136 - Private Room

In the ending narration of [In the beginning, there was Yggdrasil in the primordial world...], all that talk about Yggdrasil this, Demon King that, and the primordial cataclysm whatever just went in one ear and out the other.

Still, the fact that it'd linger forever in my memories was nothing short of uncomfortable, but what could I do? People have to learn to adapt to their given circumstances.

With that mindset, I'd been living in this female body for a good 33 years now. Should I subtract the 7 years in this life? Whatever...

Over 5,000 people flooded in within 10 seconds. But the chat wasn't moving as fast as the headcount might suggest. Maybe because I had this solemn expression on my face. Nah, the biggest reason was probably Adella vanishing from the party list.

"Looks like you all like Adella more than me now."

But with everyone constantly calling for Adella, a spark of jealousy welled up. I was the one streaming, and I was the one who actually beat Mephistopheles.

"Adella's fine, don't worry."

I could check the combat stats later. With viewers nagging so much, I reluctantly ended the game.

Knock knock—

I spawned right outside the private room. I deliberately knocked on the door before entering. But before I could turn the handle, the door swung open, revealing a familiar figure.

A silver-haired bob-cut cat-eared girl—the Adella we'd desperately fought to save.

"Phew... good job out there, Adella."

Her hair was a total mess. There should've been a comb on the table; she could've at least brushed it.

"Who... Ahhh... Sniff... S-sis? It's you, right? Siiiis...!"

"Heh, you recognized me?"

My current look was almost identical to my real-world self: a little black-haired kid. Even accounting for my recent growth spurt, I was still around 110cm tall. Hey, better than 103cm. I'd planned to tease her a bit if she didn't recognize me, but that flew out the window from the start.

Adella dropped to her knees and hugged me tight. Then, nestled in my much smaller arms, she started bawling her eyes out. My shoulder got soaked with tears, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠somehow, her emotions rubbed off on me, and I felt a lump in my throat too.

As I patted her back while she wailed for ages, the chat was already ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠going nuts.

"Sis, what happened to your body? And where are we?"

"Hang on... you're choking me, can you back off a bit...?"

"Eek! Oh, sorry! Did I hug too hard?"

My body here wasn't some omnipotent game avatar. Of course, Adella had taken a similar nerf—normal high school girl strength.

I pried her off me and sat her in an armchair to calm down.

"People are wondering who you are. Look at the camera and say your name and age."

"Uh, um? So my name's Adella, and I'm eighteen."

"There you go, folks."

"Wait, is this heaven? Did I die? The heaven I imagined wasn't this cramped and shabby room...!"

"Cramped and shabby...?"

"It's not heaven. You're not dead. In one word... the world I live in...?"

"Then it is heaven!"

"No, it's not."

"But you're an angel, sis?"

"I'm telling you, not an angel."

"...?"

She was totally lost. Our conversation kept skimming the surface. Looked like I'd have to pause the stream for a real talk.

"Give me a sec, folks."

"You're saying I was a character in a virtual reality game?"

"You know what a virtual reality game is?"

"Huh? How do I know that...? It's my first time hearing it, but I get it automatically."

Adella shuddered in confusion.

"So I'm fake...?"

Fake, copy, replicant. All derivatives of an original. But I shook my head, denying it.

"No, you're the one and only Adella I know."

I pulled a tail comb from my inventory. She sat on the floor, me perched on the bed, gently combing through her hair. The ends were badly damaged from all the fighting.

"I combed your hair like this in the Abyss too. Remember?"

"Sniff... Yeah..."

Adella's back heaved. I kept combing, unfazed.

"We leveled up together, shared EXP, divvied up gear, beat enemies. With all those memories with me, how could you be fake?"

I went over every detail of our time in World of Arceria. Why she first dreamed of revenge against the academy, her noble sacrifice to defeat the demon, the countless regressions and bugs crumbling worlds. Even if a 100% DNA doppelganger existed, different experiences would make them different people.

Once my sincerity sank in, Adella whipped her head toward me.

"What a dogshit world..."

Then she suddenly cursed, scrunching her face.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, it was weird! How could anyone's name be Etteugab C'pn?! Parents wouldn't name their kid that, common sense!"

She yelled in outrage. I thought about it and realized it was an NPC's name. Backwards, it's "baguette NPC." Yeah, pretty weird.

"And... and... sob...! I was just going to buy bread, but everyone was staring ahead, ignoring me when I talked... Damn, how insane was the world I was living in?!"

A sigh laced with resignation mixed into her sobs. She threw herself into my arms again. I stroked her back until she calmed, answering her questions.

"So this is the real world?"

"No, think of it as an intermediate world."

"What? This is fake too?"

She pulled back, eyes wide, tail stiffening straight up. Want me to comb that too?

"Precisely, it's virtual reality—not a game world. Everyone outside that door is 'real' people."

"Ugh, damn... why is my life so cursed...!"

"Not using cat-speak anymore?"

"What? Huh, now that you mention it, something feels different."

Yeah, tacking "nyan" on every sentence would've driven speaker and listener nuts. I spent a good while explaining our world to her. Her ears twitched now and then as she listened intently. Holding back the urge to touch them was torture.

Twitch End Space viewers urging me back on stream outnumbered those when I paused—kinda overwhelming, but we had key stuff to cover first.

"So you're closer to a person than AI."

I didn't know the how, but they'd mimicked Persona Phase magic with modern tech here on Earth. They slapped "ASI" on self-sustaining entities. And Walpurgis was blatantly involved. Adella's thinking model was in Redwood City, California, but maps showed Wearsoft jurisdiction. From my last meeting with their ASI folks, they didn't seem deep into AI design. So to dig into Walpurgis, I'd need the ASI supplier, not Wearsoft. Easier said than done...

I skipped those details for time; Adella's head was spinning enough. Finally,

"Ever heard of Alzahab? Or the Kaizen Empire? In-game or just memories?"

"...Alzahab? Nope, first time. Important person?"

"Nah, just curious."

Adella had zero connection to my past life. Makes sense—Persona Phase couldn't reveal it either.

"But I heard something like that. When someone else possessed your body, they kept asking to defeat Mephistopheles over and over."

"Over and over?"

"Yeah."

I vaguely recalled peeking at memories. Even when I lost body control, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Adella was chatting with someone. Maybe the original owner's will. But Mephisto only appeared once—why "over and over"?

"Sis, sis."

"Yeah?"

"One more question."

"Shoot."

"How old are you in the real world? 'Cause if you're like 50 or something, it'd be awkward calling you sis...?"

"..."

The cheeky cat trailed off evasively.

"Seven."

"Huh?"

"Seven, just like this. Keep calling me sis."

Time to face the viewers. I took her hand and opened the door.

"Wha-wha-what? Lie, right? Huh? No way? You're lying!"