"Magical Girl Kyoko? How could it be her—why?" Yui Kotegawa blurted, incredulous.
"Because Lala likes her, so they pulled her in," Shichen explained.
"So it was Lala's doing…"
"It wasn't Lala."
"Huh?" Yui stared at him, thrown.
"It was someone who knows Lala—who pulled us in and pulled in Lala's favorite, Magical Girl Kyoko."
"How is that possible? Who would—?"
"Beat the game and we'll know. For now, let's deal with this guy."
"Right, I almost forgot…"
"ROAR—!"
The ogre had decent manners; it hadn't struck while Shichen and Yui talked. Only after they finished did it swing the spiked club down at them.
"Dodge!"
Shichen, cradling Frieren, and Yui split and leapt aside.
BOOM—!
The club pounded the ground; dirt and stone blasted up, the earth shuddered.
Serious power.
"With that kind of hit… if it tags us, we're done," Yui said grimly.
"Then just don't let it," Shichen said, feet steady on shattered stone, wholly unruffled—and without jostling Frieren.
"But the shockwave is so wide—how are we supposed to avoid it…"
"Do your best. I believe in you."
"Honestly… you're great at saying that and nothing else." Yui puffed her cheeks.
"I do believe you." His smile didn't waver.
"If I die and this restarts from the beginning, I'm blaming you."
Yui's eyes flashed; she sprang onto the club, sprinted up it, ran across the ogre's shoulder, then sprang and kicked it across the jaw.
THUD—!
A perfect strike—with no effect.
"This thing's way too hard!" Yui landed, using the rebound, and couldn't help complaining.
"How hard?"
"Ridiculously—like… Shichen, are you implying something?" She caught herself and glared, exasperated.
"Not at all," he said innocently.
"Stop fooling around and finish it already."
"Alright, alright."
He'd meant to let Yui stretch her legs—in this game her fighting fundamentals had improved a lot; it'd help later when she had real power. But the ogre's numbers were over-tuned; Yui couldn't scratch it.
Shichen was only level 2—no big stat gains—but he didn't need to play by the game's rules.
"Hm?"
Just as he was about to move, a bright point appeared in the sky, falling—bigger, clearer—a small, golden figure.
"Is that—?!" Yui recognized the falling girl too.
Shichen freed his right arm and casually caught her.
"Yami, you came too?" He smiled at the calm-faced girl.
It was indeed Yami. Made sense: she was close to them; whoever set this up clearly knew their relationships.
"An invitation appeared. I opened it and arrived," she said flatly.
"I see. But that outfit…?" Shichen blinked, amused as he looked her over.
She was in an eye-watering bunny suit with fishnet stockings—only the collarbone and most of her back were bare, but it was plenty racy.
"I didn't choose this," Yami said at once.
"Really? Your darkness is way racier."
"That wasn't my design either!" There was a little heat in her voice; a faint blush touched her cheeks.
"So why wear it?"
"How should I know! I showed up and I was like this!"
"I thought it was for me… oh? No sense of romance?"
Before he could finish, the ogre swung at him again; he hopped back with both girls in his arms.
KRUNCH—!
The ground caved again; the gust tore across the square, Yami's blonde hair whipping.
"What is that thing?" she asked, finally taking stock.
"We're in a game world. We have to beat the Demon King and rescue the princess to leave. This ogre is the Demon King's test," Shichen said.
"Is that so? I'll take care of it."
She slipped from his arms, lifted her gaze to the hulking ogre—tiny vs. massive—but no one present doubted who outclassed whom.
"Shichen-nii," Yui said, moving to his side. "Why is Yami here too?"
"The people behind this clearly know our ties," Shichen said simply.
"Just who…?"
"Doesn't matter. They're not trying to hurt us. Enjoy the game—watch her work." He tousled Yui's straight black hair into a mess.
"Fine…" Yui sighed, turning to watch.
Yami was already moving. Her blonde hair flared, lengthening, lancing out like blades—each strand clean-edged, pearly-white.
The ogre had no time to react; her hair wrapped it and carved it to pieces.
Because this was all game-data, there was no blood—only light; the ogre dissolved.
And within the glow, something slowly appeared—a gleaming golden chest.
Loot from a kill—very on-brand.
"It's done," Yami said as she returned to his side, expressionless, as if she'd stepped on a bug.
"As expected of you…" Yui's pink lips parted in awe.
"Very impressive," Shichen said, ruffling her hair in praise.
"…" She remained impassive.
"Hey—she didn't even level," Yui noticed; the LV1 over Yami's head hadn't changed.
"Maybe because it wasn't defeated by in-game abilities," Shichen guessed.
"Right…"
"Let's see what dropped." He carried Frieren to the chest.
Yui and Yami followed.
He didn't hesitate—opened it; golden light erupted.
He could've sworn he heard a voice go, "Wow! A golden legend!"
When the glow faded, a pendant like a tiny sun lay inside. Text floated above it: "Kyoko's Guidance."
"It really is Magical Girl Kyoko…" Yui muttered, not sure whether to believe it.
"Magical Girl Kyoko?" Yami asked.
"She's the Demon King," Yui explained.
"So that's how it is…"
"Shichen-nii, check what it does," Yui said.
"Alright."
Shichen reached out to touch the tiny sun. The moment he did, its golden light flowed over him—then flowed over Yui and Yami too, wrapping them completely.
"What is—?"
Before he could finish, they were gone.
…
Shff!
They reappeared beneath a grim, oppressive sky—dark thunder rolling, night heavy with malice.
"What's that?" Yui pointed. At the edge of a cliff in the distance stood a castle.
"Looks like the Demon King's castle," Shichen said.
"What? We jumped straight to the final boss?"
"Forget the boss—we're about to land," he warned.
"Eek—!" Only then did Yui realize how fast the ground was rushing up, and squealed.
Shichen wasn't about to let her faceplant—even in a game. Still holding Frieren, he blinked below Yui, then caught her.
The pose was… not ideal: she wound up straddling his shoulder as he shouldered her weight.
"Shichen-nii!" She found her anchor and hugged his head like a koala.
Shichen couldn't tell if it was his imagination, but there was a soft, plump pressure at his neck.
Given she had only that slit cheongsam and a single piece of underwear, with the hem draped over his head… and after a whole day of observing how lavishly endowed Yui was—
No, not imagination.
Yami didn't need catching; she landed beside them and eyed the trio, expression odd.
He was holding two girls at once in a rather compromising stack—you couldn't even see his head.
She also found herself wondering why Frieren was still asleep—no reaction at all. Had something happened?