Getting Answers and Shocking an 18th floor Contestant!

"Ara-Ara!" The sweetest voice reached Kai's ears along with a screeching sound as if she was whetting a sword.

Kai was too familiar with this sound to not recognize it.

"Hello, handsome," she said. "You want to ask about the Random World you are in, don't you? Is that why you haven't left the cave?"

Kai could hear the Contestant Aphrodite giggle. It didn't shock him that his intentions were guessed so easily by her. What did the 18th floor signify? Kai couldn't even imagine. All he could do was nod.

"I can tell you," she told him. "What will you give me in return?"

Kai frowned. Yes, how could he forget he had to pay Mission Credits to the System to get answers last time? What did she want, then? What could he possibly give her?

"I want little," she intoned. "Just one thing."

This didn't please Kai in the slightest. With her taking the initiative to ask something, it meant she had already predicted that he would soon contact a Sponsor to get the Info. That she just happened to be the first, had just given an upper hand over others.

"What is it?" Kai asked, refusing to say more than he was required.

Once again she giggled, the whetstone honing the sword victoriously with a high-pitch sound. "Your Mission Grade," she said. "Tell me your Mission Grade and you will have what you desire, handsome."

My Mission Grade?! Kai frowned.

The System had already shared his Mission's details with his Sponsors, if he remembered right.

Then the only reason he could think of Contestant Aphrodite asking about the Mission Grade was that Chaos held the info from the shared content.

Regardless of the reasons, Kai instantly and instinctively realized that there was something hidden in his Mission Grade. Like the demon he was, he latched on this fact, putting it in the back of his mind.

For now, the irony of the situation prevailed, though.

Kai needed Aphrodite more than she needed him.

No matter who I selected to ask the questions, the outcome would be the same, Kai thought, smiling slyly in his heart.

"D+."

Kai's answer came out of nowhere. For anyone watching him, it didn't even seem that he contemplated the answer before giving it out.

Suddenly, the screeching of whetting stopped.

Contestant Aphrodite went silent after hearing Kai's answer as though his mission had shocked her.

Kai felt smug inwardly, knowing well that it was truly shocking to know that his Mission Grade was D+.

Aphrodite's next words shattered his smugness.

"D+?!" she squeaked, shocked and disappointed. "Only D+?! Not C- or C?!!!"

Huh?! Kai was gobsmacked. What did she say?! C- or C? Does she want me to die?!!

Yes, he had Glitch. But even Kai doubted he was Worthy enough to get a C- grade for his 2nd Stage Mission.

Yet, upon further consideration, Kai couldn't help but think that he had no basis to know what Mission Grade justified his Glitch.

"It is D+," Kai said again, putting the matter into the back of his mind. "Now your turn."

After a few minutes of silence, a sigh resounded in Kai's surroundings. "Very well," she said, regaining the sweetness and playfulness in her voice. "Listen then, mysterious handsome…"

Kai ignored the addition of mysterious to his supposed name, and became attentive, his eyes narrowing with utmost concentration.

Then his Sponsor told him a story that took place in Taishō-era Japan, where a secret society, known as the Demon Slayer Corps, had been waging a secret war against demons for centuries.

She told him about the King of Demons, Muzan Kibutsuji, and how Demons were created, and about supernatural abilities such as super strength, powers that demons could obtain called Blood Art and their regeneration capabilities.

Aphrodite also told him that the Demons could only be killed if they were decapitated with weapons crafted from an alloy known as Sun Steel, injected with poison extracted from Wisteria flowers, or exposed to sunlight.

Then she came to the Demon Slayers, who were entirely human. How they employed special breathing techniques, known as Breathing Styles, which granted them superhuman strength and increased resistance, helping them fight against demons.

Thereafter, she listed all the Breathing Styles for him, covering their names and how to distinguish one from another.

Then, Aphrodite mentioned the Hashiras, the strongest Demon Slayers, their names, and major main storyline Characters.

At last, she told him the story about the main character, Tanjiro, and his sister, Nazuko, Kai couldn't help but look at the wooden box placed beside him.

And when she laughed, Kai knew the story had already ended, with him entering the picture as the unknown component.

"You must know," Aphrodite told him, "that a Random World's Timelines are like Symphonies. The change, presence, or absence of a single note doesn't seem much, but it could cause drastic divergences.

"Yeah? That should do it, then."

Kai remembered it all, but this was not the time to process that knowledge.

Only a few minutes were left to his countdown, and after learning what he was dealing with, more questions sprouted in his mind.

"Can you teach me a Breathing Style?" Kai asked, smiling. "I will let you know which Abilities I have."

The whetting of stone stopped again. This question could've bewildered anyone, much less Aphrodite, for, behind the scenes, it portrayed Kai as a mindless git.

Why would he do so? Why would Kai, with the cunning he had shown so far, reveal his trump cards?

Aphrodite struck the whetstone over the steel a little heavily. "It's useless," she told him. "Even if I were to tell you, it would be meaningless.

"A Breathing Style is an Ability. The only way to learn it is by practicing and training under a Demon Slayer and getting their approval. Moreover, one cannot learn the existing Breathing Style, as Contestants must create their own for the Systems to recognize it as an Ability.

"All this will need too much time. Years, if not decades in your case. Think of survival, handsome. Or…"

Her giggling intensified at the end of the sentence.

Kai didn't fret over the loss of the mysterious prefix. He stored the information and asked again, "Then can you at least tell me why I, a Contestant, couldn't hold against the main character, who isn't even the strongest in this Random World?"

"Ara-Ara!" Kai recognized the playfulness in Aphrodite's tone. "Can't you tell by now?" she asked. "A Demon Slayer Breathing Style raises their overall Stats in terms of Contestants, and it accomplishes even more.

"Tell me, handsome, how much your Strength, Stamina, and Agility differ from each other?"

Kai's face became ugly.

"Now, now," she said lovingly, "don't look so sad. It seems our time is over. Sigh! What will you do now, Red?"

This was the first time she had called him by his Code Name, Kai noticed.

It meant his answer would dictate her investment in him before the commencement of the 3rd Stage.

Kai smiled. He reached into the pocket at the underside of his kimono and took out a Book with thick, black covers.

The Book's title was runic and when Kai opened it, the first few pages were in the runic script as well.

"Oh, what is this? An Item?" Aphrodite asked. "Can you even read the Ancient Magical Script?"

Kai's eyes flashed with a demonic glint as he heard those last three words.

He said nothing and opened the Tale of the Insane Scientist.

The Primordial Theater opened the curtains and Rintaro Okabe walked out, laughing like a maniac, the flip mobile in his hands giving off blue light through its screen.

"Rintaro Okabe?!" Aphrodite sounded utterly shocked. "How?!"

"D-Mail," Kai said, activating the ACT. "Send the message - Do not contact anyone."

"D-Mail… Rintaro Okabe… Time…" Aphrodite muttered, the dull sound of a whetstone falling in a water-body echoing in Kai's ears. "Impossible! You…"

But at this moment, Rintaro Okabe pressed the button, shaking the world under a giant Microwave.

The new chapter of the history of the Primordial Tower that had just begun vanished like an episode of a hideous mirage.

[Divergence Number: 0.2790P]

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