Chapter 109: Consciousness in Two Places
"Mr. Franklin, you really do have a lot of secrets. It seems this test was unnecessary after all — I suppose everything's already under your control, isn't it?"
Franklin didn't care for Momo's flattery, nor did he have any patience for her continued probing. Shaking his head slightly, he replied,
"Having everything under control is impossible. I'm not a god — how could I possibly know everything?
As for secrets, everyone has them. Momo, on the surface, you look like the gentle, sweet girl next door, but in front of Nana, you turn into a black-bellied little devil.
You don't want others to see your true thoughts, so you keep them hidden. I'm the same way. So take off your glasses — I don't like being seen through."
Momo glared at him angrily, then took off her glasses and tucked them into her dimensional phone.
"You act like you don't know anything, but you've already figured out all my little secrets. Now you want to keep hiding yours? That's really unfair."
"Don't sweat the small stuff," Franklin said lightly. "Spend more time with me and you'll figure out what kind of person I am. If there's something you want to know, I'll tell you later."
Ignoring the still-pouting Momo, Franklin turned toward Nana.
"Nana, you said all your in-game permissions were revoked and you can't contact Lala anymore?
If you still have a consciousness transmitter, give me one — I'm going in to take a look."
"Hmph! Who said you could talk to me like that, you beast? You already have my royal sister, and now you're trying to flirt with other girls!"
Knowing that this was just Nana's temper — and that she wasn't exactly wrong — Franklin didn't argue.
"Lala's in danger. If someone dies in that game, the virtual helmet will kill them in reality…"
He trailed off, paused for a moment, then turned to leave.
"Let Lala and the others play for a while. If dying in the game gets their consciousness expelled, they should return safely.
Since you two aren't interested in testing my theory, let's just end this here."
Just as he turned away, Momo grabbed his shoulder.
"Mr. Franklin, you can't leave yet. To be precise, my royal sister and Miss Bulma haven't truly entered the game. Their consciousness is currently stuck between the virtual world and reality.
Now that the game permissions have been seized, only if you enter the game can they fully enter it as well. Otherwise, they'll stay trapped in that limbo forever — unable to return."
Franklin stopped mid-step, letting out a weary sigh.
"You two really went too far this time. Consciousness is incredibly fragile, and you're still fooling around like this."
Facing these two mischievous sisters-in-law, Franklin truly didn't know what to say anymore.
"Give me the consciousness transmitter. I'll go in myself. You two focus on regaining control. Kayaba Akihiko's a genius, sure, but at most, he's just a Blue Star-level one — there must be plenty of flaws in his system."
Momo glanced at Nana, who was still sulking. After whispering a few words to her, Momo took something invisible from her hand.
Franklin couldn't shake the feeling that these two sisters were playing him, but without proof, he could only follow his own instincts.
As Momo pressed her fingertip to Franklin's forehead, the world spun violently. In the next instant, Franklin felt his connection to his body completely severed.
However, thanks to a bug item — the Phantom Possession — his consciousness split while his physical body stayed behind, feigning unconsciousness.
As soon as they saw him lose consciousness, Momo and Nana clapped their hands together, grinning with satisfaction.
"Plan A failed, but Plan B worked out even better! That beast really does know a lot. Should we take this chance to read his memories?"
Momo shook her head.
"Better not. That would be too rude. He already said we could ask him anything later. It'd be too disrespectful to invade his mind now."
Nana glared at her.
"You were the one who made this plan in the first place, and now you're backing out of everything! Don't you want to know what that beast truly thinks about my royal sister?"
Momo hesitated, then sighed softly.
"Forget it. The human heart is unpredictable. Everyone has a dark side. As long as he continues treating my royal sister sincerely, that's enough."
Though still reluctant, Nana finally nodded. She pulled out her dimensional phone, tapped a few times, and a strange device appeared in the air. They placed it nearby, leaving Franklin's body on the ground, ignored.
A flicker of light appeared on the projection screen — Franklin's consciousness now visible at the center of the image. Before him floated two holographic portraits.
His expression darkened slightly as he stared at the two choices. The laughter of his sisters-in-law echoed nearby, and he sighed helplessly. How was he supposed to choose something like this?
[Select one girl to accompany you on the adventure; the other will watch everything from a god's-eye perspective.]
Looking at the two portraits — Lala and Bulma — Franklin concealed his energy and slowly floated upward.
After confirming their observation points, he turned toward the two sisters' location and gazed into the distance.
"M-Momo… is he glaring at us?" Nana stammered nervously.
Momo twirled a strand of hair around her finger, thinking aloud,
"Probably not. Our perspective is even higher than a god's-eye view. Franklin's gaze isn't fixed on us — it's focused just beyond our position. He's probably pretending he can see us."
Franklin drifted silently behind them and tapped their shoulders.
"I was just testing what it feels like to face my own body from the outside."
The two startled girls spun around — their screams echoing through the strange space. They jumped back immediately, staring at him in shock.
"Y-You… weren't you supposed to have been sent into the game?"
Franklin nodded calmly.
"I was. But that doesn't stop me from controlling my body, does it?"
"That's impossible! There's no way to do that!"
Nana was nearly hysterical, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.
"How can that be?! How did you even do it?!"
Momo, having recovered from her initial panic, gently patted her sister's shoulder to calm her.
"Mr. Franklin, your physical body's eyes are vacant, and there's no movement. I suppose you're using some kind of item to keep your consciousness in two places at once, aren't you?"
Franklin hadn't expected her to figure it out so quickly, but he didn't bother hiding it and simply nodded in admission.
"Exactly. Anyway, I came back to ask you to change the options. My relationships with them are… complicated. Choosing one and abandoning the other isn't who I am. So please — don't make me do that."
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