Saten Ruiko: [Greetings, Boss!!] [Hello, Boss! Newbie requesting guidance!]
Nakiri Alice: [Same here! I'm a newbie too, please guide me!!]
Takumi: [Alright, alright, I'll look after you both!] [Want to immigrate? I'll throw in a superpower awakening potion!!]
So? Want to immigrate? It's a free gifteveryone gets one.
Fujiwara Chika: [Here we go again, the immigration freak!!] [Weren't you already luring a bunch of people from several worlds?] [You even stayed in the Three-Wheeler world for so long!!]
Isn't that enough? Takumi had already brought back so many people! Why was he still inviting more?
Takumi: [The planet I live on expanded greatly due to spiritual energy resurgence.] [It's not your average Earth.] [Even with a few hundred million people, including Velia and the ones I brought back, it's still pretty empty!]
Despite how many people Takumi had brought back, most of the world was still uninhabited.
They were only occupying a small portion.
This world was really huge, okay?
Zhongli: [That's true. Takumi's world is extremely vast!] [Even billions of people would be nothing in that world.]
Back in his past life, Takumi's country already had over a billion people.
Now this world had even more territory, and Velia's arrival only took up a fraction.
So naturally, Takumi was very eager to bring in more immigrants.
Only when the whole planet was full of people would he be satisfied.
Saten Ruiko: [Ah... never mind.] [I don't want to immigrate for now.]
Even though it was tempting, immigration was still a no.
Nakiri Alice: [Same here. I'll pass (Takumi might freak).]
Yeah, she didn't want to either.
Seeing this, Takumi felt a little disappointed.
Takumi: [@Saten Ruiko, your world is super dangerous. You sure you don't want to immigrate?] [Didn't you guys just get rebooted without realizing it?]
Takumi glanced at the group files. Fujiwara Chika and Sagiri had already uploaded the relevant material.
So she should already know how dangerous her world really was.
Those Magic Gods were terrifying to someone like Saten Ruiko.
Saten Ruiko: [....] [Please, stop talking!!] [You're freaking me out again.]
Saten Ruiko's mouth twitched.
Honestly, when she first learned what her world truly was, she had been completely stunned.
Besides superpowers, there were things like magic? And also angels and Magic Gods?
Do you have any idea how massive the psychological trauma was when she found out all that?
Chapter 149: How Could a Top Dog Ever Understand the Suffering of a Weakling?
Seeing the message, Takumi couldn't help but laugh. But he didn't continue teasing Saten Ruiko.
Although the Magic Gods in her world were terrifying, to an average person, it didn't feel like much.
Takumi: [It's fine, you're just an ordinary person anyway.] [They can't affect you.]
That's what he said, but Saten Ruiko was still panicking.
Saten Ruiko: [I'm freaking out!!] [Who wouldn't freak out in this situation!!] [I'm just a Level 0 esper!!]
She was speechless. Takumi made it sound easy. Anyone would be unsettled upon learning that their world could be reshaped or rebooted at someone's whim.
How could a top-tier powerhouse understand the agony of a complete weakling?
Takumi: [No! You do have superpowers.] [They're just not strong.]
Saten Ruiko: [What's the difference between that and having none at all?]
She was technically an air-manipulator, but officially labeled a powerless esper!
Takumi: [There are training methods for superpowers in the shop.] [You can buy them!] [Or just save up enough points and buy an enhancement serum to inject.] [Your abilities should get stronger that way.] [No big deal!] [So make sure to sign in daily.] [Or just buy a full enhancement directly from the grouponly 253 points.] [That's the best value.]
Saten Ruiko wasn't exactly powerless. She was just so weak it was basically the same.
If she wanted superpowers, she could just go through the enhancement process via the chat group.
Or buy a serum to fully develop her abilities.
Both methods were viable.
If not, then she could just follow the training method.
Takumi had uploaded everything.
Although superpowers across worlds might not work the same, it shouldn't be a problem. The system already adapted them.
What could possibly go wrong?
Still, even with powers, it wouldn't have helped yesterday.
If it's time to cower, you cower.
You think you can take on Magic Gods?
That's why Takumi thought her fears were a bit unnecessary.
Saten Ruiko: [I already saw it all!!] [I'm saving up points!!]
She had seen everything in the group. That was her goal.
The fastest way was a full enhancement through group functions.
That was the most cost-efficient. Otherwise, she'd never save up enough points for other things.
Training methods for esper powers? Yes, she wanted that too.
But it'd take a long time, and she wasn't sure if it would even work.
So for now, her priority was saving for the full enhancement.
Only after that would she consider buying the training method slowly.
A long journey ahead.
Takumi: [Alright, enough chatting.] [Tomorrow I'm going to bring out Aincrad.] [Anyone who wants to train can just speak up and grab a flight over.] [Or transfer me the points, and I'll post a mission to bring you in.]
That was the most profitable method.
Let everyone give Takumi their points, and in exchange, they get a free ticket via the chat group.
Everyone in the group popped up in response.
Raiden Mei: [Okay, if I go, I'll find you!!]
Bronya: [No problem. Free tickets really work!!]
Bronya also thought it was a great idea.
It definitely worked.
Fujiwara Chika: [If that's the case, then I'm interested!!] [Count me in when the time comes!]
Clearly, everyone was very excited.
After saying all this in the group chat, Takumi closed the app.
Miori Shiba looked over at Takumi.
"You're not going to run all over the place again, right?" "Lately, you've been busy collecting people from all over."
She sounded quite exasperated.
Takumi really had been constantly running around.
Time had flown by without them noticing.
"I probably won't be running around anymore." "Unless something important happens in the group."
He had already wrung out everything useful from the group.
So there wasn't much that would make him run around now.
The only place worth a trip was the Index world.
But Takumi didn't want to go just yet.
There was still so much to digest over here.
At the same time, Takumi needed to forge a new divine authority.
Miori Shiba nodded.
"Good."
She smiled brightly.
After that, Takumi stayed at home, spending time with Miori Shiba and the others.
Meanwhile, the newly arrived Yingjie and the MOTH members were extremely interested in Takumi's world.
After getting access, Mobius immediately began poring over data about Takumi's world, trying to understand its structure.
Not just Mobius, but Doctor Mei was also investigating.
Takumi's data archive contained a massive trove of knowledge, including historical records from past civilizations in this world.
That was the knowledge Takumi gained when he first transmigrated here.
After reading through it, Doctor Mei frowned.
"Feels like there's an invisible hand manipulating everything."
"Spiritual energy revival? Human evolution?"
"There's something fishy about all this."
That was her impression.
"Humanity fell too quickly." "And all conventional weapons became useless."
"Even during the Honkai apocalypse, we could still resist at the start."
"But this world lost the ability to fight back from the beginning."
Without those powerful weapons, humanity lost its fangs.
Yes, they gained superpowers, but by then, they had already lost their advantage.
So what if you had powers?
The original weapons were the real assurance.
On top of that, the rate at which monsters evolved was just absurd.
They overpowered humanity in a flash?
If there's no conspiracy here, she wouldn't believe it even if she died.
Even in death, she'd shout, "I don't believe it!"
"Anyway, we need to fully understand this world's power system."
"Several worlds' systems have been merged into this one, and this world's system can even accommodate them."
"That's incredibly interesting."
"In this world, it feels like everything can be explained."
That last point was what intrigued Doctor Mei the most.
She was completely captivated by Takumi's world now.
Mobius nodded.
"Then I'll study the biological side of things."
"The superpower serum is fascinatingit has lots of room for improvement."
"And there are some amazing herbs here too."
"You go study the magic systems."
"As for Velia... she's already dismantling the robots."
"Have Kevin lie down on my operating table."
"I'll need his help soon."
Mobius beamed with excitement as she spoke.
Doctor Mei had no objections about Kevin being put on the table.
It wouldn't be the first time, after all.
Chapter 150: Stuff It InStuff It All In
The people Takumi brought back began to get busy.
As for the MOTH members, Takumi didn't give them any particular instructions. After asking Prometheus to help them get housing sorted, he just left them alone.
Whatever they wanted to do from then on didn't really matter.
Quite a few of them even said they wanted to become teachers.
If they were serious, Takumi would gladly welcome that.
In fact, it would be even better that way.
What Takumi lacked most right now were teachers.
And these people had solid combat experience. They were all battle-hardened members.
Having them serve as instructors would be ideal.
Everything started running smoothly.
The next day, Takumi woke up feeling refreshed.
After breakfast, he went straight to the lab to find Kayaba Akihiko.
Since being brought back, Kayaba had been immersed in learning about this world.
You can't do research until you're familiar with the basics, after all.
That's why Kayaba was still in study mode.
When he saw Takumi arrive, Kayaba's eyes lit up.
"You're finally going to build Aincrad?"
If Takumi came to him, it had to be about that.
"Exactly!" "That's what I'm here for."
Takumi then laid out his plan in detail.
The focus was on the magical beast systems. With his divine artifacts, he could create everything he needed.
Kayaba couldn't help but chime in:
"Could we design it so skills and magic are learned through dropped items?"
"That would feel much more immersive."
"Dropped gear, skill bookswe could implement all of that."
Once he got started, Kayaba just kept going.
Takumi thought for a moment, then nodded.
"That can be done." "Magic and the likeI can implement that." "As for gear, just throw in a bunch and let players get them from boss fights."
That was simple.
Skills, magicthose were easy for Takumi.
"If that's possible, that's amazing." "It adds so much gameplay variety."
"No problems on the monster side."
"For NPCs, we can just use robots to manage things."
Hearing Takumi agree, Kayaba got even more hyped.
He started spilling out all his ideas nonstop.
Takumi quietly took note of everything.
He began constructing the systems in his mind.
What tech was needed, what componentshe laid it all out.
As for design data, Takumi already had it in his head.
Aincrad was already perfectly mapped.
All that was left was to build the actual game systems.
Monster system, weapon systems, and more.
"Alright, I've got the rough outline." "I'll go get things started."
After wrapping up the discussion, Takumi vanished from sight and got to work.
Kayaba watched him disappear, heart racing with excitement.
His dream was about to become real.
...
Takumi flew to an altitude of 10,000 meters.
Then he began his work.
He first constructed a large structural frame.
Anti-gravity devices and other components followed.
Soon, a floating city over a hundred kilometers in radius appeared in the sky.
Takumi used the designs in his mind to continually refine the floating island.
He started loading in all the necessary elements.
One hundred floors in total.
Each one was crafted according to the game's layout.
Takumi even expanded the internal space.
He wanted it to feel like an entire world.
Just a hundred kilometers of surface area wasn't enough.
But with spatial manipulation powers, Takumi could easily remodel the interior.
Expanding the inner world wasn't even that troublesome.
Once the layout was done, Takumi entered the structure.
He began constructing the internal systems with his own powers.
The exterior was built, but the internal mechanics weren't ready yet.
Whether it was the monster generation systems or weapon systems, Takumi had to develop them from scratch.
Same for the skill books and other features.
But Takumi already had the concepts worked out.
It wasn't hard to implement.
In just one day, Takumi completed the entirety of Aincrad.
Once finished, he lowered it slightly.
The moment Aincrad took form, people below had already noticed.
As the massive floating castle descended slowly, it became even clearer.
Countless people stared, jaws dropping.
Kayaba was watching from the ground.
"Aincrad!!" "It's identical!!"
Kayaba was beyond thrilled.
This was the world of his dreams.
It was perfect.
"Excuse me, how can I apply to go up there?"
Snapping back to reality, Kayaba asked the AI nearby.
At this point, all AI systems had been replaced with Prometheus.
Though most answers were handled by a template AI module of Prometheus.
"No application notices have been received. Please wait patiently."
Prometheus replied with a blank expression.
Kayaba felt a tinge of disappointment.
"Please notify me once it's open!"
He didn't press the issue.
Since Takumi hadn't announced it yet, there had to be a reason.
It was just completed, after all.
You can't expect immediate access.
The sight of the floating castle excited everyone below.
People couldn't stop talking about it.
What was this place for?
Why did Takumi create it?
Questions filled the internet.
Just like Kayaba, many people began asking Prometheus whether the floating castle was open to the public.
