“Uh?”
“Ah?!”
“…..Huh.”
Gasp! Late screams burst out, one beat behind.
Yoo Jin disappeared.
Suddenly, right there.
I opened my eyes, and Yoo Jin was nowhere to be seen.
“Ah…..”
The bodies of the Nameless and Belphegor froze.
This was a first.
Yoo Jin just vanished.
However, Mi Jeong had seen such a scene before.
When Yoo Jin entered ‘My Inner World.’
When the body gets sucked in, it disappears completely like this.
But the reason Mi Jeong was in shock was for another reason.
“…..Camellia?”
Where Yoo Jin and the black figure had vanished.
A single flower was blooming there.
On the wooden floor inside.
With no tree around, just a lone red camellia bloomed.
Mi Jeong felt her whole body tingle.
Yoo Jin’s inner world.
It was one of the four flowers that bloomed in the snowfield.
The meaning of the flowers was clear.
The yellow jasmine was Jill Diner.
The black rose was Yulia.
The blue cyclamen was Yerina Frost.
The essence of the connections and memories of these three was stacked together and formed a crystal inside Yoo Jin.
Then, what was this red camellia?
What connection did it represent?
Who, other than the three women, had such a strong bond with Yoo Jin?
“…..Why? Why didn’t I feel something strange until now?”
Mi Jeong felt a chill run down her spine.
The strangest thing was.
She had never even questioned the identity of this flower until now.
Tap tap.
I walked forward, stepping on a field of flowers….. no, a mound of flower corpses.
Camellia. Red camellia.
Why hadn’t I thought this was suspicious until now?
‘Is this also some sort of perception overhaul?’
It was a weird situation.
I was clearly aware that the identities of the flowers were the heroines accumulated through repeated regressions.
But I didn’t doubt what the red camellia was at all.
Something was blocking my suspicions.
It was hindering my perception.
And that hypnosis broke the moment I stepped into this world.
‘I can see it.’
The world was covered in camellias, but.
Beyond that, something alien began to come into view.
I sensed it.
That was the master of this world.
I immediately started running.
But even as I ran and ran, it seemed to be getting further away.
A sense of powerlessness enveloped my body.
The scenery around me gradually changed.
When I sensed sleepiness overtaking me.
“…..”
I found myself in a completely different world.
My steps came to a halt.
In front of me was a wall.
A wall covered in unfamiliar….. no, familiar wallpaper.
“Huh.”
I looked around and gasped.
A vast office.
Filled with desks and computers.
It had already been over ten years, yet I instantly remembered.
This was my former company.
The office of the development department.
“How did I end up here…..”
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my head.
Why was I here again?
It was already past quitting time!
Ah. The last train’s gonna close.
I hurriedly put on my coat and grabbed my bag, heading out.
Just as I grabbed the office door and was about to twist the knob.
My body froze stiff.
“What the hell…..”
My hazy mind returned.
And my vision cleared.
Only then did I notice.
The quality of this world was extremely low.
As if it was reconstructed based on low-quality footage.
My mind had been clouded, so I was unconsciously accepting it as familiar.
Now that I was aware, everything felt incredibly awkward.
I almost fell for this.
And what would have happened if I opened this door?
Would I have remained stuck here forever, unable to awaken?
As if I was tricked into believing I had returned home, living in this illusion without any doubts?
A wave of discomfort washed over me, sending chills down my spine.
“Did you think you could shake me off with this?”
Clomp clomp.
I returned to the office desk, standing in front of the only lit monitor.
The window open was the familiar login screen.
I pressed the button that had drawn me into this world once again.
At that moment, the unpleasant scenery of this world began to fade away.
I was back in the world from earlier.
Though I felt the same space due to the energy wrapping around me.
The unfolding scenery was completely different.
It wasn’t a world densely packed with red flowers.
Only a single camellia bloomed in a vast expanse of black darkness.
It wasn’t an ordinary flower.
I could see a will emanating from the flower.
“What were you planning to do with me?”
|…..|
“Quit pretending you can’t talk.”
|I was thinking of making you happy…..|
Only then did the camellia begin to voice its thoughts.
My fist clenched involuntarily.
You thought of making me happy?
That I would be happy living trapped in that shabby illusion reconstructed from my hazy memories?
That’s a laugh.
But what was even more absurd was.
There was no trace of malice from it whatsoever.
I extended the light of the ultimate technique toward the camellia.
Then, its essence and innermost thoughts flowed into me.
‘If you had stayed there, wouldn’t you have been happy? Why did you come out?’
‘To escape pain, you chose to return to the painful current world? Why?’
‘It’s contradictory.’
This thing?
Its way of thinking was different.
No matter how I looked at it, it was not the kind of thought a human would have.
“You. Who are you, exactly?”
|Me….. You could say I’m an intruder. An entity that accidentally flowed into you and got trapped. I believe in your language, I’m referred to as Draken. |
“…..”
My guard lowered somewhat.
Not so much because I understood the identity of the flower.
But because I realized this world couldn’t harm me.
How could it be so calm in someone else’s inner world?
The reason was simple.
This flower was a being that resided within me.
Thus, the inside of this flower’s world must also fall under my influence.
That’s why it could only perform tricks like mere illusions.
“When did this start?”
|Since you laid eyes on me.|
“…..”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Just as I thought.
The day I was dragged in front of Draken by Belphegor.
At that moment, I had definitely laid eyes on Draken, and part of Draken seeped into me through my gaze.
If I had left it like that, I would have been consumed by Draken.
But thanks to the three heroines residing within me erasing that memory of the moment, I couldn’t recognize the camellia.
Thus, I was able to endure without being further consumed.
“I never imagined I would face you like this.”
How to deal with this audacious being?
Attempting to steal my body and just now trying to trap me in an illusionary world.
But now that I knew it was under my influence, I wouldn’t be consumed or brainwashed.
Then, I should take this opportunity to interrogate it about capturing Draken’s true essence.
“You’re quite articulate? Last time we met, all I got was incomprehensible will.”
|That’s due to the curse on me. No one can understand my true intentions, nor can I communicate properly. |
“What did you do to deserve such a curse…..?”
|You should ask my true body about that. I’m only a very small part, so I don’t know everything. |
Just like how I erased my existence to become unrecognizable to people.
It seems Draken too was cursed with a fate of not being able to convey its true intentions to others.
However, in this place, the inner world, it seems it could evade the ‘law’ for a moment.
“What were you thinking when you attacked us?”
|It would be troublesome for me to answer you about that. |
“So I have to ask your true body again?”
|No. You need to ask the clockwork machine named Linda about that. I’m so small and weak it would be embarrassing to even call myself a persona, so forcing my will on someone is impossible for me. All I can do is amplify the impulses and desires of my host. |
“So, it was all Linda’s will that attacked me and bombarded the allied headquarters?”
|It’s not entirely wrong, but it’s also not completely right. It seems that what I can amplify are only negative impulses for some reason. Don’t humans have dual aspects? |
“…..”
I understood.
This thing’s role, attached to Linda, was to provoke Linda’s impulses.
Especially emphasizing her dark and ugly side, maximizing Linda’s hatred toward humans.
Only then did I finally realize that my questioning had been misguided from the start.
What I was facing was not a sentient entity with some intention, but rather a mere component.
A part descended from the heavens, aimed to turn Linda into a monster of impulse.
Whether Linda took over the archive or hacked the airship fleet to bombard, none of that was this thing’s intent.
It made sense that there was no malice felt.
From the very beginning, it never had any intention to harm us.
It existed merely to faithfully execute its given role.
So asking this part about its thoughts wouldn’t yield a proper answer.
Thus, the correct question would be something like this.
“What is your function?”
|…..|
“What utility do you gain from parasitizing Linda?”
|Do you know about the force of attraction that acts on all things? |
“I know.”
|Then it would be easier to explain. Attraction is the force that pulls together objects with deep connections. Even if you separate me from my true body, a bond forms, but that alone is weak. However, if my part parasites on a sentient being, a much stronger attraction occurs. |
“Don’t tell me……!”
|Initially, I scattered my parts all over the current world. To parasitize as many people as possible. But then I discovered, a much more efficient subject appeared. The clockwork machine named Linda is so similar to me that if I parasite all of ‘my parts’ onto her, I can generate a much greater attraction. |
I felt as if I’d just been slapped in the back of my head.
So Draken hadn’t been spreading its powers to strengthen monsters or the Four Heavenly Kings.
Those were merely side effects.
What Draken was solely interested in was how to make the bond with the current world stronger…!
“So, how much? Just how much stronger has the attraction become? How long until Draken descends into the current world?!”
|In terms of human time….. about three days remain. |
“What….?”
It’s already too late.
Draken had come far too close.
The time I thought was sufficient by completely destroying the dungeon was now reduced to just three days.
