"Uh, is... is it over?"
"W-what? It just got interesting, and now it's over!?"
"I-I think so... Damn it! I wanted to see what happened next!"
"What was that all about? It came out of nowhere and showed us some footage out of nowhere. Could this be some kind of prank?"
"The truth! We demand to know the truth! We have the right to know! The authorities have to tell us what's going on!"
"Fake news. Next!"
"Explode, reality! Collapse, daily life! Appear, Wheel of Transmigration Suppression! Guardian of the Balance!... Ugh, why can't I summon a Servant? This isn't fair!"
As the public buzzed with excitement, the relevant departments in various countries sprang into action.
As for the people who had appeared in the Light Screen footage, they had to face countless questions—and their own confusion.
Artoria, for instance, was surrounded by a crowd of people chattering at her and firing off questions. She was just as bewildered, with no idea what was going on.
Fortunately, some of Artoria's close classmates soon stepped in and helped her out.
Su Yun, the instigator himself, was among them. He put on a concerned expression, acting as if he cared deeply about Artoria and didn't want her to feel troubled, while feeling not the slightest bit guilty inside.
After all, this was a necessary sacrifice!
Of course, that was only part of the reason. The main reason was that, according to Su Yun's plan, Artoria would benefit enormously from the Light Screen footage.
For now, she was merely paying a trivial price before reaping those benefits. It was just social death; as long as she faced it bravely, there was nothing to fear!
Meanwhile, Su Yun was in high spirits as he watched the Fantasy Power reading on his system panel climb past ten thousand, with the four digits after the decimal point continuing to rise.
He'd already made back his investment! From here on out, it was all profit!
That meant the second video could be much longer, and he could slip in more of his own content to achieve his Fantasy Power collection goal.
Yes, the Light Screen footage that had just ended hadn't been deliberately made so short and underwhelming. He simply hadn't had enough Fantasy Power.
Making it play worldwide without interference while subtly instilling in every viewer the idea that everything in the video was real had consumed no small amount of Fantasy Power.
Su Yun had started out with 9,725.2379 points. Even after using every last bit, he'd only managed to make the Light Screen footage as long as it had been.
Left with no choice, he'd had to turn the story into a series.
Still, this was a case of playing the long game to maximize his gains. It was just like watching an anime: releasing all the episodes at once might make for a satisfying binge, but it wouldn't bring in nearly as much as releasing them gradually.
And besides the Fantasy Power he'd collected, the people who'd starred in the footage had benefited too.
They hadn't noticed anything themselves, but in the eyes of Su Yun, the guy with administrator privileges, a dense stream of Fantasy Power was gathering around Artoria and naturally flowing into her from the outside.
This miraculous effect was brought about by the Light Screen footage. In this anime crossover world, the world's fate was concentrated in Yingzhou, and its core lay in the characters who played important roles in various works.
And it wasn't just girls. Boys were the same. By using the Light Screen footage to make people around the world believe that those characters were supernatural beings, and by showing their actions in a way that gave people a "supernatural understanding" of them...
Then, combined with his system's abilities, Su Yun could create a "resonance" with the corresponding characters and give them a chance to attain supernatural powers.
Of course, a chance was only a chance. To turn it into reality, Su Yun still had to provide the Fantasy Power to give it a push, rewriting reality and bringing about the miracle of Marble Phantasm!
Before long, Artoria was taken away.
After all, once the Light Screen footage had appeared, they couldn't very well let Artoria, who was at the center of it, stay in class. In fact, no one was in the mood for lessons anymore.
On orders from their superiors, the school kept Artoria behind, then canceled classes for the day and sent all the students and staff home.
Su Yun had to go home too. He wasn't worried that Yingzhou would mistreat Artoria. She was a member of the Holy Britannian royal family, after all, and her status was far from ordinary.
Artoria had hidden her identity well, but there was no way she could keep something like that from the Flame Kingdom's authorities.
Without the approval of the Flame Kingdom's leadership, a noblewoman of Artoria's standing could never be treated unfairly. And with the Flame Kingdom's long-standing reputation as a land of propriety and courtesy, they wouldn't stoop to such a thing anyway.
So in fact, taking Artoria away was meant to protect the girl, who was suspected of being King Arthur.
A call had already come in from New Camelot, the capital of the Holy Britannian Empire. They'd spoken with Artoria, asked her to cooperate with the local authorities, and sent a special envoy over.
Holy Britannia hadn't made the unreasonable demand that Yingzhou send Artoria back. They didn't have the power to make such a demand anyway. The world's leading superpower today was the Flame Kingdom, not Holy Britannia.
Holy Britannia had indeed once been the world's leading power, but that had been back in the last century.
With all this happening, Holy Britannia could only choose to work with the Flame Kingdom to investigate the Light Screen footage and the various characters in it.
In fact, the authorities had already located everyone who'd appeared in the Light Screen and sent them all to Tokyo to be accommodated.
Until everything was settled, they would all have to remain in Tokyo. They wouldn't be harmed, but their freedom of movement would certainly be restricted.
Quite a few of them were unhappy about it, but the matter involved the supernatural and the mysterious, so they had no choice but to obey.
Su Yun returned to his current home.
It was really just a high-end studio apartment, another perk of his transmigration, given to him by World Consciousness. In fact, he owned the property rights to the entire building. In other words, he was financially free and had become a landlord.
He had to hand it to World Consciousness. It was the GOAT!
Even after finishing his Savior mission, he was going to stay here and never leave.
This world was beautiful, and everyone in it was talented and pleasant to talk to. Su Yun absolutely loved it here.
So, to protect this wonderful world, Su Yun got home and immediately began editing a new video. He poured the Fantasy Power he'd just gained into it, hoping to broadcast the next round of "public executions" tomorrow.
Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Office on the other side of the city, guests from all across the country had been brought in as well.
The so-called guests were, of course, the people who'd appeared in the Light Screen footage.
Although the Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Office was nominally funded by Yingzhou, it was actually controlled directly by the Flame Kingdom. It was a special department dedicated to dealing with mysterious phenomena and handling supernatural incidents across the entire Yingzhou region.
As a result, the Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Office had the highest authority over matters related to the people in the Light Screen footage, and everyone had been brought to its headquarters.
Of course, although they'd all been brought in, they weren't all treated the same.
Artoria, without a doubt, received the best treatment.
As a member of the Holy Britannian royal family and the obvious heroine of the Light Screen footage, Artoria received the best treatment, with everyone else coming second.
Emiya Kiritsugu's family and Hisau Maiya were treated especially well. After all, they were part of the Strategy Room, so it was only natural that they'd be given some preferential treatment.
They were all given private accommodations, either with their families or on their own, with private space for themselves and their loved ones.
They were also given access to a huge meeting room and a recreation room, where they could talk, relax, and unwind without feeling too much pressure.
Clearly, the Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Office—or rather, the authorities—weren't treating Artoria and the others like criminals. Their freedom had been restricted, but they were being treated as well as possible. It was more like temporary house arrest.
Once the authorities had confirmed what they needed to know, or if something else changed, they might let everyone go home.
Of course, if it was confirmed that the people involved had supernatural powers, that would be another matter entirely.
In the war against the mysterious, humanity was at an absolute disadvantage, and even its survival was under threat. If anyone among humanity truly possessed supernatural powers, they would become the miracle humanity had always been seeking!
A miracle that could save humanity!
Unfortunately, the results of the questioning disappointed the people from the Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Office. Everyone said that nothing like what was shown in the Light Screen footage had ever happened to them. They had no memories of it, let alone any supernatural powers.
At the same time, the power of the state had left no secrets in anyone's background. The investigation had turned up nothing suspicious either, as if the story in the Light Screen footage had been entirely fictional.
But was that possible?
The footage had been broadcast simultaneously around the world and recorded for posterity. On top of that, it had subtly instilled the idea in everyone that what they saw was real.
Even if they had doubts, they believed it seven times out of ten and doubted it, at most, three times out of ten.
So what was the truth?
After repeatedly watching the recorded footage, they found the "truth" in its very first moments.
History had been erased!
This probably wasn't erasure in the ordinary sense of the word—destroying books and records, and eliminating the people involved. It was something on a higher level.
For example...
Erasing history in the literal sense.
Massively altering memories.
Or even... changing the timeline.
Each possibility was unthinkable, but the mysterious was running rampant. The mysterious was already something beyond comprehension, so it was hardly surprising if other things that human science couldn't explain started happening too.
People said that whatever existed must have a reason for existing. If it had already appeared, what was the point of arguing over whether it made sense?
Rather than agonize over those questions, they might as well first figure out how to acquire the supernatural powers shown in the Light Screen footage!
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