Global Sign-in: 10x Multiplier with the Strongest System!-Chapter 45: A Secret Lies in Sight
Pierre stared at the glitching message before him as his mind raced to decipher its meaning.
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"A secret lies in sight..." he muttered. His eyebrows furrowed as he sat back down on his bed, the pink-themed system interface still hovering before him, displaying his current status and objectives.
But Pierre’s attention was elsewhere now.
’Sight... s-eight...’ He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ’S-eight. Stage eight. Story eight? A secret in Story 8?!’
His eyes widened slightly as the pieces began to fall into place.
"There’s a hidden story in Main Story #8!" he breathed out, a mix of excitement and frustration washing over him.
"That’s what you’re trying to tell me, isn’t it?"
Pierre’s mind worked through the possibilities. Hidden stages weren’t unheard of, but they were notoriously difficult to find.
’Story 8’s target is Hanabira Reina... the Occult Club president,’ he pondered. ’What did I miss?’
He thought back to his interactions with her. Everything had seemed straightforward. She fell for him, they kissed, stage cleared.
But as it turned out, there was more.
Pierre clenched his jaw. The mysterious entity had given him a clue, but not the complete answer.
’Typical grandmaster behaviour,’ he thought with annoyance. ’Make the student figure it out themselves.’
"Alright," he said to the room, addressing the entity he couldn’t see but knew was somehow watching. "I’ll find the hidden story in Level 8. But first..."
He looked at the glitching panel that had just closed.
"What should I call you?" Pierre asked hesitantly. "If you’re here to help me, you should at least tell me what to call you, right?"
"..."
However, there was nothing but silence.
The pink panel before him continued to pulse gently, displaying his information. And the blue glitch was gone, as if it had never been there.
Pierre waited for a full minute, hoping for another message.
Nothing came, of course.
"Fine," he sighed, feeling foolish for talking to what might be a system malfunction. But he knew better. System glitches didn’t give helpful advice. They didn’t guide users toward hidden content.
Pierre made a decision. He couldn’t keep running through these levels indefinitely. He needed to recharge, to think, to plan his approach for finding this hidden stage.
"System," he called out, his voice firm.
[Yes, Host?]
The feminine voice responded immediately, as enthusiastic as ever.
"End the sign-in session," Pierre commanded.
[Are you certain, Host? You haven’t completed your current sign-in cycle. Ending now will forfeit your chance of getting rewards.]
"I won’t get any today, regardless. I’m certain," Pierre said without hesitation, "end it."
[As you wish, Host...]
For Roy, a simple panel showed his disconnection from LOVE.exe before it began to crumble. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
A moment later, Roy found himself back in his nullspace, the empty blue grid that stretched endlessly in all directions.
He looked up at the sky, where the number now read 20.
"Twenty error points left," Roy muttered, doing the mental math. He had started this sign-in session with 60. Five for the initial code injection, then 30 for Level 5, 6, and 8’s performance ratings, and another 5 for the last code injection.
"It was worth it this time, though." He smiled lightly.
"Now is just left for the dumbass to use his brain. Sigh, I wish there were another way to find exactly where the hidden stage is. That way, I won’t have to wait for eternity hoping Pierre is capable of finding it."
He had reached the final step on his part, but the result of his attempts was still unknown. If Pierre was not smart or insightful enough to find the hidden story, then it would all be for naught.
Roy clicked his tongue. "If it comes to that, I’ll find a way to unlink myself from him!"
Nullspace faded, and Roy experienced that familiar sense of vertigo as he returned to the real world.
He found himself in the dim interior of the APC’s restroom stall. The small space felt cramped after the vast emptiness of his nullspace, but it was private, and that was what mattered.
Roy yawned deeply and covered his mouth. "Ah... Man, I’m beat."
* * *
The next morning came quickly.
Roy groaned and sat up in his bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. It was the fourth day of the expedition, and he was already starting to feel homesick.
"You’re awake," Donald voiced, wearing his regular casual expression. "Better get ready. We’re leaving."
"Thank God," Roy said, his brain still foggy with sleep.
The C-Class Executioner didn’t waste time putting the military vehicle back on the road to return.
Roy freshened up and settled into his usual seat. He busied himself with his mobile device, watching videos and news about recent happenings online.
The iconic A-Class Executioner, Aura Final Boss, Sung Jin-woo, was leading a raid party to challenge the notorious Rank 3 Gate that rendered a popular tourist island of H-City uninhabitable. Data collected on the abyss creatures mentioned that the Gate Boss was a Cursed Monster.
But Roy quickly swiped away from that as his eyes caught a more important headline.
[Magical Cat Girls announce the release date of their new album, CATWORLD...]
"Yes!!!" He fistbumped the air.
Donny, who was arguing with Abraham about something, glanced back at Roy. "What’s that?" he asked.
"N-Nothing."
Roy returned his attention to the screen, leaving Donny confused.
’An uncultured man like you won’t understand.’
But Donald shrugged and said to the front console, "Hillary, play me Beautiful Colors by Magical Cat Girls."
’...Eh?’ Roy didn’t believe his ears. He liked that song too!
"Hillary, don’t," Master Abraham quickly added, wearing a frown.
"Why are y—"
"You listen to M.C.G. too?!" Roy asked abruptly, cutting Donny off.
"You do? I always thought you were an uncultured brat... like Abraham here."
"I thought the same for you, too!" Roy said in amusement.
"Both of you, shut up!"
Right then, an upbeat song with a girly voice started playing, making a vein pop up on Abraham’s forehead.
"I’m sorry, Abraham, but I like this song too," Hillary said, eliciting a laugh from the two brothers.
At the border checkpoint, the guards recognised the APC immediately and, after a few procedures, allowed it to exit District 03.
In other news, today marked the fifth year since the A-Class Executioner, The Legendary Hero, disappeared. He had entered a Rank 3 Gate alone and supposedly perished in battle against the Gate Boss, as the gate closed before he could return. His followers were still aplenty, and they had faith that their Legendary Hero would one day return.
Meanwhile, young superstar Irregular and worldwide sensation—NICE, recently topped the global charts with his new single and expressed a desire to become an executioner in the near future...
"Tch. Bastard."
There was more serious news in politics, economics, and so on, but Roy was sixteen and male. His interests lay in celebrity scandals, gaming livestreams, pretty girls, and funny clips.
Sometime after, Roy raised his head and asked:
"So... now we’re done here, what’s next?"
