The moment that "me?" appeared, almost nobody in the group who was chatting could keep a straight face.
Herta was one exception—but she simply wasn't interested in this kind of thing to begin with. Everyone else was a different story!
Ever since learning that the group members were all from other worlds, Toyokawa Sakiko had been chatting without any pretense or defenses.
Here, she didn't need to play the role of a refined young lady. She didn't need to lower her head and hurry past old classmates on her way to school.
People still needed social interaction. If you had nowhere to speak in real life, then you vented by splashing around in the group chat.
After they'd gotten familiar, everyone in the chat knew Sakiko was a girl with pride. Even if she had a chance to simply bow her head and escape her current miserable life, she refused—choosing to solve everything herself.
Which also meant there was little chance of seeing "soft, squishy Sakiko."
So the instant they did see that soft, squishy Sakiko, the people who'd grown close to her immediately put on a show.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Strong, Xiang-jie.
[Tohsaka Rin]: Strong, Xiang-jie.
[Want Campus Springtime With Mei]: Strong, Xiang-jie.
[Tohsaka Rin]: As a magus, I'm normally very sensitive to the phrase "becoming a god."
[Tohsaka Rin]: But for some reason, in this context, all I can smell is… the stench of black history.
[Image: Soft-Squishy Sakiko character sheet]
[Tohsaka Rin]: Also, quick question—how old were you then? If you were over fourteen and still saying that, I suggest using magecraft to erase that memory immediately.
[Legendary Fireproof King]: To become a god is a path paved with thorns. If you are prepared—even if it is the flames of ruin…
[Legendary Fireproof King]: Would you be interested in coming to the Lands Between?
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: N-no way… right?
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: Even me—back then, even if I were still that version of myself—I'd never say something like that!
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: It's too embarrassing! Normal people don't say things like that!
Sakiko denied it like crazy inside her heart.
Her wish right now was clearly so simple: make a little more money every day; stop having to pick up discounted bread; stop getting wages docked by that damned boss; stop watching that drunk of a father rot at home…
Becoming a god?
What god? The God of Customer Service? The God of Snatching Discount Bento Before They Sell Out?
Messages scrolled fast.
Sakiko's cheeks heated rapidly—warmth crawling up from her neck until even her ears burned. She hunched her shoulders without thinking.
Even though nobody around cared about a girl in a worn-out school uniform.
Even though everyone else was tiredly scrolling short videos, she still felt unbearably embarrassed.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Of course you don't believe it right now. You're still crying little pearls over a few-hundred-yen sandwich.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: But people get forged under pressure. The day you're truly driven into a corner—when you feel like the world's beyond saving, like nothing matters—you'll put on a mask that looks like underwear, and you'll stand there shouting that you're going to create a new world.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Oh, and by the way—you were a keyboardist then. Cool as hell. Seriously.
"U-underwear… mask?"
Sakiko's vision went dark. She nearly lost her grip on the overhead strap.
The noise of the train suddenly felt distant, as if it had been pushed far away—leaving only the four characters UNDERWEAR MASK rolling across her retina like bullet comments.
She could accept "becoming a god," but what the hell did "underwear mask" even mean?!
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: P-please don't joke like that!
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: I-I may be down on my luck right now, but I still have dignity! I will never put underwear on my face!
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: That's something only perverts do!
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Who said it's real underwear? It's a metaphor, okay? A metaphor.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Like… lace-trimmed, covers half your face—ugh, forget it, it won't translate. Anyway, it's artistic.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: And you have to drag a bunch of people into the madness with you—start a band. Super gothic, super dark, super chuuni. Maybe you'll even go to Arasaka Tower and set Night City on fire.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Also, when you said it, it wasn't for show, and it wasn't onstage. You meant it. Completely sincere.
It was over.
Completely over.
Sakiko closed her eyes.
Every word he said was absurd, but for some reason, the sheer detail gave it a disturbing sense of reality—and a chill rose in her chest.
That impulse to fight fate, to claw at something—so desperate she'd package herself as another creature entirely.
Yes… that sounded like something she might do if pushed into a dead end.
And she could faintly guess why she'd choose that style, too.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Gothic style. Lace trim. Covers the upper half of your face, leaves your lips visible. With that red dress, under the spotlight… it really makes people feel… how do I put it… something strange.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Wait a second.
Bai Qian had already confirmed it—Herta had met Nous on the Herta Space Station.
Once he realized he was in familiar territory, he relaxed.
He rummaged around on Herta's desk and finally found something like a pen and a few sheets of white paper.
He pressed the S.E.E.S.-issue evoker to his head.
"Come forth! My Stand—Izanagi-no-Okami!"
Bai Qian had always thought Personas were a lot like Stands from JoJo—except before he got the S.E.E.S. evoker, he could only summon them inside a Palace.
If a Stand could do something, then a Persona should be able to do it too!
A Persona was just another self, from within.
Izanagi-no-Okami picked up the pen. Bai Qian closed his eyes and forced himself to recall the memory of Sakiko standing onstage.
As long as the scene appeared in his mind, Izanagi-no-Okami could draw it on paper.
Jotaro—let me recreate your famous moment!
A dozen seconds later, as the fountain pen flew across the page, a black-and-white manga panel appeared in Izanagi-no-Okami's hands.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Sent an image.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Look. Like this. Well?
Sakiko's hand clenched hard around the strap. Her knuckles turned pale.
She had been keeping her head down, trying to hide her face beneath her bangs—a face that looked out of place among the exhausted commuters—but now her eyes were glued to her phone as if sealed there with adhesive.
The image finished loading.
"Th…"
Her lips parted, but no sound came out.
Her throat felt stuffed with wet cotton.
The girl in the picture was her—yet not her.
The figure wore an ornate dress and held a microphone. That do-or-die madness in her eyes was nothing like the fallen customer service clerk pinching pennies for a few hundred yen.
But the mask covering half her face…
It really did look like underwear.
Worse—like the kind with elaborate lace edging, boldly designed.
"Wh-what is this…"
Sakiko's lips moved, still voiceless.
Underwear mask.
Underwear mask.
The words looped in her head like a curse.
Sure, it was "lace-trimmed," "covers half the face," "artistic"—
…but wasn't it still basically underwear?!
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: This art skill…
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: No! That's not the point!
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: Why are you so good at drawing this?! And those eyes—those eyes aren't even me!
[Want Campus Springtime With Mei]: Whoa!
[Want Campus Springtime With Mei]: Yeah, the mask is a little weird, but honestly? That's insanely cool!
[Want Campus Springtime With Mei]: That vibe of "I'm wearing something that looks like underwear but I'm still a queen"—Xiang-jie, are you really going to become like that?!
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: Kiana! Please don't use that kind of description! And don't call me Xiang-jie, desuwa!
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: And I'm not becoming like that! Absolutely not!
[Tohsaka Rin]: Nice drawing.
[Tohsaka Rin]: If we ignore the mask's taste, the composition and linework are professional. But that's not important.
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: How could this happen…
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: So my life is destined to become a comedian's road…
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: I refuse that future! Absolutely not!
[Tohsaka Rin]: Ah, I still want to say it: terrible taste.
[Tohsaka Rin]: If future me ever had that idea for even one second, I'd kill myself first.
[Want Campus Springtime With Mei]: Eh? But… if you ignore the shape, it sounds kind of mysterious? Like Zorro?
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Exactly. Zorro. Except Zorro wears an eye mask—Sakiko wears, ahem, a symbol—an emblem of rebellion and rebirth.
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: Stop talking!!!
Sakiko jabbed that string of exclamation marks into the screen with all her strength.
So embarrassing, so embarrassing, so embarrassing, so embarrassing, so embarrassing, so embarrassing!
This was basically social death, wasn't it?!
Kiana—sorry! I shouldn't have laughed at you earlier!
[Tohsaka Rin]: Pff—sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but this is just…
[Tohsaka Rin]: @AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang, it's okay. For magecraft—no, for art—sacrifice isn't shameful. As long as you win, it doesn't matter what you wear.
[Tohsaka Rin]: But that "becoming a god" line and this mask are a bit too avant-garde. Is Sakiko crying now?
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: I'm not crying! I-I mean, tears would happen because… because this picture is too much!
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: Any normal person would be shocked seeing themselves wearing that onstage!
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: And starting a band costs money! Where would I get money for some red dress, renting venues, holding concerts?!
[Legendary Fireproof King]: The design of that mask… it seems to consider a certain ritualistic protection?
[Legendary Fireproof King]: In the Lands Between, some who are called the Deathbed Companions also wear similar fabrics.
[Legendary Fireproof King]: Miss Sakiko—are you embracing some… unnameable past?
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: No!!!
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: I'm not embracing death! And I'm not a Deathbed Companion! I'm trying to survive!
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: Miss Melina, please don't interpret my black history through a horror-world worldview!
So the "Legendary Fireproof King" was Melina?
Bai Qian felt this group chat was getting too abstract.
When he first joined, the chat automatically assigned him some name like "Galgame Domain Master"—thankfully, you could change it.
Melina having that name… Bai Qian suspected it wasn't that she didn't care, but that she simply didn't know how to change it.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Don't worry about money. Someone will sponsor you when the time comes.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: And it won't be for money. It'll be for revenge. For dignity. For taking back everything you lost.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Back then, you could even cut off your old teammates without hesitation—just to build the perfect commercial band.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Sakiko—our fire will ignite the whole world! Lead your armies. Even if you must ultimately fight alone!
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: …
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: I want to die. I'm going to go die for a second.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Saying that is one thing—don't actually die.
[Tohsaka Rin]: What about mine? The Holy Grail War?
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Hard to say. Your world is a super-chaotic stew. So chaotic that when I watched it, the amount of supplementary series and lore I had to catch up on made me want to quit. I can't be sure—but the Greater Grail is already corrupted. Best to destroy it.
That was nonsense.
Rin stared at the line on her screen and instinctively wanted to scoff.
Corrupted? Destroy it?
What a joke. That was the omnipotent wish-granter. A shortcut to the Root. The crystallization of the Tohsaka family's multi-generational wish.
It was like someone running up to tell you your life savings were actually all trash paper.
Her fingers loosened.
Clack.
The ruby she'd been pinching—already infused with one quarter of its intended magical energy—fell in free descent, bounced twice on the worn wooden floor, and rolled into some shadowy corner.
"…Ah. My gem."
Rin blinked, then realized what had happened.
That was five hundred thousand yen in raw material cost, plus two hours of her work tonight.
But she couldn't even spare the focus to mourn it.
Her reason screamed that it was absolutely bullshit, yet a magus's instincts raised goosebumps along her spine.
He had accurately recited Toyokawa Sakiko's life, even describing future turning points with eerie specificity.
If that, too, was true…
Then what were her ten years of effort? What was her father's death? A joke?
She took a deep breath, trying to steady her disorderly breathing.
Normally, the mineral scent of processed gemstone soothed her. Now, it only felt suffocating.
[Tohsaka Rin]: What nonsense are you talking about.
[Tohsaka Rin]: It's an all-purpose wish-granter. A grand ritual constructed by the Three Families of Fuyuki. Sure, the system feels dated, but "corruption" is an insult to the wisdom of our predecessors.
[Tohsaka Rin]: If you're just trying to grab attention with alarmism, I suggest you stop while you still can.
As she typed it, her fingers pressed so hard that the screen clicked under her taps.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: I know you're in a hurry, but don't hurry.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Makes sense. You've been training for it for ten years—Eight Extremes Fist—no, wait, jewel magecraft.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Simple version: during the Third Grail War, someone broke the rules and summoned something called Angra Mainyu. It's weak as hell, but it comes with "All the World's Evils." Result: when the Greater Grail recovered it, it got stained—turned into a black-mud machine that can only grant wishes through malice.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Like—if you wish for world peace, a normal Grail makes people lay down their weapons. The current Fuyuki Grail makes every human on Earth die except you.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Technically, peace is achieved. An empty world still counts as world peace.
Rin stared at the screen.
Angra Mainyu.
All the World's Evils.
If it was true—if it was a malignant aggregate of cursed magical energy—
She hugged her arms reflexively, feeling the basement temperature drop a few degrees.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Also, your guardian—the Mapo priest—he's known all along. He's a thrill-seeker. He's waiting to watch you idiots fight to the death over a broken cup, just to see your faces when you finally realize what's happening.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: And by the way—remember the dagger he gave you? If I'm not mistaken, he killed your father with it, then handed it to you at the funeral and felt joy watching you grieve.
Kotomine Kirei.
The priest with the perpetually stiff expression, always eating absurdly spicy mapo tofu.
Rin had always felt she couldn't get along with him—like she was being watched by a snake.
That man's face surfaced in her mind.
If it was him—those eyes you could never read—
If it was him—hiding something like that…
He absolutely could.
A chill blasted up from the soles of her feet to the top of her skull.
She felt like a fool—performing with all her might on a huge stage even without an audience—while the director backstage covered his mouth and laughed.
[Tohsaka Rin]: I'm going to confirm it.
[Tohsaka Rin]: Not to die. Investigate.
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: I… yeah.
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: Today was just too much. My… that… that mask, and Miss Tohsaka's situation too.
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: I need time to process it. Feels like my worldview's cracking, desuwa…
Sakiko let out a long breath, her whole body slumping like she'd gone limp.
She felt guilty about what Rin was going through, but she couldn't deny a faint, shameful relief deep inside her.
—Thank god the topic changed.
If they kept talking about that lace underwear mask, she honestly might've opened a train window and jumped out on the spot, becoming an urban legend.
As long as nobody talked about underwear masks, even corrupted Grail mud felt strangely comforting.
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: I… yeah.
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: Today was just too much. My… that… that mask, and Miss Tohsaka's situation too.
[AAA Customer Service Xiao Xiang]: I need time to process it. Feels like my worldview's cracking, desuwa…
Sakiko exhaled again and collapsed into the corner of the train like all her strength had drained away.
She felt bad for Rin, but she couldn't help that same tiny, wicked relief.
—Thank god the topic changed.
If they kept talking about that lace underwear mask, she really might've opened the window and jumped out right here in this otherworld Tokyo, becoming an urban legend.
As long as nobody talked about underwear masks, even black mud from the Holy Grail War seemed friendly.
[Dragon Sis Is Dragon]: @Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da, I'm curious about my future too. I even want to know whether I have a complicated fate like them.
[Dragon Sis Is Dragon]: But I can't get away right now.
[Dragon Sis Is Dragon]: Reunion is short on supplies lately. I can only rely on points from the chat group to buy things, to see if I can help everyone get by.
[Dragon Sis Is Dragon]: Once I finish my current work and have time, I'll come ask you properly.
On the frozen plains of Ursus, a bitter wind howled, carrying snow like knives.
Talulah set her phone down and let out a pale breath of white frost.
Outside the tent, a campfire flickered uncertainly. A few Reunion soldiers huddled together for warmth, their gear shabby, their faces marked by frostbite and hunger.
As their leader, she cared less about a vague future and more about whether she could get these followers a full meal tomorrow.
Since she'd already joined this miraculous place called "the chat group," tangible supplies she could exchange for mattered far more than foreknowledge.
As for fate?
That was a luxury only the living could afford.
[Want Campus Springtime With Mei]: Eh? So you're all done? Nobody wants to know anymore?
[Want Campus Springtime With Mei]: Hmph! Then there's no helping it—looks like only this young lady can take the finale!
In her dorm, Kiana Kaslana lay sprawled on her bed, legs swinging in the air. She held her phone up, her face bright with excitement and anticipation.
Rin's betrayal plotline was too heavy; she didn't even understand it. Sakiko's underwear mask was embarrassing, sure, but it looked insanely cool.
If Lao Da really knew everything, then he definitely knew whether she and Mei ended up together!
Maybe they'd even have a huge, grand wedding!
At the thought, Kiana rolled around on the bed in excitement and began hammering out messages at top speed.
[Want Campus Springtime With Mei]: @Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da, hurry hurry hurry! I've been waiting forever! You know the script! So you definitely know my future with Mei, right?!
[Want Campus Springtime With Mei]: Since they're all busy now, it's my turn!
[Want Campus Springtime With Mei]: Whether it's becoming a cool queen like Sakiko, or fighting like that Holy Grail War thing—this young lady is ready! Tell me! How do Mei and I end up?!
[Want Campus Springtime With Mei]: And future me—am I already the strongest S-rank Valkyrie like Dad used to say?! Did I already beat "Honkai" into running away?!
[Want Campus Springtime With Mei]: I can't wait to hear my hero legend!
[Want Campus Springtime With Mei]: Say it already! I want to hear THIS!
Bai Qian stared at the screen, and couldn't help laughing out loud.
The heavyweight was finally here.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Yeah. You two are way together.
[Heart-Thief Crew Lao Da]: Kiana—have you ever been hung on the moon?
-------
Enjoying the story? Support the author and get access to early chapters by joining my Patreon!
Find me at My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (180 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (110 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (190 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (78 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (130 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (80 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (140 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (50 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (60 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (80 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (33 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (40 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it