“Singularity.”
That was a term Yu Xiao had no difficulty understanding.
It was a noun frequently applied throughout all sorts of ACG works, mainly used to refer to transmigrators.
And if one narrowed the scope to mecha battles, then the most well-known “Singularity” would have to be the protagonist of Super Dimension Century Orguss, Kei Katsuragi.
Not only did he repeatedly play an important role as a transmigrator in the original work, in the secondary creations of the Super Robot Wars series, he was also a figure who shone brilliantly.
For instance, in the Super Robot Wars Z trilogy, he became the fundamental cause of the story’s occurrence, an existence like a prologue.
But, speaking of the SRW Z series…
Yu Xiao thought of something subtle.
Even earlier, there had been that sort of déjà vu.
In 2nd Super Robot Wars Z, a character named “Shione Reisis” had once made an appearance.
With her signature long silver hair, she had originally been a diplomat of some small island nation.
Yet for a series of reasons she lost the homeland she held so dear, and from then on was swept into a treacherous, ever-shifting fate, until at the very end she walked down the path of evil.
That’s right.
If one thought about it carefully, she and the English tutor who had just paid a home visit tonight looked exactly alike, didn’t they?
…And moreover, they were people with the same name.
“There are actually such coincidences in this world…?”
As if somewhat apprehensive, Yu Xiao muttered.
At the same time, he also thought of a worst-case scenario.
That is to say, had he actually transmigrated into the universe of the SRW Z series…?
But, thinking about it, that’s impossible.
After all, if this were the world of the SRW Z series, then it would surely be a scene of strange beasts running rampant everywhere, time and space in chaos, and the three great powers each undercutting the others, all boiled into one great mess.
Just like the background setting in SRW VS, or perhaps it would be even more extreme.
Where would there be a life as steady as this, lived on a small island… So in the end, he shook his head to cast aside the superfluous thoughts, and turned his attention back to what was most worth caring about before his eyes.
In other words…
Could it be… that the character he controlled, that is, Red One’s preset setting, was also a transmigrator like himself?
Thinking of this, Yu Xiao’s expression turned rather strange.
Instinctively, he wanted to learn more about it.
But in the ability introduction interface, regarding the Singularity entry, it merely mentioned its definition in passing.
And as for how it would strengthen the pilot, or how it would affect gameplay, there was no detailed introduction whatsoever.
So in the end, Yu Xiao could only give it up.
After exiting the pilot page and returning to the main interface, he pressed the sortie button.
Unfortunately, however, it seemed to have entered the same state as the previous times.
After his click, apart from a single line of notice reading “There is currently no new battlefield available to participate in. Please wait patiently,” there was no other response at all.
“…Tch. Why won’t the production team just give a bit more time to play? Although it’s certainly not the case that battles are breaking out 24 hours a day at every moment, being so fixated on reproducing this is unnecessary, isn’t it…?”
Yu Xiao complained, rather displeased.
But complaining seemed unable to change the facts.
So he could only flop back into his gaming chair.
Then he looked up at the clock.
The hour hand was pointing exactly toward 12.
This could no longer be called “not early”; it could only be called very late.
…Better hurry up and go to sleep.
Yu Xiao thought silently, then went to the bedroom, casually pulled up the blanket and lay down.
By the time Yu Xiao remembered that he had been so absorbed in the game that he had even forgotten to eat dinner, he was already so drowsy that any movement made his limbs feel heavy.
I might as well eat something good tomorrow morning.
Thinking thus, Yu Xiao finally drifted into dreamland.
…But.
That he could sleep soundly did not mean that this Penglai Island was in a state of complete calm, of smooth sailing.
For example, deep in the depths of that building named “Alvis,” underground on Penglai Island.
“Mmm. So this is the result… I understand. Thank you for your trouble as well, Miss Shione.”
Stirring the strange liquid that had taken on a burnt-brown color in the pot, the building’s highest commander, Kalinin, murmured to himself toward the communication device in his hand. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“Yes, Mr. Kalinin. Regarding the matter of classmate Yu Xiao, he seems to remain completely unaware of matters of the outside world…”
And the voice coming from the other end of the receiver—its owner was, without a doubt, the very one also mentioned in Yu Xiao’s thoughts earlier, his English teacher, Shione Reisis.
“…If that’s the case, then of course it’s good. But with only this much evidence, we cannot completely let down our guard. …Excuse me.”
As the timer beside him ticked away, Kalinin paused his conversation with the other party for a time, and turned back to continue stirring the liquid stewing before him.
Judging by his posture, it did not look like he was cooking, but rather as if he were handling some dangerous chemical… Perhaps this mature and prudent man was just uniquely bad at cooking, it might be said.
And after repeating this roughly two or three times, Kalinin stopped the movement of his hands.
“…As for the work from here on, I will find other intelligence agents to conduct the investigation, so there’s no need for you to trouble yourself further.”
“Intelligence agents… Mr. Kalinin, what you mean is, could it be…?”
“Mm. It’s those ‘ninja’ who, together with the culture passed down through the generations, likewise live and thrive on this island. You should know of them too, no? …No, if I recall correctly, in the class you teach, there seems to be one such person, doesn’t there?”
Tick-tock.
The timer sounded once again at this moment, and Kalinin accordingly repeated the previous procedure.
“…That is, indeed correct. Well then, since that’s the case, I… will stop disturbing you. Goodbye, Mr. Kalinin.”
Shione, on the other end of the receiver, sounded a little happy as well, because the task had ended.
“Mm. Thank you for your trouble as well. Rest early.”
Finally, after a few brief and courteous farewells, the two parties stopped talking.
And only a moment after hanging up, the timer Kalinin had placed beside the cookware began clamoring continuously without pause.
This seemed to symbolize that it was time to take it off the heat.
Kalinin turned off the flame, scooped out a ladleful from the pot-like vessel that seemed to be brewing a magic potion, blew it cool at his lips, and put it into his mouth.
Then, he frowned so slightly that it was imperceptible.
“…As expected. I still can’t make a delicious borscht as well as you could. Irina…”
Kalinin sighed, his gaze drifting at the same time toward the distant beyond, as if reminiscing about someone who had gone and would never return.
…But the feelings of longing that welled up in that moment did not interfere with the man’s process of carrying out his duties.
After rummaging through the communicator for a contact number that had been dialed no small number of times, Kalinin silently pressed the dial button.