[Athletic Lunchbox (Rin): Just like Mash said earlier—people really can't imagine things they've never seen before. Sorry, Sakiko, I jumped to conclusions… (covering face.jpg)]
Sakiko almost laughed when she saw Rin's message.
She could practically picture it: Rin with her face burning red, hugging a huge pillow and burying her whole face into it—only the tips of her ears left visible, glowing crimson as she silently screamed in embarrassment.
Rin's blunt, straightforward admission of fault was so cute that a faint smile tugged at Sakiko's lips. She was about to reply "It's fine,"—
—but a new message from the Group Leader popped up first, and unexpectedly, it supported Rin's overall guess.
[Group Leader (Aizen): Mash did overturn Rin's point about "it couldn't possibly be hidden," but I think Rin's final conclusion is still very likely correct. When Sakiko uses Possibility Doppelgängers, she may indeed be able to draw out a stronger effect than the rest of you.]
The moment those words appeared, the relaxed atmosphere in the chat instantly shifted into surprise and curiosity.
Even Rin dropped her "covering face" pose, eyes wide, staring at the screen.
Mash, who'd been about to comfort Rin, swallowed her words back and focused as well.
Aizen didn't drag it out. One message after another slid into place.
[Group Leader (Aizen): Or to put it another way—everything in the group shop is essentially a weakened version, or a partial profile, of the original owner's power.]
[Group Leader (Aizen): The Word-Spirit Pantyhose and the Willpower Glasses are the most obvious examples. Both items have durability limits—that's the weakening made explicit.]
[Group Leader (Aizen): Even if you only look at raw "output," I doubt they can reach Kafka's or Mash's true peak states.]
Kafka and Mash both found themselves nodding. Neither of them believed they'd lose to a mass-produced imitation.
[Group Leader (Aizen): As for Rope-Net Commissions—their essence can be summarized as: obtain specific information, then grant a corresponding reward.]
[Group Leader (Aizen): Combined with what Rin said before about the Originator and the Prophet, this may be a crippled fragment of the "omniscience/omnipotence" ability—or something like script-author power—that Rin herself hasn't awakened yet.]
"…Hiss."
Rin sucked in a sharp breath and suddenly felt like she was sweating bullets.
Omniscience and omnipotence? Me…? Really?
Aizen then moved on to Sakiko—and the strange nature of the power her Possibility Doppelgänger came from.
[Group Leader (Aizen): With Possibility Doppelgängers, when anyone other than Sakiko uses them, there may be an invisible restriction: it's impossible—or extremely difficult—to summon a possibility that completely breaks away from the existing framework of your native world.]
[Group Leader (Aizen): The fact that Sakiko can summon a doppelgänger with an entirely different power system strongly suggests she isn't a being confined to a single worldline.]
[Group Leader (Aizen): Her "true nature" may be a clustered existence that spans and interferes with countless universes.]
[Group Leader (Aizen): Only something like that would make the chat group extract "Possibility Doppelgängers" as an ability in the first place.]
[Group Leader (Aizen): And only then would Sakiko be able to summon a doppelgänger whose power system doesn't belong to her native world at all.]
"Huh???"
Sakiko's mind went blank.
What… are you even saying?
She recognized every word, but the moment they were put together, it stopped being human language.
She immediately asked in the chat:
[Classic Lunchbox (Sakiko): Group Leader, I don't understand!]
Aizen seemed to have expected this. His reply came quickly.
[Group Leader (Aizen): It's abstract, yes—but if I give an example, you'll understand.]
Then he tossed out a question so simple it felt almost eerie.
[Group Leader (Aizen): Why are we all human?]
The chat fell silent.
It was an easy question—yet the longer you thought about it, the more unsettling it became.
Right… why?
Why, when we come from different worlds, are intelligent beings still "human" across the board?
Even setting aside Kafka's universe, where humanity's footprints stretch across the galaxy—
Aizen's world, Mash's world, and Sakiko's world were all called Earth.
Tsunade's and Rin's worlds didn't call their planets Earth, but their moons still resembled the ones the others knew.
And in Kafka's universe, humans had spread to every corner of the galaxy—so much so that even higher forms among inorganic life and aberrations carried faint shadows of a human silhouette.
Even the Aeons.
Even Aeons—yes, even them.
[Group Leader (Aizen): I believe everyone has noticed it by now: "human" and "Earth" are special. In almost every world, you can find the shadow of humanity.]
[Group Leader (Aizen): I call this phenomenon: Reflections Across Worlds.]
[Group Leader (Aizen): In short, in the vast majority of worlds, an individual does not exist in any other world at all. They are a singular creation unique to their own world.]
[Group Leader (Aizen): But Sakiko is very likely part of a "Reflections Across Worlds" pattern. Many worlds may contain an existence similar to Sakiko.]
Sakiko felt her heartbeat accelerate—an unfamiliar panic clutched at her chest.
Reflections Across Worlds?
Am I… just a copy of some template?
She typed quickly:
[Classic Lunchbox (Sakiko): Am I just a doppelgänger? (trembling.jpg)]
[Classic Lunchbox (Sakiko): Will I disappear instantly if some "original," somewhere, decides to take everything back?! (shivering.gif)]
Her panic spilled through the screen so clearly that everyone could feel it.
Aizen hurried to reassure her, half amused and half exasperated.
[Group Leader (Aizen): Don't imagine things that aren't there. The barriers between worlds are far stronger than you think.]
[Group Leader (Aizen): There are indeed powerful existences that can actively "project" themselves across countless universes within their own world—but even they cannot affect other worlds. That's why it can only be called "reflections across the heavens," not reflections across worlds.]
[Group Leader (Aizen): Aeons in Kafka's universe are an example.]
[Group Leader (Aizen): As for a phenomenon involving countless worlds—Reflections Across Worlds—there's only one possible cause: each world actively pulls that information to construct the world itself.]
[Group Leader (Aizen): So you are already a fully independent existence. No one can think a thought and make you vanish.]
Sakiko let out a long breath. The stiffness in her shoulders eased, and warmth returned to her palms.
[Classic Lunchbox (Sakiko): Phew… I see… Thank you, Group Leader. (relieved.jpg)]
She felt calmer—but the confusion didn't fully go away.
[Classic Lunchbox (Sakiko): But… do I really have anything worth a world "pulling" in the first place? I feel incredibly, incredibly ordinary…]
Aizen replied with blunt honesty.
[Group Leader (Aizen): That, I genuinely don't know. I can't understand what "the world itself" is thinking, either. Our forms of existence are too different.]
[Group Leader (Aizen): All I can do is observe patterns, summarize phenomena, and tell you what I find.]
[Group Leader (Aizen): As for why the world does it… sorry. That's beyond what I can answer. (shrug.jpg)]
[Classic Lunchbox (Sakiko): I see… (downcast.jpg)]
Aizen seemed to notice her disappointment, and his tone shifted.
[Group Leader (Aizen): That said—setting aside what the world wants, I do have some personal guesses. For example, we can use Rin's videotapes as an analogy.]
[Athletic Lunchbox (Rin): Huh? This involves me too? (peeking.jpg)]
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 80)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 80)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 80)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter50)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter50)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter50)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter50)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 10
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 10
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin