Leaving aside just how despicable Fujiwara Chika was, after accepting this invitation, Ryu had a sudden whim. He went to the research institute, sought out Akihiko Kayaba, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, and gave him a rather interesting task:
"Cosplay?"
"Yes."
"..."
Akihiko Kayaba looked back at the bright, tidy, and methodical experimental workshop, then turned his head back, pushing up the glasses on the bridge of his nose as a cold white light flashed across the lenses.
"Are you sleep-addled?"
"No."
"Please go to Amazon to order custom cosplay costumes, or find a professional craftsman—this is a cutting-edge Micro-Quantum Observation Laboratory!"
"I didn't say I wanted you to make it. I just want you to contact Professor Agasa and invite him to study it together."
"Professor Agasa? Ah, he does seem like he would actually be interested in this... Then just go contact him yourself!"
Kayaba completely failed to understand Ryu's train of thought.
Indeed, as fellow members of the "World Peace Federation Organization," Kayaba had Professor Agasa's contact information, and their relationship was quite good.
Professor Agasa was extremely keen on applying technology to people's livelihood and had many magical little inventions. Kayaba's specialty, "quantum physics," was the type of field that was extremely profound on a theoretical level but very difficult to apply practically. To create cost-effective products, he had to cooperate with excellent experimental physicists.
After joining TPC, Kayaba got to know Professor Agasa. After witnessing the various works of this old man—whose talent was overflowing to the point where one could say it was being "wasted"—he decided to rope him in as a long-term partner.
(Actually, as someone who used quantum physics to make games, he wasn't really in a position to say others were wasting their talent.)
For example, the "Second Generation Semi-Dive VR Device" they were currently developing had a volume and mass greatly reduced compared to the previous generation, being only the size of a headset. After activation, the wearer did not need to enter a dormant state and could use virtual scenarios to "render" over physical space while awake.
An ordinary gymnasium could feel like being in an ancient Roman Colosseum;
A crude and simple paintball field would become indistinguishable from a real transport ship or an abandoned factory;
—Simply put, it was "dreams coming true"!
This type of equipment didn't need to be specifically equipped with independent servers. Instead, within a certain area, all devices could connect to the same server, forming a real-life version of a game dungeon.
Although the immersion wasn't as good as FullDive due to power issues, there was no doubt it would attract a large number of players. If the scale expanded, it might even be introduced into the Olympics as an esports event~
Kayaba was living a very fulfilling life now. At first, he harbored implicit dissatisfaction with Ryu, feeling unwilling to be played in the palm of this brat's hand.
But now, on one hand, he knew the "truth" of the world and was waiting for things like demonic gods and magic to descend upon the mortal realm again. On the other hand, being able to research cross-era cyber technology and collaborate with an eccentric like Professor Agasa was practically the ideal life for a scientist~
Every day brought new discoveries; every day brought new progress~
At a time like this, you want me to stop the project at hand specifically to help you manufacture a cosplay costume?
You've got the wrong person, BOSS!
Kuse Ryu, don't think you can do whatever you want just because you have money. We scientists also have—
"This is the budget for the COS costume."
"Even if you bring this kind of thing..."
Akihiko Kayaba glanced at the number at the bottom of the design blueprints on the tablet and instantly felt a surge of deep respect.
He had intended to refuse, but he could feel Ryu's infinite respect and sincerity toward science from that figure. It was truly hard to decline such great kindness.
This was no longer at the level of "pocket money"... No scientist would refuse research funding!
Looking more closely at the blueprints, which were densely packed with numerical requirements, it took Akihiko Kayaba less than three seconds to judge that this was simply not a cosplay costume at all—
Are you kidding? What kind of COSER needs to jump two meters high?!
"If we really design it according to the requirements here... what gets made will be a powered suit, right?"
"It's just to be a bit more realistic during the cosplay."
Ryu looked up. "Well? Can it be done?"
"Theoretically, there are no hard bottlenecks. I can make the operating system and neural induction device very quickly. The difficulty lies in the materials... To maintain the current thickness and elasticity, we'll need to extract a portion of the data chips regarding the materials you sealed away."
Kayaba nodded, looking at Ryu through his lenses. "How much time are you giving?"
"Half a month?"
"..."
Kayaba's eyes widened. Even though he was mentally prepared, he was still startled. "That is simply not a deadline a scientific research project should have!"
"That's why I told you to contact Professor Agasa." Ryu was also taking a shot in the dark, hoping for the best.
"He might be able to do it."
"How is that poss— Well, it's not actually impossible." Just as Kayaba wanted to refute, he fell strangely silent.
He had visited Professor Agasa and toured the other party's series of "little inventions." Although many things looked nonsensical, as if they were specifically there for comedy, he had to admit that the other party's technical reserves in this area were ridiculously strong.
He had no doubt that Professor Agasa had designed powered suits before, because he had actually seen similar things. It was just that, limited by basic materials and neural transmission issues, the results were unsatisfactory.
Now, with the ability to fill in those two gaps, plus the support of Kuse's top-tier equipment, half a month seemed seemingly more than enough?
Of course the time is enough. That's Professor Agasa. Do you know how many inventions he creates in a year? Ryu roasted silently in his heart.
The timeline issue of Conan was already a taboo that couldn't be touched. But setting aside the logical flaws within it, the Professor really did have the setting of an invention king with god-defying production capacity. That efficiency could be called the number one below the Ultra-series~
A mere powered suit was a piece of cake~
Akihiko Kayaba roughly browsed the general requirements. A light flashed through his mind, and when he looked at Ryu again, he revealed an expression that said, "I've already seen through you."
"Are you that optimistic about the 'Second Generation Semi-Dive Device'? To think you want to develop accompanying products already."
"...Oh, right, yes." Ryu nodded.
—He had discovered long ago that sometimes there was no need to explain what he was doing; these people would find reasons for themselves.
And he just had to smile~
Ryu also knew about that so-called "Second Generation." Speaking of which, it did indeed require powered suits to complement it. After all, most modern people lacked exercise. If they wanted to play reality shows, physical stamina would be a big problem, and powered suits could make up for exactly that.
But Ryu actually didn't care much about that—he didn't count on making money from it, and similar matters weren't worth his attention.
The reason for developing the powered suit was that when Chika dragged him to browse various cosplay costumes, Ryu suddenly recalled an otaku fantasy he'd had since his previous life:
If one wore a set of the real deal, how handsome would that be!
Coincidentally, he also wanted to add some safety guarantees for the people around him. The usage threshold for powered suits was very low, they didn't require much training, and they were very concealed when worn. It could be said they were quite suitable.
How to persuade them to change into them was a problem... This offline event was a very good opportunity. He believed that after experiencing that feeling firsthand, they would also come to like this kind of "COS costume."
Of course, besides this, Ryu also had a little selfish motive...
Kayaba swiped his finger across the tablet, stopping when he saw the last model of the powered suit, his brows slowly furrowing.
"Is the value here filled in incorrectly?"
"Inappropriate?"
"If we really make it according to the marked parameters... this isn't a powered suit, but a killing tool!"
Kayaba was greatly puzzled. The first few were all bodysuit-like styles. Even without an energy supply, wearing them wouldn't hinder movement, and one could still wear a layer of COS costume over them as decoration.
But this last one... was completely "Power Armor," wasn't it?
Compared to the previous ones, this really looked like a character that had walked out of some manga!
Moreover, the parameters Ryu designed for it were too ridiculous. If made according to these requirements, ordinary people simply couldn't wear it. Just the impact force and G-force overload generated during maneuvering would render even a pilot with top-tier physical fitness unconscious!
"We can't even find volunteers for this kind of thing." Kayaba shook his head. "Even if made, it would be purely a decoration... How about changing it to an unmanned mecha?"
"Then it would lose its meaning." Ryu shook his head with a smile, his attitude gentle but extremely firm.
Seeing this, Kayaba didn't insist further. Anyway, Ryu was the one paying; he was just responsible for realizing the financier's requirements.
Compared to Kayaba's previous employers, Ryu was already an excellent investor—
After all, he both understood technology and "respected" technology!
"The codename is 'Berserker'... The Berserker's Black Armor?"
Kayaba pushed his glasses indifferently: "Is there any special meaning?"
"Nothing much."
Ryu paused, then said seriously: "Just consider it a form of tribute."
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