After leaving Jean and Barbara's room, Valerius pushed open the door to Room No. 2.
"Oh? Liyue actually sent the two of you?"
Seeing Ningguang and Beidou inside, Valerius was genuinely surprised.
Liyue was sending out its heavy hitters right from the start.
In his opinion, aside from the adepti, Ningguang and Beidou were among the strongest people in Liyue.
And they were deploying them immediately.
"I'm only here to scout things out."
Ningguang answered with a graceful smile.
At the moment, no one knew how strong the other factions truly were.
Her objective was simple: test the waters.
As for the final reward, she had already won rewards before, so she wasn't particularly anxious.
And since she herself wasn't especially suited for direct combat, bringing Beidou along was the obvious choice.
"Fair enough."
Valerius handed the simulators to both of them.
"Just press Start."
"Understood."
The two women sat down and began watching their respective life simulations.
"Wow, you're actually a witch?"
"Not bad at all. This magic is impressive."
Valerius was rather surprised to see that Ningguang had become the Heroic Spirit rather than the Master.
Leaving them to their simulations, he moved on to Room No. 3.
As expected, the participants from Inazuma were Yae Miko and Raiden Ei.
"Liyue and Mondstadt are in trouble."
Seeing this duo, Valerius silently offered a moment of sympathy to their future opponents.
One had overwhelming combat power.
The other was incredibly cunning.
In a game like this, they held a tremendous advantage.
He handed them their simulators.
"Pfft— Ei, how did you end up as an ordinary commoner?"
"Oh? You're actually pretty capable."
"Hahaha! Ei, your ending is tragic!"
Watching Raiden Ei's simulation, Yae Miko laughed so hard she nearly doubled over.
Her dear friend was truly something.
Being born a wandering drifter was one thing.
But dying from a single poisoned cup of wine?
That was downright pitiful.
"What's so funny?"
Raiden Ei shot Yae Miko an irritated glare.
"Let's see yours."
"Gladly."
[Age 0: You are born as a pink-haired fox.]
[Age 3: You nearly get caught and turned into a dead fox.]
Yae Miko: "..."
Raiden Ei burst into laughter.
"Now you're the one being laughed at."
At last, it was her turn to retaliate.
Watching Yae Miko frantically flee on-screen, Ei felt immensely satisfied.
"Oh? You can take human form."
"Interesting. Even after becoming human, your life doesn't improve much."
The tables had turned completely.
Now it was Raiden Ei mercilessly teasing Yae Miko.
Yae Miko snorted.
"You're laughing now, but if I don't have enough magic circuits, you won't have much mana either."
"…"
Ei stared at her for a moment.
Then nodded seriously.
"Miko… you're surprisingly weak."
Ignoring the two friends bickering, Valerius moved on to the fourth room.
Inside were Navia and Clorinde.
"This really does feel like a tabletop campaign."
Seeing the two together, Valerius couldn't help but suspect they were here to play detective rather than fight in a Holy Grail War.
The fifth room contained Yanqing and Yunli.
The sixth room contained Silver Wolf and Kafka.
The seventh room contained Asta and Acheron.
The eighth room contained Hoshimi Miyabi and Tsukishiro Yanagi.
After distributing all the simulators, Valerius waited quietly.
Some time later, the system announced that everyone had completed their simulations.
The Holy Grail War was ready to begin.
Walking to the control platform, Valerius opened the communication channel.
"All participants have completed their simulations. The game will begin shortly."
"A quick reminder: the Holy Grail War is meant to be conducted in secrecy. Try not to cause too much commotion."
"And in this game, you may only use the abilities obtained through your simulations. All your original powers are sealed."
"One more thing."
"This Holy Grail War is not taking place in Fuyuki City."
"It will be held in a mysterious Eastern nation."
"You'd best obey the law. If certain organizations decide to hunt you down, I may not be able to save you."
"The game lasts seven days."
"You will all enter with legitimate identities, so take care of your documents."
"My church is located in the bustling eastern district of the city."
"If you wish to withdraw, come find me there."
"That's all."
"I wish you all good luck."
With that, he closed the communication and pressed the transfer button.
In an instant, all Masters were transported into the game world.
As for the Heroic Spirits, they would remain on standby until summoned.
At the international airport, Asta stood motionless with her suitcase in hand.
"This is…"
A sudden pain struck her head.
A flood of memories entered her mind.
In this world, she was the daughter of a powerful financial family.
She had come here under the pretense of conducting a business inspection, while secretly participating in the Holy Grail War.
"Good. At least I have my memories."
Asta had been worried that she would arrive knowing nothing and be eliminated immediately.
"First priority: find a summoning site."
Since the Holy Grail War was meant to remain hidden, she had no intention of summoning her Servant in the city center.
Who knew what kind of disturbance it might cause?
Fortunately, her identity came with one major advantage.
Money.
Plenty of it.
Without hesitation, she decided to acquire a large, secluded base of operations.
Dragging her suitcase, she left the airport and hailed a taxi to a real estate agency specializing in secondhand properties.
Buying a brand-new home was impractical.
And most new developments were in crowded urban areas.
Instead, she wanted a property near the outskirts, where fewer people would notice any unusual activity.
Three hours later, Asta stood inside a detached building in a remote western district.
She set down her luggage and nodded in satisfaction.
"Excellent. This will be my base."
In the live chat:
Black Swan: "What do you think of the participant I recommended?"
No—Black Swan wasn't in this one. It was Herta.
"Herta: How about that? The person I recommended is doing quite well."
Seeing Asta immediately demonstrate competence, Herta was extremely pleased.
"Jade: Miss Asta is indeed cautious. This location is an excellent choice."
"Topaz: Great location, a reliable Master, and Miss Acheron as her Heroic Spirit. Victory is practically guaranteed."
"Fu Xuan: Not necessarily."
"Aventurine: What do you mean? Isn't this place perfect?"
"Jing Yuan: It is. But if something happens, no one else can reach her in time."
"Boothill: Are you all seriously planning to form alliances?"
"Feixiao: Just watch. Someone is definitely going to team up."
"Sparkle: Form an alliance, then shoot them in the back. Hehe."
"Trailblazer: I don't care about alliances. I only care about when Silver Wolf is finally going to find a base."
"Firefly: ..."
"Bronya: ..."
They were already regretting their choice.
If they had known Silver Wolf would be this unreliable, they would never have let her participate.
At an internet café.
Silver Wolf's keyboard clattered loudly.
Especially the spacebar.
It was practically being smashed.
Valerius stared at the screen and nearly coughed up blood.
"Are you kidding me?"
"She's playing Dance Dance Revolution?!"
Playing games was one thing.
But choosing Dance Dance Revolution in the middle of the Holy Grail War?
If she didn't at least put on a full emo hairstyle, it just wouldn't feel authentic enough.
To Read 60+ ahead advanced Chapters, head over to P@treon
patreon.com/DarkVerse146