Ascension: Online

After taking a good look at the four directions this time around, I immediately switched locations with my replica using Replica: Switch, then walked up to the girls.

"Okay, this time it's pretty simple. If the direction I'm currently facing right now is north, then the tetrahedrons will be at north, south, east, and west respectively."

"So, just the cardinal directions, huh?" Hina-nee murmured.

"Yeah. I'll take north," I proposed.

"I'll take south," Hina-nee added.

"I can go east," Furuwa said.

"… Leaving Nadeshiko with west," I concluded. "Alright. Everyone, try to meet back here in an hour."

The three girls nodded to me, confirming that they understood my instructions, and we set off in our respective directions.

*****

It didn't take long for me to find my tetrahedron. Really, all I had to do was keep walking forward. Half an hour later, I was at my target.

Without wasting any time, I wrapped my hand around the tetrahedron. As expected, it didn't hurt at all for me. Today, I wanted to test out whether or not the same rule applied to the girls, which was why I had everyone go their separate ways. It didn't appear to have any side affects for me, after all, apart from my heart turning more hollow than before.

As I finished 'consuming' the tetrahedron, I felt more power course through my veins. At the same time, however, I felt as if another part of my heart had been lost.

Hopefully, I would not need to do any more of these reality rifts in the future. Sure, I was gaining strength at an incredible rate, about plus 8 to all stats for every tetrahedron I consumed, but was the cost really worth it? I could gain power just as easily by doing quests and whatnot thanks to my passive stat leveling ability; it would just take longer.

In the end, I decided that protecting my humanity was more important. At this rate, I could feel myself turning into an emotionless monster. I didn't want that. Balance between strength and greed was extremely important. If I let the latter take over me, I would be forever consumed by the Malevolence.

Aisa said players couldn't turn into Monsters, but I didn't want to risk it.

After taking care of the tetrahedron, I turned around and began my walk back.

*****

Roughly an hour later from when we first began, we all regrouped at the core. Luckily, no one got lost, and everyone still appeared to be alive and well.

"Did everyone take care of their respective tetrahedrons?" I asked, just to confirm.

The three girls all nodded, to my relief.

"Great. Now then, there's only one final step," I turned to Nadeshiko. "Basically, all we have to do here is hit the core — this massive sphere — together, simultaneously. We have to get the timing exactly right, or else it will regenerate, thus rendering our efforts useless. Any questions?"

"Nope~ seems fine to me," she smiled innocently. "Hey, Kaze, can I kill you after this? You know, since I'm being so nice and helping you out and all."

"No… though it's not like you won't try it anyway even if I deny, huh?"

"Of course~"

I sighed, shaking my head. "In any case, if you're going to try anything, at least wait until we get out of this rift. None of us have our player statuses here, hence why we can't access our Systems. The only reason I can still use my arts is because they are built into my actual body, not reliant on the System itself."

My eyes took on a dangerous gleam. "In other words, if we die, we die for good. Everyone else will also be trapped here forever."

"Mkay~ I don't really care, but whatever you want, Kaze~" she responded carefreely, apparently not concerned whatsoever.

What a troublesome girl…

Taking a deep breath, I turned back to the core and continued. "Okay. Everyone ready?"

"Yep!"

"Yeah."

"Yep~"

"Alright. On the count of three…"

Everyone took out their respective weapons, ready to attack whenever I gave the signal.

"3… 2… 1…"

I reared my arm back, preparing to plunge Dokujin into the core.

"Now!"

The four of us struck all at once, cleaving the core into pieces with our weapons. Pale green light poured out of the core's body, blinding all of us.

Then, the light consumed all as we covered our eyes.

When we were finally able to see again, the world around us had returned to normal. The massive black sphere was gone, and the reality rift sealed shut.

"Looks like we beat it," Furuwa sighed in relief.

"Where's Aisa?" Hina-nee tilted her head, looking around.

"It will probably take some time for her to come back," I replied. "The Creator's direct influence has only just been cut off from this world - Aisa will need to restart herself and re-enter this reality. If she's still not here by tomorrow morning, though…"

"Let's hope she will be," Hina-nee interrupted me, not wanting to hear any more. "For now, let's just head back. We still have another series of battles to fight tomorrow in the tournament."

And so, the four of us returned to Qilian City, killing some Magic Beasts and Monsters on the way to gain some XP and levels.

*****

When we finally returned, the sun had begun to set. We got a bit carried away hunting, but there was still plenty of time for us to rest nonetheless.

We checked in at the hotel near the eastern gates of Qilian City — the same one we had been staying at for the past week. Nadeshiko booked a room for herself, since Furuwa refused sharing one with her. Understandable, considering she was the type of girl to murder you in your sleep.

I did notice, however, that Nadeshiko was quieter than usual. She seemed to be thinking about what had happened in the reality rift. Back then, I had decided not to pry about it if she didn't want to talk, but… it would be a lie if I said I wasn't curious.

Deciding to give confronting her one last shot, I discretely planned out my meeting with her.

We all returned to our respective rooms. Hina-nee went into the shower, so I took advantage of this time to knock on Nadeshiko's door.

"…" I heard no response.

Sighing, I decided to try again, knocking once more. "Nadeshiko. Open up. It's me, Kaze."

After a few seconds, the door swung open, revealing Nadeshiko behind it. She wore a bath towel - apparently, she had been planning on taking a shower just like Hina-nee, when I interrupted.

She had a playful and seductive smile on her face as she invited me in.

"My, my, Kaze… so eager for my body?" she giggled. "You can wait until after I'm done showering, can't you~?"

I sat down on the couch, ignoring her flirtatious remarks.

"I'm here to ask you a question," I said in a serious tone.

"Oh? What do you want to know about me? Yes, I'm pure stil-"

"That's not what I was going to ask," I cut her off. "I was wondering… what was going on with you earlier today, inside the reality rift."

"Hm~? What do you mean?"

"Those were tears in your eyes that I saw. There's no mistaking it. I also heard you faintly murmur the word 'memories' under your breath during the Creator's speech. The other girls may have not noticed it, but I have."

She fell silent, then sat down on a chair adjacent to mine.

"… You're quite observant, you know?"

"So I've been told," I replied. "Now… mind telling me what was up with that?"

"And why exactly should I tell you~?" she giggled, as if amused by my audacity in coming here and asking for her private information like that.

After pausing and analyzing the situation for a while, I settled on the best method to manipulate this conversation the way I wanted it to go.

"You don't have to tell me," I said quietly. "Just know… if you ever want to talk, I'm here. I can't say I like you, but you can be considered an ally of sorts now, since you're stuck in the game as well. Your feelings influence not only your own combat strength, but also our entire group's. That's why I want you to come out and talk to me."

She didn't respond, and instead continued listening.

"I'm not forcing you to do anything. It's just… for some reason, you seemed… lonely. Back in the rift, you had this sad atmosphere to you that felt strangely familiar to me. That's also part of why I came here today to ask you about it, I guess."

First step, make her think I was similar to her. It was true - I was isolated and lonely all my life, with the exception of Hina-nee.

"… Lonely?" she laughed softly, unlike her usual personality. "No… lonely doesn't even begin to describe it."

"Describe what?"

"My life. My previous life… before entering this game."

Deep down, I smiled. The conversation had indeed went the way I wanted it to.

I waited patiently as Nadeshiko Nakano told me her past.