Whaaat? A chapter released early? What is this madness?

Narukaze: It's not the physics engine that will be the biggest thing to overcome. The physics are pretty solid.

Ant: Understood. Have a nice day.

Hellifrit & Hillycube: Thank you.

It's a bit of a close call, but we make it to the concert with a little bit of time to spare. Sure, we're all huffing and puffing a bit when we arrive, but we decide that it's worth it to not miss the show.

The park is an absolute gongshow. I can imagine that this place has the potential of holding several thousand people, no problem.

Unfortunately, it seems that triple the recommended amount of occupants have been squeezed into this area, forming a veritable wall of warm meat. And the smell… It's horrible. Do any of these people shower? I mean, regularly? If it started to rain, what color would the residue be?

I can hardly hear myself think, so loud is the constant, irritating, irregular screeching of the crowd as they yip and holler at the still-empty stage. The concert hasn't even started yet and I'm already beginning to regret my choice to come.

Compa seems to witness me shuddering, and pokes me on the shoulder. She says something, but it's entirely drowned out by the white noise of the crowd. My head's spinning, but I'm not sure whether it's because of the odor, or due to the headache.

She leans in closer, and finally I'm able to hear her. "Are you alright, Derek?"

"I… I've never been to a concert like this before..." I utter back through gritted teeth. No wonder Marvy wanted to scalp her ticket… I hope this is all worth it…

Marvy's definitely visibly suffering as well, but I don't know if she's doing better or worse than I am. I don't want to pull her over to ask her, because then we'd start comparing our suffering and then anything involving both one-upmanship and physical pain never ends well. I guess my only option is to just tough it out.

This headache isn't helping my mood, I'm getting whiny.

Slowly, we walk down the side of the crowd, towards the front. Even as we pass people on our way forward towards the front seats, we're pointed at, mocked, or even just straight up flipped off by the crowd. Unfortunately, for every 'regular' person in the crowd, there's two unwashed, ornery otakus. I mean, there's probably good ones in here too, but it seems the ones nearest the sides aren't quite happy with our group walking right past them to the good seats.

The fact that they're flipping off the goddess candidates of both Lastation and Planeptune definitely isn't lost on me. Quite an audience we've got here. No wonder these little shits nearly threw a riot the minute Chika booked the wrong artists.

I'm practically grinding my own teeth to fine powder by the time we make it to the front section. On the plus side, the front few rows are much less noxious, as well as much quieter. It seems that the people who shelled out more are mostly actual civilized human beings. Who would have guessed?

Taking a breath of relief, I haphazardly throw myself into my designated plastic folding chair. From there, I begin to do my very best to calm my searing headache, perhaps in time for me to actually enjoy the concert. Uni takes the seat to my left, although she's nowhere near as uncomfortable as I am.

"I sense that cacophony such as this is not your favored locale." comes an amused voice to my right.

Oh great. I'm sitting beside a smart aleck.

"No. Obviously it is." I groan through gritted teeth. "If I wasn't, then why would I be here?"

"Hrrrm." replies the voice, "Then perhaps your purpose is as mine: to support the artist performing?"

It actually takes me a few moments to parse what exactly was said to me. Carefully, I raise my head from my lap, and take a look at the person beside me.

Long blue hair, pointed hat with the squiggly lines on it, white and black robe. Neutral, but vaguely amused face.

"Oh. It's MAGES.." I utter under my breath, no longer physically capable of thinking inside of my head. Unfortunately, I don't think I was quiet enough.

"Excuse me?" responds the Mad Magician, eyebrow raised. "Do I know you?"

Uh… Crap. Well, I guess I'll just play this off.

I shake my head slowly. "Sorry. I've heard of you, but we've never met."

"Hrmmm." begins MAGES. She closes for her eyes for a moment. When she opens them once more, she's staring directly towards me unnervingly. "Yet, you are aware enough of my appearance to recognise me at a glance… And even stranger, you pronounce my name in a way that is acceptable to me…"

"You're telling me your name is normally pronounced like it's being said by a wrestling announcer?" I ask, raising an eyebrow back at the… well, mage.

"My given name has many forms." MAGES. nods back. "That form, while strange, and slightly amusing, is acceptable enough for my purposes. Dare I ask your own?"

"Derek." I respond. There's an awkward pause, before I decide to just keep talking. "It's not as fancy, but really, I don't need a fancy name."

"Ah, so you prefer function over form." is the response. "I too can sympathize with that method, although both function and form quaver before stylistic choice."

"I see." I respond. Just like how this girl was force fed an abridged thesaurus.

"Mayhaps we can continue this later… I believe that the performance's advent is nigh."

The crowd slowly quiets down as the lights upon the stage begin to glow ever brighter. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Cave leaning against a structural pylon of the stage, watching the crowd.

I don't even know if she'll be able to get a good look at anything past the front rows. Wasn't her vision supposed to be really bad in the games? Either way, I think she's just here to keep an eye on 5pb., and provide moral support.

Speaking of which...

The crowd has finally hushed itself to a whisper, and finally 5pb. herself steps onto the stage, clutching her guitar in one hand, and a wireless microphone in the other. The stage below flashes to life as she steps forward, with every booted step triggering another rainbow cascade. She strikes a pose, does a little twirl, and pauses as the audience goes nuts.

"Wow! What a crowd we've got tonight! I can hardly count all of you!" speaks the idol, to which the crowd responds with a boom of cacophonic assent. "Thank you all for coming to my show tonight!"

5pb strikes another pose, before she continues. "Remember, the CPUs are the ones to thank for hosting this amazing concert, so remember to put your faith in them!"

The cheers are slightly quieter, but they're definitely still there.

Finally, 5pb. places her microphone into a stand, and grasps her guitar in both hands.

"Alright! Here we go!"

And thus begins the show.

The show's pretty solid from the beginning to the end. The music and vocals are top-notch, although if anything, they reminded me of EDM. The instrumentals are amazing, though.

I know that 5pb. is supposed to represent Neptunia's composer, but I'm not familiar enough with the themes to recognise them by heart.

Besides the anime opening theme, but that one was just awesome. Dimension Tripper, I think.

Chika didn't even mess up and bring out the wrong supporting artists this time, so the entire show goes off without a hitch. No angry crowds, no intervening Linda…

Everything goes well. Nearly effortlessly, I end up giving in to the music, letting my mind blank as I just enjoy the ride.

And thus, almost three hours later, I find myself stepping out of the park, smile on my face.

"So… Derek. I think we have time for one more stop before we call it a night. Where do you want to go?" asks Nepgear, as we step away from the crowd. The sky is beginning to dim overhead, but the sun hasn't quite set yet.

It took a bit of effort to avoid the majority of the dispersing horde, but we somehow pulled it off. A good thing, too, I can't imagine that the crowd would smell anything but more ripe after sitting around for the entirety of the concert.

"Huh? Why me?" I ask, as I quickly glance around to the others. In the corner of my eye, I can see that MAGES. is still lingering about nearby, perhaps to escape the crowd like we have. She'll probably leave soonish, to go do her own thing.

"Well… We already went to the shops we wanted, but you haven't had your choice yet." replies the Planeptune Candidate. "It wouldn't be fair to not let you have a turn, right?"

Makes sense, I guess. Too bad my mind's blank… I'm sort of mentally drained. I'd suggest to go back to the hotel, but it's still light out… Plus, they did ask for my opinion.

Well, I need to hit a grocery and a supplies store, but those are things I can do on my own. I don't really feel the urge to drag everyone to something that won't be interesting.

After all, they already did that for Nepgear earlier, right?

So what to do...

I glance about, before my eyes once more turn towards MAGES.. Is she looking for her cousin?

Y'know, magic would be really handy. Maybe I could check that out?

"How about a magic store?" I venture, "I don't know any magic right now, and I think it'd be cool to pick up a spell tome or something."

IF seems to look me over for a moment, before she nods. "Could be a good idea. You seem like you'd have the INT for it, anyway."

Marvy chuckles quietly. "Well, I'd normally recommend against picking up too many things, but you're already juggling everything else, so what's another one for the pile?"

There's collective nods, before Compa steps in. "So Derek… Do you know where the magic store is?"

Well… Damn. I guess that's a bust. Seriously, none of them know? I was sort of banking on IF or Marvy knowing.

"Uhhh… No." I state slowly. "I was hoping one of you girls would know where to find one."

Needless to say, I don't get a single affirmative back. Great. Just great.

"Excuse me. I believe you are attempting to locate the nearest magician's locale?" comes a voice from behind us.

Thank you, plot convenience.

Wait. Is it really plot convenience? I don't think this has anything to do with the plot… Maybe just convenience in general.

Nepgear nods back excitedly. "Yes! If it's not too much trouble, could you show us where it is? We're hoping to check it out before it gets too late out."

"Hmhmmmm! You seek the aid of MAGES., the Mad Magician? I think I can find within myself enough time to help such needy folk as yourselves." nods the blue-haired girl. She turns towards me. "Especially for a fan of mine as dedicated as you, young aspiring magician."

I only nod back. 'Young aspiring magician' is definitely not the worst thing I could be called. I could be called 'assistant' like Noire. Either that or just 'test subject'.

IF forces her face into her hands. "Oh Goddesses. We're getting another one." she groans, although her hands definitely do not entirely muffle her voice.

"Is there something wrong with your companion?" asks the magician, eyebrow raised.

"No, nothing wrong." I say, throwing the brunette a distasteful look. "Lead the way?"

As we follow the mage to our next destination, I can't help but overhear Marvy whisper, "I bet a hundred credits they recruit this one too."

"Eugh. No bet." replies IF. "I know how this will end."

The inside of the magician's shop is… different than what I was expecting.

Namely, it's a shop. Just a regular shop.

I was expecting black curtains, glass scrying orbs, scattered multicolored candles, or shrunken heads or something. Maybe a few magic circles on the ground.

Instead, it's shelves, counters, and magical staves and tools hanging on the walls as if they were mere gardening tools. I guess that's what happens in a world as infused with magic as this.

The other girls are more or less just wandering around, in search of their own things. It seems I'm the only one brand new to magic.

"You seem surprised, apprentice." smirks MAGES., who is staring at me in vague amusement even as I glance about the shop. "Were you expecting a more grandiose entrance?"

I nod back. "I expected a fog machine, at the very least. Old women in robes. Maybe even a few toads hanging from the ceiling."

"You'll find that magic is much more utilitarian than that. Besides, toads rarely keep in the hot air, do they?" MAGES. leads me further into the shop. "Say, which element do you prefer? It is always a good idea to begin with a spell that suits your nature."

I think for a moment, before I respond. "Fire. Failing that, Electricity… or uhh… Wind? I've always loved the heat."

That and maybe shadow magic, but that feels like something that'd be much harder to learn. Still, it'd be awesome to be able to stealth around everywhere undetected.

"Hrm. Fire magic? Rather pedestrian if I say so myself. But useful, nonetheless. An excellent choice for a novice spellcaster." states the magician. She nods towards the girl manning the cash register, before she begins to dig through the nearby shelves.

Gazing over my shoulder, I can see both Uni and IF frowning at MAGES. from behind. It seems they were both browsing the section that we're in. They're both fire mages, right?

"Here." I'm tapped on the shoulder, and handed a tome emblazoned with the standard clip-art flame. From there I'm taken over towards another corner of the shop, which looks like the floors, walls, and ceiling were laminated.

There's a target dummy in the dead center, sitting atop a metal pylon. It's shaped like a Dogoo wearing a witch hat. Classic.

"So… How do I work this thing?" I ask, as I flip the book over in my hands. Opening it to a random page reveals nothing besides gobbledegook in a different runic language. I can't find a pattern in it, and staring at the text for too long is giving me a headache.

It… doesn't look like Latin script. What even is this? Is there a pattern? Flipping through the pages is making my head spin.

"Merely exert your will upon it, and it shall grant you its power. The contents of the book itself are merely manifestations of the magic within." states MAGES., who steps back to let me do my thing. "Do not worry. This corner is specially treated to disrupt wayward magical energies. There is no risk of collateral damage."

Exert… I close the book, and step up towards the target.

Carefully, I lower my left hand to the book, and focus upon the space between my fingers. I can feel my fingers tensing from my muscles contracting. I close my eyes to focus deeper, before I lift my hand from the book. I take one final deep breath, and gaze into my tensed hand.

Nothing.

"Uhh… Can you be a bit more specific?" I ask, although I'm not moving my hands from their positions. Don't want to risk even a chance of a misfire.

MAGES. sighs, before she states, "Point your fingers towards the target and say 'fire bolt'."

"Why didn't you tell me to do that in the first place?" I ask, eyebrows raised.

"Because it is poor practice to vocalize the names of the spells you cast. It makes counterspelling and evasion much more likely." states the magician. "It also breeds bad habits which are harder to shake much later, such as the inability to cast silently."

Makes sense, I suppose. I point my left hand towards the dummy, fingers cocked like a gun. "Fire bolt." I intone.

I flinch, expecting heat, or a miscast, or something. I don't know where exactly the bolt would be summoned, and there might always a chance that the spell could launch from one of my bent fingers. Or from my palm, and go flying off to the side.

The key word there was 'might'.

I instead get nothing. My hands are still the exact same temperature as they were earlier. There's not even a glow, a spark… nothing.

"Fire bolt. Fire bolt. Fire Bolt.." I repeat, first with a still hand, then a jab, and then finally a mimed firing of a gun. "Fire Bolt, damn you! Why is this so difficult?"

I can hear giggling behind me, but I don't turn around to check who it is. It seems someone's come over to figure out what the commotion is about.

"The hell am I doing wrong?" I growl, as I stare down at the defective book. "Fire Bolt!"

Nothing. Maybe a different method? I mean, if regular spellcasting doesn't work...

"Burn you worthless goddamn piece of shit!" I scream, pretty much flailing my hand towards the dummy. "Burn, damn you!"

My target of course remains unburniated. I hear the sound of someone clearing their throat from the area behind me, probably the cashier. I suppose my frustrated profanity is less than acceptable.

Either way, I don't care. If this doesn't work soon, I'm going to throw the damn book at the target, and see if that does it.

The giggling rises in pitch and volume as I continue lose my patience. I wind my arm back, as I take aim at the stubborn target.

"Perhaps the product itself is defective?" asks MAGES.. The weight of the book leaves my hand, just before I am able to launch it. "Allow me an attempt with it. Perhaps I can identify the problem."

I step backwards and away, and take a seat nearby to cool my temper. That book better be damn defective, otherwise it will be what burns.

Without even a hint of visible effort, a glowing bolt of energy surges from MAGES.'s fingers, impacting the dummy with a sizzle. "It is working fine. I do not understand why you cannot manipulate it. Fire bolt is novice-level magic. I was personally taught it at the age of six."

MAGES. stares towards me for a moment, before she seems to get an idea. "Please stay at your current position. I will go acquire something to better gauge your magical potential."

She then wanders off into a different portion of the shop. I'm pretty much just left here, looking like an idiot. Behind me, I can see that I've managed to draw the attention of the entire gang, all of whom are staring at me in varying degrees of amusement. RED and Uni shoot me a thumbs up, although RED is probably doing it just to mock me.

"Ah screw off, all of you. This is my first time, alright?" I state, rolling my eyes. I debate sticking out my tongue too, but I decide against it. "You really think I'd get it right the first time? Get real."

Nepgear smiles back, although I still get a feeling she's laughing at me, rather than with me, "I didn't say anything."

"You better not." I warn, as I place down the book on a nearby shelf. Holding the thing isn't helping me any. Plus, if I throw it, I'll be at the risk of falling for 'You break it, you buy it'.

MAGES. returns about a minute later with something that resembles the radar gun scanner things cops use to detect speeding cars. There's a dial on one side of the thing, a trigger on the handle, and some kind of screen on the back. I can't see the screen, what with the fact that it's pointed directly at me.

"Is that thing dangerous?" I ask. It's probably not, but you never know.

"There have been no recorded fatalities or injuries directly resulting from the manipulation, utilization, or association with of this device. Hold still, please." she says, as she moves her finger atop the button. "I am trying to discern your magical element. When I was but an apprentice, I mis-identified my own element as well. Sometimes affinities do not map as cleanly as you would expect."

She clicks the device, and I don't feel any different. Huh. Was I supposed to feel different? There's a little red dot that appears on my midsection, sort of like a laser pointer.

And then she blinks. She clicks the button again, then once more. "Strange. These readings do not... I've never seen..." There's a heavy tone of confusion on her voice, and a puzzled look on her face.

She then slowly begins to rotate the dial, before clicking again.

She's staring at me now, with an expression I can't recognise. Why is she staring?

"What's wrong?" I ask, unsure of what exactly is happening. She doesn't seem to have heard me. "Does it need to be on exposed skin, or something?"

MAGES. rotates the dial all of the way to the end, and clicks the trigger one final time.

"How…" asks MAGES., eyes wide in confusion, but also in excitement. "This… This is unprecedented! There's no way a human body can sustain itself..."

What?

"I what?" I ask, as I attempt to walk forward, but I'm waved backwards by the blue-haired girl.

"You… This scanner cannot pick up any magic. None whatsoever, even on its lowest setting! But…" she continues, clicking the device frantically even as she speaks. "I've never run into something like this! Not even in my most complicated of studies!"

"Give me that." states IF, who walks up to the stunned magician from behind us. "You're probably just doing it wrong. These things are super sensitive. There's no way they'd not pick him up."

IF grabs the device from the magician's slacked grip, points it towards me, and clicks the trigger. She gazes towards the screen for a moment, and blinks at it. "Get another one. This one has to be busted. There's no way."

As MAGES. runs off to grab another scanner, IF points the defective device towards her foot, and clicks the trigger. A loud, shrill BEEP fills the air. She then removes a healing herb from her inventory, and scans that. Another beep, although much quieter. From there she continues to point it at random objects: first a book on the shelf, then the target, and then finally at the untreated floor. All but the floor and the target return affirmative beeps.

"What the hell. But it works… The hell? So then he must... but… but… whuh?" she trails off, staring into the distance deep in thought.

The other girls are looking at me in confusion and concern, like I'm about to either keel over or explode. I'm beginning to feel ever so slightly self-conscious.

"Derek… Are you all right? Are you feeling okay?" asks Compa, rushing forward to take my temperature. The rest of the party quickly follow. "Your forehead's not warm… And you seem to have a normal heartbeat… I've never heard of a sickness like this..."

"Will he be okay?" asks Uni. She has a horrified expression on her face.

I swear, if someone asks if it's contagious, and I'm treated like a leper from now on...

"I'm fine!" I respond, hoping to calm down the situation. It doesn't work. If anything, everyone's somehow freaking out even more. "I'm fine! Seriously! The hell is going on?"

"I've got another one!" shouts MAGES., rushing forward with three scanners in her hands. She's dropped her grandiose speech pattern entirely. "Try these!"

Three more sets of frantic clicking return the same results. Negative. Nada. Null.

"Wait… So is he like a robot, or something?" asks Nepgear, who finally speaks. She's probably the only one of the group not freaking out… Besides RED, who seems to be just staring at me like I'm a space alien.

"No, I'm pretty sure that robots have magic… It's how they're powered, right?" responds Marvy, who has been silent up until now. "Do you… Do you need to go to a hospital?"

I shake my head. "Seriously, I don't understand why you guys are all freaking out. I've never had magic, never. Never cast a single spell, never shot a single spark. This isn't a big deal!"

"Derek." responds Compa, in a voice far more serious than any I've ever heard her speak in. "I'm a nurse. And I'm telling you: magic is necessary for life… Or at least, that's what I've been taught in medical school. There's no way you should be conscious right now, much less talking and moving around. The lowest recorded magical concentration in a human being was from a girl being hospitalized while suffering from complete magical exhaustion, and even she registered on the scanners."

I shake my head. This situation has gotten entirely out of hand.

"I'm fine! I've been fine!" I shout. "Me not having magic isn't new! That's why I wanted to go to this shop in the first place!"

"But Derek. There's a difference between not being good at magic, and not having magic altogether." states Uni. "There's tons of people who aren't any good at magic, but even they are picked up by the scanners. I've never heard of someone without any magic whatsoever, and it's not like someone can just suddenly lose their magic. Actually, can they?"

I take in a breath. Fuck it, time to take the plunge. If I don't explain myself now, the questions are only going to get worse. "Alright. Fine. Look. I'm going to say some things that are going to sound freaky or really hard to believe, but really, they're the only possible answers for this. Sound fair? I mean, I think I've bought myself a bit of credibility with the fact that I'm not dead and not unconscious. Right?"

I take the silence back as a positive, or at least not a negative.

"Okay, have any of you ever heard of the multiverse theory? How each world exists, but might have little quirks, or changes in them? How there are infinite dimensions with infinite possibilities?" I continue.

The silence immediately becomes ten times as uncomfortable. They all stare at me, perhaps asking me to elaborate.

"Basically, I'm from a world that's a lot like this one, except it doesn't have magic. No magic whatsoever. I ended up in this dimension about a month ago, after… something happened. I woke up in a forest over in Planeptune, not remembering how I got there or why. I've mostly just done what I could to earn a living." I speak.

I was really, really hoping to not have to tell them this, what with the fact that it pretty much annihilates my credibility. 'Oh hey I joined you because I woke up in a forest somewhere.'

I'm mentally wincing even as I speak. I really do wish I knew the details… then I'd be able to weave a real story.

The silence is broken but a moment later.

IF shakes her head at me and replies in a low tone. "I'm not buying it. I mean, sure, a world like that might exist, but you walk, talk, and act like a person from this dimension. Not to mention that it's a pretty massive coincidence that you somehow look nearly-identical to a person from this dimension, despite the fact that your so called 'home' is as fundamentally different as you say?"

"Wow, you're really a space alien then!~" smirks RED.

"You can't seriously believe him… I'm willing to believe him if he says that it's just a genetic mutation, but this whole 'other dimension' thing… It… it sounds really crazy for something like this." responds IF, who is staring at the others. "It's a bit hard to believe, right? You're with me, right, Compa? I think he's just making up a story. Derek. You're joking, right?"

"I don't think it's right to say that he's lying without knowing for sure. He sounds like he's trying to tell the truth." Compa replies, but she seems to think for a moment. "Maybe he doesn't have magic, because he just wasn't exposed to the correct nutrients as a child?"

Marvy nods. "That makes more sense. Still, you'd need to live in a pretty cloistered place to not be exposed to magic…"

MAGES. shakes her head in disbelief. "To live entirely without magic… I cannot begin to fathom it."

I take in a deep breath. I expected many things… but flat out disbelief wasn't one of them.

I could deny everything and play it off as a joke, or go with the out they're offering me. But…

I don't want to lie about this. I don't want to bury this on purpose.

I slowly turn my gaze over the party. Do any of them believe me? Morton's fork is against me here… The obvious solution here isn't the correct one.

Would I even believe myself, if I was in their place?

"I… Do you mind if I step outside for a moment? I swear I won't go far." I speak, gazing down. "I need to gather my thoughts."

The girls say something, or maybe they don't. I don't care, nor do I really pay attention. I flee from the store, round a corner, and stride off into the distance.

"Fuck." I murmur, as I lean against a building, hood up and jacket zipped all of the way. I'm in an alley, sitting just out of sight. I'm running from my issues, but that's what I'm good at…

"Heh heh…" I fail to suppress my chuckle, but it's empty and emotionless. Look at me, I'm the Underling of emotional issues. Fastest man alive, but only when it comes to running from them.

The sun's starting to ebb low in the sky, dying the sky above crimson. The sunset's in full motion, and here I am, hiding in an alley.

To have the truth I've been hiding be laughed off as a joke… it hurts. It actually hurts.

The wind sends a loose tin can clacking down the concrete, to which I respond to sending the thing flying off into the distance, where it collides with someone's garbage bin. Fuck you, tin can. Learn to recycle.

I didn't know what to expect when the truth came out, but I definitely didn't expect this. At least they didn't lock me up, or decide to experiment on me…

Rapid footsteps from my left draw my attention, lifting my gaze back upwards.

It's Uni. She looks over in my direction and lets loose a breath, before she sprints over beside me. I move over a bit to allow her to lean against the building as well.

"Derek. There you are!" she says, voice heavy with relief. "The others were getting worried."

"Oh…" I murmur through my jacket. "Sorry. I was going to head back soon… I needed just a bit of time alone. I didn't expect that to go like that. I mean, I knew this was coming, but... When a little shop trip ends up like something like this..."

I just sit there for a moment. What do I do? How do I progress from here? Do I keep pretending everything is fine and just deflect? I could follow her, and pretend everything's fine… But back in my world, that's all I ever did. I never fixed myself, only ignored the pain.

And untreated wounds tend to fester, no matter where they are. They fester and fester until you just can't take any more.

"So… Derek?" asks Uni after a minute of silence. I gaze upwards, just enough to make eye contact. She probably can't even see my face - my hood's obscuring it.

"Yeah…?" I reply. I'm a million miles away right now... Deflecting won't help… Eventually, I will need to explain… and I don't think the same story twice will cut it.

"Is the dimension you're like really that different from this one?"

I take a deep breath, as I try to calm myself down. "I'm not lying…" I murmur, eyes unfocused against the brick wall ahead of me.

And then my brain begins to parse what exactly was said. "Wait… You believe me?"

"You've never lied to me before… so, why wouldn't I believe you?" she states back, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"You… You actually believe me." I repeat. I take a breath, and gaze back upwards. I fidget with my hood for a moment, before I flip it backwards.

I get a nod back. "I'm actually curious about what it's like, though."

"Well…" I begin, trying to understand where to start. "My world… It's not perfect. No world is. People make mistakes, and those mistakes range from unnoticeable to… hilariously bad. It's mostly full of good people at heart and educated people… But often, you wouldn't be able to tell. Heh, the loudest people often aren't the brightest. There's way too many nations to name, and so many people with different values and beliefs. They don't always get along, that's to say at the very least."

"And…" there's a slight pause, before Uni continues, "Are there Goddesses in your world, as well? What are they like?"

I stare back at her. Uhh… I'm technically an atheist. So...

"I mean, there isn't magic, so there might not be Goddesses… Why are you looking at me like that?" she stutters, losing steam halfway through her question. I'm probably staring, and/or doing an impression of a deer in the headlights.

"I… Uhh…" I reply, before I just lowball it and go for the safe option. "No one knows. There might be, there might not, but either way, they don't interact with the humans very much. Please don't ask my that question ever again, because…"

I gaze around, looking for the fourth wall, but I can't find the damn thing. Curses.

"Just don't. Okay?" I state, stepping away from the wall.

Uni sighs at my strange behavior, before she shrugs. "If you say so… We should head back. The others were all looking for you."

"Do any of the others believe me?" I ask as we walk, hoping for at least someone else to take my side.

"Well... Compa seemed to, at least. I'm not sure about any of the others. Maybe the red-headed pervert girl, but she's… she's hard to read."

I laugh back with her. "Yeah, RED's like that. Either way, thank you for coming out to find me. Are all of the others waiting for you to come back?"

Uni smiles, but she shakes her head. "I wasn't the only one looking for you, though. Marvy, Nepgear, and Compa were looking too. I guess I was the luckiest of them."

"Oh…" I respond. "How did you find me, then?"

"I… well, I looked for where I'd go to hide if someone did something like this to me." she admits.

"Nice." I respond. I flash her a small smile, and we continue to walk for a bit longer in silence.

She stops for a moment, before she turns to me. "I really wish I could stay with you and the rest, but well… Lastation's shares are pretty low right now, so I need to head back home to get them back up. I was planning on telling the others when we get back, but well…"

She takes a breath, before she states, "Thanks for the great day."

I begin to mouth the words, "Well, you should thank the others too.", but that's sort of cut off.

Mostly because she hugs me.

There's several seconds of silence on my end as I try to figure out what exactly is happening, before I finally reboot enough to return the hug. It's… nice.

And as soon as it starts, it's gone. "We should go back." she says.

I can't tell if she's blushing or not, since she's facing away, but either way I can't kill the smile on my face. "Lead the way."

The others welcome me back more or less with open arms. Some of them still might not believe my less-than-believable story, but either way, there's nothing negative waiting for me. They just 'wrote it down' as a medical issue and called it a day. There were a few questions whether my allergies had anything to do with my magical deficiency, but my response of "I have no idea." more or less answered those.

MAGES. is still kicking around, having chosen to sign on with the Nep crew to have a chance to experiment on and research history's first recorded non-magical person, which hopefully won't bite me on the ass too hard in the future. I'm fine with giving blood, or the like, but I draw the line at probes.

They accept Uni's statement of heading home with some remorse, although there's promises all around that they'll meet back up with her the moment they head back to Lastation. Apparently our crew's planning on sticking around for another few days, to get the necessary shopping done.

And thus, we find ourselves checking in at the Basilicom at barely sunset, exhausted from the long day we just had. One by one, we have our showers, and soon, we're all sleeping like logs.

I'm the last one to fall asleep. For the first time in a while, despite my exhaustion, I can't sleep easy.

I can't help but shake the feeling that I'm forgetting something.

It can't be past midnight by the time I wake back up, sweat dripping from my brow and heart pounding in my chest.

"What…" I begin, before it finally hits me.

Leanbox arc is over. Chapter 2 is over.

The show has just begun.

As quickly as I can, I jerk to my feet, and scramble towards the light switch. Even as the room is illuminated against the blackness outside, the others are out cold. I could wake them up… but this is a hunch, and they deserve the time off.

How long was Uni unconscious in the game?

I don't know if anything is going to happen.

I don't know if the plot is even still intact, if my memories of the game are even still accurate.

But every sense in my body is warning me that something is about to go wrong.

I take a breath as I dig through a nearby rubbish bin, retrieve a piece of paper, and scribble onto it quickly, "Gone to Lastation. I have a bad feeling. Come when you can. ~Derek."

I then place one of the polyhedron things atop of it, so that at least it won't move by the wind or something.

Sure, it's sort of suspicious.

But I'd rather be cast out than risk this. I'm not able to change things enough to stop this, but I can at least help.

It's the least I can do.

It's the least I should do.

The sky is pitch black by the time I exit the Basilicom. The night staff look at me strangely as I sprint from the building, but I don't pay them any heed.

I barely even slow down until I hit the docks.

And from there, under the cover of the pitch-black sky above, I take the last boat of the day to Lastation.

Hoping with all my might that I am wrong.