When Akirito opened his eyes again, he found himself back in the dark, surreal void of Fiona's Domain.
The cracked-glass skies glimmered faintly above, and countless floating fragments of realities hovered like stars.
In the center of it all, lounging comfortably on a velvet sofa, was Fiona—the Reality Scar Witch.
She lay lazily with one leg over the other, munching on a biscuit, her lotus crown slightly tilted, and her long brown hair draped like a curtain of silk.
"Oh hey, darling~" she said without looking at him, waving a hand casually. "Welcome back. Hehe. You lost the romance stage."
Akirito clenched his jaw. His face showed obvious annoyance.
"Yes, yes—I lost. Whatever." He crossed his arms. "Now what? What reality do I have to face next?"
Fiona glanced at him with a playful grin, still nibbling.
"Still think you can write a better story than me?"
Akirito stepped forward confidently. "I will. Just give me the next one. I'll win for sure this time!"
Fiona giggled. "Energetic, aren't we~?"
She lifted a finger and pointed lazily toward one of the many floating glass shards. It glowed faintly in a pale blue hue.
"Go ahead. That one."
She yawned.
"I'm too lazy to walk right now~"
"Tch… fine," Akirito muttered, marching toward the shard.
He reached out and placed his hand on its glowing surface.
"So? What kind of reality is this?" he asked.
Fiona's voice echoed into his ears, sultry and smug.
"It's a mystery reality, darling~"
"A murder has occurred in that world. Your task is to solve the case and find the real culprit. If you succeed—you win the stage."
"A mystery, huh?" Akirito narrowed his eyes. "So it's a detective genre story this time…"
"That's right," Fiona confirmed. "Let's see how you handle this one. It's going to be much harder~"
Akirito smirked. "Tch, shut up. I can handle it."
Fiona stood up from her sofa, twirling her staff as she smiled with excitement.
"Well then…" she said, raising her hand dramatically.
"Let the next chapter begin!"
The moment Akirito fully touched the center of the shard, it glowed with intense light, swallowing his body whole.
The glass exploded into pieces—
—and he vanished.
When the light faded, Akirito found himself again in his World but this time is Mystery Genre.
Then, when Akirito was in his university class, everything seemed normal—until suddenly, another teacher rushed into the room and said to Lee-sensei,
"Oh no, Lee-sensei! Something terrible happened. A student was found dead... it looks like suicide!"
Hearing that, all the students in the class were struck with fear and began to panic.
At that moment, Akirito thought to himself, "I see... so it begins."
Lee-sensei turned pale and said, "This is bad! We need to go now!"
Then, addressing the students, he added, "Sorry, everyone. Class is dismissed for now. You may leave—we have urgent matters to handle."
All the students nodded and replied, "Okay, Sensei!"
After Lee-sensei left with the other teacher, the classroom buzzed with anxious chatter as students began discussing the shocking news. Meanwhile, Akirito stayed silent, deep in thought.
"Hmm... so the mission is to find the culprit. But the boy died by suicide… then, who's the real criminal behind this?" he wondered.
Just then, a girl walked up to Akirito and asked, "Um… hey, do you know anything about what happened?"
Akirito replied calmly, "Um... no."
But suddenly, a boy nearby pointed at him and said, "You're acting kinda suspicious. Even after hearing someone died, you're so calm."
Another girl added, "That means... maybe he knows something?"
Annoyed, Akirito snapped, "Shut up! What are you trying to say? That I'm the killer!? I didn't even know the guy!"
The boy backed off and said, "If you're not, then fine."
Later that evening, the police were on the scene, investigating and searching for clues.
Akirito approached one of the officers and asked, "Um, sir... did you find any clues yet?"
The officer looked at him and said, "Huh? No, kid. Nothing solid yet. Who are you?"
"I'm Akirito, a first-year university student," he replied.
The officer nodded and said, "I see. So your senpai—the one who died—was in his second year. Did you know him? Ever see him before?"
"No, sir," Akirito answered honestly.
"Well, night's coming soon. You'd better head home," the officer said.
But Akirito quickly added, "Sir, I have something important about the case…"
The officer gave him a suspicious stare and said, "Hmm? Really now? Alright, fine. But you'll stay with me."
"Okay. Thank you, sir," Akirito replied.