[Miss Pink Fairy: Welcome to the Kiana Harem Group!]
[I'm Not Blondie: Welcome to the Kiana Harem Group!]
[King of Trash Cans: Welcome to the Kiana Harem Group!]
———
"..."
Inside a pink room, Elysia puffed up her cheeks as she looked at the stream of identical messages following behind hers.
———
[Miss Pink Fairy: Can you all stop copying what I say!]
[I'm Not Blondie: Can you all stop copying what I say!]
[King of Trash Cans: Can you all stop saying what I—ah! Sorry, Miss Fairy, I saw the plus sign and couldn't help it, couldn't help it.]
———
On the Astral Express, seeing Stelle suddenly slap her own left hand, March 7th was completely confused.
Leaning toward Dan Heng, she whispered, "Hey, do you think she accidentally fell and hit her head? Maybe she's gone dumb?"
"..."
Dan Heng didn't respond. Instead, Himeko, who had overheard, set down her coffee and said sternly, "March, talking about people behind their backs isn't a good habit, you know!"
Meeting Himeko's eyes, March scratched her head. "Won't do it again next time!"
By the window, Welt was quietly admiring the scenery outside the train, but upon hearing their conversation, he also turned his gaze toward Stelle.
From his angle, he could see Stelle smiling blankly at her phone.
If that were all, Welt would've just thought she was chatting with someone, but her phone screen was black.
Yes, Stelle was staring at a blank, turned-off screen… and smiling at it.
Thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him, Welt took off his glasses, wiped them clean, then put them back on, only to find the scene unchanged.
Watching Stelle acting so strangely, he couldn't help wondering if March's "hit her head" comment might actually be true.
'Who in their right mind smiles at a black screen?!'
'Maybe I should have Pom-Pom turn the train back to Herta Space Station and let Herta run some tests…'
The thought crossed Welt's mind.
Since Stelle was sitting with her back to March and the others, only Welt, who saw her from the side, noticed what was going on.
But while Welt was debating whether to take her for an examination, Stelle herself was completely unaware and fully absorbed in the group chat.
A world-shaking war was underway inside.
The main cause: [I'm Not Blondie] kept repeating everything [Miss Pink Fairy] said.
At first, she'd pretend to accidentally add plus signs like Stelle had done before, but once she got called out, she stopped even pretending.
"The second one doesn't have a plus sign."
After that, she just blatantly copied every line Elysia typed.
Meanwhile, Stelle had gone silent, happily lurking and watching the drama unfold.
A short while later...
[Miss Pink Fairy: Truce!]
Elysia, her fingers cramping, barely managed to type the word "truce."
[I'm Not Blondie: Truce!]
Blondie was quick to follow.
Seeing the other party copy her message yet again, Elysia was utterly speechless.
[Miss Pink Fairy: I'm serious!]
[I'm Not Blondie: I'm serious!]
Having had her fill of entertainment, Stelle stepped in to mediate.
[Enough! Did you guys forget why we're here?]
They were supposed to be welcoming the newcomer>
[Keep this up, and won't you scare them away?]
…Oh right, once someone joined, they probably couldn't leave anyway.
———
Levi, who had been quietly watching the chaos unfold, saw himself being mentioned and decided to speak up.
[Yang Does Sit-Ups: Hello everyone, my name is Welt Yang. You can just call me Old Yang.]
Reading that message, Stelle's smile froze. She turned her head toward Mr. Yang by the window.
And right at that moment, Welt happened to be looking at her too. Their eyes met, then both quickly looked away as if nothing had happened.
But the instant Stelle realized he'd been watching her, her heart tightened. 'No way… that's really Mr. Yang?'
Panicking, she quickly glanced at her profile picture, thankfully, it was still a trash can.
Good thing she hadn't listened when they told her to change it to her own photo, or she'd be totally exposed.
She definitely didn't want people she knew seeing what she was like online.
'No taking off the mask, please!'
Of course, no one else in the chat had any idea how tense Stelle was right now.
After Levi's "self-introduction," the others began introducing themselves too.
Seeing the familiar names pop up one by one, Levi nodded.
'All familiar faces!'
Miss Pink Fairy=Elysia.
I'm Not Blondie=Lumine, the blonde traveler.
Now only one remained, King of Trash Cans, the only member who hadn't said her name.
And, conveniently, the only one using a trash can as their profile picture instead of a photo.
Surely she wasn't literally a trash can, right?
Among the people he knew, who would ever pick a trash can as their name…
Levi already had his suspicions.
———
'What do I do?! What do I do?! It's my turn!'
Seeing everyone waiting for her introduction, Stelle's hand trembled slightly as she held her phone.
'Maybe I can pretend I suddenly got busy and log off?!'
'…but that would only work for a little while.'
Just then, Himeko noticed March staring intently at the coffee cup on the table and asked, "March, do you want some coffee?"
"No no no! I was just curious what the coffee's actually made from."
Hearing their exchange, Stelle's eyes flicked toward March, and then an idea struck her.
She turned her head and began furiously tapping on her black-screen phone.
[PhotoGirl: Hello everyone~ My name's March 7th, a member of the Astral Express~]
After thinking for a moment, she added, "My hobby is photography!"
Seeing Stelle suddenly change her name and profile picture at lightning speed, Elysia was puzzled.
"Didn't you say your name was 'Star'? When did you change it?"
'Don't expose me, Elysia!'
Stelle screamed internally when she saw Elysia's message.
At the same time, she subtly glanced toward Mr. Yang's seat, just in time to see him lift his head from his phone and look her way.
'Crap! It really is Mr. Yang!'
What might've been coincidence before was no longer so. The moment Elysia mentioned her real name, Mr. Yang just happened to look at her.
That sealed it, he was definitely the same person in the chat.
So Stelle began to act.
[PhotoGirl: Hahaha… sorry everyone, I used my friend's name before. I'm really sorry for deceiving you all!]
Elysia, intrigued now, suspected Stelle's odd behavior had something to do with this new member.
Could they actually know each other?
Curiosity buzzed in her mind, but her fingers kept moving swiftly.
[Miss Pink Fairy: Don't pretend, Star. Be honest. @Yang Does Sit-Ups, do you two know each other?]
Levi, who already knew Stelle's real identity, smiled faintly.
[Yang Does Sit-Ups: Miss Star… March 7th, was it? I don't know you, and I've never met you.]
[Yang Does Sit-Ups: @PhotoGirl You must've mistaken me for someone else.]
'As if I wouldn't know if I got it wrong!'
Seeing the attached meme, the man in it was obviously Mr. Yang. Who else could it be?
[PhotoGirl: You still say you're not Mr. Yang?!]
[PhotoGirl deleted a message]
[PhotoGirl: Hmm~ Maybe I did get it wrong~ Next time let's meet up offline, grab some food together~ I, March 7th, will pay with credits!]
Elysia's eyes lit up. 'An offline meetup!'
She knew what "credits" were, the currency from their world.
[Oh right! We still haven't introduced the newcomer to what this group is about!]
[Miss Pink Fairy: @WhiteHairBun, your harem group's got a new member, come out and explain what this chat is for!]
Usually, as soon as someone tagged her, WhiteHairBun would appear instantly. But this time, even after waiting a while, there was no response.
Elysia frowned slightly. "This thing guarantees they see it when tagged, so why isn't Kiana saying anything?"
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