My daily life in various anime crossovers can't possibly be this sci-fi.

"..." Jiang Jinghua pondered for a moment, "I had a dream last night: to give an analogy, it was like controlling a man in black and a group of indistinct shadowy enemies in a third-person RPG game, fighting in the ruins of a city. Although I could feel the man in black's feelings, I was watching him from the perspective of an outsider."

"So, what you mentioned earlier about 'human destruction' was influenced by this dream?" Maki Nishikino nodded. "If that's the case, I think you should seek help from a professional doctor. After all, for us spellcasters, mental abnormalities are quite deadly."

"Okay, I understand, thank you for your concern." Jiang Jinghua nodded. "In that case, I might have to return to Earth earlier than planned."

"Huh?" Nishikino Maki was taken aback. "No, I didn't tell you to leave now. I said you should go see the doctor after you get back!"

“Because I myself feel that my current situation is terrible, and I have a feeling that there must be some unspeakable secrets hidden behind the dream I had last night,” Jiang Jinghua said. “So I’m sorry, I think it’s more appropriate for me to go back to Earth first. Have fun.”

"What are you apologizing for!" Maki turned her head away unhappily. "If you want to go back, then go back!"

"What did I do to upset you again?" Jiang Jinghua asked, puzzled. "Why are you suddenly like this..."

"Mind your own business!" Maki jogged away.

Jiang Jinghua watched her departing figure, feeling a bit amused and exasperated.

What an awkward child.

……

what

Section 64, Chapter Sixty-Four: The Sea of ​​Miracles

three days later.

Actually, when Jiang Jinghua boarded the return flight from Alaska to Tokyo, he was still a little reluctant. After all, the opportunity to travel with μ's was extremely rare; once it was gone, it might be gone forever.

However, this feeling of resentment has now completely disappeared, and the reason for that can be found by Dr. Oleto Klev, who is now sitting in a silver-gray swivel chair in the laboratory.

At this moment, Jiang Jinghua had just finished a three-hour system check and got off the medical bed filled with all sorts of messy equipment. He then came to his homeroom teacher, who was also his current attending physician, Dr. Oleto Klev.

“Jiang Jinghua, I must admit that your situation is very special,” Dr. Klev said, staring at the data on the screen. “Before explaining what your current situation means to you, I first need to ask you a question: Do you know FEX? I’m referring to the FEX from Type-Moon.”

“…I know, I’ve heard of it.” Jiang Jinghua nodded. “Didn’t it get animated recently?”

"So, you should know that in that story, there is a giant spiritual computer on the moon that supports a 'virtual reality' made entirely of spiritual particles, and magicians who master certain methods can 'spiritize' themselves and send themselves into the virtual reality," Dr. Klev said.

"...So you mean this dream...is actually me being 'spiritually transformed' and then sent into a virtual world by something? The man in black I saw in that 'virtual world' was actually someone's game footage?"

“Jiang, your imagination is quite impressive, but that’s not the case.” Dr. Klev shook his head. “In fact, it’s not that you entered the virtual world, but that the virtual world entered you.”

"……what?"

"The first thing I need to explain to you is what this so-called virtual world actually is." Dr. Klev waved his hand, signaling the other junior staff members in the room to leave.

"Excuse me, turn on the projector." With Dr. Klev's call, a white holographic projection window suddenly appeared in the air like a ghost.

"Jiang Jinghua, according to the foundation's regulations, the information you are about to read is only accessible to those with security clearance of level 3 or above, or to those with special authorization. So you know what to do, right?"

Jiang Jinghua nodded.

“Well then, let’s begin. Commonly known as the ‘Sea of ​​Miracles (Wundermeer),’ it’s a ‘virtual’ world entirely composed of arcane energy, hidden on the other side of the Prime Material Plane.” Klev’s hands moved rapidly through the air, countless projected models appearing in the laboratory space, their eerie blue light almost filling the entire room. “This is what we were discussing earlier. According to previous tests, your brain has been exposed to information and magical influences from this world. We used classical mystical methods to examine your so-called ‘soul,’ and found that the residual foreign magic within it perfectly matches the existing data on the Sea of ​​Miracles.”

"So, the dreams I had actually originated from those external magical forces from this world, and the abnormal mental state I experienced that night was also due to the effects of these external magical forces?" Jiang Jinghua asked.

"You're half right, because your dream didn't originate from the Sea of ​​Miracles. In fact, you need to understand that a world made of arcane energy is fundamentally incompatible with a world made of matter. Data exchange between the two generally only produces disgusting errors. It's like forcibly changing the file extension of an image to a text file; all you get is a lot of gibberish."

“However, those magical powers undoubtedly stimulated your soul in some way, thus awakening things that were originally located deep in your memory, things that you thought you had forgotten.” Dr. Klev concluded, “Based on what I have gathered so far, and all the data I have collected over the past few days, the most reliable conclusion I can draw is that those memories originally belonged to you, and the magic from the Sea of ​​Miracles merely awakened them.”

Jiang Jinghua suddenly remembered something very ominous. He looked at Dr. Klev, whose handsome face, with its gentlemanly smile, clearly carried a subtle meaning.

"Ahem." Dr. Klev cleared his throat. "Jiang, we'll only discuss matters related to the Sea of ​​Miracles. As for which Earth you came from, or what you were before you came here, we don't need to discuss those questions for now."

Jiang Jinghua shrugged. His secret as a transmigrator had indeed been exposed. But even so, there was nothing he could do: his life and death remained in the hands of the Foundation.

“Let’s continue. The Foundation is concerned about the Sea of ​​Miracles because it is not just a simple virtual world. If we continue with the previous analogy, then we should describe the ‘virtual creations’ within the Sea of ​​Miracles as follows: although it is an image, it can still retain meaningful strings after being forcibly changed into a text document type.”

“In the past three months, there have been twenty-eight instances of ‘projections’ from the Sea of ​​Miracles into reality around the world,” Klev said, pulling up the relevant eyewitness accounts. “That’s why the Foundation is treating this previously little-known virtual world-type alternate dimension with a special attitude.”

When Jiang Jinghua saw the shadowy figures in those pictures, he was startled: although they were blurry, to him they were exactly the same as the shadowy figures he had seen in his dream!

“The Foundation is now very interested in you, having established contact with the Sea of ​​Miracles,” Dr. Klev said. “Although you, Jiang, are a transmigrator who concealed your identity, since you have nothing else special about you, the Foundation will not make things difficult for you. However, from now on, you must submit a routine report to the Foundation every week, and if you have a dream like the one you had a few days ago again, immediately go to the nearest Foundation site to be on standby. Other than that, you can continue your daily life and don’t need to worry too much about these things.”

After that, Klev gave Jiang Jinghua some miscellaneous instructions and then let him leave the scene.

……

After Jiang Jinghua left the room, Klev turned off almost all the holographic projections of the Sea of ​​Miracles in the air, leaving only one still displaying.

The main subject of the photo resembles a soldier in combat gear, but his entire body is severely deformed, appearing to have "melted," and is almost entirely black—except for one spot.

On the soldier's right arm, there is a dark red circular mark that encircles the entire arm, like an armband. In the center of this "armband" is a large white circle with a severely distorted black mark in the middle. The original shape is no longer visible; it can only be roughly seen as a cross shape rotated 45 degrees to the left.

“How interesting…” Dr. Klev let out a cold laugh.

what

Section 65, Chapter Sixty-Five: The Eve of the Idol Battle

When Jiang Jinghua left the foundation's experimental facility in Tokyo and returned to the normal streets of Tokyo, he felt a chill run down his spine and spread throughout his body.

If Jiang Jinghua's self-description as a "male protagonist" when he was chosen to travel with μ's was somewhat of a joke, then now he truly has to see himself as one.

Walking on the street at midday, despite the bright sunshine, Jiang Jinghua didn't feel hot at all.

First of all, the Sea of ​​Miracles is a perfectly good virtual world, why do we have to pour magic into his head?

Secondly, Klev said that "the images of the men in black came from my own memories," so when did I obtain these memories?

Finally, when I came into this world, I could clearly sense that I had lost many of my memories...

So what exactly have I forgotten? I'm afraid it's not just about the anime characters I've forgotten.

The facts have completely shattered Jiang Jinghua's previous prejudices against him. Even if he was indeed just an insignificant passerby in the past, he must not use such words as an excuse to escape his fate.

Now let's organize the information we've gathered so far: the images of the men in black fighting the shadows most likely come from my own memories; the shadows that those men in black fought against came from a "virtual" world called the "Sea of ​​Miracles"; shadows from the Sea of ​​Miracles have recently been appearing in large numbers all over the world; and I myself have been impacted by the magical flow from the Sea of ​​Miracles.

Therefore, even a fool could see that Jiang Jinghua had been completely drawn into the eye of the storm.

However, it's best to be optimistic when thinking about things. Even if he really has to face those things that could cause catastrophic damage, he can entrust everything to an experienced foundation.

As for himself... as Dr. Klev said, he should just live his own life.

When the sky falls, the tall ones hold it up, because even if the short ones go up there, they can only make things worse and can't help.

……

Jiang Jinghua walked silently down the streets of Akihabara.

This wasn't because he wanted to come to Akihabara. The reason he was here was because the front desk of the foundation site closest to SCIC was... well, a large specialty store that sold Blu-ray discs, plastic figurines, and all sorts of strange merchandise.

Upstairs they sell plastic Gundam toys, and downstairs is the production line for assembling real power armor—no problem.

Although he has left the other dimension, the leave he took for his research trip is still valid, so he doesn't have to attend classes for the next few days and can freely slack off on the streets.

Cherish these moments when you can slack off as much as you want, because in a few days you might not even be able to slack off anymore...

After walking a distance, Jiang Jinghua took out his phone from his pocket to check if any new messages had been received. In fact, just over a month ago, such an action would have been completely meaningless to him.

"How's it going? The test results are all fine, right?" The sender was none other than the "first spokesperson."

To be honest, this is the first time in recent years that I've received care and concern from a girl... Of course, my own mother doesn't count as a "girl".

A warm feeling rose in Jiang Jinghua's heart. He typed on the on-screen keyboard and sent the following reply: "I'm fine. The test results show that there's nothing seriously wrong. Just a little care and some simple treatment will do."

Of course, Jiang Jinghua couldn't tell everyone in μ's about the Sea of ​​Miracles, so he had to tell a little, insignificant lie.

They're probably still in another dimension, right? Since they were originally here for vacation, even with Love Live! lore lore pressing, they should at least have some entertainment during their training breaks. And since they're in an alternate dimension with islands as the main terrain… well, swimsuit fan service is definitely a must, right?

Lacking heavy industry, the Sakharov Islands boast bright and clear seascapes, with sandy beaches of a vibrant pale yellow. Just imagining nine stunningly beautiful women frolicking on such a beach in swimsuits made Jiang Jinghua involuntarily think, "This is a huge loss!"

However, he only thought about it briefly. The secrets about himself he learned upon returning to Earth were enough to erase this not-so-small regret. Besides, whether they had plans to go to the beach, or whether they would invite him along, were still undecided.

Suddenly, at that moment, Jiang Jinghua was drawn to a huge colorful poster displayed to his left front.

"The nationwide school idol competition, a hall of fame! The Love Live! preliminary rounds are counting down! Promotional activities are in full swing!"

The building plastered with the huge poster was over ten stories high, and there were at least twenty or thirty people gathered around it. Besides that, related promotional posters are now plastered everywhere in Akihabara's streets and alleys.

"Hello! Would you be interested in learning more about school idols?"

A girl who looked no more than fifteen or sixteen years old walked up to Jiang Jinghua, with a sincere smile on her face, and respectfully handed him a rather exquisite flyer.

The girl was of average appearance, but with light makeup, she looked quite pretty. She wore a dark purple dress in the style of a teen idol, and the sash on her chest had the words "A-RISE Support Volunteer Group" written in beautiful cursive script. Her innocent smile could make any sane person feel "unable to refuse".

"Thank you very much." Jiang Jinghua smiled at the girl and took the flyer.

This is a flyer for A-RISE, one of the most popular idol groups in Akihabara right now. Speaking of which, μ's and A-RISE should be considered rivals… oh wait, even Jiang Jinghua, a complete outsider to the entertainment industry, has heard of A-RISE. They're definitely aiming for the national championship or at least a top-eight spot, which is nothing compared to a makeshift group like μ's. Calling them rivals seems like an overstatement.

However, apart from A-RISE, Jiang Jinghua, being an outsider, had no idea about any other groups. For example, he had never heard of any of the ambiguous English group names he received later.

Akihabara is now fully prepared for Love Live!, with supporters of all the major groups swarming out and practically taking over the entire area, even threatening to overshadow the anime otaku community. This is understandable, given the many similarities between anime otaku and idol otaku, making some overlap quite normal…

Ah! That's right!

Just as sunlight pierces through the darkness, a wonderful idea suddenly popped into Jiang Jinghua's mind.

Cross-media idol project!

what

Section 66, Chapter Sixty-Six: The Paper Doll Muse

Combining ACG culture with the concept of school idols to create a new entity with influence that transcends both on and off screen—this is Jiang Jinghua's vision for the "Transmedia Idol Project." In fact, this idea didn't originate entirely from himself, but rather from something he had previously encountered…

...Seriously, what exactly is it?

Never mind what it is, what matters is the plan itself.

Yes, ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) and idols have a lot in common. What's the difference between the anime characters worshipped by fans and real-life idols? The demands placed on them in reality are exactly the same!

What ACG works excel at is creating all sorts of characters with extremely exaggerated and distinct personalities. The unique nature of the idol profession itself places very high demands on their "personality".

Idols are fundamentally different from other entertainment industry professionals: cartoonists provide comics, singers provide songs, and writers provide novels, but the "product" that idols provide is none other than the idols themselves.