Let every worthy sacrifice be carved in ice... [1/2]

'Is this the place?' Asakura thought as he looked around the wide but small room.

It was what you would see in a cinema. There were nine rows of seats and at the front, there was a giant screen.

The lights were off and there seems to even be air conditioning, much to Asakura's pleasure. 'This is one cozy place...'

'Huh?' Asakura then noticed something with himself. He looked and saw that he was wearing a completely different outfit.

If one were to put it simply, he was wearing the standard demon slayer corps uniform. And yes, it had the huge kanji printed on the back that means 'Destroy'.

Over this, he wore a haori that's split down the middle into two different patterns: the right one is a solid red, and the left one is geometrically patterned with squares of green, orange, and yellow.

'This is...' Asakura thought as he instantly realized who he looked like. 'Isn't this... Giyu's outfit?'

Brr–*

Just then, his phone rang and Asakura opened it.

[Outfit alteration complete]

[Now giving the mask...]

After reading this message from the phone, a kitsune mask with blue eyes appeared on Asakura's face.

'Ah, so this is my ask.' He thought as he used the phone's camera feature to look at himself.

He then looked around and saw that no one was here yet, as such, he decided to pick a seat.

'I need to choose the best spot.' He thought seriously. It is important to know that one should know how to pick the best seat in this situation.

If one were to be too close, the screen would be too big. And if one is too far away, it would be too small.

As such...

"I'll pick this," Asakura mumbled to himself as he jumped to the seat in the middle left corner.

Now, all he needs is to wait for the others. 'I wonder who'll come first...'

Just then, he saw another white door of light appear at the back of the room and a person walked out.

It was a very tall person wearing a dark Hanfu with some golden-brown stripes. His hair was so long that it swayed behind him.

Over this, he had a mask that covered half of his face. It was a mask that had gold on it which made it look unique.

Seeing the person's mask, Asakura instantly recognized who it was. 'Zhongli?'

'He's wearing a different outfit than the one in-game...' He thought as the set of artifacts appeared in his mind. 'And isn't that mask... Part of the archaic petra set?'

'Better greet him.' He thought to himself. Though, truth be told, he was quite excited to meet such a person.

"Hi there!" He leisurely waved his hand. "Over here!"

Zhongli saw the person calling him and walked over. "Greetings. I believe that you are also part of the Group Chat?"

"Yup." Asakura nodded. "The name's Hidden Mob. And you?"

"I believe my name is Vago Mundo," Zhongli said in his naturally deep voice.

"Oh, so it's you..." Asakura said as he looked at Zhongli. "To be honest, I thought you were an old man."

"...That again..." Zhongli sighed when he heard this. "Although I may sound archaic at times, I am not that ol–"

"Wait, look." Asakura interrupted him and pointed at the back. "There are two more people coming."

Judy as he said, two doors radiating a white light appeared at the same time and two people came out.

The first one was a blond person, and similar to Zhongli, they were also wearing a half mask. It seems to be the same mask the Fatui diplomats use.

Other than that, they did not have any other disguise.

'Aether.' Asakura instantly knew. 'Seriously... with that outfit of his, he didn't even make an effort.'

'And that mask... He must've taken it from a Fatui diplomat.' Asakura added with a deadpan expression.

Asakura then looked at the second person that came.

It was a person wearing dark clothes from head to toe. If Asakura were to put it in simple and lazy terms, a ninja outfit. On her back was a long sheath where a blade might inside be, complimenting her style.

Her pale white-blue hair was tied in a ponytail, giving her a unique yet somewhat elegant and deadly vibe, in contrast to her outfit.

As for her mask, like Asakura, she also had a kitsune mask.

'...Ayaka.' Asakura knew who it was too.

Aether looked around and saw all of them. Soon, all four of them looked at each other in silence.

After a few more seconds, Aether decided to break the silence. "Hi, umm, you're all from the Group Chat, right?"

"Yeah." Asakura stood up and nodded. "Nice to meet you. Judging from your looks, you must be Blond Traveler, yes?"

"I am, yeah..." Aether nodded.

"A pleasure to meet all of you," Zhongli spoke up beside Asakura. "You may know me as Vago Mundo."

"Ah, so that's you?" Aether said, surprised. "From the way you interacted, me and Hidden Mob thought you were an old man..."

"..." Hearing the same term, Zhongli went silent.

"By the way..." Aether looked around. "Who's Hidden Mob here?"

"That would be me," Asakura said as he walked over. "Nice to meet you."

Aether looked at the person that always acted weird in the group chat. "I see... Nice to meet you too."

"Excuse me." Just then, someone joined their conversation. "That mask and outfit..."

Asakura turned his head and looked at the person that talked.

"Are you also from Inazuma?" Ayaka questioned.

"Umm..." Asakura hummed. "Forgive me, but didn't the system want us to stay anonymous? I'd like to keep it that way..."

"Oh yes, I forgot..." Ayaka remembered. She then slightly bowed. "Forgive me."

"It's alright." Asakura waved his hand. "I'm Hidden Mob, and you are...?"

"Frostflake Heron." Ayaka slightly bowed her head. "A pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

"Yeah, likewise." Asakura replied.

"So umm... I guess this is all of us?" Aether asked as he looked around the spacious room.

"No," Asakura said as he shook his head. "There's still one more."

Just as he said that, another white door appeared, and out comes a girl wearing an article of bizarre clothing.

She was wearing a green cloak that covered most of her body. Underneath her clothes, she wore a plain black shirt and a simple pair of shorts along with a pair of gloves and boots that reach up to below her knees.

As for her mask... well... It was an Aranara mask.

Oh, and she also has her doll— Cuilein-Anbar— on her back.

"U-Um... Hi?" Collei said as she looked at the four people staring at her.

Due to her past experience and innate sense of danger, she could feel that at least all of them are experienced fighters. '...They're strong.'

Almost instantaneously, everyone knew that she was still a child. As such...

"...Sprout of Rebirth, I presume?" Zhongli said, trying not to intimidate her.

"Yes! That's me! And you are...?" Collei stood up straight and looked at them.

"I am Vago Mundo." Zhongli said. "And before you say it, no, I am not an old man."

"O-Okay?" Collei replied as she was about to say the same thing as the others.

"Yo, I'm Hidden Mob." Asakura introduced himself.

"Greetings, you may know me as Frostflake Heron." Ayaka formally introduced herself to a fellow female member. "You are younger than I anticipated..."

"I'm Blond Traveler." Aether said as he also approached her like everyone else. "Nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet all of you too!" Collei said, sensing that they were not bad. "Meeting other people from different nations with the group chat... It's such a surreal plot of some kind of light novel!"

'Oh right, she reads Inazuman light novels.' Asakura remembered.

At long last, all the members have finally gathered. As such...

Brr–*

Suddenly, everyone's phone simultaneously rang.

All of them sensed it and took out their phones.

[System: All members are present.]

[The watch party shall now commence.]

[Three videos have been randomly selected and the members will have to vote on what to watch.]

Suddenly, their phones showed three videos with different descriptions.

[Video 1][Name: Winter Night's Lazzo]

[Description: No one knows how long it has been since all the Fatui Harbingers last gathered. On this winter night, people donning masks who had just been singing and squabbling fell silent in mournful meditation. Only then did the hall join the winter sky in infinite silence.]

[Video 2][Name: Promise of a People's dreams]

[Description: A nation that surges ahead has become stuck in a fleeting shadow of a moment. Perhaps only if time stands still will Inazuma truly shine eternal... Using her blade, she purged all obstacles to Inazuma's progress, making a promise of a beautiful vision of eternity to her subjects. Such is the singular will of the Raiden Shogun over the land of Narukami.]

[Video 3][Name: Through the eyes of a dragon]

[Description: Excerpt from "Contemporary Folk Tales of Liyue: Through the Eyes of a Dragon". Between drama and history, fact fades into fiction, yet the truth remains. Between mountains and mankind, the transient is subsumed, and the everlasting endures. Between friends, a thousand ages ago is but yesterday.]

"This is...?" Aether said as he looked at all of them. Some of them which he doesn't even understand.

"The Raiden Shogun?" Ayaka said as she looked at the video that has the Raiden Shogun's figure in the thumbnail. "This video... seems to be talking about the Raiden Shogun and Inazuma."

"Hm?" Zhongli saw the third video and hummed. 'This seems to be talking about... Azhdaha?'

'...The Fatui.' Collei thought with resentment as she looked at the first video's description.

She has a dark past with the Fatui— they, after all, tortured and experimented on her in the past.

"Hey guys." Just then, Asakura spoke. "Why don't we watch this? It seems pretty interesting."

"That is... The Fatui Harbingers?" Zhongli also looked. "It seems to be talking about the Snezhnayan Organization known as the Fatui."

"You want to watch that?" Ayaka asked.

"Don't you think it's interesting?" Asakura said. "The Fatui... They have so many hidden secrets, but this system seems to know a lot about them. It's even presenting us with a video of them."

"Furthermore, look at its description." Asakura pointed out. "The gathering of People donning masks... Isn't it similar to our current situation?"

"Hmm... Now that I've thought about it, the Fatui does indeed has a lot of secrets." Aether said as he grasped his chin in contemplation. "I want to watch it too."

"You are right, Hidden Mob." Zhongli said. "Our current situation... It's a little too similar to the video."

As the oldest living God alive, Zhongli naturally knows a lot about the Raiden Shogun and Azhdaha. As such, he didn't need to watch their video.

"..." Ayaka looked at Asakura and wondered why he didn't choose the Raiden Shogun Video. 'Is he not curious of the Raiden Shogun?'

However, seeing that the majority already voted, she followed along. "Since it's already the majority, I'll also vote the first video."

"Me too." Collei angrily said. "I want to know more about the Fatui."

"Alright, then it's decided then." As Asakura said.

Brr—*

[System: Confirmed.]

[System: Video 1 shall now play]