Chapter 15: The Night That Splits Fate

“Stop joking around!”

Interrupting “DEATH LORD’s” declaration, BLOODY LOTUS’s voice suddenly became sharp.

In the terrifying environment of ENDLESS WORLD’s E3 area, the moonlight obscured half of BLOODY LOTUS’s figure.

The other half revealed a sad face.

“BHAO has already abandoned you, so why bother working so hard for it, DEATH LORD!”

Crying? She’s crying?

She was flying high up, so my vision couldn’t clearly capture the details on BLOODY LOTUS’s face.

I had originally thought to use a light-hearted quip to ease the atmosphere, but I vaguely saw her cheeks glistening with crystalline light.

That definitely couldn’t be some crystal ornament.

After flickering slightly, it dissipated, turning into particles that scattered into the air.

This kind of change wasn’t something a fixed decoration could simulate.

After a moment of silence, she turned away, completely facing her back to the direction the bone spikes had come from; meanwhile, that distant male voice waited in the same silence for her response.

At the same time, the countdown on my side had already stopped at the number 0, unable to tick down even one more step.

“Ah, ah… This is really troublesome~ It seems like coming to the E3 district in the future will face a big problem.”

I tapped open the operation screen, and by moving a few buttons, I could see the status bar.

Below my character name “Night Witch,” there was a note marked in a blood-like font:

[In hostile relationship with BLOODY CASTLE.]

While I was feeling a headache about this, my attention was pulled back by BLOODY LOTUS’s voice.

“After this… what are your plans?”

Her voice became muffled, the childish tone sticking together, and I could only barely make it out based on her distinctiveness.

“As you can see, I plan to come back.”

The distant response landed, low and gloomy, like slowly walking out from a long night.

The voice wasn’t hurried, yet it carried an undeniable sense of oppression, as if every word stood upon a throne overlooking all beings.

“But I need the ‘Night Witch’s’ help.”

Ha?

What the hell is going on?

Right now, it was a helpless situation.

Two people were both vying for the same person, and they hadn’t even asked the party’s opinion, just arguing on their own.

“It’s useless, DEATH LORD— she’s just a small Tier 4 character. Even if she’s popular in BHAO right now, to you it’s just leaving some room for struggle.”

“Hm.”

That voice remained steady.

Then, after a brief pause, he continued in a colder, harder tone, yet one carrying a king’s aura:

“Struggle is also a choice.”

“…”

Suspended in mid-air, BLOODY LOTUS’s flesh wings flapped along with the rhythm of her heartbeat.

In my eyes, she seemed to be talking to herself, but her dialogue with that extremely distant voice used an attitude that was almost seriously stubborn.

However— I couldn’t possibly compromise like this without knowing anything.

“Hey, you two— I say…”

The question I had organized was already confirmed several times in my mind.

I believed that as long as I asked it out loud, I could learn more about BHAO’s truth.

However, just as I was about to say the key part, an unbelievable sound surged in from all directions.

“Zzz, zzz~ crackle, pop…”

No, it wasn’t just from all directions.

As if penetrating my hearing in a stereo form, it was a kind of “damaged electronic noise.”

At the same time, the originally European horror-style town began to gradually virtualize— those commendable real scenes, like being forcibly disassembled, turned into stacks of green cubes in the same shapes.

The scene of reverse collapse approached me from all sides.

“This is… territory replacement? No, that’s not it— it should be BHAO’s own problem.”

BLOODY LOTUS in mid-air also saw the anomaly.

The same degree of shock made all her elegant movements freeze.

“Witch! And DEATH LORD! ENDLESS WORLD might have a problem, so let’s log out first— the matter of joining the territory can be discussed next time!”

She declared loudly, then performed a backflip in the air.

Immediately after, BLOODY LOTUS’s virtual character began to fade, becoming nearly transparent before turning into countless cube particles and vanishing into thin air.

“Hm, Night Witch.”

That voice came again.

Still gloomy and thick, yet revealing a lonely coldness from within the shadows.

Like someone who had stood at a high place for far too long, accustomed to being looked up to by the masses, yet not needing anyone’s understanding.

“I believe we will meet again soon.”

After a brief pause, the voice fell, crisp like a king’s command.

“Goodbye.”

A guy who talks to himself without even showing his virtual character.

My first impression was still inexplicable.

But strangely, the second impression was no longer simply “self-important.”

There was something in that voice that had been polished by time.

Not showing off, not frivolous.

More like… a lonely vow.

“Ah~ What a terribly bad night.”

The hoarse female voice that had originally carried static completely turned into one full of childishness.

This tone, like soaking the body in a jar of milk candy, did sound not at all dislikeable.

As a male, even if I didn’t have any special preferences, I had to admit it was a bit healing.

But as the emitter of this voice— that was another matter.

I removed the voice-changing gear from my neck and casually tossed it onto the land that was about to be swallowed by the “collapse cubes.”

The gear with 0 durability immediately turned into green data cubes, dissipating into the void.

“Didn’t get any useful gear, became an enemy force in the E3 district— and then even the voice-changing gear got scrapped.”

Listing tonight’s “harvests.”

Negative profit growth. If a shop operated like this often, it would definitely go bankrupt, right?

I finally used a quip to cheer myself up a little and opened ENDLESS WORLD’s operation interface.

The blue semi-transparent interface floated in front of me, just as usual.

The data cubes rapidly contracted and peeled away.

The space left for me to stand on was only about fifty square meters, like the size of a classroom.

“Next— log out!”

I extended my index finger and pressed the blue concentric circle button.

Normally, there would be a clear tactile sensation, and a long “beep—” sound would ring in my ears.

Then the scene would gradually disappear, replaced by reality.

—”It should be like this.”

However—

“Eh?! How could this be?”

There was absolutely no response.

The log-out button seemed to have sunk into the interface, its original blue having turned gray when I wasn’t paying attention.

No matter how I pressed it, there was no sound in response.

“Can’t log out? Impossible… BHAO isn’t a full-immersion game! Unlike early games that used helmets, it won’t have this kind of malicious BUG!”

I tried hard to explain the current situation with game common sense, but the facts were running counter to that common sense.

This is too bad, it simply couldn’t be worse!

The mood from being oppressed earlier, combined with the panic brought by the BUG now, surged up together.

No matter how much I tried to hold on, my endurance was almost at its limit.

The collapsing data had already surrounded me.

My vision sought help farther away— but the places swallowed by the collapse cubes were nothing but darkness, still darkness.

“Night Witch, swallowed by darkness… How ironic!”

I slapped the log-out button a few more times.

Still no response.

In the end, I chose to give up, letting the darkness engulf me.

_I might get knocked unconscious by this darkness, right?_

I had already prepared for the worst.

But in the next second after this thought appeared, my vision was once again occupied by bright light.

Fluorescent lights?

What shot into my view was the ring-shaped lights overhead.

Those were the illuminations provided in the BHAO club room.

Reality?

So ENDLESS WORLD’s sudden situation forced a log-out?

“Phew~ Made me worry for nothing…”

Wait…

Just as I was about to relax, even thinking of spending some points to order snacks— what truly panicked me was the voice I had emitted myself.

I’m not good with words.

I often get bullied at the academy.

My game character can’t advance in tier, and even the Night Witch is fixed at Tier 4.

I inexplicably got eroded by a BUG and then returned to reality.

But all of these added together didn’t compare to the shock of the voice that slipped out in this instant.

Because I had heard that voice before, and it was incredibly familiar— as familiar as brushing my teeth before bed.

But it should only exist within BHAO, where I could treat everything as unreal.

Now, that wasn’t possible.

Childish and milky— the voice belonging to the “Night Witch” virtual character—

Had fallen upon the boy named “Yae Yoruichi.”