♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢
Despite Leo and Ellie's fierce attacks, Dabi's Space Warrior team did not go down easily, and under their counterattacks, Leo's team was instead growing increasingly anxious.
Sensing that things might end in Dabi's victory at this rate, Leo gathered the power he had been accumulating and leapt in at once toward Dabi's team.
As his final move, Leo launched a full-scale attack.
Before Dabi's team could be caught in it and take damage, Dabi activated a defensive technique to protect his teammates.
Leo's plan failed, and he quickly retreated back to his position.
"Now, Ellie!" Leo shouted.
Seizing that opening, Ellie unleashed all of his attacks at once toward Dabi's team.
Ellie: "Give up. This is our victory!"
Dabi tried to use his defensive technique again, but it was on cooldown and could not be used.
Dabi: "What do we do? There's no way!"
The Space Warrior team had no choice but to shoot down the incoming attacks one by one with their beam guns.
Pai: "Focus! Let's clear them one at a time!"
But there were simply too many to reduce their number.
Even so, they did not give up and continued doing their best to thin them out—but it wasn't enough.
At that desperate moment—two massive fireballs appeared from somewhere!
One of them incinerated all of the incoming projectiles at once.
The other fireball flew toward Leo.
Seeing the enormous fireball, Leo and Ellie were startled, clung to each other, and screamed at the top of their lungs, eyes wide.
"Kyaaaaa—!"
The fireball rushed toward Leo and Ellie!!
…Just as it was about to collide, the massive fireball vanished in an instant.
Ellie and Leo, still screaming—
"Aaah—huh!?"
At that moment, the Red Rooster—EAT—jumped in from somewhere and declared:
"Penalty to Dabi's team for using 'fantasy' magic in the SF scenario 'Space Warrior'!
Leo's team recovers 10% health! 5 minutes remaining! Resume the story!"
And with that, EAT vanished in a flash.
Rogi, startled again, asked:
Rogi: "Who is that? Where did he go?"
Pai: "Mm~ That's EAT~ I was going to introduce him to you, so I didn't tell you on purpose~" [smiling]
Eti: "Yeah! A surprise for you, unni~" [brightly laughing]
Rogi: "Oh! So there was one more friend~"
Yona: "Hmm… you could say that."
Yona: "But Rogi… how did you do that?"
Rogi: "Ha…ha…" [awkwardly embarrassed]
The one who summoned the fireballs was Rogi.
Standing awkwardly behind her friends as they dealt with the incoming attacks, she had jokingly chanted a spell and reached out her hand—
and two massive fireballs had actually appeared.
Startled and flustered, Rogi had hidden among her friends and acted as if nothing had happened.
But Yona had witnessed it.
As time passed, the story ended, and in the end, Leo's team claimed victory.
Dabi, however, looked extremely frustrated.
"This makes no sense! It can't end like this! This isn't right!"
Watching Dabi's frustration, Yona thought for a moment and then proposed a "Doritori Trial" to resolve the issue.
The friends agreed that Dabi might have a point and all consented to hold the trial.
Rogi felt very sorry that her actions had caused this problem, while behind her, the children shouted something she didn't understand.
"In the name of the King!"
At that moment, everything around them vanished, and they returned to the original empty field.
Rogi had many questions, but feeling that she had made a big mistake, she decided to stay quiet.
They agreed to go home, have dinner, and then gather in Dabi's room, and parted ways.
Rogi felt very anxious that her actions had caused things to escalate.
And in the confusion, she forgot about EAT.
♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢
As dinner time ended, the sky and ground gradually darkened, and the streetlights lit up, illuminating the dim village.
One by one, the children headed toward Dabi's house.
—
This is Dabi's room.
It was not originally prepared for Dabi.
It had been intended for his father, but because the floor was high and inconvenient to access, his father chose to use a small storage space beside the house instead.
As a result, a well-organized room was left empty, and Dabi began using it as his own.
Inside the room were his father's well-used desk and bookshelf, a TV and shelf, a large wardrobe, and a carpet on the floor—
nothing particularly special, just a spacious room.
As the time came, the children began gathering one by one at the meeting place.
Dabi was extremely serious, Rogi felt uneasy, and Yona was quietly reading something by herself.
[When each person's story is successfully completed, the story's owner receives a Story Bonus Coin from EAT.
Depending on the number of these coins, they gain a "one-line writing right" that can add to their story without breaking its balance.
In Dabi's case, since his story is structured as a match rather than a typical adventure, the coin acquisition method differs.
If you win, you take a certain number of coins from the opponent; if you lose, you lose some of your own.
That is why Dabi is currently in a very difficult position.]
While they waited leisurely for Pai and Leo, Leo arrived first.
He had something to say.
"Pai has something to do, so she'll be a bit late. She said we should start without her."
Immediately, the friends began preparing to start the trial in Dabi's room.
Yona spoke first:
Yona: "Alright! Then from this moment, we begin the 1st Doritori Trial!"
Yona: "Hmm… but looking at the manual, it seems we need to call EAT first."
Leo: "Then should we call EAT?"
Yona: "We need Pai for that."
Ellie: "Let's wait. We'll start when everyone is here."
They waited for Pai.
Before long, Pai arrived, holding a rolled bundle of papers in one hand.
Dabi: "Everyone's here? Then—"
Leo: "Let's call EAT~"
[The children decided to call EAT inside the room and shouted the code.]
"Doritori Toris!"
EAT appeared.
After hearing the whole situation, he approved the 1st Doritori Trial.
Moments later…
The room darkened, and a small courtroom appeared.
The children were amazed—it was their first time seeing such a courtroom.
Yona and EAT sat in the judges' seats.
Yona, meanwhile, wondered why she was sitting there.
Yona: "EAT~ why am I sitting in the judge's seat?"
EAT: "You proposed it~"
Yona: "I didn't say I'd be the judge?"
EAT: "In this story's world… no. I'll tell you later~"
As if bothered, EAT declared the start of the trial.
"Now then, we begin the trial."
Seeing EAT brought Rogi's memory back, and she asked Pai:
"Ah, right! Who is that?"
Pai, sitting beside her, answered kindly:
"That's EAT~ he's our friend."
Hearing their exchange, Leo added:
Leo: "He's the story play administrator~"
Rogi: "Huh?... What's with his face?"
Pai: "Because he's a red rooster…" [uncertain tone]
Rogi: "Is he a chicken? A person? What is he?"
Leo: "EAT is…" [unable to find the right words]
Eti: "He's just EAT~"
At that moment, EAT shouted:
"Everyone, quiet! This is a trial! Judge [Yona], please explain the case~"
"Yes, presiding judge [EAT]."
Yona briefly explained the situation.
Dabi looked very wronged.
Leo and Ellie didn't seem very concerned about the outcome.
Rogi felt uneasy for causing trouble.
Pai appeared calm, but firm.
EAT gave Dabi the first chance to speak.
Dabi: "Guys, this isn't fair!"
Dabi: "Our team could have beaten Leo's team, but this situation happened!"
Dabi: "I'm not blaming Rogi—this is her first time!"
Dabi: "What I'm trying to say is—"
Leo looked incredulous.
Leo: "No! Ellie's plan gave us the winning chance at the end!"
Leo: "Don't lie. Be honest!"
Ellie: "Guys, instead of arguing, how about we just resume from before the issue happened?"
Eti: "Yeah! That works!"
At that moment, EAT spoke firmly.
EAT: "That is not allowed. There will be no rematch."
Eti: "Ah… it would've been nice…"
EAT: "This story has already ended. If necessary, a new story will be created."
As time passed, the children grew dejected.
No solution seemed to appear.
But Pai was different. She had been waiting quietly.
She raised her hand and drew everyone's attention.
Then she began to speak.
"Everyone, what I have here is the summary of the Space Warrior story that Dabi gave to Rogi yesterday."
At the same time, Pai unfolded the document and showed it to Leo.
Leo looked at it and shouted in surprise:
"Huh? This is…!"
He looked at Dabi.
Dabi: "What? Is there a problem? I gave it to her properly, didn't I?"
Without a word, Leo handed the document to Yona and EAT.
They glanced at it and grew slightly serious.
EAT looked at Yona. Yona nodded.
Then EAT spoke:
"Everyone, the result of this story play will remain as it was—Leo's team wins."
Leo and Ellie cheered with their arms raised.
Dabi protested loudly.
Yona looked at Pai and said:
"Pai should explain this. It'll be easier to understand."
Pai smiled.
"Alright, I'll explain~ Guys! The summary Dabi gave Rogi wasn't 'Space Warrior'—
it was 'Magic Child,' the story Yona is currently writing!"
The children stared at Dabi in shock.
Dabi froze completely.
Pai continued:
"I thought 'clumsy Dabi' might've made another mistake, so I went to Rogi's house before coming here—and secured this evidence!"
Dabi was in despair.
Meanwhile, Rogi suddenly remembered something.
"Yona! 'Magic Child' was really fun! When's the next part coming?"
Yona was startled.
Yona: "You already read it?"
Rogi: "Yeah! It was really good. I want to read the next part too."
Yona: "Really? Thanks… I'll write it soon."
(After thinking briefly)
Yona: "…By the way, Rogi—you have to make a story too."
Rogi: "A story?... I can't do that."
Yona: "You can do it with me."
Leo: "Yona's really good at writing."
Rogi: "I'm really bad at it…"
Leo: "Me too. I'm worse—but Yona helped me."
Yona: "Hehe~ I learned from the teacher."
To settle things, Pai spoke again.
"Alright! Then next story is mine! EAT, please prepare!"
EAT waved in acknowledgment.
Rogi, curious about EAT, tried to approach him—
but the others shouted again:
"In the name of the King!"
Rogi wanted to say, "Wait!"
"Ah—wait!"
But the courtroom disappeared, and they returned to Dabi's room.
Rogi felt disappointed that she hadn't been able to talk to EAT.
Pai approached her.
Pai: "Rogi, next story is mine! I hope you enjoy it this time~"
Rogi: "Ah? Okay… what's it about?"
Pai: "It's about exploring nature together~"
Rogi had so many questions about everything happening around her.
But the pressure of having to create a story weighed heavily on her.
Her mind filled entirely with that thought.
-3 C END