.hack//AI Buster - Volume 2 - Chapter 1.3

.: 3 :.

I ventured into the fiction section of the local bookstore, bought a book on Celtic mythology, and read it that same afternoon-thus the birth of my love affair with Celtic mythology. Later, I checked out whatever I could from the local library; the Legend of King Arthur had risen in rank as one of my favorice myths. I 'didn't just stop at Malory or Tennyson, I went all the way back to the Book of the Red and the Book of the White, checking out scanalations of the ancient gilded texts.

I eventually realized that the original Celtic folk tales were first translated into English, and then into Japanese. It was soothing to let the translated words flow into me, like listening to new age music during meditation. That's when I became interested in the person who translated my favorite books, which ult imately inspired me to become a translator as well.

I fervently studied to enter the foreign language university as an English major. Because Japanese translations of Celtic books were scarce, I wanted to learn English, so I could enjoy other Celtic books that only existed in English.

During this same rime, I discovered William Butler Years. He had helped rejuvenate Irish literature, won a Nobel Peace Prize, and was one of the best poets of the twentieth century. I decided to base my graduate dissertation on him.

Unfortunately, I graduated with only average grades. In those four years, I realized that I couldn't find a job translating Celtic mythology. Basically. I was just a bookworm who wasn't interested in research or extended study. I loved books and stories, but I couldn't find any jobs with publishers. So I decided to put my English degree to good use (hunger was a motivating factor) and went to work for a small company in an administrative office that dealt with English literature.

After three tedious years, which aU seemed to blur together when I try to think about them, I quit. I then worked temp jobs while I attended a weekly translation school. I tried writing novels, thinking that would be a good creative outlet, but never had the tenacity to finish anything. Suddenly, I was thirty years old and lacked anything remotely resembling stable career. My life had become a major disappointment.

Murmuring, Night, Alchemy

Even though it was a weekend, I should have tried working on my translation. Instead, I went to Captive, Fallen, Angel, to rejoin Albireo.

I arrived just in rime to witness Orca and Balmung defeat the supposedly invincible boss monster of The One Sin. But that's not why I shirked my workload. I wasn't interested in them or The One Sin. I came to see Albireo.

Why was I so obsessed with him? Perhaps I wanted to find out if he was really a system administrator. If the rumors were true and his spear had the ability to debug, then that meant Albireo really worked for CC Corp., which would also explain why he'd want to play solo (since employees probably weren't allowed to form parties with regular players).

But why was he playing the game at all? Was it a break from work? Was he debugging a new event? It was hard to determine anything about him at this early stage.

Then there was Lycoris.

Albireo was obsessed with playing through her event, which seemed less like the act of a system administrator, and more like a hardcore gamer.

Meanwhile, Lycoris was going through some bizarre changes as well. Initially she'd been blind, but now she  could see. Clearly, Albireo was making progress solving her event.

And then something completely unheard of happened.

Normally, the only way to move through the different areas of The World was through a Chaos Gate, which were warp points with a three-word address that described the area to which you were trying to gate. But they were the only ways to travel between areas. Or at least, so I thought.

One moment we were observing Orca and Balmung in The One Sin. and the next moment, we transported to Murmuring, Night, Alchemy without ever being near a Chaos Gate.

Technically, it should have been impossible, but it happened. The only two ways such a thing could occur was if there was a glitch in the system or a cheat. And I didn't think it was a glitch. Unfortunately, since I was pretending to be a novice, I couldn't ask Albireo about this phenomenon. Bur I had to wonder if Lycoris was somehow behind it ali, or if it was because Albireo was a system administrator and had special powers to move around The World at will?

Once we arrived, Albireo, Lycoris, and I played under the starry sky. It was a nice warm night, and we were all in a good mood. After a while, I could tell Albireo and Lycoris were speaking in Whisper Mode. Again, this was odd for a NPC, and I desperately wanted to know what they were talking about, but I couldn't hear a thing, and I knew it wouldn't do any good to ask.

I gazed up at the stars and thought about Albireo's colorful eyes.