Today was the weekend.
Suddenly, an abnormally blinding light made the person lying in bed curl up even tighter and grab at something nearby to cover herself with.
In the end, she still could not endure such intense light, so she opened her eyes.
"Is it morning already?"
"It's noon."
"Huh?"
Ruri Gokou froze for a second. Noon already?
Well, that made sense. Only the noon sun would be this bright.
She turned to look at the owner of the voice. It was a woman who looked more than seventy percent similar to Saori, except she was not as tall.
If the two of them walked outside together, most people would probably assume Saori was the older sister and this woman was the younger one.
But the truth was the opposite. The woman in front of her was Saori's older sister, Kaori Makishima.
"Hurry up and wash your face, eat, and then show me the new content."
Kaori urged her along.
Those two had stayed up all night, so she already knew they had gotten a new video, and a seriously hype one at that.
Otherwise, they would not have stayed up that late watching it.
Even though the two of them had not told her much, Kaori had roughly figured out that they had some kind of way to get new videos.
More accurately, this girl, Ruri Gokou, was rather mysterious. She seemed able to watch some kind of livestream none of them could access. Last night, it had just happened to reach an extremely exciting part, so the three of them had stayed up late watching and recording it.
"Okay..."
Kuroneko answered a bit blankly, then got up to go wash up.
However...
"It's full. All ten are there."
"What? You've already gathered enough to pay the activation cost?"
Saori Makishima, who had still been curled up and unwilling to get out of bed, instantly jumped up the moment she heard Kuroneko's quietly excited muttering and started talking with equal excitement.
So what exactly did that mean?
What was this "full ten"?
Kaori very much wanted to know.
But since Saori and the others still had not taken the initiative to tell her, she would wait.
Sooner or later, they would tell her.
"Kuroneko, how are you planning to use it? Invite members over for an offline meetup?"
"Huh? I... I don't know."
Kuroneko looked a bit lost too.
"Kuroneko, don't use it just because you're excited. It's better to keep it in reserve. It might come in handy in case of an emergency."
"Yeah. But Saori, aren't you the one who's way too excited?"
Kuroneko looked at the person in front of her with some speechless disbelief. Saori was even more excited than she was.
She closed her eyes again and checked the channel. It looked like there was nothing major going on, so she was about to log out.
Huh?
That change...
Two more members were joining.
"What is it, Kuroneko?"
After Kuroneko opened her eyes again, Saori immediately asked in a tense voice, because Kuroneko's reaction clearly was not normal.
"Two new members."
"Huh?"
So that meant Hyperdimension Channel had added two more online friends, right?
Judging from Kuroneko's expression, she already knew who they were.
"Gundam."
"Huh?"
What had she just heard?
"It's Gundam."
So she had not misheard.
A Gundam world really existed?
"G-Gundam? Which series are they from, Kuroneko?!"
Huh?
What exactly was this?
Some kind of conspiracy?
Something affecting the human brain and causing hallucinations?
It felt like there was a computer installed inside her head.
Yes. Given her less-than-ordinary status, it was perfectly normal that someone might make a move against her for the sake of her father, or the power standing behind him.
That was why her thinking was so mature, almost superhumanly so.
She remained very calm and did not foolishly reveal her true identity right away.
As for her screen name inside Hyperdimension Channel, there was no way she would tie it to her real name.
So her ID was, of course, "The Number One Songstress in the Universe."
Wait.
If this really was a conspiracy, then the other side definitely already knew who she was. If someone was asking about her background and she still tried to brush it off, then that would just be redundant, like drawing legs on a snake.
No, that was not right.
These online friends genuinely did not know her background. They were probably experimental subjects dragged into this by the masterminds too, which was why none of them knew the identities of the other members in the chat.
And right now, one of the people who had joined at the same time as her looked almost comically unguarded.
That person openly stated their background and even used their own name directly as their ID.
But was that really because they were too naive and exposed their identity that easily?
Or was that also a lie, dressed up to sound real?
As she kept reading, the girl became even more confused.
The people in this chatroom seemed to come from worlds that, in some other member's world, were treated as fictional works.
And the person who had just used what looked suspiciously like their real name as their online handle was apparently someone Kuroneko knew from one of those works.
Was any of this real?
Or were they all just playing along in some elaborate act?
Hm?
Suddenly, they started talking about her.
[Fallen Angel Kuroneko: Kain, who do you think this "Number One Songstress in the Universe" is?
Golden Toilet: No idea. Definitely not Miku.
Asuna: Miku? You mean Hatsune Miku, the girl from the leek-spinning song?
Tendo Civil Security Agency: Huh? Your world has that princess too?
Busujima Kendo Style: Hmm, I think I've heard of her too. On Earth, there's a diva like that.
]
Who was this Miku, this Hatsune Miku girl?
If these people really did come from different worlds, then was she really that famous?
But the fire-haired girl's comment contained a very important clue.
On Earth?
That implied this fire-haired girl was not on Earth at all, but on Mars. A Martian colonist, and probably second-generation at that, someone born and raised there.
So if there really was a mastermind behind all this, then their reach had even extended to Mars?
[Golden Toilet: Lacus Clyne]
That sudden message made the girl's expression freeze.
[Golden Toilet: "The Number One Songstress in the Universe"? Still staying silent?
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: Wait, what? H-how did you decide she's Lacus Clyne? Huh? Another Gundam world too?
Golden Toilet: Just a guess. Didn't you notice that when Gundam came up, this lady looked like she was asking out of curiosity, but the way she phrased it was very telling? It felt like she was fishing for information. And if you read her wording carefully, it also reveals her emotional state. In other words, she already knows what "Gundam" represents, and she was trying to get concrete data so she could assess the level of danger. That means she definitely can't be from a high-speed modern world like yours, Kuroneko...]
As Golden Toilet kept analyzing her piece by piece, the girl's heart sank lower and lower.
[Golden Toilet: From the way she talks, she also seems a little childish and naive. That means her story probably hasn't started yet, and she's still relatively innocent.
The Number One Songstress in the Universe: I surrender~ (.Д.)~ You figured me out that fast.]
Of course, Lacus did not believe she was really a character from some work in another world.
At this point, she simply joined in on their "game."
[Golden Toilet: What's the current date on your side? Is there a satellite called Junius 7 or something?
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: It's called Junius Seven. Songstress, has the Bloody Valentine incident happened in your world yet?
The Number One Songstress in the Universe: The Bloody Valentine incident? I've never heard of it. But from what you're saying, does that mean some kind of terrorist attack is going to happen on the agricultural satellite Junius Seven on Valentine's Day?
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: Yes. It gets hit with a nuclear attack.]
What?!
Was that a declaration of a crime?
And such an insanely deranged one at that!
The girl immediately opened her eyes and returned to reality.
Whether this was real or not, she had to tell her father.
Because that day was February 14.
(End of Chapter)
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