Hearing this, Asuna Yuuki couldn't keep a straight face and burst out laughing with a "pfft".
"Why would you think that?"
At this, Kouichirou couldn't help but say, "But what you just said, it sounded like you wanted to kill me."
"No, I should say even if you killed me, I couldn't produce that many."
"No matter how much we rush production, even if we work overtime regardless of the labour intensity, it's simply impossible to process 100,000 VR helmets in one day!"
"The most I can guarantee is the completion of 13,000 helmets by the morning of June 1st."
"Besides, the contract only states a guarantee to deliver 20,000 VR helmets within three days, by the 3rd at the latest, right?"
"That being the case, acting according to the contract is the normal thing to do, isn't it?"
Hearing her brother say this, Asuna Yuuki paused for a moment before replying:
"Actually... I wanted to say that the manufacturer under Yggdrasil has 80,000 helmets in stock."
The implication was that these 80,000 helmets were black market goods that needed to be laundered by RECT.
After speaking, Asuna Yuuki apologised profusely to her brother.
"I know this will be very difficult for the family, but the Director said this is the sincerity the Yuuki family needs to show..."
Hearing this, Kouichirou Yuuki fell silent.
He had heard from their father, Shouzou Yuuki, that his younger sister had recently joined a special organisation with the young lady of the main Kannagi family.
'So, this is a demand from the higher-ups over there for our family?'
Thinking of his father's instructions before he came to the factory, and then thinking that his sister might also need the family's support to gain a firm foothold in that organisation, Kouichirou Yuuki hesitated for a moment before saying:
"I understand. I'll take care of the details."
Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile:
"I'll leave it to you then, brother!"
Looking at his sister's flower-like smile, and then thinking about the troublesome matters he would have to deal with next, Kouichirou Yuuki suddenly felt that his sister's smile was perhaps a little too expensive.
...
Hidden Management Department, 3rd floor, inside an office.
Luo Shu and a group of girls sat around a long, rectangular glass table.
On the glass table were three electronic devices.
One was a thick, clumsy black helmet, similar to a motorcycle helmet.
Another was a pair of VR glasses with a sci-fi look.
The last was a device that looked like a smartwatch. For some reason, it was even a pink model.
Gazing at the large, medium, and small devices before him, Luo Shu turned his head and spoke to Tabane Shinonono, who was grinning and leaning over the sofa behind him.
"So, these are the virtual reality access devices developed by Copernicus?"
"To be precise, they're Bomb No. 1, Glasses No. 2, and Virtual Watch-kun~"
Hearing Tabane Shinonono's mischievous words, Luo Shu's eyelid twitched. He then said, exasperated, "Alright, I get it. The watch is different from the other two. No. 1 is the model that can fry a person's brain, and No. 2 is the improved version, right?"
At this point, something occurred to Luo Shu, and he asked with confusion, "Speaking of which, I seem to recall giving notice to prepare 100,000 units of the No. 1 model in advance..."
As he said this, Luo Shu glanced at Yukino Yukinoshita, who was beside him.
Faced with Luo Shu's question, Yukino Yukinoshita, attending the meeting as his secretary, said calmly, "It's a wonder you still remember that request."
With that, Yukino Yukinoshita sighed and continued, "Although you only announced this plan yesterday at noon, thankfully, with the help of Miss Lucia, the Sword Maiden, the production of 100,000 virtual helmets has been completed using the time flow and human resources of the Abyss world."
"Furthermore, the initial human trials have also completed the corresponding tests. At present, the actual effects show no deviation from what was expected."
Hearing Yukino Yukinoshita say this, Luo Shu immediately understood and said with full comprehension, "It seems a good number of goblins over there must have died, eh~"
It was just goblins from the Goblin Slayer world. Luo Shu's attitude had always been that they deserved to die, so he didn't care about such details. Instead, he said curiously, "In that case, my arrangement for Asuna to have Shouzou Yuuki prepare the virtual helmets' origins seems to have been quite timely, then?"
Hearing this, Kisara, who was sitting next to Luo Shu, couldn't help but ask curiously, "Speaking of which, Luo Shu, why did you have to specify Asuna's family for the helmet production?"
Kisara's question caught Luo Shu off guard. After all, the reasons in his heart were not easy to explain. Thus, after a moment of silence, he forced an explanation:
"...A personal preference, I suppose?"
Could he say that the original manufacturer of the virtual reality game was the Yuuki family's company?
As for arranging for Asuna to supervise, it was purely to give Asuna some practice and, incidentally, to raise her status within her family.
That was why Luo Shu had made such a decision.
Hearing that Luo Shu had no intention of explaining, Kisara tactfully refrained from asking further.
Luo Shu didn't think much of it. After all, if Kisara didn't press the issue, it would be easier for him.
With that matter settled, the thing Luo Shu was most concerned about was Kuesu Jingūji's advancement ritual.
He had, after all, tried many positions on her the day before yesterday. Having received an extra reward, Luo Shu had to, no matter what, help her get the job done properly.
At this thought, Luo Shu raised his head, looked at Kuesu Jingūji sitting opposite him, and explained, "For the first round of closed beta testing, I plan to release 100,000 virtual helmets directly. You should be able to handle that, right?"
According to the requirements of Kuesu Jingūji's ritual, Luo Shu needed to ensure that at least ten thousand people were online on the first day of the virtual game.
Considering the online rate and the effect of the ritual, Luo Shu believed that one hundred thousand slots should be a safe number.
'With one hundred thousand closed beta slots, no matter what, with the gimmick of it being the world's first virtual reality game, I should be able to guarantee fifty thousand people online, right?'
Hearing Luo Shu's overly cautious operation, Kuesu Jingūji couldn't help but look at him.
Although she really wanted to say some words of gratitude, Kuesu Jingūji saw Kisara sitting next to Luo Shu, holding his right arm, who was purely there to make up the numbers.
Then, she turned her head slightly and saw Mira Tsubakihara sitting on Luo Shu's left, responsible for the technical support for the rapid production of the devices.
Finally, Kuesu Jingūji glanced at Tabane Shinonono, who was leaning on the sofa behind Luo Shu, trying to hug his neck from behind.
Then she thought of Kurumi Tokisaki, Nia Honjo, and Kirika Tachibana sitting beside her.
Instantly, Kuesu Jingūji lost the mood to express her thanks. Instead, she said in a slightly sour tone, "I think I should be able to accept the access of a hundred thousand people."
"Of course, if my emotional system recovers a little later, I imagine there wouldn't be any problem even if a million people accessed it at the same time."
Faced with this kind of statement, Luo Shu could only pretend not to have heard Kuesu Jingūji's words.
'The day before yesterday, she was saying Yggdrasil could support tens of millions online, and now she's talking about a hundred thousand, a million. She's clearly just throwing a little tantrum.'
Amused by this, Luo Shu avoided answering and set the tone for the matter directly, "If there are no objections, I'll make the arrangements."
'I'll find a private moment to comfort Kuesu after the meeting...' Thinking this, Luo Shu turned his head, looked at Kirika Tachibana sitting to Kuesu's right, and said half-jokingly, "Visiting so early in the morning, has there been new progress with that Bloodline Dominator Class of yours?"
Hearing this, Kirika Tachibana's eyebrows rose slightly. She glanced at Nia Honjo and Kurumi Tokisaki beside her, then smiled and nodded at Luo Shu.
"Judging from the summary of the current results, there has indeed been progress, I suppose."
After speaking, Kirika Tachibana paused, then said to Luo Shu, "I wonder if you, Luo Shu, have heard of the School of Life?"