April 2, 2030

[Task Completed]
[Main Quest: Such a Wonderful World]
[Quest Level: Lv20 ~ Lv30]
[Base Reward Gold: 1500]
[Base Reward EXP: 1200]
[Quest Contribution Reward: Gold 1500, EXP 4000]
[Side Quest Reward: Gold 600, EXP 350, Trait Value 5]
[Leveled up to Lv12 (4350/7500)]
……
[Special Quest Reward: Gold 2000, EXP 2000]
[Hidden Worldview Decoded: Gold 500, EXP 4500]
[All Storylines Unlocked: EXP 1500, Trait Value 1]
[Leveled up to Lv13 (4850/9000)]
……
[True Main Quest Completed: Gold 1500, EXP 4000]
[Hidden Boss Defeated/Deceased: EXP 6500, Trait Value 2]
[Leveled up to Lv14 (6350/11000)]
……
[Due to Special Quest and Full Hidden Worldview Decodification, Bonus EXP Awarded]
[EXP Bonus: 15000]
[Leveled up to Lv15 (10350/14000)]
……
[Reward Items: Luminous Titanite * 6, Random Card * 2]
[Note: "Luminous Titanite" is the standardized material for all weapon upgrades. Please check the login space for detailed instructions.]
……
[Detected Identity Ability of "Special Teammate"]
Luinuo: "Huh?"
[YoRHa No. 2 Type B, Identity: Focuser]
[Ability Activated]
[Teammate EXP Gain Increased by 10%]
[Additional EXP Acquired: 3905]
[Leveled up to Lv16 (255/17000)]

Luinuo remained silent for a long time.
What on earth is going on?

He thought of his own identity, [Bleeding Edge].
What is happening...?
For a moment, he even forgot to check his attribute panel, and forgot to verify the physical enhancements after leveling up.
The train entered the tunnel.
In Luinuo's previous view, [Identity] was like a slightly useful cheating tool, a welfare system tailored for the disabled.
But 2B...
[The train has arrived at the station]
[Players, please disembark]

Luinuo stepped out of the open doors of the train.
The train blew its whistle and sped away into the distance, leaving this tiny storage room quiet and restored to its original state.
Luinuo flexed his arms and opened his panel.
[Luinuo: Lv16]
[Strength: 20]
[Reflex: 32]
[Spiritual Power: 9]
[Constitution: 19]
[Insight: 25]
[Medical: -]

"Medical is never going to cross this hurdle, is it?" He frowned, stretched his body, glanced at the wooden box lying nearby, blew on his fists, and punched a hole right through the wooden box.
Then he immediately went into a handstand.
Everything felt effortless.
"Very well, the body is in great shape." Luinuo cracked his neck. "That way, even if I face a big guy with a total attribute score of 340, I won't get beaten to death."
He looked up at the door at the end of the ladder leading out of the underground warehouse and let out a long breath.
Then he climbed up from the basement.
The moment he opened the door, a gloomy sky and a dilapidated cabin presented themselves before him.
Walking on the flagstone path amidst white flowers, by the tombstone at the end, a short white-haired girl stood with her back to him.
Hearing footsteps, 2B turned her head. She was still wearing her YoRHa visor (tactical goggles), but she was dressed in a pure white shirt and shorts.
Seeing Luinuo appear, she stood up, her bare feet treading on the gravel path.
"I know everything now..." 2B said softly, then lowered her head. When she looked up again, she simply asked: "Is it true?"

Luinuo immediately understood what had happened in his mind.
Humanity had long since perished, and the YoRHa squad's slogan "For the Glory of Mankind" was no different from a clearance sale tagline.
The system might have told 2B the truth about *Nier* through other means, so he didn't say anything superfluous. Instead, he said, "Anyway... just like you see."
"I don't understand."
Luinuo had no choice but to point at his temple and say, "Alright, let me explain simply. This place is called the 'Endless Corridor', and I have no idea what kind of nonsense it is either. It told me I'm not a human, but a creature inside a game. Don't ask me what a game is for now; basically, just like what you've experienced, it's as if everything in my life for decades was a lie and a simulation. I'm a virtual puppet, but I've never doubted that I'm human."

2B: "That..."
Ignoring her, Luinuo continued: "Fine, let me put it another way. If this 'Endless Corridor' didn't exist, I might have vanished into virtual data long ago over a box of instant noodles. And as for you, you probably still would have risked your life executing suicide missions, thinking your memories could be uploaded to the network, sacrificing yourself for your 'Glory of Mankind'. But now—" He finally asked solemnly, "If I am a human, would you still say 'Glory of Mankind'?"
2B shook her head: "Then what am I...?"
Luinuo said, "It's impossible for humans to exist in this world without leaving a trace. Figure out what you are after leaving your own marks by yourself."
2B: "You mean... me, human?"
Luinuo: "If you don't want to be human, I won't stop you."

Luinuo wasn't trying to antagonize her; he simply thought it was utterly ridiculous to lecture on the meaning of life right now to an android whose brain had been filled with lies.
Seeing 2B standing still without moving, Luinuo reminded her: "You've already broken away from the YoRHa squad and your past world. Take off the visor and use your own eyes to see."

The moment her fingers touched the visor, a voice suddenly echoed in her mind.
Combat units wear visors; the executioners do not look.
Intelligence units wear veils; those in the know do not speak.
This is the truth of the YoRHa squad.
This is the truth of the world I inhabit.
Virtual puppets, network data, pathetic things that can be formatted at any moment.
Before she even took off her visor, she glanced at Luinuo, and a somewhat absurd doubt arose in her heart: he wore a mask, covering his eyes and mouth—what did that represent?
2B looked up at the sky.
Gloomy mist lingered on the horizon, stretching so far into the depths that there was no end in sight. The cloud layer seemed to grow thin, and those stories originating from *Nier* drifted away in her mind along with the churning clouds.
Before her opened a panel visible only to herself, upon which was written a line of text she could understand:
[70% of your mechanical structure has been replaced with flesh and blood. You now possess a human brain, and you can act according to your own thoughts]

She didn't tell Luinuo that the "Endless Corridor" system had already told her—I am already an existence closely resembling a human.
She simply hadn't dared to believe it.
That "Is it true?" she had asked Luinuo at first wasn't directed at the YoRHa squad.
Rather, it was: *Am I truly close to being human?*

She closed the panel and removed her visor.
Her grey-blue eyes made unobstructed contact with the sky for the very first time.
The mission from her memories had reached a full stop, and now, she needed a catalyst to truly become a "human."
Luinuo chimed in at the perfect moment: "Today is April 2nd, 2030. Yesterday was April Fools' Day, and you just happened to miss it."
"How should I describe a rebirth?" 2B asked.
Luinuo took off his mask, smiled at her, and said, "Happy birthday to you."
2B looked down at her still-unrestored severed arm, gazing at the stump forged of flesh and blood. Then, raising her head once more, she said, "Then... happy birthday to me."