Inside a private room at May Queen Nyan-Nyan, Hachiman was deep in the world of ALO. Back in reality, six onlookers—including the sentient Hachiman-kun doll—sat transfixed by the monitors.
"Oh, the feed is up!"
"Is that a city?"
"Is that Hachiman-san? The one in the middle?"
"That's Arun-nyan," Faris explained. "I saw it when they gave me the tour-nyan."
"The capital of ALO," Daru added, his voice full of geeky reverence. "It's massive-o."
As they watched, a swarm of players began to coalesce around Hachiman's avatar.
"What in the world…?" Shino muttered.
"Isn't he a little too popular?" Mii asked, her brow furrowing.
"And it's almost all girls…" Eiko noted.
"Well, I am a lady-killer," Hachiman-kun the doll remarked smugly.
"Whoa, that is definitely a line the real Hachiman-san would never say! Nice work, Hachiman-kun!" Shiina giggled.
"Are Dark Fairies unpopular-nyan?" Faris wondered. "He stands out so much-nyan."
Shino, unable to watch the digital Hachiman being swarmed any longer, pointed at the screen. "Hachiman, you idiot! Tell them to get lost already!"
"Calm down, Shino," the doll replied. "That's me, but it's not me, you know? It's just a game."
Faris tilted her head, watching the scrolling chat on the monitor. "By the way, I keep hearing them call him 'Ruler-nyan.' What does that mean?"
"Ah, well—"
"Actually, his full title is 'The Ruler,'" a voice interrupted. "It's the legendary moniker bestowed upon him as the master of the realm-o."
"Daru-nyan? When did you get here-nyan?"
Daru had slipped into the room carrying a tray. He answered Faris's question with a casual shrug. "I brought the order. I figured we couldn't exactly let the other maids in here with all this secret tech, right-o?"
"Oh, right-nyan."
"Faris-san, who is this?" Shiina asked.
"I'm Daru-o," he said, puffing out his chest. "I'm an acquaintance of his subordinates, and I'm handling the maintenance for this rig as a side gig-o."
"Wait… are you a Super Hacker?" Shiina asked, her eyes sparkling.
Daru's gaze drifted toward Shiina's rather prominent bust, and his expression turned a bit goofy. "It's 'Super Hacka,' not 'Hacker,' get it right-o. But man… to think the day would come where I'd have a conversation with a real high school girl. It's good to be alive… and she's so cute-o…"
"Ahaha! Oh, Daru-san, stop it! Don't just go telling the truth like that!" Shiina teased, leaning in.
Daru's eyes turned stoic. "I won't let myself be deluded. If I misunderstand the situation here, I'll only pay for it in pain later. I see through the veil-o," he muttered to himself.
Shiina began playfully thumping Daru on the back, laughing at his intense reaction. The other three girls watched with varying degrees of disbelief.
"Shiina's social skills are so high they even work on guys like this…?"
"Is this the 'bust-size hierarchy' at work?"
"I… if I just let Hachiman feel mine, maybe—" Shino started to mumble.
"Don't worry, Shino-nyan," Faris chirped. "That's just extra fat-nyan!"
"Shino's a total closet perv," the doll added helpfully.
"Hachiman-kun, shut it!" Shino snapped.
Daru's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he looked at the doll. "Wait, wait, wait-o! Did that plushie just talk?"
"You talking to me?" the doll replied.
Daru was aghast. "Is this reality-o? First the high school girls, now the talking doll… am I in a dream-o?"
"It's real. I'm Hachiman-kun. Nice to meet you, Daru."
"Uh… yeah. Likewise-o…" Daru decided to stop asking questions. It was Soleil tech; anything was possible.
"Look, he's taking off!" the doll shouted, pointing at the screen.
The group turned back to the monitor. Hachiman's avatar rocketed into the sky, hovering high above the city before performing a series of sweeping turns.
"Is… is that the full view of Arun?"
"Incredible! I want to fly like that too!"
"Ah, it's all so nostalgic-nyan…" Faris whispered, her eyes misty. "It's exactly like the world I saw before I was reborn-nyan…"
"I've seen the videos, but seeing it live like this… game tech has really come a long way-o," Daru remarked.
As Hachiman continued his ascent, a massive structure appeared through the clouds.
"What is that…?"
"That is Aincrad," the doll said solemnly.
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