So sleepy...The darkness engulfs the surroundings, covering Yuri's pupils with the shadow shroud. Nothingness has become her familiar guest whenever she turns on her cheating ability. However, this time is different. The memories that Yuri doesn't want to see the most, rewinding forcefully inside her head. Together with a slight headache, Yuri has gone numb with it...Like a TV show, it projects her life from the time she woke up in the first pce. Maybe, this must be a joke of fate. She wants to escape from the past, but the sacrifice somehow turned on her cheating ability without any warning. Her brain was forcefully synchronized with the hollow as the huge amount of information shut her down.

  Let's see...What's with this old TV? Yuri slowly approaches as the TV automatically works on its own.

  A little girl, her miniversion, was about to open her eyes. Yuri felt strange when looking at her past perspective...

  "Guh, eh...huh..."

  The little girl obviously couldn't speak as she could only utter simple sounds.

  "Yuri-chan, you finally woke up!!"

  "Do you still remember me?"

  A middle-aged man hugged the little Yuri tightly. His facial features were delicate. Indeed, he was a handsome man, she must say, but Yuri, in her inner world, dropped her expression as her mood worsened.

  "I still remember you, you liar old man~"

  She murmured while watching the memory rewind in front of her eyes.

  It's so nostalgic. When she opened her eyes, this old man told her she was his daughter. However, looking from the third perspective, she didn't see any simir trait between them. Obviously, they aren't biological...The more you grow up, the more details you notice. 6 months after she met the old man, ciming he was her father, she has learned to speak, write, and communicate like a normal person.

  "Daddy, what's that thing?"

  The little Yuri cutely acted like a curious child, even though she had the body of a middle-school student.

  "Ah, this is Piano. The musical instrument, one of those tools, helps our family to earn money"

  "Woa~"

  Little Yuri let out an O-shape. Her blue eyes shine with a huge amount of expectation. She at that time was like a child being stuck in the wrong body. Her mentality was only 6 months old, without the foundation of a normal human being.

  "How is it? Do you want to py?"

  "Um!!!"

  The TV show stops there, flickering nonstop. The sizzle noise of an old TV scretches her out of her mind as the shrill noise reaches a higher pitch until her head can't hear anything.

  "Guh"

  Her eyes finally open. What greeting her is a white ceiling, perhaps a hospital. No more Ethereal, the monument, and the vilin of this world. A calm space accommodates her only existence. Yuri observes the surroundings, finding them empty, cking medical equipment. She finally sighs a relief because she didn't meet any strange illness.

  "Yuri-chan, you finally woke up"

  A soft female voice speaks up, causing Yuri having a sense of Deja Vu. This sentence, she has heard it before, but this isn't the point.

  Right now, she is extremely curious after she passed out inside the Hollow. This woman appears in front of her, meaning that the story has progressed to the end of chapter 2 of the game.

  "Zhu Yuan...Wasn't I inside the Hollow?"

  Meeting her cssmate, Yuri has guessed some path of the aftermath. The sacrifice must've been defeated, and everyone survived. It's a happy ending, right?

  "Hey, just lying down, ok?"

  Zhu Yuan immediately stops Yuri from getting up. Actually, Zhu Yuan didn't need to do so because Yuri's head had become a mess. The side effect is even more severe than in the past. If Yuri wants to get up, she will have to experience hell again.

  As for her friend, Yuri, Zhu Yuan bought a lot of good things to help her friend get better, like some apples, dessert, etc. She is extremely worried because of Yuri's accident.

  "Thank you, how are the people of Belobog Industries?"

  Yuri asks in concern.

  "Safe and sound. They'd recorded the statement"

  Zhu Yuan finds a seat to sit near Yuri's bed.

  "Oh, good. It means they've defeated that thing, right?"

  Yuri continues to ask.

  "Yeah, the PubSec has retrieved that thing and transferred it back for research purpose"

  Zhu Yuan nods her head.

  "You don't seem to be surprised when hearing that"

  As a captain of the Criminal Department, Zhu Yuan is caught off guard by Yuri's calmness.

  "After all, it forces me to synchronize with the Hollow"

  Yuri lets out a deep sigh. There are countless excuses for Yuri to lie without blinking her eyes.

  "Anyway, it's not a natural but artificial ethereal. However, according to my guess, it was just an abandoned experiment"

  "So you mean it's a failure?"

  "Without a doubt"

  Hearing Yuri's speech, Zhu Yuan immediately falls into a deep thought.

  "There is an organization experimenting on humans to gain the power of an Ethereal"

  "Whether you believe me or not~"

  If it were a fact, there would be no way Zhu Yuan would find anything suspicious in her words.

  "I believe you don't have time to chat with me there, right?"

  Without giving any time for Zhu Yuan to speak, Yuri goes straight to the point.

  "Ah...Yuri-chan, you know me the best"

  Zhu Yuan lets out a helpless smile as she scratches her head.

  "I will keep your words in my mind. This time is quite sensitive, so my boss orders me to invite the civilian on 6th street to participate in a seminar..."

  "Heh~"

  Realizing Yuri's disdainful attitude, Zhu Yuan feels confused. For the first time, she's realized she didn't even know Yuri. What about the cheerful and energetic Yuri? The past innocent and pure Yuri can be expined, but this time...

  "So sensitive that giving away the capable captain and vice-captain of the criminal police department"

  Yuri goes around, forming a circle, but does not say anything straight. First, Zhu Yuan's boss has a position in her career; not only is he the sun, but also Zhu Yuan's mentor in her justice. Yuri doesn't want to say 'Hey, Yuan, your boss Bringer is a vilin'. Perhaps, it will backfire on her instead.

  "Yuri-chan, are you trying to say my boss is a mouse?"

  Zhu Yuan understands immediately.

  "I don't have any evidence. However, I can only give you some advice. What you see may not be the truth"

  "A coincidence after a coincidence must have a problem. You're the captain, so I hope you can be on guard and stay alert"

  "What we're facing is a huge organization, creating an Ethereal that can exist outside the Hollow"

  Hearing that, Zhu Yuan nods her head and keeps that in mind. She isn't a shallow person blinded by emotion, but it's just hard to accept for a while.

  "But I didn't share the information about that defective Ethereal. How can you know?"

  Zhu Yuan catches the key point. Yuri has spoiled so much that she's gone so far. Nevertheless, it doesn't matter. She always has something to bme.

  "The moment I synchronize the Hollow. That Ethereal isn't like some natural ones..."

  "When a living being turns into a Hollow, their DNA will be dissolved and eroded by Ether matter"

  "Their Ether waves are stable, unlike its chaotic sequence"

  "That thing is like a human gaining the power of Ethereal, but doesn't have a human consciousness"

  Yuri expins in a sense, cooperating with the memories about the lore of this game.

  "Sorry, Yuri-chan, that's a lot of information. Let me process for a minute"

  Zhu Yuan touches her head with a headache. That's too much.

  "Captain, have you finished speaking with my Oujo-sama? Can you let me serve her a little since she's just woken up?"

  The elegant maid protrudes her head inside, revealing a mysterious smile. In fact, she'd heard it all. Now, she wonders if she can drag Yuri into the same side as her. Perhaps the Victoria Housekeeping Coo can establish a retionship with this legendary proxy.

  "I'm sorry, Yuri's maid-san...My occupational habit is quite bad...Ahaha"

  Zhu Yuan smiles cringely. If something happened to Yuri, she wouldn't know how to speak in front of her mother. Yuri's mom is so scary because she belongs to the TOPS' faction.

  "Yuri-chan, I won't disturb you anymore. Just get better. I'll go to 6th Street. Bye bye~"

  "Bye!!!"

  Zhu Yuan excuses herself and goes in a second.

  New Eridu, 6th street, Random Py.

  "I wonder how Yuri-san is doing? Her tape has already expired, but hasn't been returned yet"

  Belle zily lies on the sofa.

  "Just hope that she'll be alive and kick in again"

  Wise replies in a certain tone.

  "Master, there is a phone call from my rival"

  Fairy reports to Belle as the ringtone flickers on the screen.

  "Oh, speaking of a devil...Let's receive"

  Belle stands up from the sofa.

  "Moshi moshi, do you hear me, Manager?"

  Yuri on the side speaks.

  "I hear you"

  Belles replies.

  "Wow, that's good"

  "About the tape, I may have to return it next week. Monday, maybe...I'm sorry for the te but..."

  "Can you love me and not charge the extra fee, Manager Belle?"

  "I've rescued so many people and saved the world many times..."

  "Stop, stop! Don't ever use your heroic deed to break our business's rule!!"

  Belle knows this shameless side of the Proxy of Light. She wonders what kind of light this is! It's obviously moral kidnapping!! However, thinking back, Yuri had an accident but still joked like nothing, making her feel a little guilty.

  "Okay, since you saved me st time, I'll give you a discount of 80% of the fine fee"

  Belle's conscience doesn't allow her to be a bck-heart businessman.

  "Woohoo, I knew it. I have an important position in your heart. I love you very much, Belle-chan!!!"

  Hearing Yuri's energetic voice again, Belle's heart lightens.

  "Don't say 'love' to others easily like that!!!"

  "And I've leveled up to 'chan'"