The internal council's reflections on the nature of the world and their speculations about Imaginary Energy did not affect the normal progress and development of Earth's civilization.
This was true for everything, from the already initiated canal construction to Hachiman Hikigaya's ascension as the Prime Minister of the Far East, and including the accelerated infiltration of the Far East by Academy City's various research institutes and companies.
Hachiman Hikigaya felt that his position as Prime Minister was somewhat terrifying. He felt as if he had been turned into a figurehead by Academy City.
With the large-scale entry of androids, who directly replaced the original staff, the androids operating under these people's names were all politically competent and outstanding.
In an instant, people in society suddenly discovered that the old leaders were no longer playing around with their female secretaries or organizing boy band idol pedophile rings. Even more bizarrely, each and every one of them had become an outstanding model worker.
The stench of corruption was swept away, and they all became tools for serving the people.
It was truly terrifying!
Even if the common people suspected that these officials had been replaced by androids, they had no intention of speaking up and exposing the truth.
What was the point of exposing it? To change things back? What good would that do them?
Well done, androids! It's best if you replace all those bastards!
The people of the Far East quickly began to enjoy the pleasure of having androids who genuinely served the people. This immediately caused a huge uproar in outside public opinion.
However, this time it wasn't the United States' turn to control the narrative. Academy City had rearranged the quantum communication servers and transferred the main root server of the Far East. The phenomenon of Academy City's public opinion being controlled by the outside world would no longer occur.
However, Hachi-man once again encountered a problem.
It wasn't about social management; the androids created by Academy City were far more competent at social management than normal people.
It was about the application of the Stigma Space.
"Why does this thing exist? How can someone with a Tier 5 Stigma Battlesuit be researching games? When did they appear? Manabu Horikita, what's going on? Why is there a Stigma will specifically for games?"
Hachiman Hikigaya found it utterly absurd. Someone had awakened a Stigma, and instead of immediately getting stronger and building up their influence, they were researching games.
"Sora... this pair of siblings, the sister is also named Shiro. Is this for real?"
Hachiman Hikigaya began to wonder if there were other hidden masters in the world he existed in. How were these people so good at hiding? They secretly developed their Stigma power just to play games?
He couldn't understand it at all!
Hei looked down at this up-and-coming buddy.
No wonder he couldn't find them. A look at their file revealed that the siblings were complete NEET. The only reason they hadn't starved to death was because of their work as online game boosters.
"Damn, boosters!"
Hei cursed under his breath. The first thing he hated when playing games was cheaters, and the second was boosters. You'd encounter these guys in every new season of every game.
He didn't dare to act on his first hatred; his own boss, the Mother of Stigmas, was physically cheating. There was nothing to say about that. Could the actions of the Imperial Princess be called cheating?
"How did they train their Stigma to the fifth tier?"
Hei didn't understand. How could such NEET train like that?
"They... um... seem to have treated the Stigma Battlesuit as a game to be 'cleared.' Tsk..."
Hachiman Hikigaya glanced at the siblings' file. The information of anyone who reached Tier 5 Stigma was clearly recorded. The siblings were honest people; after being questioned, they frankly confessed their story.
And then... the two of them used their Stigma power to create their own game.
"How is the effect? Does it impact other Stigma Battlesuits?"
Manabu Horikita had never seen a game-related Stigma Battlesuit before. He was somewhat curious about the siblings' Stigma situation.
Hei carefully reviewed the information again and said:
"Well, how should I put it? The Stigma Battlesuit they created has a very weak impact on reality. It's all focused on game creation in the Stigma Space. Instead, they've created an amazing game-like otherworld in the Stigma Space, similar to a cyberspace."
"They've earned a large amount of Stigma points by selling game guides and pricing them. Quite a few people have bought the Stigma Battlesuits derived from the siblings, hoping to create their own Stigma games and enter this market to make money."
"It's really enviable. Unfortunately, without the same level of passion for games as the siblings, it's impossible to create a qualifying game-type Stigma."
Towards the end, Hei was already starting to envy the siblings' talent. Such great talent, and it was all used for playing games. What a waste of a heavenly gift.
"By controlling the internal memory of the Stigma and influencing the gene-related content, the two siblings have developed a controllable Stigma will projection and built a Stigma Space that offers a limited-time trial experience... huh? That's actually pretty impressive..."
Hei fell into deep thought as he looked at the siblings' file. This special Stigma Space architecture seemed to be specifically suited for training in special scenarios.
"Where are they now? I think we can have the research institute invest more Stigma research resources in them. Unfortunately, the siblings' real-life experience is too limited, so the Stigma Space experiences they create are mostly recreations of scenes from games."
Hachiman Hikigaya felt that Hei was thinking too much. He said, "I don't think your idea is feasible. Any game is just an abstract imitation and reproduction of real-world problems. They can indeed bring education and thought, but they can't make people deeply experience the pain of change. Only the interaction between people in a game can bring new emotional value."
"I think it's useless to just go to them. Don't think about these things in the way of an official giving guidance. The times have changed. What we need is to help them have more practical activities."
Hachi-man's words made Kiyotaka Ayanokoji feel a mix of amusement and exasperation. When he had ordered the introduction of Academy City's power to purge the old conscription enforcers, he hadn't considered the issue of service at all.
Hei looked at Manabu Horikita, who, to his surprise, also nodded in agreement with Hachiman Hikigaya's proposal.
Manabu Horikita said, "I also suggest we maintain their private practical activity capabilities, rather than directly pulling them into management. That wouldn't be good for us or for them."
Hei had already sensed the difference in identity and role between himself and the others.
For someone who served the Kaslanas, not the entire society, Hei's position was already in conflict with that of his friends.
'Have the interests of Academy City and the Kaslanas started to diverge?'
Hei silently noted this change.