IBHJ Chapter 894

Illya felt something was off. Having read countless captivity-themed works by her famous writer childhood friend, Miyu, her mind immediately conjured up various dark scenarios, so she came to find Shirou right away.

Of course, this wasn't the most important part. The most important part was that blue-haired girl, Aqua, who was sitting calmly outside Shirou's door like a mistress kicked out by the legitimate wife.

"So why is Aqua sitting at the door?" Illya looked helplessly at the girl sitting at the entrance.

When she first ran over, she was so anxious that the sudden appearance of the girl nearly gave her a heart attack.

"Please don't mind me," Aqua replied calmly. "This way I can fulfill the system's mission without disturbing Master's rest."

He looked at her, exasperated. Clearly, she hadn't taken his words to heart at all and was just squatting outside the door.

Beep beep!

Just as he was about to speak, his "Friends" list flashed with a new message. The only friends he had were his party members, and everyone except Altera was here. That meant this message was from her?

"What's wrong, Artoria-neesan?" Illya asked.

"Nothing, just a message from Altera..."

He opened the message, but before he could finish his sentence, his brows furrowed. The message was short and urgent:

—[Many people want to kill you, run quickly!]

He frowned and sent a reply.

Shirou: What do you mean?

Not long after, her reply came.

Altera: You've been wanted by the system, your coordinates exposed. Many players are coming to kill you... They're already on the move, run!!

The exclamation marks showed how worried she was.

However, this sudden situation left them dumbfounded.

Shirou frowned and got out of bed, moving to the window.

The inn's rooms were like private instances in a game – you couldn't hear anything from the outside world. Great for sleeping, terrible for gathering intel.

He pulled back a corner of the curtain and peered out. A massive crowd of people surrounded the inn, making it impossible to leave. He estimated there were over a thousand.

"What's going on? Why are all these players blocking the entrance?" Illya asked, a growing sense of dread creeping in, especially after Altera's message.

Shirou glanced at the blue-haired girl. No, he corrected himself. She should be called God's Brain.

"They're probably all here to hunt me," he said.

"Hunt you, Mom? Why?" Mordred looked puzzled.

"We know this is the Council's connection point, but remember, it's also a game. And as a large-scale RPG, it naturally includes things like open-world PvP and item drops."

"But we're all newbies," Illya said. "We don't have anything worth looting."

As a 21st-century girl, Illya had some gaming experience and understood the mechanics. Whether it was a real-time game like "World of Warcraft" or a turn-based one, open-world PvP was a common feature. But it was usually reserved for settling scores between players or grabbing rare items. They were all new players, so what could they possibly have that anyone would want?

While Illya was puzzled, Mordred pointed an accusing finger at Aqua. "You're the one who caused trouble for my mama!"

That's right! It clicked for Illya. The only rare item they had was the God's Brain, Shirou's reward for completing the Hell-level newbie quest!

So, they were after God's Brain?

"You caused trouble for my mama, I hate you!" Mordred made a face at Aqua, but the girl remained expressionless, standing there like a robot.

"Don't say that, Mordred," Shirou said, patting her head.

When the God's Brain appeared, he'd had a bad feeling and instinctively sensed that trouble was brewing. So when the system announced he had completed the Hell-level quest and obtained the Brain, he had anticipated this kind of situation.

In other words, the unexpected turn of events that Altera and Illya found alarming was something Shirou had been expecting all along. The player's pursuit also confirmed one thing: God's Brain was incredibly important, a key to completing the main storyline of this game world.

No, calling it an "item" would be disrespectful. It was more like an important character.

He wasn't particularly invested in solving this connection point, not when he needed to keep Mordred safe and return to his own body. But if completing the connection point was the only way back to Chaldea, he might as well tackle it head-on.

But there was one thing that bothered him.

"There are too many players."

"Yes, way too many! They've completely surrounded the inn. What are we going to do?" Illya looked helpless.

"No, Illya. I'm not worried about a disorganized mob. But there are simply too many players. Chaldea doesn't even have 1,500 people, does it?"

Illya was taken aback, then the realization hit her.

I'm so stupid! she thought. How did I not notice something so obvious? Is it because I've died so many times? She felt a wave of self-deprecation.

This was the most glaring inconsistency.

The Council had destroyed human order and stopped the Counter Force, leaving most of the world's population gone, except for Chaldea. The few survivors had all been taken in by Chaldea, becoming its Masters.

But even then, the entire population of Chaldea, including Heroic Spirits and staff, was less than 1,500. And of those, only a small fraction would play online games. Most were serious, reserved individuals. And of that small fraction, only a tiny portion would be playing "Moon Gazing Beauty."

So where were all these players coming from? Who were they? This was the real mystery, even more puzzling than the players hunting them.

Illya spoke up hesitantly, "Could the Council have connected other connection points, letting people from those worlds enter as players?"

"I don't know."

They were working under the assumption that the Council had created this connection point. If that was true, there was only one conclusion: this was another one of the Council's schemes.

Just as Shirou was about to dive deeper into this issue, Mordred looked up at him, her brow furrowed. "Mom, shouldn't we be figuring out how to deal with those bad guys? Why are we talking about this?"

Classic Mordred. Even with her intelligence lowered, she could still pinpoint his weakness.

Shirou was a thinker, with keen insight and an ability to see beneath the surface. But this sometimes led him to lose sight of the immediate reality.

In short, he overthought things, his mind jumping from one idea to the next.

"You're right," he nodded, then turned to Illya. "Illya, go downstairs and keep an eye on the players' movements."

"Uh...aren't we running? I saw some high-level players out there!"

"Of course not. In situations like this, we need to stay calm," he said with a smile.

...

Under the blood moon, Pluto stood atop a mountain, observing the chaos of players swarming the eerie vampire capital of Zaun. He turned to the angelic blonde girl beside him, a smile playing on his lips. "Well done, Venus. To have orchestrated this scheme, it's truly impressive."

"Players are easily manipulated with a little bait," Heaven's Corpse replied, her smile matching his. "Making the most of everything - it's a principle I learned after consuming Alaya."

"But can players really exhaust the 'protagonist's' revival chances? That 'protagonist' seems rather cunning."

"Cunning means nothing against overwhelming power. Otherwise, Gaia wouldn't have surrendered so easily. Our guild's top player is also part of Evil Flower hunt. Rest assured, Evil Flower is doomed."

"Top player?"

"The one who spent a fortune to reach Supreme VIP status."

"Ah... that flashy showoff? Then Evil Flower is definitely finished." Pluto's smile widened with a hint of malice.

Shirou had no clue that the player siege and the system's wanted order were artificially orchestrated. Well, with his analytical mind, he might have considered the possibility, but he could never have imagined that the ones pulling the strings weren't the Council who created the connection point, but a different group of terrifying UOs from space.

Right now, though, he had no time to dwell on it. Instead, he sent Illya downstairs to assess the situation.

Mordred would've been the ideal choice for this task, but she'd regressed to a three-year-old, and he couldn't risk her getting hurt again. After careful consideration, Illya was the only option.

Illya nodded and left the room, heading down to the inn's common area. Thankfully, the system had only revealed Shirou's location as the inn, not the specific room. Otherwise, Illya would've been in immediate danger the moment she stepped outside.