This Chat Group's Vibe is a Bit Off Chapter 5

You bastard!

Seele definitely couldn't bring herself to impersonate someone else to trick a young girl, but with the lives of tens of millions in Changkong City at stake, she had no choice but to do it. Besides, if she could get those one thousand points, then this month and next month, everyone in Riveting Town, Panyan Town, and the mining district might be able to eat fresh meals every day.

Seele: I'll do it!

I will—no, I absolutely will change things! I'll make sure everyone in the Lower District can have bread that costs five hundred thousand Silvermane Credits apiece at every meal!

Steel Prison Big: Please do. But we also need to prevent Cocolia from jumping the gun and detonating the Honkai Energy reactors within Changkong City at any cost, forcibly turning Raiden Mei into the Herrscher of Thunder. So while dealing with Bronya, protect Raiden Mei as much as possible. If the base explodes, even the best debate strategy will be useless.

Talulah: In other words, it's a battle to defend Raiden Mei?

Customer Service Xiangzi is at your service: Mm. But first, we need to free Raiden Mei from the environment at Senba Academy. Studying under that kind of pressure, it would be perfectly normal for her to break down at any moment.

Child of Prophecy: Then how do we convince Raiden Mei to trust us? In her current state, she'll probably have a hard time believing strangers. If we approach her rashly, we might even scare her.

I want to eat Mei-flavored instant noodles: Hehe, this is when this young lady steps in! Mei and I are incredibly close friends—we're practically at the point where we can sleep over at each other's houses~!

Maple Sugar Commander: If it were me, I'd definitely think you were a pervert.

Talulah: Agreed.

Lower District Flying Head Barbarian: Agreed.

Customer Service Xiangzi is at your service: Agreed.

I want to eat Mei-flavored instant noodles: Hey! Why has my image in all your minds already become that of a pervert?!

Child of Prophecy: It's okay, Kiana. Even if you are a pervert, you're still a kind-hearted pervert with a strong sense of justice.

I want to eat Mei-flavored instant noodles: I'm begging you, please don't comfort me with such pitying words. It just makes me feel even more pathetic.

Steel Prison Big: Calm down, everyone. I have an idea.

Her Gaze Was as Resolute as If She Were About to Join the Party

Senba Academy.

After binge-watching the prequel trilogy, original trilogy, and sequel trilogy of Star Wars in one sitting, Raiden Mei suddenly felt that she must have some incredibly amazing ability that had yet to be discovered. Like Neo from The Matrix, perhaps one day a mysterious figure like Harry from Kingsman would come along—wearing a stylish suit and carrying all manner of high-tech weapons—to uncover her abilities. Then, before everyone's eyes, she would transform and accomplish something earth-shattering, like saving the world.

The point of that story wasn't how she saved the world, but the looks in everyone else's eyes as they watched her back.

At that moment, everyone would stare blankly at her majestic figure. Just thinking about it felt—so damn cool!

But that fantasy was nothing more than a tool she used to escape reality, a shameful act of avoidance. No matter how much she fantasized, fantasies would always remain fantasies. They could never become reality.

The cruel reality still remained.

After a newspaper reported that her father, Raiden Ryoma, had been imprisoned for corruption, and no matter how she tried, none of his phones would connect, the course of her life changed completely. In the past, she had been the star of the school, the Thunder Queen who ruled over all. But now, she was nothing more than a stray cat anyone could come over and kick twice. The only thing she could do was curl up in a corner of the classroom, clutching a book tightly with both hands to hide her face.

As though doing so could shield her from her teachers' endless nagging, her classmates' mocking Byakugan, and their derisive insults and curses.

So annoying. When would this kind of life finally end?

She was already nearing her limit...

Then light shone in from ahead of her, as though lightning had split apart heavy clouds. Someone forcefully pushed open the classroom door.

At the front stood a young man dressed neatly in a black school uniform, with silver hair and black rectangular glasses. He looked remarkably fashionable. Following close behind him were a dark-blue-haired girl with a delinquent-girl vibe, leaning on a scythe; a silver-haired Dragon Girl in a military uniform; a blonde, blue-eyed girl holding a staff and wearing a thick hat; and a blue-haired girl with spiral side locks, dressed in a green knee-length skirt like a refined young lady...

The group's composition was, in a word, complicated.

"Hey, who are you?"

The teacher in the middle of giving a lesson saw this group in their strange outfits and pointed at them, about to throw them all out.

Qianyi grabbed the teacher's pointing hand and applied the slightest bit of force. With a push and a pull, what should have become a confrontation turned into a friendly handshake.

"Hello, teacher. Sorry to take a few minutes of class time. Please wait outside first. Thank you."

"O-okay."

The young man before him smiled gently, making people instinctively like him. Yet the unknown teacher facing him was drenched in sweat. The pain from his hand quickly soaked his back, and even his clenched teeth trembled nonstop.

All he could do was hurriedly pull his hand free and go outside to call for other teachers to help.

While the students were still wondering whether this was some kind of show, Qianyi had already stepped onto the podium and swept his gaze around the room, his eyes sharp as blades.

Every student fell silent. This outsider who had suddenly barged in possessed an overwhelming presence. Though he looked no older than sixteen or seventeen, he exuded the aura of a hero who had weathered countless battles, making no one dare meet his eyes.

"Raiden Mei, there is no longer any time for you to remain in school and waste time. The world is facing a crisis of destruction. The organization needs you."

Qianyi strode steadily over to Raiden Mei. His voice was solemn and firm, his tone clear and powerful, enough for every student present to hear every word he said.

Huh?

Was he calling her name?

Raiden Mei's mind went blank. She wondered if she was dreaming—otherwise, how could something like this suddenly happen? Or was it...

Was she being pranked? Like those wildly popular prank shows in the Far East, pranking a fallen young lady. That kind of hook would definitely draw plenty of viewers.

But he was too dazzling.

The person before her was simply too dazzling. His silver hair was impeccably groomed, and he wore a long black coat over a white silk shirt. His eyes were an unusual gray, and his cold, sharp bearing was like a blade. The pressure he gave off made Raiden Mei's legs go weak. Luckily, she was sitting in a chair—otherwise, she would already have collapsed to the floor.

She instinctively wanted to refuse this group of mysterious strangers, but when the silver-haired Dragon Girl in a military uniform came before her and placed a heavy sword in her hands—a sword brimming with a distinctly British style, one she could tell at first touch was absolutely not a fake—she found herself unable to say a word of refusal.

Then Qianyi's next sentence shattered every last one of her mental defenses on the spot.

"Comrade Mei, you've suffered enough. Everything you're going through now is persecution at the hands of our enemies. Are you ready to take up your sword and teach those bastards a lesson?"

Raiden Mei was a chuunibyou. And what chuunibyou loved most was the idea that Heaven would entrust great responsibility to those who had endured hardship. So resolving Raiden Mei's inner turmoil was quite simple: she only needed to believe that all the suffering she had endured in the past—the anguish that tested her will, the toil that wore down her body, the hunger that deprived her flesh—had merely been trials in preparation.

To that end, Qianyi had specially arranged a rather unique invitation for her entrance.

I know you might not be willing to trust us, but what if we handed you a weapon and invited you to Save the World?

Clearly, Raiden Mei fell for it completely!

"Me, I..." Raiden Mei stood there blankly. She had never felt like this before. It felt as though every spotlight in the world had converged upon her, like countless suns. She felt as if she were about to be burned away—but so what?

Like a moth drawn to fire, even knowing that chasing the flames would end in death, she still chose to burn to her heart's content in that blaze.

Me? Either I would be reborn in the flames, or I would die gloriously beneath their searing light!

She followed the group onward, circling around the city for several hours. As time passed, night gradually fell, and the flickering neon lights cast mottled reflections across the damp streets. Her legs began to ache with exhaustion, her steps growing unsteady. The sword in her hand gradually became heavier from being held for so long, its hilt wobbling slightly in her trembling grip.

This sword was so heavy!

Was this weight really designed for humans?

And why had they been wandering around the city for so many hours? Did their organization not even have a single car?

She wanted to roar those questions aloud, but she did not dare ask. Maybe this was another test for her.

Keep going, Raiden Mei. You can do it!

So, after they wandered for another hour and she truly could not hold on any longer, she finally asked, "By the way, are we heading to some secret base?"

"No, we're planning to gather at your house first and rest up," Qianyi said.

"...My house isn't this way." Raiden Mei fell silent.

"Is that so? How troubling." Qianyi turned to look at Kiana and smiled faintly. "So this is what you meant when you said you already knew the general location of Mei's house?"

Kiana said, "Uh... well, the margin of error might be just a tiny little bit large."

"Your margin of error might be as large as all of Tokyo. So where exactly are we now?" Qianyi could not take it anymore.

"I don't know. We might be lost," Kiana gave the classic answer.

Qianyi: "..."

Raiden Mei: "..."

So they had been wandering around for hours, not to avoid drawing attention, evade the enemy's gaze, or reach some secret base—but because they were—lost!?

The night draped itself over the city like a thin veil. The streetlights were dim and lonely as Raiden Mei walked slowly through the silent streets, her shadow stretching beneath the lamps as though it had merged with the darkness.

Her gaze was hollow, as if she had no destination. She simply walked forward mechanically, her footsteps entirely out of sync with the rhythm of the city, carrying a silent sense of loneliness.

"Why? Why did it turn out like this? The first time I broke free from my old life, the first time I met companions I could fight alongside to Save the World... When two happy things overlap, they should make something even happier, shouldn't they? So why... why did it become like this..." Raiden Mei murmured.

She was indeed walking the path to Save the World, and most of her teammates looked incredibly capable at first glance. This should have been exciting—but no matter how much she calculated, she never could have predicted that these people would be the kind to drop the ball.

Someone who had never been to her house dared to give directions, and everyone else had actually dared to believe her!

How could they Save the World while fighting alongside teammates like these?

I'm such an idiot.

I followed them in a moment of excitement without even considering whether this group was reliable. And now that I looked carefully, they did not even have matching uniforms. Two of them were even female students who had come out wearing their school uniforms.

Forget it. Since I was already here, if I ran back now, the other students would definitely laugh at me. I'd just treat it as playing along with this bunch of chuunibyou.

Come to think of it, why were they going to my house instead of their own?

Were they really this familiar with someone they had just met?!

Raiden Mei grumbled inwardly, failing to notice that everyone ahead had suddenly stopped. She walked straight into the back of the person in front of her. Still confused, she was about to ask why they had stopped when she noticed a silver-haired Little Girl with spiral twin-tails standing silently in the middle of the road, flanked by two Titan mechs.

"Leave Raiden Mei now. No one needs to be hurt because of this. Otherwise, you will die." Bronya's tone was calm, so calm that she sounded as if she were merely stating a fact.

"So you've appeared, Bronya," Shoko remarked.

"Perfect timing. We hadn't even come looking for you, yet you brought yourself right to us." Seele rested her scythe on her shoulder, lowered her body, and assumed a combat stance.

"Should we negotiate?" Talulah tried to draw her sword, only to realize that her sword was in Raiden Mei's hands. She could only spin around and shove her hands into her pockets.

"This is the moment for Miss Seele to step in, isn't it?" Artoria hugged her staff and hid in the back.

"No, she obviously doesn't look like someone we can negotiate with easily. We should beat her up as a punching bag first, then send Seele in to talk her down!" Kiana shouted excitedly. She had taken plenty of side-eye from her companions after her navigation mishap, and even Mei had started looking at her strangely. Now was the time to prove herself!

I'll easily take down this little shrimp in front of Mei and look totally cool!

And this little shrimp had kept getting in her way in the comics. I'd been sick of her for ages. Today, I had to let her see what the Black Hand was! Let her see that among the Big Three, I, Kiana, was the boss!

I had to declare my claim!

"Calm down. This is obviously just revenge," Qianyi saw through Kiana's intentions at a glance.

"This is a necessary sacrifice! I will never forgive anyone who tries to hurt Mei!"

Realizing that Qianyi was currently the team's leader and mastermind, Kiana immediately went over, slung an arm around his shoulders, and said earnestly, "And look, Qianyi. Because of these people, Mei is already completely pineapple-pineapple-da—totally shattered inside. If she can't vent properly, sooner or later she'll bottle it up until something goes wrong, transform into the Herrscher of Thunder, and blow Changkong City into the sky. You don't want that to happen either, right?"

"Huh? Am I really that scary?" Raiden Mei's expression flashed with shock before she was overwhelmed with joy.

Sure enough, hidden within me was an invincible power!

"That actually makes some sense." Talulah, who also had a "second personality" inside her that was always putting pressure on her and trying to take over her body, felt that Kiana's words had some merit. "If Raiden Mei's psychological pressure became too great and she couldn't release it, then even without Cocolia, she would become the Herrscher of Thunder sooner or later."

"I don't understand what you're talking about. Are we fighting or not?" Seele was getting a little uncomfortable from crouching. "But I think Kiana made a good point. If the scythe isn't sharp, how can you make the other side sit down and talk?"

After a brief yet level-headed consideration, Qianyi nodded, approving Kiana's plan. "Mind your strength. Beat her into submission first, then persuade her."

"Don't worry, Qianyi. I'm always very restrained when I fight!" Kiana was itching to give it a try.

"I want to take those two mechs next to them back to the Lower District and convert them into mining machines. Don't damage them too badly." Seele had her eyes on the two mechs nearby.

"Seele, Reunion needs this kind of thing too." Talulah also wanted to take one.

Since they had come all this way, how could they leave without bringing back some souvenirs?

While the two were still fighting over the spoils, Kiana had already charged ahead alone with her bat in hand.

Watch closely, Mei. This is me...

Bronya summoned Heavy Cannon Rabbit and promptly slammed her into a trash can, leaving only her legs and backside sticking out as they twitched.

Th-That's it?

Bronya had initially been extremely wary of this group, wondering whether they might be very strong. But now, it seemed her caution had been unnecessary.

She recalled what Cocolia had asked before she set out: "Bronya, if your opponents are this group of mysterious people, can you win?"

Bronya's answer had been—she would win!

Let me show you the true power of Seele's Defense, of the Ural Silver Wolf!

And in the face of the Dimensional Chat Group's declaration of victory, what Bronya was about to face was—

"Disappear with the butterflies, phantom of the past!"

"Staff of Selection, grant me light!"