Chapter 7: Tomie
Looking down at the city, now just a speck below him, Rozen was sweating profusely, a common human reaction to the fear of heights.
He clung to Selesia, thinking that in a life simulation, he wouldn't be this afraid, but in the real world, a fall meant game over for him.
"Selesia-san, can you please stop flying? Look, that guy over there has fainted because of you," Selesia glanced at Sota, who had passed out from fear.
Eventually, Selesia decided to land on a building, and Rozen felt a sense of relief upon their descent.
"Thanks, but next time, give us a heads-up before flying. We're not used to this," Rozen said, mopping his brow.
"Can you tell me where I am? And who are you two? It looked like the woman in the white military uniform earlier recognized both of you," Selesia asked, squinting in their direction.
"I'm Rozen Tendou. As for him, I don't know his name yet. Right now, we're in Tokyo, Japan, and not Earthmelia, and as you might have thought you are in another world now," Rozen explained, and Selesia's eyes widened in surprise.
"About the woman in white, she doesn't recognize me but she seems to know him," Rozen gestured towards Sota, who was slowly regaining consciousness.
"I'm Sota Mizushino. I...I honestly don't remember that military woman."
Rozen smiled, "Really? You don't recognize her at all? Didn't she look familiar?"
"I-I..." Sota hesitated, his head bowed, but Rozen turned his attention back to Selesia.
"Check this out, Selesia-san. You're quite famous in this world, which is why I know you," Rozen then showed her his phone, filled with anime and stories about Selesia Upitiria.
Snatching the phone, Selesia was in disbelief, "What is this?! Why am I and Charon displayed here, and how can all my experiences just be stories?!"
Rozen shook his head sympathetically, understanding her shock. Realizing that your life and fate are just someone's crafted story is a tough pill to swallow.
Overwhelmed, Selesia collapsed, "Are you okay, Selesia-san?"
"I'm okay, just really shocked by this discovery," Selesia sighed deeply, feeling more exhausted than after a day piloting her mecha, Vogelchevalier.
"Well then, should we go somewhere else? I'm sure the news of our presence here will soon spread," Rozen suggested, and Selesia nodded, leading Rozen and Sota to the destination he had in mind.
"Is this the place?" Selesia asked as they landed.
"Yes, let's go to my apartment," Rozen led Selesia and Sota inside.
"Tendou-san, do you live alone in this apartment?" Sota asked, trying to break the awkward silence.
"Yes, I've been living here alone, supporting myself since my parents are no longer in this world," Rozen replied.
"I'm sorry if I brought up something sad," Sota said apologetically.
Rozen shook his head, "Don't worry about it. By the way, Mizushino-san, are you sure you don't recognize that military woman?"
"I don't remember her!" Rozen and Selesia looked at him, causing Sota to shrink back slightly.
"It looks like you don't remember her, but that's fine because I do," Rozen reassured him, as Sota and Selesia looked at him, astonished.
"Really? Then what do you know about her?" Selesia asked as Rozen unlocked his phone.
"Alpha, search for all data and information on 'Altair' from anime and fiction character databases on the internet." As Selesia and Sota looked on, confused, a female voice responded from Rozen's phone.
"Understood! Searching for data and information on 'Altair' on the internet... Done!"
Rozen's phone then displayed a wealth of data and images about Altair, mostly consisting of fan art.
"Look at this! All of this is information about the white-uniformed military woman, or Altair," Rozen said, as Sota and Selesia leaned in to see.
"According to Alpha's search, my personal AI, it turns out that Altair is not a character from any specific story, but rather a creation by an illustrator named Shimazaki Setsuna," Rozen noted, observing Sota's shocked reaction.
"N-No way, but did she already..."
"I was right, wasn't I? Mizushino-san, you do know her," Rozen smiled at him, as Sota lowered his head and clenched his fists.
Realizing that hiding the truth was pointless, Sota decided to come clean.
"S-Setsuna Shimazaki, my best friend, she died because of me! If only I had been there for her in her dark times, she might still be alive!"
Sota then shared his entire history and experiences with Setsuna Shimazaki, from their first meeting to their first offline event together.
"She became popular, and that's when I stopped contacting her, feeling that we had grown apart. But it was then that Setsuna faced plagiarism accusations and ended her own life," Sota said, his face full of sorrow and emotion.
"If it weren't for me, maybe Setsuna would still be alive," Sota continued to blame himself, and Rozen could only shake his head, acknowledging that indeed, Sota should have been there for his friend in her time of need.
"Let's not dwell on the past; we should focus on how to deal with Altair," Sota nodded in agreement.
Entering his apartment room, Rozen and the others began discussing Altair and the impact of her presence in the real world.
"It's unbelievable, there could be many more fictional characters appearing in our world," Sota said, his mouth agape.
"Yes, and surely some of them will be our enemies, and vice versa. I hope there are no more troublesome characters besides Altair," Rozen pondered, remembering a villainous character named Megane, who had the power to twist lies into reality if someone disbelieved her, combined with her chaotic personality. Rozen found her very troublesome.
Hopefully, the Blue King can handle her.
Rozen hoped in his heart, praying that Megane wouldn't steal King's powers.
"By the way, let's take a photo together," Rozen suddenly suggested, and the others agreed, albeit confused about the purpose.
CLICK!
After taking the photo, Rozen immediately sent it to Asuna.
[Yuuki Asuna:? Have you arrived? Why can't I see you, Rozen-kun? And who's that cosplayer? She looks just like Selesia Upitiria!]
[Rozen Tendou: Sorry Asuna, it looks like our date is postponed due to some urgent matters.]
[Yuuki Asuna: What happened? Why did you postpone it suddenly?]
[Rozen Tendou: Well…here's the story..]
Rozen confessed everything that had happened, and Asuna was shocked to hear it.
[Yuuki Asuna: I can't believe it...fictional characters appearing in the real world? This is just as unbelievable as the Shibuya attack yesterday.]
Who would believe that fictional characters could come to life? But unfortunately, Asuna believed it because she had experienced similar strange occurrences.
[Yuuki Asuna: …Then be careful, I don't want you to get hurt, Rozen-kun.]
Seeing Asuna's concern and care warmed Rozen's heart, and a smile appeared on his face.
[Rozen Tendou: Don't worry, I'll be very careful. For now, I need to go offline.]
As Rozen's profile turned gray, signaling his offline status, Asuna felt a wave of helplessness wash over her. She despised feeling so powerless, limited to only offering words of encouragement from a distance.
With clenched fists and a frustrated bite of her lip, she murmured, "Is there anything more I can do to help him?" The feeling of being unable to act weighed heavily on her.
Meanwhile, Rozen and the others finished their discussion and decided to seek help from the Blue King about the situation, after taking a short rest.
"It's weird…why do some of the people here feel like they're machines?" Selesia remarked, puzzled.
"That's because they are. Our civilization has advanced to the point where we've created humanoid machines that act and look like humans, called Androids," Rozen explained. Selesia was astounded by the technology in this 'gods' world, having underestimated it based on her own world's standards.
"Ano…are we still far from our destination, Tendou-san?" Sota asked, looking troubled.
"Just a bit more to go. Also, just relax, they won't do anything to you or ordinary people, even after learning about mysterious things," Rozen reassured him, and Sota seemed to relax a bit.
Maybe I should find Meteora now? She would be really helpful in this situation.
Rozen thought to himself and then decided to look for her with Alpha's help. By hacking into cameras all over Japan, Rozen finally located Meteora, who was currently battling Altair.
"Guys, I found another character, but she's fighting with Altair right now. It seems she just arrived in this world," Rozen informed them.
"Really?! Let me see!" Selesia exclaimed in surprise and quickly looked at the phone, followed by Sota, who peeked with curiosity.
"S-she is Meteora Österreich! The Sage of the End of the World from the game Last Tableland in AVALKEN of Reminisce!" Sota exclaimed in shock, never expecting the next character to appear after Selesia would be her.
Sota's face brightened, and he smiled, "With Meteora's personality, it's certain she will be another ally for us!" Rozen agreed with him.
"Then, without further ado, let's go there!" Selesia impulsively tried to pull the men with her, but Rozen quickly stopped her.
"Wait! We need to go to my destination first and then to Meteora. I can track her with my phone," Rozen reasoned, and Selesia agreed, resuming their earlier journey.
They conversed along the way, with many pedestrians looking at them, especially Selesia and Rozen – Selesia for her beauty and resemblance to a fictional character, and Rozen for his good looks.
They decided to walk, knowing that flying would draw too much attention, even though they were already known to many in this world.
Rozen assumed their journey would be peaceful and uneventful since Altair was busy battling Meteora, but that assumption was soon shattered.
"Hmm? Tendou-san? Why are you just standing there?" Sota asked, puzzled by Rozen's sudden stillness.
His face full of shock and horror alarmed Sota, who turned to see what Rozen was looking at.
A woman of extraordinary beauty appeared in Sota's view. Her face and aura were so charming and mesmerizing that Sota felt a dark desire to possess her.
For the first time, Sota fell in love with a woman he had just seen, never having witnessed such perfection before.
Many men surrounded her, and jealousy stirred in Sota's heart. He was not even aware of the strangeness of his feelings.
"What's up with you two? Why did you suddenly go silent?" Selesia's voice broke Rozen out of his stunned state, and he quickly pulled them away.
"W-wait! Why are you dragging us off?" Selesia asked, baffled.
"Run!!! We must get away from her as far as possible! She is a fricking monster!!!"
"What do you mean by that?!" Selesia shouted, but Rozen didn't answer, focusing on pulling her away.
Rozen realized that the woman, Tomie, a character from Junji Ito's horror comics, had noticed him when he call her a monster.
Damn it! She's here too? How much more chaotic can this world get?!
Rozen cursed inwardly and ran until he felt they were far enough from Tomie.
Sota and Selesia were panting after the long run, while Rozen vigilantly surveyed the surroundings.
Panting heavily, Sota asked, "Tendou-san, what did you mean by monster? And why did you label that beautiful girl as a monster? Is there a reason for it?"
"You saw her?! Tell me! Did you feel an impulse to do something bad and fall in love with her?" Rozen grabbed Sota firmly, causing him a bit of panic, but he answered nonetheless.
"Y-yes, I felt an impulse for her and wanted to make her mine, which is weird for a girl I just met," Sota, now free from Tomie's charm, realized the strangeness of his actions.
"W-wait! What happened to me just now?" Sota's face turned to fear, recalling his odd behavior.
Seeing both of them looking at him anxiously and curiously, Rozen sighed and said, "I know the woman we saw. She is Tomie Kawakami, a high school student who was killed and mutilated by her classmates."
Rozen explained the story from the Tomie comics. As he spoke, Selesia and Sota's faces showed their shock, then anger, and finally, disgust at what they heard.
"So, she's an immortal monster who can charm anyone to control them? What a fearsome monster!" Even Selesia felt horrified by Tomie, realizing that if such a monster appeared in her world, it would be far more dangerous than the Avalon Brigade.
"What should we do then?!" Sota looked panicked, and Rozen understood his feelings, especially since Rozen realized that Tomie had noticed him.
"As before, we'll continue to the Blue King's location. He's the only one who can help us right now!"
"By the way, we better fly there so Tomie can't do anything to us," Selesia agreed and quickly took Rozen to the destination.
While Rozen and the others flew away, Tomie, on the other hand, stared thoughtfully in Rozen's direction.
What an interesting guy, calling me a monster so suddenly. I want to charm him, especially with his handsome face.
A playful smile appeared on her face as men around her were stunned and fascinated by her smile.
But for now, let's clear this trash first.
An ominous glint appeared in her eyes, but before she could use her ability to charm, she was interrupted by a playful man's voice from afar.
"Wow! What do we have here? A beautiful girl surrounded by a bunch of adult men? Seriously? Is there an AV filming going on here?" Tomie frowned upon hearing that as she turned to see which impudent man dared to speak so.
A tall man with white hair and a face mask appeared in her view, standing nonchalantly while smirking at her.
Though his face was hidden, Tomie believed the man must be as beautiful and handsome as the interesting man she had seen earlier. If Rozen saw him, he would be shocked and recognize that the white-haired man was none other than Gojo Satoru, one of the strongest characters in the Jujutsu Kaisen series.
"If it weren't for your disgusting smell and aura, I would date you right away, you know?" Gojo joked, sensing the sinister aura that surrounded Tomie and affected everyone around her.
Indeed, Gojo recognized an exceptional beauty in Tomie, one that eclipsed any woman he had previously met. Her charm outshone all his female friends and acquaintances, captivating him in a manner utterly unfamiliar. Yet, beneath that stunning exterior, he was acutely aware of the terrifying monster lurking, a stark contrast to her enchanting facade.
"I don't want to hurt a girl, but it can't be helped since you are a terrifying curse spirit," Gojo observed Tomie's ability to influence humans with her charm and decided he had to take action to eliminate her.
Perhaps Sensing impending danger from Gojo, Tomie then transformed into a monster, causing the men around her to awaken from their charmed state and panic at the sight of her.
They tried to run, but before they could escape, their bodies grotesquely burst, with new limbs growing from them. Gojo, witnessing this, grimaced.
Realizing the danger of leaving the monster unchecked, Gojo activated his cursed energy, transforming it into a cursed technique.
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."
A dark red orb formed in his hand, and he hurled it towards the now-gigantic Tomie, who had grown bigger.
BOOOOM!!!
With a massive explosion, Tomie and the mutated men vanished in an instant, leaving buildings and streets around them in ruins from Gojo's attack.
"It's weird…there's something not right about that monster…" Though he had evaporated the monster, Gojo's instincts told him something was amiss.
But finding nothing, he decided to report back about Tomie's existence and headed back.