Mash-up Anime World: Creating the SCP Foundation to Contain Anomalies Chapter 380 - 372: Hehehe, Little Bocchi, So Tiny, So Soft,

SAO was liberated.

The mont the news broke, it imdiately beca the hottest topic. The attention of practically the entire human society shifted to this event.

And understandably so.

After all, it involved the lives of 10,000 people.

And it was an unprecedented disaster tied to the cutting-edge technology of a "full-dive ga."

Even though, in reality, it had nothing to do with the technology itself. It was all the work of Kayaba Akihiko.

Still, society was full of—criticism.

However, this storm couldn't stir up much of a—wave.

For one thing, all 10,000 players had survived—there were no casualties.

Even in the original plot, where the majority of the 10,000 died and barely one in ten survived…

Society still cald down in the end.

Full-dive gas continued to be promoted globally.

Because society is driven by profit.

The Foundation had already begun to subtly shift public opinion through dia manipulation.

At the sa ti, several full-dive gas were already prepared and waiting for release.

For example, a firearm sandbox MMO was set to be launched soon. It would be operated under the nas of the two major conglorates. In the SAO incident, those two conglorates had established a highly favorable image in society.

Even the victims of SAO were deeply grateful to them.

After all, the two conglorates had provided them with dical aid, practically free of charge.

So the voices of opposition were faint. And even though people had been scared by the SAO incident...

Most were still deeply curious about full-dive gas.

As a result, the promotion of GGO went absurdly smoothly.

The Foundation could now use full-dive gas as a cover to introduce black ball technology and even conduct mory erasure experints.

Furthermore—

Due to the impact of the SAO incident...

The theatrical performance of Attack on Titan had to be postponed.

They couldn't afford to use too many societal resources at this ti.

After all, the Foundation intended to reverse the narrative of the SAO incident—turning it into the launch point for full-dive ga promotion.

And with the postponent of the performance...

One certain spirit songstress heaved a sigh of relief.

Miku still wasn't ready to perform without using her Spirit powers.

Although after becoming a Spirit, Miku had lost most of the mories of being cyberbullied and attempting suicide...

That deep trauma still clung to her like a parasite gnawing at her bones.

Recently, she had tried several tis to seek out Haruto (a.k.a. "Yuriko Suzuhina").

But unfortunately, Haruto had been rather busy during this period.

Each ti, Miku had co up empty-handed.

Which only made her more anxious.

And in that anxiety...

She suddenly rembered that performance Haruto had taken her to. She rembered those four girls on stage, and the pure, resonant feeling they brought.

So Miku changed targets—

She went off to harass the Kessoku Band instead.

The others were manageable...

But poor Bocchi was suffering.

Hitori Gotou was already a hardcore introvert.

Even with the sunny and cheerful Kita Ikuyo by her side, she was always teetering on the edge of being emotionally overwheld.

Now ca Miku—who was even more extroverted than Kita Ikuyo. (Well, at least with other girls.)

And Miku didn't really understand when to stop. Bocchi was practically developing PTSD from Miku.

After just two interactions, she was desperately avoiding her.

She even canceled so of her upcoming performances.

"Sigh... This is troubling. Yuriko-sama is nowhere to be found, and now even Hitori is avoiding . All I wanted was to make friends with her. How did it end up like this? But... Hitori... Hehehe, so small, so soft, my adorable little Hitori, hehehe…"

Haruto was coming up from the containnt layer and happened to pass through the residential layer—

And he overheard this muttering.

Originally, Haruto had co here to participate in an interaction experint with Yui, the forr AI (SCP-079).

He was also planning to download a copy of Yui onto an offline device to give to Asuna.

But then he overheard so... strange lines.

His thoughts were imdiately scattered.

Peeking around the corner—

As expected, there sat Miku.

She was sitting in a chair, cupping her face, smiling with a look that was clearly up to no good.

Haruto twitched at the corner of his mouth.

Does that look like soone who just wants to make a friend?

Forget about the introverted Bocchi—even soone with social anxiety would want to run far away from this simp songstress!

And to top it off—this woman was still thirsting over his cross-dressing alter ego.

Tsk.

A mont of silence for poor Bocchi.

eting soone like this... what a misfortune.

Just then—

Miku seed to sense sothing.

Her gaze turned to the corner.

Her eyes t Haruto's.

In that instant, she leapt up and ran toward him with little steps.

Even though she had only seen part of his head and eyes—she was sure, absolutely sure, that it was her beloved Yuriko-sama.

Seeing this, Haruto calmly stepped out from around the corner.

As soon as he fully appeared—

Miku slamd the brakes.

Her eyes widened in shock.

A man!?

Impossible! Where's Yuriko-sama!?

How could I possibly mistake the noble Yuriko-sama for a filthy man!?

I must be mistaken sowhere!

Haruto leisurely enjoyed Miku's stunned expression.

Ah... this was satisfying.

"And who are you? What's your relationship with Yuriko-sama!?" Miku demanded.

Maybe because Haruto looked so much like "Yuriko," Miku—who normally refused to even speak to n—actually spoke to him.

And her tone wasn't even that hostile.

"I'm Haruto. Yuriko is my younger sister."

Haruto replied indifferently.

Miku still looked doubtful.

Just siblings? That wouldn't explain why she'd mistaken him...

Yuriko-sama was one of a kind!

As Miku questioned her entire worldview—

Haruto took the chance to silently make his escape.

It wasn't ti to reveal his identity just yet.

He needed to wait for the perfect mont to give this songstress a small... shocking surprise.

But Miku was sharper than expected.

If he didn't run now, she might start to figure things out.

By the ti she looked up again, Haruto was already gone.

She frowned.

Sothing's not right.

Very not right. Nine parts not right!

anwhile, Haruto—having made his escape—brought the Yui-equipped device to go et Asuna.

The device was a transparent, black, smartphone-sized rectangular block. Its computing power was stronger than SAO's entire system.

However, it absolutely could not connect to the internet.

There were no ports, and any attempt to dismantle it would imdiately destroy the chip.

Inside the block, Yui appeared.

"Papa."

Yui called out sweetly to Haruto.

Haruto smiled in response.

Yui really was adorable.

...

If it weren't for the presence of the old AI...

He wouldn't be so cautious with her.

"I'm taking you to et Asuna—Mama. You haven't seen what she looks like in the real world, right?"

Upon hearing that, Yui imdiately lit up with excitent.

At the sa ti, she curiously looked around.

The real world was still new to Yui, and she was incredibly intrigued. After all, this was the world of Papa and Mama. Although she couldn't access the real-world network, she could still experience the world through human ans.

This device allowed her to see the outside world and even feel it.

She had touch, even taste.

The Foundation was also testing humanoid bodies that could house Yui in the future.

Leaving the site, Haruto headed toward the Chiba Library.

He had arranged to et Asuna there.

Haruto felt a wave of nostalgia.

After all, it was here that he had once t a certain bunny girl.

Such precious mories.

Entering the library, Haruto pressed the elevator button and waited briefly.

When the elevator doors opened—

What he saw inside left him stunned.

What the heck is this situation?

Inside the reasonably spacious elevator stood two girls.

One stood in the far-left rear corner.

The other stood in the far-right front corner.

Between them, it was as though an uncrossable chasm had opened.

As the elevator doors opened, both girls looked up at Haruto at the sa ti. An awkward silence filled the air.

And Haruto recognized both of them.

One was the poor Bocchi he had just been sympathizing with.

The other—

Was that... Komi-san?