Chapter 31 : Fish it out
Aurora’s pupils shrank to pinpoints.
She froze, and after three agonizing seconds, let out an exaggerated, unnatural laugh.
“Y-you… why would you think that?” she stammered, waving her hands frantically, eyes darting anywhere but Ailiya’s. “W-what transmigrator? Ailiya, have you read too many novels? Your imagination’s wild! Hahaha, ha…”
Her laughter petered out into awkward silence, leaving only the sound of her nervous swallowing.
Ailiya, expressionless, shook the booklet. “Then what’s this about Liliane, Leon, and this protagonist Sylvie?”
“I-I told you, it’s just a novel I’m writing!” Aurora’s voice shot up an octave, like a cat with its tail stepped on. “Using real people and events as inspiration is a common writer’s trick!”
Ailiya eyed her skeptically, unconvinced.
Am I overthinking?
Her gaze returned to the sweating, nervous blonde.
That guilty look screamed she was hiding something huge.
Fine. One last shot.
“Aurora,” Ailiya said, adopting a gravely serious tone, “didn’t you say friends should be honest? So I’ll come clean.”
Placing a hand on her chest, she declared clearly, “I’m a transmigrator.”
The air seemed to freeze.
Aurora stiffened, then sprang from the bed like she’d been electrocuted, flailing wildly. “W-what are you talking about?! I’m not a transmigrator! It’s just a novel! You’re drunk! Yes, drunk! Go sleep! You take the bed, I’ll take the floor!”
She scrambled to push Ailiya toward the bed.
This idiot! She’s this nervous and thinks she’s fooling anyone?! Ailiya thought, exasperated.
I told her the truth, and she’s still hiding? Is she scared I’m tricking her?
“No, really,” Ailiya said, stopping her. “I’m serious. I’m a transmigrator.”
Aurora’s frantic waving slowed, her robotic panic settling.
“…Huh?” She peeked cautiously at Ailiya. “For real?”
Ailiya handed back the booklet. “Test me if you don’t believe me.”
Aurora’s eyes lit up. Perfect way to verify.
“Alright…” She cleared her throat, reciting a poem’s first half: “Before my bed, the moonlight glows.”
“It seems like frost upon the floor,” Ailiya answered instantly.
Aurora’s expression grew serious. “What’s the quadratic formula?”
“x equals negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus 4ac, all over 2a,” Ailiya replied smoothly.
Aurora’s breathing quickened. She threw out the final, critical question: “Super Mario… what’s that game?”
“Super Mario?” Ailiya grinned. “A famous platformer series by Nintendo, starring a red-hatted Italian plumber who adventures to save Princess Peach from Bowser…”
“Stop, stop!” Aurora cut her off, green eyes wide with disbelief. “You got it all right… Are you… really…?”
Ailiya nodded firmly. “I’m a transmigrator.”
The room’s lamp flicked on, banishing the shadows.
Ailiya swept the scattered bottles aside, clearing a space.
They sat cross-legged, facing each other, the mood shifting from chaotic probing to unprecedented gravity.
A cross-world “reckoning” began.
“I’ll go first,” Aurora said, scratching her cheek sheepishly to show sincerity. “My death… kinda embarrassing. I was obsessed with The Rose of St. Freya, upset over Liliane’s tragic ending. I got so distracted, I didn’t look crossing the road and… got hit by a truck.”
“Classic transmigration death,” Ailiya teased.
“Wait,” she caught a key detail, “what’s The Rose of St. Freya?”
“It’s a major otome game by a Chinese developer, it’s—” Aurora began.
“Cut!” Ailiya made a pause gesture. “Skip the spiel, get to the point.”
“Cough,” Aurora cleared her throat. “Basically, the world we’re in is the setting of The Rose of St. Freya. We’ve transmigrated into the game.”
Ailiya’s face sprouted a giant question mark.
Seeing her confusion, Aurora was even more shocked. “You didn’t know?! It was a phenomenon! Every character was so vivid, especially Liliane, bearing her family’s fate, fighting tragedy alone…”
“Stop,” Ailiya cut off her fangirling. “Not everyone plays otome games like you.”
Aurora’s enthusiasm doused, she pouted, sipping her water. “Hmph. Your turn. How’d you die?”
Ailiya sighed, recounting briefly: “I tried to save a kid who fell into a river, but I ran out of strength and drowned too.”
Aurora paused mid-sip, eyeing her with respect. “That’s pretty heroic.”
“Heroic my foot,” Ailiya scoffed. “I don’t even know if the kid made it. All I know is I’m gone. I just hope my buddies at the game company didn’t divvy up my rare collectible figures…”
“Pfft!” Aurora sprayed water, dousing Ailiya’s face.
“Hey! That’s rude!” Ailiya protested, wiping her face.
But Aurora wasn’t listening.
She slammed the floor, lunging forward, grabbing Ailiya’s shoulders. “Game company?! Drowning… figures… You’re… Leon?!”
Ailiya’s face was pure confusion.
“It’s me!” Aurora said, red-faced with excitement. “Anna! The new intern at the desk next to yours!”
Her words stirred a buried memory in Ailiya’s mind.
Right… there was a chatty, lively intern at the company. Her name… was it Anna?
Seeing Ailiya’s dawning realization, Aurora grinned and dropped a bombshell: “I was the one who fished your body out downstream!”
“I DON’T WANT TO HEAR THAT!!”