20. The Land Without Night, Tidally Locked

“Neil’s world shouldn’t have creatures like this, right?” Marge suddenly asked.

“Shouldn’t…” Lino hesitated as he moved a stool and leaned his head into the water pipe. Then, all three of them heard a system voice:

【Hidden storyline involved. Consider carefully whether to proceed.】

“Did you hear that special mission notice?” Chen Shou stammered. The frequency of unexpected events was more than he had anticipated, and panic quickly spread through his mind.

Lino remained expressionless; he had already encountered this during the newcomer selection process. “It’s just a hidden storyline… The diary hinted that the missing Leaf Corps were near the suspension bridge. The next hidden mission location should be there. We can follow the map—no need to go through the pipes.”

After speaking, he picked up his gun bag and placed a relatively intact monster corpse inside.

Never underestimate the value of a corpse—in a well-equipped environment, corpses are perfect materials for making bombs and traps.

Inside a compartment of the gun bag, he also found a curved magazine loaded with 30 rounds of M1943 intermediate power rifle ammunition.

“All set, let’s move.”

On their way back, the three of them arranged themselves like a traditional RPG party, lined up front, middle, and back, cautiously moving through the tall grass.

Lino, walking between the two, felt a slight unease.

The diary mentioned “the coming of the Night,” a strange signal.

The world of NieR: Automata itself was peculiar.

The main stories of the game, animation, and manga took place in the Earth’s daytime realm, also called the Land of Day.

On the opposite side of the planet—the Americas—there was no daylight, thus known as the Land of Night.

Lino accessed his memory of the game.

The timeline centered around the year 5012 AD, when aliens invaded Earth.

By 5024 AD, the aliens began producing mechanical lifeforms in the Land of Night.

The reason Earth was split between day and night was tidal locking.

Incomplete records indicated that tidal locking occurred around the 2600s.

In other words, Earth in this world did not rotate.

It always kept the same hemisphere facing the sun as it orbited.

In the past, Lino would have thought such a setting impossible in reality. Tidal locking causes extreme temperature differences—the sunlit side would be scorching, the dark side freezing cold.

Moreover, the stark thermal contrast between day and night hemispheres generated powerful convection currents; fierce winds constantly blew from night to day side, creating new circulation patterns, resulting in global rainstorms and mega-storms, permanently altering the original land and sea distribution and weather systems.

But he himself was a puppet in a virtual world, so any illogical aspect could be dismissed outright.

Even if someone called him “a piece of crap,” he’d first ponder whether he truly was one.

Returning to his thoughts.

The Land of Day had no night, and the Land of Night had no day.

In the original NieR story, many plots emphasized that “there was no night” in this world; they regarded twilight and dawn at the border between night and day as “night.”

This reminded Lino of three lines from a conversation he overheard on the train:

—A day world without night, being invaded by darkness, dawn will be the turning point.

Interpreted, it meant: “The mission area is being invaded by a destructive new creature, and night will mark a critical juncture.”

Lino shared this insight with the two people ahead and behind him, then offered a simple deduction.

“According to the setting, most monsters in NieR: Automata are mechanical lifeforms. The diary mentioned the Resistance encountered unknown creatures, so there are two hypotheses:

One, previously unseen creatures from this world have appeared;

Two, entities from other games, or other worlds, have entered NieR: Automata.”

Marge proposed, “Could some of those dangerous creatures include female centaurs?”

“I’d actually welcome centaurs—riding one would make travel easier. But that’s probably not the case,” Lino replied. The kind of riding he and Marge imagined were likely different.

Chen Shou quietly listened, feeling only one thing:

I seem to be part of some strange treasure hunt…

If I hadn’t boarded Lino and Marge’s dodgy ship, I’d probably be enjoying a straightforward linear game protected by the Resistance.

With that thought, he mustered a weary question: “Lino… how do you know so much about the game?”

Lino answered, “No job, just bored.”

That explained it… Chen Shou realized this guy was either lying or working a secretive job in real life.

He was definitely dangerous.

Chen Shou glanced at Marge wearing a Doraemon mask beside him.

This guy was even more dangerous.

“By the way, Skinny, what’s that slingshot that shoots birds?” Lino asked.

“Haha… that?” Chen Shou scratched his cheek awkwardly and took out the slingshot, revealing its stats to everyone.

【Slingshot Overtraining!】

【Quality: Fine】

【Equip Requirement: Reflex 3】

【Effect: Comes with ten large bird-shaped lead pellets; when ammo runs out, it takes 10 minutes cooldown before ammo replenishes automatically】

【Special Trait: 15% damage bonus against pigs】

【Description: Darn!!!】

Seeing this “inventive” slingshot was still usable, Lino felt relieved.

After all, Chen Shou’s artillery role was crucial in this scenario.

Marge glanced over, snorted, then took off his rifle and handed it to Chen Shou.

Chen Shou was dumbfounded, not understanding why.

Marge said, “You managed to hit that monster midair precisely earlier, so you must have unlocked [Long-Range Sniping], right?”

Chen Shou was speechless; it was true.

He got the slingshot as a starter weapon during the “newcomer selection.”

After being led into his own space by the train, Chen Shou chose to bind that weapon and unlocked his [Long-Range Sniping].

All these operations cost him 800 gold coins.

After two subsequent missions, nearly going bankrupt once, he realized the importance of carefully managing gold in the Endless Corridor.

Like a pregnant woman crossing a log bridge—one wrong step could mean death.

“Skinny, keep the rifle,” Lino’s voice pulled Chen Shou back from his memories. “You’re the only one with shooting skills. If your slingshot cools down, the rifle in your hands can be used to the fullest.”

Chen Shou silently accepted the rifle and the magazine Lino handed him.

Competition among players largely revolves around “treasures.”

Having undergone two missions, Chen Shou knew players always scrambled to grab rewards.

He couldn’t even imagine these two proactively handing over weapons.

“Brother Ma, thanks…” Chen Shou looked at Lino again, “Thanks, I’ll do my best to cover you.”

I shouldn’t have been suspicious of them, especially not their humanity… Chen Shou felt a faint and somewhat pointless guilt.

At that moment, Lino smiled and added, “Now you’re the artillery. Artillery can’t move during battle.”

“Huh?” Chen Shou was stunned. “Does that mean I’m a sitting target?”

“But this maximizes cover effectiveness,” Lino explained.

Chen Shou pondered briefly, thinking maybe… but also maybe not.

“You’re basically telling me to die!”

Lino replied, “Let me put it another way—you’re just very helpful.”

“That’s still telling me to die!” Chen Shou, forgetting the tension from the fight, grumbled.

By then, they had returned to the tricycle’s location.

Chen Shou watched as Lino dug some soil, pulled some grass, and covered the android they had knocked out earlier.

Chen Shou wisely didn’t ask why—whatever the reason, it was certainly not good.

Half right: it was purposeful, but definitely not malicious.

The Resistance’s [Rescue the Wounded] mission required level 15.

A mission above their average player level wouldn’t be easy.

If they took the Resistance member to the camp for emergency repairs, they’d likely be ambushed en route.

For safety, Lino planned to postpone the mission.

If they could acquire more weapons first, then figure out how to complete this side quest.

This time, Lino took the lead on the tricycle.

He pulled out the map, marked a location, and pointed at the roads. “After all, this game is sci-fi. Even if the mission fails, finding futuristic weapons is worth it. We should encounter mechanical lifeforms along the way—they’ll definitely have weapons: bullets, guns, shields. If we’re lucky, maybe powerful cold weapons to buy in-game, or unseen ranged weapons like a particle cannon.”

If there was a powerful ranged weapon, Lino considered unlocking [Long-Range Sniping].

Especially the mechanical lifeforms’ guns that fired bullet barrage spheres—just thinking about it made him eager.

But on the road, not a single mechanical lifeform appeared.

“Strange… Where are the mechanical lifeforms?”

Arriving at a ruined area, Lino noticed a small iron car crushed under rocks about twenty meters away.

His expression suddenly changed as he slammed on the brakes.

Chen Shou’s flesh shifted painfully on the seat, and he groaned, “Lino… what’s wrong now?”

Seeing Lino’s face, as if he had just seen a thousand naked women running wild on the street, sent a chill down his spine.

“Wait here for me.”

Lino said, then got off and hurried over, moving the rocks aside. A blue overturned iron car came into view.

Marge’s face froze. “Holy crap…”

Chen Shou was stunned. “Brother Ma… what’s wrong?”

“That looks like Emil,” Marge said.

“Emil?” Chen Shou had never played NieR and didn’t know what he meant, but he felt uneasy and stammered, “Wh-who is that?”

Marge frowned, his voice tinged with unease. “The hidden boss of NieR: Automata.”