Chapter 12: A Rival's Malice

The Hoshizora Gala had thrown a golden spotlight on Ectiqa, but it had also cast a long, dark shadow. That shadow had a name: Haruka Ito.

Haruka had seen Rina’s unmasked face. While she hadn't made an instant connection in the dazzling chaos of the VIP lounge, the seed of an idea had been planted. Rina Hinamata, that boring, plain girl from her school, had a certain… resemblance to the cosplayer who had captivated the industry's elite. It was a stretch, a wild, impossible theory. But Haruka was a person who enjoyed pulling at loose threads until the entire tapestry unraveled.

Her campaign began not with a bang, but with a whisper.

A few days after the gala, Rina was eating lunch with Yui and Miki. Haruka and her clique sauntered past their table.

"Oh, Hinamata-san," Haruka said, pausing as if she had just noticed them. Her voice was pure honey, but her eyes were sharp as glass. "I went to the most amazing party the other night. The Hoshizora Gala. Have you heard of it? So glamorous. They even had a famous cosplayer there as a guest. Ectiqa, I think her name was."

Yui's eyes widened. "No way! Ectiqa was there? The one Rui-senpai is obsessed with?"

Rina’s blood ran cold. She kept her face neutral, focusing on her tamagoyaki. "That sounds nice, Ito-san."

"It was," Haruka purred, her eyes locked on Rina. "You know, it's funny. Without her mask and all that flashy lighting, Ectiqa looked… surprisingly normal. Almost like someone you might see every day and not even notice."

The implied meaning was a dagger aimed right at Rina's heart. Miki shot Haruka a glare that could have melted steel, but Haruka simply smiled and walked away, leaving a toxic silence in her wake.

"What was that about?" Yui asked, confused. "She's so weird."

Rina just shrugged, her appetite gone. "Who knows?"

The whispers were just the beginning. Haruka was a master of psychological warfare. She'd talk loudly about cosplay material costs when Rina was nearby. She’d compliment a piece of Ectiqa fan art someone was looking at, then glance at Rina and sigh, "It takes real talent to do something like that. Not everyone is cut out for it."

It was death by a thousand paper cuts. Rina was trapped. She couldn't defend herself without revealing her secret, so she had to endure the passive-aggressive torture in silence. The fear of the stalker was now compounded by the constant, grinding anxiety of being discovered by her rival.

Meanwhile, I was in my own world, completely oblivious. My focus was on "Project Shield," the new initiative I had spearheaded at the Ectiqa Alliance. My nights were spent building filters to catch harassing language, writing guides for fans on how to report doxxing threats, and coordinating with other moderators. I was a digital paladin, protecting my queen's online castle.

"This online club of yours is taking up all your time," Rina commented one evening, seeing me hunched over my laptop.

"It's important work," I said seriously. "We're dealing with a lot of- of drama. We have this one user, 'Hime-Hime,' who keeps trying to stir up trouble on the forums, making snide remarks about Ectiqa. She's a total pain."

Rina froze, a half-peeled orange in her hand. 'Hime-Hime' was Haruka's cosplayer name.

"What kind of remarks?" she asked, her voice dangerously quiet.

"Oh, you know," I said, waving a dismissive hand. "Stuff like 'I wonder if she makes her own costumes or just pays someone.' Just petty, jealous nonsense. We keep having to delete her comments. It's so draining dealing with people like that."

Rina was silent for a long moment. "Yeah," she finally said, her voice tight with a frustration I completely misinterpreted. "People like that are the worst."

She was being attacked by the same girl on two different fronts. In the real world, Haruka was trying to expose her. In the digital world, Haruka was trying to discredit her. And in a stroke of perfect, tragic irony, her own brother was the one fighting the digital battle, defending her honor without having a single clue who he was truly protecting. The stress was immense, and Rina felt like she was being squeezed from all sides, with nowhere to turn.