Chapter 17: "We bear the koan of Jericho"

"... Stop. No, keep going."

Using the half-wall of the corridor in the teaching building as cover, Shiroko peeked at the man on the playground through the bullet holes in the wall.

'An adult, like Sensei.'

Shiroko clenched the gun in her hand. In her pockets were ammunition that she could count.

Was the man in front of her an enemy? Or a helper?

No, she shouldn't expect help.

After Serika was kidnapped, Hoshino-senpai disappeared, and Ayane fell critically ill, she was the only one left in the entire Abydos High School to resist the attack of the Helmet Gang.

The Kaiser PMC soldiers who had once tried to persuade them to surrender came once every three days. The Helmet Gang, on the other hand, came every day to cause trouble. When the situation in Abydos became precarious and Hoshino was captured, the Kaiser PMC soldiers stopped coming, and the Helmet Gang launched an increasingly fierce offensive instead.

It looks like they had received support from Kaiser. The Helmet Gang which was originally just a small gang of hooligans, now drove a tank and used a rocket launcher to gradually weaken Abydos.

'This should be the time for the Helmet Gang to attack...'

Shiroko calculated the time in her mind. Every day at this time, the Helmet Gang would gather a large army to attack Abydos High School. Shiroko would snipe them once a day, but she was alone and could only do so much. She had only injured a few of them before being bombed several times by tanks and rocket launchers. The teaching building had been crumbling under the artillery fire for days.

The people from the Kaiser Corporation had already surrounded the entire block outside the school, meaning that even if Shiroko could request support, it would likely never arrive.

When Shiroko's ammunition ran out, Abydos High School would undoubtedly be overtaken by the hooligans of the Helmet Gang.

'Is the adult coming to Abydos now from Kaiser Corporation? Is he here to give... an ultimatum?'

Reaching out, Shiroko touched the blue scarf around her neck.

She had thought about rushing out of the school to find other survivors, but as the only one left to defend the school, and with Ayane's life support device requiring attention, she simply didn't have the time.

"It's really a shabby school... There's not even a usable network."

Kuroto Dan sighed. He had just scanned Abydos High School. The feedback data told him that this school was merely a branch of the Abydos complex. Beneath the endless sand dunes in the distance, there were still a large number of buildings and facilities buried by wind and sand.

The information given to him by Veritas was basically correct.

"What on earth are you... here for?"

Shiroko raised the muzzle of the gun slightly, following the crater in the wall caused by a shell, and aimed at Kuroto Dan's head. He was an adult without any visible halo, and a bullet could easily take his life.

"...If you're here to persuade us to surrender, forget it. The Kaiser Corporation... Abydos and Kaiser Corporation have been enemies for a long time."

I'm a little hungry.

Shiroko licked her dry lips. Nonomi had finished the snacks she bought, but before Nonomi was taken away by her family, she sent a lot of military rations and mineral water. Shiroko had barely survived until now with those hard biscuits. And now, even those compressed rations had to be eaten sparingly.

'I want to eat Shibaseki ramen... I want to eat Taiyaki... I want to drink sports drinks...'

Wow... she accidentally thought of the delicious food she had eaten in the past. Her stomach couldn't help but make a gurgling sound.

"You are Sunaookami Shiroko, a student of Abydos, right?"

Kuroto Dan looked in her direction. Suddenly, his body dispersed, turning into a mass of Bugster Virus, and drilled into the only network port in the school.

A wired transmission was all that was needed—along the network cable, he appeared in the classroom behind Shiroko and reformed his body.

"What——!"

Shiroko swung the gun around. Kuroto Dan had already pushed open the door of the classroom behind her. He leaned on the threshold and looked down at her. "I received a very lucrative commission contract. The job is to help repel the Helmet Gang and Kaiser PMC soldiers who are harassing Abydos, and to find two people..."

"One is Kuromi Serika, and the other is Takanashi Hoshino. Do you know these two people?"

It felt as though her throat was being constricted.

Shiroko couldn't make a sound.

When she heard the names of the two people she missed day and night, Shiroko felt something lodge in her throat. Straining her voice, she managed to squeeze out a sentence: "...I know them."

Fear.

Shiroko was afraid that this adult might be deceiving her again.

But she was also hopeful.

'The more you suffer, the more you pray for miracles.'

After hearing the details of the commission from Kuroto Dan, Shiroko instinctively knew who had issued it.

To be honest, neither Shiroko nor the others in Abydos had any complaints about Nonomi's departure. If Nonomi's depression and self-blame were revealed to everyone in Abydos, they would surely understand, right?

"That's good. I was worried I had found the wrong person."

Kuroto Dan smiled, an invincible and confident smile: "With me as your teammate, the end of this impossible game is already determined!"

"Then... thank you?"

Shiroko couldn't stop crying. She didn't want to cry, but the tears fell from the corners of her eyes, shattering on the ground like crystals.

"I just came here for the 10 million credit points. With that, the company's startup capital problem will be solved," Kuroto Dan sighed. "If this order didn't promise quick money, I wouldn't have come to Abydos."

As long as someone was willing to help her, that was enough.

Shiroko understood the content of the commission, which clearly stated it was to deal with Kaiser Corporation. Those who could take on the commission were either fools who didn't understand the power of Kaiser Corporation, or—ruthless people who could ignore Kaiser Corporation.

Shiroko sincerely hoped that the strange adult in front of her was one of the 'ruthless men' who could drive away all the suffering.

"Oh? It seems the commission is about to begin."

Kuroto Dan had a keen eye and noticed the smoke and dust outside the campus.

Those were the armored vehicles and tanks driven by the hardened Helmet Gang. No armed helicopters were visible, but it made sense. They already knew there was only one active student left in the entire school. If not for the fact that Shiroko had blocked all their attacks previously, Kaiser PMC would never have given all the tanks to a small gang like the Helmet Gang.

"Helmet Gang--!"

Shiroko stood up subconsciously and squeezed the ammunition in her pocket with her empty left hand. Without supplies, the ammunition in her hand was running out, and she had to rely on picking up the opponent's bullets. After figuring out her tactic of "the enemy makes it for us," the Helmet Gang didn't even give her the opportunity to collect ammunition.

Kuroto Dan looked at Shiroko and noticed her predicament. "Not much ammunition?"

Shiroko lowered her head. "Well... we have no supplies."

"In that case, leave it to me this time."

Kuroto Dan confidently wiped his hair, as if his hands were covered in hair gel, and smoothed it back, exuding the aura of an elite. That was his favorite hairstyle when he was the president.

Raising his hand, the Gamer Driver and the "Mighty Action X" Gashat appeared in his hand. Kuroto Dan buckled the driver around his waist with his backhand. The driver quickly extended from the belt, firmly securing itself on his waist.

Releasing his fingers, the purple Gashat fell with gravity and was inserted into the driver by Kuroto Dan's palm. Then he pulled the upgrade lever.

"Henshin!"

Gashat!

Level Up!

Mighty Jump! Mighty Kick!

Mighty Action X!

Pixel light covered his body, and the brilliance of genius flashed divine purple at that moment.

Kamen Rider Genm stood in the desert of Abydos!

He raised his thumb, from the right side of his chest to the left side.

"I'll clear this game, even if I use all my Continues!"

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