Lire — wearing a black suit — briskly walked across the long hallway while wiping away his sweat-soaked forehead. Every ten or so steps, he'd check the time on his phone, curse at it, then briefly dash forward before returning to his previous pace.

'Oh no, oh no, oh no... I'm fucking late!'

The powers given to him only worked under certain conditions, so if he missed his chance, he'd never be able to complete his task!

'It's all that damned Rifujin na Magonote's fault! Who the hell told him to make such an interesting book!?'

He had only intended to read for a few minutes, but time flew by as he remained immersed in the story...

Before he knew it, Lire had already finished the entire volume!

In a panic, he finally took his weekly shower and came here — to the Planar Archives — in order to complete his duties as one of Akasha's writers.

But he was still quite late.

Since this was the case, there was only one thing he could do.

'I'm gonna be so broke after this...'

Lire bit his lip in frustration as he pulled out a purple fountain pen and stabbed his palm with it. He winced from the pain but continued to force the pen's pointy end into his flesh, twisting it around for good measure.

'This should be enough...'

Once he was satisfied, he raised the pen — now soaked with ink-like blood the color of tar — then wrote incomprehensible words in the air in front of him. The letters left behind by the pen's movements remained hanging in the void, as if an invisible piece of paper was suspended there.

Soon, the indecipherable characters he'd written burst with an audible pop, spraying blue embers all over the place. After a few moments, the scattered embers gathered into a single spot, forming a humanoid silhouette.

'It'll do for something I'll use for less than an hour.'

Content, Lire bit his own tongue before spitting out a cloud of crimson mist, which was quickly absorbed by the silhouette. A flash of light followed, and before anyone knew it, there was another Lire right in front of him.

"What is my purpose, master?" it asked, its expression blank. Eyes, like those of a dead fish, stared back at him.

"Your purpose is to act and think like me, as you interview Helen Mercer. While you're alive, you will also share my memories. Then you shall perish after an hour, transferring all your new experiences to me," Lire recited in monotone as the sound of his foot tapping on the floor echoed across the quiet hallway. "also, your name is C'Lire. It means Clone-Lire."

"Sure." C'Lire grinned as he gave Lire a thumbs up. "It sounds like a pain in the ass, but I'll do it."

"Good." Lire nodded in satisfaction as he started walking away. "I'll go with 107. You use reception room number..."

He gazed down at his phone, checking which ones were available. Unfortunately, there weren't a whole lot of them. With no other choice, he just went with the closest one.

"303. You'll have room number 303. It's the nearest available one."

His other self looked visibly irritated at this.

"Wait, can't I get room 107? Climbing up two more floors sounds like a drag..."

"That's why you're assigned there. And don't forget to properly write a report about the interview."

Not paying any more attention to his annoying clone, Lire walked toward a nearby door, threw it open, and walked in.

"Lazy-ass motherfucker..." Lire cursed under his breath while rubbing at his palm — which had already healed. He didn't know why he was so annoyed at that guy, but if he wasn't in such a rush, he'd murder him on the spot.

'You're gonna die in an hour, so good riddance!'

His lips couldn't help but curl into a smirk at the thought. But he couldn't very well indulge in schadenfreude at the moment. He had work to do.

"Work work work~ it's never over~ ♪ never over~!"

While singing a very depressing song about his depression, Lire checked whether the reception room had everything he needed.

'Recording crystal is turned on... check. Sofas...check. The teapot that never runs out of hot tea and some tea cups... check. A nice juicy steak... check.'

He also made sure that he didn't accidentally drop the envelope containing his trump card against the warbeast woman.

With everything he needed present, Lire plopped his butt down on a sofa, and threw something in the air. A small, round orb the color of winter landed on the opposite couch, exploding as it showered the room in brilliant light.

Once the brightness dispersed, an incredibly gorgeous woman with hair as white as snow manifested where the orb once was. The wolf ears atop her head twitched every now and then, as her tail swished from side to side. Her silky smooth skin was a pure canvas where one wouldn't find a single blemish, and Lire couldn't help but run his eyes over her hourglass figure.

Her bountiful chest rose up and down as she breathed...

Her bountiful chest?

'Oh, wait. Why's she naked...?'

It was only at that point that Lire realized that his guest was as naked as the day she was born.

'Oh, shit!'

Rather than the eye candy in front of him, he had even bigger concerns. He texted himself, giving a short recount of what had just happened. Luckily, that other bastard probably wasn't even in his assigned reception room yet.

Hey, you fucktard. : Me

Watch out for when you summon Helen. : Me

I just did it to Vianna, and she showed up naked. : Me

LOOOOOL : Me

I wish I coulda seen that. : Me

I got it. : Me

Seeing the shithead's reply, Lire heaved a sigh of relief. Now he didn't have to worry about being called a pedo.

'Now as for her clothes...'

He really, really wanted to get a few more minutes to ogle the slumbering babe, but he simply had too little time.

Reluctantly — very, very reluctantly — he pulled out his pen and did the exact same thing he did when making his clone, except this time, a shrine maiden outfit appeared instead. With a swish of his hand, the clothes turned into motes of light and flew over to the sleeping beauty on the couch.

A flash of light later, and the previously buck-naked Vianna was now fully clothed.

Lire sighed in regret as he robbed himself of such a beautiful sight. His shoulders drooped, he walked over to a nearby counter, picked up a plate with a steaming hot steak on it, and brought it over. After placing it on the low table between their sofas, Lire sat down and started fanning the meat's fragrance toward the carnivorous woman.

It didn't take long for it to take effect. Vianna's eyes snapped open and her head turned toward the origin of the tantalizing aroma.

'Yeeeeaah. You like that? That's a steak that came from a cooking manga! It even has the power to blow up your clothes!'

He snorted a bit proudly at being able to acquire such cuisine, while also inwardly hoping that what occurred in that manga would happen to her newly created dress as well.

Finally taking notice of him, Vianna sat up and tilted her head in confusion as she eyed her surroundings warily. She gave him a brief glance, but likely chose to ignore him when she judged that he wasn't a threat.

"Where am I..." she muttered, more to herself than to Lire.

Nonetheless, he was all too happy to answer. "You are currently at one of the Planar Archives' many reception rooms."

"Reception...?"

"Yes. It is where a select few authors — people like me — are able to meet people like you."

"Huh...?" Vianna's head tilted to the other side, and her brows were now furrowed deeply in thought.

Eventually, it seemed she gave up on that. She leaned back on the sofa while crossing her arms under her enormous chest and putting her feet up to rest on the table. After raising her chin to glare down imperiously at him, the queen of Aizen spoke in a booming voice.

"I don't get it!"

"Uh, huh..." Lire didn't really have anything to say to that.

Without even asking for permission, Vianna picked up the steak with her bare hands and started chomping on it. Her eyes widened for a second — likely shocked by the taste — then quickly made short work of the slab of meat.

"This tasted great!" she exclaimed, her furry white tail wagging left and right as she licked her fingers. "You, author or whatever you are, get me some more of this."

Lire's lips curled into a smile. He was quite pleased that she liked it so much. However, he had no choice but to shake his head.

"My apologies. I am unable to acquire more of that at the moment. My novel doesn't have enough followers and favorites. It also keeps getting bombed with ones and two-star ratings..." his head hung low as he sighed. "Also, I doubt it matters to you, but my name is Lire. And I am kind of your god."

"My god...?" Vianna looked shocked for a moment, but then her expression morphed into one of disgust. "I've seen crazy people before, but I've never seen someone crazy enough to say that they were a god."

"Ahaha..." Lire scratched his cheek at that. He had to admit that he did sound crazy at the moment.

'But I'm telling the truth!'

Feeling somewhat wronged, he tried to steer the conversation in a favorable direction.

"Ah, yes. Aren't you wondering how to get home?"

"Oh!" Viana's eyes widened as her wolf ears stood up straight. "That's right!"

"Yes, yes." Lire nodded amicably. "Well, you see... I was the one who brought you here."

"Huh?" she gazed at him like he was the king of fools. "What in the world are you blathering about? How could a weakling like you do that? I clearly remember sleeping in our bed at the castle last night!"

"That's true." he nodded again.

"Then what're you saying? That you abducted me from the most secure location in Aizen?" Vianna sneered, as if mocking his intelligence.

"That is correct." Lire didn't put it to heart though. "Also, I guarantee that you will be unable to return until you answer all of my questions."

'Or after about an hour...'

Hopefully, they'd be done by then.

"Hah." The beautiful woman scoffed. "'Unable to leave' you say? Watch me."

Lire blinked, and Vianna was gone from in front of him. He then heard a tremendous bang as an incredible force crashed into the door behind him.

"Huh? Why won't it open..." Vianna couldn't help but mutter, her forehead wrinkled as she glanced at her hand, as if doubting herself. Soon, confusion transformed into anger. The brutish woman started trying to kick the door down with all her might. Even going as far as attacking it with frosty energy.

However, nothing she did succeeded. It was as if her powers became obsolete just before she made contact with the door. Upon closer inspection, her hands couldn't even make contact with the it! There was an infinitesimally thin membrane of empty space that would prevent her from doing so.

"As you can see, you are unable to get out of here." Lire calmly picked up the nearby teapot and filled up two cups. "Now, please take a seat. I only have a couple of questions for you and you're free to go. Let's talk like civilized pe—"

"RAAAAAH!" Vianna interrupted him by pouncing forward faster than his eye could see. She tried to grab his collar but to no avail. The same phenomenon as earlier was happening. "Why!?"

Utterly enraged, the warbeast woman started dishing out frenzied slashes with her elongated nails, not caring anymore whether the strange man before her lived or died.

Lire sighed, completely unfazed. He just let her do as she pleased while he took a sip from his cup and immediately recoiled at how hot it was.

'Fuck my cat's tongue...'

While cursing at his genetics, he thought about how pretty much everything regarding this meeting turned out exactly how he envisioned it. The only hiccup was the guest being summoned naked, but that was a happy accident.

'She's so fierce!'

Vianna was mostly a warm and tender mother who had no qualms about showering Reivan with affection. Other times, she was a loving wife that had her husband wrapped around her finger, but would suddenly turn meek when she was caught misbehaving or doing something foolish. There was also the side of her that was a bit... well... in any case, Lire generally portrayed her as a kind character.

But that was only toward her family and the people she liked.

He wasn't one of them.

'I hope she calms down in a few minutes...'

Truth be told, Lire didn't rush so much because he thought the interview would take too long. The real reason why he rushed so much was that he knew that Vianna would take a couple of dozen minutes to calm down. He knew she'd try to kill him.

Vianna didn't really like being bossed around or forced into situations after all. She was all about freedom.

'Well, that's mainly cuz of her back-story, but that'll be tackled in an arc way into the future.'

Lire blew at his tea a bit more, hoping that the berserker woman in front of him didn't take too long to stop being a berserker woman.

It took roughly fifteen minutes before Vianna gave up trying to rip Lire apart.

'It's a good thing I have the 4th Wall to protect me. Otherwise, there's no way I would've lived through a storm of attacks I can't even see!'

He'd gone through three cups of tea and five burnt tongues during that period of time, but it was worth it.

Now, they could finally get back to business. Although he felt slightly regretful of how much time he'd lost. He could've been asking her interesting questions instead, after all.

But it is what it is.

Showing both resignation and defiance on her face, she sat down on the sofa opposite of him and crossed her arms in front of her. Her lips formed a pout as she turned her head away, not even deigning him with a glance.

'Ohmigosh. She's so cute...'

For a murder hobo that is.

Lire cleared his throat and put on a winning(by his standards) smile. "Now that you've made peace with your situation, let me tell you what you need to do to get back home."

Vianna snorted, choosing to remain silent.

'Hehe...'

However, Lire was not bothered by her attitude. He gave the brown envelope within his suit's inner pocket a gentle pat before continuing.

"As I mentioned earlier, I just have a few questions for you," he said. "Once those questions are answered, you shall be returned to your home."

'With no memories of what happened here, that is.'

Vianna finally turned toward Lire, her face a mask of disgust. "So you want me to sell out information about Aizen? Pah!"

She sent a glob of spit flying across the air, hitting him square in the face.

"I'd rather die!"

"Hm." Lire nodded, amazed at her loyalty. As he looked at one of his favorite creations harrumph while turning away again, he made sure to scoop up the saliva on his face using his empty tea cup.

'I can sell this to pay for rent...'

He knew that there were plenty of perverts out there who'd pay hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars for saliva from a bombshell MILF like Vianna. Once he was sure that all the precious liquid was safely acquired, Lire made sure to store the cup in one of the room's cupboards.

Finished with his side-hustle, Lire cleared his throat once again and got back to his actual work.

"You have no need to worry, Your Majesty." he dipped his head respectfully, partly because she'd just made him a great deal of money. "The questions I'll ask are... inconsequential. Just things like your hobbies and such."

"Hm?" Vianna tilted her head. "You mean like one of those talk shows that are popular among the commoners? The one they watch on the crystal transmitters?"

"Yes! Precisely. It's quite similar." Lire nodded excitedly.

"Hm?" Vianna appeared even more confused though, her head tilting in the other direction. "You abducted me for something like that...?"

"Yes."

"You crazy bastard!" she exclaimed in disbelief.

"I promised my readers after all." Lire puffed his chest out in pride.

"Ehh...?" Vianna's confusion intensified.

Her wariness toward him seemed to dim after that. Sensing that the strange, ugly, stupid man in front of her didn't want to harm...

'Eh? Why does it feel like I'm getting dissed right now? Is it the narrator? It's the narrator, isn't it. You fucking basta—!'

... her, Vianna chose to cooperate for now. But she couldn't help but feel a bit hesitant.

Lire was still a bit pissed at being dissed by the narrator — who's a really cool guy by the way — but when he noticed that a trace of willingness to cooperate was beginning to sprout within Vianna, he moved in for the kill.

"Furthermore!" Lire smiled widely as he pulled out the brown envelope he'd been hiding. Opening it revealed a thin stack of paper inside. He took one of them out, placed them on the table, and slowly slid it forward. "I can make it worth your while."

"...?" Vianna raised an eyebrow at his strange behavior. "Hm!?"

But when she saw what was on the piece of paper, she couldn't help but widen her eyes in shock.

"Is that..."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Lire smirked as his eyes narrowed into crescents. "It's a picture of your precious son, Reivan Aizenwald!"

Indeed. It was a picture of [Glimpse of Eternity]'s protagonist!

But it wasn't just any old picture. It was a picture of a Reivan that shouldn't exist.

"Why is he wearing a dress!?" Vianna squealed, her hands reaching up to cover her eyes.

"Hehehe..." Lire snickered as he saw her peeking through her fingers, boring holes into the picture. "Oh? I thought you'd like my... gift. But it seems you find it displeasing? I'll get rid of it post-haste, then. You'll never se—"

"No!"

As soon as he heard her cry of panic, Lire knew he had her in the palm of his hand.

Vianna seemed to have realized her blunder as well. She cleared her throat and sat up straighter, trying to appear more regal and composed.

"..."

But her golden eyes, glued to the photo, worked against her. Frequently gulping down a mouthful of saliva and wiping off the drool from her lips did not help her case either.

"Are you willing to cooperate now, Your Majesty?" he softly asked.

It was a question spoken in barely a whisper, but to Vianna, it sounded like the whispers of a devil.

She threw all caution to the wind and nodded vigorously.

"Give it to me!" Vianna reached out for the precious item, but failed. She looked up to glare at the man in front of her. "Hey!"

Lire had merely covered the picture with his hand. His hand protected by the 4th Wall, that is.

"Tut tut." He wagged a finger in front of her. "You haven't answered anything, so no reward yet."

Vianna gnashed her teeth but retracted her trembling hands before impatiently urging him. "Well, what are you waiting for? Ask your questions!"

"Excellent." Lire nodded in satisfaction. "As for the first question, please tell us about your hobbies."

"That's not a question!" she protested, slamming her fist on the table.

"Do you not want the picture?"

"That was a wonderful question!" she amended.

Vianna nervously tapped her cheek in thought before answering.

"I don't particularly have any hobbies aside from training. Though I do enjoy going on little trips to taste every steak restaurant's specialty."

"I see..." Lire nodded while smiling warmly. As her creator, he naturally knew what every single one of her answers would be. But it made him somewhat happy to hear his brainchildren confirm their traits themselves.

After snapping himself out of his reverie, Lire cleared his throat and tried to continue the conversation.

"Your love of steaks is something I share. But what about your desire to train? What motivates you to train so much?"

Vianna frowned for a moment, seemingly displeased that she was being asked another question despite not getting a reward. But when she saw Lire start to withdraw the picture on the table, she immediately scrambled for an answer.

"My motivations... uh.., I guess it's because I kinda like training...?"

"Hm hm..." Lire nodded sagely, but he knew there should be more to this. "What else?"

"Uhh... " Vianna fidgeted shyly, but ultimately decided to state her thoughts. "So I can protect my family!"

Again, Lire nodded. But he knew there was more. "That is certainly very admirable. But what else?"

"Huh?" The Queen of Aizen tilted her head, clearly confused. "There aren't really any other reasons though...?"

"That's not true." he shook his head. "What about that thought you had when Rodin proposed to you?"

"..."

It took an entire minute before Vianna could fully process what the strange man just said.

"HUH!?"

But when she finally did, she couldn't help but stand up in shock, her face as red as a tomato.

"How do you know that!?"

"I know a lot of things, Your Majesty." Lire smiled, feeling satisfied at her reaction. "Now, please tell us what thought you had at that time."

Vianna's eyes became wet, tears of embarrassment threatening to spill out. "You seem to already know, so why should I still say it..."

"Because you don't get a reward if you don't," he mercilessly replied.

"That's not fair! I answered everything else!" she protested, but when she saw his stubborn expression — unmoving like a mountain — she sat down in resignation.

A voice in the back of her mind was saying that it wasn't worth it to go through this humiliation, but Vianna's heart screamed for those adorable pictures of her beloved son.

With resolve on her face, she began to spill out her guts. "W-when he'd just proposed to me... I was still a bit, well, wild. I was also quite unwomanly... so I just thought that he only desired me for my strength..."

Lire hummed in acknowledgment, urging her to continue.

"B-but... well, Rodin was really dashing and handsome..." Vianna couldn't bear the shame, so she covered her face with her hands before continuing. "He had this... aura on him that just set him apart from ordinary men. Like, he had some sort of greater purpose. A purpose that he was willing to give up his life for..."

Her wolf tail swayed rapidly as her ears were folded inwards. As she gushed about her husband, her voice couldn't help but shake in excitement.

"I wasn't quite used to men like him so I ended up agreeing without thought... but as I spent more time with him, I grew to like him more and more. Until one day, I just wanted him all for myself!"

"Seems about right." Lire nodded. These events were in his notes after all, though he didn't go too in-depth.

"And so I didn't want to lose him... that's why, since I thought he only liked me for my strength, I decided that I'd be the strongest ever! I even promised myself that I'd eventually beat that old man and kick him off his mountain!"

"Uh-huh."

"But after a few years, I came to know that he didn't just like me for my strength..." Vianna's excitement waned as her mortification returned. She peeked out from between her fingers and eyed him imploringly, non-verbally asking for mercy. "This... uh. Do I have to continue? I already said it..."

"Fine." Lire shrugged, feeling like he'd bullied her enough. He removed the hand covering the picture on the table, then gestured toward it. "Go ahead and take it."

"Thank you..."

Although she looked utterly exhausted and her voice had no energy as she spoke, Vianna did look genuinely happy to finally obtain the picture of Reivan in a bright blue dress reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland's protagonist.

'It almost makes me feel bad that she'll forget about everything when I send her back...'

Naturally, she couldn't take the pictures either.

Feeling increasingly guilty, Lire decided that he'd do something good for her in the main story. Though, maybe it'd be off-screen.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Vianna hugged the picture to her chest as she seemed to have recalled something. "There's another reason why I train so much. It's also because I wanna become strong enough to reclaim my fallen tribe's dynasty. After all, the usurpe—"

"Ah, please don't." Lire held out his hand to stop her. "You don't need to say that. I intend to tackle that topic when I write the reclamation arc."

"Eh? Ah... okay...?" she didn't really understand, but she chose to nod anyway.

After breathing a sigh of relief at preventing a potential spoiler, Lire wiped the sweat on his brow and looked down to check the time on his phone.

Vianna saw this, and curiously asked, "What's that you've got there? Is it similar to our dream crystals?"

"Yes, they are. But that's not important." Lire took out the envelope as he spoke. "It seems that we don't have much time left. This chapter has already reached 4300+ words after all."

"Eh?"

"Anyway, I'll rapidly ask you a bunch of questions, please answer them as fast as you can."

"Huh...?"

"If you do not answer them within half a second..." Lire waved the brown envelope in front of her face. "I will rip this into pieces."

"Wha—!" Vianna spluttered. Her shock quickly changed to panic though. "Don't do that! You bastard!"

"Let's begin." he ignored her, but made sure to send her a dirty glare for a moment. "And don't call me a bastard. I can literally change the entire novel and make your boobs disappear."

"What!?"

"FIRST QUESTION!"

"Oh my god!" Vianna squeaked in panic, but those pictures were more important. She sharpened her mind to answer any question that came her way as she killed her emotions. "I'm ready."

"Do you like it from behind or from the front!?"

"From the front. I love seeing his face when we do it."

"How many times do you masturbate in a day!?"

"None. I just kidnap my husband."

"What is your skin-care routine!?"

"I just wash my face with cold water after waking up as well as maintain a healthy diet plus exercise. Nothing special."

"What is your cup size!?"

"Hm? Cup? What're those?" Vianna raised an eyebrow at the question, her expression blank.

"Oh, my bad." Lire cleared his throat and loosened up his collar. "Different question. Please describe an ideal date!"

"Just a simple dinner under the moonlight with my husband and my sons. Oh, and that cute girl, Stella. We'd chat about nothing in particular, then we'd head off into our own rooms, where I would manhandle Rodin until he pleads for mercy, do it some more, then stop when he really can't squeeze out more. Afterward, I would sleep in my exhausted husband's arms, or perhaps lay atop him, basking in his warmth as I dream of tomorrow."

Lire couldn't help but chuckle. "That sounds like a fairly ordinary day."

Vianna nodded. "Ordinary days are the best. I've had enough excitement for one lifetime. The most boring peace is also the most wonderful."

"I see..."

After nodding in satisfaction, Lire stood up as he threw the envelope toward Vianna.

"AH!?"

Previously devoid of emotions, Vianna instantly returned to normal as she snatched up her precious reward.

"This has been a wonderful encounter, Your Majesty." he bowed deeply before walking toward the cupboard where he kept the cup with the spit on it. "You will automatically return home after twenty minutes. Please stay here and use the time to enjoy your reward."

Lire wanted to milk this encounter out for everything it was, but he pitied Vianna, who would forget about everything that had transpired. That was why he'd use all the remaining time to let her be happy. Despite how he pretty much bullied and manipulated her earlier, Lire loved most of his characters, so he naturally didn't want to be too unfair to them.

Also, this chapter just broke through 4.8k words, so he really wanted to end it soon. He really didn't know why in the flying fuck it got so long.

There was also the issue of finding a skeevy buyer for this precious spit that came from a very disgruntled MILF.

"Oh..." Vianna seemed a bit creeped out by how nice he was being, but then her face broke into a warm smile when she sensed his sincerity. "I see. Thank you. You're a lot nicer than I thought. I can't help but think of you in a more favorable light."

"Favorable enough to let me give your breasts a squeeze?"

"I'll kill you."

"What about just one boob? Pretty Please?"

"I'll fucking kill you!"

Sensing her genuine anger, Lire ran, grabbing the recording crystal on his way out. He slammed the door shut, thankful that Vianna didn't take that opportunity to step out of the reception room.

After all, if she had done so, he would have had to delete her character entirely.

In any case, with his job essentially over, Lire hummed merrily as he walked across the quiet halls.

'Now that the special chapters for the week are done, I gotta write the actual