Humans are in chaos, despicable outsiders.

"Dear Snow—you can't lie to me, first impressions are very important, so... are you serious?"

Ellie's small, pinkish-purple eyes were now filled with great confusion and bewilderment...

"Aren't body pillows...something only boys or girls who stay at home all day and can't find a partner they like?"

"...?"

"Who told you all this...?"

Snow's lips twitched. He thought about the figurines of Jiuxiao and his mother that he had hidden in his Anytime Space, as well as the cute body pillows of Ningdi and Xilin... He decided to defend the hobbyists of otaku culture.

"Hmm... I didn't hear it from anyone—I observed it myself!"

Alicia gave Snowby a thumbs up, looking rather smug.

"Observed...? Who is it? Is it a fusion warrior from the previous era's Flame Chaser...?"

This time, it was the blonde girl's turn to be dumbfounded...

"Are there any people like this among you Moths that chase after fire?"

"Yes, I do! And you even know Little Snow—"

Ellie drew out her words, her purple eyes glancing at Möbius, who was watching the scene unfold, giving the latter a sense of foreboding...

"I also know...??"

Snow became even more confused; the girl in the mind-reading device didn't seem to realize who Alicia was referring to...

"Oh dear—do I really have to say it? It's Möbius!"

With a sense of unease and a feeling of foreboding, Mebius realized that these two guys seemed to be targeting him...

"Dr. Möbius...???"

Snow, pointed out by Alicia, became even more confused instead of finding the answer... Does this doctor, who has a flexible moral compass, have something she doesn't know about?

"Isn't Mebius a perfect fit for the 'otaku' archetype?"

Before Möbius could speak, Alicia continued her explanation...

"He stays in his room 24 hours a day and refuses to go out to eat in the cafeteria. He likes to solve all problems with instant noodles and hates socializing. He always asks Klein to attend the meetings in his place."

"If I ever see her at a meeting, it's always thanks to me, Ellie—"

"Oh...this can only mean that the PhD student stays home and is engrossed in academic research, right?"

This time, Snow unusually sided with Möbius...

"No—my dear little Snow, Mebius has a little-known quirk..."

Before Mebius could even revel in his newfound support from Snow, Alicia dropped a bombshell.

"...Our great, learned, and wise Dr. Möbius—liked to hug a cushion with a life-size portrait of Klein on it when he rested..."

"If the professor gets drunk at a banquet, he'll sleep with that pillow in his arms when he gets back to the lab—and he'll be muttering Klein's name."

"......"

A silence fell over the room.....

The blonde girl, as if possessed, asked a question—

"R18?"

"Hmm... according to your standards, it should be R17+?"

After thinking for a moment, Ellie came to a conclusion.

"...Alicia!!!"

Dr. Möbius's reaction was even more straightforward and blunt...

"You were spying on me!!!"

Möbius's face was now etched with the bitterness and anger of having made the wrong choice of friends.

"This is something you can just say casually!"

--

After a brief silence... it was Ellie's turn to be stunned. She stared at Mebius for a long time before uttering a soft, stammering sentence...

"Huh? Mebius, you actually have one...???"

"Doctor, you..."

Klein, standing nearby, also stared in shock at Möbius, instinctively backing away and hiding behind Snow...

"...Doctor, do you have unrealistic sexual fantasies about your assistant?"

Snow Apocalypse, who decisively shielded Klein behind him, posed a soul-searching question to Möbius.

"Alicia—you tricked me!!!"

The die is cast, leaving only Dr. Möbius in a state of impotent rage.

"Because Klein is really great—what's wrong with making a life-sized body pillow and hugging him?!"

Forced into becoming a self-destructing truck, Möbius begins to give up on himself... Amidst the expressions of shock and disbelief on Snow and Ellie's faces, she starts a series of self-destructions...

"Then don't you also have Alicia...?"

Seeing the dejected Dr. Möbius, Snow cautiously asked...

"Oh yeah, yeah, yeah—!!! I also have an Alicia swimsuit body pillow—"

[My god... what a nuclear truck...]

Snow muttered something to himself and looked back at the utterly shocked Alicia...

"Ahem... Although Dr. Möbius has already hit a new low in moral standards and then a new low in ethical standards—I still have to clarify one point..."

"I have a reason for saying I'd send the life-size body pillow of the silly cat to its final rest..."

Having decisively abandoned Möbius, who was about to become a villainous figure, Snow cleared his throat, drawing Alicia's attention back...

"Oh, little Snow, what reason do you have now—?"

"You see, in the last era, the Herrscher of the End would clock in for work and then disappear after clocking out, right?"

"Hmm...that's true, but what are you trying to say, Snow?"

Ellie tilted her head...

"And then you see, the Herrscher of the End in this era is still her, and we haven't observed any signs of her activity for the past 50,000 years—"

"This means that this silly white cat found a place and slept for 50,000 years... and probably didn't have a bed, blankets, or pillows—it just curled up in a ball and fell asleep..."

"Ellie, why don't you give her a plush pillow or something, so she has something soft to hug while she sleeps? That would be a perfect way to increase her affection level... and then strike while the iron is hot and win her over in one fell swoop!"

"...Oh, this sounds pretty reasonable, doesn't it?"

Miss Pink Fairy seems to be somewhat tempted...

A new month, a new Powwa! Love you, Powwa!

*Votes!!!*

Eternal Paradise: Chapter 408 Möbius - Self-Destruction (Part 2)

"So...should we get a plain white throw pillow, or should we get one custom-made with some strange patterns or shapes?"

Ellie tilted her head, somewhat confused, looking at the two people in front of her, seeking their opinions...

"Hmm—I think Dr. Mebius is the most qualified to speak on this—please welcome Dr. Mebius to share his experience and thoughts on using it."

To avoid revealing that she was also a seasoned homebody, Miss Snow Apocalypse decisively pushed the "old comrade" forward...

"Shut up! Stop talking, stop now—!"

Naturally, after giving up on himself came regret—deep regret. Dr. Möbius, who in a sense had voluntarily relinquished his "right to choose a spouse," is now in a different state of rage and frustration...

"Alright, alright, my dear Möbius—to be honest, I don't mind at all. I'd actually be very happy to have a body pillow made just for you as a keepsake~"

"So please stop throwing tantrums, okay? Alicia needs your help right now—"

Seeing Mebius about to do the same roll around as Ciora, Alicia spoke up...

"Really?"

"Of course it's true, Möbius—"

Ellie looked sincerely at Mebius and extended an invitation—

Snow, watching from the sidelines, wore an expression as if he were witnessing a master...

[Wow... while picking up girls, she tells them she's also going to date another one, and then asks them for help...]

And Mebius actually agreed—

[As expected of you, Master Alicia—I've learned something; I'll definitely apply it next time.]

After muttering these thoughts to himself, Snow looked back at Möbius...

"So, Dr. Möbius? Any suggestions? After all, even if it's custom-made, we can just create something out of thin air..."

Snow shrugged, indicating that they could handle even the most demanding requests.

"Ahem—then let me share some of my research insights on body pillows—but don't tell anyone I taught you that!"

"I understand, I understand—was Qianjie right or wrong...?"

Snow nodded matter-of-factly, as if to say, "I understand, I understand."

"And you're not allowed to say it was Qianjie who did it! It's too obvious!"

Having realized something, Möbius immediately rejected Snow's response....

"Ah... so Doctor, you also knew that what Qianjie did was basically a 50/50 match between you and Qianjie—"

Snow nodded in sudden understanding...

"So what—as long as I pretend I don't understand, what can they say..."

Mebius stood with his hands on his hips, looking somewhat smug.