The Sky is Fake?

 【POV: Yuria】

Reality is a very fragile concept when you're traveling with the Student Council Vice President, who also happens to be the Creator, who also happens to be the shorty currently sprawled out on the bed, munching on snacks.

The clock struck 21:00. The four of us were in a luxury hotel suite. The point here wasn't how spacious the room was or how big the TV screen was. The point was... boys and girls were sharing a room.

The door had been wide open this whole time. A few classmates passed by in the hallway, peeked in and saw me, Mari, Tetsuya, and Riku hanging out together. They just said hi and moved on. Even Akari-sensei, on her room check just now, popped her head in, counted "One, two, three, four. Get to sleep early, okay?" and then slammed the door shut. No one saw anything wrong with it. The illogicality of it all had been smoothed over, seamlessly, almost frighteningly so.

No one questioned it. No resistance from the universe. This seamless absurdity made the red bean paste in my mouth taste bland.

Of course, we all tacitly understood whose handiwork this was.

In the corner of the room, Riku had already hopped onto the plush double bed, pulling Tetsuya down to sit beside him. The two guys booted up their laptops, put on their headsets, and grabbed their controllers.

「Check your 8 o'clock, Tetsuya!」 Riku yelled, his keyboard clattering like a machine gun.

「See him. But I'm pinned down in this corner, can't peek.」 Tetsuya replied calmly, even though he was probably getting his face shot off in-game.

「Hold on! Let me ping my new teammate!」 Riku chuckled, a smug look on his face. 「I just found a random pro player named "Ama-chan" the other day. She specializes in Mortar builds, which should get the job done here. Don't let the cute name fool you, she's a beast.」

I let out a sigh and walked over to pull the heavy curtains open. The sliding glass door opened, and the cool Kyōto night breeze swept in, chasing away the smell of shrimp-flavored snacks. I rested both hands on the windowsill and took a deep breath. The city below twinkled with lights, peaceful and quiet.

「Don't stick your head out too much.」 Mari's voice came from behind me, steady, punctuated by the sound of munching. 「There are some pretty big Galgalim out there.」

Mari had suddenly appeared next to me at some point. She stood on her tiptoes, resting her chin on the windowsill, still holding a bag of snacks.

A chill ran down my spine.

「...What did you say?」 I slowly turned my head.

Mari crunched loudly then swallowed. She pointed up at the sky, her tone nonchalant. 「Well, they're out there. A surreal trick like this is way too much for a bunch of mediocre Galgalim to handle.」

My eyes began to adjust to the darkness. That colossal black mass obscuring the entire Kyōto sky... it wasn't clouds. Its surface had a slight curve. Along that great arc, metallic grooves gleamed with a silvery light, sliding over each other in absolute silence.

Mari... you call this "pretty big"..?

Alarm bells screamed in my brain. Conditioned reflex. I braced for the familiar feeling to hit: knees buckling, heart pounding like it wanted to burst out of my chest, a cold sweat breaking out, and...

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

The wind kept blowing. The spectacle above me remained terrifyingly and grotesquely beyond the scope of human comprehension.

Nothing happened. My pants were still dry. My heart, though it had been racing at first, was now calming down. The feeling of absolute terror had dissipated, leaving a strange serenity in my mind. I stood there, face-to-face with one of the most powerful entities in all of creation, and I... felt normal.

「Huh?」 I blurted out, my voice filled with confusion. 「I... I'm fine...」

Mari glanced at me, let out a long sigh, crumpled up an empty milk carton and threw it perfectly into the trash can three meters away. A perfect shot.

「Do you think I'll let you carry that condition forever?」 She grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. 「Rafa's cured you for ages. Now you can look straight at Metatron without even pissing yourself.」

I stared at the 1.5-meter-tall girl in front of me like she was an alien. 「Then why didn't you tell me?! I've been actively avoiding anything that looks like interlocking circles for two years, you psycho!」

「Why would I?!」 She snapped back, her face scrunching up. 「So you could launch into your whole "Oh, the Lord takes pity on the heretic, what a hypocrite" routine? I know that mouth of yours!」

What an idiot. Both of us.

I turned my face back toward the window, the wind whipping my loose hair around. The corner of my mouth involuntarily curled into a small smile.

Mari stood beside me, letting out a soft scoff. 「Just enjoy it. No need to thank me.」

「Don't expect it.」 I muttered, leaning my shoulder against hers. 「But... get rid of the Galgalim. It's blocking all the damn stars.」

「So demanding.」 Mari grumbled, but I saw her give a subtle snap of her fingers.

The colossal metallic mass in the sky immediately blurred, dissolving into nothingness, returning the sparkling, star-filled night sky of the ancient capital.

「Holy shit!」 Riku's yell shattered my deep-dark train of thought. 「Die, you goddamn camper!」

Tetsuya smiled faintly, his eyes still glued to the screen. 「Send her a friend request, Riku. Players like this are rare.」

「Hey, should I invite Ama-chan to the party?」 Riku spun around, his eyes gleaming behind his AR glasses. 「Would be perfect for the new Hellscape map. This girl's cover fire is insane.」

「Do it.」 Tetsuya nodded, adjusting his headset. 「More long-range firepower is exactly what we need.」

I sighed, pulled an armchair closer to the bed, and took out my phone to log into the game. Mari had also settled in with her handheld console, her mouth still munching away.

On the pre-match lobby screen, five names appeared in a vertical line. I couldn't help but smirk as I looked at them. This squad... looked like a case of collective personality disorder.

First was Tetsuya: YouAreNotReal. This guy was so damn subtle. He wants his opponents to have an existential crisis while getting shot. Like, "Are you shooting at me, or at the void? Do you even exist?"

Next was Mari: ihopeyouexplode. Blunt, direct.

Then Riku: TOTAL_ANNIHILATION. The name reeked of the cringey Edgelord stench of a newly-minted middle schooler. Which was accurate, since he'd had this nickname since then and never bothered to change it.

And me: fearnot. The classic opening line of every angel in the Bible right before they scare the living soul out of you. How was that any different from telling a sad person "Don't be sad"?

Four names dripping with violence, dark philosophy, and psychological intimidation.

And then... there was the fifth member.

Ama-chan.

I stared at that nickname, sitting so primly among the other hardcore names. Ama. Sweetness? It sounded like the name of a trainee idol or a little girl who loves cotton candy.

「Seriously...」 I muttered, selecting my trusty sniper rifle. 「A squad of psychological terrorists and one little Ama-chan.」

「Don't underestimate her.」 Riku chuckled, hitting the Ready button. 「Just wait 'til we get in-game and see this little candy carpet bomb their heads off.」

The screen went black. The match began.

Welcome to Reality, where God, the Heretic, the Nihilist Philosopher, the Edgelord, and Little Candy team up to slaughter the virtual world.