Memoirs of the Returnee

Magic Space Experience (1)

At the same time, in the control room set up inside the magic space.

“…Senior No. 3,385 has been eliminated by Senior No. 1,953.”

“Senior No. 1,089 has given up.”

“Senior No. 333 has been eliminated by No. 958.”

Dozens of staff from the Magic Tower’s Department of Magic Science were busy monitoring the seniors.

“Alright. Those in charge of VIPs, just check the VIP status, and the rest of you, do your jobs well.”

Of course, most risks can be managed by the magic artificial intelligence algorithm of the smartwatch. If the wearer is likely to suffer a serious injury—such as dismemberment or disability—the AI would make a judgment and force a transfer before anything happens.

However, magic artificial intelligence is not as accurate as human eyes.

To be honest, it can’t differentiate the ‘class’ of humans.

Monitoring through cameras placed throughout the hotel is meant to compensate for this.

“Keep a close eye on the events on the 4th floor as well.”

Shelton clapped his hands to encourage them.

This Holents Hotel is an artificial magic space that the Magic Tower manifested from some facility 15 years ago. It’s also a large-scale Magic Spell barrier installed with a top-grade mana nucleus, having acquired a small uninhabited island on the continent.

As such, all the events happening in the hotel are independent. They are incidents caused by the ‘intelligence’ inside the mana nucleus.

“Money calls money, everyone. Do you know how much money has been invested here? If this succeeds, we can open a new horizon for artificial intelligence. Let’s all have a sense of ownership. What’s the progress?”

Shelton asked the middle manager.

“Elapsed time is 7 hours, 10 minutes, and 5 seconds. Out of a total of 4,803 people, 1,308 have already been eliminated or given up.”

The total number of participants is 4,803. Nearly 30% of the seniors from all over Edsilla couldn’t even last half a day.

There were physical crises, defeats in battles, but the biggest reason was probably due to the phantoms.

“Oh dear. So many have already been eliminated?”

The phantoms of this artificial magic space are real. They’re not fake. They are entities directly drawn from the mana nucleus where spirits are condensed.

That’s why phantoms emit ghostly energy. A vibe that the living instinctively fear. If exposed for a long time, one would suffer from countless mental disorders such as nightmares, hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, schizophrenia, etc.

“They’re too weak. Are these the guys who are going to the Magic University? They can’t even endure this?”

Shelton scoffed.

If you work in this field, you’ll encounter not only monsters but also phantoms and even ghosts. If you think about it, all of them are money, so there’s no need to be scared.

“Just now, Senior No. 3,333 went into the casino and exchanged for chips.”

“No. 3,333… Ah, that Shion Ascal? The one who smashed the vending machine?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. He’ll be out soon.”

Shion Ascal. The guy who smashed a vending machine that would have easily fetched 1.2 million Ren on the Monday College Board.

“But, well, 1.2 million Ren is chump change compared to this experiment.

“It’s a shame. He was a variable, after all.”

Even Shelton had taken notice when the guy smashed the vending machine.

This project itself is a prototype for Magic Tower’s massive project, ‘Commercialization of Artificial Magic Space and Artificial Intelligence,’ so we need to scrape together any variable we can get.

If he smashes it, it’s actually a thank you, but sadly, the casino is a dead end.

As soon as you touch the chip, or the belongings of the dead, you start seeing phantoms. This hotel is full of phantoms, and therefore, you are forcibly exposed to their residual energy…

“…What?”

Shelton’s eyes widened.

“He doesn’t seem to be scared, does he? Check it out.”

“Hold on.”

The middle manager zoomed in and analyzed the expression of Shion Ascal, who was sitting at the gambling table.

“Yes. It seems so. According to the facial analysis, his happiness is 99.983535…”

[22 : 50 : 05]

I’ve been pretty serious about gambling for a long time. Seven poker, hold’em, blackjack, slot machines, roulette, etc… I didn’t discriminate.

Of course, it was an excuse that ‘I needed money,’ but in fact, I liked the dopamine rush when I won at gambling.

There’s not much joy for a terminally ill patient. The bullshit about spending the rest of your life meaningfully is always spouted by those with a lot of life left.

Does gambling have no meaning?

Anyway.

I relived that day’s experience and took all the phantoms’ chips. I won with good hands, and I won with bad hands.

I didn’t even use the SZX-9500. After all, it’s impossible to see through objects that aren’t magical.

ONLY psychological warfare.

“Well then. I’ll be going~”

I quietly stood up when a good amount of chips had piled up on my table. The phantoms who had their money taken stared at me with lifeless faces.

“Instead, I’ll only take half of the other money.”

I left half of the piled-up chips on the table. The phantoms’ expressions seemed to soften a bit.

“Take care.”

I returned to the counter.

“Please exchange these.”

I held out 40 chips worth 100 coins each to the counter. I had taken 200, but I gave half away, and I planned to keep the remaining 60 without exchanging them.

I felt like I could find a use for these chips.

—Yes. Please tag your smartwatch to the reader.

As I brought my watch to the reader, the counter took the chips.

Ding-

My watch vibrated.

[Acquired: 4,000 Mana Coins]

I was about to leave the casino satisfied.

“Hey, stop right there.”

But then, guys wearing gas masks popped out from behind the pillars. Two of them were familiar faces, and the other one was a face I didn’t know.

“Oh, what’s this… It’s Shion, isn’t it?

One of the familiar faces—Asher looked into my eyes through his gas mask and smirked.

“You’re quick to catch on, wearing a gas mask.”

I just wore it because it was cold.

“Do you guys know him?”

The unfamiliar face asked Asher.

“Ah~ Let me introduce you. This is Shion, a famous loser.”

Asher pointed at me, chuckling under his breath.

“Hey Shion, this is ‘Mel’. You know him, right? A five-star prospect.”

A man with sky-blue hair sprouting like wheat stalks over his gas mask.

If his name is Mel, then I know him. He’s the eldest son of the Elstrom family, whose father is a Senator. Normally, being the son of a Senator means you’re born with a silver spoon in your mouth, and indeed, ‘Elstrom Brothers (EB)’, run by the brothers of their family, is one of the top five film companies in Edsilla.

“So tell me honestly. You made money at the casino, didn’t you?”

Asher asked. I nodded.

“I did make some.”

“Oh~ Honest. I saw you winning it all.”

Asher teased. Mel took a step closer from his side. He looked down at me and said,

“It’s not what you think. Didn’t you know? There were a lot of hyenas eyeing you while you were gambling.”

Mel pulled something out of his pocket. It was fragments of a shattered smartwatch.

“We’re saying we protected you. Until you finished your gambling safely.”

“Ah~ Is that so? So?”

“Give us half as protection money.”

“……Hmm.”

I pretended to consider, then slipped a casino chip onto my finger.

“Should I give it in chips? I have a lot that I haven’t cashed in yet.”

At that, Asher and Mel stepped back in surprise.

“Fuck, this fucker! Who do you take us for, idiots?!”

Suddenly, Kain exploded and knocked my arm away. The chip rolled away.

“You know that touching that makes the phantom visible, right? This fucker wants to die-”

I took a step back to avoid the guy trying to grab my collar. Kain, as if he had suddenly gone mad, pulled up his Magic Body.

“Fuck, you’re avoiding—?! No, we’re not asking for all of it, just half, you fucking bastard, hurry up——!”

“Hey, hey. Calm down. Press it down.”

Asher had to stop him, Kain was so desperate.

After all, that guy is afraid of phantoms beyond imagination, despite his bulky size. He can’t even watch horror movies.

“Ugh. Idiots.”

“What?”

Mel took off his gas mask as I muttered as if it was pathetic. He pushed my shoulder, glaring at me with sharp eyes.

“Hey. What did you just say?”

“What’s the number?”

“What did you just say? What’s the number?”

“I want to send you the money.”

I showed them my smartwatch. Mel exchanged glances with Asher and Kain, then nodded immediately.

“Send it to 1,058.”

I transferred 2,000 coins to 1,058.

“I sent it. Check it.”

“……2,000 coins. It’s in.”

Mel and Asher looked at each other and smiled.

“Then get the fuck out! It’s almost curfew!”

Kain dragged them away. I watched the backs of the guys running somewhere and chuckled softly.

Of course, I have no intention of letting them go.

Let’s see what happens next.

“Ah. Excuse me.”

I grabbed a male phantom nearby. Half of his face was blown off. Maybe he died from a shell in his previous life. He looked horrifying enough.

“Could you, um, follow those three guys running away?”

—…….

The phantom said nothing. He seemed to be at a loss for words.

Knowing this would happen, I kept some chips without cashing them in.

“Instead. Here.”

I flicked a chip. The phantom caught it with one hand and then walked somewhere. It was the direction where Kain and Asher had run away.

“As expected.”

These phantoms have at least a minimal cognitive ability.

It means they’re not simply ‘made’.

“Now I understand.”

Thanks to this, I’ve roughly figured out the inside story. What this vast magic space was originally, and how it was created.

I walked through the first-floor lobby. There were no people around because it was time to refrain from going out.

Of course, there were plenty of phantoms.

I greeted them with my eyes as I reached the exit of the lobby. A gate leading to the complete outside. I opened it.

The cold wind rushed in first.

“……Huh.”

The cold is unbearable. I wonder if they made it this way on purpose to prevent people from going outside the hotel.

It’s very cold, but bearable.

In the chilling cold that felt like my flesh was being torn off, I turned on the SZX-9500.

At that moment, a vast web of magic covering the sky was revealed. It was a giant Magic Spell that encompasses the sky and the earth, centered on the largest core in the sky— ‘Mana Nucleus’.

“……That bastard Shelton.”

Looking at it, my lips itched. I couldn’t help but smile.

A very pleasant method came to mind.

A way to screw not only Shelton but also the entire Magic Tower that planned this damn project.

“Ah, it’s cold.”

But before that, I’m going to freeze to death.

I came back into the hotel and closed the door. But someone was approaching from the other side of the lobby. It was the phantom whose half face had been blown off.

“Did you find out where they are?”

I asked him. He stood silently. It seemed like he meant to follow him.

“Then let’s go.”

Before we screw Shelton, let’s go find the guys who took my chips.