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What do you mean we can't do anything?!
Hunry, please
GRINA, STOP PULLING ME!
WOULD YOU CALM DOWN ALREADY!? GEE!
I'm calm! I-I'm perfectly calm…
… I see she's doing a great job, teaching you her little art.
Wh-what does that supposed to mean!? I wasn't thinking about anyone at that time!
Like dude, aren't you thinking about her right now…? You kept punching and kicking the air, screaming her name!
Bu-but when I said that, I wasn't thinking at all!
And that's why I had to pull you back, Hunry… you weren't thinking about the actual situation.
WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO DO!
Oh, really? You want to try pull the glasses and earpieces all by yourself?
No… I… I want to talk with her… sh-she's still here, you know… I WANT TO SEE HER!
But you can't kick the door down! Come on, Hunry… please, look at us right now.
… you are here just to stop me?
No, no! We want to save Mirii too! However, we cannot run huge risks here! We must be careful… really careful, for that matter.
Dude, don't think we don't care one bit… actually, the whole fact was a huge shock for me as well. Like, I don't even want to know, what the girl is doing right now…
I do want to know! I want to understand the problem and solve it right away!
Hunry, get real: this is
I don't care! I can't just stand here, doing nothing! I… I-I'll complain to Tonna! She'll know exactly what to do!
She'll know jack about it… for now, all we can do is
WE CAN'T WAIT, GRINA! SHE MIGHT GET WORSE AND WORSE, YOU KNOW! Actually… wh-what if she'll stay like this for days?! How she's going to eat or drink?!
Hunry, calm. Down. Getting worried is useless! It will make everything worse!
… I feel worse… … s-sorry…
Hey, hey, where are you going?!
Out of here… I need air… fresh air…
Where?! You don't even know this city!
I don't care! This… this is the perfect time to explore it! There!
Don't be stupid, Hunry! What would your little sister will say?!
… I don't want her to look at me… she'll cry… a lot…
… Hunry… please…
Girl… he's not paying attention to you, anymore…
Bars, let's stop him! We can't let him walk around like this! I mean, look at him right now! He seems someone that
Girl, leave him alone… that guy really needs to hold a speech. I'm sure he'll return later…
Even with his bad memory?!
… true… but if he stays here any longer, it would be bad news too. Girl, this situation is already too complicated for forcing someone to stay here… instead…
… huh?! Wh-why are you hugging me, Barsy?!
Grina… or if you want to be called Greta right now… I… I-I'm truly scared, this time…
Mirii was walking on the sidewalk, as her irises were gently turning left and right, while her eyelids were a bit lowered, her head was tilting upwards and her mouth is a little downturned.
"… sigh… I can't believe that this virtual city is composed by abandoned buildings and ghosts…" Her head lowered, as her eyes closed. "This is not good… I must find a solution, a true logical path to follow in this madness or else I'll lose my perfect mind!"
Her eyes opened. At the distant, two male Inkling ghosts were walking in her direction.
"But what can I do…? Certainly harming someone is not a solution… aside from being a total imperfection. Well, except the shadow who wants to steal my identity… which is still unclear her way to do so."
The girl turns to her left, still walking on the brick holes-spread sidewalk.
"Should I acquire more information… or trying to find that shadow?" Her head rose, as her eyes were seeing the dark sky. "Sometimes tells me that finding my shadow would open up some opportunities… but without information, I have nothing on my side. Literally. If I want information then, where should I go…?"
Her mouth opened a bit.
"I wonder… how the plaza appears in this world? Maybe I can find the equivalent of the Squid Sisters… and watch their newest news report!" She smiles a bit. "Finally, a real direction!"
She starts sprinting forward.
"I'll also be able to reach that place in less than one minute! The sooner I get there…"
Suddenly, her shadow appeared with her arms opened wide and a wide grin on her face. Mirii gasped, sliding forward: the shadow disappeared in the same way she came. Mirii's irises were shrunk.
"Wh-what was that?!" She turns her shoulders left and right. "Is my shadow… following me? … I knew I shouldn't face her down like this." She resumes her sprint, as her face frowned. "I'm useless without a pebble of information to work with!"
Squids appearing in a blue-light, blurry shape, were swimming in the circle at the distance.
"Flying Squids…? What that has to do with the game? Why that phenomenon is even there?!" Mirii's head rose a bit. "… the more I'm passing my time here… the more I'm getting very skeptical about being in the same game I was supposed to explore..."
The girl increased her pace, jumping towards a wall, as her feet kept walking a bit until her hands grabbed the edge: she pushed herself upwards, jumping over the wall and landing while kneeing down with her left hand touching the road.
"Here I am… the main plaza!" Her head was looking forward. "I can't get there, though… since I don't even know why Squids are swimming above the plaza… I need to be careful about this." She stands up. "I need more information… I refuse to trust my destiny in the hands of unexplainable coincidences."
The girl walks a bit, as her head immediately tilted up: her feet were moving in tip-toes.
"Be careful… I need to watch their movements… without getting any attention…"
Mirii's back was leaning against the wall, tilting slightly towards the plaza's center point. Her irises moved up: the Squids were still swimming in the middle.
"… for now, nothing is capturing my attention in particular… curses!" Mirii frowns a bit. "Look closer, Mirii… I need to get as much information as squidly possible!"
Her eyes squeezed a bit. The Squids were still swimming in the middle… their eyes were all looking forward. Suddenly, an army of jellyfishes rose from the plaza's center, swimming upwards… and all the Squids dived down, moving towards them.
Mirii's eyes expanded, as she jumped backwards: many Squids impacted on different jellyfishes, as they slightly increased their size at each impact. Mirii's mouth flattened. The Squids were all standing still, floating on the road… then, each swam away in different directions.
"… wh-what was that…?" Mirii walks towards the plaza center, as her head was looking up and around. "The Squids were waiting for the jellyfishes… so they could grow? For what reason?!"
The girl sighed.
"This whole dimension is an utter mess of illogical happenings…" Mirii turns to her right, seeing a large monitor. "… at least there is the monitor for the news."
The screen was completely black. Mirii shivered a bit.
"… don't tell me it was a complete waste, coming here…?!" Her irises shrunk. "Oh no… …"
Suddenly, the screen flashed for a brief second before showing two Squids: the left one was completely black, the right one was completely white.
"What the?!" Mirii's mouth opened. "… the accessories they have each on their head… are they"
"It's Inkopolis News Flash!" The female Squids were waiving their tentacles.
"I'm Callie…" She folded her black tentacles.
"And I'm Marie! Yay!" Her eyes closed, as she kept waiving up and down.
"This isn't really news… but since we are bored, I guess we can share some stuff with ya…" Callie sighed.
"Don't say that, cousin!" Marie frowned a bit, as her tentacles' tips clenched a bit. "Squids will love us for being the respectful citizens we are!"
"… their personalities… they are completely switched?!" Mirii's irises shrunk. "Also, they are not even sisters… why cousins?!"
"Yeah, whatever…! Let's report this news quick and easy, so I can still continue reading my book…" Callie snorted.
"No! You promised me to a Squid Challenge later on!" Marie's irises went on fire. "I can't wait to show you that I'm the Squid Cousin who can jump the highest!"
"Nah… after the 175th try, I can only get boredom from your puny attempts…" Callie's tentacles covered her eyes. "Can we please get this over with…?"
"You'll not swim away from the challenge, little Squid!" Marie's right tentacle was pointing down her cousin. "Not this time! I… I'LL TAKE YOUR BOOK IN HOSTAGE!" Her eyes closed.
Callie's tentacles came back down.
"… anyway, the ferocious Duuj once again returned in the city, terrorizing everyone... not a big surprise, really. You know the drill, then… stay in your houses and no one gets hurt…"
"We also report another team of brave Squids are on their way into catching as many jellyfishes possible to grow large and fight the monster!" Marie went closer to the TV screen, as her tentacles' tips were clenching. "What are YOU waiting for, Squids?! Go out and grow! We need all the help we can get!"
"Yawn… it's useless… how many times I have to tell that?" Callie's eyelids went in the middle. "Go get yourself a favor and stay in your houses… no one gets hurt… and we don't have to report any shenanigans… got it? Good."
"Why it's so hard to work with you?!" Marie was looking at Callie, while frowning a lot. "You just had to get in my way, don't you?! You want to make me mad, hmmmm?!"
Marie hissed, as she dived towards Callie: the screen was now showing a distortion. Mirii's mouth flattened.
"… the more information I get… the more crazy I'm becoming…"
Tee hee hee! Do you like my world?
Mirii immediately turns behind, seeing her own shadow grinning and folding her arms.
"You claim to live here?!" Mirii was bending forward, as she clenches her fists. "Then, you are NOT my shadow!"
"Oh… how naïve you are…" Her left arm stretched to the left, as her head rose while tilting to her left, with her eyes closed. "… still thinking to have a chance against me…"
"Mark my own words!" Mirii's left forefinger points her shadow down, as her left foot slides forward. "I'll find a way to make you knee down and eat every single word you just said!"
"… tee hee hee! You really are not understanding the situation…? Ok… how about this?" Her legs opened wide.
Suddenly, Mirii's shadow grew a lot! Mirii gasped, as she jumped. Her shadow bended down, still grinning.
"… in this world… you are a little bug! You are no one… truly no one!"
"… hmpf." Mirii rose her head. "You are stating such? Then… why don't end this fight with a splat? Yes… crush me, you pile of nothing!" Mirii's right foot stomped.
The shadow kept staring at her.
"Tee hee hee hee hee hee hee! Aaaawwwww, I thought you were easily scared…"
"Then, if that's true… that means you couldn't eat my smartphone or even grabbed it!" Mirii grits her teeth. "Tell me… where did you threw that?!"
"… I never had your smartphone in the first place." She nodded.
Mirii's eyes almost popped out.
"WH-WHAAAAAAAAATT?!" Her hands grabbed her tentacles. "NO! I-IMPOSSIBLE! YOU… YO-YOU…"
"Tee hee hee! You came here with just your identity…" Her right fingers snapped: her smartphone, in gigantic size, appeared on her right hand. "… and I live by making things appear!"
She throws the smartphone towards Mirii, as she screamed loudly and covered her face. … her arms went down, as her face was staring at her shadow grinning.
"I'm a shadow of illusions… and I got so sick of being one." Her red eyes blinked. "I want an identity so bad… I want to make things happen for real!"
"But you can't do anything to change that!" Mirii's right forefinger was pointing her down.
"… ooooooh, yes I can…" She nodded. "I can get an identity… and leave YOU in the shadow."
Her large, right hand moved towards the girl stopping in front of her as her palm was pointing up.
"You… are acting like an idiot."
"… EXCUSE ME?!" Mirii was standing on tiptoes, as her arms stretched down and her fists clenched. "Return to your normal size, giantess coward…"
"… for what? You can't attack me and I can't attack you… but I can still stop your progress." She nodded.
"How?! You can't do anything!" Mirii's eyes squeezed. "Stop wasting my time!"
Suddenly, Mirii's irises shrunk.
"… wasting my time…?" Mirii's jaw dropped.
"Tee hee hee! Ooooh, poor little Squid… little also on her knowledge…"
Gradually, the shadow disappears.
… little will do anything… to change her fate…