Net Diver

"In the modern era, we call cyberspace—The Deep World of the Net—an ocean.

And even within that, the deepest, darkest realm where system security devices, bank cryptocurrencies, and corporate classified information lie dormant is called The Deep.

Naturally, the title of the explorers of cyberspace, who in the past were called Net Runners or Data Cowboys, was also consolidated."

"Net Diver."

"This is a metaphorical expression, but at the same time, a highly practical one. Diving into cyberspace is very similar to what deep-sea divers did in the past. Though I've never actually gone diving, I have no way to prove it."

"First, you must prepare sufficient safety mechanisms. cyberspace is a completely different space from the Real World, and simply taking in its information can burn out your brain.

Among the many preparations that must be installed in a Diving Socket are a Diving Machine to adjust sensory overload, a Navigating System to recognize coordinates in the Cyberbrain World, a Bypass Program to help evade attacks when encountering a malfunctioning system, a Virus,, or, in extremely unlucky cases, a Mad Artificial Intelligence."

"And above all, you need a diver—a submarine diver—with outstanding talent and long hours of training. Not just anyone can dive into cyberspace.

The spatial awareness to perceive a digital realm composed of 0s and 1s in three dimensions, the Athletic Ability and Physical Strength to move under alien pressure, and a healthy body are essential.

A constitution that doesn't suffer from 3D Sickness, and the strong mental fortitude to adapt anywhere is also necessary."

"All of these are the conditions required of Certified Net Divers. Even among those who meet these conditions, Finish all preparations, and Cyberdive, a not insignificant number end up dying, their sockets burned out in the digital World."

"cyberspace is undoubtedly a land of dreams and opportunities. There is a saying: We were born too late to explore the Earth, and too early to explore the universe.

But we might have been born at just the right time to explore cyberspace. Unlike the stifling, unchanging reality, everything in cyberspace is new and different."

"A new opportunity is synonymous with a new crisis. Never look down on the Digital Universe, The Deep sea of the Net. The New World had natives, and it is almost certain that extraterrestrial life exists in the universe.

Then what is there in cyberspace? There is only one thing I can say I know for sure. The deeper you go, the more dangerous it is."

"That is the Law of cyberspace."

-An excerpt from the quotes left behind after retirement by an anonymous Net Diver, Dusk Watch Certified 1st Class.

⟱⟱⟱⟱⟱⟱⟱

Somehow, I couldn't breathe.

No matter how wide I opened my mouth and nose, no air came in.

Gasping, I yearned for air, for oxygen, and only then did I barely begin to breathe.

And only then could I pry my eyelids open.

...When I opened my eyes again, there was only pitch blackness.

I was falling through a darkness where my vision was indistinguishable whether my eyes were open or closed.

A fall, by definition, must be from top to bottom. It is because of gravity, or universal gravitation.

But at this moment, it felt as if my body had no mass.

I fell upwards. Surging into the sky should normally be described as flying rather than falling, but not this time.

Falling upwards, then sideways. Diagonally. In curves and twisted geometric trajectories that were hard to describe in any single direction...

It felt like riding a helicopter through a rainstorm, piloted by a Bullet Taxi driver speeding at 100 km/h through the city center.

I don't even know what kind of bullshit that is. The thought just suddenly popped into my head.

In this dizzying swim where I felt like I would vomit at any moment, I just wanted it to stop.

I imagined a solid foothold beneath my feet, a Ground where gravity would act to anchor my body so it wouldn't fly away.

⊻ ⊻ ⊻ ⊻ ⊻ ⊻ ⊻

───Thud.

And I made a landing.

My body no longer swayed powerlessly. At least, that was how it felt.

In the pitch-black darkness, I was standing straight, stepping on unidentified Ground that had suddenly appeared.

Tapping it with my foot, I found it was solid and flat. It felt like I was standing on a smooth marble floor.

...Could it be? Did I do this?

The timing was too perfect for me to just assume it wasn't me.

Half in doubt, I thought about the space in front of me brightening up.

There was no particular change from just that, so with a feeling of “Ah, figures,” I imagined the space in front of me lighting up brightly.

THUD, THUD, THUD!

And it actually brightened.

You know how in movies, there are times when a loud noise suddenly rings out in a dark space and lights turn on sequentially?

It was a similar feeling, except it wasn't lightbulbs, but something else was turning on and flashing.

Lines of light slashed down across the World.

Rays of light poured from top to bottom, and bars of neon signs pierced from left to right.

The streaks of light endlessly filling the horizontal and vertical spaces created a grid pattern.

Sometimes it looked like the green stripes made of 0s and 1s seen in movies like the Matrix, and other times it looked like a chessboard dyed in gray monochrome.

Blinking for a moment, I saw tens of thousands of colors indescribable in words, shining with unique electrical signs and making me frown at the Overwhelming Light Intensity.

The floor and ceiling are the cobwebs of three-dimensional polygon vector graphics filling the eternally stretched field of vision, and endlessly connected arrays of data.

A flood of contradictory perception and sensation was rushing in like waves as if hammered in, or as if I were being sucked into the surrounding space.

I grabbed my head, which was throbbing with pink and blue light, and muttered.

"...cyberspace."

And—a Cyberdive.

A dive into the vast cyberspace is known to be possible only for Net Divers.

I could recognize it at first glance. Unless my eyes were completely fucked, there was no way I wouldn't know.

It is clear. I am in cyberspace right now.

I, who couldn't even do a beginner-level search to find an Auction Site on the Net, who had to ask Tony to find the address because I couldn't even navigate, was a complete novice.

I, a person from the 21st century who was completely hopeless when it came to the Net and cyberspace, had reached the underworld known as the Abyss of the Net.

A Cyberdive, which was said to be possible only for Net Divers who went through rigorous training and education surpassing that of astronauts,

and I had succeeded in doing it with just a Blink of an eye, without any facilities, Assistant devices, systems, or the help of Artificial Intelligence.

"...This is driving me Crazy."

My Stream of Consciousness naturally turned to the tiny Microchip humming and exerting its presence inside my head.

The clicking sound of the switch still hadn't been forgotten.

At this point, I had no choice but to Admit it.

One thing was for sure: it was absolutely not a defective product.

If what I had experienced so far wasn't an illusion or a dream, this prefrontal cortex cyberware was an item that would, without exaggeration, change the World.

The Extrasensory Perception Alone was beyond imagination, but now there was a Bare-Body Cyberdive. It was on a level that completely reversed the existing paradigm.

No matter how technologically advanced a Megacorp was, how did Militia create something like this?

It clearly seemed to be Over-Technology that surpassed the existing level of science.

Why did they make something like this, shove it into my brain, and still haven't come looking for it?

Just what exactly were the programs installed on this Miniature Supercomputer and the input commands and codes...?

But it was a question with no Answer.

As if I couldn't maintain this bizarre state for long, a familiar Headache pierced my skull, sounding an alarm.

Right, for now, I need to solve the problem right in front of me.

I never imagined I would be blindly dragged into cyberspace just by closing my eyes. This had never happened before, either.

But I probably did dive for a reason.

The solution to the crisis in the Outside World must be inside this Digital underworld.

Even if it wasn't, I had to believe so for now.

This was a vast ocean of networks created by combining the fragments of the collapsed internet and the Roots of the Net newly formed upon it.

Wasn't it an unknown new World that even the famous Dusk Watch hadn't fully explored?

There is a rumor that all the Nets in the World are based in cyberspace, and therefore, the existence of all data in the World can also be found at the bottom of cyberspace.

That meant that Alexandra Amadeus Schneider's Bio-ID might also be found here.

"Alexandra."

I recited the name of the blonde Noble House Young Lady. Just doing that made me feel as if my body was distorting and leaning.

A Cyberpunk World where even humans are digitized and uploaded.

A person's Genetic Information, Physical Characteristics, life history, and current situation—all of that exists in cyberspace.

In a fleeting moment, I caught a glimpse of the history of a woman named Alexandra Amadeus Schneider.