Liar, Liar - Volume 4 - Chapter 4

Final Chapter

Defeating a Pure-Hearted Monster

“Aww, I lost… Grr! Okay, let’s play this game next!”

It was eleven thirty at night on the fourth day of ASTRAL. After I’d run into the Chameleon, Tsumugi Shiina, at the hotel restaurant, she’d challenged me to a game for some reason. It put me on high alert, but I followed her to her room, determined. However, it turned out she just wanted to play some fighting games.

“Ooooh!   Yah! Take this! Hyah!”

Shiina was lying on her stomach on the bed, kicking her legs as she moved her character around. Her clothing was getting more casual by the day. When we first met, she’d worn a gothic dress. Now she just had some dark-colored pajamas on. She still used colored contacts to give herself heterochromia, though. I saw her red eye stealing glances at me occasionally.

I can’t believe we’re just playing like we usually do…

YOU WIN flashed on the screen. I couldn’t help but feel a little odd. Honestly, when Shiina spotted me at the restaurant, I’d panicked pretty heavily, yet it had been for nothing. I’d thought she wanted to challenge me to a Game, but she actually just wanted to play regular games with me. My disappointment felt entirely justified.

Wondering if I’d made a mistake somewhere, I decided to ask, “Um… Hey, Shiina, you really are the Chameleon, right?”

“Huh? Yeah, that’s right. I didn’t know people were calling me that until recently, though. I’m playing in ASTRAL as a member of Seijo School!”

“…And that’s all?”

“That’s all? Oh, wait, no! I originally hail from the world of demons, but I rescued this human that fell into that realm, and the devil who rules that domain punished me by banishing me he—”

“I wasn’t asking for your backstory.”

I shook my head at Shiina as she wove a contrived tale, her mismatched eyes gleaming. I sighed, feeling like an idiot for ever being wary of this girl. Shiina didn’t seem like a villain at all.

I set down my controller and faced her.

“Listen… If you don’t mind, could you tell me more about what’s going on with you? How’d you get involved with this Game anyway?”

“Mmm… How? How I got involved? Hmm…”

Shiina sat up and crossed her arms, her Cerberus doll close at hand. She stared up at the ceiling for a bit, then began counting something on her fingers. Occasionally she frowned and groaned. Eventually, she nodded to herself and brought her face close to mine.

“Okay, I got it all worked out,” she said.

“I think you have the wrong idea about all this, but go ahead,” I replied.

“You bet. Okay… I think I’ve told you before, but I don’t like school very much. I hate studying, and I’m not too good at talking to a whole bunch of people at once. Plus, I’m a specially chosen messenger of darkness. So instead of going to school, I stay at home, playing games and doing stuff on my computer.”

“Right, you mentioned that before.”

“It’s been that way for me since halfway through my first year of elementary school, I think.”

“Wow, you’re quite the dedicated shut-in.” I couldn’t help but make a joke. I’d had no idea she’d closed herself off from the world so early in life. “Sorry. That’s fine and all, but what’s it got to do with this Game?”

“Well, I stayed away from most people in elementary school and for middle school, too, so far. Once I’m done with that, I won’t have any more compulsory education. I thought that meant I’d never have to study again…but around a year ago, I think, I realized something bad was happening.”

“Something bad?”

“Yeah! The island has that whole star system that people fight for, right? Students do it for all three years of high school here. It’s the perfect way to decide who’s the best. I’ll never be able to join in if I don’t get accepted to a high school!”

“Oh… Yeah, that’s true.”

Come to think of it, she was right. The Academy’s star system was meant to rank schools and students, not the general population. Someone unaffiliated with a school wouldn’t have any access to Games. Presumably, an Academy resident who dropped out after middle school would be kicked off the island, too.

Shiina hugged Lloyd tightly, her lips pursed.

“Once I figured that out, I prayed to God…um, I mean, my devil overlord. I wished upon a star that I’d be granted a special exception to join Games. I called up the administration headquarters and yelled at them, and even tried to make #letshiinaplay trend on STOC. But they said that I couldn’t. They were like, ‘Please just go to a high school like a normal student.’”

“Well, yeah, what else did you expect?”

All the schools on the Academy were free to attend, thanks to monetary support from the Japanese government, Masamune Saionji, and the administrative funds each ward maintained. The competition to secure a spot at any school on the island was intense. Earning the right to join one meant turning down the prestigious offer wasn’t an option.

“If it’s that important to you, can’t you join a school and just not attend?” I said.

“Mmm, maybe… But I really don’t wanna. I’d feel a little guilty if I was part of a high school I never went to. I’d just be denying a spot someone else deserved. I just don’t want to go to high school, you know? I don’t want to study or work. Yet…I can’t miss out on the whole star thing, either!”

Shiina brought her face close to mine again. Her eyes, one jet black and the other dark red, were right in front of me, and the aroma of her fresh-smelling shampoo filled my nostrils.

“You understand, right? I would be so famous if I was allowed to join! People would stop me on the street… Actually, I don’t think I’d like that. But I’d wanna see people talking about me on STOC! It’d make me so happy! And I wanna rank high enough that I can get a fat stipend and party it up on the Academy!!”

“You realize how greedy you sound, don’t you?”

“Of course! You’re no different, though. The genius Seven Star transfer student, the most powerful presence in the Academy…you’re so cool, and it makes me so jealous.”

“…”

I’d been forced into that position, but there was no need to mention that. Shiina raised an eyebrow at my sudden silence. After a moment, she returned to the topic at hand.

“Anyway, I wanted to join the star fun however I could. I couldn’t take it anymore… That’s when my two-hundred-and-fifty-six-color brain came up with the most brilliant idea. Since I couldn’t join the normal way, I just had to sneak in!”

“…Huh?”

This very sudden leap in logic made me frown deeply. Clearly, Shiina thought it was entirely rational.

“I thought to create a feature that’d let me join in people’s Games. Everybody’s got devices on this island, right? So I took mine apart, and I shoved a star and Game app in there to imitate the real thing perfectly!”

“You shoved it in there…? How?”

“…? I forced it in. I connected the device to my computer, typed in a bunch of commands…poked around the program a whole bunch…and with just a few more clicks, I was on my way!”

Great. I have no idea what she’s talking about.

I brought my right hand to my forehead as I listened. Shiina was the sort of person you’d call a conceptual genius, I guess. Given how much she hated studying, I doubt she had much expertise with devices and computers, but she sported more than enough enthusiasm to make up for it. Somehow, she’d actually copied the Game access framework onto her device to create the Academy’s first spoof account, with the username???.

“Hee-hee! What do you think? Pretty cool, huh? Aren’t I really cool?”

“Yeah, you’re amazing, I’ll grant you that… But didn’t you get what you wanted after creating your account? Why go through all this trouble with ASTRAL?”

“Right. About that…” Shiina pursed her lips again. “I successfully made an account, but there was a problem. When you play a Game with someone, your account ID appears, doesn’t it? If anyone saw that mine was three question marks, they’d report me, and the cyberpolice would get really angry.”

“There’s no ‘cyberpolice.’ At least I don’t think so. Anyway, you’re right. Someone would definitely notice, and your account would be frozen.”

“Yeah. And I don’t want that, so I couldn’t get too careless. But I worked so hard to make that account and wanted to play Games so badly… That’s when I got an invite in an email. From some guy named Mikado, I think!”

I flinched when she mentioned his name. I’d known about his involvement for a while, but hearing it from Shiina herself felt so heavy. Just as I’d guessed, Kurahashi was behind this. Shiina went on, unaware of what I was thinking.

“I was really, really happy. He said so many nice things to me in that email. He talked about how amazing my fake account was, and how he wanted me to join him, that he needed my talents… It all sounded so suspicious! He said that if I wanted to accept, I needed to go to the top floor of some building at a specific time of day, and that I’d need a pass to get in… It felt like an evil syndicate!”

“…Was it?”

“Oh, totally! My gut told me it was trying to destroy the world or something. Heh-heh! A group like that praised me… I really am awesome!”

Shiina joyously kicked her legs as I fell silent. Mikado Kurahashi had appealed to her dark-fantasy tastes to win her over. It certainly felt like something he’d do.

“So then guess what happened? Mikado told me all about this plan. He introduced me to ASTRAL and told me I could use my ID without anybody suspecting a thing. He also gave me a Unique Star that lets me create a perfect copy of something, exactly like the real thing. It’s the perfect weapon for posing as different people and causing upsets in the Game! In exchange, he asked me to send that ‘declaration of war.’ You know, the one where I said I’d beat you and the Empress—the Academy’s number one and two!”

“Oh… So that’s what that was…”

I chewed over Shiina’s story. Finally, I had a complete view of all this. Shiina was functionally an outside assistant whom Kurahashi had scouted for this job. Presumably, she didn’t know about my situation or Saionji’s. She’d just been lured into joining ASTRAL to use the fake account she’d created. No wonder I never detected any malice from her. She was just having fun and had no idea of the impact her actions would have.

Shiina snickered to herself, clutching her Cerberus doll. “Tomorrow’s the final battle! The last day I’ll get to play with you in that event… I’m so excited, I can’t even sleep… Mmh…”

“You look exhausted to me,” I remarked.

“N-no I’m not! I’m not at…mmm…all…”

Shiina shifted a little, placing her head right on my lap. A few seconds later, she started to snore slightly, her innocent face turned up right at mine.

“…Is she sleeping?” I heard Kagaya ask over my earpiece, following a quick bit of static.

I placed a light blanket over Shiina’s body, then quietly answered, “Yeah. Considering all she said, she doesn’t seem the least bit wary of me.”

“I guess she trusts you, Hiro. Probably. And why would she be wary? To her, ASTRAL is nothing but a game. A game she’d be overjoyed to win and sad to lose. I don’t think she sees it as any different from the fighting games you guys were playing.”

“This is kind of hard to deal with.”

“I know, right? An innocent genius… She’s exactly the type I have trouble handling.” Kagaya seemed to earnestly agree with me. “Um… So what’ll you do, Hiro? Not to sound ruthless or anything, but if Tsumugi’s device is in her room, you could physically destroy it. Then she wouldn’t be able to log in tomorrow, and you’d win easy. That or give her some sleeping pills, but I guess that’d be even worse, huh?”

“I suppose getting rid of her device is an option…”

Kagaya’s suggestion was valid, yet I was reluctant to try it. Getting rid of her device would likely assure our victory in ASTRAL. However, it wouldn’t guarantee it.

“Something I’ve discovered over the past four days is that Shiina’s not particularly attached to games she knows she’s lost. But if the game’s still ongoing, she’ll fight to the bitter end. As long as she thinks it’s not over, nothing will stop her from finding a way to play.”

“Ah, yeah, I see what you mean…”

“When you consider it from Shiina’s perspective, beating her in some way outside of the Game doesn’t mean anything. She’d probably just challenge me to some other Game instead. I’d be stuck in a loop forever. We need to make her think she’s thoroughly lost, or it’ll never end.”

“Hmmm… Sounds like a tough one, Hiro.”

“It is,” I replied casually, a wily smile on my face. “But I think I’ve figured out a way forward.”

“Okay, guys… Is everyone ready? When the morning session begins today, I’m going to invite the Chameleon into the Game we discussed. We already discussed what happens after, and where everyone should be. I’ll be expecting everyone to follow the instructions I gave, okay? To be honest, none of us can mess up here… Every role is vital. But you’ve come this far with me, and I absolutely believe you can all pull it off. This Game was set up to be unwinnable, but I know we can turn the tables…even if we have to force it. So how about we show them just what Eimei School’s capable of?”

It was the first half of ASTRAL’s final day. From the middle of the Game field, the landscape was black all the way to the horizon. I watched my device quietly.

The final match was about to begin. I’d done everything I could. At least, I hoped so. I’d called upon everything I could to defeat Tsumugi Shiina and Mikado Kurahashi, and somehow it had come together into a plan.

Now it’ll come down to whether she’ll take the bait for me… Oop.

As I thought that to myself, I heard soft footsteps and turned around. There, I saw the red-haired Sarasa Saionji in her Ohga School uniform.

“Sorry to keep you, Shinohara. I know we were supposed to meet up earlier…but I started today in the exact location where I ended yesterday, with the Chameleon breathing down my neck. It took some time to lose her.”

“That’s fine. I didn’t wait that long. Great job losing her.”

“I’m not incompetent, you know. I’m the Six Star Empress.”

Her ruby eyes watched me as she brought a hand to her hip and gave me a mischievous snicker. I answered that with a small nod.

“All right, let’s do this just like we discussed. First, I need to make contact with the Chameleon,” I said.

“Right. Then the true final battle will begin.” Saionji looked right at me. Every word from her was sincere.

I had already shared today’s strategy with her. The Game I had prepared wasn’t a one-on-one between Shiina and me. Rather, all three remaining teams—Eimei, Ohga, and Seijo—would join. I couldn’t cut it alone. Saionji had a vital role in securing this ASTRAL comeback.

“Heh-heh! Well, shall we get going? We don’t have much time to waste.”

Saionji sounded a bit haughtier than usual as she turned around and gracefully walked away. I caught up to her, and soon we were walking shoulder to shoulder.

“Say, Shinohara, can I ask you something?”

“…? What is it, Saionji?”

“Well… There’s actually something I was hoping the two of us could discuss, perhaps.”

Her voice was hushed, and she practically whispered into my ear. Nobody was around, of course, but I suppose she was afraid a Libra camera might catch our conversation. Her silky red hair brushed against my cheek. Her breath caressed my eardrum.

“…Sword Flash!”

Saionji loosed a Sword Flash Spell right at me. It was a total surprise, an attack from point-blank range. No Defense Spell would save me in time.

At least, none should have.

“Ha… You’re late, Chameleon.”

Saionji’s attack was blocked by my Defense Wall and vanished in a puff of white smoke. I hadn’t suddenly developed superhuman reactions or anything like that. I’d just set up my defense in advance because I’d known an attack would come flying my way. An attack from the Chameleon disguised as Sarasa Saionji.

“…!”

Saionji, really the Chameleon, opened her ruby eyes wide. It was probably the first time anyone had seen through her disguise. There was clear confusion on her face.

“Wha…? How did you know? Do I give off too much power?”

“No, it’s simpler than that. Acting all formal and saying we needed to discuss something…Saionji never acts like that when no one else is around. Plus, it’s pretty hard to believe she eluded the Chameleon alone. If that were true, and she’d found me this quickly, she’d be early, not late.”

“Ugh…”

The Chameleon groaned in a way I’d never seen from Saionji.

“…So how did you take her place? Because I’m sure you two probably were close to each other at the end of yesterday,” I said.

“Oh! Yeah, we were. But when I logged in earlier, it looked like the Empress hadn’t shown up yet…so I placed a few paralysis Traps around where she’d be.”

I silently thought this over. Saionji hadn’t been there yet? No, it was likely the opposite. Kurahashi had likely messed with the log-in settings to ensure that Shiina could get in ahead of everyone else. The Chameleon herself didn’t seem to know that because she cocked her head.

“I think the other Saionji ought to be coming pretty soon,” she said.

“Yeah…you’re right,” someone answered, confirming Chameleon’s remark.

Looking over, I saw another girl who looked exactly like the one in front of me—Sarasa Saionji, the Six Star Empress and the real (fake) rich girl.

“You sure got me good today, Chameleon. That was a little unfair, don’t you think?”

“! Ah, ahh…”

The Chameleon fell silent, surprisingly unable to reply to Saionji’s comment. Maybe this was just Tsumugi Shiina’s natural shyness coming into play. Unlike actual players, she was just a 3D projection. She was controlling an avatar, like someone playing a VR game, yet even still, she struggled to talk.

“H…help me…!”

“Help? Well, Chameleon, how about you return to your original form?” I suggested. “Having two of the same person here just complicates things. And I think it will be easier for you, too, right?”

“Oh…right, yeah, maybe so! Okay, I’ll do that…!”

A mysterious light enveloped her body. I don’t know exactly what was going on, but it likely involved undoing her Unique Star–driven copy skill and returning to her original appearance. The silhouette visible through the light grew shorter. A few seconds later, we were greeted by Tsumugi Shiina in a gothic dress.

“Hee-hee! Well? This is what I really look like!”

“What do I think…?” Saionji echoed dryly. “I already knew what you looked like. I saw the MTCG footage.”

“Huh?! Well, you could at least pretend to be surprised! I’m revealing my true form and everything!”

Shiina puffed out her cheeks, held her chest high, and threw her hood back to show off her heterochromous eyes. However, just like Saionji said, Shiina had already revealed herself during MTCG, so being shocked and surprised at this point would be something of a tall order.

I sighed. “Come on, Shiina. Quit being silly. Also, isn’t that outfit a little too big on you?”

“I-it’s fine! It looks cooler this way! Quit raining on my parade! We’ve already had a bunch of fun together.”

“A bunch of what…?”

Oh crap…

Shiina’s choice of wording made Saionji glare at me. Her eyes felt like a gust of arctic wind. Internally, I began sweating like a waterfall…but I didn’t allow that to show. Instead, I tried to change the subject.

“Oh, that doesn’t matter. Anyway, I think this is the first time we’ve seen each other in the Game, Shiina. Thanks for that eye-opening ambush earlier.”

“Aww, quit bragging… I’ve decided that I’m not gonna lose today, no matter what. I’ll beat you and the Empress, and then I’ll be the ruler of darkness!” Shiina’s eyes shone as she made that statement.

Saionji and I exchanged glances, and then I took a step forward. This was it. I had to invite her to my Game. The strategy we had come up with, the off-the-board tactics…none of it would be worth anything unless Shiina agreed.

“All right, don’t get too excited. Listen, Shiina, let’s go over things really quick.”

“Huh? You mean in ASTRAL?”

“Yeah. Today’s the final day of ASTRAL, which is part of the May Interschool Competition. There are only three teams still playing—Eimei, Ohga, and Seijo.”

“Uh-huh! And the Seijo School, me, has the most territory! My Spells, my votes…they’re all way above yours!”

“True. If this keeps up, you’re pretty much guaranteed to win,” I said.

“Mm? Oh no, not at all. I’m not pretty much guaranteed. I am guaranteed!” Shiina frowned at me a bit. I guess she didn’t like how I phrased it. “I don’t have to do anything to win. I tried to ambush you to look cool as I won, but that wasn’t even necessary. If I just sit here and wait for today to end, I’ll win because I have the most territory… Heh-heh! You understand, right?”

“Of course I do,” I replied. “ASTRAL’s a battle for territory, so whoever has the most will obviously come out on top. But are you sure you haven’t forgotten something, Shiina?”

I tried to sound profound as I spoke. Shiina stared at me like she had no idea what I was talking about. I grinned back at her, maintaining my bold front.

“Last week, before the May Interschool Competition began, you tried to pick a fight with Saionji here. You went on ITube and declared war on her.”

“Y-yeah…”

“Don’t tell me you forgot the nature of the Game you challenged her to. Because I don’t think it was anything as simple as deciding a winner by whoever placed higher in ASTRAL. What was the exact contest you said you’d have with Saionji?”

“Um, whoever beats you first is the winner…? Oh…”

Shiina’s eyes opened wide when she realized what that meant. I took a quiet step forward, coming in for the kill.

“That’s right. You were playing a Game to see who could defeat me first. Strictly speaking, your place in the ASTRAL rankings doesn’t matter at all. Whether you’re in first place or last, if you beat me, you win. Don’t forget, you said that if no one beats me, I’d be the sole winner and I could decide what to do with you.”

“Huh?! I—I— Did I say that? I…think I did?!”

Shiina began to babble, in a clear state of panic. She’d definitely said that. I knew because I’d checked the video yesterday. Shiina had never discussed what would happen if I “defeated” myself, as I had a couple days back, so that hadn’t hurt me at all.

“Yes, in your struggle for the title of Empress, I’ll win if no one proves capable of beating me. All I need to do is escape. ASTRAL is a different story, of course, but for our little contest, I don’t need to beat you to be victorious.”

“B-but… Then I just won’t let you escape! I’ll beat you as hard as I can, and it’ll all be good!”

“That might be more difficult than you think. To tell you the truth, pretty much my whole hand’s nothing but Defense Walls and Stealth cards. Even if you attack me the whole rest of the day, I’m pretty confident I can hold out.”

“That’s not fair!”

“What? Of course it is.” I shut down Shiina’s childlike whining and pressed my advantage. “As long as I keep running, you’ll never triumph against Saionji. However, with the field in its current state, I have no hope of winning ASTRAL. And the same goes for Saionji.”

“That’s right.” Saionji nodded, arms loosely folded in front of her. “As the real Sarasa Saionji, I’m not handing over my identity as the Empress. I’d be happy to let Shinohara run away all day, but ASTRAL is just as important to me as the side bet between the three of us. If you win ASTRAL, Ohga won’t finish in the top five, and I refuse to let that happen. I’m the only one left representing my school, after all.”

Saionji pointed her powerful ruby eyes at Shiina. This was our story. Saionji and I couldn’t afford to lose to this faker. That was why, despite being enemies, we had to join together.

“So, Shiina…would you like to play a Game with us?” I offered.

“…What?”

“A Game. The three of us will play a Game, one totally separate from ASTRAL. You can see how things are, right? At this rate, you’ll probably win ASTRAL, but you’ll lose the side bet. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure I can protect Saionji’s Empress title, but I definitely can’t win ASTRAL. Do you see? If things continue like this, we’ll all lose. I don’t think anyone wants to see that.”

“I…! No, I don’t…”

“Right? We need to settle this right here, right now. I just sent the rules of my Game to your device. It’s a three-player board game that connects to the ASTRAL world. Beat me, and you win in ASTRAL and get your victory against Saionji. You’ll start with a big advantage, but we’ll have a chance for a comeback.”

“Heh-heh! How nice and easy to understand. I like the broad outlines of this plan, at least,” Saionji remarked.

“Mm… Hmmmmm…” Shiina hugged her stuffed Cerberus tightly as she looked into the air, wavering. This wasn’t a strategically sound offer to accept. However, she had to if she wanted to beat Saionji in their side bet. Otherwise, I was all but guaranteed to survive to the end of ASTRAL.

Still, my proposal was a bit of a stretch. Thankfully, I had another weapon at my disposal.

“Shiina…if you’re going to refuse, make sure it’s what you want. I’m inviting you to the exact sort of Game you’ve wanted to play for so long. There will be real stars on the line and you’ll be up against a genius Six Star and the all-powerful Seven Star. If you let this chance go, you may never get another one your whole life.”

“You’re…you’re right!”

Shiina’s eyes shot open. This was the biggest reaction I’d gotten from her. After learning more about her last night, I was confident this argument would convince her.

Shiina smiled while spreading the cape of her robe like a pair of wings. It looked like she was enjoying every moment of this.

“All right. You’re on. Let’s settle it all with a Game, then!”

She accepted. This was a momentous shift. Shiina had agreed to forfeit her massive advantage and meet us on a much more even playing field.

Okay! We’ve made it this far, I thought while watching Shiina. We’d made it to the Game within a Game against Tsumugi Shiina, the Chameleon. This was my only shot at winning, a new challenge I’d forcibly shoved into ASTRAL. Kurahashi was bound to interfere as much as he could, but I’d accounted for that. I knew I’d claim victory in this Game and in the behind-the-scenes negotiation.

Bring it on, Kurahashi. Because this is much more than just a Game… It’s an off-the-board war.

I smiled boldly at the crafty devil undoubtedly watching from somewhere.

“CROSSBOARD” 

MAY INTERSCHOOL COMPETITION AUXILIARY GAME RULES

Crossboard is a board game within the virtual world of ASTRAL. It takes place on a one-hundred-hex board, a compressed version of the ASTRAL field map, and the hexes are automatically colored at the start of play to match the current territory sizes in ASTRAL. If hexes in Crossboard change color, this will also be reflected in the ASTRAL field map.

The number of hexes of a player’s color represent their force. Lose all of them, and that player will lose. In addition, each player has a single hex called their “core base.” A player that loses their core base to another loses automatically, no matter the size of their territory.

Crossboard is played in turns. During each turn, a player can perform a main action and a subaction, in that order, before the next player takes their turn.

Main actions: Players select one of two types of flags and places it on the board. Flags can only be placed on squares adjacent to that player’s territory.

• Control Flag: Immediately turns the hex the flag is on to that player’s color.

• Infect Flag: Turns the six hexes around the flag to that player’s color at the start of that player’s next turn.

Subactions: Players select one of the following three actions to execute.

• Intel: Tells the player whether a selected hex in an opponent’s territory is their core base.

• Move: Lets the player move their team’s core base up to two hexes away from its current position.

• Jamming: Blocks any opponent’s attempt at using Intel on the player for one turn.

Notes: Since Crossboard is linked to ASTRAL, actions can be affected by a player’s job. Intel works better for Commanders, etc. All Abilities active during ASTRAL gameplay are available in this Game as well.

Crossboard began with Tsumugi Shiina taking the first turn.

“Hmm…”

After stepping onto the AR board that appeared once the Game began, Shiina carefully examined the map before her. She looked deadly serious. Maybe she was going over the rules in her head.

If I could do the same quickly, Crossboard was a territory-taking Game similar to Go or Othello. Players took turns placing flags with their team’s color on them, using their effects to claim territory from other players. You could say it was a vast simplification of ASTRAL, with the combat aspects removed. The most unusual aspect was how it linked to ASTRAL. Jobs and Abilities carried over, and the territories of all the teams were reflected on the Crossboard field. This Game definitely wasn’t starting with competitors evenly matched. Territory percentages factored into the initial setup, so out of the hundred hexes on the board, Eimei had three, Ohga had twelve, and the remaining eighty-five were all Seijo’s.

“…Okay, I’m ready!”

Saionji and I watched carefully as Shiina picked up a black flag representing Seijo School. It was a Control Flag, which instantly turned the hex it was on to her color.

“The way things stand, I don’t really need to think too hard, huh? I’m not gonna go easy on you!”

Shiina cheerfully smiled as she placed the flag on one of the Eimei squares. The formerly vivid shade of green gave way to an inky blackness.

“Not your core base, huh? Too bad,” Shiina said.

“I wouldn’t let this end before I even got a turn,” I replied. “Okay, that was your main action. Now for your subaction. Pick one of the three.”

“Oh, right! Hmm, what to do…”

Shiina’s innocent eyes shone as she read over the Game rules again. Ultimately, she picked Intel. This subaction told a player whether a selected hex was a core base—the heart of the team, something that would cost them the match if they lost it. However, when a Commander executed this action, it let them examine a broader number of spaces. And since Shiina functionally had all jobs, that applied to her.

“I’ll put this on the Empress’s area… Oh, no dice, huh? Okay, it’s your turn now!”

The moment her turn ended, Shiina spun around to face me. Eimei was down to just two hexes. My setup ensured that I didn’t have my core base taken in the first turn, but that wasn’t much comfort right now. I mean, I only had two hexes, and the location of my core base didn’t really matter, because Saionji and Shiina could each take a hex from me on their next turns, and I’d be out of the Game. Using a Control Flag to keep three hexes on my side was the obvious move.

““Huh…?””

Saionji and Shiina both gasped when they saw the flag in my hand. I couldn’t blame them. After all, I hadn’t chosen a Control Flag. I had gone for an Infect Flag. It would let me take six hexes at once, but it didn’t take effect until the start of my next turn. I guess you could call it the patient choice.

“Wait, what?! Have you lost your mind?! You’re not expanding your territory now? Are you trying to let me win like a big brother would or something? Are you messing with me?!” Shiina exclaimed.

“Of course not. I’m not your big brother,” I replied.

“B-but look at the board! That’s all the proof you need! My evil, black, corroded brain cells say so!”

“If that’s what your brain’s like, you should see a doctor… There we go.”

I kept a joking tone with Shiina as I tapped Predict Behavior on my device, activating an Ability that worked like the green Unique Star. This was totally a cheat Ability, available only three times per Game, and I was going to use my final charge to predict what Shiina would do—read her thoughts, in other words.

“…Got it.”

Then I placed my Infect Flag on a hex adjacent to Eimei’s territory, right next to where Shiina had placed her Control Flag. I reached out farther and pointed at a location around five hexes away.

“That one’s your core base, right?” I asked.

“! H-how did you know?! Don’t tell me you’re versed in arcane magic from ancient times to—”

“No. It’s just an Ability. You know, like the United Force one you used to mess up ASTRAL?”

“Mmmh…!”

Shiina squeezed Lloyd hard as she fumed. My mentioning her unfair United Force Ability left her with little room for rebuttal, so she offered no complaint.

“For my subaction, I’ll use Jamming. For one turn, you can’t use Intel on my territory…and that’s the end of my turn.”

While I explained my moves breezily, Saionji looked at me like she had something to say. I’m sure she did, too. Whether I knew where Seijo’s core base was or not, I still only had two hexes. At this rate, I wouldn’t see another turn.

“…That settles it, then,” Saionji stated. It nearly sounded like a declaration of victory, but it was actually the opposite. She glared at me with a touch of dissatisfaction. Her features tensed with the frustration of defeat, and she sighed.

“…?” Shiina wasn’t sure what to make of this. “Um…what do you mean?”

“Don’t you see? Shinohara’s just guaranteed that neither of us can attack him.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“Consider it from my perspective. Eimei has two hexes left, but I don’t know which one’s his core base. It’ll be Seijo’s chance to place a flag when my turn ends. Will you be gutsy enough to use a Control Flag on one of his hexes?”

“…Oh.” Shiina stiffened at Saionji’s question, but after a bit she relaxed. Her eyes opened wide. “I can’t place one, can I? It’s true. Wow, I really can’t!”

She was right. I didn’t have much territory at all, but that gave me a kind of unique advantage.

“Crossboard’s a real battle royale.” I waited for Saionji and Shiina to look at me before I calmly continued. “A huge, chaotic battle between three groups. The Empress title’s on the line, too. Both of you have reason to defeat me. It’s not about just getting me out of the Game, either. Being the one to strike the final blow against me and Eimei is important. Both of you need the decisive move, but Crossboard is turn based. As long as I keep myself in this position, if one of you claims one of my hexes and it isn’t my base…the other is guaranteed to win.”

“Oh, man…”

Shiina’s mouth opened and closed a few times. I was glad that I’d spent the past few days observing her habits. As a player, Tsumugi Shiina was a classic example of someone who liked to go all out from the start. She didn’t take a sluggish pace, preferring to dive in guns blazing. Knowing that made her easy to deal with.

“Basically…neither of you can attack me anymore. In fact, you have to protect me to make sure the other player doesn’t take all my territory.”

“…W-was this your goal all along?!” Shiina shouted.

“Of course. I’m the one who adjusted the Crossboard rules and all.”

That wasn’t the only trick I’d inserted, but this was indeed part of the plan.

“Hmm. I don’t think this is a problem for me at all.” After keeping silent for a while, Saionji shook her head and offered her opinion. She chose an Infect Flag and placed it on a hex that directly threatened Shiina’s core base instead of mine.

“For my subaction, I’ll go for Jamming. Now you’ll need to attack the Eimei School’s territory first.”

“Grrhh…” Shiina let out a frustrated growl. She was under attack from both sides, but Saionji and I had used Infect Flags, so she still had a supreme advantage.

“Well, what now…? I could place an Infect Flag in Shinohara’s territory, but he’ll have a lot more hexes after my turn ends… Oh, but both of you picked Jamming, so Intel won’t work at all, either… Hmm…”

Shiina’s face contorted a bit, yet she looked like she was having the time of her life. She loved games, I suppose, enjoying them whether she dominated or not. She wasn’t the type to do anything to win.

Maybe I should try pushing my luck and getting a bit more aggressive against her territory.

“…Huh?” Saionji looked uncharacteristically concerned about something. It was just a little interjection, but it summed up the questions and concerns of everyone on the board. “What’s going on…? Why am I losing territory?”

She was right. Shiina hadn’t chosen a flag yet, but the board was changing. Two of the red hexes in Ohga School’s territory had just been turned black, the color for Seijo School.

No one was more surprised about this than Tsumugi.

“Wh-whaaaa?! Whoa! What’s this all about?! The colors just changed by themselves?!”

“It wasn’t because of an Ability you used? Maybe Multiply or something?” Saionji suggested.

“One of my Abilities? Hmm, you think so? Maybe… Ah! Maybe my dark force is so powerful, it’s converting the whole map to the dark side?!”

“…Sure. Let’s go with that.” Saionji let Shiina keep her fantasy and looked down at the board. Shiina definitely hadn’t taken any actions this turn, yet her territory had grown.

Struck by a hunch about the answer, I decided to check ITube on my device. The Crossboard Game was being broadcast on Libra’s official channel, while a second stream showed ASTRAL.

What’s going on?!

I did my best to keep from shouting as much aloud. Players who should have been eliminated from ASTRAL were running around. Kugasaki, Kururugi, even Yuikawa was there. And they all looked…pixelated.

They must be inferior copies or something… Huh.

I watched as they claimed Ohga School hexes for Seijo on the ASTRAL map. More territory for Seijo School in that Game meant more in Crossboard, too.

“This must be the same gimmick you use as the Chameleon,” I said to Shiina.

“Huh? You think so?”

“Yeah. You use that Unique Star effect to recreate the looks of other players, and this is no different. I guess they appear rougher because there’s a bunch of them at the same time, but since they can’t run into their real counterparts in ASTRAL, it doesn’t matter. The clones are forcibly expanding your land.”

“Ohh! I get it! I’m a super genius!”

Shiina held her head high. This was pretty obviously the work of Mikado Kurahashi. Copies of eliminated players were helping Shiina win. He wasn’t even trying to hide his cheating anymore.

“Okay! Now I really can win this! I’ll just do this…and this!”

Shiina, emboldened by the sudden assistance, started attacking Saionji’s territory. She selected an Infect Flag and placed it on a red hex.

I was still in the toughest spot, of course. Saionji still had ten hexes, whereas I had only two. I didn’t know how the copies were receiving orders, but if someone told them to take Eimei School spots in ASTRAL, and I lost my hexes in Crossboard, I was done for.

“…You okay, Shinohara? It’s your turn,” Saionji said quietly while I stared at the ground. No worry came through in her tone, but I knew she was sweating on the inside. Normally she’d would be trying to rile me up right about now.

Don’t worry, Saionji.

I looked into her ruby eyes and gave her a quick little smile. Without bothering to reach for a flag, I confidently explained matters to her.

“The two Games are linked. Things that happen in Crossboard are reflected in ASTRAL and vice versa. Earn more territory in ASTRAL, and you will in Crossboard. I didn’t expect him to resort to those weird player copies, but given the situation, it’s not surprising he’d try to abuse it.”

“Then why did you create that rule at all?” Saionji questioned.

“Why do you think? It offers a ton of return for very little risk.”

I looked back to the projected screen. It was nearly time. A huge change was going to happen in just a few moments. That wasn’t a desperate prayer for divine intervention, just the knowledge of a result already set in stone.

“After all…I’ve got the best teammates out there.”

A chunk of hexes near the middle of the board turned a vibrant green. Saionji and Shiina looked astonished as a girl with short blond hair defeated the player copy.

“To the right, Nanase. Get a little lower. Attack coming in three seconds. He’ll be frozen after firing. Get him.”

“Stop with all the orders!”

Back in the Libra base in the Shiki Island Grand Hotel basement, surrounded by a large number of Libra members running the final stages of this ASTRAL Game, Shinji Enomoto was barking a barrage of orders into his headset.

Nanase Asamiya was on the huge monitor in front of him. When Kirigaya had been about to do her in with Dual Wield, Enomoto—who saw the attack coming—had used Lightning Rod to point both of those attacks at himself. Then, through a well-timed casting of Stealth to coincide with the player-dead visual effect, he’d made it look like she had been eliminated. Libra had manipulated the data and logs to reflect that. And now the tactic was paying off.

I must hand it to Shinohara. Working this into the play at the last minute…

The face of his Commander crossed Enomoto’s mind. Shinohara really was that strong. It was Enomoto who had stepped up to protect Nanase, but he hadn’t given any thought at the time to how to use her presence. Shinohara, on the other hand, had immediately built a path to a comeback.

He truly is worthy of respect. I wish he’d be a bit more polite with me, though…

Enomoto smiled a little while someone panted restlessly.

“Haah…haah…oof!”

“Ugh. Do you think you have time to rest, Nanase? There are still enemies out there. On your left in three seconds.”

“Y-you could at least give me a moment to catch my breath! …Yah!”

Despite her complaining, Nanase fended off attacks from the player copies quite energetically. The Libra members couldn’t help but gawk at this duo in action. Enomoto’s gifts for intelligence gathering and Nanase’s amazing reflexes and physical gifts were astounding. The Six Star partnership from Eimei School was crushing all the enemies in its way.

“Pretty good moves, Nanase. But they’ll be coming from both directions next. Use your pivot leg to jump, roll forward to dodge, then Gunfire to your right. Bring up a Defense Wall to block the follow-up from your left as you fire a barrage of Magic Missiles.”

“I can’t do all of that, Shinji! Hah… Oop! Hohh! …Okay, they’re down!”

“See? I told you, Nanase. Just quit complaining and follow my instructions.”

“Wh-why are you so damn annoying all the time, Shinji?!”

“Why? I hardly think I need to answer that.”

“What? I mean, obviously it’s because you’re perfectly fine with using and abusing m—”

“Because I think you’re about the only person in the world who can execute my orders with total accuracy.”

“…?!”

Thrown by Enomoto’s remark, Nanase gasped silently. Her cheeks turned a bit red, and her ears similarly flushed. She looked at Enomoto through the camera.

“Dumbass… You make it sound like I actually trust you or something.”

“…You don’t? That’s kind of a disappointment…”

“S-stop sounding all sad, you idiot!”

Nanase griped at Enomoto, who brought a hand to his forehead. Then she looked away.

“I’ll only say this one time,” she muttered. “If I didn’t trust you…I’d never let you watch my back.”

This was Nanase Asamiya’s hot-and-cold personality at its finest, and it got the viewers liking en masse. This moment would later become the stuff of legend, earning untold numbers of views…and she meant every word of it.

As for Enomoto…

“Oh, really…? I have a question, Nanase. Am I really watching your back if I’m sitting here, giving you orders from a safe location? It seems like something of a fallacy to m—”

“Shut up! Seriously, just shut up, you moron!” Nanase took out another player copy even as she shouted, then returned to capturing hexes.

“Tsk… You and your stupid damn tricks…”

In a dim room somewhere in the Shiki Island Grand Hotel, Mikado Kurahashi cursed under his breath at his monitor. This had caught him by surprise. He’d had no idea there was still another survivor. It hadn’t been in the data yesterday, meaning Libra had sided with Hiroto Shinohara.

Turning his attention back to Crossboard, he could tell that the Chameleon was starting to struggle. The player copies Kurahashi had inserted into the Game had been swiftly crushed. Eimei presently had the momentum, which infuriated the man to no end. The Chameleon was still ahead by nearly sixty hexes, but this wasn’t a welcome trend at all. It was all the fault of that kid, Tsumugi Shiina. Kurahashi had scouted her as a potential rare talent, but she was so foolish it wasn’t even funny. She was practically useless.

“Nanase Asamiya, the Golden Demon… Copies could never beat a Six Star like her. I don’t have any pieces left to work with… Was this Hiroto Shinohara’s intention?”

Kurahashi’s lips curled into a smile. He understood that he and his opponent were thinking the same way. If all remaining players were busy with Crossboard, another player in ASTRAL would be free to do whatever they wanted. Hiroto Shinohara had left a real player in the Game, expecting Kurahashi might do something.

“Too bad it’s child’s play for me to create fake wild cards.”

He practically spit the words. The wild card was the reward for beating the hardest route in MTCG. It was a ticket back to ASTRAL, and Mikado Kurahashi had made one himself. He’d given it to Toya Kirigaya, his most useful servant. The Demigod Dictator was undoubtedly lurking somewhere on the map, waiting for Kurahashi’s instructions.

“Is that the best you can do, Shinohara?” Kurahashi said with a sneer. “Everything you try is just so half-assed.”

He chuckled to himself. Then he opened a channel with Toya Kirigaya’s device, relishing every moment.

“It’s time, Toya. Make them understand just how strong we are!”

“Nah, that’s an impossible order, I’m afraid.”

“Wha…?!?!”

The reply hadn’t come through his headphones.

The voice had come from within the room. Kurahashi felt like everything was falling away around him. This made no sense at all. He couldn’t understand.

“Why…? Why the hell are you here, Toya?!”

Toya Kirigaya, Kurahashi’s last resort, had just opened the door and let himself in. He should have been in ASTRAL but was here instead, in a well-worn school uniform. He looked down at Kurahashi.

“Why? I dunno. Nobody said I couldn’t come by.”

“S-stop screwing around with me! Toya Kirigaya… Why aren’t you in ASTRAL?!”

“Huh? Why would I be? I ain’t stupid enough to join a Game I know I can’t win.”

“Wha…? You know you can’t win? No! With the wild card I gave you, you—”

“Wild card? Oh, that piece of trash?”

“Tr…”

Kirigaya brushed off all of Kurahashi’s rage, standing casually with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

“Yeah. It’s trash. Completely destroyed, inside and out. If I used it, it would’ve wrecked my whole device. Guess there was some pretty nasty copy protection on the real wild card program.”

“Impossible. There’s no way those Libra fools could craft something like tha—”

“Ahh, I’m sure Shinohara gave them a hint or two. Not long after I realized the copy you gave me was no good, the Little Devil of Eimei came over to tease me about it. I was still gonna try to get back into the Game, but after dealing with her, I lost all inspiration.”

Toya shrugged, not very enthused about admitting this.

“She walked right up to me, so the Eimei team definitely knows all about your plan. They know about your fake wild card and that you would try to get me back into ASTRAL. Hiroto Shinohara figured it all out. So what’s the point? We can’t recover from this unless we catch them by surprise, and that’s impossible now.”

“…!”

“Hiroto Shinohara’s the first real Eight Star candidate we’ve seen in history…and he’s real interesting to watch. Forcing a useless Ability on me with Replace was impressive. I was kind of doubtful about that guy at first, but now I know he’s got the talent to entertain me.”

“What the hell are you— No, enough arguing. I can hack into the system to get you back into ASTRAL right now. Lend me a hand, Toya. Don’t forget, you work for me!”

“Work? For you? Hya-hoo! Hilarious!” Toya laughed as he strode up to Kurahashi. He was so close to the man’s face, he almost saw the panic in his eyes. Grinning, Toya said, “Y’know, all I care about is reaching new heights. You were just a way for me to climb another step. I don’t have any interest or concern for you. You’re worthless to me.”

“…!”

“You lose this time, Mikado Kurahashi. That’s two failures now, which means you’re done for good. Noa Akizuki last time and Tsumugi Shiina this time—in a mobile game, they’d both be SS-level cards, y’know. You just didn’t know how to use them. You can’t work the way Hiroto Shinohara does. But, hey, don’t worry. I’ll take over your position for you. Enjoy it while it lasts, okay?”

With one final sneer, Toya turned around, having lost all interest in this discussion.

Kurahashi watched his former servant leave. “…Damn it! Damn it! These stupid kids!!” He was close to falling into despair, yet turned back to his computer anyway, a light shining in his eyes.

Crossboard, the May Interschool Competition Game within a Game, was now on its fifth turn.

Things had changed dramatically because of what Kurahashi and I had been doing. Seijo School’s black territory consisted of thirty-five hexes, while Eimei’s green area contained thirty-seven. Ohga School wasn’t involved in our antics over in ASTRAL, but some clever use of Abilities had given it twenty-eight hexes.

Saionji’s definitely the best player today. She’s kept up without using any cheats…

The Empress was putting her full talents on display. I turned to Shiina. She was quite a different story, staring at the board and humming to herself. My green hexes quickly ate away hers, which clearly stressed her out.

“Ooooh! You’re just too good at this!”

“Well, I can’t afford to lose,” I said with a grin. “This isn’t a normal Game.”

Toya Kirigaya still hadn’t reappeared in ASTRAL, meaning Akizuki had likely come through for me. Seijo School wouldn’t be getting any reinforcements.

So, assuming nothing else happens…

Naturally, that’s when something did happen.

“…Oh?” Shiina said, still hugging her Cerberus plushie. “Mm?” Her eyebrows rose as she froze in an unnatural position. “I think…something’s wrong.”

“Wrong? Wrong how?” I asked.

“Um, it’s like I can’t move… I can’t control my— Yow!”

Despite her words, Shiina suddenly rushed for the floor. She seemingly threw Lloyd away and threw out her right hand to catch herself. And when her palm touched the ground…

“…?!”

…the hexes around her turned black instantly. Shiina wasn’t holding a flag. A simple tap of her hand claimed a huge swathe of territory. Saionji’s area and mine were being devoured.

Shiina’s eyes went wide at this inexplicable event. “Huh…? Whoa, what’s up with this?! Anything I touch becomes my territory!”

“Why do you sound so surprised? It’s pretty obvious that’s what’s happening,” Saionji replied.

“Y-yeah, but I didn’t do anything! Whoa, whoa, whoa?!”

Before Shiina could explain further, she thrust out her hand like someone was puppeteering her. Everything she touched turned black. I suppose it could be called God Hand, a cheat Ability that allowed the user to steal territory regardless of anything else going on. From what I could tell, this wasn’t Shiina’s doing at all.

Yeah, Shiina’s the type who just enjoys playing Games. This has to be Mikado Kurahashi in action. He’s tapping into the Chameleon’s controls to take over her body.

“Wah! Hey! Ouch!”

Shiina forcibly expanded her territory while Saionji and I watched helplessly. The advantage I’d won over the past five turns was gone in an instant, and now the board was a somber black again. Just like at the start of the Game, I could count my hexes on a single hand, and the same went for Saionji. We were back on the ropes.

“Man… This guy just does not know when to quit.” It was Saionji who cut through this state of despair with a sigh. With an elegant motion, she stepped behind Shiina and held her arms back to keep her from moving.

“An Ability that lets you conquer any hex you touch is quite powerful. However, it’s worthless the moment you’re restrained. Cheat all you want, but put a little thought into it at least,” she chided.

“It—it wasn’t me!” Shiina insisted. “My genius lets me do much more amazing things!”

“Oh, I know. I was talking to a certain shameless man who’s listening in behind you.” Saionji cast a look at me, her red hair flowing. “Okay, Shinohara. I’ve done my best to guess at your plan and take advantage where I could. You were waiting for this, right?”

“Man, they definitely call you the Empress for a good reason.” I chuckled a bit at those crafty ruby eyes. Saionji was right, I had nothing to complain about. My aim had been to irritate Kurahashi enough that he would do this sort of thing. Now that he was controlling Shiina’s avatar directly, everything was in place.

“Launching the Ability Line Trace!”

With that, I activated my final Ability, one I’d been saving since the beginning. It traced non-Game interference aimed at another player’s device, interrupting it and taking it over. My actual rank was low enough that normally there’d be a bunch of limits placed on Line Trace, but all of those had been replaced with the stipulation that I could only use a full-powered Line Trace on the final day.

Now that the Ability was working…

“Hey, Kurahashi. Can you hear me?”

…I grinned as I spoke to the real mastermind who’d interfered with ASTRAL.

“Hey, Kurahashi. Can you hear me?”

Mikado Kurahashi sat back in his chair in the dimly lit room, stupefied. He saw his sworn enemy’s goading smile on the screen. He looked sure of his victory and ready to strike the final blow. Perhaps he deserved to act so confident. He’d managed to shut down Kurahashi’s last-ditch effort. There was nothing Kurahashi could do.

“I’ve beaten you completely this time. You won’t be getting away like you did during the Fourth Ward Challenge. I’ll make sure you atone for everything you did.”

Hiroto Shinohara kept grinning.

Not yet… I’m not giving up yet.

Kurahashi reached out, careful not to make any noise that might betray his intent. He couldn’t afford to lose. Toya Kirigaya had been right when he’d stated that this was Kurahashi’s last chance. Failure now meant he’d be cut from the upper echelons of the Academy for good. He’d never be able to set foot on this island again. He’d be banished forever.

Damn it… I’m an elite! How was I bested by children?!

He gritted his teeth. All he needed was a single moment. If he could escape the Empress’s grip for a second, he could wipe Ohga School’s territory off the board. Then everything would be fine.

No matter how smart Hiroto Shinohara is, he can’t be hiding any more tricks. I can still win… ASTRAL is mine, Shinohara!!

Kurahashi’s lips curled upward, like his excitement was reaching the breaking point. Then, on his monitor screen, Shinohara made a face like he had just remembered something.

“Oh, by the way… That Ability I used just used, Line Trace, does more than force open a communication channel. It leads me to where you’re hiding.”

“What’s that matter to you? You’re in ASTRAL.”

“Ohhh, finally feel like talking, Kurahashi? Well, let me clue you in, then. There are four other players on the Eimei School team. I think you know what two of them are doing. Where do you think the other two are?”

Kurahashi thought over Shinohara’s obviously leading question. However, he had very little time to.

“…?!”

The door burst open, and a figure charged in. Her monochromatic maid outfit billowed with her movements, and her silvery hair danced like a light snow flurry.

What was her name again?

“I am Shirayuki Himeji, and I apologize for interrupting your scheming.”

“Oh. You. I know you. You’re Hiroto Shinohara’s servant.”

“Yes. I’ve been looking all over for you, and now I’ve finally found your hiding place. My master told me there’s a new VR game here that lets someone control the Chameleon. Do you think I might try it for a while?”

“…Ha. So you, a girl, came in here all by yourself? You must think I’m the biggest pushover in the world.” Kurahashi laughed mockingly at her. The girl, meanwhile, only raised an eyebrow.

“By myself? Of course not. I am not at all confident when it comes to dealing with men. Speaking to you gives me goosebumps, in fact. There’s no way I’d come here alone.”

“So what are you—??”

Before he could finish, Shirayuki Himeji removed the white glove from her right hand and snapped her fingers once. A large number of people, led by Noa Akizuki, stormed into the room. It was the entire player base of ASTRAL.

“Eh-heh-heh! I brought along a whole bunch of friends!  ”

Thirty students crowded the place. There was no way Kurahashi could fight through a crowd that large. And as his face paled, Shirayuki Himeji calmly addressed him, her voice cold as ice.

“So…will you come quietly?”

Once Himeji and the others took over Kurahashi’s hiding place, everything changed in the blink of an eye.

Previously, Kurahashi had been piloting the Chameleon, but now Himeji was in control, and she used that God Hand cheat Ability to change all the hexes to Eimei green. This was exactly how I’d hoped things would end. I didn’t know how Shiina’s Abilities operated, but my aim had been to force Kurahashi out of hiding and rob him of any possible way to win. Despite it being the clear leader for so long, Seijo School’s hexes were gone. The Game of Crossboard ended with a loss for Tsumugi Shiina.

“…”

The Game disappeared, and we were thrown back into ASTRAL. The field looked vastly different than it had a few hours ago. Since the results of Crossboard were reflected here, Eimei currently held 9,220 hexes. Seijo had zero. We never managed to deal the Chameleon any LP damage, but she didn’t have a single base remaining.

In other words, she was out. Seijo School was no longer in ASTRAL.

As for Tsumugi Shiina herself, she stood before me, doe-eyed.

“So it’s over now? It’s all over?” Her tone made it obvious she was struggling to accept this as real.

“Yeah.” I nodded to her. “You lost, Shiina. No matter how much LP you have, if your territory disappears, you’re out of ASTRAL… You’re gonna have to give up. You played against the wrong opponents this time.”

“Ohh… Yeah. Yeah, I guess so. You and the Empress were both really good… I lost ASTRAL. That’s fine, but…”

Shiina lifted her head, her differently colored eyes wavering nervously. She squeezed Lloyd hard against her chest.

“Hey,” she began nervously. “Did…did I do something bad? I had a lot of fun…but was that wrong of me?”

Her face scrunched as she worked to choose her words carefully. She looked ready to cry. I think Kurahashi had left her in the dark about a lot of things. I’m sure she didn’t think that posing as other players was cheating. She didn’t seem to realize how close she had come to destroying ASTRAL, either. The raucous end of Crossboard must have opened her eyes. Now she understood, at least in part, what she’d done.

She’s not entirely blameless in this, but… Hmm. Tough call.

Kurahashi was clearly the main perpetrator, but Shiina had enacted most of his plan, so it was hard to call her innocent. I didn’t think she’d consider herself guiltless, either.

“Huh? …Hwah? Wh-what the heck?!”

I decided to contact Libra with my device. Two Games had ended at once, so I’m sure the stream commentators had their hands full. Suzuran Kazami was quick to answer anyway. Either I was lucky enough to catch her between shifts, or the producers had kindly let her take a break.

This conversation wouldn’t get broadcast on ITube at all. Confident in that knowledge, I didn’t bother keeping my voice down.

“It’s me, Shinohara. Sorry, Kazami, do you have a moment?”

“Shinohara…?! O-of course, meow! More than a moment!”

“Good, good. I wanted to ask what you, all of Libra, think of Tsumugi Shiina. How would you guys like to see this whole thing conclude?”

“…”

Kazami held her breath. I’d called specifically to ask that question. Libra was clearly the biggest victim here, so I thought Kazami was more qualified to answer Shiina’s question than I was.

After collecting her thoughts for a good minute or so, Kazami answered. “Um… Well, first, I’m not the one who decides what happens. We managed to keep ASTRAL going thanks to you, Shinohara, but the Chameleon kicked a lot of players out of the Game. She’s gonna have to deal with the Board of Regents.”

“Mmm… Yeah, I guess so.”

“But apart from that, let me ask you this, meow. Did Tsumugi have fun?”

“…What?”

“In ASTRAL. Was it a fun experience for Tsumugi? Or did she find it boring…?”

“N-no, not at all. Of course not!” Shiina, still looking a little lost, shook her head briskly. “It was really, really fun! ASTRAL, MTCG, and Crossboard at the end… It was all just tons of fun! I’m just sad that it’s over. It was so much fun, I wish I could’ve kept playing forever!”

“I see… Good, meow.”

Kazami sounded vaguely embarrassed over the phone.

“We all worked hard to run ASTRAL so everybody would enjoy it. It was pretty tough a lot of the time, but a villain as strong as the Chameleon got people super excited. I was a little worried that Tsumugi herself found the whole thing a chore or something. I’m very glad she doesn’t. That’s a ten-out-of-ten answer!”

“Ten out of ten! Wow, great…”

Kazami meant every word of what she said. A relieved Shiina sat herself down on the ground. Then she looked up at me, wearing the sort of innocent smile I’d expect from a girl her age. I’d worried things would get complicated, yet we had reached an amicable conclusion.

So that means Eimei wins ASTRAL and Crossboard. Wait…

Amid this warm, fuzzy ending, I suddenly began to have some worrisome thoughts. If the Game had truly ended with Eimei School’s victory, then the ASTRAL AR world should’ve disappeared by now. Yet it was still very clearly active.

Oh no…

I hurriedly scanned the map of ASTRAL, gripped by a certain fear. For a moment, I worried there was another hidden threat, but all I found was a tiny bit of red that signified Ohga School’s territory.

“Hee-hee!” I froze as the red-haired girl nearby laughed a little. “I figured something like this would happen, so I kept Ohga’s core base protected with a level-five Cancel Interference. I think I’ll have to give up on winning ASTRAL, but I’m not going to let you end it with every hex on the board.”

“…Eesh.”

I frowned at Saionji’s taunting. That rich girl was such a handful. She was sly, she was bothersome, and, worst of all, she looked cool while doing it.

We traded glances, trying to look as bold as possible while playing out the final minutes of ASTRAL.

May Interschool Competition: ASTRAL—Final Results

Largest Territory Taken: Eimei School, Fourth Ward (9,533 hexes)

Most Votes: Eimei School, Fourth Ward (89.2%)

Final Ranks: Eimei / Ohga / Tsuyuri / Otowa / Shinra / etc.

(Seijo is excluded from the ranks due to having no qualified participants)

LNN Special Feature:

May Interschool Competition’s – ASTRAL Final Results

> 1st: Eimei School (Fourth Ward)

Max bases: 114 Max hexes: 9,533 Surviving players: 2

Eimei School, led by Hiroto Shinohara, is king of the ASTRAL mountain, meow! From conquering the MTCG in a flash, to forming an alliance to destroy that United Force, to that last Game against the Chameleon…everything was amazing! You won’t hear any complaints from me about this masterful performance, meow!

> 2nd: Ohga School (Third Ward)

Max bases: 24 Max hexes: 891 Surviving players: 1

Ohga School took the second-place spot, meow. Sarasa Saionji’s accurate direction and nimble play helped her team overcome the United Force, making it clear why her school’s still ranked number one overall, meow!

> 3rd: Tsuyuri Girls’ Institute (Sixteenth Ward)

Max bases: 15 Max hexes: 477 Retired: Day 4 afternoon

Senri Kururugi, Hell’s Priestess herself, was as strong as ever! Her hard work only netted her a third-place finish this time, but here’s hoping she leans more on the support of her whole team in the next event, meow!

> 4th: Otowa School (Eighth Ward)

Max bases: 11 Max hexes: 384 Retired: Day 4 afternoon

Led as always by the irascible Phoenix, Seiran Kugasaki, Otowa showed excellent teamwork in the first half—and taking advantage of the United Force at the end guaranteed them a place in the top five, meow!

> 5th: Shinra High School (Seventh Ward)

Max bases: 3 Max hexes: 79 Retired: Day 4 afternoon

Shinra, led by the Demigod Dictator, Toya Kirigaya, managed to squeak into fifth place. After joining the United Force early on, Toya Kirigaya kicked some major butt serving as its main source of firepower, meow!