The unfinished building stood dark against the night sky.

Usinomics entered through the construction area.

Large walls had already been placed, along with rows of windows and several structural supports. The scale made the interior feel more like an industrial facility than an office.

Some sections remained empty.

Others contained temporary work areas.

The employee sleeping space had not yet been completed.

Usinomics opened the construction menu.

A bed was selected.

The frame appeared as a transparent outline.

It was moved once.

Then again.

Too close to the wall.

Too far from the entrance.

Too exposed beneath the windows.

Usinomics adjusted the position.

The bed materialized.

Another employee bed was selected.

The headquarters might eventually require several.

People working late should not have to travel back through the city in exhaustion. A safe place to sleep was part of a functional workplace.

At least, that was the theory.

In practice, Usinomics was already struggling to remain awake while arranging the first few pieces.

The construction menu blurred slightly.

Usinomics blinked.

The selected bed rotated in the wrong direction.

It was corrected.

A small table was placed beside it.

Then removed.

Then placed again.

The room still needed lighting, partitions, storage, and a proper route to the rest of the building.

Those problems could wait.

Usinomics sat on the nearest completed bed.

The mattress compressed under the weight.

Outside, the new gates continued to glow on opposite sides of Moo66.

Beyond the property, the city remained awake.

Farther still, beneath the dark surface of the sea, the opened passage waited between the rocks.

Perhaps the Ancient Whale was already many miles away.

Perhaps it had returned to deeper water.

Perhaps, somewhere beyond the survey zone, another person had looked down into the ocean and seen a pale shape moving beneath the moonlight.

Usinomics lay back.

The headquarters ceiling remained unfinished above.

There were still walls to build.

More beds to make.

More land to purchase.

More flowers to water.

More routes to connect.

More legends hidden beneath the world.

Usinomics closed both eyes.

The final thought of the day was neither the whale nor the mansion.

It was the transportation gate.

Tomorrow, I should test whether the others can use it.

Sleep arrived before the thought could become a plan.

Outside, the crops continued growing in the dark.

The flowers at the distant mansion remained permanently in bloom.

And beneath the sea, the Ancient Whale traveled freely through the open water.

The headquarters stood beneath a rain-heavy sky.

From a distance, the unfinished building looked almost complete. Its white exterior walls had already risen above the surrounding land, and long rows of dark-framed windows reflected the dim blue of early morning. Red structural beams divided the façade into broad sections, giving the building the severe appearance of an industrial research center.

Up close, however, the truth was obvious.

Several rooms remained empty.

Some walls ended without doors.

Equipment had been installed before anyone had decided exactly where it belonged.

The employee beds were still waiting to be completed.

Moo66 had learned to look finished from far away.

Usinomics stood outside the building and studied it in silence.

The transportation gate beside the wall continued to swirl with pale blue light. Now that its matching gate had been installed on the opposite side of the property, it no longer resembled an expensive decoration.

It had become infrastructure.

Usinomics stepped through.

The world flashed white.

For an instant, the windows of the headquarters, the black lower wall, and the dark outline of the surrounding property collapsed into overlapping fragments.

Then the light released him.

Usinomics emerged near the rear side of Moo66.

The transfer took less time than turning a corner.

He looked back at the gate.

The gate continued moving as though it had done nothing remarkable.

A notification chimed.

Usinomics stopped.

The sound had not come from the headquarters construction menu.

It had not come from the sea-survey association.

It was a personal message.

He opened the notification.

A formal letter appeared against the screen.

Dear Pioneer,

Before we knew it, we had already spent a great deal of time together.

You accepted an invitation and came to this island. Since then, what kind of story have you created here? What companions have you met? What places have become important to you?

Wherever you may be, we hope that your daily life will always be filled with small, warm moments of happiness.

Thank you for meeting us.

Usinomics read the message twice.

It was not a task.

It did not request crops, photographs, furniture, materials, survey data, or assistance.

There was no deadline.

No progress bar appeared beneath it.

The message simply acknowledged that time had passed.

A gift window opened.

Encounter Appreciation Gift

* 100 Draw Tickets
* 1 Birthday Sunglasses
* 1 Clothing Top

The items entered his inventory one after another.

The tickets arrived first, represented by a stack so large that the icon barely fit inside the display.

The sunglasses followed.

Then the new top.

Usinomics stared at the words Encounter Appreciation Gift.

The island rarely gave anything without attaching a task to it.

Even kindness usually arrived in the form of a request.

This gift asked for nothing.

That alone made it unusual.

Usinomics entered Moo66 and walked toward the staff room, where several computers remained permanently connected to the network.

The room had accumulated equipment faster than it had developed a coherent design.

One desk held a laptop.

Another supported two monitors.

A third had been squeezed beside a wooden storage unit filled with books, folders, tools, and objects that did not belong to the same category.

A row of black drawers stood against the wall.

Above the desks, framed duck pictures had been arranged in no obvious order.

One duck appeared to be running.

Another wore a dark hat.

A third stood in profile against a bright green background.

A smaller picture displayed a pink bird.

Another showed something orange that may once have been connected to an event.

The entire room looked like the administrative office of a recycling shop that had unexpectedly acquired a digital media department.

Usinomics sat in front of one of the computers.

The screen was already active.

A draw interface appeared after he selected the tickets.

One ticket was consumed.

A small reward appeared.

Then another draw became available.

Usinomics selected it again.

The system requested more tickets than before.

He continued.

The required number increased with each round.

What had initially appeared to be an enormous supply began shrinking at an unreasonable rate.

The rewards arrived in flashes of color.

Materials.

Decorations.

Items that seemed useful.

Items that did not.

Duplicates.

Objects whose purpose could not be understood without opening another menu.

The numbers changed again.

Usinomics paused.

The tickets were no longer sufficient to complete every remaining draw.

He looked at the coffee machine beside the wall.

There was no need to continue.

The system had been designed to make one hundred tickets feel generous and insufficient at the same time.

Usinomics prepared a cup of coffee.

The machine made a low mechanical sound.

Steam rose from the cup.

He returned to the desk, took a drink, and left the unfinished draw sequence behind.

Another notification waited on the screen.

This one carried the seal of the association.

Usinomics normally treated association mail as environmental background.

The messages were frequent.

Some repeated information already displayed elsewhere.

Others congratulated members for activities they had performed several days earlier.

Most were opened only long enough to collect the attached reward.

This time, Usinomics read the message.

Canyon Exploration Guide III

To Pioneer Usinomics,

During this period, everyone has contributed a great deal of effort toward saving the canyon. Thank you for your hard work.

While the marine archaeology team rests in the nearby town, they may require assistance. Please help the guests who have traveled from far away whenever you are able.

Marine cleanup operations are also continuing. Before long, a beautiful underwater landscape may be revealed.

A transfer notification appeared.

1,000 Acorns received.

Usinomics nearly lowered the cup too quickly.

“One thousand?”

The amount entered the account immediately.

There was no negotiation.

No store clerk.

No administrator asking for identification.

No separate approval process.

The association had simply transferred the money.

Usinomics looked again at the phrase marine cleanup operations.

Until now, the repeated removal of black growths, contaminated clusters, moldlike deposits, and infected material had felt like a sequence of game tasks.

Locate the contamination.

Fire the cleansing equipment.

Watch the progress indicator rise.

Move to the next section.

It had been work, but it had also been strangely easy to understand.

The objective always glowed.

The contaminated material was always visibly different from its surroundings.

Completion was always confirmed.

Real environmental work rarely offered such clarity.

Usinomics looked at the account balance.

He took another drink of coffee.

The amount remained on the screen.

A new thought followed.

Usinomics looked toward the ceiling.

The computer offered no economic correction.

The duck pictures remained equally silent.

Outside the staff room, something moved near the mailbox.

Usinomics stood and walked toward the entrance.

Shibanomics sat directly beneath the post.

The black Shiba Inu held a remarkably formal posture.

Front paws aligned.

Back straight.

Head raised.

From a distance, the dog appeared to be part of the mailbox structure.

The post rose above her.

The dark shape of her body completed its base.

Usinomics stopped several steps away.

The dog looked toward him.

Shibanomics did not appear offended.

Her tail began moving across the ground.

Once.

Twice.

Then faster.

The dog clearly recognized that Usinomics was talking to her.

She simply did not understand what he meant.

She had not understood the content.

Usinomics looked at the post again.

The dog had clearly understood that she was being addressed.

He smiled.

The resemblance remained.

Shibanomics continued wagging her tail with the confidence of someone who had received praise.

Usinomics let the matter end there.

Some explanations created no practical improvement.

The gift remained unopened.

Usinomics returned inside and completed the usual sequence first.

Hands were washed.

Gargling followed.

The gate had reduced travel time, but it had not reduced the need for hygiene.

Afterward, Usinomics entered the powder room and opened the inventory.

The birthday sunglasses appeared first.

They were more decorative than subtle.

The frames were light-colored and soft in shape, with details suggesting that they had been designed for celebration rather than fieldwork.

Usinomics put them on.

The reflection in the mirror looked cheerful.

Possibly too cheerful.

Then the new clothing top was selected.

The previous shirt disappeared in a soft flash.

The gift top replaced it.

Usinomics adjusted the collar.

The material appeared clean and newly issued, without the wear that came from agriculture, construction, or marine surveys.

It was not formal.

It was not tactical.

It belonged to the category of clothing intended to make an ordinary day feel slightly more important.

Usinomics looked at the complete outfit.

The birthday sunglasses altered the face more than expected.

For several seconds, the powder room no longer looked like part of a diner.

It looked like a private dressing area before a performance.

Usinomics smiled.

The gift had no practical effect on the headquarters.

It did not expand the land.

It did not purchase beds.

The marine survey was complete.

But the sea always had another mystery waiting to be explored.

Yet it created happiness with unusual efficiency.

That was its own form of usefulness.

Usinomics left the powder room wearing the new top.

The sunglasses remained on.

There was no reason to remove them immediately.

In the staff room, the collection of computers continued glowing.

Several screens displayed colorful interfaces.

One showed a design program.

Another displayed a collection of images.

A laptop remained open beside a shelf of books.

The wall-mounted ducks watched over the entire arrangement with administrative seriousness.

Usinomics stood in front of the desks.

The room had been assembled from rewards, available furniture, practical necessity, and objects that had nowhere else to go.

It was not elegant.

It was functional.

Mostly.

The headquarters would eventually require a proper office.

Only newly manufactured products were offered. Used items were never resold, reflecting the headquarters’ commitment to hygiene and quality.

Another association marker activated.

The unfinished investigation was still waiting beneath the sea.

Usinomics removed the birthday sunglasses and stored them safely.

The gift top was covered with survey clothing.

Equipment was inspected.

Breathing support was checked.

The contamination-removal water gun was secured.

A camera was added to the kit.

The next assignment involved archaeological documentation.

Usinomics left Moo66.

The deep-sea canyon looked different after the release of the Ancient Whale.

The water seemed clearer in some areas.

Currents passed more freely through the opened route.

Small fish had already entered spaces that had previously been blocked by contamination.

Sunlight descended through the water in long blue shafts, touching the upper rock formations before fading into the deeper ravine.

The marine archaeology team had placed markers along a new route.

Usinomics followed them.

The path descended between coral-covered ledges.

Pink branches extended from the rocks like frozen lightning.

Small blue organisms glowed near the seabed.

Golden points of light drifted through the canyon and formed a trail through the water.

The assignment description appeared.

Archaeological Survey: Whale Remains

Required documentation:

・Left side
・Right side
・Rear view

Usinomics read the list.

No front view was required.

The reason was not explained.

Beyond the next formation, the seabed opened into a broad clearing.

Something pale rested between the rocks.

At first, the shapes resembled broken pillars.

Then the full structure became visible.

A whale skeleton lay across the canyon floor.

Its ribs rose from the seabed in a sequence of enormous arches. Coral had grown around several sections, covering the bones in pale pink branches. Smaller plants had rooted in the spaces between vertebrae.

The skull extended toward one side of the clearing.

The spine continued so far behind it that the remains seemed less like the body of an animal and more like the ruins of a collapsed bridge.

Usinomics stopped.

The Ancient Whale had represented movement.

Light.

Breath.

A living legend crossing the water.

This whale represented stillness.

Its body had disappeared long ago, but its shape remained.

The sea had not removed it.

Instead, the canyon had built around it.

Fish moved between the ribs.

Bubbles rose through the empty space where lungs had once expanded.

Coral grew from the bones as though the ocean had decided that death should not be permitted to remain empty.

Usinomics activated the camera.

The left-side marker appeared first.

He swam toward the designated position.

The whale’s rib cage filled most of the frame.

The camera rejected the angle.

Usinomics moved lower.

Rejected.

He moved farther back.

The skeleton became clearer, but the marker remained incomplete.

He moved closer to the skull.

The frame captured too much coral and not enough bone.

Rejected again.

The current pushed lightly against the camera.

Usinomics adjusted position.

A pale line appeared around the required area.

He held still.

The image registered.

Left-side documentation complete.

Usinomics looked at the photograph.

The angle did not seem dramatically different from several of the rejected images.

The system, however, had made its decision.

The right-side marker activated.

Usinomics crossed beneath the rib cage.

For a moment, the bones rose on both sides like the interior supports of a cathedral.

Pink light moved across their surfaces.

Fish passed overhead.

He reached the opposite side, raised the camera, and centered the remains.

The image registered immediately.

Right-side documentation complete.

Usinomics lowered the camera.

The rear-view marker appeared beyond the spine.

He swam toward it.

The tail section had collapsed into a dense formation of vertebrae, broken bones, coral, and stone.

Unlike the side views, there was no obvious composition.

From above, the skeleton became a pale line surrounded by the seabed.

From below, the bones overlapped until their structure became unreadable.

From the center, coral blocked several important sections.

Usinomics took a photograph.

Rejected.

He rose higher.

Another photograph.

Rejected.

He descended until his knees nearly touched the seabed.

Rejected.

The required marker pulsed without sympathy.

Usinomics moved to the left.

Then right.

Then directly behind the final vertebrae.

The camera continued refusing every attempt.

The rear of a whale skeleton, Usinomics discovered, was far less cooperative than the rear of a building.

There were no windows.

No walls.

No straight lines.

Only bones arranged by anatomy, gravity, currents, time, and coral growth.

Usinomics considered abandoning the assignment temporarily.

The association had already provided one thousand acorns.

It had been generous.

The least he could do was submit three photographs.

He moved closer.

The skeleton filled the screen.

Too close, perhaps.

Usinomics adjusted the angle only slightly and activated the camera.

The marker flashed.

Rear-view documentation complete.

He stared at the confirmation.

The accepted image had been taken from a position that seemed less informative than several of the rejected ones.

The system did not explain.

It rarely did.

Usinomics stored the camera and swam around the skeleton toward the front.

No marker appeared.

The skull rested partially against the seabed.

Its shape was unmistakable.

The long structure.

The open spaces.

The enormous jaw.

Even someone unfamiliar with marine anatomy would likely recognize it as the remains of a whale.

Usinomics looked from the skull to the completed assignment list.

He moved slightly closer.

Perhaps the answer was obvious.

Most people knew the face of a whale.

Illustrations, stories, toys, signs, and sea-survey records usually showed whales from the front or side.

The rear was less familiar.

A person might recognize the skull and still fail to identify the long sequence of vertebrae and ribs without context.

Usinomics had passed the skeleton many times during survey work.

It had become part of the landscape.

To someone seeing it for the first time, the bones might resemble ruins, roots, arches, or the remains of an unknown creature.

The assignment may not have been testing whether the team could recognize a whale.

It may have been documenting the parts people usually failed to notice.

Usinomics looked through the ribs toward the blue water beyond.

The Ancient Whale had been remembered as a whole.

This whale could only be studied in pieces.

The sight remained in his mind.

The archaeological documentation was complete, but the marine cleanup operation continued.

Black contaminated growths remained attached to several rocks near the lower canyon.

Usinomics equipped the cleansing water gun.

The first cluster pulsed between two coral branches.

A concentrated stream struck it.

The contamination recoiled.

Its surface fractured into dark particles before dissolving into the surrounding water.

A second cluster covered part of the seabed.

Usinomics activated the cleaner once again, continuing to remove contamination from the surrounding waters with its powerful suction.

The black contamination took longer to remove this time.

The progress indicator moved slowly.

More water.

Another burst.

The contamination separated from the stone and vanished.

Clean color returned beneath it.

Small organisms emerged from hiding.

A school of silver fish entered the cleared area as though it had been waiting just beyond the edge of the screen.

The association called it marine cleanup.

The phrase changed the work.

Usinomics no longer saw only a task marker.

He saw the space that returned after the contamination disappeared.

The coral that became visible again.

The routes reopened to fish.

The difference between an infected canyon and a living one.

The final cleanup marker completed.

A soft chime moved through the equipment.

No large reward appeared.

The work itself had already been counted.

Usinomics stored the water gun.

Before leaving the region, one more responsibility remained.

The capybara feeding station was located near the edge of the town zone.

The animals had gathered near the enclosure.

They waited with the patient confidence of creatures who had learned that survey members often carried food.

Usinomics opened the feeder.

The supply was low.

He added the required amount.

The capybaras moved closer.

One began eating immediately.

Another remained still for several seconds, staring toward Usinomics as though evaluating the quality of service.

The feeder registered as full.

Usinomics closed it.

The task was complete.

Nearby, a large capybara sculpture stood on elevated ground.

The stone figure faced the surrounding region with an expression of permanent calm.

Usinomics climbed toward it.

Even from the higher point, the light reaching the canyon remained soft and blue.

The sculpture overlooked the edge of the island, the roads, nearby structures, and the distant property where Moo66 stood.

Shibanomics was too small to distinguish from the surrounding property.

Yet Moo66 was there.

The diner.

The guest rooms.

The bath.

The staff room filled with computers.

The duck pictures.

The crops.

The post.

The unfinished headquarters.

All of it occupied only a small portion of the distant landscape.

The light softened the horizon.

Beyond Moo66, distant buildings shimmered softly.

For a moment, Moo66 looked peaceful beneath the open sky.

Usinomics felt unexpectedly happy.

The island seemed to thank him for the time he had spent there.

The association had paid him for work he had previously considered a series of tasks.

The sea had revealed both a living legend and the skeleton of another whale.

A gate had transformed the distance around Moo66.

A dog had mistaken a mailbox location for a suitable place to sit.

The day contained no single event large enough to define it.

Yet it felt generous.

Perhaps blessings did not always arrive as miracles.

Sometimes they arrived as tickets that disappeared too quickly.

Sometimes as clothing.

Sometimes as one thousand acorns.

Sometimes as clean water where contamination had been.

Sometimes as the ability to look at a distant building and know that it was yours to continue.

To Be Continued.