While Suzuki sent the Crazy Heads hurtling to their death, two men watched the rising sun from a helipad atop one of the Research Buildings. Akari Seki took a deep breath, savoring the early morning breeze that tickled the few strands of hair that escaped the glue-like gel. It was such a rare moment of peace and quiet; one he would have relished were it not for the harbinger of doom by his side.

Akari closely monitored the blond demon stood by his side, searching the man's placid smile for any hints of the almost assuredly bad news. Unfortunately, James Shouyou was a hard nut to crack at normal times, let alone when he wanted to hide something.

No longer in a mood to enjoy the scenery, Akari glared at his old frenemy and asked, "Spill it, James. What did you do? You wouldn't call me here, otherwise."

"Heh. Is it a crime if I want to hang out with my old friend?"

Akari's brows furrowed, but he retained his sanity enough to refrain from punching James' smug grin. "We both don't have time for that. If you don't have anything to say, I'm leaving."

"Okay, okay, wait. Damn, you're no fun," James complained with a long sigh. Then, with a thin smile, he said, "The others are close. This place won't be safer much longer."

Color drained from Akari's face like polish from nails. Holding onto the final shreds of hope, he asked, "How long do we have?"

"Six months? Give or take three months." James' lips curled in a wry smile as he said, "Do you know the biggest cliché in videogames and anime?"

Akari's hands shook as he reflexively fixed his glasses. "Why are you doing this?"

"A world-ending plot." Spreading his arms out wide, James chuckled as he watched the rising sun's red sea slowly sweep over the horizon. "You know, I've always hated those. It's like, 'Are the writers incapable of writing believable stakes in their story, so they need to rely on a gigantic McGuffin? Do they think I'll care about destruction of the one thousandth fiction world?'"

"James—"

"But, you know. Now, I understand." James lowered his hands, his gaze turning frosty as he glared at the sun. "It's not the world we care about. It's the few people our MCs care about. We care because the people the MC loves happen to live in that world."

Unable to contain his rage any longer, Akari grabbed James' collar and roared the question he had held in for over twenty years. "Why the fuck are you doing this!?"

James, seemingly unbothered by Akari's rage, softly smiled as the sunlight streamed over their bodies. "Don't worry. I might not be the world's main character, but this planet has people I care about. Pops, little Saeko, that brat, Suzuki and even you, Seki." James patted Akari's shoulder, causing the older man to stiffen. "Don't worry. I too have a stake in this. I'll do what I must."

Akari searched his old friend's eyes, but as always couldn't find anything to read. Realizing he stepped out of line, Akari released James and took a few breaths to calm himself. Moments later, after regaining his calm, he asked, "Tell me frankly. What are our odds?"

"Currently? About twenty percent," James replied. "That will rise to around forty if both games complete their tutorials. Add another five if Genaco finishes its project, and a final five if the world's leaders get their shit together in time."

Akari let out a wry laughter at the dire odds. "So, even at our best-case scenario, the probability is still 50-50?" Adjusting his glasses, he remarked, "I suppose we should be grateful to even have a chance."

"Maybe. But you know, I'm pretty confident," announced James with a grin.

"What is that confidence based on?" Akari asked, but then his brows rose as he thought of a name. "Don't tell me you're banking everything on your daughter?"

"Little Sae-chan?" James chuckled and shook his head. "Sae-chan is a wildcard, but she's not our joker. Over the course of human history, a few exceptional beings are born who defy conventional logic and common sense. Such figures were seemingly destined to affect history as long as they were given an opportunity. Alexander, Genghis Khan, Shaka Zulu, Lu Bu, and many others. Today, I see that same insane uniqueness in that kid. If it's him, I think he can shatter the scales."

Akari did not have to think too hard before figuring out who James was talking about. "Aren't you putting too much faith in him? He's just a kid."

"True. But, he's the kid that made us end King's Journey ahead of schedule. Don't worry. My bets are rarely wrong." James took one last look at the beautiful clouds, and then said as he turned toward the roof's exit door, "By the way, the Americans are closing in. We need to be prepared to defend the professor if necessary."

Akari frowned. "The Nigerian base. Is it ready?"

"Almost. Should be completed in under a month. We can begin transporting non-essential personnel in two weeks. We can only hope the American don't find it until after we complete the base. It can't afford to draw any attention until it's completed."

Akari sighed and softly massaged his eyes. He hadn't had a good night's sleep in years, and the stress was starting to get to him. There always seemed to be an extra problem. "We can't affect the Amercians' progress, so there's no use worrying about them. Let's deal with what we can. For now, we'll focus on the Gladiator training. Speaking of which, don't you think that surprise is too much? It's their first mission, after all."

"That's precisely why it's necessary." James' lips parted, revealing a sinister, toothy grin. "They've been enjoying a string of successes lately. Only by suffering immense despair will they understand that reality is a cruel mistress."

Akari sighed as the door shut behind James' back, whispering to no one in particular, "I hope you know what you're doing."

***

"Damn it! Get out of my way!" Jade desperately cried as she hurtled through dark clouds, frantically trying to right her posture. She glared at the berserker falling calmly a couple meters below her. It was all this bastard's fault! She could not count how many times she had died already.

"Isn't it about time you got used to it?" Suzuki questioned as he angled his body so he 'flew' to her side. "Remember. You're not going to die either way. So, relax."

Jade glared at Suzuki, hating the fact that her helmet prevented him from seeing her anger. Despite her anger, her inner competitiveness flared at Suzuki's taunt. Swallowing her pride, Jade took a deep breath, and stopped 'fighting' the wind. Without her flailing, the wind sent Jade flying toward Suzuki, who banked in time, allowing her to harmlessly zip past beneath him.

Panic nearly set in once again, but recalling Suzuki's words, Jade barely managed to resist the urge to stiffen up. Instead, she allowed the wind to fling her about as it pleased. Strangely, the suit recorded and transmitted external stimuli, which allowed her to enjoy the whistling breeze. It reminded her of standing on the bed of her dad's pick-up truck as they sped through the western wilderness.

Having calmed herself, Jade finally chose to seize control. Carefully, but surely, she stiffened or relaxed her muscles, correcting her posture until she eventually was eventually parallel to the ground. Jade waited a few seconds, and then screamed in delight when she maintained a steady fall rate throughout. "Haha! I did i—whoa!" Jade yelped in fright when she looked up to see Suzuki only a few inches away.

"Good job," Suzuki praised, but then pointed down. "Next time, we'll work on timing the Rapid Defense Kit."

"Next time? What do you mean next time?" Jade frowned in confusion. Why wait until the next session? They hadn't been falling that long. They should still be some distance from the forest, right? Jade followed Suzuki's finger, and then cursed.

MISSION FAILED! YOU DIED!

The mocking title screen popped up as the duo splatted onto the top of a mounting in a dense mist of blood and bone. Evidently, the wind blew Jade way off-course, sending them to the top of the mountain rather than the forests below.

The death sent Jade back to the Home World, where she stood in stunned silence. Fortunately, the suit was programmed to cut off stimuli past a certain intensity or she would've long since been traumatized. Still, she never got used to the abrupt darkness after death. Was death that instantaneous in reality? Would everything just go black, or would some angels come with placards to rate her life?

Fortunately, a message prompt broke Jade out of her philosophical nihilism. Thankful for the distraction, she opened the message, and was shocked to see a note from Suzuki calling an end to the morning session. Really? Had it been that long? Time sure flew when you were falling to one's death. Despite the crude style, Jade had to admit that Suzuki's method was effective. Since time immemorial, theory could never beat practice.

Jade promptly ended the session and the system 'shot' her back to reality. Jade remembered reading that Genaco fabricated the 'sucking' feeling to create a recognizable barrier between VR and reality – something to do with reducing Parallel in users. Regardless of the reason, Jade was thankful when the transport ended, and a familiar room entered her vision.

Jade promptly took off the helmet and saw the others shaking off their grogginess as they too awakened from the intense training. Surprisingly, she could find one particular asshole. Just when she was about to stand up and look for him, a mild heat crept up her shoulder. Jade looked over her shoulder to see Suzuki holding a tray with a couple of mugs.

Balancing the tray with his right palm, Suzuki tapped her shoulder with the mug in his left hand. "Here, coffee black." After she accepted the mug, he handed her some sugar and milk packets the tray. "Don't know how you like it."

"Uh... thanks," Jade murmured, somewhat flustered by a kind Suzuki. She watched as he coldly handed everyone a cup and their packets, almost chuckling at the absurdity. Would it kill him to crack a smile once in a while? But then, the smile froze when Suzuki did something different with Ayumi.

"Single cream, no sugar," Suzuki stated as he gave Ayumi her mug. "Weirdo."

"Says the man who would drink triple black if it existed." Ayumi rolled her eyes, but nonetheless took a grateful sip from her cup. Judging from her deep breath and small smile, she was immensely satisfied.

Suzuki shrugged. "Creaming your coffee's like drinking nonalcoholic beer. Why bother at that point?"

"And I told you. It doesn't dilute by that much. It's almost negligible." Ayumi waved away the troublemaker. "Go bother someone else. This is my one slice of heaven."

Jade slurped her coffee as she watched Suzuki walk over to Taiga. She did not know how to express the heat in her chest. No, that was not right. She was not an ignorant, hormonal teenager. She knew she was jealous, if only a little bit. It was a bit petty but she wanted Suzuki to also hand her a cup of coffee, and say something stupid like, 'Double Double. As expected of an American.' She glanced askance at Saeko, who was in her own world, savoring her morning coffee. How did Saeko manage to pull in a mad man like Taiga? Perhaps she would be the best person to ask?

"HA? Does that even make sense!?" Speaking of Taiga, the young man's protest drew everyone's attention to him and Suzuki. "Why am I getting chocolate sprinkles while everyone else gets a coffee?"

"Are you saying you don't want it?" Suzuki questioned as he moved to take back the cup, but Taiga pulled the cup out of reach.

"Now, chill man, relax. Didn't say I didn't want it. Just want to know why," stated Taiga as he held the cup out of reach.

Suzuki shrugged. "Process of elimination. There are enough coffee cans to kill an elephant in the kitchen, but only one tin of chocolate milk. Figured only one person preferred chocolate, so I prepared one, just in case. No one rejected or seemed uncomfortable when I gave them coffee, so stands to reason that the last person, you, should be the one who likes chocolate."

Jade could not help but chuckle when Taiga drank his chocolate with a cute grumble. Yeah, this was what she liked about Suzuki. His attention to detail was unlike anything she had ever seen, especially if it was something he cared about. What would it be like if he cared for her with that obsessive compulsion?

"Hm? You seem a bit red? Are you running a fever?"

Jade's heart leapt up to her throat when Suzuki suddenly strode over and placed his palm on her forehead. He was so close that his breath tickled her ears, sending electric goosebumps shooting all over her face. Breath caught in her throat, she found herself lost in the dark, bottomless pools that were his eyes. Those eyes. That blasted gaze. Those eyes captured her the moment they met. She had been fascinated by how a person's eyes could be so cold, like a lone mountain in a snowstorm. Yet now, those eyes, thought still cold and aloof were more akin to a cave in a mountain, sheltering her from the world's storms.

Was that really the case? Did Suzuki's eyes really change or was her hormonal brain twisting reality to suit her fantasies?

Despite seeming like a long time, all these consternations lasted less than a minute before she quickly pulled away. "I-I'm fine." Jade coughed as she lightly pushed Suzuki's hand. "The coffee was too hot, and I drank it too quickly so..." Jade's voice tapered off and she slightly winced at her pitiful excuse.

Fortunately, Suzuki did not seem to notice. He simply nodded, told her to be more careful, and then stood up and returned to his seat, fortunately sparing Jade any more embarrassment.

Eager to change the topic, Jade cleared her throat and quickly asked, "So-So, how'd you guys' training go? Did anyone nail the landing yet?"

"I've gone skydiving a few times, so it wasn't that difficult," Saeko replied, shocking Jade. Saeko did not look like the adrenaline junkie type. But then again, this was the same woman who eagerly sought out fights inside the game. "I am having some trouble timing the Rapid Descent Kit though. Since we cannot rely on our suits, we need a mechanical altimeter. You do not want to leave something as precise as timing to our instincts."

Suzuki frowned. "I should have thought of that, sorry. Between Razznik and Kashi, I'm used to doing things without relying on modern instruments. Yes, an altimeter would take away the guesswork."

"Will the barometer's electronics be a problem?" Usman asked, drawing their attention to the potential flaw.

"Possibly. The barometer's electronic signature should be too small to draw any attention. But just in case; Jade—"

"Got it already." Jade answered, holding up her phone with a triumphant smirk. "Yeah, purely mechanical barometers exist. I also checked the Mission Store. There are a few models on sale for only a thousand yen. It's basically a watch you can wear over the suit, so there are no compatibility issues."

"That's perfect," remarked Ayumi. "Suzuki, you can figure out the exact heights we need to deploy the Rapid Descent Kit during the next session. Record that alongside the correct amount of pressure at each release point. I tested it. If you release too much pressure at once, it is no different from smashing into the ground. It will shatter nearly every bone in your body."

Taiga's brow rose when he heard Ayumi's report. "You suspected that would happen before you tested it out, didn't you?"

"Yes, but it is much more persuasive to present facts with proof to back it up."

"Heh, and they call me crazy." Taiga chuckled as he pointed his fingers at Suzuki and Ayumi. "You two kids are the really messed up ones."

Ayumi shrugged in response. "It was not that bad. I reduced the pain threshold to eighty percent, so it did not hurt as much."

Jade shook her head in disbelief. Yeah, Suzuki and Ayumi were really cut from the same cloth. Only psychopaths would willingly harm themselves to prove a theory. Then again, maybe something was also wrong with her. After all, she was the one who considered these crazy people as the coolest set of friends she had ever known.

The Crazy Heads traded their experiences for a bit longer, and then finally returned to their rooms to freshen up, and prepare for the extremely busy days ahead.