Chương 5: Booting the Wa-OS — Unit 'PRINCE'

"… Prince… Shotoku…?" I rolled the engraved string of characters over and over in my mind like an incantation. SHŌTOKU. The absolute superstar you memorize first in Japanese history class. The face on the old 10, 000 yen bill. The founder of Horyu-ji Temple. The author of the Seventeen-Article Constitution. The creator of the Twelve Level Cap and Rank System. And the legendary superhuman who could simultaneously listen to and perfectly understand the petitions of ten people at once. But to save modern Japan…

why him?

"Prime Minister, hold on a second. I admit he's famous, but isn't his era a bit too ancient? We're talking about the 600s AD! Claiming that the root cause of modern Japan's economic recession lies in the Asuka period is a massive stretch, don't you think?!" Despite my protests, Yari kept his cold gaze fixed on the base frame—the android—sleeping inside the capsule and answered in a flat tone.

"Kataru-kun. What do you consider to be Prince Shotoku's greatest achievement?"

"Huh? Well… drafting Japan's first constitution, spreading Buddhism, establishing equal diplomatic relations with China…"

"A textbook answer. But that is not the core of the issue." Yari ran his fingers through the air, projecting a hologram of the very first article of the Seventeen-Article Constitution. [Article 1: Harmony is to be valued, and an avoidance of wanton opposition is to be honored.]"'Harmony is to be valued.' … It is a phrase the Japanese love above all else, and one that binds them like a curse." Yari's voice dropped lower."' Everyone, get along.' At a glance, it sounds like a wonderful teaching.

But what happens when you flip it over?

'Do not make waves.'

'Read the room.'

'Do not voice dissenting opinions.' …That is what it truly means." I gasped. The suffocating atmosphere we constantly felt in modern boardrooms, on social media, and in school classrooms. That insidious, creeping pressure that hammered you the absolute second you did something "different from everyone else." The source code of that phenomenon... had been written in this single line 1, 700 years ago?

"This Article 1—this code—installed a massive system of 'Peer Pressure' into the Japanese OS. As a result, the Japanese became a race that prioritized 'Reading the Room' over 'Debate'. The nail that stuck out was hammered down, and innovation was systematically crushed." Yari clenched his fist.

"Prince Shotoku preached 'Harmony' to stop the constant, bloody feuding among powerful local clans. As a patch for that specific era, it was likely excellent. However, in the modern age, that very patch has triggered a fatal bug known as 'Cognitive Paralysis'. …Therefore!" As Yari shouted, gennai raised his smoking pipe.

"Therefore, we just rewrite the very definition of 'Harmony'! We swap out the original Prince's 'Let's just all get along' Harmony, for a much stricter 'Harmony as Absolute Order and Rules'!"

"Exactly. Not silence for the sake of avoiding conflict, but dialogue for the sake of upholding the rules. We will hammer that into the ancient Japanese. …Boot him up, gennai. Code name: PRINCE!"

"Aye-aye, Chief! Consider it done!" gennai struck a virtual wadaiko drum serving as his console with a glowing drumstick. DOOOOOM! With that heavy bass vibration, the preservation fluid filling the capsule rapidly drained. Pshhhhhh…! From the veil of white steam, the legendary android emerged. His attire resembled the Ho, the ancient imperial court robes, but reconstructed from cutting-edge ballistic fibers. On his head sat a black, Eboshi -style communication unit.

In his hand, he didn't hold a ceremonial wooden baton—he gripped a device that glowed white-hot like a laser blade. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Then, his closed eyelids slowly parted. Deep within his pupils, I could see an infinite cascade of data streams flowing like a waterfall. [System Check... Wa-OS ver. 6. 0... Loading...] A majestic, beautiful voice—not sounding synthetic in the slightest—flowed from the android's lips.

"…I am Umayado. Known to men as Prince Shotoku."

"H-He moved…!" my legs almost gave out. It was the real deal. That face I had seen in historical portraits was blinking right in front of me. But something was different. The aura he commanded wasn't that of a "highly virtuous monk" from history; it was the aura of a cold, "Hyper-Elite Bureaucrat."

"Allow me to introduce him, brother Kataru!" gennai began his commentary with a smug grin.

"He ain't just your average Prince. I crammed him full of future tech. He's a max-spec 'Hyper-Prince'!" gennai started counting on his fingers.

"Number one! [Ultra-Parallel Audio Processing]! I literally installed the legend of him 'listening to ten people at once.' At his specs, forget 10 channels—he can simultaneously process the petitions and complaints of 1, 000 people and fire back 1, 000 separate, optimized responses! He's the ultimate super-chairman capable of instantly summarizing any chaotic meeting!"

"1, 000 people at once?! That's not Prince Shotoku, that's a Shotoku Server!"

"Number two! [Visualized Hierarchy System (Visual Rank)]! You know the 'Twelve Level Cap and Rank System'? I implemented that in AR! It's a scouter function that displays the other party's 'Ability Stats' and 'Contribution Points' as numerical values right above their heads. With this, he can silence incompetent hereditary nobles and execute ruthless, merit-based HR cuts!"

"That's the worst feature ever...! He'd be ranked number one on the 'Bosses You Never Want to Work For' list!"

"And number three! That baton he's holding is [The Staff of Harmony (Harmony Rod)], equipped with high-frequency vibrations that can slice through solid iron! For those stubborn fools who don't understand words, he'll hammer some physical 'Harmony' right into 'em!"

"Physical?! That's just straight-up violence!" Completely ignoring my retorts, PRINCE offered a reverent bow to Yari.

"Prime Minister (Master). My mission is the redefinition of the 'OS' during the dawn of this nation. …Acknowledged. I shall go educate those foolish clans on the true meaning of 'Harmony'."

"Good. I expect great things from you, PRINCE." Yari nodded in satisfaction, then turned to me.

"Now, Kataru-kun. The actors are assembled. It is your turn."

"Huh, me? No, no, no, I'm just going to watch from here and—""Don't be a fool. Do you honestly think I can send an AI and an android into the past on their own? Besides, you were the one demanding to run Narrative Checks just a moment ago," Yari cut me off coldly.

"They can calculate, but they are ignorant of the 'nuances of the human heart.' If PRINCE merely spouts logical arguments, it is highly likely he will incur the wrath of the people of that era. …That is where you come in."

"Excuse me?"

"You will accompany him as PRINCE's 'Interpreter' and 'Director'. You will construct a 'Narrative' on-site—one that will make the people of that era understand, feel moved, and want to follow him voluntarily." My mind went completely blank. Accompany him? Me? To the Asuka period? Alongside this high-tech Prince Shotoku equipped with weaponized features?!

"I-Impossible! I'm just a writer! I've never even been in a fistfight in my life! If a bandit shows up, I'll die instantly!"

"Relax, brother!" gennai slapped me hard on the back. I expected his hand to phase through, but a ruthlessly activated haptic feedback protocol sent a sharp, realistic jolt of pain down my spine.

"I'll be giving you support. Besides, this [Spatiotemporal Relocation Device (Time Gate)] guarantees your safety... well, the probability is about fifty-fifty!"

"That's way too low! That means there's a half chance I die!"

"We are out of time." Yari checked his watch.

"Project Re-JAPAN, Phase 1 initiated. Relocation coordinates: A. D. 603, Asuka, Oharida Palace. …Go, Kataru Mononobe. Change history, and rewrite our future." At the Prime Minister's signal, the entire floor of the office began to glow with a pale blue light. The sensation of gravity vanished. My vision warped, and the world began breaking down into digital noise of 1s and 0s.

"W-Wait a minute! Let me mentally prepare! Stomach medicine! I need to take my stomach medicineeeeeee!"

"No questions asked! Get going!" I felt the sensation of gennai kicking me squarely in the back. My body floated upward. The skyline of Neo-Tokyo rapidly receded into the distance beyond the light. As my consciousness faded, the last things I heard were gennai's amused Edo-slang and Yari's cold, calculating command.

"Heh, don't ask such unrefined questions! Do it, or don't. That's all there is to it, brother!"

"Approved. —We reboot history (Japan)." My vision whited out. When I next opened my eyes, what spread out before me was not a concrete jungle. It was the "Beginning of Japan" from 1, 700 years ago—smelling of earth, wood, and blood. And so began my stomach-ulcer-inducing, brutal journey of Historical Debugging.