"Thank you, Miss Texas!"
Texas's steps paused for a moment as the boy's voice echoed behind her, shouting his thanks.
Then she resumed walking without saying anything, but unbeknownst to her, a faint smile appeared on her face from his gratitude.
It wasn't until she reached the living room area that she heard Croissant's loud yelling, which made her expression return to normal.
"This stupid game is way too hard!"
"I'm suing! I'll sue them for damages! They used our likenesses in the game without permission, and they didn't even include a difficulty setting!"
As Texas entered the living room, she saw Sora standing nearby while Croissant and Exusiai were sitting and playing on their phones.
Croissant looked visibly upset, while Exusiai seemed completely unfazed.
Texas asked,
"What's going on?"
"Oh, Texas! You came at the right time!" Croissant shouted, still tapping furiously on her phone and offering no further explanation.
Texas just tilted her head slightly, clearly confused about what was going on.
Then Sora pulled out her own phone and walked over to show the app to Texas.
"Here, Miss Texas. I'm not sure why, but this strange app just installed itself on all of our devices. When we opened it, we found it was some kind of game that starts by having you choose one of four organizations. And one of them is our own—Penguin Logistics. Our faces are all over it too."
"All of our faces...?" For the first time, Texas showed a serious expression.
"I think you'd better take a look for yourself," Sora said, not sure how to explain it clearly, and handed her phone over.
When Texas looked at the screen, she saw four organizations listed, just as Sora described.
She was well-acquainted with "Rhine Lab" and "Blacksteel" since she was born in Columbia and had lived there for a while. The names were very familiar. As for L.G.D., she knew that one intimately too—it was the state organization of Lungmen, essentially the police. But she didn't understand why they were included as an ally option in the game.
Still, that wasn't too important. After all, it was just a game. Maybe the developers just liked it that way. What really puzzled her was the leader of L.G.D. in the image—it was someone she recognized: Ch'en. And she looked older, judging by her attire, which no longer resembled her usual officer's uniform.
Could the developer be someone from Lungmen?
Then she looked at the last organization: Penguin Logistics.
When she selected it, an image of five people sitting on a sofa appeared in the center. The background was clearly Boss's bar.
On the far left was Sora, flashing a peace sign and smiling at the camera like she was posing for a photo shoot. Next to her was Texas herself, coolly eating Pocky with one arm draped across the back of the sofa. On the far right stood Croissant behind everyone, flashing a peace sign and smiling like Sora. Beside her was Exusiai, who had her arm around the man in the center and smiled sweetly at the camera. Interestingly, Exusiai in the picture had shorter hair, unlike her current longer style.
The last person was a white-haired young man seated in the middle. His striking face and clothing were distinctive, though covered with a Penguin Logistics cloak.
He was flanked on either side by Texas and Exusiai. Texas was startled the moment she saw him. He stood out the most, maybe because he was the only male in the group and wore such a gentle smile.
Though she didn't want to think about it that way... there was no denying it—the man looked like some kind of playboy, surrounded by a group of girls.
That was what crossed Texas's mind.
And all those women were their friends. No wonder it left her a bit irritated.
"Who is that man?"
In Texas's mind, she never once thought it could be Ren. Aside from the hair color, there was almost nothing similar—his face, his eyes, and especially his build, which differed so drastically it was like night and day.
"We don't know either," Sora replied. "At first, Croissant thought it was just some prank by fans. But when we contacted Boss about it, he said he didn't know anything. So we sent him some screenshots—but he said we just sent him blank images."
To show what she meant, Sora pulled up their recent messages with Boss.
Texas looked over the phone and saw all the screenshots they had sent from the game, followed by Boss's replies:
[General Storekeeper]: [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image]
[Emperor]: What's this? Why are you sending me blank pictures?!
[Emperor]: You crazy kids!! I'm busy working on music! If you've got nothing better to do, stop bothering me!
Texas stared at the images, which clearly showed in-game screenshots.
"Judging from Boss's replies, he's not lying. He really can't see them..."
Sora nodded, her face full of concern.
"That's why Exusiai and Croissant are so hyped. They think it might be some kind of special magic or something. They've been playing nonstop. They believe there might be some kind of reward if they finish the game. But Miss Texas, could you stop them, please? What if this turns out like one of those movies where people get stuck inside the game after losing?"
At that moment, Croissant chimed in,
"Don't worry, Sora. I already lost." She held up her screen, which now said Game Over, putting Sora's worries to rest—it seemed nothing bad had happened from losing.
"Ugh, this game is ridiculous! The controls are a mess, the commands are confusing, and you don't even get rewards for winning fights. Not even a health refill! Who was this game made for?!"
"My whole team got wiped out after I finally beat that annoying red-haired Looper girl, only to run into some psycho kid who revived all the dead enemies as zombies! And then they won't even let me continue the story right away! I have to wait a whole day before I can try again! This is the strictest mobile game I've ever played!"
"And what about you, Exusiai?" Texas asked, turning to the red-haired Sankta who was still casually playing next to Croissant.
"Hm? Oh... I think I just finished. The game's playing a cutscene now."
"What?!" Croissant cried, immediately turning to look at her screen, with Sora and Texas also stepping in to see.
They arrived just in time to see Ace throwing himself in front of Amiya and the others, shielding them from the flames.
"No! Boss Ace! You can't just sacrifice yourself like that!"
Croissant was almost in tears, as if she were really there.
But the emotional moment was instantly shattered by her next line.
"He's the tankiest unit in the team! If he dies, who's going to hold the front line for me?!"
"Croissant... you do remember you didn't make it past that stage, right?" Exusiai teased with a smirk.
"Hmph! Next time! I swear, I'll clear it next time!"
But just as everyone was getting caught up in the banter, a mysterious voice rang out and a brown stone pillar appeared in the scene, blocking the flames engulfing Ace.
The figure who appeared on-screen made Sora and Croissant's eyes go wide.
"W-wait, it's him! That guy in the middle of the sofa! He's the protagonist!"
"Wow... that's like something out of a superhero movie," Sora gasped in admiration.
But then she noticed something and turned to Texas, who stood frozen beside her.
"Miss Texas?"
It wasn't just Texas—even Exusiai, who had been bantering with Croissant a moment ago, looked pale as if she'd seen a ghost. The reason was the familiar brown pillar... and the words spoken by the man who summoned it:
[???]: Sorry I'm late. Everyone from Rhodes Island, I'm Officer Zhongli from Penguin Logistics. I'm here to help you.
"That man is... Ren?!"
Meanwhile, at the L.G.D. headquarters...
Ch'en was staring at her phone screen, watching as the white-haired man saved Rhodes Island from the woman named W at the last second—by summoning a stone pillar between them.
"That stone pillar..."
Even if it was just a CG image, Ch'en immediately recognized the uncanny similarity—about 90%—to the stone pillar she had seen in the mall.
She was still wondering who the mysterious man could be... until she heard his introduction.
[???]: Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. I'm Officer Zhongli, a staff member from Penguin Logistics stationed in Lungmen. Sorry for scaring everyone. I just wanted to help since you looked like you were in trouble.
Behind him, several people he had rescued were huddled safely, making his words seem even more sincere.
"Zhongli... Penguin Logistics..." Ch'en muttered, lifting her eyes to the monitor showing security footage from the mall that she had just obtained from that annoying cat.
The screen showed a skinny white-haired boy standing beside Texas and Exusiai, raising his hand—at the exact moment a brown stone pillar appeared to save a girl.
"I'll have to meet this guy myself..."