You Just Said My Name, Didn't You? (Continued)

After another round of insincere interactions with those important figures, Chizuru Ichinose looked at herself in the mirror as she put on makeup at her vanity and asked herself a question.

"So you created this illusion to tell me that someone like me has no chance of surviving in the entertainment industry?"

As she uttered those words, the image of herself in the mirror revealed a strange smile.

In fact, when Chizuru Ichinose realized that her illusion was not over and that her thoughts could no longer affect her self in the illusion, she already realized that this was probably the work of the Shadow Chizuru.

Once she realized this, she chose to patiently wait for the story to unfold further, wanting to know what the other party's purpose was in doing this.

It wasn't until she saw the premeditated frame-ups that followed her winning the Best Actress award that she roughly understood what had happened.

It's simply a matter of wanting her to see the filth in the entertainment industry and make her want to back down.

As for the shadow in her heart, if she really had such thoughts, the other party would probably become even stronger because of it.

"So if you encounter something like this in the future, will you be able to handle it on your own, or will you, like your grandmother, choose to leave the entertainment industry and give up your dreams after experiencing such a thing?"

Shadow Chizuru questioned her.

Chizuru Ichinose remained silent.

She is now a college student who has just turned 19.

Although I have become more mature because of my family background, I have not yet really come into contact with more complicated things, and I have not thought about what I would do if I encountered such a thing after becoming an actor.

So when faced with her own shadow and having all these things laid bare before her, she didn't know how to refute herself for a moment.

Sensing her own silence, Shadow Chizuru let out another mocking laugh.

"Although I don't know exactly how you and your friends managed to break free from the illusion after being completely trapped in it, it must have come at a price. So how can you find a way out of this predicament?"

"I will continue to wait for you in the illusion until the day you can no longer hold on and leave."

As Shadow Chizuru uttered those words, Chizuru Ichinose could feel the surrounding illusion rapidly dissipating.

The next moment, the mirror shattered, and she returned to the palace.

Her face did look rather pale, so as soon as she returned, someone quickly supported her to prevent her from falling.

She looked at the other person; the only person who could react in such a short time was Miyauchi Hiyage.

After Miyauchi Hiyage came to her senses and confirmed that there was nothing seriously wrong with her emotions, she simply withdrew her hand.

Immediately afterwards, Shinomiya Kaguya and the others also rushed over and asked her about her experiences in the illusion.

"I was in the illusion for almost an hour?" she asked, bewildered.

After all, the other two girls only stayed in the illusion for a maximum of 15 minutes, while he was able to stay in that environment for a full hour. No wonder Shinomiya Kaguya and the others looked so tense.

Chizuru Ichinose recounted her experiences in the illusion as completely as possible, having already suppressed her earlier reluctance to leave the illusion.

My grandfather passed away three years ago, so even if the grandfather in the illusion is very realistic, he is not real.

Moreover, the perfect life she had in the illusion was completely destroyed by the terrible development that followed. But perhaps this is just a way for Shadow Chizuru to give her a contrast.

Before she even realizes she's in a dream world, a perfect world is created for her within it.

Then, when she realizes it's an illusion, the cruelty of reality is displayed to her in even greater detail.

After hearing Shinomiya Kaguya Chizuru Ichinose's explanation, Kaguya Shinomiya's first reaction was that the Shadow Chizuru wanted to replace her in this way.

"She felt that you couldn't survive in the entertainment industry with your personality. Only the dark side of you could adapt to the rules of the entertainment industry. She probably wanted you to give up control of your body, but because of the Diary, her idea failed."

"Moreover, the illusion you experienced was clearly more detailed than ours, and its timeline spanned a much longer period. That's why you've been in the illusion for so long without coming out. It seems that this illusion was indeed prepared for you, and we can't be of any help."

Meanwhile, Shinomiya Kaguya and Kasumigaoka Utaha also began analyzing ways to break the deadlock.

"You don't really need to worry about these things. After all, the future that Shadow Chizuru showed you doesn't include us. With the support of the Shinomiya Conglomerate, you're unlikely to encounter the same things that happened in the illusion."

Shinomiya Kaguya said this, she seemed to suddenly remember something, and her eyes immediately brightened considerably.

"That's right, Shadow Chizuru exposed a major problem in your illusion just now."

She also spoke much faster.

"Although Shadow Chizuru is the embodiment of your negative emotions and desires, it seems that the Diary's blocking rules still worked on her. She doesn't know about the Diary's existence, so she doesn't know how we broke free from the illusion. In that case, she probably doesn't know how we met, which is why she didn't mention our existence at all in the illusion."

"If you could point out all these variables, then it would probably be your turn to face a cognitive crisis."

Although Miyauchi Hiyage could fully understand what the girls were discussing, he outwardly pretended to be frowning and deep in thought, as if he didn't understand.

It seems the connection between the shadow and the main body is more subtle than he imagined.

After all, although the memories of the spirits of Shadow Yuuko and Kanoe Yuko are not interconnected, they are both beings that diverged from the deceased Kanoe Yuko. Although the two Kanoe Yuko are not complete, they can both recognize the existence of the Diary, and the debts owed by Kanoe Yuko can be inherited by Shadow Yuuko.

As for Chizuru Ichinose and Shadow Chizuru, although Shadow Chizuru inherited most of Chizuru Ichinose's memories, she can be considered Chizuru Ichinose's original desires and subconscious through the Impression Space and the Sea of Souls.

There's an extra step called the Sea of Souls in the middle.

Taking into account the settings of Type-Moon, the Sea of Souls in this world is probably also controlled by the Resistant Force of Alaya.

"From this perspective, the blocking mechanism of the Diary can also have an effect on willpower like Alaya."

Miyauchi Hiyage wasn't too surprised by this setup.

After all, this is a cheat code from a higher dimension. If it can't even hide from the world's consciousness, then its prestige would indeed be a bit low.

Furthermore, given that he couldn't find his own shadow in the Impression Space, Miyauchi Hiyage felt that he was likely still an unregistered person in this world, and that the existence of restraining forces couldn't control him at all, leaving him to cause trouble in this world at will.

While Miyauchi Hiyage was pondering the matter of the suppressor, he was also giving advice to Chizuru Ichinose.

To be precise, he was poaching talent from his Asahigaoka Media.

Although Asahigaoka Media is currently just a sidewalk in the entertainment industry, it is planning to start developing in the film and television industry.

Even though Miyauchi Hiyage Himekage's ambitions have shifted beyond this small circle after acquiring the Diary as a cheat code, he naturally won't completely let go of it since it also involves the future of thousands of people in Asahigaoka.

At least by having his name on it, his Golden Rule will be passively applied.

Then Chizuru Ichinose and Mai Sakurajima, who was once the nation's daughter, both of whom are worth trying to win over.

Miyauchi Hiyage's suggestion did indeed appeal to Chizuru Ichinose.

After all, Miyauchi Hiyage has a great reputation in the group; his ability to control fate alone is enough to make many people envious.

Moreover, the other party is growing rapidly, reaching the level of a top-tier expert in just over half a month. Who knows how far the other party can go on this path in the future?

Asahigaoka Media has a promising future that is clearly visible. With the support of the Shinomiya Conglomerate, it is estimated that it will be fully grown in just a few years.

Now, the invitation from Miyauchi Hiyage, the founder of Asahigaoka Media, can be considered as her boarding the ship and becoming a crew member before the ship officially sets sail.

After resting for a while and eating something to replenish her strength, Chizuru Ichinose quickly adjusted her mindset and decided to go back to the illusion to have another good fight with that shadow.

However, the second illusion was completely different from the first one.

If the first illusion was meant to tell her that the entertainment industry wasn't so simple, and to discourage her from trying, then...

So, after Chizuru Ichinose made ample preparations and was ready to use the realities of the world to thoroughly examine her own shadows, the main theme of the second illusionary realm was the change of times.

In the illusion, she was a moderately famous actress from the very beginning.

This time there were no messy scandals or false accusations, and with her own backing in the entertainment industry, she didn't need to worry about those things.

Although the development is not as smooth as the first illusion, based on the trend in this illusion, it will only be a year or two slower than before.

However, all of this changed in a certain year.

Various crises suddenly appear all over the world. Not only do monsters rise from the ground, but all sorts of monstrous creatures wreak havoc on earth. Even many Aliens have descended to Earth, attempting to invade it.

In this atmosphere, everyone is more concerned about their safety. Various entertainment facilities have already begun to close down, so who will care about these TV series and movies anymore?

She suffered a sudden setback in her career, and even encountered an attack from a supernatural being during a trip, where she was severely injured and had no chance to fight back.

Although he was eventually rescued, he will have to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

Moreover, in that world filled with despair, this was essentially a death sentence for her.

But when she was in the hallucination, holding sleeping pills and preparing to end her life, having experienced the hallucination once before, she finally realized the problem at the last moment.

At the same time, as three Reading Points were deducted, she regained full consciousness at the last moment.

She had two fewer Reading Points than before, which seemed to be because she had developed doubts, but hadn't fully woken up yet, unlike the last time she was completely immersed in the illusion and it was the Diary that woke her up.

As she regained consciousness in the illusion, her lower body, which had been unconscious in the illusion, also regained sensation.

However, her mental state seems to be worse than last time.

After all, in the previous illusion, she didn't experience any mental or physical stress. Even if she couldn't withstand the pressure, she would simply have to leave the entertainment industry.

But this is just an illusion.

Monsters are causing trouble, and ghosts roam the night. You never know when a monster will emerge from the ground, and there are even fleets of alien armies in the sky that want to invade Earth.

Even though I now know it's all an illusion, the oppressive feeling of despair still makes me feel suffocated.

And most importantly, all of this could actually happen in the future!

After all, the You Know Who had mentioned in his Diary more than once that the "Shibuya Incident," which would occur six months later and nearly destroy the entire Shibuya, would happen. He also mentioned that after the Shibuya Incident, supernatural powers would once again take center stage in this world and rewrite its rules.

The You Know Who mentioned a few days ago that there were many diaries about Aliens living on Earth, including the fact that Ultraman's existence was real, which also made her feel somewhat worried about this.

This illusion fully revealed her inner worries, and all her preparations before entering the illusion were completely useless in this illusion.

You have powerful connections in the entertainment industry, so you don't need to worry about those unspoken rules at all?

This illusion directly ruined the entertainment industry. With a hundred ghosts roaming at night, everyone was trying to survive. Even the Shinomiya Conglomerate in the illusion was struggling to protect itself. Who cared about the messy affairs of the entertainment industry?

The voice of Shadow Chizuru appeared directly behind her.

"This is the future that the world will eventually face, and it's a future that neither you nor your friends can stop."

"Perhaps you have obtained those so-called cultivation methods from some places, but what do they mean in front of those true strongmen? In the end, you can only hide and eke out a living like everyone else."

"Even if it's that Miyauchi Hiyage outside, do you think he could protect you in that kind of future?"

Chizuru Ichinose originally wanted to tell about the Diary. As long as the Diary existed, her future would definitely not be as tragic as it appeared in this illusion.

But she also knew that the other person probably wouldn't receive the information from the Diary, just like everyone else, so there was no point in telling them these things.

She could only turn around and stare at the "self" standing behind her, telling the other person that her future would never be this bleak.

After sensing Chizuru Ichinose's emotions, the expression on Shadow Chizuru's face also seemed somewhat ferocious.

After all, she could genuinely sense that the other person's emotions were real.

The other party genuinely believed they could survive in that kind of future.

Just as she was about to find out more about what gave the other party the confidence to say such a thing, she suddenly felt as if she had lost control of the Mirror Theater for a moment.

But when she tried to feel it more closely, it was as if nothing had happened.

However, this strange feeling made her stop her tentative attempt to speak.

"Given your mental state, how long can you hold on?"

With these words, Chizuru Ichinose once again left the current illusion.

However, as she left the illusion, she seemed to see a solemn expression on the face of the Shadow Chizuru.

This time, the illusion lasted much less than the last time; she escaped it smoothly in just over twenty minutes.

And when she recounted what happened in the illusion, the two girls' attitudes indeed changed.

Although the You Know Who had spoken of the changes in the future world, those of them, who had grown up in the ordinary world, still found it difficult to understand what the future the You Know Who was talking about would actually look like.

Chizuru Ichinose's illusion was the first time that such a world showed them the despair that ordinary people felt.

Monsters wreak havoc on cities by day, monstrous Vengeful Spirit devour human hearts by night, and alien armies lurk in the sky, making this world sound truly hopeless.

And as Shadow Chizuru said, they have no way to prevent that future from coming.

Not to mention them, even the You Know Who couldn't stop it.

However, Shinomiya Kaguya quickly shook her head again.

"These are all things that Shadow Chizuru Kage uses to influence our mindset. Don't dwell on these things too much."

"Although we don't know what the real future will be like, the world won't really be that bad."

After all, even if the You Know Who can't hold out, there will always be an Ultraman named Ultraman Tiga will come out in the future to save the day.

After the girls comforted each other, Miyauchi Hiyage finally spoke.

"Although I can't quite see where this world will go in the future, I have never seen this world face destruction in the future, so you don't need to worry too much about these things. After all, if the sky falls, the tall ones are the ones holding it up right now."

"Let's get back to the present situation. Just now in the illusion, you and Shadow Chizuru seemed to have mentioned my name when you were chatting, right?"

Upon hearing this, Chizuru Ichinose looked at Miyauchi Hiyage with some surprise.