It is Said the Protagonist Also Plays Dead Besides Seeking Death

"Assassin, go assassinate Tokiomi tonight!"

Kirei Kotomine ordered Jizi expressionlessly.

"Heh, what an unoriginal plan."

Knowing the truth, Jizi certainly wouldn't, like the unlucky Zaid, get excited upon hearing this and immediately perform a dramatic leap of faith into the Tohsaka Residence, only to be impaled like a sieve after a display of acrobatics.

"How long do you think a mage known for his cunning will be fooled by such a petty trick, especially Kiritsugu Emiya?"

"That's why I need you to gather information on the opponent as quickly as possible, then Archer will handle the resolution."

"If it's just information gathering, I can handle it without this..."

"This is necessary to achieve true Presence Concealment. For my master's victory, not a single mistake can be tolerated."

How ironic, coming from a member of the Tohsaka family who always falters at crucial moments...

"For Tokiomi's victory? Heh, but the Holy Grail also chose you, Kirei. Don't you have any thoughts at all?"

Although she knew it would be useless, Jizi still tried. As expected, she couldn't escape her predetermined fate, but she could still try to influence the future trajectory of destiny by subtly nudging things along.

Leaving Kirei, who had fallen into thought again, on the hillside, Jizi flickered into the jungle, beginning her stealthy infiltration as an assassin [Jizi: Author, are you sure you used the right word?].

...Speaking of which, compared to Metal Gear Solid and Assassin's Creed, Tenchu (4) was the true "stealth assassination" type of game...

"Crack!"

The sound of something crystalline shattering echoed through the vast courtyard of the Tohsaka Residence. It was the sound of a magic circuit, a defensive barrier for the Tohsaka Residence, being destroyed by an arrow shot from the darkness.

"Crack!" "Crack!" "Crack!" "Crack!" "Crack!"... (Several cracking sounds omitted to avoid accusations of padding and to prevent certain readers from getting the wrong idea.)

After the outermost gems were destroyed, the attacker hidden in the shadows proceeded to destroy the other nodes arranged in the courtyard in order from outside to inside. Soon, the meticulously arranged and precise defensive barrier was reduced to only the innermost layer still functioning.

However, at this point, for some unknown reason, the attack on the center of the entire magic array had not yet arrived.

"Because once that's touched, it'll trigger a terrible flag and summon a hell-difficulty boss!"

Hidden on the branch of a tree, Jizi didn't continue constructing weapons of destruction and ruin. Instead, she took out a triangle ruler and protractor, as if aiming at something, and measured the Tohsaka Residence back and forth.

"Hmm, let me calculate. The height of this triangle ruler is xx cm, the legs of the right angle are xx and xx cm, the tree height is xx meters, the angle measured at the base of the tree is xx degrees, and the angle on the tree is xxx degrees. Using sin, cos, tan, and a bunch of other gibberish, I can calculate that the distance from here to the Tohsaka Residence is exactly the limit of my masked activities. So, this is where I'll do it."

By now, everyone should understand Jizi's "playing dead" technique. It involves hiding the main body (the mask) nearby, transferring all senses to a puppet body (humanoid form), and then boldly going to court death. When truly dead, she'll respawn... I mean, reconstruct the puppet body using the mage's magic.

Although this process is very time-consuming and consumes a lot of mana, as someone with a master (Jizi from route C: "Damn rich kid, you have so much mana?" Jizi from route A: "Holy crap, that's the Priest! I'd rather go out and beat up delinquents every day than hang out with him!" Both Jizis: "Every family has its own difficulties; speaking of which, it brings tears to my eyes..."), Jizi felt no pressure. Anyway, the priest's magecraft is very advanced, so this consumption would only make him impotent for about a day.

Placing the mask inside a tree hollow she had just chiseled, Jizi pulled down the hood belonging to Berserker, ensuring her face was hidden, and then performed a leap of faith into the low bushes in the courtyard.

[Jizi: Huh, isn't this just like that unlucky guy in the original story?]

...Isn't it a common trait of people from the Land of the Rising Sun to jump from high places? Whether in combat or not, it's a suicidal act. Think about Ilya at the Frozen Throne back then!

A cardboard box suddenly appeared in the courtyard—this alone was strange enough.

What's more, that cardboard box was moving! Although its speed was very slow, and it kept stopping and starting, even using plants for cover.

But no matter how carefully it moved, on the marble path of this classically designed courtyard, the cardboard box was as conspicuous as Harry Potter's scar! If the person doing this intended to "infiltrate," then it was completely counterproductive! Whether it was Kirei Kotomine in the distance, Tokiomi Tohsaka inside the house, or other mages monitoring the area using familiars, they were all suppressing their burning desire to complain.

As for the instigator...

If you can't find the book title, you can try searching for the author. Maybe they just changed their name!

"Foolish humans, the great infiltrator Snake taught us that a cardboard box is the romance of infiltration!"

Jizi declared.

However, it was clear that this romance was something that those who hadn't played Metal Gear could never understand.

"Whoosh!" ← The sound of a long sword cutting through the air.

Perhaps bored by the farce before him, or perhaps feeling mocked, Gilgamesh, who was supposed to make his grand entrance only after Jizi destroyed the central node, appeared on the rooftop. The space behind him rippled, and countless shining swords and blades were aimed at the cardboard box below, which had suddenly accelerated to dodge the first attack.

"I've had enough of this clown show of mongrels!"

A rain of swords descended, and the cardboard box was quickly riddled with holes. The person hiding inside surely wouldn't survive...

Unfortunately, nothing in the Holy Grail War can be judged by common sense—

"Hurricane Sonic Tornado!"

From within the cardboard box, which had been spectacularly torn to shreds, something shot out like a skyrocket, spinning... it was a four-wheel-drive car! And from the name of the attack, it was the protagonist's machine from "Let's & Go!!"—the Hurricane Sonic! (Author: Speaking of four-wheel-drive cars, it suddenly reminds me of the "Kosovo Tank" and "Original God" that I brutally modified back then, and the running around with other kids in the yard under the setting sun... Am I really getting old?)

The rapidly spinning four-wheel-drive car, carrying a spiral air current, charged towards Gilgamesh standing on the rooftop, with the air of "Watch me crush you! Do you know my dad is Ling Gang? I can run people over with my car and it's not illegal!" Gilgamesh, stunned by this unexpected development, didn't notice for a moment a flash of a blade that had appeared behind him. Thus, he was hit for first blood... Of course, that's impossible.

In reality, Gilgamesh didn't invest any emotion in this symbol that carried the youth, passion, and dreams of countless boys. With a casual wave of his hand, a sword pinned it to the ground, rendering it unable to move. Meanwhile, Jizi, who had stealthily crept behind Gilgamesh, was bound by a chain that appeared out of nowhere.

"Mongrel's tricks."

"You know this is just a show, why take it so seriously?"

"Tokiomi is the kind of guy who only plays petty mind games."

Jizi showed no panic, as she was already planning to die. Unfortunately, her plan was to at least "shock you a bit" with Gilgamesh, but she didn't expect that even a four-wheel-drive car couldn't ignite his passion. Should she use a basketball next time?

However, seeing the countless swords aimed at her, Jizi felt a little intimidated. She wouldn't die, but it would definitely hurt quite a bit, especially since the senses of this body were currently amplified twofold...

"Your Majesty, please be a little gentler..."

"Hmph!"

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－first－blood－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

Two or three hours later, in the woods behind the house.

"Damn it! This hurts like hell. I didn't expect constructing a new puppet body to take so much time. And why on earth did I hide the mask in the tree back then?"

－－－－－Does everyone remember that Xiling Apostle from the Pandora Legion who got stuck in a tree when they were teleported to Earth back then?－－－－

Author's Note: I suddenly feel that running two plotlines simultaneously was an incredibly foolish decision. Originally, the plan was for Line A to be serious and Line C to be lighthearted. After finishing Line C, I found it difficult to switch back to the style of Line A (which is why this chapter feels so strange). Going back to Line C also felt awkward and out of place. So, it's better to handle one line at a time... I've decided to finish Line C first before returning to resolve Line A. Therefore, you won't see updates for Line A for a considerable time – no one expects them anyway, right? What? Someone does? If so, please speak up and tell me which line you'd prefer to see next?

A small spoiler at the end: After Line A, the plot is planned to connect with FSN. Line C, however, will resolve everything within FZ.

1. Homework – Not finished, because I really don't know how to write it anymore. So I plan to copy it during evening study.

2. I want to see if Dianniang will mess with the formatting again.

If you can't find the book by its name, you can try searching by the author's name. Maybe they just changed their name!

Due to popular demand from readers, we are now offering a VIP ad-free membership.

Click to view