Chương 68: Chapter 18 The Gate's Hidden Mechanism(Part 2)

The hallway was not exactly narrow, yet it was filled with a crowd of people. Police officers, I'm not asking you to work yourselves to death... But please do your jobs. With an awkward smile on my face, I pushed through the crowd and arrived at the usual conference room. I had taken a shower and refreshed myself, but somehow I felt even more tired.

"Welcome back, Chloe. That's a nice outfit. It suits you."

"Thank you, Chiyoda-san. Have you gotten thinner?" Chiyoda was sitting in his chair. His neatly parted hair was slightly disheveled, and faint dark circles were visible around his eyes. Something must have happened after we entered the Gate. Being the coordinator—also known as the unreasonable complaint desk—must have been difficult. After exchanging greetings and Mochida left the room, we began our discussion.

"We have received various inquiries from ambassadors of different countries.... Don't worry. Ninety percent are about you, and ten percent are related to the Gate."

"That doesn't sound like something I should be relieved about." I couldn't help but sympathize with Chiyoda's resentful gaze. After all, I was the one who started this. I should answer at least some of their requests.

"To summarize, one hundred percent are about you... I mean, they are related to the Gate." His true feelings slipped out. Considering how much work we both had, I decided to let it go. I still didn't know exactly what Chiyoda was. But there was no point asking now. He talked with ambassadors, moved around the Metropolitan Police Department... He was probably some kind of government official.

"... Understood. Then, there is a problem regarding what happened inside the Gate."

"A problem? How bad is the situation?"

"Unknown. We cannot confirm that it will overflow from the Akihabara Gate, but we did confirm a monster approximately fifteen meters in size inside. Also, monsters definitely attack humans." After hearing that, Chiyoda made a difficult expression and took out a document. He handed it to me. The document contained information about the Gate's dimensions.

"The Gate's diameter is seven meters?" I looked over the details.

"The monster we discovered was larger than the Gate itself. Considering that there are gigantic monsters inside, we cannot assume this will only be a parade coming out from the front." This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

"Is there any other information regarding the overflow?"

"There is one thing. Apparently, when the overflow occurs, there will be an announcement. We don't know what kind of announcement it will be, however." We both fell silent. When making assumptions, we had to consider the worst possible scenario. In this case, the worst would be completely random teleportation. Monsters suddenly appearing all over the world. If that happened, the damage would increase endlessly because every location would require a separate response.

The next possibility would be teleportation within a certain distance from the Gate. Depending on the range, that could be handled. We could seal off the area and have people with Jobs eliminate them. The damage would not be zero, but it could be greatly reduced. The truly terrifying part of the first two possibilities was monsters and humans appearing in the same place. The result would be some kind of impossible object. Or the monster would overpower the person and kill them instantly.

Finally, the least dangerous possibility was a parade from the Gate. If that happened, everyone with Jobs could gather at the front and crush them before they spread.

"... Should I enter the Akihabara Gate and try thinning their numbers?" The inside was enormous. If monsters could overflow from a place like that, the number waiting inside would be impossible to predict. I wouldn't die, but whether I could reduce their numbers before the overflow happened was questionable. I could use the escape item, but timing everything would be difficult. I didn't know if there would be a delay caused by damage to the item. My arm had returned instantly once.

Should I try blowing myself apart with dynamite? Hmm... It would hurt. But if necessary, that was a cheap price. Still, there were only about two days left. I wasn't going to kill everything alone, but if I didn't regenerate after being blown into pieces within those two days, it would be disastrous. Neither the Sage nor the Witch knew anything about it.

"Chiyoda-san, is there anything else you have learned? There is a limit to how much I can predict alone." Chiyoda looked troubled, but he opened his mouth. There was something. Even one more piece of information would help complete the puzzle.

"There have been various investigations, but unfortunately we have not found much. However, there is one uncertain piece of information. It came from Inspector Tachibana."

"From Tachibana-san? What happened?"

"He is currently appraising items discovered from the Gates while also investigating each Gate. During that process, he appraised the Akihabara Gate itself..." Chiyoda paused.

"... and collapsed."

"What?! Is he okay?" I couldn't help but stand up. Tachibana was an S-class Appraiser. The fact that he collapsed was extremely worrying. The last time, he appraised a top-tier recovery potion without any problems. If he collapsed from this, the amount of information that entered his mind must have been enormous.

"We kept it quiet so he could concentrate on recovering. When you entered the Gate, he was unconscious. However, he woke up yesterday."

"That's good. What is his condition now?"

"He is still recovering, but according to him, he learned something about the Gate's transfer system. Apparently, when we move between the inside and outside of the Gate, a small amount of energy waves are emitted. The maximum range is approximately four kilometers. Does that remind you of anything?" Four kilometers... Was there something? A clue. I was the only one who had spoken with Soths. Tachibana, whether by coincidence or curiosity, appraised the Gate and gave us that information.

That had to be a piece of the puzzle. Where did this piece fit? The Gates were created by them. Then what else had they requested? Medicine, escape items, resource lists... No. That wasn't it. Looking at it from another angle... I had almost been trapped by them. They wanted us to efficiently clean up. But I refused that proposal and returned outside. Outside... Ah. Probably. I couldn't say for certain, but the probability was high.

"Probably within that four-kilometer range, monsters are randomly transferred under the condition that they do not overlap with humans. I think that is the condition for the overflow."

"Interesting. How did you reach that conclusion?" Chiyoda leaned forward. He wanted to know the reasoning. If we could confirm that our logic was consistent, then it was probably correct. Tachibana-san, thank you. The information you gave us was useful. There wasn't much time, but I hoped he would recover as much as possible.

"They hate waste. The exit Gate was something I requested them to install. The condition for leaving was that you wouldn't overlap with a person near the Gate. They went out of their way to create a mechanism for leaving, so they wouldn't ignore it. Also, Soths' request was cleaning. If that is the case, they probably wouldn't transfer monsters somewhere with people."

"I see. Tachibana's four kilometers represents the maximum distance where people would not overlap. And considering the size of the monsters, this is not a parade from the Gate, but random transfers within an area where monsters won't overlap with humans."

"Exactly. I believe the probability is high." We looked at each other. Was there any contradiction? Any strange points? Should we change our assumptions and reconsider everything? I didn't think we had missed anything.

'Wise One, do other planets' Gates have exit mechanisms?'

'Who knows? But probably not. The conditions for them to install Gates are strength and intelligence. Your intelligence passed the minimum requirement, right? Then do you think beings with technology far beyond yours would bother discussing entrances and exits? They can leave whenever they want. Monsters are like mosquitoes on your planet.' Minimum requirement... Should I be sad that humanity only barely passed? Or should I envy those who scored higher?

Either way, from their perspective, humanity was a race of savages recognized not for intelligence, but for fighting ability. They had even tried to end the negotiations halfway through.

"What's wrong? Did you find another answer from a different perspective? I don't see any contradiction in our current theory."

"... No. I was just thinking about the vastness of space and the fact that we only barely passed."

"...? Well, anyway. Let's proceed with the plan." Chiyoda stood up.

"Our main battlefield will be within four kilometers of the Akihabara Gate. To be safe, we should expand that range slightly. There will be an announcement, and monsters will randomly transfer. A city lockdown... This will be difficult." He suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, about monsters definitely attacking humans..." I was mentally exhausted after discussing everything nonstop since leaving the Gate. I would let him handle that part.

"Ask Hyodo-san from the Special Operations Group. It is connected to how we discovered the large monster. Call me if additional information is needed."

"I understand. Either way, we plan to work together with the Self-Defense Forces. I will ask when we meet. What will you do now?" What would I do? I wanted to rest. But there was no time. I also wanted to know the strength of our main forces. It was unlikely anyone had reached the middle tier yet, but there was a chance Tachibana had. He had appraised something as massive as a Gate itself. The possibility was not zero.

"I would like to meet Tachibana-san. If possible, I want to visit him."

"With you, it should be possible. Mochida-kun knows where he is. Have her take you there." Chiyoda left. I lit a cigarette and took a break. While tapping through my phone, I gathered information about the Gate. Videos, forums, and various other sources were filled with discussions. Who was the person who wrote that a girl was flying through the sky? I wanted to argue with them.