Back then, I devised a three-step plan to get into another world to find Anna.
Step 1: Document the missing persons, protect that information from World Correction.
Every piece of data was crucial. I scoured information from city police databases, telecom and internet providers, real estate firms, and my extensive network of security cameras and drones. The phenomenon that would erase traces of a person's existence once they left this world, I called it World Correction. For some reason, ever since I overcame its effect the first time, I could resist it. So, as long as I fed the information to my memory beforehand, they remained safe, shielded inside my mind from external corrections.
With that, I confirmed countless cases of people being summoned into another world. Then, with each of those cases, I collected the detailed data for the next step.
Step 2: Deploy Advanced Artificial Intelligence for Deep Pattern Analysis and Prediction
With the compiled data, the next challenge was deciphering the seemingly random occurrences of these summoning events. The patterns were not immediately apparent; the raw data was too vast and complex for human analysis.
This was where Artificial Intelligent (AI) came into play. I designed a unique AI algorithm, equipped to continuously process and update its predictions in real-time. This AI constantly analyzed thousands of variables: weather conditions, lunar phases, city events, electromagnetic disturbances, population density, and even fluctuations in the city's power grid. The aim was to recognize immediate correlations or sequences leading up to a summoning event.
At first, it was like searching for a needle at the bottom of the sea. But with time, the AI got better. Turns out, the city's power grid and the star's alignments were the best indicators. After a few years, it was able to narrow down its predictions, constantly updating its insights. There were five most common locations for the kidnapping to happen in Japan: Akihabara, Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, Tokyo Dome City Attractions, Sakura Senior High School, and Roppongi Hills. Besides that, the AI also provided real-time alerts, pinpointing the most likely spot for the next summoning based on the ever-evolving data. And with that, I was no longer merely hoping to be at the right place at the right time; I was being directed there. The success rate of predicting an event soared to over 96 percent.
However, there remained a colossal obstacle yet to overcome.
Step 3: Break the barrier to access the magic circle.
Basically, it meant 'hijacking' my way into the other world.
This step proved the most daunting, as I had no idea how to accomplish it. Every attempt to breach the barrier ended in failure. Whether through brute force or cutting-edge weaponry, from sword slashes to laser blasts, I exhausted every conceivable method to no avail. It felt as if the universe itself was mocking me, keeping me a hair's breadth away from my Anna. And as the days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, months turned into years, I thought I would be stuck at this step forever.
Then, one fateful day in Roppongi Hills, everything changed.
Keeping vigil over one of the predicted magic circles, my gun primed and loaded, I awaited the inevitable appearance of the barrier. As the clock ticked down, the shimmering veil materialized as expected. I sprinted towards it, only to find a man ensnared within. Like all others trapped, he shouted, screamed for aid, yet his pleas fell silent against the barrier's impenetrable shield. With each passing moment, he pounded against the shimmering wall in a futile bid for freedom. Meanwhile, I prepared to unleash my new shotgun upon the barrier.
However…
Crack…
It was his final, desperate act that caught me off guard. He struck the barrier one more time, and to my astonishment, it shattered like fragile glass! The same barrier I had struggled to breach for months just crumbled! The man staggered out, gasping for air.
I rushed to his side.
"How did you do that?" I demanded.
He looked at me, confused.
"Do what?"
"Break that barrier!" I pressed.
My patience was threadbare. I needed immediate answers, so I decided to make him an offer he couldn't decline.
"Two hundred million dollars! Give me everything you are wearing, right now!"
The guy was shocked and thought that it was just a joke at first, but then quickly agreed to my trade. Of course, any rational person would find such an amount irresistible. Without further hesitation, he handed over his belongings.
And when sifting through them, one item caught my attention.
A ring.
A platinum ring!
Turns out, platinum was the sole element capable of shattering that maddening barrier…
And that was how I achieved my goal: hijacking into another world.
—-------------
Back to the moment.
The knowledge I have gained was immediately put to use. The platinum bullet tears through Bromrik's barrier and drills into his skull.
Yet, an unsettling silence swiftly envelops the scene.
Bromrik is dead.
But why are these slaves still standing?
"Master, get down NOW!"
Sophia's frantic scream pierces through the air, jolting me into action. I instinctively ducks and twists, narrowly avoiding a glinting blade aimed at my neck. The moonlit sheen on the blade reveals its wielder.
Freaking moon elf!
Before I can even process this, another dagger slices through the air. Though I tried, I couldn't fully evade it, and it raked my arm, opening a deep, searing wound.
Backpedaling, I glance at the bleeding gash, feel the hot trickle of blood. In my mind, I have been certain, certain that once the master fell, the slaves would be dead as well. But as I turn to Bromrik, my heart drops.
The wound I have inflicted, the wound that should've ended him, is gone. He isn't down. Not even close!
Confusion swirls within me.
How?
But there's no time to think.
"End him! NOW!" Bromrik screeches in rage. At his behest, a horde of slaves jumps at me, launching an all-out attack!
I need to act, and fast!
"Sapphire!"