"We meet again, huh. I am Xiaomei, the narrator of this story."
"In order to restore the true power of Edens Zero, the Four Shining Stars are required. The one who oversees the ship's defense, Witch. The foul mouth but excellent healer, Sister. They have been found by Shiki and the others successfully. Now the third one has been found, Hermit. Can Shiki and the others safely recruit her? Also, allow me to apologize in advance, but this particular part of the story is exceedingly sadistic. I'm very sorry."
~With Yuuki~
Yuuki was seen stretching his body as he was now exiting his room. While he was walking, he heard the sound of rushing footsteps. Just when he was about to follow them, he felt someone grab a hold to his shoulder.
"Can we talk for a minute?"
"What do you want, Wiseman?"
Weisz slightly flinched at Yuuki's tone. Though, considering what he said to the boy earlier, he believes he deserves it. As Weisz took a deep breath, he began to speak to Yuuki.
"We're currently at Iron Hill. We also managed to find the third Shining Star for Edens Zero. Apparently her name is Hermit. We just retrieved her body and brought it onto the ship."
"Why are you telling me all this? Didn't you say that you weren't keen on having someone like me betray you in the future? Why share that info?"
"...I know words ain't enough, so I decided to take this action in order to say.......sorry."
Yuuki blinked in surprise. He didn't think Weisz of all people would apologize to him. As Weisz walked away he motioned for Yuuki to follow him.
"You don't have to tell us everything right now. Though i'll keep my eye on you. Anyways, it's better for you to know what happens. After all, you were with Gravity Boy and Rebecca longer than me."
"Weisz....thanks."
Soon Weisz and Yuuki entered the infirmary, where everyone on the ship currently was. As Yuuki looked at one of the beds, he saw who he assumed to be Hermit. She was a female android with the appearance of a short and petite young girl with blue eyes, long light-blue hair that fades into cyan halfway down tied in pigtails, and has two short, violet-colored stripes on her cheeks. she wore a white bodysuit with dark-blue armor pads, violet sleeves and legs, and a mechanical headband.
"This is Hermit? What happened to her, Nee-san?"
"That's a nickname I can get use to! Nice one, Red Head! You see, Hermit isn't moving or speaking. I can't find any external injuries, but there are tons of system errors. Even my healing can't do anything against this."
"That sounds really stupid, Shiki."
"Yuuki...the boy who speaks our mind with no filter."
Yuuki spoke what Rebecca and Weisz were thinking. To be honest, what Shiki was proposing sounds very insane. However, Witch suddenly kneeled before Shiki as she realized something.
"Go inside? As expected of the Great Demon King. There may be a way to save Hermit."
"You mean dive mode?! So you're saying Hermit's heart is-"
"On Digitalis. I have determined a strong possibility that it is there. Hermit is currently in what we call dive mode. In this state her heart, or rather her mentality has gone to a digital world. A place where your physical body has no impact. The virtual planet, Digitalis."
"Yeah, we're going to save her, I promise."
~A few minutes later~
Everyone was seen inside of the dive room as they all wore an outfit that looked similar to the one that Hermit was currently wearing. Soon Witch was explaining the details of this mission. Digitalis is a virtual world so there was no need to take a ship, but she couldn't help them. As for abilities, they could only use the ones they have in the real world and nothing more. Finally, any damage they sustain on Digitalis will also affect their physical bodies. As Witch finished explaing the situation, everyone got into a pod as they were preparing to dive. Before Yuuki could step into one, Shiki put a hand on his shoulder.
"Yuuki, are you sure you're okay to do this? After all, it hasn't been that long since...you know."
"........crying and doing nothing would just piss off Yukihina if he were here. He would want me to move on. I'm not completely over it, but I won't let what happened control my entire life. That's why i'll keep moving forward. You have my word."
Soon Shiki smiled as both Yuuki and himself got into their respective chambers. While this happened, Witch looked at all of the people going to Digitalis and said one thing.
"Logging you into Digitalis now! The dive into the digital world will begin now!!!"
~On Digitalis~
Rebecca and Happy quickly turned around as they heard something rushing towards their location. Before they realized it, they saw a purple creature with a sign that said "Auto" on it and they saw the person on top of its back.
"Umm who are you?"
"Hehe. I don't blame you for not noticing. I'm an exiled prince and swordsman. I'm leading my people in war to bring peace to our motherland. That is the backstory I, Homura, have given my character. Oh no, I said that out loud."
"Homura?! Why did you choose a male avatar?"
"It was an option. I also tried to choose "white horse" as my mount. But this is purple."
"Yeah...and totally not a horse."
"Well according to the description, it is a horse."
"That kills the mood, want me to fix that?"
"No Weisz! On this planet, we can use our real world abilities. However, rewriting the planet's data is something we shouldn't do. If we do so we might get banned and we'll never be able to come back again."
"Hey guys, there's a town down there! I bet we'll start our adventure there! We'll be heroes who'll save Hermit!!!!!"
As Shiki said this, the group and himself went into the city to ask for the location of Hermit. While doing so, they ran into several NPC's who achieved self-awareness. While the group split up in order to find info, a single thought went through Shiki and Rebecca's minds.
"Wait a minute. Where is Yuuki?"
~A few minutes later~
After searching around town for info, the group entered inside an inn. While most of the group found no info, Pino smiled as she spoke up.
"Someone said they might've saw her in a town up north. That's all I found."
"I see. Well then, tomorrow we'll head up north. For now, its time to sleep."
Everyone soon nodded in agreement as they all decided to go to sleep. While this happened, Happy walked over to Rebecca. Seeing this, Rebecca looked at her friend in confusion.
"Happy, what's wrong?"
"It's just that we searched all day and haven't found much info on Hermit. However, i'm worried for Yuuki. We haven't seen him all day. I hope he's doing okay."
"Me too, Happy. Though, I think he needs some time to himself. After all, he said his friend was still on Guilst by the time he got on the ship. Seeing the Chronophage devour its time right in front of him while knowing that must be tough. Though I believe we'll see him soon."
~On Edens Zero~
Witch was seen standing next to Hermit's body. Meanwhile, Sister was checking the status of everyone who went to Digitalis. However, as she looked over the Data she called out to Witch.
"Witch, come look at this. I found some funny data hidden in our system."
"We're hacked? But the Edens Zero security is perfect."
"Sure, when Hermit is here. I don't know what it means but we can't leave it alone. It might danger our people in Digitalis."
~On Digitalis~
The moment Shiki said this, they saw an enormous monster standing before them. It was a large troll with a patch of dark skin around his eyes, reminiscent of a mask, a small ponytail, and a pair of small horns on top of his head, pointy ears, and scales covering his body. He has a mouth filled with sharp teeth and has a large pair of fangs protruding from his lower jaw. His arms are large and muscular, ending with a pair of clawed hands, in contrast, his legs are short and thin and ending with small clawed feet.
"YOU JINXED US!!!!"
"There we go!!! We had people just like that on Granbell! But of course, they were only bots. We never had any guests, so they never had anything to do! The monsters here are so lucky, huh! I can just defeat them, right?!"
"W-wait! Please hold on nice travelers!"
"IT CAN TALK?!"
Soon the monster revealed itself to be an event boss. He mentioned how the town up north, the town known as Crysta, was in danger. He heard some rumors but he confirmed them to be true. The mass murderer, Jamilov, was now in Crysta.
~In Crysta~
As Shiki and the group walked into Crysta, they saw various crystals smashed. Several of the buildings had huge holes in them and rubble surrounding them. However, what they saw next was truly horrifying.
"Welcome to Crysta, the wonderful city of crystals. Wel.....come.....to....Crysta...the.................wonder.....full....city.....of....crysta-"
Right in front of the group was an NPC that was missing the right portion of her head. Before they could do anything, her upper body was sliced off by the blade of a scythe. Soon the sound of laughter entered their ears.
"Byahahahaha. These NPC's really aren't enough. You can always tell they are just living programs. Only players are worth hunting after."
As soon as the group looked at the tower, their eyes widen in horror. Two players were seen impaled on top of the tower. As Shiki quickly went up to the tower, he realized he was too late. The players were already dead. Seeing this, the man laughed as he looked at Shiki.
"You couldn't save them. My power keeps them from logging out. Even if they could log out, it'd be too late for them in the real world. I couldn't see their last moments if I let them logged out and that surely isn't enough for me. Wait, I have yet to introduce myself. I am Jamilov, the chosen player. I'm a winner both here and in real life too. I work with the infamous Drakken Joe!"
"Drakken Joe?! He's one of the strongest warriors in the cosmos. One of the Oracion Seis Galatica, a group of six people who have the power to crush entire planets."
~Meanwhile~
On top of a hill, a single girl was seen sitting by herself as she hugged her own legs. She wore a sleeveless black dress shirt with a fur collar and a ribbon, a pair of light-colored sleeves, a white skirt, and dress shoes.
"Do you truly believe that? Right down to your very core?"
As Hermit looked at the direction of where she heard the voice, she saw no one else around her. When she looked downwards, she saw a cat with red fur and a hoop necklace with a vial attached to it. It also had on an ear pierce with the mascot Nyanmaru on it placed upon its left ear.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Yuki Eden. I'm a human."