"Up next, a special maritime rescue report: Yesterday evening, a fishing boat passing through the Izu Islands rescued a Chinese teenage boy who had been drifting at sea. The boy claims his name is Yu Ai. He has been taken to a hospital in Tokyo for treatment. What's astonishing is that, according to the fishermen who found him, the boy was drifting on a wooden raft with no power system of any kind. How did he cross the ocean into Japanese waters? Our reporter has interviewed the boy at the hospital."
The broadcast cut to a hospital room. The reporter stood beside the bed, microphone angled toward the patient.
"This is the rescued boy, Yu Ai. Yu Ai-kun, how are you feeling now? Is your body alright?"
A translator beside him relayed the Japanese to Yu Ai.
Yu Ai nodded while stuffing a hamburger into his mouth. A small table next to the bed was piled with empty burger boxes.
"Pretty good. I was starving. Feels like I could eat a whole cow. Can you buy me five more… no, ten more burgers?"
The reporter laughed awkwardly, murmured "Go buy more burgers" to an assistant, then continued.
"Uh… we'll arrange that. So, Yu Ai-kun, can you tell us how you ended up in Japanese waters? Where did you come from? What happened?"
The translator relayed it.
Yu Ai swallowed and said flatly, "I came from the Celestial Empire—China. I'm an orphan; my grandpa raised me. After he died, I followed the guidance of a liuli cup he left behind, and I took a small boat out to sea alone, trying to find a legendary island…"
The reporter nodded. "A liuli cup's guidance, searching for an island—sounds mysterious. Your grandfather must have been quite a character, right?"
The translator relayed it.
A trace of nostalgia flickered through Yu Ai's eyes. "Yeah. Grandpa said that when he was young he was an 'Ironclad' of the Zheng clan. He accidentally wandered into an overseas immortal mountain and saw immortals playing a board game. He only watched for a little while, but when he came back down, a hundred years had passed in the world, and he himself rapidly became an old man…"
"Ah! That reminds me of Japan's legend of Urashima Taro visiting the Dragon Palace! I guess your grandfather was telling you, in a whimsical way, to cherish time?" The reporter's tone stayed warm—kind in the way adults coax children. "Then what did you run into at sea? How did you drift here?"
Yu Ai continued, "Later, following the guidance, I found that island. Then I met a guy who called himself 'Ling Weiyang.' He said he was the Azure Emperor…"
The reporter's expression froze. His eyes widened. "Huh?! Yu Ai-kun… you… you can speak Japanese?! And you're really good at it?!"
"…Huh? Yeah… that's weird…" Yu Ai set down the burger and stared at his hands as if checking something, then smiled—slightly dazed, slightly indifferent. "No idea. While talking to you… I suddenly could. Feels like it was already in my head and just surfaced on its own."
"Uh… well…" The reporter turned to the camera, lowering his voice and speeding up his delivery. "It appears that prolonged drifting and extreme psychological stress may have affected Yu Ai-kun, possibly causing a mismatch in language function. This will require detailed assessment by medical professionals… Alright, alright. Yu Ai-kun, we understand. Please continue—what happened on the island?"
Yu Ai went on: "After that, things happened on the island. Inside that liuli cup there was a goddess who said she'd been sealed in the fifth century by a Roman king skilled in sorcery. With her help, I killed Ling Weiyang."
"…"
The reporter opened his mouth, as if to offer comfort, but in the end he only nodded heavily. Facing the camera, voice low: "We have heard a deeply heartbreaking story. Clearly, Yu Ai-kun experienced hardships and loneliness at sea beyond what ordinary people can imagine, and developed intense hallucinations to cope with extreme trauma. The hospital must arrange psychological intervention at once…"
Yu Ai: "…"
Seriously—now nobody believes the truth anymore?
The reporter turned back to Yu Ai, impossibly gentle. "Yu Ai-kun, I'm sorry to make you recall unpleasant things. Finally, after surviving such a disaster, is there anything you'd like to say to the viewers who care about you?"
"There is. There is. Brothers, there is."
Yu Ai thought for a moment, then cleared his throat and shouted with full chest, crisp diction:
"Vesta—you're a total piece of trash! Come to Tokyo if you've got the guts—I'll make sure you don't like what you get!"
The feed instantly cut back to the studio. The anchor calmly began the next story as if nothing had happened.
In the Mariyatsu family's living room, the moment the broadcast returned to the studio, the teacup in Mariyatsu Yuri's hands clattered onto the carpet. Tea spread into a dark stain.
Her face was white as paper. Her lips had no color at all. She trembled violently, frozen on the sofa as if nailed down by invisible fear.
Hikari was startled by her sister's reaction, but her attention was still on Yu Ai. "Sis! Your hands are freezing! Your face is so pale—it's like paper! Are you okay?"
Yuri jolted awake at Hikari's touch. She whipped her head toward her sister. Her tea-brown hair was disheveled, stuck to bloodless cheeks. Terror nearly overflowed from her eyes.
"Hikari—you don't understand! That wasn't nonsense! 'Ling Weiyang' is the Eastern Spring Wood, an ancient deity who governs growth and sprouting! A Heretic God who brings calamity to the earth—the Azure Emperor Taihao Fuxi's other honor-name!"
Hikari's mouth fell open. She stammered, stunned by her sister's unprecedented intensity and the frightening titles. "A-Azure Emperor? A Heretic God? Sis… are you saying… that guy lying in a hospital bed eating burgers… he…"
Yuri nodded hard. "Yes… if… if what he said is true, if he really… slew that kind of being, then it means… a new 'King' has been born. A Campione has descended upon Tokyo!"
That was the existence at the apex of this world: a demon king who killed gods in the heavens, stole their Authorities, and acted as he pleased on the earth.
A Campione is a conqueror.
Because he slays the gods of heaven and seizes the supreme divine power they hold.
A Campione is a king.
Because he wields the Authorities stolen through godslaying, ruling over mortals on earth.
A Campione… is a demon king.
Because among mortals, no one possesses the power to oppose him.
But none of that was important to Yu Ai.
Scrolling through his new phone, he muttered inwardly, "I've been transmigrated for ten years already. I used to wonder if this world was some third-rate web novel written by a washed-up author. But I was in China—major gaokao province—grinding myself to death. Who had time to think about it? Still, I didn't guard against it… I really am living in a two-dimensional world."
Suddenly his finger stopped over an unfamiliar icon.
A slowly rotating geometric symbol—something he'd never seen among the factory-installed apps.
"What is this? A preloaded virus, or some carrier-bundled junk app?"
Frowning, Yu Ai tapped it.
The screen switched instantly. A minimalist interface popped up with an uncanny texture. At the top it read:
Dimensional Chat Group
A few messages were scrolling rapidly:
[Megumin]: Fujimaru-san, how are things on your end? About Marie Antoinette, Jeanne Alter, and Jeanne appearing—does the plot trajectory deviate from reality?
[Ordinary High School Girl]: Kato-san! The plot outline you sent is a lifesaver. The overall framework is right—Orleans, the Dragon Witch, the two Jeannes, all the key points hit. But… the details are way off. The game never showed any of this, and that evil dragon Fafnir… wait, another enemy is coming!
[Focalors, Finish Your Sentence]: Wait, wait, wait! A game?! Kato, are you saying Ritsuka's story—saving human history from Chaldea—is a video game in your world?
[Sushang_Only_Account]: A game? Like those interactive dramas people play on a jade communicator in the Xianzhou? Fujimaru is the protagonist in the story? That's amazing! Then will I show up in the story too—like a gallant Cloud Knight officer?
[New Eridu Is Burning]: Whoa! That sounds so cool! Like the super-dream movies in the Bangboo Theater! Kato, in your game, are Fujimaru's battle scenes awesome? Does she have those flashy, descending-from-the-sky ultimate moves?
[Beichen One-Blade Style]: A game… a script… so our pain and struggle are just entertainment stories in another world?
[Demon King]: An interesting perspective. In Kato Megumi's world, Fujimaru Ritsuka's world is regarded as a work of fiction. Then by extension… each of our worlds, each of our existences, could also be a "story" written by some higher-dimensional being. Our joy and sorrow, our resistance and sacrifice—could they simply be arranged plot points?
[Megumin]: As long as Fujimaru-san is safe, that's good. The deviations may be variables introduced during actual execution. As for Demon King's question—yes, it's a philosophical problem. From my perspective, Fujimaru's world is a script, a fiction. But to her, it's absolutely real—blood and fire. Likewise, to me, my world is a real daily life. So who can guarantee that my "daily life" isn't someone else's script?
[Focalors, Finish Your Sentence]: Ugh… if that's true… does it mean I'm acting as a Hydro Archon in Fontaine every day, and to others I might just be a comedic character?! Don't say that!
[Sushang_Only_Account]: It's fine! Even if it's a story, then be the most brilliant one! I'll fill my story with chivalry—punishing the wicked and helping the weak—so the readers get fired up too!
[New Eridu Is Burning]: I agree with Sushang! Script or not, live cool, live spectacular! Being a legendary protagonist is great! Kato, if there's a game based on me, remember to tell me the rating!
[Ordinary High School Girl]: I finally got through it. Everyone's talking so deeply. But whether it's a "story" or not, the people I need to save and the era I need to fix are real. This responsibility—and the bond with my companions—are not fiction at all!
[Beichen One-Blade Style]: Yeah. My father's predicament and my confusion are real. I need power to change things… even if I'm in a "script."
Yu Ai watched the messages fly by.
"So it's this kind of group… a chat-group setup? Heh. What's this, my ten-years-late cheat finally arrived?"
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