Chapter 147:Light ‘Greeting’

[Dawn]

As one can infer from the original novel’s title, [Twilight Starlight], [Dawn] was an important existence, enough to carry on the main story of this world.

A sacred object that performed miracles, granting the owner’s every wish.

A sacred object truly befitting the phrase “omnipotent.”

However, [Dawn] was not a sacred object that performed miracles.

“[Dawn] is a kind of machine… or should I say? It sounds strange, but I can’t think of a suitable analogy.”

Even as everyone froze at Tene’s exclamation, Eileen, who was leisurely munching on a cookie, opened her mouth.

“It’s a tool that ‘transforms’ the world by using the energy of the ‘raw material’ as a medium. The concept itself might be similar to a machine activated by electricity or a Magic tool activated by Magical Power.”

“The only difference is… [Dawn]’s raw material is the human soul.”

“Human… soul?”

“It’s simple. When a human within a certain radius of [Dawn] dies, [Dawn] automatically collects that human’s spiritual energy… in other words, their soul.”

“And when that soul reaches a certain level, [Dawn] activates and grants the owner’s wish. Simple, right?”

The collapse of the Empire, the return to the modern world, [Dawn].

“Are you planning to massacre the people of the Empire to activate [Dawn]?”

These three keywords clicked in Freya’s mind, and she finally came up with the worst possible hypothesis.

“That’s right.”

And unfortunately, that hypothesis became the established theory from her own mouth.

“The person who created this [Dawn] must have been a twisted individual. To reject the souls of beasts, monsters, or demons altogether and only crave the souls of ‘humans’…”

Currently, there are approximately 425,250,000 humans living on the land of the Empire.

Unlike the modern world, systematic birth registrations are not immediately carried out, so the minor numbers were excluded.

If you included them all, about 430 million lives were breathing on the land of this Empire.

“Crazy.”

Dariann narrowed his eyes at the literally insane statement and muttered slowly.

The being before them had just declared that they would massacre all those humans.

“So, you’re going to kill all those people to go back to the modern world? Are you kidding me? You think we’d help you with that?”

Whoosh-

“Mom…!”

“Honey.”

“Don’t stop me. I need to kill this crazy bastard.”

The axe in Dariann’s hand stirred the wind, revealing its ominous blade.

Dariann’s family all stared at his sudden outburst, but Dariann still bared his teeth as he looked at the girl sitting calmly before him.

“…I understand. It sounds like crazy talk.”

“You understand that, and you still dare to say such a thing?”

“But, think about it. Why does this sound like crazy talk?”

“…What?”

“Do you really think this world is alive?”

“This world is just a game. When we were in the modern world, it was just a story in a web novel that was being written every day, every hour, every minute, every second.”

“Everything here is just fake.”

“Fake, you say?”

“It’s amazing, isn’t it? It might be absurd. To think that you died and suddenly possessed the web novel you were reading.”

“But that doesn’t mean this world becomes our real world, does it?”

“…….”

“We have a place to return to, and this world is just a creation… nothing more than a simple dollhouse.”

“A doll created with settings that a writer, who might have stuck us here for some unknown reason, just typed in a few minutes.”

“So, if we kill these people, are we really committing murder?”

“That’s nothing more than a distorted statement that makes no sense.”

Eileen was calm.

Even in a situation where the axe right in front of her was about to be swung down, she was just calmly telling her story and trying to persuade Freya Evergarden.

“We have to go back. To our lives. To our home.”

“Of course, life in the modern world might be more tiring, difficult, and you might not want to go back.”

“If we stay here, we might be able to live a better life than in the modern world by using our knowledge of the original work.”

“Even so, no matter how dazzling and wonderful a dream is, you have to wake up from it.”

“That’s, that’s…”

Eileen’s words were simple.

-Let’s kill the people of this world and return to our original world.

A crazy bitch who was trying to massacre countless people for her own means.

A psychopath who valued life as nothing more than a piece of paper.

However, the girl truly wanted that and was spitting out her true feelings.

‘What is this world? Why was I possessed into this world?’

‘Am I simply dreaming? Is all of this just a fleeting moment?’

‘Is my real body lying in a hospital in a vegetative state, and I need to awaken my consciousness through some trigger?’

The Truman Show. 

The Matrix. 

Inception.

Every time she heard Eileen’s story, Freya was reminded of the stories she had read and seen throughout her life.

Stories where things that were thought to be perfect worlds were actually nothing more than lies.

“Is it so wrong to want to have our acquaintances, jobs, dreams, and futures in the modern world again?”

“Don’t you know that this world is nothing more than a prison that binds us?”

“Dreams are ultimately futile.”

“…Is all of this just an illusion?”

“Just a dream. So there’s no need to feel guilty.”

“The humans here are just illusions, and we have to return to the modern world.”

“So everyone, please help me. To return to the modern world.”

“…..”

Freya recalled.

Life and family in the modern world.

Her body was Freya Evergarden, the Countess of the Evergarden family, but her soul was Kim Hyunseok, the successor of the former Hanseong Group and now a strong support for his family.

In fact, Freya didn’t really care whether this world was real or an illusion, or whether the people living on this land were real humans.

The safety of her family.

Freya only pursued that.

Frankly, if her family could safely return to the modern world, Freya would be willing to join this crazy mass murder.

“Okay… let’s go back. To our home.”

“Ah…”

‘Wouldn’t this be better?’

‘The unstable backing of the 5th Princess. Right now, we have Elixirs to suppress the other nobles, but we can’t say that there aren’t people who are jealous of us.’

‘Can we really protect our wife and children while fighting against ambushes and power struggles that could happen at any time?’

‘Besides, even if that’s the case, if we side with them, we can protect our family more safely while we’re in this world.’

Freya was already fidgeting with her hand on her lap.

The safety of her family was flickering before her eyes, and that was the most important thing to Freya.

But.

“…That day, when the World Tree burned down.”

“…Honey?”

Dariann, who had been silent with the axe pointed at Eileen’s head, slowly opened his mouth.

“I still remember the eyes of the Elves who were looking at me in my arms.”

“What do you mean…”

“The fear, dread, and resignation that they were about to die as everything burned.”

“And the moment those eyes, stained with darkness, sparkled again when they were held in my arms.”

“Those eyes were the same as the people in the modern world that I had saved countless times.”

Dariann remembers.

The humans who were gripped by fear and dread.

And the lives he had devoted to saving them.

“And you’re saying those people are just illusions? What a load of crap!”

“They’re all the same people! You’re just a crazy psychopath who kills people for her own purposes!”

How could he look at them and call them illusions?

“…That’s right. No matter how I think about it, it’s impossible for me.”

At the same time, Rosaria, who was sitting on the sofa, also stood up and expressed her opinion.

“I’m not smart, and I don’t have as much experience as Mom… but I don’t think those people, this world, are just illusions.”

“Of course not. This world of magic and fantasy is just an illusion? That’s ridiculous.”

“The chef always smiled at me and gave me snacks. The maids who live with me always care about me. But… how can you do that…!”

“……”

The Evergarden family rejected Eileen’s proposal outright.

Watching them, Freya realized that her complicated mind was becoming clear.

It didn’t matter whether this world was an illusion or real.

She wanted to protect her family, but she hated to ignore her family’s wishes and act as she pleased.

She had enough of that experience herself.

“That’s what they say. The ‘Hero’ of the original work.”

“……”

Freya, who had stood firm without being shaken by Eileen’s story, stepped forward, leaving behind her family, who had established a firm heart, and approached Eileen.

“We will neither participate in that plan nor stand by and watch.”

“So, let’s confront each other to the end.”

Freya declared that she would not agree to her plan and would confront her.

The family nodded as they listened to her statement.

And Eileen, who was listening to that declaration…

“…Haa. Really. Why do you have to be so annoying…”

The smile that she had been showing until just now disappeared, and she sighed.

Unlike the expression she had just shown, Freya was startled by the expression filled with fatigue, anguish, annoyance, and depression.

“Just kill them all? It’s annoying now…”

-Shiver!

“…!”

“Get behind me!”

‘That just now, was it killing intent? It’s several times sharper and more terrifying than old man Gordon’s…!’

Dariann, feeling Eileen’s killing intent, who was muttering about killing everyone here with rough language instead of the honorifics she had been

using while talking, quickly snatched Freya and put her in his arms.

“…Decision! Let’s just say hello lightly today.”

Thud-Thud-

“What is this…!”

“T, the mansion is shaking!”

At the same time, the Evergarden mansion, which was suddenly hit by an earthquake, shook violently, and the furniture fell to the floor.

The Evergarden family maintained their tension and prepared for the situation that would unfold.

And.

Crash-!!

“…Gasp.”

“T, the ceiling…!”

The ceiling of the mansion, which had been covering the sky until just now, had literally been ‘pierced’.

And faint figures visible beyond the wide ceiling hole.

“Everyone. Please give them each a ‘greeting”.”

“…Don’t kill them.”