(Y/N)
---10:00am---
"Argh, where are the others now? We're already 30 minutes late!" Shindou complained.
"Calm down, Shindou-senpai. I'm sure they'll be here soon." (Y/N) assured.
"I hope so, (Y/N). But if they won't be here on time, we'll leave them."
"Oh, look, senpai. They said they're on the way." Fei said while facing his phone.
On the corner is Tsurugi who kept his headset on his ears enjoying the music and doesn't seem to care what's going on around him.
A few minutes later, the remaining three, Kariya, Tenma and Aoi appeared in their meeting area.
"It's a great thing that you showed up." senpai pouted.
"I'm sorry, senpai. I overslept," Tenma nervously chuckled.
"Hah, just say that the both of you took forever to take a bath." Kariya rolled his eyes.
"It's not that!" Aoi protested.
"Can we guys just go to Kirino-senpai's house already? I mean, he's waiting there for us." I managed to butt in.
"Hmm, (Y/N)-chan is right. Let's go now." Fei stood up and started walking.
Kirino's house was just a walking distance they said, so this seems that this will be a little bit of an exercise to me. They were chattering so loud, I could even hear Kariya talking about how he held Tenma's cat upside down a while ago. I sighed, poor cat.
"Isn't that counted as animal abuse?" I asked.
"It isn't!" Kariya replied, "I saw some professional veterinarians do it to animals in TV!"
"Idiot, first off all, you're not a professional, and second, that's only done if the animal's airway is blocked or it needs CPR!" Shindou added. Is he a medical major?
"Oh, really? Maybe I have to do some research..."
"And since when you started doing your research? You never done like that in our whole school life." Aoi said.
Kariya sighed, "Research isn't even a necessity on how to survive in this world."
Shindou's phone buzzed as he received a text message from Kirino.
Kirino: I can see you guys here in my window, you're all walking like a slug!
Shindou: Sorry, we just have a lil convo. We'll be there in less than 2 minutes.
"Oi, Kirino said we're slow walkers."
"Tell him we're the next generation of turtles." Kariya shrugged.
The others stifled a laugh and walked faster.
In a few minutes, they reached Kirino's house. "You guys are taking so long."
The others ignored his comment and went inside instantly. The tiles were clean and shiny, and there were no unnecessary clutter or mess. Very opposite of mine.
"Wow, your house is sure very clean, Kirino-senpai!" I praised.
"Nope, if it is a normal day, everything is a mess. I just cleaned up because I have time."
Fei said, "I wish I could keep my house as orderly as this."
"So, let's start now. Let's see if there's another SEED in Minecraft." Tsurugi stated as he removed his headset in his ears and sat on the sofa.
"Well, Tsurugi's right."
They all turned on their phones, tabs and laptop on Minecraft to start their business. Again, there were no signs of SEED activity visible to their coordinates range.
"I swear, I'm tired of seeing this 'peaceful' version of Minecraft while there are still virus running inside its system." Said Kirino.
"Wanna flood them with my nonsense again?" Kariya smirked.
"Not yet, buddy. Maybe there's someone hiding here. Check first." Fei said.
They did so, but they didn't found something so unusual, just like the case before Kurosaki appeared.
=Kariya: Guys, im ready
=Kariya: should i start
=Shindou: No
=Shindou: I feel like we shouldn't.
=Tenma: Why not, senpai?
=Shindou: I just got the feeling idk
=(Y/N): Plus, who knows? The SEED we might encounter next will be far more stronger than the SEEDs we already fought.
=(Y/N): Im still scared of losing my account because my credit card is bound to it
=Tsurugi: I promise to make everyone's accounts and data safe from the virus so don't doubt now.
=(Y/N): No, no, its not that I don't trust you guys, I mean, im just nervous, now that we are one of the remaining individuals playing MC.
=Aoi: (Y/N)-chan is right though.
=Kirino: But regarding this situation, should we check the webpage of the MC directors about the game's current status?
=Fei: Hm, yeah. Maybe they removed the virus already!
=Tsurugi: I won't be entirely convinced if that becomes a headline.
Their chat is interrupted by a loud and sudden bang of the door, meaning that someone entered the house.
"Sorry..." She muttered under her breath, "I'm home-"
She stopped on her mid sentence when she saw the gamer group.
"Oh? What are you guys doing in here? Isn't it a little early?"
"Your brother invited us here, and its an urgent for gamers." Shindou replied.
Kirino looked at the young girl in front of the door confused, "Chiaki? I thought you were staying on your friend's house?"
"Yeah, I stayed for a while there, and we didn't expect that our project will be finished in a few hours, so I'm here."
At the back of the group, Kariya stares at the girl in shock and awe. He can't believe that she's here.
"C-Chiaki?" He called.
She recognized the voice, "Kariya-kun?"
Kariya literally jumped from his seat and dashed forward to Chiaki.
"Chii-chan!!" He called once again.
She also ran to him, "Kariya-kun!!"
*insert the dramatic/romantic running approach cliche in anime*
"Chii-chan!!"
"Kariya-kun!!"
But before they could hug each other, Kirino blocked their way, with his back facing his sister's direction while his front and fist landed on Kariya's forehead. The boy stumbled on the floor touching his forehead.
"That hurt!" He complained.
"Touch my sister and I'll kill you." Kirino protectively placed Chiaki in his back.
"Onii-san! Why would you smack Kariya-kun's forehead? That's mean!" Chiaki protested.
"Yeah, that's mean!" Kariya repeated.
"I just don't want you to get bullied by this prankster," Kirino said.
"Bullied? Duh. Unlike you, I'm used to his pranking, and I find it funny."
Kariya put his hands in his cheeks and blushed, "Aww, that's sweet to hear, Chii-chan."
"Will you shut up?!"
The other gamers are either laughing, staring, or don't care at all.
"I didn't know that Kirino-senpai is this overprotective to his sis." I mused.
"Me too," Tenma laughed.
"That happens every time when some boys try to hit on her. Well, Kariya's not an exception though." Shindou explained.
"This personality makes him more manly somehow." Tsurugi agreed.
Meanwhile, the two ' star-crossed lovers' tried their best to hold each other despite of Kirino blocking them. Soon, Kariya held onto Chiaki's arm and hugged her.
"It's been a long time, Chii-chan."
"Indeed, Kariya-kun! Did you make more prank plans for Ranmaru-nii?"
"Of course. He wasn't an exception to my pranks."
There, Kirino fell on the floor, depressed. "I... I can't believe that Kariya brainwashed my sister..."
Aoi approached him and patted his back, "I think that's not entirely a bad thing for Chiaki to be friends with Kariya."
But then, Kariya held Chiaki's hand and gets lovestruck. And Kirino gets up shouting at the two.
"DONT YOU TOUCH HER, YOU IDIOT!"
Kariya didn't, and that's when he loses it. Kirino basically grabbed Chiaki's shirt and dragged her upstairs.
"Hey, Ranmaru-nii! Let me go!"
"You better go back to your room now! You're interrupting our gaming business!" He said and put her down on a step of the stairs.
"What's your gaming business anyway?" She pouted.
"Have you heard about the news that Minecraft is hacked big time?" Fei reminded.
"Oh, that? Yeah. It's been so messed up that the gaming otakus are literally dying."
"Hopefully, we're still alive."
Her eyes inspected each one of us until it landed on me, and looked at me with a hint of confusion. She faced his brother, "Nii-san, who's this?"
"Oh, she's a new friend. She's (L/N) (Y/N), also a gamer."
"Uh... hi?" I awkwardly waved at her.
She cheerfully replied, "Hello! I'm Kirino Chiaki. Nice to meet you!"
"Pleasure's all mine."
"Alright, I'm going to my room. Bye for now!"
"Wait, Chii-chan! Don't leave me! I'm gonna miss you!!"
"Well, I won't," Chiaki answered and stuck her tongue out.
Now it's time for Kariya to fall on the floor and get depressed. "...why would you do this to me, Chii-chan..."
"What a good sister," The pink-haired man smirked.
She completely proceeded to her room and we continued to research how the bombing of Lancelot and hacking of Minecraft connect to one another. Maybe we can find out leads on who's the mastermind of these events too.
Our phones rang in unison as we received an e-mail notification. It was from Admin Endou!
From: Admin01_Endou
Subject: Virus/Hacker
We confirm that the virus is still within the system. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to fully or partially recover the game, so if ever Minecraft looks like it's back to normal, it's the virus's work.
"As I thought," Tsurugi said as he massaged his nose bridge.
"If it's a glitch," Tenma started, "Then we're on the SEED's trap?!"
"No way! They could've activated that earlier because they have a lot of chance!" Kirino asserted.
Fei fiddled with his phone, "That means that there's still a SEED in our area! Let's search for them!"
From: Admin01_Endou
Subject: Virus/Hacker
The Minecraft Admins are very powerless at the moment since the virus' hacker robbed us of control from our own for three days now. The hacker changed every algorithm of the game and thus giving us no chance to create chances for countermeasures, and yet it seems he arranged everything back from the start.
"WHAT?" Tenma gasped, "The admins completely lost control over their own game??!"
"Wait, there's more."
From: Admin01_Endou
Subject: Virus/Hacker
The media hasn't reached this information, but I'll let you guys know in advance. Please be careful on the software programs you are going to use from now on, because the malicious virus may attack other games and apps to further spread its virtual power and influence, and steal more private data.
We would like to contact you through a secured video call. E-mail us if you are available for a secret meeting.
Shindou let out an exasperated sigh, "This is unbelievable. The hacker is able to drive this gaming company to an edge? And he can launch another cyberattack on other apps? Who does he think he is?"
"Wow," I was almost speechless too, "This problem just sunk levels deeper."
Our group became quiet in light of what might happen next, "This is an emergency. Shindou-san, send our server now!" Said Tsurugi.
"I'm on it."
There were sounds of the keyboard quickly and loudly pressed down. It seems that were using DisKcord as a mode of communication. I think Tenma told me that DisKcord's owner is Fudou Akio, which is one of Endou's friends. They created a server and requested a video call, which we immediately accepted.
Endou-san's figure appeared on the screen and spoke, "Good morning, everyone. I'm sorry if we bothered you, but we really need to talk to you. Please mind that everything mentioned and discussed in this meeting will be confidential until it is released publicly."
Shindou answered, "No, you aren't bothering anyone, Admin Endou. We swear not to talk about these topics to anyone else. We also have plenty of questions too."
"I'm sure you have after knowing this shocking news. I'm here to warn you since you were one of the 20 people that remain. Remaining longer in the game that even us admins can't control, can expose your accounts and personal data, so we recommend that you leave and quit the game now."
"We refuse," Tenma spoke with a grim expression, "We would like to help."
"Forgive me, but I must address this so bluntly," Someone with goggles interrupted in the background, "But what could college students in summer break possibly do in this case? I believe you only play video and online games for fun, attention, and competition, so this is not your business. Stay out of this and do things within your concern that won't endanger your safety!"
"Kidou!" Endou called.
"What? I'm just stating facts! The situation is already messed up!"
Admin Midorikawa joined the video call and talked with a mellow, calm voice, "Listen, guys. What Kidou is trying to say is, he doesn't want anyone else to get involved in this hacking issue, especially innocent people like you. As much as we hate to admit it, we haven't retrieved a single piece of data from our players. And that includes money too. We don't know who would do this, but if he goes to the extent of hacking other apps, we're certain that he's very dangerous. And we want to keep the damage to a minimum if possible."
"We are working very hard to retrieve everyone's stolen information and to prevent leaks of private data from our consumers. The hacker is after someone or something we have no idea of, so we want to protect the last players, at least." The admin with redhead added.
I looked at Tenma beside me with a serious face. Knowing him, he was a fan of these gaming company directors and this is probably the first time he got to meet them personally, but he definitely isn't fanboying right now.
"Without due respect, sirs," Tsurugi abruptly spoke, "If you are worried about the security of my friend's information being breached by the virus as we stay in the game, I already made countersteps in preparation."
Admin Kidou's eyebrows scrunched in doubt, "Countersteps? Not even the popular antiviruses can block the minor worms from the virus, but you made a way yourself?"
"Please do not underestimate my abilities. I may seem like a child, but I've been studying computer science and software programming and applied my skills in these fields for so long to get this far. This antivirus is one of my projects when I was a freshman and I reprogrammed everything after our messenger was bombed as a replacement if ever Lancelot's 100 layered firewalls failed, but I think it'll be more useful for us now. I've stored all of my friends' and families' personal identities and transactional data. Everything else connected to us is protected."
Everyone inside the room listened to Tsurugi in awe. Yes, he did request us to trust him and send every data about ourselves last night, but none of us definitely anticipate that he will do something this hard. The son of Lancelot Corps' CEO is on the other level.
"...That's actually impressive." Those were the few words that managed to come out of Admin Endou's mouth.
"But the downside of my antivirus is... it could only hold on a month."
"Why?" One of the admins questioned.
"Considering how strong this virus, it will find ways to adapt with any algorithms to seek for information. 1 month is the maximum time I can provide and the data will come back to everyone."
The admins murmured offscreen. Our group questioned and praised Tsurugi.
"Tsurugi! What is this?!" Tenma whisper-yelled.
"It was only for emergency. But now things got worse, so I did something."
"That was so awesome!! Way to go, Mr. CEO's son!" Kariya punched his arm lightly.
"You told us that we shouldn't further involve ourselves in this situation, right? But, we had already dug some details about this situation and I don't think that the hacker will let us leave freely since we had interrogated some SEEDs." Aoi affirmed, referring to the admins.
The admin's discussion finished, "Okay. As long as all of you can be safe, I guess it won't hurt for us to get assistance from you." Endou prompted gently.
"Yes!"
"Excuse me, after listening to your reasons, are you implying that the hacker must be someone powerful in the industry of information and technology?" I probed politely.
"That was one of our guesses. But we can't be sure. There were too few clues to investigate. He didn't even leave a trace in his own virus." Fubuki rested his cheek on his hand.
"How about the SEEDs?"
"They're still roaming and stealing data from the other players. Our source says that they're players from an online arena that the hacker baited to work for him. The hacker pays them bitcoins."
"Aren't bitcoins are equivalent to a large sum of money? No wonder they won't speak." The prankster crossed his arms.
"A SEED named Kurosaki spoke though. The info we sent to you was from him, I forgot to write it down in the e-mail."
"Wait," Admin Midorikawa butted in, "We noticed an unusual activity just now."
"What is it?"
"The virus activity froze."
"Now that's weird." Kirino put his thumb over his chin.
"We have to go now. We can take advantage of this freeze to try to take our game back."
"Shouldn't you ask the other gaming companies for help at this moment? Their games might be at risk and the hacker can attack soon!"
"We sent an urgent e-mail to them about that minutes ago," Hiroto-san answered.
"Exactly. The Everwing Corporation's director, Kazemaru Ichirouta has sent donations and labor as their help and partnership to us. We also activated crowd control in case the virus started to make progress, so don't worry about not logging in for a while, were making it secured."
"That relieved us somehow." Aoi sighed.
"How about the message code of the virus, Endou-san?" Fei asked.
"Well, we found the other parts of it. We solved the 3rd one, but I think there's a trick in the 2nd. We entrust you these codes, so please let's keep this just between us, alright?"
"Alright." We agreed.
"The 2nd code is cjdzu while the 3rd code is 11100110/10000110/11110110."
"Notes taken!" I said after I scribbled in my notebook.
"Endou-san, and every admin in charge of Minecraft, we'll do everything to help you take back the game you created!" Tenma exclaimed.
"A 'thank you' won't be enough to express my gratitude to you." Admin Endou flashed a grin, "This meeting is adjourned."
---
>>StarsightGalaxy has logged on.
At last, after almost a year, I updated aayyeeeee! What do you say about this chappie?
Kariya is so inlove to Kirino's sister that he fell apart xD
I'm still going to continue the gamer blogs series, so don't worry about the characters leaving your questions unanswered by them.
Also, who is your favorite character in this fic by now? Lemme know!
Hope I update again soon.... bye bye guysssz
>>StarsightGalaxy has logged off.