Shin Kagami

Kagami was still lost in thought and absentmindedly flipping through random forms when the other player approached her. She flinched as the stranger began to impose themselves onto her and when their grip eventually found her upper arms. “What in the hells is wrong with you…” As Kagami reflexively spun around to face the intervening player, she activated her only extra skill and «Disguised» herself as the stranger. Kagami stared at the person in front of her for a few seconds. While their appearance couldn’t be more identical, the expressions they wore couldn’t be more different.

Nian wore a piercing glare. Surrounding her was an air of active dominance and the utmost confidence to execute and achieve that will. It seemed that Kagami’s mere existence was an annoyance and eyesore to her. That Kagami would be far below the acknowledgement of Nian if she hadn’t continued to use «Disguise» absentmindedly. An implicit and subtle hint of disgust as if to say, “Who are you to show yourself like this in front of me?”

Nian’s mirror opposite, or rather Kagami disguised as Nian, was disheveled. Strands of black hair covered her face and eyes and her body was tilted backwards in preparation for what felt like an inevitable blow. Her eyes widened and darted between Nian and random passerbys, NPCs and players alike, silently pleading for help and forgiveness. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, as the words she desperately sought to defuse the situation failed to materalize. The air of confidence and endless indulgence that Kagami had experienced just a few days ago had gone with the wind.

The eternity of a few seconds didn’t last forever, as she turned willed her Disguise skill to deactivate. Her whisper was as silent as the wind that flowed through the Town of Beginnings. “I- I’m sorry.”

@Nian

Kagami strolled around the Town of Beginnings, taking advantage of the ever-growing silence of the settlement and the cloudy skies that broke apart every so often to provide pillars of sunlight. Her movement was wobbly and unsure as her mind was elsewhere, and her figure changed form to a variety of different individuals as she absentmindedly used «Disguise» over and over again.

The young woman was still processing the events from a couple days before when she had fought and killed her Gemini and figuring out what she had in store for the future of Aincrad. Kagami noticed the posters floating in the wind and remembered the joy that so many players had felt from the news of successful floor boss raid after successful floor boss raid ages ago. The stories of various frontliners crept into her mind; the veterans and the mainstays, the newcomers and hotshots, and the various scandals between the members that has ultimately brought their orchestrations to a mostly screeching halt. Willpower and strength. Kagami believed that the first component was trivial, she had already proved her unwavering determination which led her to use the abnormally strong, beginner-friendly healing potion to defeat one of the easiest fights she would have yet. Yet, the power and strength needed to change the world felt constantly out of reach and as advancing towards it made it seem more elusive every passing moment.

She let out a heavy sigh. After the death game announcement was made and, for the better part of five years, Kagami felt in control of her own life. But now, she felt as if she had willingly given up control by choosing to fight her Gemini. The void in her chest from when she fought her Gemini continued to fester slowly invading the rest of her body and thoughts. It wasn't uncommon that she needed to lie down to stop her head from spinning. Or for the everpresent brain fog and dull headache to disrupt anything remotely close to leisure. Or her body burning up and freezing at the same time for no apparent reason. Or the feeling of being constantly out of breath while her lungs were still full of air. She would love to blame it on Cardinal, yet Cardinal had nothing to do with it. Anxiety, panic attacks, the constant stress that doesn't cease even while she sleeps. Those were the root of the symptoms, and the root of those was Kagami herself. Kagami felt as if she was thrusted back into the same endless positive feedback loop that she thought had ended once the death game started.

The mask she wore for herself had cracked underneath the pressure that she had put onto herself. She felt as if she had a complete loss of control over her life. Kagami unwittingly pitted up the determination to fulfill the vow that she swore against her desire to give up and submit to the loss of control. Neither contradictory or mutually exclusive as she could live with both, but the latter impeded the former. She desperately wished to give up, but life would continue to go on without her and would eventually crush her. "I need to seize the fate with my own hands... but-"

@Nian

It took a bit of time for my laughter to calm down and regain my own senses. An absolutely rare yet absolutely happy moment. The facade of the NPC helper, of Celeste, merged and mixed in me. The bored me wasn’t present and in a moment, someone new had replaced her and when Hellion pressed his suspicions against that I wasn’t an NPC, I was ready to give up the facade and come clean.

For a moment, I was a fish out of water. I constantly opened and closed my mouth, unsure of what words should exactly be coming out of my mouth. My eyes darted back and forth, frantically seeing if there were any other onlookers. I was glad that I hadn’t yet turned to face Hellion, otherwise he’d have seen my panicked face. I froze… at least until Hellion tricked to tickle me.

I had never been someone who was very ticklish. All I felt was Hellion trying to run his fingers along parts of my body during an extremely awkward silence. After the attempt passed, I cleared my throat and spoke. “I guess Kayaba didn’t program me to be ticklish.” I stood up. The only sounds there were was the rustling of clothes as I picked myself off the ground and the howling of the wind and the leaves being dragged along its current. I broke the silence. “We should probably go find more materials for Zackariah.”

@Hellion

I heard stories of people who have attempted suicide by jumping from a high place. There’s always two things that are consistent. The first is that the moment they lose control and go over the edge, most of them regret their actions immediately and they realize that all of their problems were temporary and solvable or at least endurable. The second is that once if they get past the shock and regret, the view was beautiful. I kept that in mind as my eyes did not leave the sky above me as I fell towards the ground. It was no night skyline or a beautiful mountainside at sunset, but I appreciated every second nonetheless. It was a further bonus knowing that this simple fall wouldn’t harm me in the slightest because we were in a game.

To my surprise, the impact wasn’t as harsh as I expected it to be. The slight tingling sensation was present indicating that I would normally be in some type of pain but it was subtle. The ground was also warm and I was fairly certain that I hadn’t soiled myself nor there was igneous activity on the first floor. Then he spoke, pretty much directly into my ear. “Good job Celeste, you managed to fly. Such a talented AI assistant.”

I fell silent for a few seconds, trying to gather my bearings and get a grasp on the situation. Why would anyone even bother trying to risk self-harm for someone they just met? On top of that, why would anyone even bother trying to risk self-harm to prevent a non-existent threat from occurring, regardless if it would befall a cheeky player or an immortal AI?

My thoughts were then abruptly cut off by a wet plop landing on my forehead. I scooped part of the liquid and held up my finger above me so that Hellion could see the golden, amber-like substance as well. “Do you think this counts as a material?” I figured that what just transpired didn’t matter to me and I forgot all about the setting that I had set for myself. I burst out into an honest laughter.

I returned Hellion’s smirk with my own. “Thank you. Hope you have a good place in mind because six months has allowed me to try just about everything in the Town of Beginnings.”

After his quip regarding the potion’s taste, we fell into silence for a few seconds. During that moment, I heard a faint buzz emanating from the forests canopy. I put my finger to my lips and hushed Hellion before climbing the closest tree trunk. I stopped at each branch that would support my weight and look down as I distanced myself from the forest floor and Hellion shrunk. It took me a couple minutes to reach the top where the buzzing of the beehive was incessant. As I reached out to the hive in an attempt to collect the honey, the bees swarmed me. I swatted them away, trying to ignore their baseless threats until I fell off.

“Well, hopefully you get the ability to buy the materials soon. Even I can’t tell what Cardinal has in store for you guys.” I let out another sigh as I began to scan the horizons once more, only to be disappointed with a bunch of nothingness amongst the plains. The only reprieve of the situation was that I did notice that there was a forest further ahead. “Let’s head over there. Might get better luck over there.” I smiled at Hellion before twirling around and walking towards the forest with my hands held behind my back.

“Well, thankfully my sisters and I haven’t been around for long. It’s been about… I think 6 months?” I looked behind and flashed a half-smile as I started to delve further into the mindset of an AI bored of its existence that it had yet to even fulfill. “But it’s been a super boring existence. You are the first one that I’ve seen approach me. These info brokers you talk about, never seen or heard of one still investigating these quests.”

As we neared the treeline, the wind picked up and the branches swayed to its mercy. “As for what I do for fun? There’s not much I can do. I’m tasked with living in the Town of Beginnings and act like a human player to the best of my ability until my directive is activated. I can’t exit that place without someone asking me to accompany them on a quest.” My mind was much too occupied with the conversation that we were having to even think about finding a material around us at that point. “But whether I can eat and enjoy food, sure I can!” I gave Hellion the most honest smile that I could muster. After all, I wouldn’t turn down an opportunity to eat.

“My sisters and I aren’t really designed to do the quest for you or walk you through what you need to do step-by-step. Neither are we all knowing…” As we stepped outside of the storefront, I took in a breath of fresh air. I silently hoped that we’d never have to enter Zackariah’s domain ever again, but the quest dictated that we had to re-enter the shop to craft the potions. “I don’t have a catalog of player shops. I do have a catalog of NPC shops. As of right now, there are none that would benefit you. All closed down by Cardinal a few years ago. The only NPC shops that are left sell bland food, equipment that might as well be made from foam, or lodging.” I let out the sigh. To me, the First Floor was one of the most tranquil, but it was the most template floor out of them all. I begun to spin another web. “It must be nice to be able to travel to the other floors.”

As we walked through the towering gates of the Town of Beginnings, I watched as Hellion kneel down to pick a blue flower that brilliantly matched his eyes. Immediately after picking it, he praised his luck and joked about finding things for people. “Pretty good.” I started to scan my surroundings. There wasn’t much as far as the eye could see since the floor was mostly plains with some forests here and there, but a white object on the ground caught my attention. I ran towards it and presented the boar tusk in my hands. “Think people would buy materials from an NPC? Not that I have the authority to sell stuff in the first place.”

I let out an internal groan as Hellion went along with the act. If he flat-out denied it, I’d have the enjoyment of trying to convince him; if he accepted it, I would have fun testing the boundaries of his belief. But instead, he played along with the act like a parent playing make-believe with their child. I could try to convince him, but I felt like he’d just as readily accept the fact that the person in front of him was an AI.

I refused to admit defeat. I puffed my cheeks and pouted. “You don’t believe me, do you? Treating me like a child and a liar just because I was in sleep mode.” I audibly grumbled. “I hope that attitude of yours changes when you meet my sisters.” I let out an exaggerated sigh. “But I will concede. I know where we must go.” On that note, I led Hellion through the alleyways and towards Zackariah’s workshop.

As the door was opened, I was immediately hit with a pungent odor of several chemicals and odd concoctions being mixed together. “Ladies first.” I rolled my eyes and pinched my nose before entering the doorway. “Real classy Hellion.” As we went further into the workshop, a visible purple cloud progressively enshrouded the room. It wasn’t until I called out the NPC’s name that the cloud and odor disappeared. “Hey Zackariah, you here?”

A moment later, the old alchemist appeared behind his counter. “Oh, hello there. Pardon the mess. I don’t…”

I stared off into space and tuned him out as he gave his standard dialogue. The quest had been documented ad nauseum in such a way that I would know what to do like the back of my hand. Eventually, the notification popped up and queried Hellion and I whether we wanted to participate in this quest. I immediately accepted it and turned to Hellion. “You can at least lead the way outside right? After all, men are supposed to be the escort.” I smirked.

I wandered the rest of the festival and eventually happened upon something that looked like a rock garden, but the area was much less spiritual. Instead of the delicately curated, raked lines that I often saw, various footsteps disturbed the gravel astrewn about. The NPC there offered me a try at the activity, asking me to get a magpie to return a gift. As I reached into the cage, a thought happened upon me. Either Cardinal was smart enough to program in purposefully choosing the right magpie, talking to it, and then it finding the proper gift or everything was already randomly generated. In an effort to prove my theory, I kept the cage open as the magpie flew into and out of my hands without a word of exchange. It eventually returned a few moments later and gave me a small jar of ashes. “Guess I’m giving an AI too much credit.”

After I looked over my tanzaku one last time making sure that I wasn’t missing any prompts, I quickly hung them up onto the bamboo tree and left unceremoniously to avoid any wandering eyes. I wondered what would come out of me signing the tanzaku papers in that way, if anything. Maybe some people would think of it as a sick prank, maybe others might think of the tanzaku as an actual message from the developer himself. Well, I highly doubt that anyone would really heed my words of advice. The people who aren’t fighting in the frontlines are too afraid of death, the people who are on the frontlines are exercising extreme caution. At this point, it would just be better for people to stop being so unhappy and focus on what’s in front of them instead of what they left behind. A wonderful game and events to look forward to for how many years this game would take to finish. Or if they die, whichever one came first.

When the wily grin seized contrtol of my facial expressions, I was glad that I decided to have my mask on during this festival visit. The cogs started turning in my head as I was thinking what would be an extremely, distasteful joke. “Maybe I should put joke responses for everything? Or how about I just put something that others would consider chaotic or just plain villainous?” My train of thought eventually led me to a font of inspiration. Tanzakus ranged from anywhere as thanks and wishes for continued blessings to new commitments like a New Year’s Resolution. Kagami had one person in particular that she wanted to thank for her current life.

“Why don’t I just write whatever I want, but sign it as Kayaba Akihiko? I’d love to see people’s reactions to thinking that Kayaba would have trapped himself in this game along with them. After all, they think he’s crazy. What’s a bit more added to the pile?”

After I wrote all of the wishes down, I ended up signing them as Kayaba Akihiko. The man who trapped us within this death game. The one who I’d like to thank.

[Wish #1, #2, #3, #4, #5]

You could always tell when there was some sort of event going on in the game. With everyone having been stuck in the game for nearly five years now, people were always looking for the next exciting thing. And with most of the playerbase afraid of the constant threat of death, the base mechanics of the game were nothing but ignored. So when there was rumors of the frontlines finally beginning to advance, of a new floor, or a special or seasonal event, they spread like a wildfire in the savannahs.

But I have generally been disinterested in the events that I’d seen. While the first few events were novel and gave a break in the monotony of living inside this virtual reality, they quickly grew stale. I would occassionally survey the event only to leave in disappointment. However, the rumors of the Tanabata event being different appeared to have some sort of merit.

Coral had absolutely transformed from the quaint little town that many people had named as the top retreat in Aincrad into a vibrant festival. The night sky was illuminated by the various stalls that were scattered across the hamlet. The NPCs who seemed to favor the silence that their small settlement provided had quickly performed a 180 and now were making enough noise to make sleeping gods wake. It was truly a transformative event and I was glad that I had decided to see if the rumors were real.

As I stepped over the festival’s threshold, I donned my mask and activated my «Disguise» skill. Although I could have gone over the top and re-envisioned my entire appearance, I decided to maintain a normal masked appearance save for a standard, flowery yukata. Why did I keep the mask? I didn’t think it would be too odd for someone to be wearing a mask during the festival.

As the night progress and stars shot across the sky, it was only a matter of time before I stopped by the booth giving out tanzaku. The NPC woman giving them out never gave her name but immediately handed everything that I needed. These prompts were quite short and well open to interpretation. Then an idea popped into my head when I noticed the dozens of nameless wishes on the bamboo trees. There’s no reason to act like I’m sane or be truthful with these wishes, do I? It’s not like Orihime or Hikoboshi were going to be able to read these wishes in the virtual world.

The lazy life that I lived made waking up in the morning an enormous pain and over the past five years, I learned the reason why cats could barely be bothered while basking in the sun. My eyes were still half-open as I heard footsteps approach and as Hellion offered his extremely formal greeting. As I turned to meet his gaze, I felt like I was blinded.

Hellion’s appearance was something out of an otome game. The man had medium-length chestnut brown hair that seemed to have a glistening sheen in the sunlight, while his aqua blue eyes shined with preparedness, confidence, and complete happiness. I recoiled slightly in shock, not prepared to see what was in front of me. As I struggled to maintain my composure, I tried to replace the disgust which had taken over my expression for a split second with a customer service smile. I almost said my thoughts aloud. “Bishounen. Riajuu.”

I mulled over the prospect of helping him out for a few seconds. I knew that the tutorial quests were easy enough to complete it by one’s lonesome, but that prospect bored me. It had pretty much been the entire reason why I hadn’t taken the quests yet. Even then, there was no telling whether I would find Hellion’s company enjoyable as he seemed like he’d play the straight man in a comedy duo. On the spur of the moment, I agreed but with a bit of additional spice. I stood up to return the bow. “Gladly. It is my entire purpose after all. I am Celeste, an artificial intelligence created by Cardinal designed to help assist lower-leveled players who are yet to begin their journey. I will be in your service.” At that moment, I thought of all of the fun I could have with this little, harmless prank of mine. Maybe this would become my bit.

@Hellion

I think it is quite difficult to forget the beginning of something new. That’s why I clearly remember the day that I began my journey with the empty conviction of doing what I wanted since it was also the day that I had my first legitimate interaction with another player. That day of beginnings was a calm summer day with a gentle breeze that smelled of morning dew blew across the entire Town of Beginnings and a spotty overcast that provided some shade where none was provided.

The night before, I was greeted with a calming silence with nothing but crickets singing me a lullaby to sleep on the rough bench in the plaza. But in the morning, I woke up to the sound of rustling leaves and a bustling city. I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as the sun’s rays warmed me up. The indistinct, white mask from my doppleganger clipped at my waist scraped along the park bench as I stretched and yawned.

@Hellion

THREAD SUMMARY

Quote

[Total]
+ 5 SP
+ 1,000 col
Obtained «Disguise»

Immediately afterwards, Kagami’s face snapped back and returned to the same stonewalled expression that she had while she was drowning as if someone had finally released the tension in her face.

—

At the moment, there was nothing much for me to think other than, “That was fun.” The time was sort of hazy and the light that reflected around the clearing was odd, almost as if it was casting a veil over my vision and that I was in a dreamlike state. I stepped towards where the rock and water met and dangled my feet into the pristine pool, the disturbance caused ripples before it settled once again.

As I looked up to the cataract I looked back to the moment before my virtual eye got pierced. In that moment, I thought that if she had admitted defeat and simply left than I would have left her. There was no real point to killing it, regardless of its artificiality or the supposed ghost in the shell. At that moment, I thought, “It doesn’t really matter what I do in this game. Once it ends or I die, nothing will matter.”

I spaced out for a couple minutes as the light had begun to disappear from behind the trees and the sun began to hide more of itself below the horizon. As I stood up, I came to a weak resolution and an even weaker conviction. “I guess I gotta do what I enjoy doing. Whatever that may be.”

“How?” The doppleganger’s head turned and its eyes met its rapier. The Other Mask hesitated for only a moment before she grabbed the rapier; a moment that it would regret in the next as her head snapped back and her entire vision was blocked out by the tip of Kagami’s weapon about to pierce her eye. Its mouth fell agape, as a breathless scream emitted from the NPC.

Kagami leaned forward so she can whisper in the doppleganger’s ears once more while keeping her blade perfectly still. Her voice dripped with malicious glee as her breath tickled the doppleganger’s artificial ears. “You know what they say. An eye for an eye.” She quickly unsheathed her sword from its resting place in the doppleganger’s eye socket and with a quick motion stowed it away into her inventory. As soon as that was done, the lifeless NPC began to crystallize before bursting and dissipating into nothingness.

The Other Mask absorbed the situation in front of itself. Kagami’s back was turned to a prey that was all but surely defeated. “I won’t have another chance like this again, ” it thought as it wrapped its hands around the rapier at its side.

The doppleganger snuck up behind Kagami as quietly as possible. It thought that the sound from her shoes squeaking as it scrubbed against the slick rock, but Kagami’s vision remained ever-focused on the beautiful waterfalls that were turning orange as the sun began to touch the horizon. Eventually, it got into striking distance and crouched down. “One shot.” It sprung up and lunged forwards piercing Kagami through the eye. There was no shout of pain (nor could there have been any in the first place) or gasp in shock. Kagami stood absolutely frozen while The Other Mask slumped to the ground and released its grip on the rapier with a sigh of relief. She closed her eyes. “It’s over. It’s over. I did it.” When she opened it again, she was greeted with a nightmarish sight. Kagami had turned around, a crystallized gash covering half of her face, a potion in one hand, and a crazed grin that reached from ear to ear.

Kagami’s only response was a bored sigh as she jerked its head to the side. Kagami rose to her feet without a smile on her face. But the expression she wore wasn’t one of apathy that was a common scene in The Other Mask’s artificial memories, but of boredom. The doppleganger’s vision was entirely taken up by a sadistic being who had grown tired of playing with its toy towering over her.

Its words fell out of her mouth underdeveloped. Its inner voice spilled out, feather as if to leave her words unnoticed whilst hiding from a stalking predator. “You… You’re not Shin Kagami. Why? Who… who are you?”

Kagami turned around and walked towards the edge of the water with her vision affixed to the cataracts in front of her. Each step was meticulous like a soldier walking through an unknown minefield. “Good question. Maybe Shin Kagami’s been replaced with a shikigami? Heh-”

It blinked in confusion, trying to assure itself that Kagami wasn’t a figment of her imagination. “You should be dead. You should have drowned”

“Yet I’m standing here in front of you. In the virtual flesh.” Kagami dashed forward with reckless abandon, her rapier kept low to the ground. The doppleganger responded trying to intercept her advance with a quick, fatal thrust to one of her vitals. Its attempt immediately thwarted by Kagami’s off-hand, gently brushing the blade to the outside.

A wet clicking sound echoed within the clearing. The doppleganger’s wide eyes met with Kagami’s beaming eyes; their vision separated with her rapier which punctured through its neck. “Hu- hu- huk” Its breath was ragged, gasping for an air that couldn’t reach its lungs. With malicious glee, Kagami pushed the doppleganger along the length of her blade until the doppleganger was sagging on the ground grasping at her neck.

The voice called out to me one more time as if to try to add one final sting. “You wore nothing but masks anyways.” I knew that I wasn’t unique for donning a certain persona in front of certain people. I wasn’t even unique in trying to ignore my own thoughts and emotions by adopting those personas either. It was a small pride I had, no matter how shameful it was. I took pride in being able to mask the face that I reveal to none but myself. After all – “What’s wrong with that?”

—

Her eyes shot open and she swam with a frightening speed towards the surface. Her health bar continued to drain, the smallest sliver was left and she was still so far from emerging from the same pristine mirror which she fell through. Immediately, she grabbed one of the starter potions that she had and drank it, recovering her health just in time to prevent a certain death.

There was no sudden gasp for air when she surfaced. Kagami clumsily climbed onto the slick rocks, almost slipping into the lake again. After a couple attempts to stand up, Kagami spoke up. “Did you forget someting?

“Does what you do even matter?” The soft lake bed and the sparse vegetation carressed her back. “Maybe you don’t even have to fight to end this. I feel like more people would be happy that you died.” Every fear she had in her real life encroached her mind and began to infect her sanctuary within the game. “Especially after five years. Imagine their faces of disgust if you somehow survived. It took how long for you to take action? Or even worse, how long it took for you to accomplish a simple goal.” Even here she couldn’t run away from her own thoughts. The invasive thoughts that ran her life paralyzed her even now.

—

I couldn’t think straight at all. As I laid there with my HP bar draining imperctibly slow, I didn’t think drowning would be so bad. After all, I couldn’t experience the inexplicable pain of water filling my lungs. I couldn’t have cared less about what my fate would be like if my HP dropped down to zero. Whether this whole death game was a farce or not, I would have accepted it. I never truly fought against my real problems that laid deep inside me. I simply ignored them and let them fester until they were ready to strike back. It was completely my fault.

“You’re already a complete failure.” Kagami’s HP dropped from a shallow thrust to the stomach. “You’ve never had any drive or ambition of your own.” And its barrage continued. “Your life isn’t even your own.” Her health bar was now yellow, she knew that she was halfway to death. “Don’t you have anything to say you sad excuse for a human being?” And now the health bar threatened to reach the red mark. The doppleganger’s endless barrage ended with a final kick which pushed the player into the water. The lake’s pristine mirror cracked and its stillness was disrupted.

Shin Kagami’s world darkened as she sank to the bottom of the lake. The lake which had seemed so clear from above was enshrouded in shadows in its depths. “She’s not wrong, you know.” It was her voice but at the same time it wasn’t. It sounded much more like the doppleganger, but one she identified as her own. “You’re really nothing but a priviledged kid. Trained like a dog to perform tricks.” Her heart sank and memories of her life resurfaced. The times that she won competitions and bring home the award only to be criticized by her trainers and her parents. The times that she failed only for her existence to be treated with ignorance. The times she was put on a pedestal by her peers and every time she felt like a failure to all of their expectations. “Just close your eyes and end it. There’s no point anyways. It’s been five years, there’s nothing you can do anyways. You can’t even muster the strength to achieve your paradoxical goals.” The self-deprecating voice which she had laid to rest once she had entered the game had returned.

“Why… What is there to be so happy about?” The doppleganger’s voice was filled with genuine pain, which took Shin Kagami off guard. Since the beginning of the game and since her revelation that the entire set-up was a Garden of Eden, she had no reason to do anything but celebrate. But the doppleganger took advantage of this momentary opportunity and lunged forward, thrusting the rapier deep into Kagami’s chest. Once again, the same pleasant tingling sensation of simulated, diluted pain filled her body.

As the dopplegangertried to take a step back and return to a safer distance between the two, Kagami cut at its leg and her ears were gifted with a shriek of pain. She looked at the cut and noticed that it wasn’t just a bright, crystallized red gash that was already closing up, much like her chest wound, but rather one that was much more realistic. She held up her rapier to inspect it and noticed a few drops of blood dripping from the blade. “How can you enjoy being here? The whole world’s waiting out there for you. Do you really want to disappoint people even more?”