02: Dead Girls Chat Group

Natsuo doesn't use his phone very often. He also isn't addicted to social media, and this late at night, he usually doesn't even check it. The people who know him rarely contact him either, since they know he seldom replies, even when he has already read their messages.

Natsuo unlocked his phone and looked at the notification in front of him. It came from a purple app with a white chat bubble icon that he didn't recall installing on his phone.

[Congratulations, you have been invited to the Dead Girls Chat Group!]

[Do you wish to join the Dead Girls Chat Group?]

[Accept]

[Reject]

"Is this some kind of prank? Or a phishing link?" Natsuo muttered as he read the notification. He swiped his finger across the screen, trying to dismiss it, but for some reason, it wouldn't disappear.

"What's going on? A virus?"

"Could it be... It cannot be right?" Natsuo had read many novels in his past life memories, and in the past he had read a novel about something exactly like this which had inspired many other authors and created an entire subgenre.

Bless Lord White.

He hesitated for a moment before finally tapping the Accept button. If this really was a virus, it wouldn't matter whether he pressed Accept or Reject. Usually, if it were malware, clicking either button would get his device compromised anyway. Furthermore, it seemed his phone had already been taken over, considering he couldn't dismiss the notification no matter what he tried.

[Congratulations! You have become the Administrator of the Dead Girls Dimensional Chat Group!]

[The Sister Leveler has joined the Dead Girls Dimensional Chat Group!]

[The Soulmate Sniffer has joined the Dead Girls Dimensional Chat Group!]

[The Sonless Mother has joined the Dead Girls Dimensional Chat Group!]

[The Shapeshifting Assassin has joined the Dead Girls Dimensional Chat Group!]

Once he tapped the Accept button, a series of notifications appeared on his screen one after another. A neat purple and white app then opened automatically. It looked like any ordinary messaging application, though it had a few extra options. Natsuo didn't get the chance to check them yet. His attention was completely focused on the notifications and the group members who had just joined the chat.

'Administrator? Am I the group's admin? What is going on?' Natsuo was still confused. If this chat group really was what he thought it was, and he hoped it was, then why had a male like him been invited?

Judging from its name, it looked like a chat group meant for girls. And what was the deal with the "Dead Girls" part of the name?

"Sister Leveler?!!"

"What the fuck is that? How the hell did they know?!" Natsuo's face turned dark the moment he saw his avatar and profile name. He didn't fuck his stepsister!

He fucked Rui before she became his stepsister!

It was his father's fault for hooking up with her mother! Moreover, she was the one who seduced him!

This was blatant slander!!!

Sonless Mother: [A chat group? What is this? Some kind of illusion magic?]

The Soulmate Sniffer: [Another scam app? I don't care who you are, if this is some kind of prank, I'll fuck you up!]

Sonless Mother: [How crude! Mind your tongue, tsk! Such a low class behavior.]

The Soulmate Sniffer: [Low class? Who are you calling low class? Who do you think you are?! Some kind of royalty or noble?]

The Shapeshifting Assassin: [What is this strange device? A Teigu? And who exactly are all of you?]

The chat immediately came to life. One message bubble after another popped up on the screen as the group members began talking. They were all confused by the sudden appearance of the chat group and were trying to figure out what was going on.

'Teigu? Where have I heard that word before?' Natsuo wasn't in a hurry to join the conversation. Instead, he quietly watched the chat. What caught his attention was what the 'Shapeshifting Assassin' had just mentioned. The word sounded strangely familiar.

Doing what any modern young person would do, he hurriedly got out of bed, opened his laptop, kept his phone in his left hand, and typed the word into Google.

The search results quickly appeared. He clicked on the 'Akame ga Kill!' page and carefully read the description.

"Is this some kind of prank?" For a moment, Natsuo again fell into doubt.

'Was I invited to a chat group full of fictional characters?'

"This is strange..." he muttered. "Are the other group members the same?"

...

"If you fill your butthole with helium and superglue your cheeks shut, you won't float off into space like some majestic human balloon. You'll just vomit, pass out, and wake up in a hospital after a team of very confused doctors pries your ass open with a spring loaded cheek spreader and deflates you like a sad, wobbly meat balloon."

Kana Kimishima was lying on her bed, scrolling through her phone while watching one weird ass reel after another. This was one of her proudest achievements. She had painstakingly built this algorithm brick by brick, carefully training it over a long period until her feed became the glorious mess it was today.

However, in the middle of her doomscrolling, a notification suddenly popped up, completely taking over her screen.

It informed her that she had been invited to a strange chat group.

She accidentally tapped 'Accept', and in the next instant, she was redirected to a strange purple messaging app. It looked surprisingly polished, but it gave off the unmistakable stench of an app packed with locked features that you'd have to pay to unlock.

She had seen way too many of these stupid apps before. This kind of app where you couldn't even send more than ten messages a day unless you paid for a monthly subscription.

"Soulmate Sniffer?! How dare they?!" The moment she saw her username, Kana rolled onto her back, holding her smartphone above her face with both hands. She glared at the screen in annoyance while angrily kicking her legs in the air.

It was true that she longed for the idea of finding her destined soulmate, but how the hell did these bastards know that? Were those disgusting data brokers really so good that they could deduce her personality just from her Instagram feed?

...

The sun still hung high in the sky, spreading its warm, radiant light across the Fittoa Region.

In the Boreas Estate, Hilda Boreas Greyrat reclined casually on a chair in the garden beneath a large sunshade that shielded her from the sun. Setting her teacup down, she idly fiddled with the red, rectangular device in her hand.

"What a strange device. It actually allows people to talk to one another, yet I can't sense the slightest trace of magic from it at all."

Due to her sometimes terrible temper, the maids usually tried to avoid her whenever possible. Hilda herself preferred spending this time of day alone, quietly thinking of the two sons who had been taken away from her by force.

Earlier that day, one of the maids happened to buy this strange device for a very cheap price while out shopping. Hoping to earn Hilda's favor, she presented it to her as a gift.

At first, Hilda dismissed it and paid it little attention. She intended to turn it on out of curiosity before tossing it aside. However, the moment the device lit up, it displayed a surprisingly simple guide explaining how to use it. Shortly afterward, it invited her to something called the 'Dead Girls Chat Group'.

From the tutorial, she learned that this chat group allowed people from vastly different places to communicate with one another.

What truly annoyed her, however, was the username the device had assigned her, 'Sonless Mother'.

The moment she saw it, her face darkened with fury. In a fit of rage, she smashed the device onto the ground with all her strength.

Yet, strangely, nothing happened.

The device wasn't even scratched. Instead, it floated back up on its own before gently returning to her side, as though nothing had happened.

Hilda's father-in-law, Sauros Boreas Greyrat, had the 'brilliant' idea of making his sons fight one another for the position of the next head of the Boreas family.

When Hilda's husband, Philip, lost the battle against his brother, James Boreas Greyrat, for the position of family head, their firstborn son was taken away by James in accordance with the Boreas family's tradition. The loss deeply affected Hilda, and it wasn't until the birth of her daughter, Eris, that she gradually began to recover.

However, when their second son, who was two years younger than Eris, was also taken away, Hilda's mental state deteriorated once again.

So when she saw the username Sonless Mother, which so blatantly mocked the fact that both of her sons had been taken from her, she went absolutely ballistic.

After a long while, once she had finally calmed down, Hilda began chatting with the other members.

Her fingers moved clumsily across the device's screen as she slowly typed out her replies. She wasn't familiar with this strange object yet, but that didn't stop her from arguing with the person using the username Soulmate Sniffer.

That person was unbelievably rude and utterly irritating.

...

"Burp! Gahaha!"

The heavy scent of incense and wine filled the luxurious bedroom, shrouding it in a depraved and erotic atmosphere.

A fat, middle aged man lay at the edge of the bed, completely naked except for a blanket draped over his lower body. Raising a large golden goblet to his lips, he took another swig before letting out a lecherous laugh as his lust filled gaze locked onto the young girl standing shivering before him, her body trembling under his filthy gaze.

A red droplet of wine slid down his chin and traced a path across his fat belly. The middle aged man didn't seem to care. Casually wiping his chin with the back of his hand, he kept his greedy gaze fixed on the girl before him.

"They've outdone themselves this time," he said with a satisfied grin. "I'll give them a bonus later."

"Come closer. I won't hurt you. Gahahaha." He waved his fat hand, beckoning the girl to step closer. His words and expression were completely contradictory. His lewd, lascivious face twisted as he breathed so heavily it sounded like he was on the verge of a heart attack. None of it gave the scared girl even the slightest bit of safety.

"Y... Yes!" Holding the hem of her skirt tightly, the girl slowly shuffled forward, dragging her feet with her head lowered as though trying to make herself as small as possible.

When she finally drew close enough, the fat man reached out with his free hand to grab her.

Suddenly, his hand froze in midair.

Clang!

The golden goblet slipped from his other hand and hit the floor with a dull clang. His beady eyes widened in shock before his body slowly slumped to the side.

"Tsk! The stench! These disgusting creatures... they're all the same. When will every last one of them die?" The girl's voice was filled with undisguised disgust. She pulled the long, thin needle from the fat nobleman's neck before putting it away.

Without wasting another second, she quickly searched the room.

"What is this? Interesting... I'll take it."

She picked up an orange device she had never seen before. A faint smirk appeared on her lips as she tucked it away as well.

After spending a few more minutes searching the room and taking everything she considered valuable, the girl leaped out of the window, her figure quickly fading into the night.

The girl sprinted through the narrow alleys, hiding in the corners. Once she was certain no one was watching, her hands moved swiftly.

In the next instant, her appearance changed completely. The young girl transformed into a tall, thin, average looking man.

The man cautiously looked around before calmly walking out of the alley. Up ahead, a commotion was rapidly drawing closer. Large numbers of panicked guards were searching every corner, clearly looking for someone.

A faint smirk appeared on his face.

Without attracting any attention, he walked away until he arrived at a small, unremarkable house. Entering it, he pulled aside the carpet on the floor, revealing a hidden wooden hatch beneath it.

He opened it and descended the stairs.

Below was a spacious underground room. After lighting the oil lamp, he walked over to the bed in the corner and lay down.

Only then did the man finally allow himself to relax.

With another wave of her hand, her appearance changed once again. This time, she transformed into a very beautiful young woman with short, light reddish brown hair.

"Another one down," Chelsea popped a lollipop into her mouth before picking up the strange orange device with her free hand.

"Now, let's take a look at this thing."

The moment she held it in her hand, the device's glass screen suddenly lit up.

"Welcome to the Dead Girls Chat Group? What the hell is this?" Chelsea read the words displayed on the screen aloud. Her curiosity immediately piqued, she followed the tutorial step by step, quickly learning how to use both the strange device and the chat group.

Soon, she saw several people chatting.

Chelsea sent a message of her own, but no one responded. The Soulmate Sniffer and Sonless Mother were too busy arguing with each other to pay her any attention.

What truly caught Chelsea's attention, however, was another user named Sister Leveler.

Unlike the three of them, this user's profile looked completely different. Their username was written in golden purple letters and surrounded by diamonds and rubies, giving it an incomparably grand and luxurious appearance.

Compared to that, Chelsea's own profile looked like that of some poor commoner.

The Shapeshifting Assassin: [Sister Leveler, why aren't you saying anything?]

--

Kana Kimishima

Hilda Boreas Greyrat

Chelsea