Re: .hack//Bullet (English Fan Translation)

[Kazetrigger]

"Kaczynski" doesn't sound Russian at all. Can you transliterate?

It's actually Polish, but for some reason all sources that give his name seem to suggest that this is the English transliteration, though it's possible the Japanese messed it up.

I wanted to go with Kazinsky, which I believe is the proper Russian transliteration.

[eaglesiegle]

I don't know what the new update is. Is it a new chapter? If it is, it-s not showing it for me.

[Kazetrigger]

I don't know what the new update is. Is it a new chapter? If it is, it-s not showing it for me.

The update says "Errors corrected." I fixed translation errors and spelling mistakes.

[eaglesiegle]

I don't know what the new update is. Is it a new chapter? If it is, it-s not showing it for me.

The update says "Errors corrected." I fixed translation errors and spelling mistakes.

Ah, I see. I didn't notice that. Lol thanks for clearing that up for me

[Adhemas]

"NABの男"
So David will appear for sure it seems.

Thank you very much for your translations btw. I read every chapter as soon as you update it. I always considered the novels to be among the best parts of the .hack franchise.

[Kazetrigger]

"NABの男"
So David will appear for sure it seems.

Thank you very much for your translations btw. I read every chapter as soon as you update it. I always considered the novels to be among the best parts of the .hack franchise.

It seems he will, which is good. I like his character.

Thanks for the support. Chapter 10 is on its way.

[Kazetrigger]

10 Shadow

Late Sunday morning. The bedroom was completely silent.

Ryuuji looked at his Palm-PC, which was set on the bedside table.

Since returning from his “audience” with the “Empress” Veronica Bain last night, he'd left the power on. Ryuuji had returned to his room after eating breakfast and faced the monitor. He'd told Lilie to “go back to sleep.”

After he'd consented to Veronica's request, Ryuuji received a Flash Memory. Its contents were displayed on the monitor. It was a profile about Yuuri Seto, that is, Yuri Kazinsky Seto.

Yuuri Seto was born in Okinawa to a Japanese mother and a US military father.

Immediately after Seto was born, his family emigrated to the United States due to his father's transfer.

When Seto was six years old, his father died in a training accident.

He returned to Japan with his mother, and two years later she died.

He spent his high school years living with relatives of his mother.

He had tried his hand at hacking during his first year of middle school.

Later he went to Tokyo to attend the Department of Neurological Studies in the School of Medicine at Takeuma University*. He left school on the verge of completing his courses and going to graduate school. The reason is unknown.

At the age of 27 he caused the “Deadly Flash” incident.

Three photos of Yuuri Seto were attached to the report.

In the first photo, he is about to be placed in a car after being arrested at Washington Dulles Airport. He has delicate-looking features, dark brown hair, and black pupils. His face is raised while his arm is being twisted behind his back.

The second photo is from when he went to prison, the mugshots you get from the front and side.

The third photo is from just before he was released from prison. Unlike the previous two photos, he had a look as though he'd come to a profound realization, as, by this time, eighteen years had gone by.

What made this man decide to send out a murderous virus. What made him indiscriminately kill seven people? It was reported that his only motive was that he “seemed to want to show off the power of a hacker.”

CC Corp. San Diego got in contact with Seto about half a month after his return to society. He was hired and presented with exceptional rewards. He was placed in the “Security Adviser” post that had been prepared for him.

Then, he worked doggedly for nine months, hardly uttering a word. After ten months, he stole highly classified data and fled the country. His whereabouts were completely unknown, and the photos serve as a stark lesson as to why one should not leave security to one person like him.

The more he read it, the more Ryuuji became depressed.

If you follow the dogma “criminals repeat the same trick,” it was only a matter of time before he was trying to spread another virus through the network again.

The VR-Scanner that Seto stole contained highly-classified data. If it were the case that the VR-Scanner was a reflection of Seto's mind, and this were to exist in cyberspace, there's no telling what could happen.

What if Yuuri Seto, for example, woke up to “the ability to produce a new type of computer virus”?

Like an orphaned girl who produced a partner in the motif of a pet dog that died. Like the girl, whose only communication was through fighting games, learns martial arts to not lose to anyone in “The World.” Like the youth who—psychologically dependant on guns—becomes a specialist in operating small arms.

Things like that would have to be checked.

Ryuuji entered the home phone number of Mr. Yodogawa into his portable terminal.

Soon, Mr. Yodogawa's widow answered. There was a dark tone to her voice. It was to be expected. Not even ten days had passed since Kiyoteru Yodogawa died.

Claiming to be a person who had assisted the deceased, he apologized for not being able to attend the funeral, and told her that he wanted to pay tribute by offering incense to the spirit of the deceased. The answer came that she did not mind if he were to come anytime this afternoon. She said to come around one o'clock, and Ryuuji hung up the phone.

He'd be able to make it in time if he left right now.

In the living room Lilie was sitting on the couch and reading a fashion magazine for teens.

“Ah, Ryuuji...,” said Lilie as Ryuuji came out of the bedroom looking somber in a suit.

“Are you going out?” she asked.

“For a little. I'm going out to eat lunch,” replied Ryuuji anxiously.

He then asked a question in return.

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing. Are you going to the office?”

“Ah, I may.”

“Well, bring the laundry, and have a good day,” said Lilie as she looked down at the magazine.

Upon exiting the apartment, Ryuuji started getting into his car.

As he drove along the boulevard, a small black eco-car came up behind him. It looked like a normal car you could see anywhere. Behind the wheel was a young man with sunglasses.

Along the way, Ryuuji bought pastries from a Japanese confectionery. When he got back to the road, he could still see the same black eco-car reflected in the rear-view mirror.

Ryuuji decided to make a right turn and continue driving for another five minutes. Turning to the right and proceeding a little further, Ryuuji made another right turn and proceeded back to the original road. The eco-car continued to say with him. Ryuuji pulled into the other lane and applied his brake to come up beside the black car, but as he did so, the eco-car passed him and sped off unexpectedly. Ryuuji was not able to see the driver through the reflective side-windows. The car got away.

It was tailing me, though Ryuuji. But for who and why? Righht on the heels of yesterday, it may have something to do with the meeting with Veronica Bain. No. Her coming to Japan wasn't supposed to have been made public yet.

While he continued to think, Ryuuji arrived at the Yodogawa household.

It was a respectable Japanese-style house suited to the name of Yodogawa.

Mr. Yodogawa's widow was a slender woman of nearly the same age as her deceased husband, with elegant and beautiful features, yet she looked older than the impression given by her voice over the phone.

Ryuuji passed her the pastries, then went into the Buddhist altar room and, after raising the incense to the simple white plain-wood mortuary tablet, sat face to face with Mrs. Yodogawa.

“You weren't Mr. Yodogawa's assistant, were you?” said Mrs. Yodogawa quietly after a few moments.

“That man was only ever interested in profits and protecting his own interests,” she continued blandly.

She had a thirsty facial expression.

“It was not like him at all to help other people...,” she added.

“Ahh, actually...,” said Ryuuji, sitting up straight.

“I run a Network Trouble Consultant business. It's like a detective agency. I accepted a consultation about work from your husband. I met with him last Sunday,” he said.

“I see,” she said.

“I heard about that from the police. It was you that reported it, wasn't it?”

Ryuuji nodded. Then, after a short pause, he spoke.

“That's right, it's true that I was your husband's assistant. I also worked for CC Corp. before, and during that time he kept an eye out for me. I wanted to return the favour, even if it was something small. It's very unfortunate.”

Mrs. Yodogawa's expression changed slightly.

Suddenly she began to sob. She looked away, and dried her eyes with a handkerchief.

“I'm sorry. I thought I'd be able to keep my composure...”

Ryuuji began to talk in an attempt to ease her mind.

“I'd like to have the portable terminal that your husband used, if that's alright with you.”

“Terminal? My husband's?” said Mrs. Yodogawa with a puzzled tone.

“Your husband had asked me to investigate certain confidential events. I cannot give details, but there's no telling what he might have left on the portable terminal.”

“What do you mean?”

“There's a possibility he was infected by a certain kind of computer virus,” said Ryuuji.


When Ryuuji left the Yodogawa residence, there in his hand was the the portable terminal committed to him by Mr. Yodogawa's widow.

Ryuuji recalled the events with Mr. Yodogawa at the “Seadragon.”

When Mr. Yodogawa tried to confide in Ryuuji everything he had hidden up to that point, he received a call on his portable terminal. He had to interrupt their conversation, and he left his seat to take the call. It was after that that things went wrong.

“Deadly Flash” causes problems to the functionality of the target's hypothalamus, driving someone mad.

Something had also driven Mr. Yodogawa mad at that time.

Or Ryuuji could just have been imagining things. Mr. Yodogawa jumped to his death after he received a phone call, but it might have just been a coincidence. He thought about it and if that were the case, there was no evidence that it had been merely a coincidence.

Since he had been driving while lost in thought, Ryuuji hadn't noticed the familiar black eco-car that appeared behind him like a shadow.

Oh my oh my oh my, thought Ryuuji as he looked in the rearview mirror. This guy seemed to be an amateur. He randomly came closer to the target so Ryuuji could sense the shadowing manoeuvre. Ryuuji didn't think the man even suspected that Ryuuji sensed his presence.

Ryuuji turned the steering wheel and deviated from the road that leads to his office, and instead drove to the city park.

He left his car in the parking lot facing an alley, then picked up an old magazine he had thrown on the back seat, and strolled inside the park. He found a bench under the shade of a tree, sat on the side facing away from the parking lot, and began to read the magazine.

After a short time, Ryuuji peeked at the parking lot reflected in the mobile terminal screen and saw the black eco-car parked there.

After another ten minutes he got up from pretending to read the magazine. Discarding the magazine in a trash bin, Ryuuji went to the public toilet. There was a small window across from the entrance. Ryuuji slipped over to the side and leaned over to open the window. He went through and came out in a parking lot by a large bypass and hid in some nearby bushes. He was easily able to sneak around and come out behind the eco-car. He moved in a crouching position so as not to be seen in the side-view mirror, and knocked lightly on the driver's side window.

After a while, he heard the sound of the window opening above his head.

Ryuuji thrust his arm into the lowered window, stood up, and released the lock from the inside.

The young man who was sitting in the front seat gasped in surprise, and Ryuuji pushed hard with his arms to hold the young man still. He reached out and pulled the key from the ignition and dropped them at the man's feet. He then removed a candy from his breast pocket and held it out in front of the man.

“Do you like candy?”

The man's sunglasses almost fell off of his face. He stood rigid with his eyes wide open. He was too surprised to answer.

Ryuuji put the candy in his mouth and threw away the wrapper It was a lemon-flavoured one.

He sifted through the contents of the dashboard, and papers fell out. They were copies of car-rental documents. An address and name were written on the papers.

Ryuuji smiled as he thrust a stick of candy at the man's nose.

“Want a piece? Didn't they teach you not to carry around this stuff when shadowing someone?”

The man looked around restlessly and allowed himself to swallow his saliva. It seemed he could not cope with this overwhelming situation. Amazed at the situation, Ryuuji dropped the documents on the man's chest. Even though he must have been hired, he must not have been informed of how to handle this kind of situation.

“I'll save you the trouble. Now I'm going to go to my favourite supermarket. I'll be buying more candy. I like the taste of coffee, and at first glance this one looks like it is coffee-flavoured, but for some reason it tastes more like aloe. The taste of aloe is not that great, but I had a bad craving so I bought what I thought was coffee as I inadvertently mistook the taste. I used to like aloe to begin with... you've heard of it right? You got anything important to say now?” said Ryuuji.

As he spoke, he clapped his hand on the man's shoulder, the man's body quivering.

“See you. Do better next time,” said Ryuuji.

The man closed the door, picked up the key, turned the engine, and in a panic, made a sudden departure.

Ryuuji went back to his car after seeing the eco-car drive off into the distance in a cloud of dust. He was delayed by many unnecessary things.

He had a late lunch at a noodle place, then arrived at the office a little after three o'clock.

As Ryuuji walked from the parking lot towards his office, he stopped dead in his tracks.

In front of the door stood a tall man wearing a light hooded sweater.

The sunlight created an ominous silhouette out of the man. Ryuuji's body tensed up. Then it immediately relaxed.

“Good. I thought I'd missed you,” said the man—no, said this boy in a carefree voice as he waved his hand at Ryuuji.

It was Tokio Kuryuu.

*There are several other ways to interpret the name, but no matter which way I interpret it, it doesn't seem to be a real university.

[VirusCoreS]

After ten months, he stole highly classified data and fled the country.

Imagine Fluegel said: "One does not simply leave security to one person like him."

Like an orphaned girl who produced a partner in the motif of a pet dog that died. Like the girl, whose only communication was through fighting games, learns martial arts to not lose to anyone in “The World.” Like the youth who—psychologically dependant on guns—becomes a specialist in operating small arms.

We do know them, right?
And I hope the later two persons mentioned above will make appearance as well.

Wow, just wow how Ryuuji handled the situation. Not much people offer candy and said "do better next time" at someone who shadowed them.

[Kazetrigger]

After ten months, he stole highly classified data and fled the country.

Imagine Fluegel said: "One does not simply leave security to one person like him."

Like an orphaned girl who produced a partner in the motif of a pet dog that died. Like the girl, whose only communication was through fighting games, learns martial arts to not lose to anyone in “The World.” Like the youth who—psychologically dependant on guns—becomes a specialist in operating small arms.

We do know them, right?
And I hope the later two persons mentioned above will make appearance as well.

Wow, just wow how Ryuuji handled the situation. Not much people offer candy and said "do better next time" at someone who shadowed them.

Haha. That's how I translated it, but there are a few other ways I could have phrased it. "You don't simply leave security to someone like him" could also have worked.

I'm not sure we know who these people are. The orphaned girl may be Lilie, but I have no idea who the other ones he's thinking of are.

[VirusCoreS]

I'm not sure we know who these people are. The orphaned girl may be Lilie, but I have no idea who the other ones he's thinking of are.

They sounds like Klarinette and Orgel a lot. Remember how Klarinette met Tokio for the first time in manga?

[Enigma]

I'm not sure we know who these people are. The orphaned girl may be Lilie, but I have no idea who the other ones he's thinking of are.

Like an orphaned girl who produced a partner in the motif of a pet dog that died.

I want to say Tsukasa.

[VirusCoreS]

I'm not sure we know who these people are. The orphaned girl may be Lilie, but I have no idea who the other ones he's thinking of are.

Like an orphaned girl who produced a partner in the motif of a pet dog that died.

I want to say Tsukasa.

I think Tsukasa will be more cat than dog (there's episode where she feed stray weak kitty with milk before her father threw it away). And as far as I know, Tsukasa doesn't have pet.

[Kazetrigger]

I'm not sure we know who these people are. The orphaned girl may be Lilie, but I have no idea who the other ones he's thinking of are.

They sounds like Klarinette and Orgel a lot. Remember how Klarinette met Tokio for the first time in manga?

You're probably right. Given that Flugel is probably remembering how he met his teammates, and each person fits a member of Schicksal, the people are probalby Lilie, Nene (Klarinette's player) and Ninomiya Takeshi (Orgel's player).

[Enigma]

I think Tsukasa will be more cat than dog (there's episode where she feed stray weak kitty with milk before her father threw it away). And as far as I know, Tsukasa doesn't have pet.

Now that I had a look, it may actually be Lilie. On "Cello"'s wikia page, it says she has a "strange stuffed animal". Maybe thats the partner she created?

Sorry, I don't have a lot of knowledge on the newer .Hack material yet. I was more absorbed in the first two incarnations because they were movies/games. I don't get that way by reading stuff.

[VirusCoreS]

You're probably right. Given that Flugel is probably remembering how he met his teammates, and each person fits a member of Schicksal, the people are probalby Lilie, Nene (Klarinette's player) and Ninomiya Takeshi (Orgel's player).

exactly! It would be awesome if the rest of Schicksal reappeared (especially my dear lovely Klarinette ♥3♥)

Now that I had a look, it may actually be Lilie. On "Cello"'s wikia page, it says she has a "strange stuffed animal". Maybe thats the partner she created?

The same thing that turned into colossal size and swallowed enemies during cross rengeki. But I didn't know if it's has rather advanced communicative AI, or just standard one like the type you can find on simple pet robot in 'this era'.

[(Phantom) Thief]

10 Shadow
After another ten minutes he got up from pretending to read the magazine. Discarding the magazine in a trash bin, Ryuuji went to the public toilet. There was a small window across from the entrance. Ryuuji slipped over to the side and leaned over to open the window. He went through and came out in a parking lot by a large bypass and hid in some nearby bushes. He was easily able to sneak around and come out behind the eco-car. He moved in a crouching position so as not to be seen in the side-view mirror, and knocked lightly on the driver's side window.

After a while, he heard the sound of the window opening above his head.

Ryuuji thrust his arm into the lowered window, stood up, and released the lock from the inside.

The young man who was sitting in the front seat gasped in surprise, and Ryuuji pushed hard with his arms to hold the young man still. He reached out and pulled the key from the ignition and dropped them at the man's feet. He then removed a candy from his breast pocket and held it out in front of the man.

“Do you like candy?”

The man's sunglasses almost fell off of his face. He stood rigid with his eyes wide open. He was too surprised to answer.

I know someone had fun translating that. In fact here, the title of his next book, Ryuuji Sogabe: How to surprise a shadow ... like a boss. Anyway one chapter to go. Keep up the good work.

[Kazetrigger]

10 Shadow
After another ten minutes he got up from pretending to read the magazine. Discarding the magazine in a trash bin, Ryuuji went to the public toilet. There was a small window across from the entrance. Ryuuji slipped over to the side and leaned over to open the window. He went through and came out in a parking lot by a large bypass and hid in some nearby bushes. He was easily able to sneak around and come out behind the eco-car. He moved in a crouching position so as not to be seen in the side-view mirror, and knocked lightly on the driver's side window.

After a while, he heard the sound of the window opening above his head.

Ryuuji thrust his arm into the lowered window, stood up, and released the lock from the inside.

The young man who was sitting in the front seat gasped in surprise, and Ryuuji pushed hard with his arms to hold the young man still. He reached out and pulled the key from the ignition and dropped them at the man's feet. He then removed a candy from his breast pocket and held it out in front of the man.

“Do you like candy?”

The man's sunglasses almost fell off of his face. He stood rigid with his eyes wide open. He was too surprised to answer.

I know someone had fun translating that. In fact here, the title of his next book, Ryuuji Sogabe: How to surprise a shadow ... like a boss. Anyway one chapter to go. Keep up the good work.

That part was pretty nice to translate. As I figured out what was going on, it was funny to imagine how badass Ryuuji seemed to this guy.

[Kazetrigger]

11 Tokio Kuryuu

“I went to your apartment, but Lilie told me you weren't home. I tried calling you, Mr. Sogabe, but there was no answer,” said Tokio.

“I was meeting with someone. I had the power off.”

“I'm sorry to bother you all of a sudden.”

“That's okay. Hey, you've gotten pretty tall since the last time I saw you. How tall are you now?”

“About 178 centimetres, or 179.”

“Hey. You're almost at 180. You're starting to overtake me. Would you like some instant coffee?”

“Oh, please don't trouble yourself.”

Ryuuji took two cups from the sink, poured in some coffee powder, then poured in the hot water.

Tokio sat down on the sofa in the reception area and curiously looked around the cluttered office.

Tokio Kuryuu was a seventeen year-old second-year high school student who met Ryuuji during the Immortal Dusk Incident three years prior. At that time he was still an immature junior high schooler.

His ambiance was very unusual in this meeting. You could say he had changed. It was not simply due to his change in height, but he seemed to be a grown-up with a change in attitude and poise that had been there before. However, his friendly was something that still remained and would likely never change.

“I was in the area for work. So I thought I'd drop by and quickly visit you, Mr. Sogabe,” said Tokio.

When he became a senior high school student, he began doing editorial work for a certain game magazine publisher.* A magazine editor was scouting the area and just happened to be present when the invincible Tokio was victorious at a fighting-game tournament sponsored by the local game-shop.

At first he worked as a strategy writer, and soon became involved in editing work that values social skills... or so Ryuuji heard from Lilie. This publisher was located only two stations from Ryuuji's office.

“So? What can I do for you today?”

Ryuuji sat across from Tokio and placed his cup of coffee on the table.

“Ah, there's something I want to discuss,” said Tokio.

“...Recently I've been having a dream. A dream about AIKA,” he added.

Ryuuji stopped as he was about to put the coffee cup to his lips.

“AIKA looks the way she always did. But, she has a very sad face. She tells me that “The World” is in danger and she wants me to protect it,” said Tokio as he stared at his cup.

AIKA is the name of a girl that put a stop to the Goddess Aura's rampage during the Immortal Dusk Incident of 2020. An inhabitant of the digital world that had evolved from Artificially Intelligent Data Anomalies (AIDA). By restoring the memory of the brainwashed Aura, AIKA had a decisive role in solving the case. However, doing so caused the destruction of her own data, as immediately after she was swallowed up by a huge torrent of electrons and vanished.

“Do you think she may still be in 'The World'? Something is happening in the unknown places. The events of three years ago are still going on, AIKA brought it to my attention, or something like that...,” he added.

Tokio looked at Ryuuji.

“Mr. Sogabe, you work on issues related to the Net, right? I think you know something about what's happening in 'The World.'”

“No, I have no idea,” answered Ryuuji.

“I see...” said Tokio as he cast his eyes down in frustration.

“I think it's only right that you dream about AIKA. You both shared a special connection...,” said Ryuuji, choosing his words carefully.

“...To that extent, we experienced an event that left a strong impression. I've been having vivid dreams for years now. However, just because you can objectively analyze the content of dreams, that doesn't mean that there has to be some sort of meaning or reason behind them. Sometimes dreams are just that, dreams,” said Ryuuji.

As he spoke, Ryuuji was seized by an odd sensation. While explaining in front of Tokio, Ryuuji got the momentary feeling as though he was persuading himself.

“Well, there's no need to be concerned,” Ryuuji said.

“But, I also have dreams about Saika. And dreams about AIKA. I started having these dreams very recently,” said Tokio.

“Ah. That's... perhaps... due to your feelings for her? Is it nice having the same dream? Hehehe.”

“No, that's not it,” said Tokio hastily. His face turned red.

“Look. Last year, wasn't there a strange rumour going around in 'The World'? Around Christmas.”

Ryuuji also knew about it.

About half a year ago, certain rumours flowed around 'The World.' It is said that, on Christmas Day, during the first siege of 'The World,' participants were held captive and unable to logout from the game when it was released.

The matter had not been confirmed save for by those involved. It was a story that put to rest the so called occult story of “The World”, but Tokio, who had experienced the Immortal Dusk Incident, knew better than anyone that it was just as likely to be a mere occult story.

“I don't like it...,” said Tokio.

“It's strange how 'The World' was protected by AIKA, and I don't like it,” he added.

Ryuuji sipped his coffee.

“The dreams I saw of Saika and me, they weren't just dreams. So, AIKA must be safe and sound out there somewhere. If you want to help me...” he said quietly.

“I want to save AIKA. No matter what.”



He raised his head and looked at Ryuuji. These were not the eyes of a boy. They were the eyes of a man.

“Ah, I see,” said Ryuuji after a brief pause.

“Right now my hands are a little tied. I can't promise you that I can actively investigate the matter, but I can put out an antenna. I'll let you know if I find anything. Is that okay?”

“Thank you, Mr. Sogabe,” Tokio said softly.

Ryuuji lightly shook hands with Tokio, then, changing the tone of his voice, spoke.

“I remembered the most important thing.”

He went to his office desk and took the case envelope that had been pushed into the corner. It was the lonely telephone cards that Lilie had refused. He opened the envelope and the reliable police mascot looked up at Ryuuji. Ryuuji closed the envelope.

“I have a present for you. Here,” said Ryuuji as he returned to the sofa.

“What? For me?”

Tokio opened the envelope and looked inside. He sat quietly for a moment.

“Ummm, what are these?” said Tokio.

“Telephone cards.”

“You don't say. Hmm, I remember seeing one once back in elementary school.”

He continued to murmur to himself as he looked at the cards. Then he looked up. He had a big grin on his face that caught Ryuuji off guard.

“Is it okay?” asked Tokio.

“It is alright for me to have this cool stuff?” he added.

“Well, of course,” said Ryuuji.

“Thank you so much! I really like this character design. I just want to poke and prod its cool, cute and superb lines. I can tell you have sharp modern tastes,” said Tokio.

“I'm glad you like it,” said Ryuuji.

“Oh right, right now I'm supposed to be going on a day trip to Hokane Onsen,” said Tokio in a carefree manner as he carefully folded the envelope.

“I'll buy some candy for you. Is there anything you liked that you got Lilie? I'm surprised about what you got, so I'll make sure she doesn't come back with a pin or something,” added Tokio.

“Don't worry about it. ...You know, I'm happy to get something practical like a keychain or figurine. Just not health foods. A pot or a stamp seal or something. Or that thing that spreads your toes.”

“You'd want things like that? Really?”

Tokio took out a notebook and pencil and began to take notes.

“Or maybe a device that massages the back of my neck. That sort of stuff is good.”

“Back of the neck, massage, device.”

“Right, right,” said Ryuuji.

“I'm thinking of various things to try for when you have a hangover,” he added.

“That's what you want it for?! I think I'm losing my hearing.”

“You didn't hear me right. I don't think I'll be able to do research on Saika without it.”

“Ah, that's right too. If I hear of it... I'll buy it,” said Tokio, making a face.

“It's the law,” said Ryuuji as he leaned forward.

“Now, you're assuming that Saika will be nearby while travelling?” Ryuuji quipped.

“Well, it's... that is...” said Tokio.

“That's really very interesting. Yes, very interesting, isn't it? It's plenty interesting.”

“Plenty?”

Afterwards, Tokio returned home from the chat after thirty minutes. He said he was going to the station, it was a place to visit besides a place related to work.

Ryuuji leaned against the office door and saw Tokio Kuryuu off.

Tokio was a normal young man like any other, but in reality he was the owner of a special physical existence called a “Doubleware.” Fully adapted to the digital world, he had the ability to access it while still in the flesh. A valuable human resource that can practice the theory of Real Digitization. However, Jyotaro Amagi retired his AI copy Geist from his field of research and disappeared, then the technology that sent Tokio directly into the digital world was lost forever.

However, his true value did not lie in a place like that, thought Ryuuji. There is a place that reassures him there is somewhere for him. Saika Amagi was fraught with feelings of insecurity on the one hand and feelings of superiority on the other, was taken advantage of by Geist there, and caused the Immortal Dusk Incident as a result. Yet, this would not be a problem as long as she stayed around Tokio Kuryuu.

Ryuuji felt Kiyoteru Yodogawa's mobile terminal from his top jacket pocket.

There was a problem, or rather, it was to come.

*Though the magazine is not named, the use of the word “certain” in the original Japanese may mean that the magazine it refers to may be Comptiq or Famitsu, both of which have featured .hack manga and games throughout the years. In CC Corp.'s meta-universe, it may be that these magazines feature stuff on “The World.”

[VirusCoreS]

TO BE CONTINUED

That...!! That cliffhanger!! O.o
*I nearly drop from my chair ^^;

Oh yeah, kaze, aren't the magazine Tokio works for name Byte or something?

[Kazetrigger]

TO BE CONTINUED

That...!! That cliffhanger!! O.o
*I nearly drop from my chair ^^;

Oh yeah, kaze, aren't the magazine Tokio works for name Byte or something?

I don't think it is. "Baito" can be translated as Byte, but when I used it like that, it didn't make as much sense with the verb. Baito is also a short form of "arubaito" which means work or job, and that made a lot more sense, so I don't think the magazine is actually called Byte, even though it looks like that upon first reading.

In the first time he uses the word, it is not clear whether it is "Byte" or "work," but in the second instance, "baito" is used with the word editing or editorial, which would be strange to use with the name of a company. "editing of Byte", while possible, sounds odd given that it is not made clear that the magazine actually is called Byte. No where does it say that he works for a magazine called "Byte". It does say a "certain game magazine" though. The name of it ought to have come here if it were important enough.

While both are possible, it is extremely vague, so unless it is made clear later, I'm going to stick with "work."