A throne entwined with spreading, pitch-black thorns.
For the young girl... although she didn't exactly find it repulsive, it was... still quite uncomfortable.
It was a bit cold, and rather prickly.
As expected, good-looking character art CGs always come with a price.
Moreover... Su Yuzu lowered her head slightly.
Her unclad self was trembling as it stubbornly defied gravity.
Even knowing that the world she had been reborn into operated on the worldview of an age-restricted game, and even knowing that... in the eyes of other girls, her vital areas probably looked like they had been airbrushed over with skin-colored paint—impossible to see clearly, with only faint outlines visible...
Still... Su Yuzu felt more than a little ashamed.
"At least give me some clothes."
"Even something a bit risqué... is better than streaking."
While viewing other girls' CGs was certainly satisfying...
For instance, Kujou Katora's older sister.
Kujou Iruka.
The Aberrant known as the Empress of the Abyss unfurling her jet-black wings within the dark abyss, revealing luscious, porcelain-white curves that contrasted sharply against those dark wings.
That was a sight that made one feel refreshed in both body and mind.
But... when the protagonist of the CG was swapped to herself, Su Yuzu suddenly felt like her knees were about to knock together.
She looked beneath the throne at Soga Yura, who seemed to be shackled by the entwined thorns, lifted up and presented before her.
There was no light in the eyes of the bound girl; she was likely just a phantom.
But even if it was just a phantom, to be "dressed" like this in front of Soga Yura made Su Yuzu feel a heartfelt sense of embarrassment.
The pleasure earned during the day... from bullying Soga Yura, was all lost in this single instant.
Besides... the real Soga Yura hadn't even been seduced yet.
She couldn't play the game of manipulating hearts by exploiting the older sister's tsundere nature and obsessive love.
She was essentially taking a huge loss.
As her thoughts took shape, Su Yuzu saw the thorns on the throne gradually bloom with dark red flowers.
Dark red lines traced across her body, bringing with them a touch as soft as flower petals.
A dark red evening gown with an extremely low neckline appeared, leaving her back almost completely exposed.
Bewitching and alluring.
But at least... the hem of the dress was long enough.
Although the slit on the front was also quite high.
But compared to having absolutely nothing before, who was she to complain?
Su Yuzu stood up slowly.
The pitch-black thorns formed a staircase before her, and she walked down, step by step, toward Soga Yura, who was bound tight and offered up to her.
The girl was entangled in black thorns and dark chains.
The thorns pierced her skin, while the chains... seemed to extend from her very body.
Yet, even bound this tightly, Soga Yura remained as barren and flat as if she had nothing at all.
Her crimson eyes stared at the space behind Su Yuzu.
Su Yuzu looked back.
That was roughly the position of the throne of thorns.
She reached out... and gently touched Soga Yura's face.
Her fingertips brushed the corner of the girl's lips.
To be honest, it had probably been eight or nine years since Su Yuzu had touched Soga Yura.
Let alone intimate acts like sleeping in each other's arms.
Even touching the girl's hair or holding her older sister's hand seemed like things that had happened a long, long time ago, back before Soga Yura had fully grown up.
Su Yuzu ran her fingers along the chains.
She looked at the intertwined thorns and chains.
They seemed so harmonious, yet somehow out of place.
Tracing the chains to find their source, finally... the girl's hand rested gently over Soga Yura's heart.
The chains of the closed-off world; their source was right there.
Looking at Soga Yura before her, Su Yuzu suddenly smiled happily.
The wicked girl stood slightly on her tiptoes.
On the other side, inside a café.
Sakura Mai watched Soga Yura smiling in that ugly way and sighed internally, unsure of what to say.
These sisters... were both somewhat worrisome.
Just as she was preparing to get up and leave with Soga Yura, she suddenly saw... Soga Yura, who had been about to stand, suddenly cover the corner of her mouth.
"Yura?"
"Ngh!" The girl's crimson eyes went wide, and immediately after, her other hand covered her heart.
"Ugh!?"
It was a sound of near-fragile distress.
For some reason... Sakura Mai suddenly felt that, for the sake of keeping her mental domain inviolate and ensuring her personal safety...
It might be better if she left the private room right now.
[Ding—]
[Successfully used "First Sequence Promotion Emblem".]
[Level.10 - Hand of Paradox (Pending Limit Break) → Level.10 - Hand of Paradox (First Sequence).]
[Ding—]
[Congratulations, you have unlocked a new achievement: First Sequence.]
[Congratulations, you have unlocked a new achievement: The Future is a Sea of Stars.]
[...]
[Congratulations, you have unlocked a new achievement: Seat of Karma.]
[Congratulations, you have unlocked a new achievement: I Enjoy Eating People in Dreams.]
[...]
[Congratulations, you have obtained a Limit Break reward: Ten-Pull Headhunting Permit.]
A string of notifications from the mechanical woman's voice caught the gradually sobering Su Yuzu off guard.
She checked them one by one.
The one Su Yuzu cared about most was, without a doubt, that "Seat of Karma".
"Seat of Karma"?
Just the name made Su Yuzu think of the "Seat of Evil".
The game's plot had actually only progressed to the early stages, which was just after defeating the world-class Boss, Kujou Iruka.
And capturing Kujou Iruka to be a warehouse guard (Pay-to-Win Exclusive).
It hadn't yet advanced to the next expansion pack.
[Sunken Throne].
So Su Yuzu couldn't be sure what exactly this "Seat of Karma" was about.
But... Su Yuzu already had a vague feeling.
Soga Yura's abnormality was related to this "Seat of Karma".
Sliding her finger down the log.
Su Yuzu looked at the [I Enjoy Eating People in Dreams] achievement.
Cough, cough, cough... She had to clarify.
Dreams, after all.
Were just dreams.
They couldn't affect reality.
Situations like Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's were the minority of the minority.
The occasional exception among exceptions.
She had merely vented the pent-up frustrations of so many years just a little bit.
It was just a dream anyway, so what did it matter?
[Ding—]
After the string of broadcasts, the mechanical woman's notification sound rang out again, belatedly.
[Bullying: Soga Yura Favorability +1.]
[Bullying: Soga Yura Favorability +3.]
[Bullying: Soga Yura Favorability +1.]
[...]
[Obtained Favorability Increase Reward: Complete Birthday Cake.]
Slap—
It happened so fast.
Lady Fate, who usually slapped the people around Su Yuzu, finally decided to favor Su Yuzu for once.
Frozen there with furrowed brows, Su Yuzu's expression turned into a meme.
Looking exactly like that "old man squinting at a cellphone."
"Wait a second?"
"Wait a second!!!?"
She suddenly felt that things were taking a very bad turn.
________________________________________
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