Before the Virtual Dive device was even finished, Dream Weaver had served as a debugger to test the system's stability.
However, once the machine was fully operational, it was handed over to Liberty Island and Hishi Miracle. Dream Weaver hadn't stepped foot back into the digital world since.
Compared to the early alpha build she remembered, the loading time for this version of the device felt agonizingly long.
Dream Weaver mused in the silence of the dark. She wasn't particularly surprised; after all, the test build only contained her own data.
This current version had likely been stuffed with the profiles of countless elite Uma Musume, so a slower boot-up was only natural.
Had an ordinary girl been tossed into this boundless abyss, they would have likely succumbed to panic, swallowed by the lack of sound and the numbing of the five senses.
But Dream Weaver remained composed. This wasn't her first time drifting in a void.
Every time she reached the "Result Screen" of a script mission, she was met with this exact brand of darkness. She had long since grown accustomed to the shadows.
After an indeterminate amount of time, a cold, mechanical voice finally echoed in her ears.
[System takeover complete.]
[World construction successful.]
[Simulation, start.]
For some reason, the system prompts felt hauntingly familiar. The mechanical cadence sounded almost identical to the personal Uma Musume Training System she carried within her.
Dream Weaver recalled that the test version had been silent due to the rush of development. When the first official version was given to Hishi Miracle and the others, she had actually recorded the voice lines herself.
She figured Sugar Lights must have replaced her voice with this high-tech mechanical synth in the later updates to give it a more "sci-fi" feel.
She didn't dwell on it, assuming all high-end AI voices simply sounded the same.
What caught her attention more were the actual words used to initiate the simulation.
Who knew Dr. Sugar Lights had a flair for the dramatic? Aside from her love for booze, the doctor usually seemed quite straight-laced. These lines were surprisingly cool. Maybe Hishi Miracle had given her some creative input?
Before she could finish the thought, the darkness shattered.
The void was instantly replaced by a blinding white expanse. In this empty, sterile space, a translucent blue screen hovered steadily before her eyes.
[Select Simulation Opponent]
The font on the screen looked eerily familiar as well. Does my own system use the same font as Sugar Lights'?
She wondered if some font-licensing company would eventually sue for infringement, or if this was just some common open-source typeface.
Dream Weaver reached out and tapped the screen. Unlike the crowded list of legends she expected, only one name appeared after she opened the category.
[Dream Weaver]
Looking at her own name, she knit her brows. She had personally asked Northern Taste for a massive hoard of data to fill this system; it shouldn't be as bare-bones as the prototype.
"Did the system upgrade trigger some kind of glitch?" she muttered to herself.
It was the only logical explanation. Sugar Lights had tried to overhaul both the hardware and the software in a single day. It would be weirder if there weren't bugs.
"Let's test the waters. If even a basic mock race is broken, I'll just log out and let Dr. Lights run a diagnostic."
She pressed the button for her own name.
According to the previous settings, a difficulty selection should have popped up. Instead, a chaotic swarm of digital noise and corrupted code erupted in front of her.
Amidst the dizzying flow of garbled data, a flicker of crimson caught her eye. She could vaguely make out the shape of her own hair ribbon.
But right now, the system couldn't even render a proper 3D model, leaving only a mess of flickering pixels. The system was clearly too broken to function.
"Better get out of here and let the doctor know."
"Logout."
A second translucent blue screen materialized.
[Do you wish to exit the simulation?]
[Yes] [No]
Thank goodness the 'Exit' button isn't bugged, she thought with a sigh of relief.
She'd heard of another dive device that forced players to clear a massive tower just to earn the right to leave. Sugar Lights' machine didn't have that kind of "feature."
If the exit button had disappeared, she'd be stuck staring at a heap of digital garbage in a white void forever.
But just as her finger was about to tap the "Yes" option, a voice drifted toward her from the front.
"This is no glitch."
Dream Weaver's head snapped up. This wasn't the cold, robotic drone of a machine. This was—
Her own voice.
Deep within the corrupted code, a pair of eyes, black as the midnight sky, were staring directly at her.
A red ribbon flickered like a stray lightning bolt through the static, casting a bloody, unsettling glow into those dark pupils. It made the gaze feel heavy with a sense of impending slaughter.
Instinctively, Dream Weaver took two steps back. She glared at the glowing eyes within the static, clenching her fists.
"No glitch? You look like the biggest glitch of them all!"
Visions of "Robot Uprisings" and "AI Rebellions" from the sci-fi movies she'd seen flooded her mind.
She knew Sugar Lights was a genius, but she hadn't expected the doctor to accidentally create a world-ending trope in her spare time.
Dream Weaver began to wonder if her physical skills would translate to damage in this space. Since she was currently a consciousness in a digital world, she supposed her strikes would count as "data attacks."
"Perhaps. But I am not the one who chose to appear."
"The person who truly triggered this anomaly... is you."
The voice within the static replied, causing Dream Weaver to scowl.
"What is that supposed to count for...?"
"Even with a B-rank in Wit, you should have figured it out by now."
As the words fell, the silhouette within the corruption grew sharp. A pair of polished black loafers stepped through the digital noise, as if tearing through the very fabric of the virtual space.
A sharp, military-style uniform inspired by the Hussars, adorned with shimmering gold braided epaulettes.
A gold-and-red cloak fastened to the shoulder straps, decorated with emblems of crowns and stars. And, finally, that unmistakable red ribbon tied at the end of her ponytail.
There was no mistake. Standing before Dream Weaver was Dream Weaver herself.
"Remember what happened in the third script world? The system converted the 'Limiters' produced there into items."
"The system has hijacked this Virtual Dive device. And because of that, I was born."
"So... welcome to my world, my other self."
Lifting her head, Dream Weaver spoke to Dream Weaver.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.