Beyond M-Eclipse: Easy Mode LIVE

———Karra———

“Had a pleasant dream, I hope.” She said as I opened my eyes again, her recognizable white hair and striking blue eyes, wearing a normal white shirt and shorts, looking very different just from the different clothing choice.

I can’t help but involuntarily smile as I look at her gentle smile. It felt like something came over me.

“...What time is it?” I asked, still feeling a bit winded.

“10 pm. It’s all dark out right now.” She said as she walked over to her desk to check something.

“Huh…” I muttered as I checked my clothes, they’re all pretty dirty right now… I should probably take a bath.

…I think I should phone my mom first. Let’s say I’m staying at a friend’s house…

———Wiina———

Alright Wiina. Keep your cool. Don’t try to say anything weird!

Things didn’t go to plan, but as long as she’s fine and dandy, and our friendship didn’t break, everything will turn out alright.

Plot might’ve been rushed, but the ending should stay the same…

“Just told my mom that I’d be staying over.” Isn’t this way too quick!? Give me some time to think!

“...Is that so? Where will you plan to sleep then?” I asked, just to be certain.

“Uhhh… Well your bed is quite nice, so… I guess we can share?” Okay!? Just immediately go for that as the first option!?

“If you insist. My bed is big enough for the two of us anyway.” I said, keeping my voice from cracking, or showing that much emotion.

She seems to be enjoying this a lot…

“So… Uhhh… I guess there’s one thing I want to ask.” Here we go… No doubt she has a lot to say. “What’s with you… changing like that? Is it all illusions?”

“Quite the opposite, actually.” I said as I walked over and sat beside her. “Touch it if you want, it’s all real.”

She then did so silently… It’s kinda hard trying to stay still while she’s doing this.

“Then… What was yesterday about?” She suddenly asked while still playing with my hair… And that’s something I really don’t want to talk about.

“Admittedly, I have plans to slowly reveal this fact to you eventually.” I said as I shifted my hair color to black and grew out the ears and tail. “I planned on some sort of… rather complicated script to follow so this is all easier to swallow for you. But I got cold feet not even halfway through.”

“...Okay?” She doesn’t seem to know I planned on going about that with illusions and a different form. Honestly I don’t even want to think about it anymore.

“Eek!” I let out a small shriek the moment she started touching my ears.

“S-Sorry! Are they sensitive?” She asked, immediately turning regretful.

“N-No. It’s just surprising, is all.” I said to ease her worry. I still wasn’t used to that.

“...So are you a shapeshifter or something?” She asked as she touched things more slowly.

“It is one of my powers, yes.” It’s one of many, but it’s the most apparently useful right now.

“One?” She picked up on that? “Eh… So… Now what? Now that you reveal all of this to me?”

“I mean… Just go about our days like always I guess. I’m not planning on acting any differently, if I can help it.” She seems to have dropped the whole powerset thing rather quickly for this more pressing matter. “I still want to have a few personas to myself. Last thing I want is to get hounded after all the stunts I pulled.”

“Guess I’m a confidant then?” She asked with a chuckle.

“Yep. I trust you to keep it a secret?” I said, always thinking of her as pretty trustworthy. I guess all of my classmates are of pretty good character anyway, so this was never the issue. It’s just who will I share this secret with? Her name always came up first when I tried to think.

“Of course!” She said very confidently as she let go of my hair. “So I’m the first one to know? Or the second?”

“...Well, aside from a few people from the shadows and my parents, yes, you are the first one.” I don’t exactly want her to get the wrong idea, even if this answer is slightly condescending.

“Ah…” She awkwardly said out loud. “Guess you came out to your parents right away? Or…”

“It was just a few days ago, truthfully.” It took a lot of courage for something that is insanely anti-climatic. They just accept it and that’s that. Like I knew they never really care what someone’s name or pronouns are, but it’s still jarring.

“I see…” She muttered. “How much do you mind the name Jass, by the way?”

“It doesn’t bother me that much if I’m putting on the front, so there’s that.” I answered. Never really despise the name, it just doesn’t fit the new me.

“Hmm… Well that’s good to know.” She mumbled to herself. “So… why tell me now, of all times?”

“...There’s only so long I can keep this a secret, regardless of the many tricks I have up my sleeves. Besides, deceiving people still puts weight on my conscience.” I explained myself. You’d have to be insane to be able to put on a facade for so long, especially in front of your close friends and more.

“Is that right? I mean it’s nice that you seem to trust me, at least.” She remarked.

“It would be weird otherwise, wouldn’t it? We’ve been friends for years now.” I said, feeling like that shouldn’t be too surprising. “Aside from Jeff you’re someone I have talked to the most.”

“Really?” She said, for some reason being surprised. “Uhh… Sorry, I never really keep track…”

“It’s easier to track on my end. I’m not exactly a social butterfly like you.” When you interact with as few people as I do those who you have interacted with more become really apparent. “You don’t really need to worry about it.”

“If you say so.” She said before going back to inspecting her phone, as if checking something. “So… What now? I still don’t really know how to feel…”

“As if I have an answer to that…” The thing I was prioritizing was how I’m going to reveal my secret to her, in a cool way, without needing to say much if at all. “At least I think it’s clear our relationship isn’t strained, that’s more important than anything, in my book.”

She doesn’t really say anything in response, but she does silently smile. Guess she’s quite satisfied with that answer, even if it’s nothing definitive.

———Karra———

“We’re live!” I announced as I finally streamed after… almost a whole week. I feel more refreshed than ever after yesterday, so I am all the more ready to stream for a while. Full of energy to complain!

{welcome back}

{bruh the ccv…}

{where have you been}

Well isn’t this a warm welcome… Whatever. As long as people keep engaging, it’ll be fine. I’m used to having barely three digits viewers. Good deal of them were from the schoolmates anyway.

“Alright chat. It’s been a while…” I said while setting something up. Gonna play a game while doing this because why not. It’s not like there’s much else to do while talking. “So… Yeah. I guess I have a few things to talk about.”

{How did the fight go?}

{how did you win}

{Where have you been?}

{so why so offline?}

“Now let’s talk about something you guys already know. That big brute and I tied the first time around, and the second time he got destroyed!... Not by me, admittedly.” I think this is a pretty good place to start.

{Who was it}

{so how did you tie?}

{how strong?}

{what happened yesterday?}

“Now, chat. The first time we fight it goes to a draw. Both of us were hurt during the fight and both of us fled when the cops came.” That much they already know. Not the specifics like Wiina’s involvement. “That guy can tank a lot of damage, be it from spells or otherwise. Now I can actually tell you guys what the deal with that dude was, I think Navvi talks about this already, right?”

{So he really does know his stuff}

{Yep. Berserker. Go mad with power. Apeshit}

{is all that actually true? Hard to tell}

“So here’s how the second fight goes. That guy actually targeted one of my friends again, he just got out of the hospital and this bitch just went berserk in the store and wrecked it bad.” Condolence to the store’s owner, of course. She’s a sweet old lady, yet this is happening. At least it got fixed up pretty quickly.

{Didn’t the store got fixed in an hour or smth?}

{what actually happen to that place}

{what next?}

“So here’s the thing. I’ve been offline, training to get strong enough to punt the guy down. Problem one, he appeared after I just finished my exercise, so I was winded. Problem two, he was gunning down my friend, so I couldn’t exactly not jumped in to help. I can’t actually put enough firepower to win the fight, so I tried stalling, and it turned out that’s a really bad idea!” I began recounting the events, with Wiina’s insight in mind, of course.

{Training? What}

{weren’t dungeons heavily monitored or outright banned or smth?}

{is that an excuse}

{what the heck do you even do to train.}

“So, when it comes to the whole training thing, we can talk about that a little bit later.” It’s going to be part of the bombshell. “Also, it does sucks that the authorities are trying to stop people going into dungeons. Like, I can’t exactly blame them, it’s actually a dangerous place to be in. It’s not like a warning sign would’ve worked. I don’t think an announcement would’ve either.”

{yeah people can be stupid}

{bet those missing people case were from that}

{who knows how long it’s gonna take to open up again}

“So back on the topic itself. I choose to stall, and it doesn’t work. Firstly is that the cops are useless in that regard. Their guns did nothing. Secondly is actually something I didn’t realize until after the fight.” When Wiina told it to me, it just completely boggles my mind. “He has some sort of gradual power increase ability, so his stamina doesn’t go down, and his power keeps rising for the duration of that fight. If I were in tip-top shape I probably could’ve tried one-shotting him before his strength got out of hand, but that’s not what happened so I did something really dumb. Stalling just gave him more time to gather power to the point my attacks barely did anything. Just minor discomfort from the looks of it.”

{Insane hax if real}

{this true?}

{Got anyway to prove that or…}

Looks like they find the detailed explanations a bit too much, but I’m sure they’ll come around in time when they have to deal with bullshit of their own.

“Since none of that works I was genuinely in a real risk of getting killed. Thankfully Wiina came to the rescue and stopped that guy in his tracks in three choice blows and a single spell. Honestly it’s a shame there’s nothing that recorded that moment.” I think the best footage there was is a cctv footage from a camera like a block or two away, barely captured anything. “Anyway, she beat him in a few seconds, then whisked me out of there. The big guy got jailed, obviously.”

{And now that guy already escape…}

{dude stayed in jail for like a few hours}

{how did they not catch him again}

“To cut those guys some slack, the moment he recovered even a little bit of his strength, those walls are basically paper.” There’s nothing really preventing people from using their supernatural strength, so apprehending anyone is a losing effort. “Now here’s something Wiina said to me, chat. From what she can tell, this guy probably has some sort of transformation ability, which is why no one can track him down despite his very distinctive appearance.”

{that’s double hax!}

{starting to sound like a shill now…}

“Dude, let’s be real here. No one with brain cells wants someone that dangerous in their neighborhood, being a cop or not won’t change that opinion.” I can’t believe they think I am a fan of cops. Can’t they have a bit more faith in me? “But let’s not dwell on that.”

{btw what your opinion on the game?}

{what game is this anyway?}

“Hm? Oh right.” I guess I didn’t talk about the game I’m playing right now. “I know I’m talking about the game I’m playing right now, sorry if that upsets anyone. It’s just here to fill the screen.”

{thought that was a stock footage lol}

{wait it’s not a video?}

“No? It’s not a video. Why would it be?” I said as I moved the character around the screen even if that risked me losing the level. “Now then, chat. While I beat this level, let’s talk a bit more about all that has happened so far in this clown world of ours.”

{think it’s more than clown at this point}

{at least clown gets paid}

“So far, we’ve seen people being changed, saw a bunch of odd structures and underground dungeons popping out of nowhere, people can use magic now, monsters are a thing, gangs composed of the supernaturals, and people rampaging about destroying buildings. It’s been a lot.” I said as I finished the level and left the game at the result screen. “And now the world just wants us to not explore anymore. Kinda a dick move, even if it’s probably to save some dumbass from chasing that bag early.”

{Uhhh…}

{yeah who would’ve ever done that}

“Look, at least I prepare myself with learning magic before even thinking about going in. You all know there are people out there who went in with zero research or anything.” My case is plenty different. These guys don’t have the ground to accuse me of hypocrisy!

Now then, let’s drop a little bombshell while I talk about this some more. Dragging two photos into view, the photos that depict that place, captured by my phone.

“Anyway, here’s where I train, chat. It’s a pretty big field, it has a lot of settings like spawning monsters or setting up hazards.” I said as if it’s no big deal.

{wtf is this!?}

{hold on what?}

{this fake right????}

“It’s plenty useful to get me used to fighting with my magic. Before this I didn’t really have a good place to throw magic spells around. Especially now that the dungeons are barred off.” I said as I savor the reactions. Just what I wanted to see…

…Now how do I proceed from here? No idea, honestly.