Remember that feeling of betrayal after figuring out the Xenophone was a mirror?

Yeah, it's about that.

It was a peaceful day in the City, and our Eunie was enjoying it fully. She just took a nice stroll around the City with Taion, and just came back to the dorm. Taion said he'll go find Noah and Lanz somewhere, so she was alone again. With a calm smile on her face, she opened the door of the dorm.

And found Mio, sitting on the bed.

'Oh…so she stayed here…?' Eunie thought to herself as she saw the long-haired catgirl. She slowly, but silently approached the girl from behind. As she got closer to her, she noticed something.

'Is she…looking at the mirror again…? She's free from the time limit though…Hmmm….must be a habit… Oh, Mio….' Sighing internally, Eunie was now right behind Mio's back.

"Hey love, whatcha doing? Looking at the mirror again?" Eunie said cheerfully, patting Mio's shoulder. But she witnessed a reaction that she pretty much never expected.

"Nyyaaaaa!" Mio screamed as Eunie's hand made contact with her skin. Her ears also perked up as high as they could.

'Nya? Queen's right elbow, she's becoming more of a cat recently… Especially after that body swap….'

"Uh…Mio, love, you okay?" Eunie said, slowly moving her position.

"Hah…hah…hah… Oh….Eunie….? You scared the hell out of me…!" Mio said, hands on her chest. She still had the white thing in her hand.

"What were you doing? Looking at the mirror again?"

"Ah…actually….no…."

"Then what's that white thing in your hand? It really looks like a mirror to me." Eunie said, pointing at the white rectangular thing.

"Oh, this? Uh…this isn't actually a mirror, my mirror's here. This is…uh…a phone." Mio said, showing Eunie the mirror in her right hand, and the 'phone' in her left hand.

"A phone? What's that?"

"Mmm….a portable device that could be used for various purposes. Including wireless communication."

"Why do we need it when we have the iris?"

"Because…it has more functions than the iris. Especially the gaming function."

"Gaming?"

"Yeah, gaming! Have you never heard of it?"

"Uh…yeah, I've…never heard about a phone, and I've never heard about 'gaming' with a device…"

"Yeah, that's natural since this Xenophone came out recently. But…did Keves not have games?" At Mio's question, Eunie nodded.

"Oh…I never knew that…." Mio said, her ears drooping down.

"Nevermind about that. Anyway, was that 'gaming' function you were using?"

"Yep, and it's the most popular game across Aionios right now! Ever heard of Tiger Tiger?"

Eunie shook her head.

"What did Keves have, then….?"

"We…actually never needed those things. Heh, life's fun enough when you don't know about games if you're the boss." Eunie smirked.

"Oh…."

"Anyway, what's Tiger Tiger then?"

"It's…a simple game! You play as an orange nopon, salvaging around the sea to find treasure. There are various stages for you to play. And…since the global server opened recently after the release of Tiger Tiger Definitive Edition, you can play and compete with other people around Aionios!"

"…..?"

"What's wrong, Eunie….?"

"I…can't understand a thing," Eunie said, scratching her wings.

"Yeah…everything's new… Okay, how about this? I actually want to visit the latrine now for my business and my hair. So…how about you play this game while I'm gone?" Mio suggested.

"Hmmm…that sounds…pretty cool! Got it! Take care of your business, and I'll study this game thingy while you're gone! This actually looks pretty fun, you know…."

"It really is, and if you're good enough, you can become a ranker and your name would be on the leaderboards! Well, since the account is mine, it'll be my name…."

"….?" Eunie looked dumbstruck again.

"Right, right, less talking, more experiencing. I'll be back after…a few minutes? Enjoy Tiger Tiger while I'm gone!" Mio said, walking out of the dorm room. Now there only sat Eunie.

"Okay…then….what should I do first… Hmm…manuals seem nice…."

(After Mio's business)

"Eunie~! I'm ba….ck….?" Mio cheerfully entered the room, satisfied from being relieved and her super long hair now being tidy. But…as she saw Eunie curled up in a ball on the bed, her ears perked up.

"Eunie? What are you…"

"..."

"Eunie?"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHGGGG! I SPARKING QUIT!" Eunie shouted, violently messing with her wings.

"Eunie! Chill! Your feathers…."

"Oh, right, plumage… Anyway! How the spark could you cope with this devilish thing? This is the hardest thing I've ever experienced since birth!" Eunie screamed, showing Mio her death count.

"20 deaths… Wow, Eunie, you su…. No no no, kidding, Eunie, you're still a starter, so the game being hard is a natural thing!" Mio cheered Eunie up, stroking her wings.

"Ugh…I'll give you this thing back… I don't know at this moment…" Eunie sighed.

"Mimi, we're back!"

"What's upp!" Two loud voices, accordingly from Lanz and Sena were heard from the door.

"You don't need to be that loud, Sena." Now there's Taion.

"That's the Sena we know…." And Noah.

"Ah, finally back! And…hey, Eunie, mate, you alright? Why are your wings a mess?"

"Ugh…because of this sparking thing," Eunie said, pointing at the Xenophone.

"Ah, the Xenophone!"

"Taion?" Noah asked.

"Oh, sorry, a habit. Anyway, what were you doing with the Xenophone, then?"

"A game called….Tiger…Tiger….?"

"Oooooh…." Sena and Taion nodded at the same time.

"Why?"

"Yeah….that…game… I get that, Eunie, pretty stressful, isn't it?" Sena said, coming closer to the other girls.

"You know this game too?"

"Of course! It's Agnian tradition! Almost every Agnian knows this game! Although I got banned from playing it…"

"You got banned?"

"Yeah…I smashed the machine after dying like 50 times…." Sena said with an awkward laugh.

"How about you, four-eyes? Do you have experience with this, too?"

"Me? Actually, I have pretty less information about this even as an Agnian. Colony Lambda didn't have many machines…"

"And what's this 'machine' thing you're talking about?" Lanz blurted out.

"Oh, this game was…actually an arcade game! Which…you need a special machine to play with." Mio explained.

"Oh….."

"Anyway, speaking of Tiger Tiger, I've come across an article about this game, recently," Taion said, pulling a newspaper out from his jacket.

"Newspaper? Is this the city one? Isn't this game from Agnus?"

"No, actually… A new brand of newspaper has launched. Named… 'The Aionios Times'. Distributed all across Keves and Agnus."

"Since….when?"

"Well, we've been imprisoned for like a month, and a month isn't a short time for us colony dwellers," Lanz said.

"Right….anyway, what's up with that article? Spill, Taion."

"I was going to anyways. Okay…it's about…how the colonies are enjoying the game after a month of its release." Taion said, opening the newspaper.

"Ooh! Interesting! Let me see!"

"Patience, Sena, I'll open it up on the bed for everyone to read."

"Okay….."

"So, here it is, and….it starts with…the developers."

It's been a month since the release of the Xenophone, and the mobile game, Tiger Tiger Definitive Edition! Spread all across Keves and Agnus, various colonies seem to be enjoying the game in their own way. We're gonna cover the stories of the colonies on today's issue. First, we're going to go over the developers. I'm in Colony Iota, where the developers live. And we have the head developers next to me. Please introduce yourself.

"Hi! I'm Valdi! From Colony 30!"

"I'm Alexandria, commander of Colony Iota. Also a head CEO of IotaSoft, creator of the game Tiger Tiger."

Okay! So, first question. Why did you make this game?

"Why? Hmmm…actually, I am not the one who actually made this game. Are you from Keves?"

Yes.

"Aha, so that's the reason why you don't know this. Speaking of which, the first Tiger Tiger came out way before now. Probably ten years from now. Probably in the year when I was born."

"You acting your age again, Alex?"

"Ugh…Valdi, can't you just…Okay, okay, 4 years. The first game was just a simple game. But it was quite a hit across Agnus. Selling loads. So…the sequel came out, named Tiger Tiger X. And…it failed compared to the last one. Since it was a simple game, people didn't really dig the complexity in there. Plus, the story became pretty weak. And when I was in my first term, Tiger Tiger 2 came out and it sold well again. It even had DLCs."

DLCs?

"Downloadable content. We used networks we already created. It's…like a prequel. And I participated in developing it since then."

Whoa, that's pretty cool.

"And…after that, the whole ordeal caused by the Ouroboros happened, and the boundary between Keves and Agnus started to crumble. So, I thought it was a great opportunity to get some copies around the globe. Plus, I met Valdi, and managed to get some tech from Colony 30. That tech made Xenophones, the Definitive Edition, and the online server."

Fascinating! I never knew the backstory of that! Okay then, what are your future plans?

"We're working on the third one!"

"Valdi! That's supposed to be classified information! We're supposed to reveal that in the Iota Direct!"

"Oh, yeah, Uh….forgot about that. You can forget that too!"

Huh….?

"Anyways…our future plan is to make this spread across all of Aionios. Even to the swordmarch. I heard that people in the swordmarch don't know what this game is, so…yeah, gotta spread the culture."

Hmmm…okay, great. Last question, do you actually play the game?

"Oh yes I do. I'm a big fan of it."

Then what's your username?

"Alexa."

Then how about Valdi? What's your username? Siri? Bixby?"

"Rudy. Since those names were already taken. Heh,"

What are your global ranks, then?

"Me? 30th. I'm actually not that good. I'm more of a tech hardware guy, not the playing guy. Oh! But Alex is way better than me! She's probably…5th?"

Is it true?

"Yeah…I did say I was a fan of it."

You really are…. Okay! The interview's over and thanks for coming!

"My pleasure."

"Bye!"

"Oh, so Alexandria's the one who made this thing?" Lanz said.

"Interesting…. Let's keep reading."

Now I'm here on Keves Colony 9. The Colony famous for its agricultural ability. Here we have Zeon, the commander of Colony 9. I heard he is a top ranker of the game, Zeon, is that right?

"Me? A ranker? Never heard of it. I've…actually never played that game before. I use my Xenophone only to check the weather forecast."

Really? Then what's this? Here, at top 9th… Spudnik from Colony 9. I heard that's you.

"Oh….that? That's probably my lieutenant, Kite. He's really enthusiastic in ranks. I think he made an account with my name."

Then…do you have plans for this game…?

"Actually, no. If IotaSoft releases a farming game… I could play that. But now, Spuds come first."

I see…. Well, thank you for coming, Zeon.

"Thank you. Then…I'll go check on the fields."

You are indeed into those….

"So Zeon is a scammer?" Sena asked.

"In this case, Kite would be the case." Mio chuckled.

Now I'm in Colony Lambda of Agnus. Famous for its mining industries. I have commander Isurd next to me. Hello, commander Isurd!

"Greetings."

So, Isurd… how are people in Colony Lambda utilizing the new phone and the new game?

"Actually, I never expected the game would be a big hit in our colony since we did not have plenty of machines unlike other colonies, but looks like the portability saved it. Almost every person is at least now experienced with the game. Our colony had…a reputation of being boring… But now we have a sort of a form of entertainment."

I see. Then, do you play this game, Isurd?

"I do."

What's your username and your rank?

"Uh…I'm in 31st place, and…my name…? Is…Absurd."

…..

…

….Isurd, have you ever heard of a place named City?

"I have recently."

People there usually call this…'Dad Jokes'.

"Dad jokes? What's dad then?"

Hah…anyway, next one. Do you have any specific memories regarding the game?

"Hmmm….let me see….I think I have one. About my…former lieutenant."

Ooh?

"Her name is Nimue, and she…was an excellent player. I can't even compare her skills with mine. Especially with speedruns. Her hands were so fast that I and a junior of mine always watched her hands move in awe. My hands…aren't that fast and I'm not really good at spontaneity, so…yeah, if Nimue was still alive, her record would be much higher than me."

So…she's not here now?

"Unfortunately, yes. But I still have my junior. And he really sucks at playing. He just freezes when he gets in front of the screen. He couldn't even get past the first stage! When all the other people are talking about speedrun records and how to improve them, he was struggling with the first stage. Yeah, good days."

An interesting story… Okay, let's sum it up for now! Thank you for participating, Isurd!

"The pleasure is all mine."

"Wow, Taion, you…really suck." Sena said, giggling at Taion.

"Gh….shut up, Sena."

"So Nimue was a speedrun master…" Eunie mumbled.

"Anyway, let's continue."

Reporting from colony 15! I'm here to meet Triton, the man of the sea. Also a consul! But don't worry, he's not aggressive! So, hello, Captain Triton!

"Aye, Matey, nice to meet ya."

So…have you ever heard about Tiger Tiger?

"Tiger….what?"

You know…the new game…? The Xenophone….?

"Arg, you talking about that new game? Well, I don't even have that device, you know."

You…you don't…?

"The man of the sea only needs his ship and his crew. And the man of the sea never needs a fake game of salvaging. He salvages when he wants to with his bare hands."

Oh…. I see….

"So, gotta get going."

To where?

"Salvaging, of course. Look at the sea! Don't you want to jump right in?"

Do you…..?

"Need no question. It's been nice meeting ya. Goodbye!"

Good….bye….?

We're ending the interview since the interviewee jumped in the ocean.

"Man, he's still crazy after all that!" Lanz laughed.

"Same old captain…." Noah sighed.

"Who's next? I'm pum….wait….isn't this…." Eunie froze.

Because she saw a familiar name.

I'm here in Colony 11, to meet the commander Ashera, the undying blade! But…where is…

"Hey!"

Holy sparks! Where did you come from?

"Oh, just jumped off that tower. Jumping off from high places is my favorite thing to do!"

Huh…..?

"Anyway, heard that little Alexandria made a…newspaper brand? And decided to interview me. So, what are your questions?"

Oh…yeah, yeah, right. First question. Have you ever heard about Tiger Tiger?

"Yep! I was playing it up there! Ah, the thrill of the danger of drowning while salvaging just arouses me so much….."

Uh…..okay…. Then… how are the people of colony 11 handling the game?

"Oh, the guys? Hmmm….it's not exactly popular. There are a lot of requests to add a combat function. We're all about fighting, you know."

Then how about you?

"Me? I love it! As I said, the feeling of drowning getting near to me always ar…."

Neeeextt! Next! Okay, so…what's your username and ranks?

"Oh, me? My name…is….Psycho. With a cute wing attached to it!"

What? Not like…undying blade…or…Ashera?

"A dear friend of mine always calls me that, so, I decided to call me that."

Who's that friend anyway…?

"Secret. Anyway, I'm in 3rd place on the global rankings."

3rd place! That's pretty high!

"I'm aiming for second place now! Hehe!"

Hope you get to do that. Anyway…the interview's over.

"Aww….! Shame…. Hey, wanna spar?"

No thanks! !

"…." Eunie stayed silent.

"Hey, Taion, how do you think about Eunie and Ashera's relationship?" Sena whispered.

"Why me?"

"You know…just…."

"Ugh…let's just go over…"

Now I'm at Colony Tau!

Well…I had a hard time coming here, but now I'm here with Juniper! The commander of this colony! Hello, Juniper!

"Hello, I'm Juniper."

Good! So, the first question. Have you ever heard of the new game, Tiger Tiger?

"Tiger Tiger? Isn't it the game that came out years ago?"

Huh…? No no, the new game on the Xenophone. Do you have a Xenophone?

"I do. Alexandria gave me one."

Then…what about Tiger Tiger….?

"Did the phone have that….?"

Uh…yeah, now you can play it portable.

"Ooh….never knew that…."

Okay…then… Oh, I have an idea. How about I install the game for you?

"Hmmm…. Seems like a good idea. Wait, do I need Wi-Fi?"

Of….course?

"Then…not today. Since…we don't have Wi-Fi here."

What?

"And…electricity got cut off today, so no LAN, too."

…..

How do you even live….?

"Spongey spuds."

Great…reminds me of someone…..

"Juniper's always mysterious…." Noah said.

"Never knew Colony Tau was in that grave condition…." Mio chuckled.

"Okay….next one."

In the middle of the vast desert, lays Colony 4! And in the middle of the colony, stands Borealis, the substitute commander of Colony 4! Hello, Borealis!

"Hey!"

So, let's get to the point, since you already have the Xenophone in hand. Have you ever heard about Tiger Tiger?

"Well of course! Actually, I've known the game from way before the server's open!"

Really? From when?

"Remember my commander Ethel? Silvercoat Ethel? And her rivalry with the Smoldering Cammuravi?"

Of course! The legendary rivalry of our generation!

"They had lots of battles together. On a ferronis, or off a ferronis. But…they once battled with…games."

Games?

"Cammuravi actually invited Ethel to his Colony and challenged her with the game, Tiger Tiger 2. They competed with speedruns, for spark's sake."

And who won?

"Ethel. Cammuravi…. That guy….isn't really fast, so….yeah, our commander's swift hands saved the day. Plus, her manual reading skills were superb."

I see…. Then how about you?

"Me? I'm pretty much enjoying it. I'm actually a ranker. On 8th place."

8th place? Let me see…. Wait, why are you named….'Silvercoat'….?

"Oh that….? You know….as a memoir of the commander. I wanted to tribute this rank to her since she would nail it if she was still alive…"

So that's why… May the Silvercoat Ethel rests in peace.

"Totally."

"Borealis, mate, I understand your feelings. But….isn't that…pretty creepy….?"

"Maybe it's his own way of off-seeing….?"

"Anyway, let's continue. It's almost done."

Everybody loves the sea! And so does the commander of Colony Mu! Hello, Fiona!

"Hii!"

A cheerful way to greet! Nice to meet you!

"Me too! I'm Fiona, and my username in Tiger Tiger is MuMu! And I'm on the 6th place in the global rankings!"

Uh…I…didn't ask a question, you know.

"I know! I just wanted to say that."

I….see…. Then, why is your name MuMu?

"I first tried FiFi, my nickname. But it failed… Probably someone was using it. So…I tried Mutwo! Since….I'm the commander of Colony Mu! And it failed! So I decided to go with MuMu!"

Fun backstory! Then…last question. What do you want from IotaSoft, the developers?

"Hmmm…. How about a Co-op mode? I do love speedrun rankings or high score rankings, but….I do want to play it with my friends. Trust in me! And we trust our friends! That's the Mu way!"

Ooh, a co-op mode! Never thought of that! Thanks for the valuable opinion!

"Thank you too! Hey, by the way, wanna see our cute Armus?"

"Aww, FiFi…." Sena mewled.

"Fiona's that good at the game? Whoa, expected that to happen." Lanz said.

"Why? There's nothing wrong, LanLan." Sena smirked.

"Hey! Don't call me that!"

"So…there's only one commander left to go over…." Taion said to Noah and Mio.

"I think….I know that someone. I'm pretty certain." Said Mio.

"Who is it?"

"I won't spoil it, let's just read the thing."

The place where the younglings train! It's Colony Gamma! And there's the awesome teacher, Teach! Hello, commander teach!

"Hello."

So, I heard that Colony Gamma is a place where Tiger Tiger is extra popular! Am I right?

"Indeed. We had the most machines in Aionios when the game was in the arcade phase. And we have lots of contests involving the game. Like speedrun contests, rarest treasures, story speedruns, and more. Since we have many younglings here, they really love it."

That's pretty interesting! Now that I heard about the colony, I want to hear about you. Do you play the game?

"I do. And I could say, I am a big fan."

Really? Then, what's your rank?

"1."

…..

….

1? Wait…. Is this…. AAA guy….you?

"Yes, AAA is my username."

Why….why do you use that name?

"You know….during the arcade era, we only had three letters for a username. So I kept using that since launch."

Oh my god…! Can't believe that I'm seeing the number one ranker in front of my eyes!

"My pleasure."

Okay….now…one last question. There is something pretty suspicious about this 'Oleg' guy on the server… He's at 4th place, but he came out of nowhere and just zoomed up. We tracked their IP, and found out that he was from Gamma. Any inf….?

"There's something that must be stayed hidden, my friend."

Okay, okay! Just….put that blade down!

"Thank you for your understandings."

Oh my god…. Anyways, we found the first-place ranker, and toured all of the colonies! The interview ends here, and I'll see you guys…. Next time!

"Now…that was…pretty long," Lanz said, plopping down on the bed.

"Yeah, and I never expected Teach to be the top ranker…." Noah said.

"He…was always good at the game ever since we were young… He has lots of experience, too." Sena added.

"Still, the 1st is Teach, 3rd is Ashera, 4th is the Oleg guy, and the 5th place is Alexandria. Aren't we missing someone?" Taion said, adjusting his glasses.

"Yeah, who's the second? Now I'm really curious!" Sena said, sitting next to Lanz. Noah nodded.

"Um….guys? May I go to the….latrine for a while…?" Mio said, raising her hand.

"Huh? You did go there like 10 minutes ago, love."

"Did I?"

"Uh, yeah,"

"Uh…well…guess I gotta go again! Uh….guys? You can play with my Xenophone while I'm gone, bye!" Mio said, as she quickly zoomed off the room.

"Mio's acting a bit weird today…." Eunie mumbled, scratching her hair.

"Anyway, I wanna try that game thingy! Let's see how hard it is!" Lanz said, grabbing the Xenophone.

"I'll watch!" Sena chirped.

"Well…I'll join too…." Taion said, sitting on another bed,

The party soon joined in a circle, watching Lanz pathetically die in a trap, or Noah finally beating the first stage. They raged and laughed, having a joyful time together.

Without Mio.

Where could she be….?

(Omake)

Aionios Times here, reporting from The City! On a search for the 2nd place of Tiger Tiger, we're here! And apparently, the 2nd place ranker currently lives here! Let's call her out.

"Greetings."

Yes, it is! It's Mio, the Ouroboros! You're the second place, right?

"Yep,"

And how did you get there in such of a short time? I heard you got imprisoned for a while back then!

"Oh, that…. That's….a complex event, so….I won't get into detail. But I happened to get the Xenophone as soon as possible."

Really?

"Yeah, a direct post from Alexandria. Labled as…. 'Respect the elders'. It was…a bizarre experience."

It must have been. Okay then, what's your username?

"It was originally Mimi. What Sena calls me. But…I changed to Eminem after the Definitive Edition."

Eminem? What does that mean?

"I tried M&M. But… the & symbol didn't work…. So….I tried my best to rhyme with words."

And why M and M?

"That's because…. I wanted to remember a certain someone who did so much for me and my partner…."

Is it… sensitive information?

"Probably. It'll take time to explain."

Okay….so…then…last question. I heard you won many contests from Teach in Colony Gamma.

"Yep,"

Could you explain what happened there?

"Totally, you know, I used to get nervous pretty often when I stood in front of many people, so…. My palms were sweaty, knees weak, arms were heavy. There was vomit on my sweater already, Manana's spaghetti."

Wha….?

"I was nervous but on the surface I was calm and ready, to drop bombs. But I kept on for…."

Uh….Mio….?

"The whole crowd went so loud, I opened my mouth, but the words won't come out. I was choking then, everybody was joking, wow. But the clock's run out, time's up, over, bl….."

Okay, okay, okay! End of the interview! Thank you for coming!

"You better lose yours…"

And that's how the interview ended.

This chapter...was planned to show every hero.

And I forgot about Segiri.

She'll...appear.

Someday.