53: The good news came true, but the bad news is the author is in jail.

One hour after the incident.

The headlines of all major media outlets worldwide were forcibly unified.

CNN, BBC, TASS, CCTV... No matter which news channel you opened, you saw the same image: the center of Tokyo, a wasteland leveled to the ground, and dark red flames shooting into the sky that have yet to be extinguished.

Official bodies from various countries issued stringently worded emergency statements one after another within half an hour.

The White House spokesperson for the Eagle Nation: "We strongly condemn the vicious attack that occurred in Tokyo and express our deep condolences to the people of the Sakura Country. We are maintaining communication with our allies to assess the situation."

The Kremlin of the Polar Bear: "This is a tragedy. We hope to clarify the truth as soon as possible. Any act of violence against civilian facilities is unacceptable."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China: "We have noted the relevant reports and express our serious concern. We hope the Sakura Country side can stabilize the situation as soon as possible and ascertain the cause of the incident."

All statements were surprisingly consistent.

Shock, condemnation, condolences.

But regarding the red-haired youth in the incident who called himself "Shuten-dōji," and the supernatural power he displayed that completely defied the laws of physics, all official mouthpieces were tight-lipped, as if they had collectively developed amnesia, mentioning not a single word.

They simply brushed it off with "the cause is under investigation."

This eerie tacit understanding was, in itself, the most terrifying signal.

Meanwhile, the global internet had completely fallen into a boil.

The initial fear and shock fermented to a peak within this hour.

"My god, is this real? I just got back from outside, what happened to Tokyo?"

"Is it an alien invasion? Or did some country's secret weapon go out of control?"

"I recorded it! That person, that red-haired guy, he crushed the entire shrine! With a black hand!"

"Terrorist attack? What kind of terrorist attack can achieve this level? This is a god or demon descending upon the world!"

However, amidst this chaotic discussion, an eerie undercurrent began to quietly surge in several specific communities.

The anime section of Reddit, the anime discussion area of Bilibili, and Sakura Country's own NICONICO Douga.

These places are the core strongholds of global ACG culture.

The users here have a way of thinking that is diametrically opposed to the mainstream public.

While everyone else was feeling fear because of 'reality,' they caught a familiar scent from this extreme 'unreality.'

A post was translated into different languages almost simultaneously and appeared on major platforms.

《This Isn't a Terrorist Attack, This Is a Holy Grail War!》

The content of the post was simple and crude, yet extremely impactful.

The original poster put two videos side-by-side.

On the left was the peerless elegance of the White-robed Sword Immortal standing in mid-air and severing the Huangpu River with a single sword in the Magic Capital a few days ago.

Below the video, a bright red stylized word was marked.

"Saber".

On the right was the arrogant posture of the red-haired Oni King floating above the raging flames in Tokyo just now, declaring the start of the war.

Below that video, there was also a bright red stylized word.

"Berserker".

The author of the post used an almost fanatical tone to analyze the commonalities between the two incidents point by point.

"Brothers! Wake up! Stop talking about terrorist attacks!"

"Can't you see it yet?"

"Declaring 'Classes'! Displaying inhuman power! Mentioning the 'Holy Grail War'!"

"All clues point to one answer!"

At the end of the post, there was no extra nonsense, only a link pointing to the official encyclopedia page of the work "Fate/stay night" under Type-Moon.

At first, this post only circulated in small circles.

But soon, like a spark thrown into a pan of oil, it instantly ignited the entire internet.

Countless ACG enthusiasts and mythology scholars, as if some mysterious switch had been activated, flooded into the discussion frantically.

"Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! Why didn't I think of that!"

"Saber! Berserker! Aren't those the Classes from Fate?!"

"Wait a minute! Look closely at that white-robed person in the Magic Capital; the poem he recited at the time was 'bring in the wine'! That's Li Bai's poem! Combined with the Chinese legends of 'Sword Immortals,' the Saber Class... this... this is fucking the Azure Lotus Sword Immortal Li Bai!"

"The one in Tokyo is even more obvious! Red hair, Oni horns, calling himself 'Shuten-dōji'—isn't that the King of a Hundred Demons and the Master of Mt. Ōe from Sakura Country's legends?! The Berserker Class also perfectly fits his berserk persona!"

"Seven Masters, seven Servants, fighting to seize the 'Holy Grail' that can grant any wish... this setting is exactly the same as the Fate series!"

"My god... so you're saying the incidents in the Magic Capital and Tokyo aren't supernatural disasters at all, but the first and second Servants of the 'Holy Grail War' making their debut?!"

"Saber Li Bai!"

"Berserker Shuten-dōji!"

"Seven Masters, seven Servants."

"Fighting for the omnipotent wish-granting machine—the Holy Grail."

Settings that originally only existed in games and anime were now being frantically recited and discussed by hundreds of millions of netizens worldwide.

The direction of public opinion underwent a world-shaking reversal in a way that officials completely failed to foresee, let alone control.

People's focus shifted rapidly from the fear brought by an "unknown supernatural disaster" to the cognitive reshaping mixed with excitement and fanaticism brought by "fictional stories coming true"... Tokyo, Chiyoda Ward, penthouse apartment.

Jiang Ming sat on the sofa. In the air before him, mirror image no. 2 projected dozens of virtual screens, which were scrolling through popular discussions from major global social media platforms.

Jiang Ming watched those netizens spontaneously performing "science popularization" and "setting restoration," and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly.

He had still underestimated the power of dissemination and penetration of popular culture.

In his original plan, he would have needed to control several alternate accounts to enter the fray and consciously guide public opinion to plant the concept of the "Holy Grail War" into people's hearts.

Now it seemed completely unnecessary.

These fanatical fans had already helped him complete the most critical and difficult task of "popularizing the world view."

Furthermore, they did it a hundred times better than if Jiang Ming had guided it himself.

Meanwhile, on a global scale, the sales and online search volume of games, animations, and novels related to the Fate series showed a terrifying exponential surge within just three hours.

Type-Moon's official servers crashed three times directly due to the massive influx of traffic... At the same time.

Tokyo, in an unremarkable office building.

Type-Moon Headquarters.

The lights were bright here, yet the atmosphere was oppressively terrifying.

All employees, whether they were on vacation or had already clocked out, were all called back to the company by an emergency phone call.

The two founders of the company, Nasu Kinoko, whom fans respectfully called "Mushroom," and Takashi Takeuchi, the "President," were sitting blankly in the conference room.

On the huge screen in front of them, the footage of Shuten-dōji declaring the start of the "Holy Grail War" played on a loop.

In the entire conference room, only that arrogant declaration echoed; no one spoke.

Nasu Kinoko's face had lost all color.

As the "original author" of all this, he knew better than anyone else in the world that he had written the setting for "Shuten-dōji."

He had written the rules for the "Holy Grail War."

But damn it, what he wrote were novels and game scripts!

Why did it become real?!

Just then.

"Ring, ring, ring—"

The piercing sound of a phone ringing suddenly erupted, breaking the deathly silence of the conference room.

It was Nasu Kinoko's private cell phone.

He glanced at the caller ID; it was an unknown number. He instinctively wanted to hang up directly.

But in the next second, the call was automatically connected.

From the receiver came an emotionless, formulaic baritone.

There were no pleasantries.

"Mr. Nasu, Mr. Takeuchi, please both of you stay at the company and do not leave."

"In half an hour, a special vehicle will come to 'invite' you both to the official residence for an emergency inquiry."

The call was hung up curtly.

The busy signal sounded particularly piercing in the silent conference room.

Nasu Kinoko and Takashi Takeuchi looked at each other, and both saw fear in the other's eyes.

Official residence.

Emergency inquiry.

They knew they were in big trouble... Half an hour later.

Several black Toyota Century sedans pulled up silently downstairs of the office building.

Nasu Kinoko and Takashi Takeuchi walked out of the building under the "escort" of several men in black suits with serious expressions.

"Mr. Nasu, Mr. Takeuchi, it's just a routine inquiry, please don't be nervous."

The leading man's tone was polite, but there was no warmth in his eyes.

Meanwhile, another team of people had already cordoned off the entire floor.

They packed up and took away all the original manuscripts, undisclosed setting collections, discarded drafts, and even the minutes of internal discussion meetings since the founding of Type-Moon.

All materials were labeled with "Top National Secret" seals.

A "Holy Grail War Countermeasure Headquarters" composed of top scholars, mythologists, and intelligence analysts was urgently established late this night under the direct authorization of the Prime Minister.

However, there is no wall in this world that doesn't leak air.

The news of Nasu Kinoko and Takashi Takeuchi being "invited" away by official personnel leaked out through internal lines almost as it was happening.

A blurry photo taken from a high vantage point of the two of them getting into the cars appeared on Twitter.

The world was in an uproar.

If everything before was just the fanatical conjecture of netizens,

Then this move by the Sakura Country officials, in everyone's eyes, was no different from the most direct admission.

This was equivalent to announcing to the whole world—

Fate is the Book of Prophecy!

Its author knows the truth!