NOVEL NEXT Chapter 10: Mafuyu Kirisu
That night, Riku walked out of his apartment, hoodie-clad and ready to... well, walk.
It was a simple black hoodie, slightly oversized, paired with dark jeans and sneakers.
His neighborhood was quiet. Rows of apartments, flickering dim streetlights, and occasional convenience stores glowing in the distance like a beacon.
As he walked, Riku had a calm, wondering expression. 'What should I do to earn more of those things?'
He was, of course, thinking about Fate Energy.
The system had thrown a whole supernatural economy at him, and now he was stuck figuring out how to farm currency in a game where the rules were a bit unconventional.
Riku scoffed.
'Reversing the fate of death to life is one thing, but something other than that is another matter.'
'I could, like... speed up the stuff that happens in her original fate, but it doesn't look like the inverse effect works like that—wait. Actually, from the looks of it, this 'inverse' thing doesn't work the way I initially thought either. So maybe I can do something about that. For example, if right at this minute— in her original fate, she's supposed to be miserable— and I make her happy instead, I could get Fate Energy. Just like today. I don't have to make something as fundamental as turning her fate of death into life or some similar heavy stuff. It could be something small. The Fate Index should help me figure that out— but I don't have enough Fate Energy! Damn it!'
That led to another thought, his eyes slightly narrowing. 'There's no way Ai is the only heroine in this. The system's wording made it clear that there would be other heroines involved. Miyako's one of them, but... I probably have to finish their story before jumping into some other universe, huh? Or am I currently in some weird crossover worlds taking a set on Earth which I just haven't realized yet? Like a multiverse thing... maybe?'
As he mulled it over, he glanced around absentmindedly before stopping at a direction. He stopped walking altogether.
He stood there, motionless, for what felt like an eternity before finally exhaling sharply followed by a cackle.
'Speaking of the devil.'
Not far from him, standing by a vending machine, was a woman. Not just any woman, of course. It was a different kind of woman.
She was completely absorbed in selecting a drink, her sharp violet eyes scanning the options. Her long, silky pink hair cascaded over her shoulders, swaying slightly with her movements.
She was dressed in a professional black pencil skirt and a white blouse, a navy-blue blazer draped over her shoulders. Even with her neutral expression and stiff posture, she radiated an aura of strict, no-nonsense authority.
Mafuyu Kirisu.
Her sharp gaze flickered in his direction, and in the span of a single second, Riku watched as recognition flashed across her face.
"Nifiruji-kun?"
"Eh?"
He was surprised. 'How the hell does she know my name?'
For a moment, he was confused before—
'...wait.'
He thought again about how the memory of taking care the twins suddenly crashed into him.
As he was now trying to remember the memories of Mafuyu—
His eyes widened. He remember.
His high school teacher. His "former" high school teacher.
The same woman who had a grading system so brutal that people still had PTSD over their final exams.
His lips pressed into a thin line. 'How many heroines are hidden in my memories?'
Riku's brain stalled before settling on a greeting. "Hey. Sensei. What a coincidence to meet you here."
Mafuyu frowned slightly. "What are you doing out here at this time of night?"
Riku smiled wryly. "I'm just taking a walk. What about you, sensei?"
Mafuyu huffed, turning back to the vending machine. "I ran out of coffee at home. I can't focus without it."
"I see…"
Riku took a moment to really look at her.
'Okay. So she exists here. And she remembers me. That means this world isn't completely different from my original one. But more importantly—'
'Is she a heroine?'
Because if she was, then that meant—
Riku inhaled sharply.
He had to check.
The Frozen World.
***
The city's dull glow dimmed as everything became silent. His eyes locked onto the woman in front of him, who now stood utterly still, mid-action, a can of coffee hovering just above the vending machine's dispenser.
What caught his attention wasn't her.
It was the web of Fate Chains extending from her.
Thin, glowing threads coiled around her form like an intricate marionette setup, stretching into the unseen distance. Riku's gaze flickered across them, processing the colors, the meanings, the implications.
A thick gold strand ran through her chest, seemingly radiating authority over her entire existence. The True Fate. The path carved into the world so deeply that changing it was about as easy as convincing gravity to chill out for a second.
And then Silver and Black intertwined. The Karmic Balance and Karmic Burden.
One thread gleamed like polished steel, while the other clung to it like a shadow; a life marked by discipline, rigid order—but also chains of regret, obligations too heavy to break.
A sharp red thread coiled tightly around her. Riku's eyes narrowed. 'Fateful Encounter?' It wasn't thick enough to indicate an unshakable bond, but it was undeniably present.
Then, there were purple flickers—Destiny Resistance. Mafuyu, resisting her own fate? The idea was funny. The woman had lived like a machine back in school. Yet, here she was, with threads that actively fought back against what was set in stone.
A dull, fading pink thread barely clung to existence.
Riku nearly choked. 'A Romantic Potential?'
But what really made him pause was something else.
Just behind her other threads, half-hidden from view, was a teal strand. Hidden Fate. He couldn't touch it. He couldn't even look at it properly—it was like his mind instinctively refused to process whatever it meant.
And at the very edge of his sight, a gray thread hung loosely. Suppressed Fate. Something had been erased. Something that should have happened to her, but didn't.
Riku exhaled through his nose.
'Well. That's looking kind of ominous.'
***
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