Ch.176Aria – 2

“Why do you think there are so many similarities between the power in Mira’s memories and the power used here? Wouldn’t it be correct to assume it’s because both worlds were born from the same creator’s hands? The same goes for why there are so many similarities between the two worlds. Or maybe that woman was too lazy to create new settings and just recycled the settings from her first work.”

Aria’s expression was close to a sneer.

“Remember when we went to attend the wide-area annihilation magic lecture at the beginning of the semester, and Mira immediately improved it as soon as she saw it? Why did the magic circle feel like something you had seen somewhere before?”

‘So that’s why it felt familiar.’

I’m not sure if “recycling settings” is the right phrase coming from her mouth, but if it’s because they’re works by the same author, it makes some sense.

The holy power of the light spear must be a similar case. That would also explain why it could bestow holy power to people in place of the deceased goddess.

“Isn’t that woman too much? You had to go through such difficult times because of her, yet she didn’t tell you anything about it. That means she was hiding something from you.”

I recalled Laura’s expression when she seemed to be pondering over certain words. Her answer that memories seemed to be on the verge of surfacing, along with her troubled expression. This must have been what she couldn’t remember.

“Just like you?”

“…Perhaps.”

Aria disparaged Laura, saying she deliberately didn’t tell me, but my thoughts are a bit different. The memories of the previous world could also be contained within the sealed memories.

Within the time of nearly 1,500 cycles that she still couldn’t accept, fearing she couldn’t withstand the shock.

“So I don’t know what you want me to do about it.”

“Oh? Aren’t you surprised? She deliberately hid it from you. Aren’t you angry?”

A puzzled expression appeared on her face. She genuinely seemed to think I would be angry if I knew this fact.

“Why would I be? It could be within her sealed memories, or she might simply not have thought that the two worlds could be the same. And if I had to trust either Laura, who didn’t end with just herself but dragged in other unrelated people and ruined them, or Laura, I would trust Laura. Not you, Aria.”

“I think it’s premature to discuss trust. My story isn’t over yet? There’s a separate reason why I brought those people here. A reason that even you, Mira, will have to accept.”

“Again with the ‘accept’?”

“Because convincing you is that important. I told you, if it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t be explaining all this in such detail.”

Aria gave me a desperate look, begging me to believe her.

“Yes, I did force Laura to regress. I kept thinking about what would be the best revenge, and it seemed best to make her slowly go mad while endlessly experiencing the world she created and abandoned with her own hands. Just like I almost went mad alone. I wanted to make that woman suffer as much as I had suffered and agonized. After all, I ended up like that just because she lost interest, right?”

“How are you so sure it was because of Laura?”

“How are you so sure it wasn’t?”

“Are you just trying to pick at my words?”

“No. I’m asking you to think about which certainty would have come to mind first for someone who wandered alone for over a thousand years in a world where time had stopped, and then met the creator who wrote that world.”

It was a question that didn’t even need consideration. When I frowned, Aria smiled brightly.

“It’s exactly as you’re thinking. At that time, I didn’t care either way. All that came to mind was the fact that the person who created this world abandoned me out of mere interest. So I made her experience endless repetitions of the time she had written herself to give her despair, and gradually stole her power so she could fully savor the sensation of losing her bodily freedom. The sight of her face crumbling in despair with each repeated cycle was truly exquisite.”

Despite the chilling content, the smile on her face remained unchanged.

“When our creator, unable to endure her situation, finally sealed all her memories and degraded into nothing more than a fictional character named Laura, I thought I had finally succeeded in my revenge.”

Her smiling lips turned slightly downward.

“…Until the world stopped again.”

“Stopped again?”

“Yes. You will never know how greatly I despaired and how much I cried then. I thought I had succeeded in my revenge, I thought I had gained freedom, I thought I could finally live my true life, but that wasn’t the case. I only realized the cause after absorbing the next fragment. What do you think the cause was?”

Aria continued immediately, as if not expecting an answer.

“It’s because this world is merely half-complete. Since it was created for the ‘real humans’ outside from the beginning, it stops when there are no ‘readers’ to read it.”

Her answer heavily emphasized the words “real humans” and “readers.” These were words that revealed how Aria viewed herself and this world.

“Mira. Can beings like us be considered alive?”

“…”

“In a world where time cannot flow without real humans from the outside, where we must remain forever frozen without real humans, can we truly be considered alive? Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to call us mere consumables?”

“…”

“You said it earlier. How could you trust me when there are other victims besides Laura? You’re right. You can’t trust me. That’s understandable. But, Mira.”

Her eyes looked at me desperately again. Moisture gathered in her blue pupils.

The moisture soon turned to water, and a stream of dew flowed down her right cheek. The dewdrop that formed on her chin caught the light and sparkled pitifully.

“I wanted to live.”

“…”

“I wanted to create my own future normally, not go mad alone in a world where only I could move.”

“That’s—”

“But it was impossible with my power alone. This is a world where time doesn’t even flow without readers, and while I could bring people from outside, I couldn’t do anything more to affect the world. All I could do was make the already completed time repeat infinitely so that I wouldn’t be thrown back into that cold time.”

“…So you brought others besides Laura?”

“Yes, that’s right. I desperately needed real humans, readers who could maintain the time of this world. The first person I brought was Hayun. When her mind started to break, I brought Kang Yena, and then Yu Chaewon.”

“The last person didn’t experience much thanks to finding you, Mira,” Aria briefly added.

“So in the end, someone has to suffer? How long do you think such an incomplete world can be maintained?”

“I don’t know. All I wanted was for it to be maintained as such an incomplete world. It’s better than going mad alone in a world where everyone else is frozen. From my perspective, of course. If I could have done more, I would have… but with my abilities, I could bring people here but couldn’t send them back. And then you saw the prologue of this novel.”

A tearing smile appeared on Aria’s face. A chilling smile I had seen once before.

The blue eyes that had been filled with moisture had already returned to normal. It was as if the tears she had shown just moments ago were a lie.

“Mira. What do you think are the chances of someone who was possessed in a novel and returned to their original world seeing the prologue of another novel by the same author? And not just any novel, but the prologue of a female-oriented yuri romance fantasy that was hastily concluded as Part 1 a long time ago. Is there any word other than fate that can explain this meeting?”

‘Fate, huh…’

The reason I deliberately browsed through female-oriented yuri romance fantasies was because I thought it would be the genre furthest from dark fantasy.

I didn’t know they were by the same author because I was trying not to recall anything related to the novel I was possessed in. I hated that contradictory structure where I had to recall things in order to avoid them.

“As soon as I noticed the power emanating from you, I realized it. That with this person, we could make this world like the real humans’ world. That’s why I’m trying to convince you by any means necessary. Because it’s impossible with my power alone.”

“Then why did you hide your identity all this time?”

“You want me to ask for help from someone who suffered so much being called a savior, who ended up killing the humans they were trying to save with their own hands, who destroyed all other living beings and ruined an entire world, and who barely returned to their original world covered in all kinds of trauma, to save our world again?”

“…”

Even I thought that rather than agreeing to help, it would be fortunate if I didn’t just curse and tell them to get lost.

It’s only now, after living here for nearly 20 years and overcoming my trauma through interactions with four people in the same situation as me, that I can handle it. The old me would have had a seizure just hearing the word “savior.”

“So I’m sorry, but I waited until you could develop feelings for this world. Until you could think about helping this world, until you could want to save us after hearing all this truth. I’m truly sorry for deceiving you all this time. But I was really desperate, okay? There won’t be another chance if I miss this one. So I’ll ask you again. Please help me, Mira.”

Aria carefully made her request.

“Without you, this world will stop again. Your family, Beatrice, Meligor, Nika, and Leona. Everyone’s time will stop again. I can’t solve this alone. Otherwise, I’ll have to bring readers again like before.”

The names of the people who had been by my side flowed from her mouth, as if her claim of waiting until I could develop feelings for this world wasn’t a lie. Her purpose was obvious.

“I’m really sorry for dragging other people here at my discretion. If you want, I can erase their memories, and if you demand an apology, I’ll do it hundreds or thousands of times. So, please help me.”

“How?”

“You just need to transfer the power you have to me. Then I’ll really fix this world, end everything completely, and give it back to you. I know how to transfer the power.”

I stared at Aria, who was now smiling her usual bright smile rather than that tearing one. While smiling like that, she was also making extremely desperate gestures.

“…Alright.”

“Really?! Thank you, Mira! Thank you so much!”

An incredibly bright smile appeared on her face. It was the brightest expression I had ever seen on Aria.

“But I have something to ask.”

“Yes, anything!”

“You said you’ll take my power. You’ll give it back after everything is resolved?”

“Of course I will. It’s borrowed power, so of course I have to return it.”

Aria nodded vigorously.

“There’s no lie in what you’ve said so far?”

“No. I swear. Don’t tell me… you don’t trust me? Even after I’ve explained everything to you?”

“I do trust you. Except for 1%. So I need you to fill in that 1%.”

“How?”

I summoned the light spear in my left hand. There was no point in hiding it anymore. Aria tilted her head, watching me.

“I don’t know if you’re aware, but the light spear has one special function. You probably didn’t know about it since there was no occasion to use it in the previous world.”

“A special function?”

“Truth discernment.”

I extended the light spear in my hand toward Aria, making sure the center, not the tip, was pointing at her.

“Take it. I’ll ask you again, and you just need to give the same answer as before. That there was no lie in what you just said.”

“…And if there was a lie mixed in?”

“No need to tell me. You’ll find out soon enough anyway.”

“…”

“This is the final 1%. If it’s confirmed that there was no lie in what you said, I’ll transfer my power to you.”

It was a lie. The light spear had no such function.

I just had too many issues with what she had just said to trust Aria completely. Not all of it would be lies, but it wouldn’t be the perfect truth either.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to take it? You just said with your own mouth that you didn’t lie. So why hesitate?”

If she took it, I was genuinely planning to help her. Whether she had truly spoken only the truth, or had seen through my bluff.

But I was certain. If it was a lie, Aria would never grasp the light spear.

“…So you really didn’t trust me after all.”

Aria slowly muttered.

At that moment, the sky turned black. The flowers that had been blooming abundantly on the ground all withered. The entire visible space transformed into a land of death.

In this dead world, Aria opened her mouth.

“This is why I hate perceptive people.”