications.
Anyone who had completed middle school could now learn magic.
There were even programs to train as Magical Armor Girls.
The announcement thrilled many.
Especially the once-cursed children.
Young girls were deeply enchanted by the idea of becoming magical girls.
They all wished they could grow up faster.
Their bodies had already recovered.
They were capable of growing into adulthood.
But for now, Takumi had sent them all to elementary school.
To learn magic, they'd have to wait a few more years.
This made many of them quite impatient.
Takumi saw their posts onlineasking if the age requirements could be lowered.
Could they start training from a younger age?
He winced.
"Do I need to implement anti-addiction controls?"
"These girls are using school to go online, huh?"
Good grief, had they all turned into net-addicted lolis?
Should he start enforcing restrictions?
As the big brother of a million lolis, Takumi figured he should give it some thought.
Then again, maybe not.
He didn't want to be too strict with them.
Let them enjoy what they were denied before.
If they ended up failing school, well, off to the assembly lines they'd go!
With that decision made, Takumi opened the group chat again.
He'd assumed Asuna would be binge-watching until evening.
But it turned out she wasn't watching at all.
Kaguya Houraisan: [Let Takumi go! He can pull you out of there!]
Chika Fujiwara: [Yeah! His Erosion Authority is basically a dimensional hack in your world.]
When Takumi entered the chat, he saw everyone discussing this.
He scrolled through the messages.
Asuna had been begging for helpshe just wanted to get out of that cursed place.
As for the anime?
Screw the future. She didn't care.
Now that she was in the chat, the future had already changed.
All she wanted now was to escape.
So she turned to the group for help.
Takumi: [I can go, sure. But if I do, I'm probably bringing a lot of people back with me.]
[You cool with that?]
After reading the context, he posted his message.
Asuna's eyes lit up when she saw Takumi's name appear.
Then she paused, confused.
Yuuki Asuna: ["Bringing a lot of people"?]
What did that mean?
She was newshe didn't know about Takumi's world yet.
Takumi: [It means I'll be taking a bunch of people from your world to mine.]
[Even your entire family could immigrate, if you wanted.]
[I'll even give you a free superpower awakening potion~!]
[But in exchange, I'm gonna be packing up a lot of people and things from your world.]
Takumi didn't hide his intentions.
Immigration and power-ups, in exchange for resources and people.
Even if they didn't immigrate, he'd still loot some stuff anyway.
Yuuki Asuna: [!!!!] [You're seriously allowing interdimensional immigration?]
That was world-hopping immigration!
Was he for real?
Chika Fujiwara: [He totally is. Plenty of people have already moved over.]
[@Miori Shiba, @You.]
Those two had already immigrated to Takumi's world.
Even Zhongli was planning to do the same someday.
Chika was honestly tempted.
But she had family, relatives, powerful connections.
They'd never agree to move.
So she hadn't considered it yet.
After learning all this, Asuna was stunned.
Meanwhile, someone else pinged Takumi.
Sagiri: [@Takumi-oniichan... I want to immigrate.]
Sagiri suddenly dropped her request, surprising everyone.
Takumi: [Did something happen?]
Chika Fujiwara: [@Sagiri, what's going on? Why the sudden decision? (Д)]
It was all so abrupt!
Everyone was confused.
Why did Sagiri suddenly want to immigrate?
Had something happened?
She got along well with everyone in the group, so naturally, everyone was concerned.
Chapter 106: Sagiri, Your Moms the Best
Sagiri's decision to immigrate was actually quite simple.
She came clean to her mom.
Told her everythingher awakened superpowers, and the strange occurrences that had happened recently.
Her mom, being an anime fan herself, was utterly shocked.
But once she heard that immigration was an option, her eyes sparkled.
So really, it wasn't Sagiri who wanted to immigrateit was her mom who did.
