You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

The reason why you and I are no longer two-dimensional flat images, but have become real human beings who can move in reality.

It's probably because we've been 'accepted' and 'transformed' by the world, which has embedded our existence into reality as a legitimate thing.

But precisely because of this, our individual abilities are recognized by the world and can be used without obstacles.

You might call this phenomenon the world's 'corrective force'.

"Corrective force... is a little difficult to understand."

“Suppose the Japanese government declares that there are no poor people in the country, but suddenly a few poor homeless people who are not registered in the household registration system are discovered. In order to eliminate the homeless problem, the law is amended to define and standardize the ‘poor’ so that they are not considered ‘poor’.”

"Suddenly it became simple and easy to understand!"

"Things aren't that simple, but that's roughly how it is."

Meteora said calmly.

Iori frowned: "Is there any hidden danger here that could affect the way the world works?"

Meteora calmly met his gaze and slowly said, "Simply lowering the standards slightly and accepting a few homeless people won't cause any major problems."

However, this 'real world' is very complex and contradictory, giving birth to numerous worlds of works, yet it is independent of other worlds.

While the 'corrective force' rewrote the laws of physics, allowing fantasy characters like myself and Ceresia to use supernatural abilities, it didn't come without a price.

"This phenomenon will become a burden on the world."

Iori narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "The law has been amended too many times, yet the loopholes are only increasing?"

"Yes, the more 'foreign objects' appear, the more intense the conflicts between them, the more the world's laws need to be modified, and the greater the burden and loopholes become."

This is similar to species invasion... Nature has the ability to regulate itself, but this takes time. If too many uncontrollable factors are created in the short term, the ecosystem can easily collapse.

I don't believe the world has the capacity to embrace everything. Just like an ecosystem invaded by species, it will eventually reach its limit.

Ultimately... when it becomes overwhelmed, it may follow the laws of the world and reboot itself, eliminating all the loopholes.

But in this process, the world itself will likely be affected like never before… I call it the "Great Collapse"!

Format and restart—this was the thought that crossed the minds of the few people familiar with computers.

From this perspective... Meteora's speculation is quite reasonable!

This speculation silenced everyone, especially the three ordinary people: Kubo Hide, Sota, and Matsubara Takashi, who were speechless with shock. After all, the so-called "Great Collapse" was no different from the end of the world in their eyes.

"As expected, the military princess's goal is far more than just initiating a 'revolution'... just as Iori said."

Ceresia's face turned quite ugly.

She had thought the world was peaceful, but it turned out to be a giant powder keg. What's even more unacceptable is that she, who was originally a noble female knight, has now become one of the causes of the world's destruction!

"We absolutely must stop her!"

Celestia stood up abruptly, attracting the attention of many people in the store.

"Leaving aside the state of our world... I cannot bear to see ordinary people suffer because of me, even if they are not my compatriots!"

"Don't worry, we think the same way. Let's sit down first, Ceresia."

Iori smiled, and her gentle words startled Ceresia. Realizing how impulsive she had been, Ceresia immediately sat down obediently.

"Um...sorry..."

"Of course we must stop them, but I estimate that Princess Military Uniform's side has more people than us. So, strengthening our existing combat power is the top priority—that's what I'll have to ask you to do."

"……well?"

"me?"

"Of course, you are in a creator-created relationship... Perhaps the creator can freely modify the character's settings, adding abilities or removing weaknesses."

After Iori finished speaking, she seemed to be deep in thought:

This "corrective force"...is it an acknowledgment force? An existence force?

If this corrective power can be used to change character settings, then as long as the creator is controlled... it shouldn't be that difficult.

Forget it, let's finish watching Matsubara Takashi and Ceresia's experiments first!

Chapter 458 Miss Military Princess is a rare find!

It seems that no matter what the work is, the "world" is always the scapegoat, and it's constantly getting destroyed by the Demon King and chuunibyou (middle school syndrome). It's so unlucky...

From everyone's perspective, no one wants the world to collapse like this. After all, the ordinary people living here are innocent, and we can't just stand by and watch them face their doom in ignorance.

Celestia and Meteora are supposed to be "positive characters" and don't have any deep-seated hatred, so they won't be as extreme as Alice.

In the words of the red-haired female swordsman, they were already used to fighting evil and protecting the world in the original work, and saving reality by chance was no big deal.

Regarding the "corrective force," everyone went to Matsubara Takashi's house to begin preparing for related experiments:

If the creator can freely modify a character's settings, adding abilities or removing weaknesses, wouldn't the character's combat ability be rapidly improved?

Specifically, the idea was to have Matsubara Takashi write a short story to see if he could teach Celestia a new magic or superpower.

To enhance the realism, Takashi Matsubara also specially invited another creator of Ceresia—the illustrator "Marine".

She was a cheerful and straightforward woman with a delicate appearance and glasses. She was probably a little younger than Matsubara Takashi, but she couldn't really be called a "girl" anymore, and her looks were just average.

It seems that the idea of ​​a beautiful illustrator is ultimately just wishful thinking.

—Iori was slightly disappointed.

Although she was initially taken aback by the "live-action" version of Ceresia, perhaps because most people in this circle have some degree of adolescent angst, Miss Marianne quickly accepted this surreal development and excitedly began creating.

Matsubara Takashi described a scene where Ceresia unleashes fire magic, and Marigne drew a serene illustration for this scene. Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, the red-haired swordswoman prepared herself, drew her longsword with a stern expression, and, following the description in the novel and the actions in the illustration, loudly chanted the forbidden incantation!

Sparks burst forth—the crimson flames flowing along the sword of rebellion.

It didn't appear.

Nothing happened. To onlookers, it looked like some kind of cringeworthy, childish act!

Don't look at me like that!

"Ugh, it just didn't work out after all~"

"Where exactly did I go wrong? It's pretty much the same as what I usually write."

Matsubara Takashi and Marine lowered their heads in disappointment, while Celestia herself felt ashamed of her actions, her cheeks turning red.

Suddenly, Iori, who was observing, spoke up: "Could it be that there is no cause and effect?"

"Ugh?"

Matsubara Takashi was startled.

"First of all, as far as I know, there are many types of light novels in Japan. Some are serialized on websites and then released as collected volumes, right?"

"Yes, the web version is a huge treasure trove. Many masterpieces were discovered from it. Why?"

Is the officially released version completely identical to the web version in terms of content?

"Of course not... Ah!"

Matsubara Takashi suddenly realized something, and Kubo Hide also thought of something.

"You mean... the difference between the first draft and the final version?"

"Mr. Matsubara must have written many short stories or drafts. Did you add any other settings for Celestia in them?"

Iori smiled knowingly and asked.

"Of course there is!"

Matsubara Takashi quickly returned to his computer, opening one folder after another, and excitedly said, "Settings are something you can write yourself. But if you try to cram them all into a text file, the editors will come knocking on your door... There are so many hidden settings. I was originally planning to release a setting collection when it became a big hit."

“That makes things easier. Please have Mr. Matsubara show Ceresia those hidden settings, including some that have long been abandoned.”

As Iori spoke, Matsubara Takashi had already opened the documents and started reading them aloud one by one—he was afraid that Ceresia wouldn't be able to read Japanese.

There are many interesting things here, some of which even involve very private matters. After reading just a few, Ceresia's face turned red.

Bang!

The computer desk suddenly shook, startling Matsubara Takashi.

"Enough! What nonsense are you spouting! Who would wear such shameless underwear!"

"Calm down! This is the deciding underwear, you know. You don't want Caron to think you're the one who will win at this crucial moment—"

"Shut up!"

Ceresia grabbed the Creator's head, itching to give him a good whack.

Iori then slowly asked, "Celecia, are these settings true?"

"No! How could you—"

"Please answer me seriously, this is very important."

"Well!"

Celestia met his gaze and was stunned by his unwavering eyes, instinctively releasing Matsubara Takashi.

"This... well, while there are some coincidental similarities, most of it is fake, especially that... inside..."

"That's enough, you don't need to say anymore."

Iori, understanding her situation, stopped her and then looked at everyone: "Now things are clear, and we can draw a conclusion—"

The author cannot arbitrarily change your settings.

At the very least, simply writing it down on a computer or paper is useless.

"..."

"Mr. Matsubara Takashi's settings that he did not reveal to the public almost did not appear in Ceresia, including the fire magic that was just described."

The 'living Celestia' who appears before us has abilities, personality, and physical data that all match the 'publicly published' novel content.

"Gentlemen, what does this mean?"

Is the key to public perception?

“Meteora is indeed very clever… Yes, we can assume that for now, but we need to conduct an experiment to verify it.”

Iori confidently stated, "I'll post the 'fire magic' text online under the guise of 'seeking reader suggestions.'"

Note that you should first publish the original setting. If that doesn't work, please ask Matsubara-sensei to work overtime to write a short side story and publish that as well, so we can see how the fans feel.

If she receives a lot of praise from fans, and Ceresia successfully masters fire magic—"

That means your conclusion is correct:

The people of this world are indeed 'gods,' their perceptions are enough to distort reality!

Meteora frowned: "What terrifying laws..."

It was truly terrifying—Iori smiled, but her heart grew heavy.

He thought a step deeper than Meteora. If it were just a distortion of reality like that of the Military Princess, it wouldn't be anything special. Although this world has such peculiar laws, ordinary people cannot exploit them.

Yes, "ordinary people" cannot use it.

Iori was pondering just how powerful the collective unconscious of humanity was in this world!

Characters like Ceresia and Meteora don't have a huge fan base, and very few of them can be considered true "believers." Most people probably just know about them and think about them occasionally.

At most, a few hundred thousand, or a million people?

If this is enough to distort reality...

If there were something like "Alaya"... what the hell would it look like?

Creation from nothing? Omniscient and omnipotent?

If the other party has independent consciousness, even Iori would have no choice but to turn around and run!

However, after Iori entered this place, she didn't feel the same sense of being enveloped by an invisible force as in "Godkiller" or "Type-Moon"... Moreover, if there really was a restraining force, since the Military Princess clearly intended to destroy the world, someone should have come out to stop her long ago.

So, what if the inhibitory force hadn't been created yet...?

Do not!

Suddenly, the image of the war princess Altair flashed through Iori's mind: