["I said right then: 'I can swear, but can you at least pull me out of this hole first?'—He said no! You tell me, can you even deal with a person like this?"]
["No choice—my life was on the line—so I went along: 'The Goddess of Beauty Idrila possesses peerless, unparalleled beauty!' Then he corrected me: 'It's Idrila, not Deirila.'"]
[Velite grew more exasperated the more he spoke: "Who names themselves something that tongue-twisting? I'm just an ordinary office worker—who knows about some Beauty Aeon? Of course, to survive, I repeated it again—'The Goddess Idrila of Beauty possesses peerless, unparalleled beauty!'"]
[And that's how things ended up like this. Velite sighed that he was just a background character, but after meeting Argenti, he felt like his life had taken a turn—maybe he could make a little money off Argenti.]
["A knight this handsome and majestic—if we package him right, it'd be great, no?" Velite's tone finally grew excited. "I pitched the idea to him: we could promote Beauty and make currency part of beauty too—spreading it more efficiently. He was totally shocked and kept calling it brilliant."]
["I'm planning to contact the Marketing Expansion Department and turn him into a Company product spokesperson! And I'll be his manager. What do you think—should this kid go idol route or power route?"]
["Idol route." Stelle gave sincere advice.]
["You're absolutely right! Not going idol route would waste that pretty face."]
——
New Eridu.
"I still feel the power route would be better…" Wise sat on the sofa, thinking for a moment. "Idol route isn't bad, but power route opens more paths later. Becoming an idol would be wasting all that martial skill, right?"
"Bro! Totally wrong!" Belle suddenly bounced up from the sofa. "I think Argenti should become a virtual idol!"
"Virtual idol?" After Belle's reminder, Wise did recall there seemed to be a virtual idol group online with pretty high discussion and buzz. "But if he's a virtual idol, wouldn't Argenti's strengths in power and looks go completely unused?"
"Bro, times have changed. Sure, Argenti is really good-looking, but the Company connects so many planets—handsome guys and beautiful girls will keep popping up endlessly. As they say, 'No one can stay eighteen forever, but there's always someone eighteen.'—Of course, if Argenti were Xianzhou native, forget I said that."
"In the idol vs. power route competition, handsome guys aren't rare at all. But on the virtual idol track, Argenti's face is absolute ceiling level!"
Though Belle was trying hard to explain, Wise was still puzzled: "But once he's virtual, what use is high looks?"
"Bro, virtual is just a way to add mystery and freshness. You have to always believe in humanity's desire to explore!"
Belle continued seriously and convincingly: "Think about it… if Yokkagane were a virtual idol and you never knew what she looked like, after being drawn in by her singing, wouldn't you be curious about her real appearance? Could you resist the curiosity and not use fairy to search?"
"…You mean Argenti's looks will eventually get exposed anyway?"
"Hard to say exactly—it depends on Interastral Peace Corporation's strategy. But looks are definitely a huge fan-attracting hook for Argenti. Open a livestream later, face millions of viewers, and shout 'The Goddess Idrila of Beauty possesses peerless, unparalleled beauty!'—wouldn't that spread it way more efficiently than now?"
——
[Since there was nowhere to go for now anyway, Velite decided to help Stelle and the others first. But suddenly the Express shook violently. Accompanied by Pom-Pom's "Aaaaaah" scream, everyone in the carriage—except Argenti, who was still enjoying the present—jumped in fright.]
["Th-There's a weird sound—scary, scary Pom! Did you hear that?"]
[Pom-Pom's big ears were practically curling in terror: "With how familiar I am with the Express… that absolutely, absolutely wasn't a sound the Express makes, Pom!"]
[Himeko wondered if the earlier jolt had caused damage to the Express, letting something unexpected slip in. Though it sounded terrifying, March 7th still decided to check her own room first.]
[Checking wasn't so bad—but once she did, it was even scarier. Because someone identical to her was standing in her room, smiling at her.]
[This March 7th had no highlights in her eyes; her tone carried no emotional fluctuation. She simply said flatly: "I know your past. What you want to see, touch, know… your hometown, family, friends, emotions, love and hate…"]
[The other claimed to be the complete March 7th—this terrified her. Fortunately, Himeko's voice came through the earpiece in time, telling her to back away immediately.]
[Little March hesitated: "B-But…"]
[The mysterious March 7th merely tilted her head, quietly watching her. After a long moment, a meaningful smile curved her lips.]
——
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.
"Though I have fantasized about March 7th changing her personality…" Stark rubbed the goosebumps on his arms. "But this is way too creepy!? Her eyes are emptier than a demon's!"
Frieren and Fern beside him didn't respond at all; they silently fell into recollection.
"A copy… can it even replicate the original's abilities forever?"
Frieren stared at the identical yet lifeless copy of March 7th. This felt all too familiar—after all, back in the Water Mirror Demon's labyrinth, they had experienced it firsthand.
"Is it something like mirror magic…? This body really does feel like the soul was hollowed out, yet it seems to retain some personality awareness."
"Lord Frieren, I think it's fundamentally different from mirror magic." Fern pressed a finger to her chin in thought. "Mirror magic creates an independent copy, and it's highly aggressive. But March 7th's situation… there must be some kind of monster whose nature is like a mirror—what different people see is a different version of themselves."
"So you're saying… Dan Heng, Argenti, and the others have each encountered 'themselves' too?"
"Mm. This fake March calls herself the complete March 7th, so I suspect the monster itself has some deceptive quality. Just like when we entered the Water Mirror Demon's labyrinth—from the moment we stepped in, we were already in its trap."