[#21: Continuing...]

The ticking of the clock gradually sounds more distant.

Space and time are entangled, and we are moving away from the origin point.

My past self probably wouldn't understand this yet. A fish in a bowl cannot draw the complete structure of its bowl. Only beings outside the bowl can observe and realize this.

But once you go outside, it's already too late.

So I, who realized it faster than anyone else, leave this diagram at the boundary. Whether unconsciously or consciously, understand from the image engraved on this surface. Read and comprehend what has already passed. What is happening right now!

You have already completed all the events in the Blue Tower. You faced the Deep Sea Blue Dragon and denied the Blue Tower Master's secret wish. As a result, a new dragon ■■■ was born.

All of this is the power of ■■■. It is similar to the already dead branching dragon that left its heart in the Academy's Forbidden Zone, but it could be more dangerous. Or perhaps it could be completely harmless.

This... calling it a "Side Story" might be quite accurate.

So a line must be drawn. Only by drawing a clear line—keeping illusion as illusion and reality as reality—can we prevent the imminent flood of infinite foam. If we stop it now, things will be thousands of times easier. Right now, we can still prevent it with minimal effort.

But once we pass the branching point, it becomes unstoppable.

Do something, anything!

Hurry, before the closed world finally opens and everyone drifts to the extreme of the horizon!

<From the future, one Han Han-yul to another Han Han-yul>

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[#7.302: Blue Tower Beach - Yuri Lanster]

▶▶▶

"When you think about it, clearing away this sand pile in this situation... isn't much different from removing underwear on a bed."

"Y-you shameless girl!"

"Hmm, so you won't undress it for me?"

"......"

Something felt off. But how could I possibly feel bad about Yuri? So although I experienced a slight cognitive dissonance, I was able to shake it off quickly.

I must have triggered my competitive spirit because I felt like I was losing the mental battle with Yuri.

One deep breath. Then I charge forward.

"Reveal yourself!"

Pow-! Crack!

I kicked the sand pile covering Yuri Lanster's lower body, causing it to collapse. As the sand particles scattered, 14% Mode Aisha, who had been hiding inside the sand pile, appeared.

She blocked my kick with her impressive horns.

"Hmph."

"...Ah!"

With an intense headache, everything I had experienced so far rushed into my mind. Memories with gaps, the chronologically inconsistent photos I found in the waiting room. And the strange phenomenon of space-time seemingly shifting back and forth.

Yes, I was repeating this sand castle demolition for the third time already!

I did the first thing I needed to do. Scream at Aisha.

"What on earth is that look, my daughter!"

"...Is this really the time for that?"

"I'm grateful you saved me, my daughter. But this father disapproves of such fashion. How could you walk around with such an ominous thing on your head...?! You know I hate dragons..."

"I didn't do this!!"

Aisha shouted loudly.

Yuri got up with a puzzled expression. Well, it's understandable to be bewildered when suddenly your daughter emerges from your sand castle.

"...What's going on?"

"I'll explain slowly. First, let's deal with that... Formless Sword issue. Put on your underwear first."

"That's a strange thing to say. I'm already wearing panties."

"What? No... wait, really?"

I blinked in bewilderment. Yuri's lower body, which should have been using the Formless Sword technique, was properly covered with a black-blue two-tone swimsuit bottom.

The past had changed.

Clearly it was there the first time, gone the second time, and now for the third time... it's back again. My head is getting complicated. It seems we're caught in a truly terrible situation.

"First, let's call Yuna and Selvia to talk. They probably haven't gone anywhere, so let's call them from their rooms—"

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[#7.307: Blue Tower Beach - Yuna Urensto Violetiris]

Yuna alternated between covering her front with both hands and hiding them behind her back. Perhaps thinking that showing her embarrassment was even more embarrassing, she finally settled on keeping her hands behind her back while fidgeting nervously.

At that moment, Aisha suddenly appeared.

She mercilessly tore Yuna's swimsuit in half. Underneath was a rather perverted design of fabric scraps—

"Kyaaaaaaah!!"

Ugh, I couldn't see properly because of the headache!

While I staggered from the flood of memories, Yuna, with the speed befitting a grand illusionist, overlaid an illusion of her regular clothes over her body. What a shame.

But that's beside the point.

"...Just now, when I tried to call for Yuna, the time changed to evening. Yuri who was next to me disappeared too. What on earth is going on?"

"I don't know. One thing's for sure—I'm the only one resisting this. It seems you were also feeling some awkwardness, Dad."

"This is troublesome."

An unnatural connection of space and time.

It's as if space-time has been divided into hotel rooms. Each room contains Yuna, Yuri, or Selvia, and to meet them, I have to visit each room separately.

Like a dating sim.

It feels like there are only three predetermined paths, where the protagonist can only follow set events, with no way to see all the heroines simultaneously if the choices are split.

Until now, I too... existed as one of those events, but thanks to Aisha, I've somewhat broken free. If that's the case, the key issue is indeed dragon power.

The reason only Aisha can freely resist must be because this incident is dragon-related. These damn lizards never let us have peace when they show up.

I smiled fiercely.

"Ha—Do they still think I'm the Mad Magician from the old days? Whoever's behind this, I've long since passed the level where dragons can toy with me one-sidedly."

I gather mana. I assemble mana. I prepare to cast magic.

The Black Dragon Crown still appears in my nightmares occasionally. I worry that bastard might suddenly reappear with a "Thought I was dead? Ha. Ha. Ha. Your dreams are too big. It was obviously a deception. Now, shall we begin part two?"

That's why I've invested in some serious upgrades. I'm not the same person who struggled with only "Mystic Heart-Piercing Arrow" as my lethal spell!

"The inside and outside of the story, the faces of the dice, all things in the universe exist only for a joyful tale! Feathered Ascension—'Happy En—'"

"D-Dad?! Above!"

Above? What's above—

-The inside and outside of the story, the faces of the dice, all things in the universe exist only for a joyful tale!

-The inside and inside and inside and inside of the story

-TThhe iinnssiidde aanndd oouuttssiidde ooff tthhee ssttoorryy, tthhee ffaacceess ooff tthhee ddiiccee...

"What is that now?!"

Crack, crack!

Through cracks forming in the sky, countless versions of myself appear. All those "me"s activated Feathered Ascension simultaneously, and their activation words overlapped hundreds or thousands of times, creating a buzzing resonance.

I don't know the cause, but different timeline versions of myself were casting Feathered Ascension. And those timelines were overlapping to exist simultaneously! Countless golden dice begin to rain down like a shower.

Seeing this, I was able to catch the essence of what was happening.

"T-this is a multiverse!"

"M-multi... you mean parallel worlds, Dad?!"

"Yes. More precisely, we seem to be at the beginning of parallel worlds being created! It's branching. Yuri with the Formless Sword and Yuri without it, Yuna who showed me her inner swimsuit and Yuna who didn't—like that!"

"Then what's that in the sky!"

Probably...

Countless divergent versions of myself, sensing something strange at this point, decided to cast Feathered Ascension first and ask questions later.

But this is problematic. My Feathered Ascension "Happy Ending" becomes useless in this situation. Because... in a TRPG, there's basically one Game Master, or at most two or three.

When there are hundreds of Game Masters, the session naturally goes off the rails. It becomes uncontrollable.

That's why my Feathered Ascension is becoming unstable!

-Roaaaar! And then suddenly a Great Beast appeared!

-Shocking! What arrived was Ultimate Hyper Benett who completed three million years of training!

-Shall we drop a meteor?

Rumble—

Hundreds of "Happy Endings," unstable reality manipulation abilities operating simultaneously, began to throw the entire space-time into chaos. Yuna turned pale and let out a small "Hak!" without even being able to scream properly.

I was starting to get scared too. It reminded me of my trauma.

Like when the Black Dragon was revived. Didn't that cunning bastard use my own power against me? From the perspective that only I can harm myself, talk of parallel worlds or multiverses was inevitably unsettling.

First, I need to gather my children.

Before discussing how to resolve this situation, when an incident occurs, the correct answer is to gather all party members in one place!

"Coming here for fun and now this... Damn it, Aisha! Let's combine!"

"Combine?! Hey, hey! Where are you grabbing?!"

Grip-!

I grabbed the horn protruding from Aisha's head like a handle. Then I concentrated. The evil dragon's dark, unpleasant power crawled up my arm.

Since my Feathered Ascension was broken in an absurd way, I have no choice but to use a different one. And I have a means to switch Feathered Ascensions with a click.

"'Feathered Ascension Extra Module,' activate!"

The Extra Module. A technique that dyes the color of the soul by choosing either black or white. Originally, it's an ability that can only be used on others, with the effect of corrupting their Feathered Ascension.

Using it on myself produces a slightly different effect.

Or more precisely... I already know what the result of the corruption will be.

If I dye myself with pure white emotions, naturally the Feathered Ascension "Promise" emerges. Since it was created by the version of me who walked that path to the end, dyeing myself now won't produce anything different.

Then what Feathered Ascension emerges if I dye myself pitch black with this Black Dragon Crown's power? This has also appeared before.

"Eternal Play."

The Feathered Ascension that the Doppelganger Mad Magician manifested, which copies and imitates others' Feathered Ascensions. This is the Feathered Ascension I need to use right now. But I won't end with simple replication.

From my back, enveloped in pitch-black light, dozens of black arms extend.

Academically analyzing and reproducing magic itself, while also reproducing the Feathered Ascension itself with the power of Eternal Play—essentially a two-barrack Feathered Ascension replication factory.

"Academic Auxiliary Formula Continuous Forged Feathered Ascension—'Black: Infinite Theater'!"

Boom—!!

Each arm replicates the necessary Feathered Ascension fragments. First the spatial types: Sissel Urensto's "Righteous Grasp," Magical Girl Oh Dae-su's "Mana Hardening," and our lovely Tower Master's "Subtraction."

For fate types: Duke Redburn's "Lantern of Foresight," Benett's "Vow's Guardian," and Envers' Emperor's Sword Form... no, let's not use that one. Cancel. It's a wide-range debuff, so there might be friendly fire issues.

I tear through space-time and guide fate. My beloved family who entered the Blue Tower's domain with me. I gather them all in one place.

Crack-! Through the cracks in space, a sunset beach appears. From there, I snatch Selvia first, who is wrapped in a towel and hesitating whether to show her swimsuit or not.

"Eek—?!"

Crack-! Through the spatial gap, a daytime beach appears. From there, I grab the mischievous Yuri who is building a sand castle.

"...Hmm."

And I embrace Yuna and Aisha who are beside me. To prevent us from separating, I weave the gravitational pull of fate to bind us firmly together.

So that we stay together no matter what waves sweep over us!

Also, I create a safe zone.

This space... somehow weaving it together well.

[#7.302: Blue Tower Beach - Yuri Lanster]

[#7.307: Blue Tower Beach - Yuna Blackraven Violetiris]

[#7.313: Blue Tower Beach - Selvia Blackraven]

Like kneading dough, I take only the necessary parts and patch them together, embedding our existence into the space. I engrave our names.

Crack, crack—!!

[#7.619: Beach - Yuri Yuna Selvia Blackraven Aisha / BlueTowerBlueTowerBlueTowerBeachBeachLansterBlackravenVioletiris]

And if I discard the rest!

[#7.619: Beach - Yuri Yuna Selvia Blackraven Aisha]

Good. I've created it!

A single point unrelated to the parallel worlds that have begun to split. For now, we escape to this temporary shelter!

————,

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[#7.619: Beach - Yuri Yuna Selvia Blackraven Aisha]

"Ugh."

"Hyaah!"

"Hmm."

Crash!

We all tumbled onto a space that had only a beach with no sky or sea, just emptiness. Yuri naturally adjusted her posture to land safely, and Selvia also tried to regain her balance with a double jump befitting an Academy student—but her ankle caught on Aisha's horn, causing her to crash.

As a result, Aisha, Selvia, Yuna, and I all rolled on the ground in a tangled heap. For reference, Aisha was at the very bottom.

I wondered how long Aisha would endure, so I didn't get up and waited a moment.

"...You're heavy, move!"

She endured for exactly 5 seconds.

After getting up, Selvia, whose eyes were spinning, rapidly asked:

"W-what happened?! I was definitely waiting for Oppa Han-yul... Oh? Yes, and I definitely met with Oppa three times. I even took pictures..."

"I'm curious too. Somehow... I have simultaneous memories of choices I would likely make, and actions that border on deviation. A swimsuit was already excessive stimulation, so the Formless Sword would have been an unnecessary form."

That's exactly right.

My head hurts. I came here wanting to see swimsuit events, but who would have thought I'd be drifting through space-time without even dipping my feet in the sea.

How are we supposed to escape from here...