We returned to our journey in the wagon. Miti-chan sat perched in the driver's seat, while Alto and Penpen stayed inside the carriage with me.
"...'Restriction Release Code_v1.0,' huh?"
"Yeah. I got an email from management dated yesterday."
"Ah, I received that one too just now-ssu! Should we try entering it right away-ssu?"
"Let’s see... Oh, I've got it too. I already copied it to my clipboard."
Since it was called a restriction release, it surely didn't mean that the things we could do would decrease.
"Wait, Penpen-shi. Shouldn't we hold off on entering it so suddenly? At least until the wagon journey is over and we're back at our Home."
"Eh, I already put it in-ssu! If we’re going to use it anyway, the sooner the better-ssu. Oh, so this is the card. Use!"
A black card materialized in Penpen’s hand, and she activated it without a second thought.
She certainly didn't hesitate! She had done the same thing back with the 'Second Character,' jumping in before the rest of us.
"Whoa."
"W-What's wrong, Penpen-shi?"
"What happened!?"
"...You should just try entering it yourself-ssu!"
I thought she could have just told us, but it didn't seem like anything bad had happened. I decided to give it a try.
I navigated the menu, quickly punched it into the code entry screen, and obtained the card. A black card appeared, wedged into one of my Slime Body’s tentacles.
"...Ugh! I almost feel like I want to save it as a souvenir!"
"I'm using mine! Maybe this will finally strip away those erotic filters!"
With those words, Alto activated hers.
"Gunu... I-I'll use mine too!"
I selected the card and chose 'Use.' The card vanished with a faint shimmer, and then... nothing seemed to have changed.
Hmm? What exactly was different?
"Hoh... Hoh! So that's how it is!"
"Penpen, Alto. I don't feel like anything's changed..."
"Heh, you didn't notice? Check the Config menu!"
"It’s because Alto-shi and I predicted it beforehand and had the Config window open, so we noticed the change immediately-ssu."
"D-Don't tell me... Did they add an option for an Ethics Code Release!?"
I opened the Config. There, an item that hadn't existed before had been added to the list.
'Time Acceleration'
...So it was that!!
"Wait. But hasn't space-time been distorted in this world anyway?"
"It means you can now set that distortion however you like."
"This is incredible-ssu. It looks like you can set the Real-world Speed down to 0.1."
"...Meaning?"
"It means that even if you spend ten days here, only one day passes in the real world-ssu!"
"T-That's insane!?"
That was a level of acceleration that felt almost illegal. If I cranked it up that high, I’d turn into a total shut-in before I knew it.
"Well, even if it's a restriction release, it's not at full power. When I was playing as Nika-chan, six months in-game only took a single real-world day."
"Oh yeah, that was the case for you. That’s over a hundred times faster... Is that why this is only version 1.0?"
"Even so, even if it's not that extreme, at this setting's maximum multiplier, roughly two and a half hours here equals an entire day!"
Two and a half hours for a day. That meant...
"Hey now, doesn't that mean I can play for three days' worth of time every single day after work...?"
"Even if your body wouldn't hold up without getting some actual sleep in the real world, you could still work a shift and then spend two full days relaxing here..."
"I can see it now: I’ll get home from work, immediately dive into VR, and head 'Home' for the night. Honestly, that’s exactly what I’m going to do."
It looked like my life was about to reach the point where I could truly say reality was garbage.
Well, this game did have the Ethics Code and all that. For now, I decided to set my Real-world Speed to the maximum of 0.1.
"I think I'll be doing the same-ssu! I’m going to make my Home incredible-ssu!"
"Me too."
"I want to get my own Home soon too...! I only have about three SP Requests left! Hey Penpen, can you make anime character tapestries?"
Come to think of it, you could make tapestries with Crafting. If I made the designs based on anime characters, my Home would transform into a total otaku room.
"I’m no good at drawing-ssu... We’ll just have to find a player who works as an Artist."
"Is an NPC no good?"
"NPCs don't have any reference for the art from our world-ssu."
That was true. If I had an Artist from this world draw something, the best I could hope for was a painting of a nude woman to hang on the wall.
"...Heh, but look at me!"
"Alto, are you actually someone who can draw?"
"Oh, was Alto-shi an Artist-ssu!?"
"No, I mean look at me. I'm saying they should just draw me!"
Ah, come to think of it, her avatar's appearance was...!
"I see. Your appearance is—"
"Exactly. My appearance is a perfect match for that character! In other words, if they draw me, it's basically Fan Art!"
"Filling your room with pictures of yourself is a whole new level of narcissism-ssu."
"Portraits, huh? I didn't think of that."
Well, decorating with your own character was acceptable, in its own way.
"But what about the art style? I don't think the NPCs could manage SD art."
"...! T-That's true!"
"Ah, then we really will have to ask a player who is an Artist-ssu."
I guess that was the only way. I hoped that there would be players in the new town we were heading toward, and that one of them would be an Artist.
"Lord Spirit! A monster appeared!"
"Oops, I was so focused on the conversation I wasn't watching the map."
"Oh, let's take it out!"
"If it's something we can get meat from, we should make it dinner-ssu!"
"Even if we can't, it'll be Miti-chan's meal."
After that, we arrived at the Carriage Campsite safely without any further incidents.
"Well then, let's set up the Home and head back for a bit!"
So, it wasn't an Ethics Code Release after all. Figures. What a letdown.