“The one with their legs sticking out and moving about is REGEXREPLACE, the one with their legs tucked in is REGEXEXTRACT”
Inoue said that to me.
“Isn’t there also REGEXMATCH?”
“MATCH is thinner and smaller, there’s almost no danger, so it’s basically the same as FIND.”
“What about REPLACE and EXTRACT?”
“They rarely attack as well. However, it is possible they might sting you when you try to process them, so it’s best to prune the tips of their stingers first. That way you can neutralise them.”
I see. It seemed that my opponents were not as ferocious as I thought. Inoue stretched out the long handles of her branch shears.
“First…I’ll show you one.”
Inoue said that while holding her head because of her hangover as she approached the REGEXEXTRACT. Carefully aimed the shears at the pot-shaped organ, or rather, the thorn peeking out from it, she pressed the shears together.
Snip.
The thorn fell to the floor easily. The REGEXEXTRACT didn’t seem to care that part of its body had been cut off. It waved its stinger, which had lost its thornss, as Inoue went closer, touched its trunk, and processed it.
“REGEXEXTRACT.”
The REGEXEXTRACT was slowly sucked into the cell as it disappeared.
“Try that REPLACE. Oh, and be careful not to step on its legs.”
At Inoue’s urging, I approached one of the REGEXREPLACE. Although it had legs, it showed no signs of moving. Aiming for the thorns at the ends of its stinger, I pressed the shears together.
Snip.
The thorn fell down easily. The REGEXREPLACE continued to stand there without moving. I approached, touched the trunk, and processed it.
“REGEXREPLACE.”
It was immediately sucked into the cell and dissappeared.
#####################
After that, the processing of the remaining REGEX functions was completed without a hitch. As Inoue explained, the REGEX functions were docile and didn’t cause any trouble. As Inoue rested and drank water, the fact that I was able to process them without any problems probably meant that my knowledge of regular expressions was enough to handle them.
“Thank you very much. Thanks to Inoue-san, I can now process REGEX functions.”
This isn’t a reincarnation into another world, it’s a job. Words of praise for my seniors couldn’t be underestimated.
“Mm, no problem.”
Inoue’s hangover seemed like it was subsiding and she appeared to be in a good mood. Just when I thought it was over, four additional REGEX functions appeared. They looked the same as the previous ones, but red light was leaking out from the gaps in their trunks.
Inoue’s expression stiffened.
“Oh no, it’s a #REF!.”
“R-Ref?”
“Just change your attachment!!!”
We switched from the tall branch shears to the machete attachment.
Two of the REGEX functions were REPLACE. They had barely moved previously, but this time, they were clearly moving towards me, wiggling their stingers actively.
“First, I’ll separate the REPLACE from the EXTRACT. Follow me and be careful not to get into EXTRACT’s range.”
Inoue and I calmly walked to cell A20, keeping our distance. The functions had appeared in cells C1 to C4, which was enough distance from us. REPLACE was walking towards us, but its speed was slow and it couldn’t keep up.
“Let me explain. #REF! is an error.”
“An error? Syntax error?”
“That happens a lot, but I think these ones probably regular expressions that cannot be processed. The REGEX function is useful, but it doesn’t cover all regular expressions.”
“Is that so?”
“I’ll tell you the specifics later. The problem is that I can’t handled them alone as they will attack me.”
“Eh? Then what should I do?”
“Cut off their thorns to make them more docile. Then we can leave them alone for a bit.”
“Got it.”
“Let’s deal with them one by one, Takahashi-san, I’m sorry, but could you take one of them to row H and then come back here? Let’s split them up and deal with them one by one.”
I see, the strategy looked good.
Author’s Notes
Although the REGEX function is convenient and useful, it’s also true that the expressions it can accept are limited and it’s difficult to deal with the cases where it doesn’t work.