Jayr POV - Nasuverse, Moon, SE.RA.PH, Tsukumihara Academy - 2030 AD
A new day, a new lesson in class.
The classroom hums with the usual late-afternoon drowsiness; a few students lean on their desks, notebooks open but pens still.
I clap my hands once, loud enough to wake the boy in the back row and a few others.
Then I once again stand before the class, chalk in hand, the faint squeak against the board echoing in the quiet room, as I start my lesson, "Alright, class. Today, we tackle the most dangerous weapon in grammar: the conditional statement."
I turn around and draw on the blackboard with the chalk, muttering, "If this… then that." Writing it in giant letters, then underlining it three times before I smirk and give them a quick example, "It's like a vending machine. You press a button, you get a delicious Ramen. You press the wrong button, you get..."
I pause dramatically to let the punchline linger a little longer before exclaiming, "Extremely Spicy Mapo Tofu. Surprise!"
In an instant, a ripple of laughter goes through the room despite the fact that none of the students actually gets the true inside joke.
This is a little disappointing, as I hoped to use this joke to track down possible Champions hiding among the students of this class.
After all, not one single person who ever played the game Fate/Grand Order can listen to the cursed words "Extremely Spicy Mapo Tofu" without any kind of instinctive reaction, not in this specific setting.
The trauma of rolling the gacha to try to summon a 5-Star Servant after grinding for months, or even actually paying for it, only for trashy Extremely Spicy Mapo Tofu to appear time after time, after time, isn't something a person can easily recover from. I, too, still have some flashbacks from time to time.
While thinking that, I wait for the class to settle down before giving them yet another example which has a similar objective but a broader target, "Let me give you another example of a conditional statement: If you study, you pass. If you don't… well… You vanish."
The students once again chuckle, taking it as a joke, but I know better.
Since yesterday, when I awakened in SE.RA.PH, the whole school has already grown thinner.
Students gone, some who smiled and greeted me yesterday morning, some who nervously stammered through English phrases, some who whispered with their friends during lessons. Now, they are gone.
They weren't just "absent," they are truly gone, their existence completely erased. The Moon Cell has no mercy.
Still, I keep playing the part; my movements are natural, my voice is steady.
I have been a teacher before, many times, and in many forms; sliding into this role is a second nature at this point.
To the others, I am just another competent and slightly humorous teacher, but inside, I am another participant biding his time, watching, and learning anything I can about the other participants and possible Masters.
Soon, the students stop chuckling, and I focus back on the class as I realize that there are no other potential Masters among them. I turn to the familiar young woman in the back row and ask, "Tohosaka-san! If you study hard, what happens?"
Rin Tohsaka blinks with a calm and confident air before she directly answers, "I will pass the test."
In response to her correct answer, I fling my arms wide as though she'd just solved world hunger and exclaim, "Excellent! First conditional: If you study hard, you will pass the test. Easy!"
While keeping to play the part of the humorous teacher, I take another discreet look at Rin Tohsaka while thinking, 'As expected of a talented Magus like her. She regained her memories shortly after my class. However, different from many other potential contestants like the many who disappeared yesterday, Rin, like me, chose not rush to pass the Preliminary, bide her time, and gather more information that may very well save her life. But she is a little too careless, I mean, what is the point of biding your time if you reveal to everyone else that you've regained your memories by removing the Tsukumihara Academy uniform and presenting yourself with casual clothes the next day?'
Indeed, currently Rin isn't wearing the Tsukumihara Academy uniform like yesterday, but instead she is wearing her iconic casual clothes consisting of a red turtleneck, a black skirt, and long black stockings under brown leather flats.
However, the next moment, I immediately realize the reason behind her choice, 'Wait! She isn't careless... Rin is confident... and very cunning. She is just using herself as bait to expose other possible competitors! After all, all the "NPC" within SE.RA.PH won't react to Rin's changes of clothes at all; they won't even take notice of it. However, those who are about to regain their memories, and those who already did, will surely do so, making it much easier for Rin to uncover them.'
While thinking that, I casually continue my lesson by spinning back to the board and scribbling another example while saying, "Now… second conditional. The dream machine. If I were rich..."
I clasp my hands like a prayer for a brief moment before I continue, "... I would buy Tokyo Disneyland and make it my living room."
The students giggle, whispering until one boy raises his hand and says, "If I were rich, I would buy a new haircut for you, sensei."
In an instant, the class starts to roar while I comically gasp, clutching my chest and exclaim, "How dare you, Asagi-kun! Insult the gorgeous hairstyle of your sensei?!"
I bend toward him, whispering loudly, "If you were funny… You would be a comedian. But alas!" Before I shrug dramatically.
By now, even the quietest students, like Rin Tohsaka, are smiling, amused by my reaction.
Then I snap back to the board and continue with my lesson as a mischievous grin forms on my face, "Last one: third conditional. The legendary Captain Obvious. People die... if they are killed."
The laughter comes in waves to the point that someone even dropped their pencil from shaking too much with one student even asking out loud between laughers, "Did you figure that out all by yourself, sensei?"
After the class calms down a little, I lean on the desk, lowering my voice as I say, "So remember: conditionals are like video game cheat codes. Push the right buttons, and you get the ending you want. Push the wrong ones, and you end up married to Bowser."
In the end, the bell rings, but no one moves immediately as they are still laughing as I wave them out, but then I remember something and call them out, "Homework: Write one conditional sentence. Make me laugh, or else… Tomorrow's lesson will be on prepositions. And nobody wants that."
As the students leave the class one by one, I sort my papers while thinking about all the vanished potential competitors, 'It started subtly. Yesterday, after my morning class, only a few seats were empty here and there. At first, I told myself they'd gone to the nurse or simply skipped, as I thought that it was way too soon for the people who were able to regain their memories and identity to attempt to pass the Preliminary. But when I checked the roster later, their names were gone too... Erased not only from the classroom, but from the records themselves. This morning, a lot more people vanished without leaving any trace. No ceremony. No goodbyes. Just an empty chair where someone once sat, a faint glitch in the corner of the eye.'
The remaining NPCs didn't react; they treated the vanishings as if those students had never existed at all because the system had smoothed over their memories, but I remember, I remembered every face, every disappearance.
Because these weren't like the regular NPCs, they were potential contestants, Masters dragged into SE.RA.PH and forced into the Moon Cell's little game. Those who succeeded advanced. Those who failed, well, died for real as Moon Cell completely erases their digitalized soul.
But that doesn't mean that I don't care for the NPCs or have some form of disdain for them.
The NPCs (Non-player characters) are virtual life within SE.RA.PH in the Moon Cell, and they are humanoid virtual lifeforms created to manage the Moon Holy Grail War.
They are artificial intelligence configured according to the program, making them things treated as "functions of programs" that "do not exist as actual beings." as they perform only one task, and though they respond with personality, they are considered by many as nothing more than puppets for they are merely mechanisms for the sake of allowing human lives to progress smoothly, and they are "not there" even when they "are" in front of someone's eyes.
They are still created from the Moon Cell's records of real humans who have lived in the past, and they simulate their personalities.
However, it is possible for NPCs to become self-aware, and it is even possible for them to gain the powers associated with Masters like Twice H. Pieceman and Hakuno Kishinami, and because of that, the only conclusion I can reach is that the NPCs within SE.RA.PH has to be considered and respected as a true living being.
This is also why I keep fulfilling my duty as their teacher to the best of my abilities by teaching and watching over them.
Moreover, if at the end of this Moon Holy Grail War I come out on top, then I can still use my abilities to bring them back and allow them to experience a complete and fulfilling life.
After a few moments, I finish sorting out my papers and calmly walk out of the now-empty class.
Then, I decide to walk around the campus to see if I can recognize some other familiar faces, and in doing so, I do indeed see a few more.
Like a certain young man who has curly blue hair styled like seaweed and gray blue eyes, and whose attire consists of the regular school uniform of Tsukumihara Academy, Shinji Matou.
(Image Here - Shinji Matou)
He has one of the most punchable faces in the Omniverse, and it takes all my considerable willpower not walk up to him and knee him in the balls with enough force to crack an entire planet while forcing him to remain alive and suffer all the pain he would feel for an eternity.
The only reason why I'm holding back is that I'm not actually sure what version of Shinji Matou he is, as there are huge differences between them.
The most hated and deserving of punishment version of Shinji Matou is the one from Fate/Stay Night and all the series derived from it.
That Shinji Matou is a member of the Matou family and the older step-brother of Sakura Matou, who was incapable of sorcery despite being a member of a family of magi.
This did little to dissuade Shinji's determination to become the successor; the boy instead convinced himself that he was special for being born in a family of magi.
Shortly after, Sakura Tohsaka was adopted into the Matou family and introduced to Shinji as his new sister.
At first, he was against this because he didn't want 'outsiders' coming into his family, but later grew to like and accept her, though due to his selfish, arrogant nature, he refused to show it and teased her instead.
Not wanting his son to get involved in the affairs of the Matou magecraft, Byakuya sent him to study abroad when the Fourth Holy Grail War started.
Because of that, he does not know that his uncle Kariya participated and died, probably because Byakuya, who despised Kariya, chose to hide this fact from him; he also didn't tell him about the worm pit or the reasons why Sakura was adopted by the family.
The farce ended when Shinji accidentally found the worm pit, seeing as Sakura was being infested by Zouken's worms.
This caused Byakuya to cut all ties with him due to no longer having to hide anything from him.
Blaming Sakura for "ruining his dreams", he started mistreating her, treating her like an object to do with as he pleased.
Sakura, in a mixture of pity and guilt, silently accepted Shinji's abuse, which he mistook for her submitting to him.
After Byakuya's death, Shinji decided to "take possession" of Sakura and started sexually abusing her, one of the main reasons why all the Nasuverse's fandom actually wants to kill him and the rest of the Matou family, barring a few rare exceptions.
During middle school, he met Shirou Emiya, who did menial tasks for people free of charge, and despite Shinji deriding him as an idiot from behind his back, he hung around with him until he was done.
They started an estranged friendship and frequently invited him over to his house to hang out.
A year before the events of Fate/Stay Night, after Shirou was injured in an accident, Sakura started getting close to him.
Shinji disapproved of this, fearing that Sakura would start turning against him.
When the Fifth Holy Grail War started, he was resigned to his situation, but after noticing that Sakura, who had just summoned Rider, did not want to fight, he persuaded Zouken into letting him enter the war by controlling Rider, all in an attempt to prove to Zouken that he was not useless and that he could be the Matou family heir instead of Sakura.
Overall, this version of Shinji Matou is a despicable shitbag that deserves the most ill fate and the cruelest punishment.
However, the Shinji Matou of Fate/Extra, who is the most likely version present in this reality, is known as the gaming champion of Asia who won the world game competition 2030 of V.A.M.P, the Virtual Arcade for Massive-multi Players, who has managed to avoid prosecution from the Plutocracy, while many others have been arrested for breaching International Agreement 404 by accessing unauthorized information.
While he may look like a teenager within SE.RA.PH, he is actually an eight-year-old child who, after a seventy-eight hour long session online, learned of the Holy Grail War.
So, despite being somewhat annoying as a person that is nowhere near enough of a reason to actually harm him, as he is truly an eight-year-old kid who has no idea about the true nature of the War.
He simply believes the entire situation to be a well-done game he needs to win and has no idea that those who lose actually die.
He is only participating to prove his own prowess by winning the title he believes is granted to the winner of the "game".
Naturally, Shinji isn't the only familiar face I encounter while wandering around the disturbingly massive campus of the Tsukumihara Academy; there is also Hakuno Kishinami, the protagonist of the game Fate/Extra, the male version.
A young man with brown hair and eyes, who wears the standard Male school uniform of Tsukumihara Academy, and wears a black T-shirt beneath his jacket.
(Image Here - Hakuno Kishinami)
Hakuno is an NPC generated by the Moon Cell based on a cryogenically frozen human, who currently has no memory or sense of self.
His human counterpart is a resident of Japan in the year 2000 who suffered from Amnesia Syndrome, frozen to await treatment due to the death of Twice H. Pieceman.
I have also caught a glimpse of Leonard B. Harway and his brother Julius B. Harway, who appeared today out of nowhere, one taking the role of a student of the Class 2-A, the other that of a teacher becoming my colleague.
And naturally, there are also the Advanced AI who took the form and personality of many other famous characters of the Nasuverse.
Like Father Kotomine, who is the overseer of the progress of the Holy Grail War in the Moon Cell, he administers the local Fuyuki Church, which is outside of SE.RA.PH.'s jurisdiction.
His appearance and presence are actually data transcriptions of the man who once participated in the Holy Grail War; thus, he is knowledgeable about the Holy Grail, the Moon Cell, and SE.RA.PH. in general and has the same power as his Fate/Stay Night counterpart, but more importantly, he loves Extremely Spicy Mapo Tofu.
Or even my colleague, Taiga Fujimura, Class 2-A's homeroom teacher, and very similar to her counterpart in Fate/Stay Night as an energetic yet dense individual.
Advanced AI are higher-level beings created by the Moon Cell for management.
They are beings granted the capability for self-judgement. Advanced AIs are given the management of a section like "managing the health of the Masters."
Advanced-level AIs are created to efficiently promote the Moon Cell's primary objective of "human observation."
They have been programmed with souls to act as perfect reproductions of humans, but while they are "there", the contents of the souls are colorless.
They have the ability to manipulate the Moon Cell in certain ways, such as repeating a day dozens of times, yet they cannot delete their memories, so they can only be transferred and reset.
I continue to wander around the campus while thinking, 'It is almost like watching a game I know by heart play out in real time. Events unfold almost exactly as I remember from Fate/Extra. Some rivalries are sparking, students stumbling upon the truth of the War, some panicking, breaking down, others embracing it with terrifying eagerness. I had to bite my tongue more than once not to chuckle at the familiar beats. So this is what it feels like to sit in the background of the story.'
However, not all the faces belong to the Nasuverse, as on the other side of the hallway, my eyes lock with another familiar face, one I know very well, Aletha.
She is casually walking and chatting with a few other female students, her posture perfect, eyes sharp. To anyone else, she is just another student, but I know that gaze.
Her eyes widen just a fraction when our gazes meet, recognition flashing instantly; however, neither of us acts, nor does either of us speak.
But slowly, almost imperceptibly, she nods, and I nod back, seemingly like a student respectfully greeting an unknown teacher and the teacher politely replying.
It is enough, a silent agreement, we know the truth, we know who we are, and we know that for the moment, words are dangerous.
So we return to our roles: I, the calm but humorous teacher; she, the attentive student, but under the surface, the bond of trust remains unshaken.
Like that, the second day of the Preliminary quickly passed, and as the number of students and staff members continued to dwindle, I calmly left the campus and returned to my apartment, waiting for the third and last day of the Preliminary to begin, and with it my last day as teacher of the Class 1-A.
The last day begins exactly like the previous two, with exactly the same uncanny rhythm that perfectly follows the Moon Cell's program, and I once again play along with it, for the very last time.
I walk into the campus, greet the same teacher I met on my way to the staff room, prepare for my class, walk out of the staff room, head for Class 1-A, and teach my students, or at the very least those that remain.
By the third day, the classroom looks deserted with rows of empty desks stretched like gravestones. Only a handful remain, the NPCs and those who still haven't regained their memories or aren't ready yet to face the final test.
Meanwhile, most of the true competitors, those strong enough to regain their memories, survive, and earn the title of Master, have already successfully passed the Preliminary and move on to the Reality Marble, where the Moon Holy Grail War will take place.
I lean against the board with my arms crossed, watching them recite English phrases, my excitement as a fan wrestling with the reality before me, while I think, 'This is the Moon Holy Grail War. But these are real lives. Real souls. It is cruel. Cruel and fascinating. The Moon Cell didn't just kill. It erased. As if those who failed never even existed. No one is truly safe... Well, not really, I'm pretty confident that I can actually survive even if I get defeated. At my current level of power, not even the Moon Cell will be able to erase my soul... However, the same can't be said for the other Champions and some of the more powerful Servants.'
And yet, while thinking that I cannot deny the thrill buzzing in my veins, I can stand in the middle of this legend, to see it unfold firsthand, and experience it. It is intoxicating.
After some time, the bell that signals the end of my last class rings, and I weave off what remains of my students who leave the class to continue with their day.
I take a moment to look out of the window, enjoying the orange hue of the sky caused by the sunset, before I decide that it is time to finally stop playing the role assigned by the Moon Cell and face the final test of the Preliminary.
I walk out of the classroom, which is already located on the first floor of the main building, and start to cross the empty hallway. My steps are firm and full of confidence as my destination is clear.
I turn the last corner, and what I find in front of me is an apparently blank wall, painted in the same light blue color that is present throughout the whole building, a dead end.
At least, it should look so in the eyes of those who have yet to regain their memories and those who can't face the truth and wish to live in ignorance.
In my eyes, there isn't a blank wall in front of me, but there is a doorway that I can freely walk through, an emergency exit like stairs to the outside.
I stand in front of the doorway for a few seconds, clearly impressed by how well the Moon Cell hid the entrance by simply taking into consideration the mental state of the potential contestants to alter their perception of reality.
At this point, I stop dillydallying and walk through the doorway.
What I find beyond the door seems to be a dismal-looking scrap yard with a swirling darkness that will likely lead to the area where the last trial will take place, but what immediately catches my attention is the smooth-skinned effigy standing right in front of me.
Suddenly, I hear a voice that comes out of nowhere and says, [Welcome, potential Master.]
At the same time, the effigy starts to animate while the voice explains, [That effigy with you is your sword and shield for what lies ahead. It will move in response to your commands. Now then, please proceed. The truth you seek will lie in the path ahead.]
Hearing that, I don't waste any time and command the effigy to follow me as I walk into the swirling darkness ahead.
The next moment, I find myself in complete darkness with only a transparent digital-looking road ahead of me.
Still, I calmly continue to advance, and the more I advance, the more my surroundings change and take shape until it fully becomes the digital-looking dungeon I'm familiar with, as I find myself in a square-looking room.
At the same time, the same voice repeats, this time it seems coming from the empty sky above, [Welcome, potential Master. If you are looking for answers, you must reach the goal. Now, please step forward.]
I follow the instruction and advance crossing the corridor in front of me, finding myself in another square room with a hovering orb waiting for me as the voice explains, [Before you is an Enemy Program. It is programmed to attack on sight. Getting too close to it will initiate a battle. But you won't actually fight, as you are too fragile. The effigy given to you will fight in your stead. If your effigy is ever destroyed in battle, you will no longer be shielded from harm. To put it bluntly, you will die. So be very careful in battle.]
Hearing that, I almost snort out loud, as different from the other potential Masters, I can still unleash quite a lot of my powers, my own nature as a God, and the abilities I've inherited from my Digimon Incarnation make me an absolute menace in such a setting.
Without any hesitation, I command the effigy to attack the Enemy Program while at the same time, I cast a spell to reinforce the effigy, making it destroy the target in a single blow.
After that, I continue to advance through the very straightforward path, encountering a few more Enemy Programs, but the end result is always the same, as my reinforced effigy is just way too strong for them to put up any form of resistance.
In the end, I finally reach the final room, and this one looks very different from all the previous areas.
It is a large circular room surrounded by endless darkness. The floor looks like ornate marble, while on the other side of the room, three massive, colorful glass-like doors can be seen.
It's stiffling, the aura of purity that seems to act as a ward against corrupted souls who'd try to enter, it has the feeling of a chapel where the spirit of the deceased still lingers, and there is a good reason for that as all over the room an untold number of bodies lie, all those who failed to pass the final trial.
Suddenly, a lone effigy standing next to the body of a male student moves and attacks me, but my reinforced effigy easily blocks the attack and counters, destroying the enemy in a single blow.
The next moment, the sound of breaking glass is accompanied by a light cutting through the gloom as two of the three glass doors break, and a shining figure emerges from the ground calmly asking, "Are you my Master?"