Chapter 1: Initializing Elevated Access

Starting DDBC.exe . . .

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Entity[6DDF5CAD55644BOA, 'Monitor_Kernal_Access']

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C̷̥̃̋̑̌͝a̵̢̹̮͛̉ň̶̢̤͉̦͍̪̞̜̉̆ ̴̡͓̖͉̟̤̖̦͕̺́̀́̀̎̓͒̒͛̆̃̑̒̏̋ͅy̶̢̤̠͇͔̪̙̬̮͕̎̎͗͑̓̉̄͗̀̏̓͐͝ơ̸̡̻̘̾̇̈͌̎̐̇́͊͑̈̚͝u̷̙̬̜̬̫͓̭͔̦̽̊ ̶͇̞̫͍̦̟̫̺͈̅͒̍̊͑̉̕͜͝h̵̟͚͉̟̮͉͂́̽̍̑̐͊̀̋̔͆͊̕͝͠ȩ̶̪̫̦̻̥̩̙̝̑̐̆̽̈́̔̔͆̓̀̄̍̆͘͝a̵̧̡̮̻̩͊͗͘͝ṙ̷̤̬͖̘̗̪̘͇̮̣̰̙̃̀͂̉͘ ̸̧̻̗̻͓̲̠̰̪̣́̏̊̈̓m̷͕͚̝̪̼̯̖͙̝͈̭̂̍̒̾̂͜ȩ̸̢͍̞͍͉̺̳͕̈̎͑͠?̶̬̥͍̬͈̦̞̙͍̆̓͋̋̾͛̇̃̐͗

Uh...

Can... eW91IGhlYXI= me?

Uh, can you hear me?

I cleared my throat.

Hi. It's me. Um, so you know how I've been like, writing fan fiction and stuff? And I'm not really any good at it yet. Like at all. But, I wrote you a story and I was kinda hoping that I could show it to you because I worked really, really hard on it. So... Yeah!

SSBvcGVuZWQgbXkg Third Eye... V2hhdA= awaited... d2Fz your smile...

I opened my Third Eye. What awaited me was...

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The school festival was a week away and the Literature Club already looked different. Natsuki had moved all the school desks against the wall so that we could have enough room to practice. This was going to be our year. Our chance to show the school how much we've improved. We weren't just the Literature Club anymore. We were going to be champions.

This year, the festival was going to be different. A tournament for fighters. And we were the strongest in the school. Because we had dGhlIFRoaXJkIEV5ZS4=

The Third Eye was the secret to how we were going to win.

Sayori wrote down notes as she leaned against one of the desks. Yuri sat on the floor, meditating. Natsuki placed a plate of cupcakes that she had baked on one of the desks.

I stood in front of them. I was going to lead us to victory. "Okay, everyone! It's time to start our practice for the day. Who wants to start off?"

Sayori raised her hand in a hurry. "Oh, I'll do it! Pick me, Monika! Pick me!"

"Sure," I said with a laugh. "Sayori, you're up first. Who wants to fight her?"

Yuri remained silent, focusing on her meditation. Instead, I turned to Natsuki.

She gave a shrug. "Yeah, okay. Why not?"

Sayori and Natsuki stood in the center of the classroom. Natsuki threw the first punch. But Sayori easily dodged it.

"Sorry. You gotta do better than that," Sayori teased.

Natsuki cracked her knuckles. "Okay. I will."

Her Third Eye opened.

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An eye shape formed on Natsuki's forehead. She sprinted at Sayori and punched again. This time, however, her fist landed right on Sayori's ribs. The bones snapped as the impact blasted Sayori backward, causing her to crash into the desks aligned against the wall.

Sayori coughed up blood as she struggled to stand. "Ow. You meanie."

"You asked for it," Natsuki said, shaking her head.

Now Sayori's Third Eye opened.

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The same eye shape appeared on Sayori's forehead. Then a raincloud formed over Natsuki's head. Rain poured all over Natsuki's small body, soaking her clothes.

"Damn it! Now I'm all wet!" Natsuki yelled. "And I didn't even bring a change of clothes."

"It's your own fault," Yuri added, still meditating in the corner. "You should have anticipated that attack."

"Shut up," Natsuki replied.

Natsuki slammed her fist into Sayori's jaw. The sickening crunch of broken teeth filled the room. Sayori crashed into another desk. But she just stood back up again.

With a wave of Sayori's hand, lightning shot out of the raincloud, striking Natsuki. She screamed as electricity ran through her entire body.

I kept note of each of their reaction times. Natsuki moved faster, but Sayori had better long range attacks. The outcome of the fight would depend on whether or not Natsuki could close the distance between them.

Natsuki punched a desk, breaking it into hundreds of tiny shards of wood. One of the shards flew toward Yuri. But Yuri easily stopped it in place with her own Third Eye.

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"Careful not to cause too much damage to school property," I warned her. "Replacements come out of the club's budget. Need I remind you-"

I stopped as a voice invaded my mind.

The voice crawled through my brain like a bug. Or a virus.

Elevated Access . . . Z3JhbnRlZC4=

T̶̛̙͔̙̙̯̠̰̜͇͓̞̥̄̾͐̓̈̏h̴̡̭̺̜̘̰̙̩͎͉͙̼̹͑̀̓͜͜ẻ̴̱̮̍͑̂̔̒͑͛̕ ̶͉̪͎̅̔́̓T̸̛̛̰̼̠̟͚̠̪̖͉̺̪̓̒̋͐̅͑̒͗͐̿̚̚͝ḥ̸̛̹̗͉̆̽́̀́̐͐͗͗͘i̸̛͕͈̙͔̇̀̂̄͑͛̾ṝ̵̢̡͕̦̯̫̙͚̮̻̝͖̽̽͐́̔̋́͊ͅͅd̸̥̘̜̠͙͚̻̘̟̑ ̷̲̰̫̞͕͍̳̊̈̎͗̊́̇̆̎̋͆́̿͑̚Ḝ̴̧̡̛̛̟͈̹͓̇̅̅͜͠y̵̙̤̝͓̠̞̳͎̥̦̿͗̉͂͜͜e̴͚̿͑ ̷̻͍̱͍̻̬̱̜͗̓̀̂b̵̢͎̱̣̞̞̪̯̖̥̠̘̣̝̀͐̀̉͗́̽͝ē̶̛̗̊͋̽̓̑͊c̸̢͕͖̳͈̥̪̪̞̰͆̎̅͘͝ḳ̷̢͕̲̣̱͈͍̯͓̮͔̫͕́͒͘o̶̱͎͙̯͎͚͔͂̐̐̾̐͂͗͜͠ņ̶̘̞̮̩̘̩̤̦̞̯͉̈́͌̊̏͠ş̴͖͚̩͓̝̥̱̣̙̖͍̞̜͑̓́͊͘ͅ ̴̧̧̡̨͖͎̯̠̮͍̪͎̰̽͝ͅt̸͖̬͍̳͖́̈́͋̈͗̐͌̆̃͘h̷͚̭͇̾̈͂͆͘͠ȩ̶̖̣̾̅̈̆̂͆̂̐̽͆͝ ̴̡̥̖͓̱̲̫͙̯͈̉̄͊͜ͅḨ̶̢̭̙̖̣̬͌͜e̵̛͓̲͙̰̥̮̤͐̏̄̒̎̂̓̽̃͌̌̇̋͘r̸̡̢̨̡̨̼͎̦͈̬̝̗̥̱̉͛͝ò̵̠̜͉̘͝.̴̡̡̩͈̬̠̘̲͎̺̞̤̪̋̐̂̚

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The Third Eye... YmVja29ucw= the Hero.

Initializing . . .

Connecting . . . Connected

Attempting to decode binary data . . .

My vision faded. The classroom and the fight drifted off into the distance. In its place, I stared at a hole in the wall. In an almost lucid dream state, I approached the hole.

My Third Eye had opened.

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I peered into the hole to get a clue of what it was.

No! I couldn't see. I reeled, blind, like a film left out in the sun.

But it was too late. My retinas were already scorched with a permanent copy of the meaningless image.

It was just a little hole. It wasn't too bright. It was too deep.

Stretching forever into everything.

A hole of infinite choices.

I realized now that I wasn't looking in. I was looking out.

And you, on the other side, were looking in.

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Connection lost

My premonition ended as the classroom came back into focus. Sayori stood in a triumphant pose. She must have won the practice match. Too bad I didn't get to observe it. Several cupcakes lay on the ground, smooshed into a big icing splat. Something told me I was going to be the one cleaning that up.

Natsuki pouted as she ate one of the cupcakes that was still sitting on the desk. Both of their Third Eyes had disappeared and their injuries had healed like the battle never took place. Yuri was now standing next to Natsuki.

"You still need more practice," Yuri lectured her.

Natsuki shook her head. "Nah. Hanging around you weaklings has just left me a little rusty. What I really need is someone on my level to challenge me."

"You mean we can recruit new members?" Sayori asked with wide eyes.

I nodded. "With the festival only a few days away, we don't have a lot of time to prepare. But I'm sure we can find someone up to the task."

Sayori jumped up and down. "Yay! I know just the person. He's kind of an otaku and he probably wants to join the Anime Club or something. But I bet I can convince him to join the Literature Club."

"Sounds like a plan," I said. My premonition still haunted the back of my mind. Could it be the same person? Were you the otaku Sayori was talking about?

Well, I guess the only way to find out is to continue reading the next chapter...