"It's autumn..."
Strolling down the pathways of the residential area, watching the dead leaves slowly falling with the autumn wind, Yutsuki inexplicably felt sowhat lancholic.
Ever since the commotion of the Tenou Festival was resolved, Yutsuki holed herself up in the hotel without a care for anything else, pulling all-nighters playing gas and watching ani for several days straight.
The reason she did this was, firstly, because she noticed that after her contact with Itsuka Shido, Itsuka Kotori began secretly sending people to search for her in Tengu City. Secondly, it was because Kurumi's words at the ti had caused Yutsuki no small amount of turmoil.
After staying up all night for more than ten days, even a Spirit's constitution couldn't handle it. The exhausted Yutsuki buried her head and slept soundly for a whole day. When she woke up, she thought about going out to relax her mind. She didn't expect that Tengu City, which originally still had so lingering sumr vibes, was now completely filled with the atmosphere of autumn.
"Did I really hole up in the hotel for too long?"
Yutsuki scratched her head, feeling sowhat distressed.
Having nothing to do, Yutsuki began wandering aimlessly around Tengu City.
She went to an arcade and played arcade gas for a while;
Then she went to a bookstore, flipped through so books, and experienced the thrill of reading without buying;
After strolling around a shopping mall for a bit, she bought so snacks to eat later;
Then she went over to the shrine and wandered around casually...
(Before I knew it... I've beco completely familiar with this place...)
Yutsuki couldn't help but think.
Although she had lived in other cities before, due to concerns about her identity, Yutsuki never stayed long before choosing to leave. This ti, because she was worried about her friends' safety, Yutsuki stayed in Tengu City for a longer period.
Perhaps because her previous self had lived here, Yutsuki quickly adapted to life here.
"Boss, give one taiyaki."
"Coming right up."
Passing by the shopping district, Yutsuki stopped at a taiyaki stall and bought a taiyaki.
"Say, young lady. You've bought quite a lot of snacks there."
Handing the packaged taiyaki to Yutsuki, the stall owner looked at the heavy bag of snacks in Yutsuki's other hand and said in surprise.
"Well, I'm planning to have a grand feast tonight."
"It's not good to just eat snacks, you know. I saw you last ti too. If you don't control yourself, your family will get angry."
"I know, I'll eat proper als, it's fine."
Waving her hand with a bitter smile, Yutsuki turned and left.
(Family... huh...)
Yutsuki sighed with a complex feeling. Although she knew the stall owner didn't an anything special by it, rely expressing ordinary concern, Yutsuki still felt a slight sting in her heart.
In this world, Ryougi Yutsuki has no family.
(Well... her past self in the previous world did, anyway.)
Even though he is a harem scumbag. After silently adding this sentence, Yutsuki looked at the setting sun and shrugged helplessly.
______________________
Fifteen thousand ters directly above Tengu City, the Fraxinus.
"Hmmm?... Hacker..."
Ryougi Yutsuki suddenly walking into the room caused a flash of surprise in Murasa Reine's sleepy eyes.
"...How did you get in?"
"It's nothing, just normally forged an authorized account and used this airship's spatial teleportation system to move in."
"..."
Ignoring Reine's surprised expression, Yutsuki chewed a few tis, finished the taiyaki in her hand, and placed the snacks on the table.
Looking around, just as Yutsuki expected, everyone in the room, including Itsuka Shido,Tohka,Origami, the Yamai sisters, Yoshino, Izayoi Miku, and even Kurumi, were currently lying asleep in cocoon-like machine capsules.
Yutsuki knew they weren't really asleep, but were active in another virtual world.
Arusu Maria, an artificial intelligence accidentally born from DEM's AI hacking. In order to understand what love is, she locked Itsuka Shido into a virtual world, and as a condition, also invited the won who had a close relationship with Itsuka Shido into the computer world. Then she had Itsuka Shido and the Spirits go on various shaless and bizarre dates in the virtual world.
(Isn't this just playing a Galga?)
After speechlessly retorting in her heart, Yutsuki took a deep breath and summoned her Angel.
"Ratziel."
"Hacker... what are you doing...?"
Seeing Yutsuki's actions, Reine couldn't help but ask in surprise.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to cause trouble."
Trying to say sothing reassuring to Reine, perhaps guessing what Yutsuki intended to do, Reine stared at Yutsuki for a mont, then said no more, letting Yutsuki manipulate the Fraxinus's main computer.
"But still... to think a virtual world actually exists."
While typing on the keyboard, Yutsuki couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
As an otaku, the developnt of a virtual world could be considered a dream, or perhaps a romance.
Honestly, if the situation weren't special, Yutsuki might have considered "slightly" modifying this ga into an adventure RPG, and then, acting like a mastermind, telling Itsuka Shido and the others in the ga things like, "If you die in the ga, you'll die in the real world too," or "This may be a ga, but it's not sothing to play around with," just to scare them.
"Found it."
Before long, with Ratziel's help, Yutsuki found the AI program codes of Arusu Maria, and Arusu Marina, who had deliberately hidden herself.
[—mory patch of the sa type of AI detected—Proceed with installation?]
"Eh?"
Yutsuki couldn't help but widen her eyes in surprise. The reason was simple: the mory patch Ratziel ntioned was exactly the data of Arusu Marina and Arusu Maria from the previous world, when they officially beca the airship's AI.
[I see, so in order to save Marina and Maria in the previous world, Ratziel was completely connected to the airship's computer at that ti.]
Yutsuki pondered. Since Ratziel could spontaneously retain mories from the previous world and transmit them to her, saving Marina and Maria's mories wasn't anything strange.
Besides, this wasn't a bad thing. Yutsuki had just been worrying about how to deal with these AI sisters.
"Execute."
[Understood. Patch installation comncing—]
Following Yutsuki's command, Ratziel began inputting the mory data into the computer. Once the patch installation was complete, Marina, possessing the mories of the previous world, naturally wouldn't continue to hack the Fraxinus, and Maria would have no need to continue exploring love. Itsuka Shido and the Spirits naturally wouldn't be trapped in the virtual world anymore.
(Co to think of it, my situation seems pretty similar to Maria and Marina's...)
[Warning. Target—Arusu Marina—Encryption program detected—mory patch installation failed—Attempt breakthrough?]
Suddenly, an unexpected event interrupted Yutsuki's train of thought.
(It's actually encrypted?)
Yutsuki frowned slightly. After having Ratziel display Marina's data on the screen, her frown deepened a bit.
Unlike Maria, who had the mory patch installed without any obstacles, as an AI used by DEM for hacking, it wasn't strange that Marina's program was encrypted.
However, the problem was this password lock. Even the DEM data obtained in the previous world had no record of it, so naturally, there was no corresponding cracking thod. Moreover, the concept of this password lock, even among the entire technology of Realizers, could be considered extrely bizarre.
Rather than science, it was more like magic disguised as science.
Of course, for Yutsuki's Ratziel—a miracle constructed from analysis and calculation—even using a brute-force thod of inputting passwords one by one to crack it would only take a mont. But during this ti, Ratziel's essence would be unhesitatingly exposed to Marina, who still considered her an enemy.
Undoubtedly, the mont she chose to unlock it, Marina would definitely send this data straight to DEM headquarters imdiately.
The Vaccine Box, a Realizer developed by Westcott in the previous world using the intel obtained by Marina, specifically designed to counter her hacking techniques.
(A blatant trap, huh...)
Yutsuki couldn't help but think helplessly.
Now Yutsuki could be certain that from the very beginning, Westcott never believed Marina's hacking of the Fraxinus would succeed. She was rely used as a disposable pawn to find a counterasure against Yutsuki.
Of course, if Ryougi Yutsuki chose to simply delete Marina, there would be absolutely no need to worry.
Either save her, or kill her directly. Before Yutsuki lay a multiple-choice question thrown at her by the enemy. Yutsuki could almost imagine Westcott's devilish smile, as if he had seen through everything.
"...Ratziel, breakthrough directly."
[Understood. Continuing task execution.]
Anyway, it was a thod she originally developed out of fear of accidentally killing soone. Now that there was no worry of being hunted down, Yutsuki didn't need to cling to it stubbornly.
After completing Marina's mory installation, Yutsuki retracted Ratziel, planning to leave before Shido and the others woke up.
[Wait, Yutsuki!]
At this mont, a line of text suddenly appeared on the computer screen.
"Maria, huh..."
Yutsuki imdiately realized that the one sending her a ssage right now was Maria, who had finished installing the mory patch before Marina.
[Why... are you choosing to leave?]
As expected of an artificial intelligence. Maria imdiately noticed the difference between the previous world and this world, and posed her question to Yutsuki.
"I never accepted him in this world to begin with, so how can you say I'm leaving?"
[Ugh...]
Evading Maria's question with cunning sophistry, Yutsuki sighed lightly, picked up her snacks, and turned to leave.
"Sorry... there are just so things I haven't figured out yet. Until then, you and Marina shouldn't say anything."
_________________________
At night, Yutsuki sat on the hotel balcony, staring absentmindedly at the night sky.
[Even if history is changed, even if the world is changed, the you in the previous world and the you in this world are still the sa person.]
"The sa person, huh..."
Suddenly recalling Kurumi's words, Yutsuki couldn't help but sigh sowhat gloomily.
Up until now, Yutsuki had maintained a very ambiguous attitude towards the mories of her future self transmitted by Ratziel.
On the one hand, the intel sent from the future world had given her imnse help, allowing her to avoid many troubleso crises.
But on the other hand, Yutsuki, who hated harems, didn't want to admit that her future self would fall in love with a harem scum and beco a mber of his harem.
This cognitive contradiction left Yutsuki unable to either discard or accept these mories.
That person is her, but also not her. In the end, Yutsuki chose to tell herself this.
However, seeing Maria naturally beco the Maria of the previous world after coming into contact with the mories of the previous world, Yutsuki couldn't help but feel a bit confused.
—Who am I?
Yutsuki started trying to ask herself this.
If a person's mories are copied onto their clone, and that clone's words, actions, and personality are exactly the sa as the original, can it be said that they are the sa person?
Yutsuki would choose to answer—No.
But looking at the intel obtained from the mories, this world didn't create parallel worlds with the mont history changed as a branching point, but rather overlaid the world intel developed from another history onto the original world.
In other words, there are no multiple Ryougi Yutsukis here.
But, even if it's the sa individual, if they have a different set of experiences, and possess different experiences and personalities, can it still be said they are the sa person?
Yutsuki would still choose to answer—No.
It's like assuming soone who originally lived in China, was used to eating rice, and couldn't understand foreign languages, suddenly lived abroad from a young age due to so reason, liked eating bread, and spoke fluent English.
To consider these two as the sa person is indeed asking too much.
Then, what is the difference between the her in this world and the her in the previous world?
Both are best friends with the Yamai sisters, both are fans of Miku, both like otaku culture, and both have a ton of complaints about this world. Interests, hobbies, personality, and even the type of won they like are exactly the sa.
The only difference is simply whether or not they accepted a certain person.
Thinking of this, Yutsuki slowly closed her eyes.
...
[My na is Itsuka Shido. Please go on a date with tomorrow!]
...
[I will save you too! Whether I have to pull, drag, or carry you! I will absolutely bring you into the exact sa world as Kaguya and Yuzuru, and let you live the exact sa everyday life!]
...
[I am willing to stay by your side for my whole life, until the mont I die, I will treat you as my family and stay with you!!!]
...
[No matter the circumstances, you act according to your own principles. Living to live out your 'true self'. I feel sincere admiration for your actions.]
...
[Sharing joy together, bearing pain together, isn't that what family is?]
...
Scene after scene played back in her mind like a movie. Yutsuki opened her eyes, opened her mouth, and said.
"Spineless herbivore, sissy, typical brainless harem light novel protagonist, Itsuka scum, Itsuka pervert, shaless and lewd, natural enemy of won, [BEEP]..."
(Shido: Achoo!)
After cursing out every insult she could think of in her heart, Yutsuki slowly exhaled. After a mont of silence, she said sowhat hesitantly...
"...Itsuka Shido."
The mont she called out this na, an unbelievable sense of intimacy welled up.
"...Shido."
Calling out this na again, it felt as if she had called it hundreds or thousands of tis before, and her heart felt incredibly at ease.
In that instant, Yutsuki understood. She had been scamd by her future self.
Those mories didn't just represent Itsuka Shido alone. They represented—her ho. The mont she chose to go et Yuzuru and Kaguya ant she had already accepted that ho.
Looking up at the night sky, Yutsuki couldn't help but let out a helpless, bitter smile.
"Well, whatever. Anyway, no matter which world it is, idiot Shido is an idiot...and so am I..."
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