Aeri braced herself as a masked woman charged at her with her claymore raised high. She deftly dodged the first strike and swung her longsword at her opponent's side, but the masked woman blocked it with her own blade.

The two women circled each other, their weapons glinting in the dim light of a dark unknown realm. Aeri watched her opponent's movements carefully, waiting for an opening. But, suddenly, the masked woman lunged forward, aiming for Aeri's chest.

Aeri sidestepped the attack and fired a bolt from her crossbow, but the masked woman deflected it with her sword. The two women clashed again and again, their weapons ringing out in the empty space.

Aeri felt a surge of adrenaline as she fought, her mind focused solely on the battle at hand. She could feel the weight of her longsword in her hand, the familiar grip giving her a sense of comfort as she parried the masked woman's attacks.

The masked woman was a formidable opponent, her movements fluid and calculated. Aeri knew she had to stay on her toes if she wanted to come out on top.

The two women continued to exchange blows, each one more intense than the last. Aeri felt a trickle of sweat run down her brow as she winced from the several cuts around her arms, but she didn't let it distract her from the fight.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Aeri saw an opening. She swung her longsword in a wide arc, aiming for the masked woman's head. The woman tried to block it with her claymore, but Aeri's blade cut through the metal with ease.

The masked woman stumbled backward, clutching her broken sword. Aeri pointed her longsword at her, ready to strike the final blow.

But as she looked into the masked woman's eyes, she saw a glimmer of recognition. Aeri lowered her sword, realizing that the woman before her was not her enemy but a friend who had been caught up in a dangerous game.

"This..." Aeri dropped the crossbow from her other hand, "Yizhuo? Ning Yizhuo?" her eyes went wide as she took a step backward.

Yizhuo sat on the ground, defenseless and out of breath. "Haha... sorry, I tried to kill you." she managed to let out an apologetic laugh before pursing her lips as if in guilt. "She said if I killed the fake— everything would go back to normal."

Aeri furrowed her brows, "She? Fake? What do you mean fake?"

"Huh? Aren't you the wannabe Goddess of Entertainment?"

"...What?"

They lowered their weapons and looked at each other for a moment, panting heavily. Aeri felt a sense of relief wash over her as she realized that she had won the battle, but she also felt a pang of confusion as she didn't expect Yizhuo to be among the players.

And a fake?

~

"And that just happened yesterday before, you know... Anyway, there are three Goddesses, including me. So, I don't know every player except those in my category, which, Yizhuo isn't."

Aeri shrugged and plopped a slice of apple into , chewing in delight as if she hadn't eaten an apple in a very long time.

Laying her back against the headboard, Minjeong chuckled. "How come you're casually eating an apple when the person who almost killed you is with you in the room?"

Aeri continued eating her apple and turned to face Yizhuo with narrowed eyes, "Almost? I believe that's an overstatement. She was nowhere close to killing a Goddess like me." she said proudly, and Yizhuo rolled her eyes. "Plus, I'm really disappointed!"

"Disappointed of what?" Jimin tilts her head.

"I thought she was...!" Aeri paused and thought for a second before letting out a huff when she saw Yizhuo cross her arms, looking uncomfortable. "You know what, never mind. What's important is Minjeongie didn't get hurt."

"Bet you're glad I was in the area, huh?" Yizhuo smiled at Minjeong, which the latter reciprocated.

"Thank you." Minjeong gave a subtle bow, "Oh, and yeah... Aeri, I've always wondered— why did you offer Jimin to become a player? Isn't she a precious friend of yours? Isn't it dangerous?"

Minjeong's expression darkened in an instant, and Aeri couldn't help but laugh. The latter decided it would be better to explain everything in one go to avoid confusion, and she did.

Noticing how her best friend had been getting alarmingly close to Minjeong, Aeri was the one who gave Jimin the power to view only Minjeong's status windows. But she was not the one who offered Minjeong to become a player, and she was not the one who gave her the outbreak.

「Aeri: I gave you that chance to save Jimin. Unfortunately, reducing your outbreak's time limit was the only exchange acceptable for that to happen... I'm sorry.」

「Minjeong: No, that's fine. We were in it together, right? We wouldn't want Jimin to... you know.」

Moving on, Aeri clarified that there was someone that could possibly be as powerful as her out there. And since she had been away competing for the show, she left her duties for as long as she can remember.

She wasn't called the Goddess of Entertainment for nothing. Performing onstage, making people happy, and showing everyone her talents— Aeri loved doing them all. Though, for tragic events to suddenly occur like this... Aeri is worried.

"In truth, I only wanted to feel like a normal human being. That's why I left everything to compete here and see the results." Aeri sighed as she finished eating her apple and threw the core into a trash bin, "But now that I know someone's been impersonating me, I don't know if I can manage two things at the same time."

"Then!" Jimin sat up and clasped her girlfriend's hand, "Minjeong's outbreak... can you remove it...?"

"That..." Aeri bit her lower lip, looking sad. "I can't... because I had nothing to do with her. However, no matter what happens. I won't let the system get to her." she looked at Minjeong with determined eyes. "Even if it goes beyond the original rules. It's a thanks... for the save."

Looking back at Aeri, Minjeong caught up with what she was talking about and smiled. This gathered the other two girls' attention. They looked like they were communicating telepathically, causing Yizhuo to chuckle while Jimin pouted her lips in curiosity.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

"Hello? This is the maintenance team, we're here to fix the cameras."

Hearing the staff knock on their door, Aeri snapped her fingers, which caused the nearby cameras to spark and truly break. She couldn't have them getting suspicious when they came here to fix the cameras only to find out they weren't really broken in the first place.

"That's our queue." Jimin stood up from the chair, "Let's talk about this after all of this is over, okay?" she smiled sadly. "I don't know what's going on, but I hope it gets solved quickly and everything goes back to normal."

With Minjeong and Yizhuo looking unsure, Aeri noticed their expressions and let out a cheerful smile. She raised a thumb toward Jimin, giv