21-40 · 027
Chapter 26: Official Account
In the vast new office that doubled as my home, dozens of meters underground, I was unpacking small personal items from my item box in the quiet space where only the low hum of the air conditioning echoed.
“Hey, Toru-kun. There’s something I’ve been meaning to suggest.”
Rin Sakai, who had been typing at the large multi-monitor setup, spun her chair around to face me.
“Don’t you think it’s about time we created an official promotional account for ‘Master_Eye’?”
“An official account? On social media or video streaming sites?”
“Exactly. Thanks to Seira-sama’s big announcement at the press conference, Eye-sama’s name recognition is now world-class. But because of that, there’s an explosion of fraudsters and fake accounts claiming ‘I’m Eye-sama’s disciple’ or ‘This is an Eye-sama-certified item.’”
Rin swiped through her tablet, showing me several shady product listings and social media posts.
“Of course, I’ve been reporting them to the guild and the platform operators as soon as I find them, but it’s endless. Besides, if we want to announce future overseas expansion and large-scale auctions, we need an ‘official, absolute source’ to control the information ourselves.”
From a business standpoint, what Rin said made perfect sense. If the real Master_Eye made official announcements, the fakes would be wiped out in an instant, and our brand power would skyrocket.
“I understand your point, but no.”
“Why not!? I’ll use voice modulation software, route through multiple overseas servers, and thoroughly disguise our IP address. I absolutely won’t leave a trace!”
“Still no. You’re underestimating online sleuths.”
I shook my head as I pulled old belongings out of a cardboard box.
“Slight quirks in voice frequency, faint background noise picked up by the microphone, even tiny communication lags—those people can strip away everything and pinpoint the source. If by some chance our location were exposed, even this underground fortress might not be safe from a missile strike, right? Actually, you yourself identified me once, so I’m scared.”
“Ugh… well, that’s true…”
Better safe than sorry. I was an F-Rank with zero combat ability. Safety first; I didn’t just cross bridges after testing them—I’d rather smash them to pieces and find another safe path.
“Haah… if the president insists, I’ll drop it for now.”
Just as Rin puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction and turned back to the monitors—
“…Hm?”
My hands stopped while unpacking. I pulled out a worn leather pouch. Inside was a cloudy crystal ball about the size of a softball.
I had picked it up in the upper layer’s garbage dump when I first became an explorer. The guild’s appraisal machine had simply labeled it “quartz lump,” and of course it hadn’t sold. But whenever I had free time or when my heart grew dark from being unreasonably yelled at by Goda and the others, I used to mindlessly polish this crystal ball with a soft cloth. It oddly calmed my mind.
Today, as usual, I started rubbing the cloudy surface with a cloth.
Crack.
“Oh?”
A tiny crack on the crystal ball’s surface suddenly emitted a flash of light, and the cloudy outer layer crumbled away like peeling skin. What appeared was a perfect sphere containing a deep, absorbing blackness and a silvery glitter like stardust.
Startled, I quickly activated ‘True Appraisal’ with my right eye.
—Thrum.
====================
[Name] Phantom Crystal of the Nameless
[Rank] Mythic Level
[Condition] Fully awakened
[True Value] Information concealment and communications hijacking.
Allows forcible intervention into any communication network, broadcast wave, or network worldwide, enabling the transmission of encrypted video and audio. Because the source coordinates and identification information are concealed on a conceptual level, even gods or buddhas cannot trace it.
[Note] Through years of careful maintenance by its owner and the dense magical environment of the underground space, this quartz miraculously self-evolved into an artifact.
====================
“…You’ve got to be kidding.”
I muttered in a daze. The junk I had polished just as a comfort had evolved into a Mythic Level artifact through the increase in my skill proficiency and the change in environment. Moreover, its abilities were exactly what we had been desperately wanting. I felt a certain attachment to it, and I was honestly delighted.
“Rin.”
“What? I’m busy. I’m swamped with reporting fake accounts—”
“Look at an empty monitor for a second.”
I channeled a little magic power into the crystal ball—the ‘Phantom Crystal of the Nameless’—and willed it. The target was one of the multi-monitors in front of Rin.
Zzzt… Shhhh!
One of the monitors Rin had been operating suddenly filled with noise and went black. In the center of the screen, a logo for ‘Master_Eye’ that I’d improvised—a mysterious owl wearing a monocle—appeared.
“Ahh, mic test, mic test. It’s a beautiful day today.”
From the monitor’s speakers, my mechanically modulated voice echoed.
“Whaa!? Wh-What!? Hacking!?”
Rin jumped from her chair and panicked, reaching for the cables. Chuckling, I cut off the magic supply to the crystal ball. The monitor’s image quietly returned to normal.
“…Huh? Toru-kun, that was…”
“Thanks to this. The Phantom Crystal of the Nameless. By using it, I can apparently hijack any communication network in the world to broadcast video and audio without any possibility of being traced.”
I tossed the black crystal ball to Rin. She caught it in a fluster, and the moment she understood its true value, she began trembling all over.
“Eh!? No reverse tracing!? Concealment on a conceptual level!? You’ve gotta be kidding… this is the devil’s own item that military agencies and hacker groups around the world would give anything to get their hands on, even piling hundreds of billions on the table!!”
“Right? With this, whether it’s online sleuths or state powers, they absolutely cannot pinpoint our location.”
When I grinned, Rin’s mouth curled up like a villainess.
“…Perfect, Toru-kun. With this, we can complete the absolute deification of Master_Eye.”
She rubbed the crystal ball against her cheek lovingly, then immediately turned back to the keyboard.
A means of communication, and absolute anonymity. With this, our business had no blind spots left.
“Fufu… fufufufu! I’m getting so excited! Establishing a corporation, completing the new office, and securing the ultimate communication environment!”
Rin spun her chair around and proposed in a buoyant voice.
“Hey, Toru-kun! Tonight, let’s have a celebration dinner! Of course, we should invite Seira-sama too!”
“Oh, that sounds good. We’ve only had canned coffee and takeout lately. …But why do you want to invite Seira-san? You were scared of her before.”
When I asked my simple question, Rin wagged her index finger with a smug look.
“You don’t get it, President. In business, a solid connection with Japan’s top S-Rank explorer is priceless! If we treat her to a delicious meal and butter her up—I mean, deepen our friendship—she’ll become the strongest shield for our future business! Since she’s protecting us, we should get along!”
“I see. Your scheming true intentions are showing.”
“Don’t say it like that. Call it ‘strategic relationship building.’ I don’t know if Seira-sama will come, but leave it to me! I’ll book a private room at the best restaurant!”
Though I was exasperated by her unwavering greed and resilience, her cunning wink made me smile.