058 I Want to Hug Ten of Them!

At this moment, Kurumi had only one thought—

Big. Too big!

Those two massive things on Kiss-Shot's chest…

They were practically the size of her head!

This was way too exaggerated!

And that curvy, mature figure—even as a fellow woman, Kurumi couldn't help but gulp unconsciously.

If she was reacting like this, then…

Could Souta even handle it?

Kurumi originally came here determined to establish her dominance as the "official wife."

No matter what, she had to crush Kiss-Shot's presence.

But after seeing Kiss-Shot's true form…

Her confidence instantly plummeted to rock bottom.

There was just no way to compete with those!

"Hmm? Why are you just standing there?"

Kiss-Shot noticed Kurumi spacing out and casually reminded her:

"I was hoping we could get to know each other."

"You're… Kiss-Shot?"

Kurumi took a deep breath, gathering herself before confirming.

"..."

Kiss-Shot was silent for a moment, then let out a soft sigh.

"Oh, whatever. If you want to call me Kiss-Shot, so be it…"

She then elegantly introduced herself:

"As you can see, I am Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade—

The Iron-Blooded, Hot-Blooded, Cold-Blooded Vampire…

Well, I suppose I'm not really a vampire anymore."

"You must be Tokisaki Kurumi, correct?"

She recited her over-the-top title with absolute confidence—her voice calm and composed, with no hint of embarrassment.

But beside her, Souta—who had long outgrown his chūnibyō phase—was cringing hard.

Come to think of it…

The vampire lord who originally turned Kiss-Shot into a servant, Suicide Master, was also ridiculously chūni.

Her title was something like "The Deadly, The Fatal, The Ten-Thousand-Deaths Vampire."

Could… chūnibyō be genetic?

And considering that creating a servant was basically equivalent to… well, 'that', did that mean Suicide was a yuri vampire?

"Yes, that's me."

Kurumi recovered her usual refined expression and elegant tone.

She smiled slightly and spoke in a noble, lady-like manner:

"Kiss-Shot-san… You're quite different from what I imagined."

"Oh?"

Kiss-Shot tilted her head slightly, intrigued.

"And what exactly did you imagine me to be like?"

"Based on the way you talk in the chat… I thought you'd be… 'younger.'"

Kurumi barely stopped herself from saying "a little kid."

"For me, appearance holds no significance."

Kiss-Shot took a sip of tea, her expression unfazed.

"If I so desire, I can take any form I wish."

"So… are you saying that this form of yours isn't real?"

Kurumi narrowed her eyes.

"Oh? You seem very interested in my body."

Kiss-Shot smirked knowingly, as if she had seen right through her.

She grinned playfully and said:

"I hate to disappoint you, but this is my true form at age 27—the age I was when I became a vampire.

There's nothing fake about it."

Kurumi's eye twitched slightly.

Do foreigners… all grow like this?!

Not willing to back down, she countered with a smirk:

"Oh my, oh my~ Don't get the wrong idea, Kiss-Shot-san.

I have no expectations whatsoever."

Kurumi then dropped a bombshell:

"Kiss-Shot-san, you might not know this…

But Souta actually prefers petite girls."

She softly giggled, shooting a meaningful glance at Souta.

"He especially likes girls who are smaller and younger than him.

In fact, he often asks me to make younger versions of myself for him to admire."

Kurumi's words carried three hidden messages for Kiss-Shot:

Her height was in Souta's strike zone. She could transform into a loli anytime. She was fully capable of… uh… certain things.

Hearing this, Kiss-Shot narrowed her golden eyes and glanced at Souta with suspicion—

Her gaze filled with silent judgment.

No wonder this guy always wanted her to take on a child form!

Souta: "..."

What did he even say?

Why was he getting sprays out of nowhere?!

"Alright, alright, why is there so much gunpowder in your conversation?"

Souta pulled Kurumi to the couch and poured her a glass of water, then said:

"You two wait here for a bit. Altair already sent me an invitation—I'll go pick her up and bring her to the real world so we can discuss the mission."

"I'll go with you," Kurumi suddenly stood up.

"Huh? I can handle this alone."

Souta was speechless.

Why was Kurumi trying to butt in?

Bringing a female group member over required physical contact.

Did she really think he could just carry two people at once on the way back?!

Kurumi sighed helplessly and looked at him.

"Souta, you trust people too easily."

"If Altair turns on you, what are you going to do?"

"You said it yourself, she's extremely powerful. But you're so weak right now—going alone is way too risky. You have zero protection."

…Kurumi, did you really have to rub it in so hard?

Yes, yes, he was weak, so weak, a total weakling.

Kurumi continued:

"That's why I should go with you. If anything happens, at least I'll be there to protect you."

"Souta, she has a point," Kiss-Shot suddenly stood up as well.

Her golden eyes narrowed slightly.

"I too shall accompany you. Before anything else, I need to evaluate Altair's character."

Souta: "..."

Would he even be able to hold them both on the way back?!

— Re:CREATORS World —

In an abandoned building on the outskirts of the city, the afternoon sunlight poured through the collapsed ceiling, casting streaks of gold over the cracked walls.

A small girl with twin pink pigtails and light purple eyes stepped in from outside.

She wore a typical elementary school uniform, looking no older than fourteen.

"Momika… you were looking for me?"

In the center of the grand hall, a black leather couch sat amid the ruins.

Altair lounged on it, her teal eyes glancing indifferently at the approaching girl.

This girl's name was Mamika Kirameki.

She was a magical girl Altair had recruited from a child-friendly anime world.

"Uh, um," Mamika Kirameki spoke hesitantly in her immature voice.

"I did what you asked today—I went to talk to… uh… Se… Se… Sere…"

"…Selesia Upitiria and Meteora Österreich," Altair sighed and corrected her.

This girl had a terrible memory for names—a flaw her creator had deliberately written into her character.

"Yes, them! I tried to convince them to join us, but they wouldn't listen—and then we started fighting."

Mamika's face fell.

"Now things are even worse between us.

What do we do next?"

Altair fell silent.

Her emotions were… complicated.

Ever since talking with Souta and the others in the group chat, her desire to destroy the world had drastically weakened.

If she could bring Setsuna back, then…

There was no need to carry out her creator's last wish—"Wouldn't it be better if everything disappeared?"

As for her hatred?

She could just hunt down the keyboard warriors who bullied Setsuna and settle things in a good old-fashioned offline PK.

There was no need to destroy the entire world.

Which meant…

She no longer had a purpose.

So when it came to Mamika and the others, Altair honestly didn't care much anymore.

To be honest…

She was tempted to just leave them alone.

Of course, she wasn't heartless enough to just say:

"What to do? Nothing. Just go do whatever you want."

After thinking for a moment, she turned to Mamika and said:

"Selesia and Meteora's hostility…

It's probably directed at me personally."

"After all, I had a bad history with them."

"The fact that you fought them today… was my fault."

Altair hesitated, then said:

"Just ignore this for now.

Go find your creator instead."

Yes.

She would take responsibility for this situation.

But only after she revived Setsuna.

Buzz—Buzz—

Her phone vibrated.

Altair quickly reached into her military coat and pulled it out.

It was a message from Souta in the friend group chat.

He had @'d her, saying he was on his way.

"Mamika, I have to leave for a bit."

With that, Altair stood up—

And vanished into the sky through the broken rooftop.

(TN: I wonder if the chapter title truly captures the MCs real thoughts lmao.)

PS: I saw some readers asking why they didn't just go back in time to save Setsuna Shimazaki and create a fake body to cover up her death in history.

Here's an explanation:

Altair crossed into reality on the exact day of Setsuna's death. Moreover, she somehow knew that Setsuna's final wish was:

"It would be better if everything just disappeared."

So, inheriting this wish, Altair sought to erase the world.

The series never explains how she knew about this wish.

The best guess is that Setsuna's death itself created some sort of connection with Altair, transmitting her final wish while also triggering Altair's ability to break through the boundaries of fiction and enter reality.

In other words, Setsuna's death might be the very "cause" that enabled Altair's existence in the real world.

So, creating a fake body to replace Setsuna's death wouldn't change anything—because her death was a necessary event for Altair's crossing.

This is why they didn't choose to alter the timeline to bring Setsuna back.

Some readers also asked:

"Why not reverse the time of the urn to bring Setsuna back?"

…Ahem.

Honestly, I didn't think of that at the time.

Writing 10,000 words a day makes it easy to overlook certain details, so I didn't have time to fully consider every possibility.

Hope you all understand.

These two plot holes have now been patched up.

If you're interested, you can revisit Chapter 54, where I added about 1,000 extra words to clarify these points.