The comments section all think I'm a really good person.

[Speaking of which, has Koizumi, at age three, been captured by the Silver Garden...?]

The comments on the screen gave Koizumi Saki a headache; her mind was a mess, and she didn't know how to respond.

It all felt like a clumsy and terrible truth-revealing segment, with everything in front of us shrouded in an overexposed, pale white.

While she was still feeling dizzy, she heard Tamaki Iroha say, "This is Kita-chan's room in the Silver Garden. The furnishings in her room have never changed."

This wasn't a temporary arrangement for Saki Koizumi; it was her own room that had been decorated like this from the very beginning.

...What exactly does she want to do?

Saki Koizumi was plunged into endless confusion.

270. They will not possess this memory.

The current Silver Garden is an alternate dimension that exists specifically to imprison Saki Koizumi.

The Silver Garden was originally the place where Homura Akemi, who had become a demon, separated and imprisoned a part of the Law of Cycles. It was not difficult to isolate the Law of Cycles from the outside world and simply disconnect the Voice of the World from its exhaustion.

Once the concept of the Silver Garden [Cage] was fully realized, no matter how much Saki Koizumi wanted to leave, she couldn't find any opportunity.

Of course, if Saki Koizumi could calm down and think things through, she might still be able to find a way to leave. But the presence of the comments made her mind a mess, preventing her from thinking clearly.

The Truman Show.

The movie that Kita Kirihara had been watching... now that I think about it, it was full of hints.

The comments imply that Saki Koizumi is the "Truman Show," and behind these comments are the viewers watching this reality show.

However, due to the interference of the world's consciousness, every time Koizumi Saki was about to touch the truth, her thoughts would be inexplicably steered in another direction. This led her to only now, in the Silver Garden where she is not disturbed by the world's consciousness, have she come up with the correct answer.

For the first time, Saki Koizumi realized how terrifying it was to face an audience on stage.

The camera, which she had never seen before, was so close, and the scorching heat of the spotlight, which had never existed before, seemed to be hitting her as well. She held her breath, feeling like a peeled potato being boiled in water, with countless hands hovering just inches away from her skin.

Under the all-pervasive lens, she felt as if the puppeteer's threads, left behind by her manipulation, still lingered on her body.

This made her expression even more stiff.

Fortunately, although Saki Koizumi doesn't have much acting skill, whenever she experiences a strong emotional fluctuation or gets nervous, she will involuntarily twitch her face, making her completely expressionless.

This prevented the audience from noticing any flaws... It's practically a miracle.

Is this what A-Yuan has to face every day...?

Saki Koizumi didn't know, because Kita Kirihara hadn't told her.

The members of the Silver Garden obviously wouldn't talk much with Koizumi Saki about Kita Kirihara.

In fact, these members seemed to be following Kita Kirihara's instructions, always earnestly and patiently fulfilling every request of Koizumi Saki—except for Koizumi Saki's repeated emphasis on wanting to leave the Silver Garden—if Koizumi Saki wasn't so worried about the outside world, perhaps this would be a great vacation spot.

“…Why can’t I leave here?” Koizumi Saki and Oba Nana, who manages the Starlight Hall, exchanged glances. Oba Nana was just standing with Tamaki Iroha, a troubled smile on her face.

Nana Ohba said gently, "Director, I hope you can rest well here, Ms. Kamina."

"I can't stay here...!" Koizumi Saki cried out anxiously, her voice rising considerably without her noticing. "Without me, the energy shortage will only get bigger and bigger. What can she do by herself?"

Saki Koizumi was well aware that the part of her ability granted by the Voice of the World was key to maintaining the world's stable operation.

If one is separated from that world, then the world that has lost an important part will face its greatest energy gap.

Nana Oba looked at her with a calm and tolerant gaze, as if she were looking at a willful child, and her answer was firm and left no room for refusal.

“Miss Goddess, the Silver Court and your powers overlap to some extent. Director will find a way to resolve the energy shortage issue.”

“That’s not entirely her fault! I can help, but if it’s just her…” Koizumi Saki gritted her teeth, “Why is that girl being so stubborn?”

“No,” Nana Ohba retorted without hesitation.

Saki Koizumi looked up blankly and met the smile in Nana Ohba's eyes.

“We (Silver Garden) will be with her too,” the tall stage girl said calmly.

In fact, there are far fewer members in the Silver Garden today than usual.

Only Nana Ohba, who had just finished the first round of support and returned to recover, and Iroha Tamaki, who stayed here to take care of Saki Koizumi.

Saki Koizumi belatedly noticed the specks of blood on the fur trim of the other person's cloak, as well as the charred marks on the hem of their clothing.

Nana Oba is injured.

The smell of blood was faint, but it still clung to the clothes; you could smell it if you got close.

After all, the smell of blood is so different from the sweet fragrance that the stage girl used to have.

So A-Yuan's plan... is to use herself and the Silver Garden to resist external enemies and fill the energy gap?

Saki Koizumi wanted to say something, but just as she was about to open her mouth, she suddenly heard a faint muffled sound from the living room.

All I saw was Nana Oba's expression change, and she immediately rushed towards the living room.

Before even reaching the living room, Saki Koizumi felt a wave of heat wash over her.

She followed Nana Ohba and Iroha Tamaki, who both had solemn expressions, and saw the [person] returning to the Silver Garden.

The golden crystals pierced through the girl's body, growing layer by layer, and a human shape could be vaguely seen. The blood emitted a pungent smell under the high temperature, and pieces of carbonized flesh fell off.

Even though he could no longer let out a painful scream, he still managed to reach out his hand.

She wanted to put what she was holding on the ground, but because of the high temperature of her body, the fragile hairband had already turned to ashes.

She was stunned.

The next second, the golden humanoid crystal began to reshape itself as if time were reversing before everyone's eyes.

The crystals shrank back, the broken bones repaired themselves, the muscles reattached to the bones, and the skin and flaxen hair grew back...

In just over thirty seconds, a completely disfigured "person" transformed back into Tachibana Hibiki.

Hibiki Tachibana looked as if she had been pulled out of the water, her sweat from the pain soaking a large patch of the charred floor.

However, she didn't pay attention to her physical condition and looked around blankly.

Kita Kirihara could fully restore her as a character card by consuming a little fuel... So, what about Kohinata Mirai?

"...What about the future?" Tachibana Hibiki couldn't find Kohinata Mirai, who was fighting alongside her, and subconsciously turned her helpless gaze to Ooba Nana.

“Hibiki,” Nana Ohba replied, lowering her eyes, “It takes time to revive members who have completely died.”

Hibiki Tachibana was silent for a moment, then forced a smile: "...I see. Then I'll go back to my room to rest."

Character cards do not truly die.

But the next time you wake up, you won't have the memories of this time.

It's fine if you don't remember.

Hibiki Tachibana thought so.

271. Conversation with World Consciousness

Character cards can be revived.

But that is only possible if there is sufficient fuel, in order to achieve countless resurrections.

It's obvious that Kita Kirihara didn't have enough spare fuel, which allowed the character card, whose life had ended this time, to be revived.

At first, it was impossible to revive the sacrificed character cards, so the cards had to be stored back in the system space. After that, we had to be very frugal in repairing wounds.

After an unknown amount of time, Koizumi Saki finally saw Kita Kirihara return, looking utterly exhausted.

When Kita Kirihara returned, Koizumi Saki was lying on the bed with her eyes open, lost in thought.

The man who had been deceiving her all along, with a slight chill, a body full of weariness, and a faint smell of blood, silently crawled into bed.

In the pitch black, Koizumi Saki stood with her back to Kita Kirihara, biting her lower lip.

At this moment, the comments section had also disappeared from her sight.

Saki Koizumi learned from the comments that the live stream would end later that evening.

This somewhat eased her unease about being spied on by strangers, but a sense of unease still lingered in her heart.

She doesn't like it.

Saki Koizumi realized that she should feel utterly disgusted by this situation.

Whether she was being manipulated or being treated as a performer and watched by everyone... it made her feel like her life was a puppet show controlled by strings.

Kita Kirihara seemed exhausted and didn't even notice that Koizumi Saki was still awake—or rather, even if she was awake, she didn't have the energy to talk to her—and just fell into a deep sleep.

Just a moment later, I heard even, gentle breathing behind me.

Saki Koizumi was taken aback, and she turned around cautiously.

During the process of her turning around, Kita Kirihara didn't even flinch.

Is it a lack of vigilance? Or... is it simply because they are too tired?

Saki Koizumi reached out and smoothed Kita Kirihara's bangs, noticing that the man hadn't even wiped the blood off his face before lying down.

He looks really exhausted.

In fact, Kita Kirihara was so exhausted that he couldn't even lift a finger.

The situation outside was far from as peaceful as inside the Silver Garden. Even Tachibana Hibiki, who had the highest stats, nearly went berserk after continuous fighting. If Kohinata Mirai hadn't calmed her down, both character cards might have lost their ability to act for a period of time.

Kita Kirihara had sent out all the character cards she could, excluding those without combat abilities. With a massive amount of information to process, her mind was in complete disarray. It was rare for her to exert her full strength to control anything, and the depletion of her mental and physical energy reached a terrifying level.

Moreover, they used more fuel than they had expected.

Her savings were almost depleted, and in order to maintain her fighting strength, she had to say goodbye to some of the character cards that had left earlier.

The situation has undoubtedly fallen into what the world consciousness considers the most desperate low point.

In the eyes of the world's consciousness, everything Kita Kirihara did was merely a final struggle.

The Silver Court has over 10,000 character cards, but these character cards require fuel from Kita-giri to support them, rather than being independent entities. Relying on the power of the Silver Court indefinitely is not a sustainable solution.

Kita Kirihara was not unaware of this.

Or rather, she knew it better than anyone else.