Chapter 317: Beach Episode! Girls Only!

An oblivious Future Lucy clicked on the sinister, abstract game.

Since it was still a beta version, there was no tutorial whatsoever.

The moment she entered the game, her consciousness was pulled away, immersing her in the game world. Meanwhile, her body in the real world slumped onto the table, fast asleep.

"She's definitely going to be mad," Levy muttered, clasping her hands together apologetically in front of the unconscious Future Lucy. "I'm sorry, Lucy! This is all Sensei's fault!"

Mirajane looked over, her expression curious. "What's going on?"

"Let me explain, Mira. Sensei made me create a super…" Levy paused, struggling to find the right word, "…weird game. Lucy's already inside, and I'm certain she'll be angry when she comes out!"

Nate interjected, "I forbid you to speak ill of your own creation!"

"It's not like that!" Levy retorted, rolling her eyes with an exasperated look. "What creation? Stop describing it in such a bizarre way."

Although she'd poured a lot of effort into making the game, there was no way she'd call something this abstract her "child."

Mirajane crossed her arms and rested her chin on her hand, smiling serenely. "Hearing all this, I'm getting curious about what kind of game it is."

Why do girls always cross their arms like that? Nate mused, then quickly corrected himself. No, it's not just any girl—it's the busty ones. It probably helps take some weight off their shoulders.

Speaking of busty, Nate suddenly remembered something. Among all the women he'd met, the title of biggest bust still belonged to the demon Seilah. Without hesitation, he sent her a message on Magic Net.

Sigma Male: "Send me a picture of yourself."

Seilah: "?"

Sigma Male: "Preferably one with you holding the championship trophy. It's for a poster on the game's homepage."

As the winner of the tournament, Seilah logically deserved to have her picture displayed prominently in [Celestial Pokémon] as the champion.

Seilah: "Sorry, the trophy was stolen."

Sigma Male: "🤔?"

For once, Nate was the one sending the confused emoji. The trophy he'd handed out at noon had already been stolen by the afternoon? Wait, who could possibly snatch a trophy from a member of the Nine Demon Gates?

Sigma Male: "What happened? We don't cover stolen trophies, you know."

Seilah: "No worries, I'm chasing them down. Some shadow suddenly emerged from the ground and took my trophy. I'm furious! These humans are insufferable! They won't get away with this!"

She really did seem angry, Nate thought. But… shadow magic? It sounded a lot like Kageyama, the dark mage from Eisenwald.

"Sensei, who are you chatting with?" Levy asked, leaning over curiously. Unfortunately, sitting across the table made it hard to see the screen.

"Seilah," Mirajane answered for him, her sweet smile carrying a playful edge. "The busty demon," she added. "I heard she won the championship, didn't she?"

Behind that smile, Nate could sense the shadow of her Satan Soul. Ah, jealous Mirajane. Cute but a little terrifying.

Just then, another message popped up from Seilah.

Seilah: "Got it back!"

Seilah: "Champion_Photo.jpg"

That was quick!

Nate was about to open the picture but hesitated, his finger hovering over the chat.

"Go ahead," Mirajane urged. "Need me to help you look?"

"…Actually, can you help me make it into a poster?" Nate decided, forwarding the photo to Mirajane directly. Might as well save himself the trouble of editing.

Mirajane's laughter was soft but amused. "Leave it to me!"

Meanwhile, Levy's eyes were wide with curiosity, picking up on the tension in the air. Her gaze sparkled, brimming with the gossip she'd just absorbed.

At that moment, the Lucy of this world hurriedly burst into the guild.

"Nate, Mira, Levy…" The young woman was slightly out of breath, clearly having run all the way from home.

But the moment she saw her future self lying on the table, she was immediately startled. "Me?! Is she okay?"

"She's fine, she just entered the game world," Levy quickly explained. "Lucy, I even mistook the future Lucy for you just now."

Unlike the Lucy from the Edolas incident, this Lucy was incredibly hard to distinguish from her future self. Even Nate, without physically embracing them, would have trouble telling the two apart. Even their magic auras were identical! Only Magic Net could differentiate between "Gotta Earn Money" and "Gotta Be Strong" based on their unique magic signatures.

The young Lucy sat down and immediately turned to Nate. "This… what's going on?"

"That's a long story…" Nate began, before glancing at Mira.

Mirajane smiled warmly and took over. "I'll explain everything. Here's what happened…"

Nate was more than happy to leave the storytelling to Mirajane. He had already explained the situation once to Mavis and then again to Mirajane after returning. Doing it a third time felt exhausting.

Ignoring the girls' conversation, Nate stood up, moved to a quieter corner, and resumed studying Satellite Magic.

"So that's how it is… I feel so bad for her!" After hearing about Future Lucy's plight, the young Lucy expressed genuine sympathy for her future self's situation.

"Exactly, so we need to figure out a way to help her," Mira said with a sigh. "But how do we go about doing that?"

Levy furrowed her brow, deep in thought. After a long pause without any good ideas, she sighed helplessly. "According to Sensei, even if we change history and prevent the Eclipse Gate from opening, it won't bring the dead back to life."

The young Lucy rested her chin in her hands, feeling lost. It was a dead end. There was no magic in the world that could resurrect the dead, and changing history would only create a new parallel world—a lose-lose situation.

Not even her all-powerful boyfriend, Nate, could do anything about this, right?

Lucy sighed gloomily. "What should we do?"

"For now, why not take her mind off it?" Levy suggested. "The weather's warming up—how about taking Future Lucy to the beach for a vacation?"

"The beach?" The young Lucy mulled it over and quickly decided, "Good idea!"

"How about the Akane Beach Resort?" Mira chimed in with a smile. "Girls only."

"Sounds like fun! I'm in!" Levy said excitedly. "Let's see if anyone else wants to come too!"

"I'll ask!" Lucy eagerly volunteered.

And just like that, the three women casually decided on a plan. Since they couldn't solve the problem for now, their focus shifted to cheering Future Lucy up.

[Fairy Tail Bonds of Love]

Lucy: "Anyone want to go to the beach? Akane Beach Resort, Nate's treat!"

Lucy: "Girls only!"

Erza: "🤨 What's Nate up to?!"

Juvia: "Juvia's in!"

Wakaba: "Can I come too?"

Mirajane: "Sorry, Wakaba, this is a girls-only outing. 😊"

Jet: "@Nate Why does he get to go? That's unfair! I want to go too!"

Sigma Male: "?"

The constant blinking of his ring pulled Nate's attention away from studying. When he opened the group chat, he was met with complete chaos.

Lucy: "Nate doesn't have to come; he's just paying, haha 😋"

Erza: "Akane Beach Resort? I've been there before. It's a fun spot."

Lucy: "Erza, are you coming?"

Erza: "Let's all go together."

Evergreen: "I'm in too! A free vacation? Only a fool would say no!"

Meredy: "Can Ultear and I come? I want ice cream."

Cana: "Mid-February… Isn't it going to be cold?"

Mavis: "I'm going too! I want to go!"

Lucy: "FIRST MASTER?! 😱"

Nate: "..."

Wait, when did this suddenly turn into a vacation plan? And why was he the one paying?!