08 Please Play FGO with Mash
Mash Kyrielight was actually a member of the Chaldea Security Organization from another world, an institution responsible for preserving humanity.
On the night she and her Master, Gudako, returned to Chaldea after completing the restoration of human order, the world once again underwent an inexplicable anomaly.
At that time in Chaldea, Leonardo da Vinci used the SHEBA observation system and discovered that the future of the world had been rewritten. He also detected three parallel worlds with very unusual reactions.
There were three key points that became clues—different from Singularities and Lostbelts—these seemed to be parallel worlds hiding some sort of special secret.
Mash, Gudako, and Fou were each sent to a different world.
"Even though we just finished restoring human order, and you two should've been resting, trouble's come knocking again. Gudako! Mash! I have to ask this of you," Da Vinci said, operating the system as she looked up at the two girls.
"Got it, Da Vinci-chan! Leave it to us!" the mischievous girl with a side ponytail of orange-red hair and dark golden eyes patted her chest and agreed.
"Yes, Da Vinci-chan, both I and Gudako-Senpai are ready!" Mash replied with a smile.
"Fou~!" Fou also climbed onto Mash's shoulder and let out a call.
Inside the celestial device, the glowing orb—CHALDEAS, the simulated Earth environment model—slowly rotated, crackling with arcs of electricity.
In the blue-lit room, Mash and Gudako stood together on the teleportation circle, their fingers interlocked, gazing into each other's eyes.
"Mash, if either of us finds Emiya-senpai first and resolves the issue in that world, let's find a way to reunite. It's a promise!" Gudako said with her usual bright smile.
"Understood! It's a promise, Senpai!" Mash smiled and replied.
"Fou~!"
"But, Da Vinci-chan, are you and everyone else staying here going to be okay? What will you do after this?" Gudako asked.
"You're worried about me? I'm the all-purpose genius, you know. Even if I get killed once or twice, I'll survive. I'll protect this place—you two just go handle the rest with peace of mind!" Da Vinci replied confidently, wearing her Mona Lisa smile.
"Got it!!" Gudako and Mash answered in unison.
"Because the Spiritron Transfer System is already extremely unstable, there's no way for you to come back here and then jump into the next world.
So you have to split up.
Go find Shirou Emiya—there's a reaction in that world connected to him. As one of the earliest-disappearing Heroic Spirits, there's definitely some kind of clue on him!" As Da Vinci spoke, she pressed the teleport button.
The Spiritron Transfer activated.
In a flash of dazzling light, the two girls and one creature were swept into a deep blue swirling vortex.
Thus, Mash arrived alone in this world.
She got in contact with Da Vinci, and Leonardo, worthy of being one of the Renaissance's great minds and an all-purpose genius, deduced the best promotional method for this world just from speculation.
Over a dozen Holy Grails were used to build a bridge between this world and Chaldea.
Through the mobile game, they could connect with Chaldea's Heroic Spirits. As people in this world recognized the game, the Heroic Spirits would slowly regain their strength.
Mash began investigating the situation in this world, promoting the FGO mobile game, and searching for Shirou Emiya.
However, this world had changed too much—it was more peaceful and perfect than any civilization she had ever seen.
At first, Mash was at a loss, running around cluelessly like a headless chicken to gather information, and often found herself in awkward situations.
Fortunately, she could draw on the magical energy supplied by the Holy Grails embedded in the game, allowing her to transform into a Demi-Servant and fight back.
Without that, she would've been in danger several times—like when shady old men approached her with offers of luxury hotel stays or hot spring trips.
She refused them firmly, and when encountering particularly unreasonable ones, she would knock them out with the flat of her great shield and hand them over to the police.
Over the course of a year, under Da Vinci's guidance, Mash gradually grew.
Following Da Vinci's advice, Mash founded a company and hired professional managers.
She worked hard every day to make the FGO mobile game a worldwide hit.
In this great endeavor that brought joy and emotion to millions of moon-dwellers (Type-Moon fans), they made some money on the side as well.
Mash, as the largest hidden shareholder of the secretly operated Type-Moon Corporation, would one day rise in the commercial circles.
This rapidly emerging game company suddenly taking off drew industry-wide attention, but no one knew who its top shareholder was.
Only insiders were aware: the mysterious genius CEO behind it all was none other than her.
Although Type-Moon Corporation developed wonderfully, Mash still hadn't found Shirou Emiya.
She had hired people to search across multiple nearby countries, checked every surname "Emiya" she could find—yet still couldn't locate him.
That was, until one day at the National Middle School Sports Competition, she saw a black-haired boy standing out from the crowd, radiating the aura of an archery master.
His face looked familiar, and his demeanor was distinctly special.
When he stepped into the archery range and pulled back his bow, his back was perfectly straight like a ruler.
His drawing arm and the arrow formed a horizontal line.
His expression was calm and unfazed—though the arrow had yet to fly, it already seemed destined to hit the center of the target.
At that point, the boy's score was far ahead of the others. If he hit the bullseye with this shot, the championship would be his.
The other contestants all wore anxious expressions and were sweating nervously.
Swoosh!
The crowd fell silent. Mash was transfixed—the boy's archery form was like a work of art, conveying a beauty in harmony with nature. And yet, there was something strangely familiar about his posture.
Moments later, cheers erupted.
Though the boy's aura and height were different, the sheer intensity he exuded in that instant was exactly the same as the Archer-class Heroic Spirit Emiya, with whom she once fought side by side.
Mash realized then and there—this was the person she had been searching for.
After investigating, she discovered his identity: in this world, he was named Hikigaya Shirou. No wonder she couldn't find him before.
She pulled some strings through the company to contact the school, and using connections, Mash transferred into the International Senior High School.
She joined the archery club and became Hikigaya Shirou's junior.
And so, everything that happened up to now began.
Though Hikigaya Shirou and the Heroic Spirit Emiya were not the same person, Mash found something even warmer and more touching in this new Senpai.
A year of loneliness and emptiness since parting from Senpai Gudako felt suddenly filled.
.
.
.
"Mash! If it was something this important, you should've told me from the start! Acting on your own like that is reckless." Shirou looked at his pink-haired junior with slight reproach.
Even if she could fight monsters, a girl shouldn't take risks alone.
"Shirou-senpai, if you hadn't sincerely accepted the mobile game, you wouldn't have been able to see the monsters in that video. Accepting FGO is like entering into a contract with Chaldea.
Before forming that contract, humans protected by this world can't perceive 'Mystery.'
The collective consciousness of this world is extremely protective of humanity. It almost never allows Mystery to intervene. 'Magic,' 'Servants,' 'invading monsters'—all of it is rejected and pushed into other dimensions.
Even if I had told Senpai the truth before, once the brain received the information, it would've twisted it into something else—like turning monster invasions into natural disasters. That's why there was no way you could've believed me." Mash explained.
"I see... I'm really sorry I couldn't help you sooner." Shirou expressed understanding, though a pang of guilt still stirred in his heart.
He knew all too well what it felt like to face danger alone.
"No, if anything, dragging Senpai into this is my fault." Mash shook her head slowly.
"I understand. Then let's call it even. From now on, if there's anything you need help with, you must tell me. Got it?" Shirou reminded her again.
"Got it!" The girl, deeply moved, replied. Though she had approached with a purpose, he had accepted her so willingly.
"Good!" The boy, having chosen to trust his junior and recognizing her kindness, decided not to let her feel lonely again.
The two, having reached mutual understanding, looked at each other and smiled.