𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕: 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥
Chihaya was scared, thinking that the request might have been surprisingly dangerous.
Day in and day out, Chihaya, who had been going out to survey the assigned plot, was so taken aback by the first day’s wear and tear rate shared by the entire team that she stopped the All-Rounder and looked around.
Wear and tear rate, just over 20%. It’s merely the wear and tear rate of the surveying team and doesn’t include numbers from the guerrilla team dealing with wildlife or 『New World Tree Housing』 overseeing things behind the scenes.
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There were many mechs getting moderately damaged due to surprise attacks by millet grass and wild animals, and caution was being called for.
Especially, many of the damaged mechs were rental All-Rounders, which have narrow fields of view and low specs such as information processing. Conversely, the Conductors using Psycholons or drones with broad vision and image analysis functions seemed to have easily gotten through the first day.
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“I wish for reconnaissance.”
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Chihaya regretted not renting a Psycholon but knew that begging for something unavailable was pointless.
Chihaya struck the discovered miller grass with a wooden stick to make the seeds pop out and removed them.
It was like walking through a minefield.
Work was moving slowly, partly due to the increased caution compared to the previous day.
Occasionally, gunshots were heard in the distance, possibly from wild animal attacks.
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Eventually, Chihaya’s All-Rounder was rotating and holding a loaded handgun, a surveying camera, and a wooden stick to hit millet grass.
When Chihaya finally got used to the work, angry shouts resounded from the participants’ shared voice chat.
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“――Die, pollen!”
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Chihaya was overwhelmed by the strong tone and involuntarily reeled back, and the All-Rounder that sensed the movement also reeled back to look at the sky.
Countless somethings were dancing in the distant sky.
Wondering what they were, Chihaya aimed the camera at them and zoomed in.
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“. . . . . .Flowers?”
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White and yellow flowers were spinning like propellers and being carried away by the wind. Fine particles were being scattered from each of the countless flowers, dyeing the sky like a yellow fog or curtain.
Realizing what they were, Chihaya stopped working and ran the All-Rounder toward the windward Koroge Iwa Garage.
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In the New World, there is a plant called 『pollenborn』.
Discovered by an Actor suffering from hay fever, this plant disperses pollen as it spins and drops its flowers. The countless propeller-like flowers dancing in the sky are those.
This 『pollenborn』, almost named cinayakafun(?) in revenge by the hay fever-suffering discoverer, was given its official name after desperate persuasion by those around.
Still, most Actors call this plant cinayakafun, with hatred and resentment.
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“Actanoids in the target area, evacuate immediately. Air-cooled Actanoids will suffer clogged filters and overheat due to pollen. Especially, Actors operating All-Rounders or Bands should evacuate as a priority.”
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Okuma unusually contacted the whole team in a panicked manner.
This was why Actors hated pollenborn.
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The scattered pollen was the natural enemy of air-cooled Actanoids, and the more powerful the Actanoid, the more likely it would become inoperable due to overheating.
Worse, the swirling flowers might cause radio interference, leading to lag in Actanoid control.
Due to these malicious characteristics, many actors who have been driven to inoperability by cinayakafun call it by that name in the field.
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The screaming Actor’s Actanoid was probably inoperable, and the Actanoids working nearby were likely the same.
Even Chihaya, who should have been quite far away, was experiencing image distortion on the monitor due to radio interference.
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“――Wait, it’s heavy, heavy!”
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Chihaya screamed, her eyes filled with tears.
Due to radio interference causing a massive lag, Chihaya was having trouble operating the All-Rounder.
The All-Rounder, which was supposed to be running, stopped in an odd position due to packet loss, not receiving the running instructions. Then, it raised its right leg in a slow, sloth-like movement.
It was supposed to lower its right leg to the side to avoid a tree ahead, but it dropped the leg at an incomplete position. It wouldn’t raise its right leg again to correct the misalignment.
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Being attacked by a wild animal in such a place would be a disaster.
The All-Rounder’s shoulder bumped into a trunk that wasn’t detected due to the monitor’s distortion, staggering. It braced itself with automatic posture control.
However, the All-Rounder, trying to match Chihaya’s current posture after regaining balance, froze in a yoga pose due to the radio interference.
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“Why this. . . . . .”
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Anyway, seeing that making big movements would lead to a risk of falling or an accident due to the data not being reflected, Chihaya cautiously crept out of the area affected by radio interference, adopting a slow-and-steady approach.
Somehow, the radio reception returned to normal, and Chihaya accelerated the All-Rounder.
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She directed it towards Koroge Iwa Garage and checked the state of pollen through the rear camera.
The cinayakafun, scattering pollen on a large scale, showed no sign of stopping. The shared voice chat was in chaos, and distress signals were scrolling up on the system screen.
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But, Chihaya’s All-Rounder could not perform any rescue activities.
Deciding that today’s work was impossible, Chihaya sent a message to the supervising actor that she would leave early.
Aiming to place the All-Rounder in a safe place, Chihaya directed it towards Koroge Iwa Garage.
At that moment, she thought she heard gunshots mixed with noise from the speaker, still slightly affected by the radio interference.
The direction of the sound was unclear, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary around her.
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“. . . . . .Is it, a battle?”
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Perhaps an Actanoid, barely able to function in this environment with air cooling, was attacked by a wild animal.
Chihaya decided to flee before getting caught up in it and hid among the trees as she returned to Koroge Iwa Garage at full speed.
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