The coffee should have hit his face.
Haru looked at this again, the droplets being frozen in time…
One moment he was standing in the high-school lounge beside Kuroyukihime-senpai, a half-spilled cup of steaming café-au-lait flying directly toward him. And the next
Everything froze.
The sunlight filtering through the hall windows crystallized into unmoving beams. Dust motes were suspended in mid-air, each frozen like glittering stars. Students around them were stuck mid-step, mid-blink, mid-gossip.
And the cup of coffee, steaming wickedly, hovered right in front of his nose
Haru stared at it in horror.
…I'm definitely dreaming. Or dead. Probably both.
He slowly turned his head at least, he thought he did. His sense of movement felt bizarrely smooth, weightless, as if the world had forgotten gravity existed.
Beside him stood Kuroyukihime, her posture calm, dignified, her expression serene like she'd lived in frozen time her entire life.
"Welcome," she said.
Her voice echoed strangely, like it was both near and far.
"to the Accelerated World."
Haru blinked. Or attempted to.
"Senpai, why am i wearing my pig avatar again!?" Haru asked, waving his stubby arms.
He tried to flex, which resulted only in his avatar's ears wiggling helplessly.
Kuroyukihime watched him with a patient gaze.
"That is your Avatar," she said. "A manifestation of your self-image."
Haru froze.
"So… I lost all that weight… went jogging for months… grew fifteen centimeters… but in my soul I'm STILL A PIG!?"
"I never said that," Kuroyukihime corrected gently. "I said this is how you see yourself."
Haru slumped, or as close to slumping as a small digital pig could.
She lifted her hand. At her gesture, a translucent UI screen appeared between them.
Her movement was graceful, practiced the kind of elegance that made Haru feel like a clueless kid holding a priceless vase.
"First, an explanation," she said in her composed, patient tone.
"Burst Link accelerates your consciousness about one thousand times faster than reality.
Moving, thinking, perceiving, it all becomes instantaneous."
Haru squeaked, "So this is… like a cheat code for life?"
"In a sense," she replied. "But only those who possess the Brain Burst program can access it. And Burst Points, the energy used to enter this state are limited. Lose them all… and Brain Burst uninstalls. Forever."
Haru swallowed.
"So… it is indeed like a secret fight club."
Kuroyukihime didn't deny it.
Her silence said everything.
Haru's panic quickly turned into curiosity dangerous curiosity.
"Do I level up!?"
"Yes, eventually."
"Do I get weapons!?"
"…Eventually."
"Can I get a dragon??"
"No."
"What happens if I die!? Do I respawn!? Or do I actually die!? Am I a ghost right now???"
Kuroyukihime sighed, but the sound held a hint of fond amusement.
"You are very lively," she murmured. "More than I expected."
Haru puffed his chest then remembered he didn't have one in this form.
She extended her hand again. With a flash of crimson light, her Duel Avatar materialized fully:
Black armor. Sharp sword like hands.
Haru's jaw dropped.
He stared at her like she was some legendary boss from a hidden expansion pack.
"Senpai… you look like a final stage DLC villain."
"That is… a new comparison," she replied.
Still, Haru didn't connect this with the AR leaderboard IGN he saw last night.
He only knew she was terrifyingly cool.
"Haru," she said, turning toward him. "Do you know why I approached you today?"
"I assumed it was a prank by the higher years, prank the new good looking elementary school kid," he answered immediately.
She shook her head.
"You have unusual growth potential. Significant compatibility with neural acceleration. You defeated advanced players in Arma Legends players who, like me, were Burst Linkers. That is not normal."
Haru blinked.
"E-Eh!? Those top ten people were Burst Linkers!?"
"Some," she said. "Some were even kings."
"KINGS!? I WAS FIGHTING KINGS!?"
"You lost to them, yes."
Haru deflated on the spot.
"But you came close," she added.
His ears perked.
"And your mental resilience has grown vastly these past months. Your avatar… is simple. Honest. Direct. The truest mirror of one's self."
Haru stared down at his tiny hooves.
"…Senpai, are you sure you didn't pick the wrong kid? I'm literally a middle schooler."
Her voice was steady.
"No. I chose correctly."
Kuroyukihime dismissed the UI screen.
A soft ripple passed through the frozen world, like a warning bell.
"Our time is almost up," she said. "You must not connect your NeuroLinker to the global network tonight or tomorrow. Stay offline. I will explain the rest when we meet again."
"O-Off…line?" Haru repeated.
"But I I play AR games every morning"
"Do not connect," she repeated firmly. "There are enemies even in this school. Until you understand Brain Burst, I must keep you out of sight."
Her tone left no room for argument.
Haru felt the pressure of her words settle on him like a cloak.
Enemies…? In school?
Burst Linkers… here?
Before he could ask another question
A strange gravity pulled at him, like reality was reeling him back.
Kuroyukihime looked at him one last time.
"Good work today, Arita-kun," she said gently.
And then
The world shattered.
Time roared back into motion.
The frozen cup of coffee completed its trajectory
Haru dodged with a yelp, stumbling backward into a table.
Students gasped.
The girl holding the cup shrieked apologies.
Haru waved them off frantically, face flaming red.
Kuroyukihime, perfectly composed, simply turned away, her voice slipping into his mind through Neuro-Speech:
"Offline, Arita-kun. Tomorrow. Same place."
Haru's breath caught.
…This is insane.
He stumbled out of the lounge in a daze.
He had lost weight.
He had trained for months.
He had gained confidence, height, and strength.
But this
This was nowhere in his plans.
All he wanted was to get better.
Instead…
He had accidentally joined a secret fight club that granted time-stopping superpowers.