The vertigo of transitioning into the cognition world ebbed away, and Toyokawa Sakiko opened her eyes.
She was in a dim room—no ceiling light, only a weak, source-less glow barely outlining the space. Cartoon plushies were everywhere: big and small, sprawled in every kind of pose.
"Yo. You're here."
A voice came from her right.
Sakiko turned her head and saw Metis sitting on a wooden chair with a backrest, one leg crossed over the other. She lifted a hand and waved, casual as if they'd scheduled this.
Sakiko gave a small nod in return.
After fully untangling things with Wakaba Mutsumi, she'd used the Metaverse Navigator App to dive straight into the core of Mutsumi's Palace. She needed to see it for herself.
Because there were still too many questions.
But…
Where was Mutsumi?
This was the core. The Palace owner's Shadow should be here. Yet Sakiko's eyes swept the room again and again—no sign of Mutsumi. No breathing, either. Just her and Metis.
Then something tapped against the outside of her thigh.
Pat. Pat.
Soft, light—like a cloth pouch stuffed with cotton.
Sakiko looked down.
At her side stood a chibi Wakaba Mutsumi doll, about waist-high. It wore simplified "human clothes," but its arms were short and stubby, and where hands should've been there were round, ball-like mitts—like a certain blue robot cat.
One of those round mitts had just patted her.
Sakiko stared at its face.
It was fabric. Two dull, stitched eyes. Where a mouth should be, nothing—just smooth cloth.
And yet, from that mouthless face came a muffled, flat voice that was unmistakably Mutsumi's:
"Sakiko… what are you looking for?"
Sakiko's mind went white.
Every hair on her body stood up. Gooseflesh crawled across her back in a wave.
The shock hit her like the first time a new viewer watches Fullmetal Alchemist and runs straight into that infamous "Big Brother" scene.
Mutsumi's "true self" in the cognition world…
Was a doll?
But before her expression could crack, Sakiko's control—terrifying, almost inhuman—snapped into place.
Her trembling pupils softened into warmth. Her rigid facial muscles obeyed and rearranged themselves into a flawless smile that buried the horror like it had never existed.
She crouched, lowering her gaze until she was level with the chibi doll.
"It's nothing. I was just looking for you," she said gently. "I didn't expect your original form to be a doll, though."
Her voice was steady, soft in exactly the right way. She reached out and touched the doll's round little hand.
A chair creaked beside them.
Footsteps approached.
Metis rose from the high-backed chair and strode over. The lace-gloved hand came down—thump, thump—patting the doll's head with no real courtesy.
"Stop keeping that look," Metis said, exasperated. "You nearly scared Sakiko to death just now."
Metis was an actor by nature, and her senses were sharp enough to catch the instant flash of terror Sakiko had forced down.
Sakiko's smile twitched—so slightly it barely existed.
The doll's head tilted.
"Huh? Did I?"
As soon as the words left it, its outline blurred and stretched upward. The ball-mitts unfurled into slender fingers. The fabric sheen drained away into the luster of skin. A slit opened in the smooth lower face and became soft lips.
In a single breath, the uncanny doll was gone—replaced by the familiar Wakaba Mutsumi, her eyes calm and flat as ever.
Sakiko let out a silent breath of relief and stood, brushing at dust that wasn't actually there.
Good.
The world wasn't that twisted.
Mutsumi was a Shadow, yes—but her "true form" wasn't stuck as a toy. She was still herself, still human-shaped.
Sakiko steadied her breathing and looked between the two of them.
Mutsumi wore a simple everyday dress—minimalist, soft fabric falling to her calves, no extra ornament. Metis, on the other hand, was dressed in the elaborate, oppressive Gothic stage costume of Ave Mujica.
Sakiko couldn't help thinking the outfit was a timestamp: Metis had been born during the period when Ave Mujica existed and performed.
Once her nerves fully settled, Sakiko finally took in the space itself.
The layout felt familiar.
The bed's orientation, the desk's shape, the wallpaper pattern—close to Mutsumi's real room in the actual world.
But there was one huge difference.
This room was open.
Like a dollhouse cutaway that lets you see inside, one entire wall was simply… missing.
Hardwood floor ran outward and then ended abruptly. The ceiling ended along the same vertical line. Beyond the missing wall there was no balcony, no street, no sky.
Only a bottomless black void—thick as ink.
It looked exactly like the void outside Mutsumi's Palace.
Sakiko walked to the edge until her toe was less than an inch from the drop.
She stopped and reached forward. There was no glass, no invisible window, no forcefield.
It was truly empty.
She drew her hand back, leaned her upper body slightly over the edge, and looked around.
This wasn't a complete building.
Mutsumi's "Palace" was like a structure sliced clean through the middle, the full cross-section exposed. The room she stood in was just one compartment on the edge of a massive three-dimensional cutaway.
Looking down the cut surface, she could clearly see the living room below, half a bathroom, and pipes exposed inside the walls.
And with that, she finally got a real sense of scale.
No sprawling mechanical city. No endless maze.
Just… the size of an ordinary house.
Well—"ordinary" by Toyokawa standards. For most people it would still be a mansion.
But either way, it didn't match the volume of an independent Palace.
Sakiko straightened, frowning.
She strained her eyes into the void in every direction. Up, down, left, right—nothing but emptiness. No sign of the mechanical city at all.
She turned back to the room's center and looked at the two of them.
"Mutsumi. What's going on with your Palace?" she asked. "It seems completely separate from that mechanical city."
Mutsumi didn't answer right away. She blinked once, standing there quietly.
Metis stepped forward instead. "I'll explain."
Mutsumi, after all, was a Shadow born from human expectation—closer to "human" than the cognition world itself. She understood little about the underlying rules.
Metis, on the other hand, was a Shadow born from a Shadow's expectation—she was practically pure cognition-world matter. She knew more. And at this stage, she was stronger.
Metis stomped her foot, irritated.
"Simple version? This house floating in the void is the only thing that barely counts as Wakaba Mutsumi's Palace."
Sakiko moved to her side, following the line of her long legs down to the floor.
"And that mechanical city you're talking about…"
Metis's tone turned more serious.
"That isn't Mutsumi's Palace."
"It's part of Mori Minami's Palace."
Sakiko's brow jumped.
As Metis continued, Sakiko finally learned the missing history.
Back then, when Mori Minami's swollen desires warped her heart beyond repair—when she broke away from the collective unconscious—Mutsumi didn't have a "real" human heart to anchor her. And because Mori Minami's involvement in Mutsumi's growth was far too deep, Mutsumi was practically an attached byproduct of Mori Minami's Shadow.
"So when Mori Minami broke away from the collective," Metis said, "Mutsumi got dragged along with her."
Sakiko's eyes drifted to Mutsumi without thinking.
Mutsumi's expression stayed calm, as if they were discussing someone else's life.
"When Mutsumi was forced out," Metis continued, "she passively gained a tiny sprout of her own Palace. By sheer circumstance, she 'became independent' in a sense."
"And as Mutsumi's awareness slowly formed and her power grew, she tried to cut her portion away from Mori Minami's Palace as much as possible."
"That mechanical city is the buffer zone between the two Palaces—an isolation layer. But right now it's almost completely under Mori Minami's control."
Sakiko listened without interrupting, then lifted a hand to her chin.
"I see," she murmured, understanding clicking into place.
She looked at Mutsumi again. "I kept thinking that, given how you were born, you should still be connected to the collective unconscious. But you have a Palace—something that should only exist after breaking away and being warped by a powerful desire."
"So that's why. You were forcibly swept into someone else's Palace."
"That explains everything."
Her hand fell. Her eyes brightened.
"Then that means, Mutsumi—you don't need to be afraid of failing to answer other people's expectations anymore. Right?"
If she could exist after being cut off from the collective, then she wasn't the fragile Shadow who had to keep responding to expectations just to remain real.
Metis couldn't help clicking her tongue, arms crossing tight. Her voice carried a faint sour edge.
"Yeah. Because she's existed for so long, and because Mori Minami—by dumb luck—cut her connection to the collective unconscious… she's basically independent now."
"Even if she disappoints people, she'll live just fine."
Sakiko nodded sharply—then her face creased with confusion. She looked straight at Mutsumi.
"Then… why did you still try to answer my expectations?"
A small smile rose on Mutsumi's face.
Her voice stayed flat, but the meaning hit like a hammer.
"Because you're Sakiko."
Sakiko's breath caught.
Something sour and warm rushed up her throat at the same time. She puffed her cheeks slightly and bit down hard on her back teeth, forcing the tears away.
Then she inhaled, fast, eyes sharpening again.
"Then does that mean—if we completely sever whatever connection you still have to Mori Minami—after that you'll be fully independent? Like a normal human heart?"
Whole.
Free.
Metis shook her head, firm.
"The answer… might disappoint you."
Metis met Sakiko's gaze evenly.
"In the end, whether it's me or Mutsumi, we're still Shadows."
"Even if we can exist independently by chance, the instinct carved into our souls doesn't change. We'll still crave answering someone's expectations."
She gave a helpless smile.
"That's why we were born."
Sakiko opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
After a long moment, she let out a quiet breath and nodded once, accepting it.
Then Mutsumi stepped forward.
She lifted her arms and hugged Sakiko gently.
Mutsumi's body was soft. She rested her chin on Sakiko's shoulder and folded her hands together behind Sakiko's back.
"It's okay, Sakiko," she murmured.
"Right now… I'm already happy."
Sakiko's stiffness melted little by little. She closed her eyes and felt the warmth of that embrace.
She didn't speak. She only lifted a hand and patted Mutsumi's back twice—wordless reassurance that she was fine.
Meanwhile, down in the subway's Metaverse.
Nagasaki Soyo stood alone at the center of an empty platform. Every wandering Shadow on this level was already gone—cleared out.
She didn't immediately leave and return to refresh them. Instead, she dismissed her possession of Ryomen Sukuna and sat on a battered bench.
"Haa…"
She tilted her head back and exhaled long and hard.
Then she bent forward and reached for her ankles.
Soyo unfastened her shoes, gripped the heel, and pulled.
Pop—
A faintly sticky sound as sweat separated, and air rushed in. One foot, then the other slid out of her loafers.
A wave of heat escaped like steam from a sealed lid, curling up from her warm socks.
After a long, high-intensity fight, the soles of her black knee-high socks were completely soaked, clinging to her skin. Under the platform lighting, they looked damp and slick.
The fabric had lost all elasticity. The shapes of each toe, the arch of her foot, the rise of joints—everything was clearly outlined beneath the tight, wet cloth.
Soyo's expression didn't change. She hooked a finger under the edge and peeled downward. The wet sock pulled free with a tiny, tearing sound.
Her toes curled reflexively at the sudden cool air.
She stuffed the two sweat-heavy socks into the shoes that were still radiating warmth.
Then, from the storage device Sakiko had given her, she took out the purple tights.
Only now did something shift faintly in Soyo's calm face.
Feet sweating wasn't new.
But removing drenched socks—and without washing or wiping, slipping sweaty, tacky feet straight into clean new hosiery—this was a first.
She stared at her pale feet, the soles slightly pink from standing too long, a sheen of sweat still visible. Her hands stalled for a full half minute.
"It'll clean itself the moment you put it on. Don't worry."
Soyo repeated Sakiko and Shinobu's warning to herself, like an incantation.
She bit her lower lip, shut her eyes so she wouldn't look, stretched open the waistband, rolled the tights down to the toe, lined them up with her foot—
and pulled them on.
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 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 165)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter220)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter125)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter250)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 220
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 185
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 248
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 230
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 125
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 145
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 115
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 110
My Harem Is Indescribable 100
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 105
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
Still playing traditional Honk 80
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 85
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 78
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 80
Checking In in Demon Slayer 85
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 100
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 85
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 90
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 75
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 80
Why did they assign me to Uma 75
MYGO Beauties 70
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 70
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 80
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 80
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 57
The Uma Musume Who Became 55
I'm Definitely Not the King of 60
After Maxing Out Every Class 45
Naruto: I'm Konoha's Local Men 35
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 34
I, the Elden Sword Saint 27
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 24
No One Knows Pokémon Better 18
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 20
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