Reality, in the Virtual Game Research Club room.
Utaha stood in the farthest corner of the clubroom. Ignoring the curious stares constantly thrown her way by the surrounding students, her left hand supported her right elbow, her right hand pressed against her chin, and she bit her thumbnail with a frustrated expression.
Though the gesture was rough and unhygienic, when performed by a long-legged beauty in black stockings, it still managed to look pleasing to the eye.
"How, how, how... I can't escape, can't escape, can't escape..."
Fear and panic tangled into a knot in her mind.
At this moment, Utaha suddenly understood what Ikari Shinji felt before boarding the EVA—though, upon reflection, the difference was vast; it didn't stop her from emphasizing how dire the current situation was.
—Compared to the crisis she faced now, what did the destruction of Neo Tokyo-3 even matter!
"Tch!"
Her nail was bitten nearly to the flesh, so Utaha reluctantly released her thumb and bit her lip instead.
She reopened the notebook, repeatedly scanning the white paper's contents and the screen's images, her brain working so fast she felt slightly dizzy.
The heated battle on stage, the pitch-black writing in the notebook: "Your future will fall into the abyss with him."
Both seemed to form an invisible vortex, pulling her step by step toward a dark, lightless future.
Though she didn't know what awaited her, that uncertainty made her heart pound uncontrollably, like walking blindfolded on a forest trail.
"Think fast, there must be a way before his heart is pierced..."
Her ample chest heaved violently. Utaha took a deep breath to suppress her chaotic, restless emotions. The calm beauty of her face began to fade, but her cold, sorrowful appearance only heightened her allure, like a female knight on a perilous battlefield, desperately refusing to surrender to the enemy general.
As electric sparks flashed in her mind, the light in her clear, captivating eyes slowly dimmed.
She lowered her head, as if sinking into a strange state, and muttered rapidly and unclearly:
"I can't risk other possibilities, nor rely on luck. I must treat the moment Tenkuji Yuu's heart is pierced in the game as equal to the end of my life..."
Only then could she squeeze every ounce of her brain's potential and find the best choice among countless options.
"He's in the game now. Though he seems dominant, Yuuki Asuna can't breach his defenses at all, but this is the most dangerous situation..."
The moment he lets his guard down and Asuna finds a weakness, Yuu won't have a chance or time to react and stop her. Utaha could only watch with her own eyes as her fate-rewriting effort failed, her future dragged down for no clear reason.
"I'm no expert with machines, and their battlefield can't be entered by ordinary people, so interfering from inside isn't ideal. Since this is the real world, I must do what can be done in the real world to stop them from continuing the fight."
What could make two people dueling intensely in a virtual reality game end the match as quickly as possible, avoiding the possibility of someone's heart being pierced?
(What to do...)
(Wait!)
Like a splinter igniting a flame, a spark of an idea flashed in her mind, burning away the tangled threads of other options, leaving only the clearest main path stretching endlessly before her!
"Just do this; isn't that enough?! I was anxious for so long..."
Utaha smiled bitterly with a face full of self-mockery. She was shocked she hadn't instantly thought of the simplest method. She was indeed rattled by excessive worry.
Without hesitation, she glanced left and right, and with her instincts and sharp eyes, located the bespectacled man standing before the stage area.
"You're the Virtual Research Club president, right?"
"You..." Forced to shift his gaze from the spectacular duel—arguably the strongest battle in history—the bespectacled man adjusted his glasses. The dissatisfaction in his eyes instantly turned to shock and confusion upon seeing the girl behind him.
"Kasumigaoka-senpai? Why is someone like you here—"
"The reason doesn't matter; I want to ask you something!" Utaha cut him off bluntly. Her anxious tone and resolute gaze were like a sharp knife pressed tightly against the Virtual Research Club president's throat.
"Do those helmets have built-in safety measures? For example, if the power suddenly cuts out, will the people still fighting inside be in danger?"
"That..." The Virtual Research Club president opened his mouth, hesitating whether to answer, when the long-black-haired senior before him narrowed her eyes. That cold, murderous expression suggested the next second she'd twist his neck and ask the next person.
He unconsciously shuddered twice, suppressing an inexplicable surge of excitement, quickly adjusting his glasses, and rapidly answered expressionlessly:
"Report, Senpai, of course there's no danger. The NERvGEAR produced by R Company has passed all safety inspections. We've personally tested the emergency battery and forced logout precautions with no issues. In any unexpected incident affecting the game, avatar activity stops first, then forced logout occurs..."
"Understood. So everything's safe and controlled, right?" Hearing what she wanted, Utaha finally sighed in relief, showing a satisfied smile.
Dazzled for a few seconds by that captivating cheerful smile, the Virtual Research Club president quickly composed himself and calmly asked: "Why ask that? Are you worried about their safety?"
Recalling his cooperative attitude and quick, decisive answers, Utaha suppressed the urge to turn away immediately and reluctantly replied: "Yes, because inside there's..."
Glancing at the stage area, she was about to point at Yuu and say, "Someone very important to me is there; I don't want him hurt," while giving him a little trouble as "repayment."
In the distance, Yukino, watching the game screen, seemed to notice something odd here and suddenly turned.
Her large clear eyes showed slight confusion, and after seeing her figure... or rather, her body, the confusion instantly turned to wariness and suspicion, as if ready to approach and question.
(Tch, I forgot his little girlfriend is still guarding beside him...)
Sighing inwardly, Utaha quickly redirected her half-raised finger, pointing to the left stage curtain.
"There's my friend there. Her name's Yuuki Asuna; I don't know if you know her."
Confirming from the corner of her eye that Yukino's expression slightly softened and her alertness seemed to drop, Utaha wiped the sweat from her palm with the notebook. She felt the tension of a spy mission.
After all, if what she was about to do was discovered by this cultural festival committee member... everything could basically be considered failed.
Forget prevention; even a one-second delay was a risk Utaha couldn't bear now.
"Thank goodness it's fine; thanks for your answer."
"Happy to help Senpai. Then as thanks, may I invite you to dinner..."
Not clearly hearing what the bespectacled man said, after a perfunctory thank-you for politeness, Utaha suppressed her inner anxiety, casually walked to the door, and quickly left the Virtual Research Club room.
Of course, she wanted to rush in, cut Yuu's internet cable, stomp his face, then loudly read the notebook's contents, making him understand who saved him from the abyss.
Unfortunately, she couldn't.
The latter was restricted by the notebook, while the former... Yukino still staring at her back was the barrier.
In terms of physical strength, Utaha could proudly say it was basically zero.
So, considering the useless flesh on her chest, she knew the success rate of unplugging the internet cable before Yukino and the Virtual Research Club was less than 10%; and whether successful or not, she'd be caught and interrogated afterward, placing her in the worst situation.
A writer, when starting a novel, should already consider the ending and plot.
Since she couldn't stop the duel before them, and asking about it drew Yukino's attention, Utaha could only temporarily leave the Virtual Research Club to find another way outside.
As for politely communicating, begging them to stop the stage duel because Yuu would be in danger?
Who would do something so inefficient and troublesome!
After all, Utaha had tried; even if the notebook lay on the table, her mother couldn't see its contents and immediately forgot it after turning away—because memory manipulation and strict secrecy were two tricks best mastered by the Invisible Controller X.
Without making them see the most concrete evidence, the so-called danger warning was just nonsense from a mentally ill beautiful woman.
Even if she bypassed the otaku glasses club president, Yukino wouldn't easily believe her words; and what Utaha lacked most now was time and trust.
"Only directly cutting the main power remains... But who knows where the club building's power room is, and how to shut it off!"
Quickly passing the crowded area, she hurried down the much quieter corridor. She slightly bowed her head, letting her long hair hang, hiding her confused and anxious expression in shadow.
"Or, sneak back, exploit their distraction to grab the cable, then escape before they react..."
Escape where? Unless she had a rugby player's physique, she'd surely be caught red-handed.
Praying someone's heart wasn't pierced too soon, Utaha opened her notebook, trying to find a glimmer of hope from this strange object; otherwise, she could only resign herself.
But unexpectedly, she found that glimmer.
[13:35, you asked Ikari Minami about equipment safety...]
[13:36, Tenkuji Yuu realizes Yuuki Asuna's identity...]
[13:37, you leave the Virtual Research Club, preparing to head to the basement-1 electrical panel room. The door lock has long been broken, and the power cutoff method is on the wall...]
[Detected that the Compiler has found a way to rewrite fate, specially granting a one-time reward: No Anomaly (Status).]
[No Anomaly (Status) (One-Time Use): Distorts the basic cognition of all eyewitnesses. Every action by the host and its effects will become facts without the slightest anomaly...]
[Task nearly complete; please continue distorting the next chapter's fate, Compiler.]
"Compiler? Such a chuunibyou term..."
Quickly scanning the contents, Utaha couldn't help sneering, her lips curling in disgust.
Nevertheless, the frustration and panic on her face unconsciously turned to relief, and she honestly quickened her pace toward basement-1.
Now, Utaha could only unconditionally trust the notebook's contents.
Since the equation to rewrite fate was provided by the great existence, she quickly shifted the disturbing questions in her mind from the abyss-falling future to focusing on the notebook before her.
"That 13:37 line is clearly different from other notes, explicitly telling me how to complete the task..."
"But the issue is, is Existence X that generous? Is he reminding me because he sees I'll fail, or succeed? ...Damn, thinking from a conspiracy theory angle, it's endless!"
Taking a deep breath to calm her annoyed emotions, Utaha descended the stairs as quickly as possible, against others' curious stares.
"Next is that so-called Status... Like a game skill? If one-time... like a magic scroll?"
Before her debut, to gather material, she'd read various novels, so she naturally had some knowledge of this.
While walking, Utaha glanced at the notebook and tried saying in her mind:
(Use Status.)
[Already used.]
A pitch-black line answered, then immediately vanished.
Feeling no abnormality in her body, Utaha looked left and right, then suddenly kicked the wall hard, gritting her teeth fiercely:
"Go to hell, damn fate!"
Though her foot hurt slightly from the recoil, her mood was far lighter—like writing a 4,000-word draft in one hour without revisions, her mind instantly cleared.
Satisfied, Utaha wiped the sweat from her forehead with a relieved expression, then observed the reactions of those around her.
...Hmm, no reaction at all; they didn't even look.
Like no one caring about dust blown by wind. This feeling was truly different from before activating the Status. The experience of being unnoticed wherever she went...
It had been so long since she felt it.
"As expected, this notebook doesn't play around."
After brief reflection, deep fear soon enveloped her heart.
Utaha couldn't help biting her full lips, desperately suppressing the tremor from her core.
"This thing truly has power. Besides altering our perception, there must be even more terrifying things it can do..."
Many things' horror can only be felt when experienced personally.
Like bungee jumping, like public speaking, like the day before a deadline or release date...
The tale of Lord Ye who loved dragons is everywhere. Humans won't truly fear until hurt once.
Since getting the notebook, Utaha had experienced plenty, but the continuous unexpected events were like a bottomless cave.
The farther she walked, the deeper her fear.
"Then, the reason Tenkuji Yuu is so omnipotent is found. He must have also received rewards from Existence X... Forget national champion sword skills or glowing cooking; maybe even this near-invisibility Status, he uses for indecent bad things..."
Unconsciously clutching her collar, sinking into increasingly complex and dark fantasies, Utaha walked to basement-1 with a pale face. In the dim, gloomy corridor, the loosely closed iron-door electrical panel room appeared before her.
Recalling she was still in the "future falls into abyss" crisis, she paused briefly, then vigorously shook her head, banishing the chaotic thoughts, fully focusing on the task ahead.
Glancing at the notebook, confirming Yuu was still fiercely battling Asuna with no winner yet, Utaha looked up, made a silly face at the surveillance camera, then quickly stepped into the electrical panel room.