Jiang Jian Yue admitted that these shots of the Dragonno Association’s Superpower Users being arrested certainly made DRG look like the antagonist.
[Are they just going to start spraying bullets immediately?]
[What in the NR97A is this? Is the financial sponsor behind DRG from Old China?]
That wasn’t the case.
This wasn’t even Jiang Jian Yue’s Wolf Warrior sentiment exploding; it was just the unique, petty pride of the Homecoming Faction.
The VGCF’s individual equipment was composed of French and Russian designs, but they insisted on using Chinese-made export rifles.
This had been decided long ago.
As for why they didn’t use AR models, the Homecoming Faction believed the United States was the greatest obstacle and enemy to their goal of establishing an Enterprise Nation.
Even though, up until now, the United States seemed to turn a blind eye to the major news DRG was making in Japan.
The most recent big news from North America was about the US purging its military.
They had processed over 100 senior generals at once, and tens of thousands of people were implicated.
It looked like an American version of a Great Purge.
It felt like the United States was selecting some incredible National Focus, but with insufficient intelligence, specific details couldn’t be displayed.
[Awesome! Combat! Awesome!]
[Gangs from out of town are so impolite.]
[This isn’t just a normal syndicate anymore; they have to hit them with a heavy fist!]
[Why did you just open fire? That’s not how it works in the law. You should…]
After Oowada Toshihiro “leaked” that the Dragonno Association was connected to the Agricultural Cooperative, the direction of the bullet chat suddenly shifted.
[The Agricultural Cooperative? Then they can just go die.]
[Is there any reason for such a trash organization to exist?]
Many of the problems in Japanese agriculture stemmed from the Agricultural Cooperative.
This was a current situation that no amount of fertilizer could change.
Jiang Jian Yue put down her cola.
Just as she was about to continue watching her animation, the new computer sitting to the side suddenly lit up on its own.
‘Hm?’
‘Did I bump the keyboard?’
A flash of doubt crossed her Blood Pupils as Jiang Jian Yue turned to look at the glowing desktop.
In the next moment, the originally peaceful default Windows wallpaper suddenly popped up with a bloody image—a face with the skin peeled off.
At the same time, a high-volume, soul-tearing scream erupted from the speakers.
Jiang Jian Yue’s upper body jerked back, causing her and the chair to tumble to the floor.
“Hahaha!”
The scream in the speakers changed into a man’s mocking laughter.
“…”
Jiang Jian Yue climbed up from the ground expressionless.
She casually flipped the switch on the power strip, and the new computer instantly went black.
‘That guy… so he isn’t dead yet…’
She had been wondering where his corpse was.
“Hahaha…”
This laughter came from Meiguan.
“So you’re actually afraid of that.”
‘Shut up. Anyone would be startled by an unprepared jumpscare!’
Just then, a faint blue mist seeped out from the already shut-down new computer.
Before Jiang Jian Yue could react, the mist dove deep into her old computer.
“What?”
Jiang Jian Yue’s expression changed slightly, but she was helpless to stop it.
What exactly was going on?
She stared blankly at episode twelve, which was still playing.
After a long while with no further abnormalities, Jiang Jian Yue sat back in her chair.
Since things had come to this, she might as well finish watching.
“Hehe.”
For some reason, Meiguan suddenly chuckled a few times.
“I feel like you’re plotting something disadvantageous to me.”
“Heehee.”
“Laugh again and I’ll delete you.”
***
By the time Yu Shirakawa realized something was wrong with Jiang Jian Yue’s old computer, it was too late.
When his consciousness merged into the new Cyberspace, he found to his surprise… that he had completely lost connection with his physical body!
‘Is my body… dead?’
‘Impossible!’
‘My body is currently in the Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu’s new underground bunker.’
‘It should be the safest place in Japan right now… how could…’
Yu Shirakawa somewhat regretted accepting this mission.
Kokoro had sent him to play the role of a perverted stalker to harass that person named Mizuki Hoshi.
Since her Heart Worm was the most unstable, she was clearly the biggest breakthrough point.
If they could force Mizuki Hoshi into Devouring and combine it with a media offensive, it would surely deal significant damage to DRG.
Although Jiang Jian Yue’s strange technique hadn’t killed him, it still hurt a lot.
Yu Shirakawa sighed.
He needed to contact his colleagues quickly to ask what happened to his body!
Yu Shirakawa’s ethereal body traveled through Cyberspace.
This place wasn’t abstract; it had a concrete form—a city built of glass and mirrors.
As his ethereal body rapidly browsed through information on the internet, his expression became strange.
‘What’s going on?’
‘Why doesn’t the date match?’
‘And… why is the news in this world so… normal?’
There were no Heart Worms, no Ground Zero Ikebukuro Monster Incident, no Dawn Resources Group galloping across Africa, and of course, no Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu.
It was as if… this was a world where GPRI still lived and continued to exist?
Yu Shirakawa returned to the place where he first entered.
Looking at the mirror in front of him, he activated his ability to pass through it.
However, the location where he emerged wasn’t Jiang Jian Yue’s main bedroom, but…
“This second-hand computer isn’t bad, right?”
“Come on, man, we’re brothers. Make it a bit cheaper.”
The voices reaching his ears weren’t Japanese, but… Mandarin?
Yu Shirakawa quickly connected to nearby networked cameras through a net cable.
He discovered to his bewilderment that this seemed to be a computer parts market?
‘Where the hell did I end up?’
***
Yu Shirakawa spent some time browsing the content on the network and soon discovered some things he couldn’t access.
As an electronic ghost, he could ignore various encryptions to browse, and even offline devices could be infiltrated through his ability… how could there be content he couldn’t view!
These pieces of content were like a giant black hole existing on the internet.
Yu Shirakawa tried to force entry, but he could only feel his state of consciousness rapidly being annihilated.
If he hadn’t run fast, he would have been killed long ago.
Yu Shirakawa had a premonition that this content he couldn’t view was the key to his return.
After spending more effort in Cyberspace, he retrieved an account—Cuiyue Official.
This account was different from others.
He could actually see the discussions and videos under this account, and this account was connected to those “black holes.”
It was like a “bridge” located on the edge of the “black hole.”
Yu Shirakawa recognized at a glance that the so-called cosplayers in the videos… were clearly the actual people!
The comments and video bullet chats beneath them made unease rise within Yu Shirakawa.
Settings from science fiction novels involuntarily flashed through his mind.
‘What do you mean you’re talking about our lives on the internet like you’re talking about an animation?’
‘What do you mean the production team’s internal malice turned Kaori Onishi into a blonde female extra?’
‘What do you mean I think this Curtain Cluster is a troll, too? When I say it’s bullying innocent people, he says don’t bring up Kokoro’s drama?’
‘What are these bullet chats and comments talking about?’
And… why did this account’s avatar look a bit like Jiang Jian Yue?
Yu Shirakawa searched for some live broadcast clips and quickly dismissed the idea—Jiang Jian Yue wasn’t that big.
While he was operating in front of the mirror, a woman’s voice suddenly came from behind him.
“Yu Shirakawa… that’s the name, right?”
Yu Shirakawa hadn’t expected someone else to appear in his own space.
He turned pale with fright, the effect greater than any jumpscare.
He turned his body stiffly, his pupils shrinking instantly.
“Jiang Jian Yue!?”
No, it wasn’t Jiang Jian Yue.
She wasn’t that big.
The mysterious woman wore a dangerous smile, narrowing her Blood Pupils.
She whispered,
“Do you… want to go back?”
Yu Shirakawa gradually recovered from the shock.
Facing the woman’s question, he nodded solemnly.
“I want to go back!”
“Very well.”
The mysterious woman raised her hand and gave a light push.
Yu Shirakawa’s ethereal body suddenly felt a surge of pressure blooming from his chest.
The moment his back touched the mirror, his body began to dissolve.
Yu Shirakawa’s eyes widened as he tried to break free from the pressure, but…
It was like being pinned down by an invisible stone.
“No! Stop!”
Yu Shirakawa screamed at the top of his lungs, and then felt his consciousness gradually vanishing.
A stream of brand-new memories flooded into Yu Shirakawa’s brain, instantly shredding the personality that originally belonged to him.
As the last wisp of his soul vanished before the mirror, the Cyberspace also began to crack and disintegrate.
Crystal-clear fragments pelted the mysterious woman like a heavy rain.
Her eyes cleared slightly.
“Sigh…”
A long sigh.
***
A girl opened her eyes with a splitting headache.
She casually took off the oxygen mask on her face… and when her hand accidentally touched the towering peaks on her chest, she froze.
‘What’s going on?’
Her memory was stuck on staying up late to finish a PPT for the next day’s report.
She only felt a pain in her chest and then…
She sat up.
Ash-gray hair fell over her front.
She used slender, girlish fingers that didn’t belong to her to twirl a strand of hair—she easily reached a conclusion.
‘Who changed my keybindings… no, who modified my body?’
‘Transmigration?’
The girl looked around and found herself in a windowless room, sitting on a bed surrounded by medical equipment.
On the other side was… a server?
‘Why is there such a strange room?’
The girl rubbed her aching temples, feeling something in her mind being rapidly forgotten.
‘Yu Shirakawa? Whose name is that? Is it this body’s?’
‘Then who is Cuiyue?’
“Shirakawa!”
A woman’s shout came from outside the door, followed by a “beep” as the electronic lock quickly disengaged.
A brown-haired woman pushed the door open.
Seeing the girl on the bed, she froze in place.
The girl stared at her blankly.
In the next moment, a surge of lightning was reflected in her Blood Pupils.
The brown-haired woman activated her ability, electricity swirling around her body.
She asked with a tense expression, “Jiang Jian Yue! Why are you here! Where is Shirakawa!”
“I…”
The girl suddenly realized she understood Japanese.
She even opened her mouth and felt she could speak it.
She hurriedly tried to explain.
But in the next moment.
As if a sudden realization struck her mind, light flashed in her Blood Pupils… she subconsciously began to use her ability.
Her arm rapidly transformed into hideous black flesh, and an Insect Blade snapped out from her wrist.
The brown-haired woman reacted instantly, raising her hand to fire a bolt of surging lightning at the girl.
‘What the hell is going on!’
A flash of killing intent crossed the girl’s eyes.
Since the other party was attacking her, then she didn’t care about anything else.
She would kill her way out first!