Just after leaving the barrier of light, Bronie once again encountered that ninja with superpowers.
This time, she got hit hard by one of her tricks.
Bronie didn't pay much attention to her words.
She simply chose to ride her motorcycle straight through the light barrier on her own.
Riding the bike, she felt the night wind rushing against her face.
Countless scenes passed by her side and sped off behind her into the distance.
She just kept going—
Savoring the ever more joyful feeling of freedom.
Meanwhile, broadcasts were sounding off one after another.
The light barrier that had always existed in people's lives suddenly disappeared, triggering an unrest that wouldn't easily settle.
Everyone had something to say—
Confusion, panic, anxiety, excitement, hope...
All kinds of voices, like a tidal wave, surged up and swept away everything that had come before.
Then, from beneath that wave, a new chorus of voices emerged, just as chaotic and varied.
And the one who triggered that first wave—the one who brought change to Celestial Dome City—was her.
Yet Bronie just kept her face calm, riding her motorcycle along the elevated highway, heading toward the sky beyond the city.
She could hear those waves of voices.
But to her now, she preferred the sound of the rushing wind screaming past her ears.
The endless wastelands and barren lands outside stretched on under the quiet moonlight, revealing a mysterious veil.
The vast, seemingly endless expanse offered her full freedom to roam.
But within her, the joy of exploring the unknown had already faded.
When the world beyond the barrier finally appeared before her—
The kind of place where she could see its end with just a glance—
It left her feeling somewhat bored.
This had once been her goal.
But not anymore.
For some reason, her thoughts drifted to that ninja.
.....
"…You waited for me here?" the ninja asked suspiciously.
Her opponent had clearly left already, and it would've been hard to catch up.
Even though her boss had said the girl would return, she was still curious about what was going on in her head.
"But honestly…" Bronie began, "When I saw the vast, empty wastelands outside Celestial Dome, I was really disappointed."
"This place is like the edge of the world... Boundless, but there's nothing here."
"Of course, if it were the old me, I probably would've still been excited for a few days even with just this desolate land… But now, it's different."
"Because now I've found a new goal. That goal… is you, ninja."
Under the moonlight, Brownie's eyes sparkled with excitement as she stared directly at the ninja.
She had found a new purpose in life.
This was the goal that would guide her on an endless journey.
The world outside the barrier… belonged to the past.
Once the unknown became known, it could only mean that part of the journey was over.
"Impossible," the ninja replied coldly.
She didn't give Bronie much else to work with.
"Huh? Why?" Bronie frowned. She couldn't understand—
To her, this seemed like a win-win situation. Why reject it?
"Because I can't do it," the ninja said honestly.
"Can't…? Hey, ninja, don't tell me your power lets you come here but not return? Learn a skill properly, would you?"
Bronie's expression turned sour. She was clearly displeased.
If this really meant she could never leave… that was unacceptable.
"…Of course I have a way back," the ninja replied, "but I can't take you with me."
"Ah, I get it… so, this means—our deal failed, huh?"
Bronie's brows furrowed, and her tone turned unhappy.
Wearing a nonchalant look, she tightened her grip on the core in her hand.
It made a faint, sharp clicking sound
—ka-ka.
"Well then, what should I do now? Carrying this thing around is pretty dangerous. If you really don't want it… maybe I should just destroy it?"
Her eyes shifted back and forth between the core and the ninja, the corners of her mouth curling into a faint, sly smile.
She was gently pressuring her.
She didn't believe the ninja had no solution.
The two mechanical hunters appeared at once—
Their red targeting lasers locked directly onto the core in Bronie's hand.
The standoff between the two women continued.
The ninja silently watched the core in her hand.
It was true—
She couldn't just give up on it, but a startled rabbit wouldn't easily destroy something so valuable either.
Bronie was sure of this.
In the end, it was Bronie who gave in first.
She didn't want to keep dragging this on.
Just as she turned to leave, she was stopped again.
"Wait"
"Huh? What now? Gonna rob me outright? I mean, I'm fine with throwing hands again if that's what you want..."
Bronie glanced warily at the ninja, still on guard.
"I can't bring you with me," the ninja replied. "But… I can tell you how to leave."
"…woman, why is your brain wired like this?! Why didn't you say so earlier?! I had to act out that whole scene for nothing..."
Bronie's eyes widened in exasperation, fuming with frustration.
She almost chucked the core at the ninja's face.
That woman clearly didn't understand jokes.
Brownie was absolutely sure of that.
"You never even asked me," the ninja said calmly, "how one can actually leave this world."
Her voice carried that kind of frustrating calm that made you want to punch something.
"I—!" Bronie was livid.
Her composed, laid-back demeanor completely shattered.
"Besides," the ninja added seriously, "this method isn't exactly safe or simple. You might fail. You might die."
"What do you mean?" Bronie frowned.
"The place you're trying to reach isn't simply the outside world," the ninja explained.
"It's the space between worlds—a rift."
"It's like falling into a flower blooming in the sea adrift in a dimensional crack."
"Whether you'll make it to another world or not… will depend entirely on your luck, Hacker," she explained.
"Hmph, didn't expect you to talk like that—with a bit of poetry," Bronie muttered.
But her brows furrowed. The ninja's words had clearly made her think.
The bluntness of her explanation somehow made it sound more credible.
And if Bronie was going to go, she'd go eventually anyway—
No point fussing over the fine print.
"Something this exciting and dangerous…" she said with a grin, eyes on the quiet plains in the distance, "If there's no risk at all, wouldn't that just be boring?"
She'd never feared danger.
What she feared… was a dull, uneventful life.
"When you regret it later," the ninja warned, "don't come blaming me."
"Regret?"
Bronie chuckled and waved her hand, like swatting away an annoying fly.
"Hah. The only thing I'd regret… is not trying at all."
She gently tossed the core over to the ninja.
Her voice carried on the night wind—lighthearted on the surface, but with a deep undertone of meaning.
"So then, go on—tell me how I leave this world."
Behind her, her words faded into the night.
No one really knew what the ninja told the hacker rabbit.
But one thing was certain—
She had once again chased after freedom, thrill, and adventure—
And was heading toward her next destination.
----
In Theresa's villa–
"That really suits your style," Bronya said after a moment of silence.
"Ah, definitely," Bronie laughed. "I mean, if you didn't know there was a whole vast world out there, fine. But once you do know? Who could resist the call to explore the unknown?"
She didn't care whether that was a compliment or a critique.
That's just the kind of person she was.
"As for that ninja…" she added, "You're just like your in-game version. Quiet, serious, and no sense of humor."
"I was not joking around with you," Kasumi replied plainly, completely unfazed by the teasing.
"Ugh, 'duty' again… Look at that! Listen to yourself! Do you have to link everything to some mission? Don't tell me even your birth counts as a mission too?"
Bronie crossed her arms in mock frustration.
Kasumi simply looked down and didn't respond.
...
"So… in real life," Luo Mo asked curiously, "how did you get on the ship? Was it also through that rift between worlds?"
"Ah… more or less," Bronie replied offhandedly.
"Anyway, that woman fished me out halfway through. Looked just like the rest of you… And yeah, I was the last one to board—pure coincidence."
She didn't want to go into much detail about it.
That part of her past was… a bit of a black mark.
Yeah… her boarding-the-ship history was kinda embarrassing.
And that woman certainly hadn't been easy to fool…
Or easy to talk to.
Even when she got hauled up, Bronie hadn't forgotten to pout over at Irene's side—
Just in case someone didn't know the story.
-----
Meanwhile, in another part of the city shrouded in shadow, the Ninja was reporting the mission summary to an unknown existence. From their conversation, it wasn't hard to tell that everything she did was under this being's guidance—including the sudden shift in the mission and its developments… all of it had been within his expectations.
"...Miss Broniie trusted without the slightest doubt that she broke free of the cage by her own will and left that world behind."
"And we also successfully recovered this world's deviation point… A completely satisfactory outcome, isn't it?"
The mysterious figure said this through the information channel.
"Deviation point"… referred to the key node that this world's barrier had designated.
But the ninja didn't care about any of that. She had never paid attention to his explanations. All she needed to know was the next mission. That was the purpose of her existence—her instinct.
---
Onboard a Hyperion, Bronie casually leaned back in a chair while being questioned. Her gaze swept across the people present. She didn't feel much displeasure—in fact, there was a sense of calm and ease about her. As if she were not the one being interrogated.
"I'm not some invader… Rather, you could say I'm just a pitiful person who's drifted too long in this vast sea of fragments."
"Involving your ship was merely for a short rest—and, well… a nice nap?"
She said playfully.
"In that case, once you're done sleeping, leave on your own."
"This ship doesn't keep mysterious outsiders who appear from who-knows-where."
The woman named Kongming said without hesitation.
"That woman called Rita Rossweisse—isn't she also a mysterious outsider?"
Bronie asked curiously, the teasing smile in her eyes betraying that she'd already exposed Rita more than once.
"She's an exception… Wait, how do you even know about her?"
As soon as Kongming spoke, she realized something was wrong and furrowed her brow, carefully studying Bronie. Wasn't this woman a recent arrival?
"Simple, Miss Kongming."
"Because in the hour we've been chatting, I've already read through all the voyage logs on this Hyperion."
Brownie smiled.
"You…!"
Kongming's expression instantly darkened. She was speechless.
"So, you all are also searching for something in this sea, right?"
Bronie asked, her tone certain.
"also?"
That word from her made Kongming even more alert.
"Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about myself. It's just—I happened to notice someone just like you, also searching for something in this sea."
"A fox-eared ninja girl… She's not aboard your ship, is she?"
"..."
Kongming fell into silence, her mind racing. This was the first she'd heard of such a thing.
"So, Miss Kongming, is it possible for me to swap positions and stay on this ship?"
"..."
"Of course, I can't possibly catch that ninja girl to prove myself. Whether you believe me or not—it's your decision, Miss Kongming."
"...You may temporarily remain, Bronie. As for what happens next… we'll wait for the Mr. Assassin to return and let him decide."
"Mr Assassin… ah, that's the captain of this Hyperion, right?"
"According to the voyage log, he should currently be traveling through some bubble worlds…"
"He's certainly been gone a long time, hasn't he?"
"..."
Kongming frowned slightly. The woman before her was starting to seem a little too presumptuous.
Was there really no secret left on this warship before her eyes?
In the future… perhaps it was time to reconsider certain security protocols.
"If I may make a suggestion, Miss Kongming —how about I help you bring him back?"
"You can't leave the Hyperion, but I can," Bronie said with a smile, voluntarily taking on the mission herself.
Her goal was simply to see the world outside—so why care which path she took?
"You… what are you trying to do?"
"Ah, don't get so tense. I already said—I just want to stay here."
"As for the reason to help you… well, once I bring him back, just put in a good word for me with him, will you?"
"According to the logs, the relationship between you two isn't exactly 'ordinary'... So if you speak up on my behalf, it's probably more convincing than if I spend two hours explaining it myself."
Bronie teased Kongming with a sly grin, her eyes full of playful mischief.
Kongming's reaction didn't disappoint. The cold look on her face immediately turned red, and she instinctively tried to use her fan to cover her face—only to realize the more she tried to hide, the more obvious it became. She finally forced herself to hold still.
"Y-You! Stop rummaging through other people's personal logs!"
The flustered girl was clearly struck right in her feelings.
---
Back in Theresa's mansion
"A journal?" Irene tilted her head, looking curiously at Kongming.
She hadn't misheard—it wasn't a ship log anymore, but a personal journal.
Did that girl seriously keep a diary?
"A special relationship?"
For Luna, those words felt especially harsh as she glanced at Kongming.
She wanted that too!
"...That damned bunny girl—Bronie!"
Kongming gritted her teeth, speaking each word through clenched anger, shouting Bronie's name.
"Hey hey hey, what happens in-game and what happens in reality—those are two completely different things, okay? You can't just merge the two like that!"
Bronie said with feigned panic.
"And besides—no way, no way someone actually writes a diary, right?"
"..."
Kongming gripped the fan tightly. A cold aura seemed to spill out.
"I don't write one," Kiana said, shaking her head.
"I—I'm not a little kid!" Theresa stomped, pouting.
Which only made Kongming 's expression even darker.
"Well, if you ask me…"
Luna hesitated, biting their finger nervously.
She did keep a journal!
But now… should she admit it or not? She looked uncertainly toward Luo Mo.
Bronie, of course, was already looking at Luo Mo with teasing eyes, clearly stirring the pot and enjoying the chaos.
Feeling the ice-cold glare from Kongming, Luo Mo finally stepped in,
"I'm the one who wrote it!"
He said seriously.
"Every time, I recorded details on Herrscher activity inside the academy, and which weapons in the game needed nerfing—it's thanks to my continued effort that we've made progress!"
His gaze was unusually firm. He needed that resolve to withstand the pressure from Kongming.
"Hmph—"
Kongming snorted but said no more.
Truth be told, most of her own journal was just stories.
There really weren't that many entries about the Mr. Assassin…
Besides, the most important chapters existed only on paper, not in digital files.
"...Wait, just because I wrote stuff in the game, how did they figure out I kept a journal too?"
"You just admitted it—if you didn't deny it, that's the same as confirming it!"
Bronie said innocently.
"You…!"
----
[Current Crystal Count: 13,754]
[You've obtained 4 stars Stigmata · Raiden Mei]
[Description: When thunder fades, the calm ends… She will embrace her growth, inheriting the blessings of a past civilization. (Contains partial power of the Herrscher of Origin)]
----
Naturally, Luo Mo didn't forget to pull a Stigmata at the end.