Ch.287Who am I? Who am I? (End)

# Chapter 287: Who Am I? Who Am I? (End)

I had no thoughts at all.

Pressing the confirm button was just like any other event message I’d seen before.

I simply pressed it without any particular thought, just as I always did.

‘What is this?’

The moment I pressed the confirm button, an enormous flash of light burst from the event message.

It was so bright that I instinctively closed my eyes, and when I opened them again…

“…Whaaaat?”

I realized that my field of vision was no longer inside the familiar Orbital Defense Command facility.

Instead, I was floating in the vastness of space, surrounded by twinkling stars in every direction.

‘What the hell.’

Naturally, as I was just an ordinary, weak human—or rather, a Sebelian—

‘Wait, I’m not even wearing a spacesuit! That damn Emperor bastard?!’

I panicked, thinking this might be another one of the Emperor’s tricks, and tried to cover my nose and mouth, but…

-KUUUUUUUU…!!!

At that moment, I turned toward a strange sound coming from beside me.

“Holy shit!”

I was terrified to see the “Emperor’s main body” with its arm flying straight at me with full force.

But immediately after… I realized I could control that “arm.”

And simultaneously, I understood what form I was in now.

I instinctively knew I could see myself from a third-person perspective—something impossible through the human eyes of Sebelian.

As if entranced, I immediately decided to use this third-person perspective.

And then…

‘…Eh, is this me?’

I was shocked to realize that I had become… the powerful and grotesque “main body of the Emperor.”

What’s more, the last time I saw the Emperor’s main body, it was covered in all sorts of wounds.

But my current state was, how should I put it?

Like a freshly produced RTS unit, I had a pristine body without a single scratch.

‘How in the world did this happen?’

Fortunately, as if noticing(?) my confused state…

-Ding-a-ling♬

[Pause]

Along with the familiar notification sound, a new event message appeared before my eyes.

[Event: New Administrator, New Body!]

[The transfer of administrator authority and abilities includes the physical body of the previous administrator, whose soul has been extinguished, leaving only an empty shell.]

[The damage to this body has been completely repaired through the administrator’s abilities, so please enjoy the game with peace of mind.]

[P.S.: This is a gift for all your hard work.]

[Arto Virtorius Sebel has been granted the trait ‘Dimensional Administrator’s Body’ (able to act during pause)]

[You can return to your original physical form whenever necessary.]

‘…Huh?’

Through this event message, I realized that everything I had felt and suspected until just now…

Was all true.

“Wow… wow… wait, really? Seriously?”

And at this point, I realized that, just as the event message said,

Despite the game being paused, I could freely move not just my mouth but my entire body.

“…WA!”

With blue flames shooting from my eyes, a short but emotion-filled exclamation burst forth.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

Ah, how much oppression and humiliation had I endured?

All the painful moments caused by the Emperor’s machinations flashed before my eyes like a kaleidoscope.

“Who’s the final victor? Who am I?!”

“It’s me!”

From head to toe, I felt filled with omnipotence and happiness at having finally achieved victory after such prolonged suffering.

And with the Emperor gone,

I was essentially just one step away from “winning the game”—the goal of my life in this game.

“National ranking, number one!”

[Galactic Nation Comprehensive Rankings]

[Last updated: 7 days ago]

[1st place: Holy Sebel Empire +a]

No, it was already as good as over.

“Now, now it’s really over!”

Although the Scourge fleet was still far from being completely eliminated, meaning I couldn’t achieve “game victory” through the first-place national ranking yet,

With support from outer space cut off, the Queen dead, and the Emperor gone,

What could those disorganized remnants possibly do?

As this thought crossed my mind, I felt the urge to share this joy with Artraia immediately.

“Artraia, we did it!”

With a smile(?) brimming with happiness, I was about to disable the pause and contact Artraia right away.

But at that moment, what I had forgotten in my confused state was…

The area around me was filled with battle fleets that had pushed back the Scourge fleet at the front lines and rushed here urgently.

The remaining annihilation fleet of Eternira.

The fleets of Levia and Ash, along with the surviving Holy Sebel Imperial fleet.

Mercenary and Papal fleets.

ISTO Treaty forces and “Allied Training Fleets.”

Prosnak’s high-speed mobile fleet that had broken through territories at maximum speed upon hearing that her husband might die.

Support troops from all nations of the galaxy that had joined the battle following the Galactic Federation’s crisis declaration.

And finally, two Ether Dragons transformed from Artraia and Lady Maria.

A total force of approximately 300,000 battleships, plus…

The orbital defense batteries and I-GUN that had completed overcharging from Ka’Zan’s surface.

ALL the forces that could be mobilized in this galaxy were gathered with the sole purpose of striking the Emperor’s main body.

The reason they hadn’t attacked before I paused was…

They had determined that sporadic attacks would be ineffective against the Emperor’s main body.

They had planned for all 300,000+ ships to fire simultaneously to inflict meaningful damage on the Emperor’s main body.

As a result…

[Pause disabled]

“Artraiaaaaaa…AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!”

I experienced the quite unique sensation of being pummeled by the Ether Dragons’ sincere breath attacks, the main gun fire from Levia and Ash,

The simultaneous fire from 300,000 ships, and the ultra-mass shells from the orbital defense batteries.

Of course, the Emperor’s body was incredibly sturdy, allowing it to maintain its form even under such concentrated fire, but…

“Give Arto back, you bastard!!!”

“W-wait, let’s talk—”

“Return that child, slaughterer!”

“Ah.”

The problem was how effectively the Emperor’s body drew aggro.

Our forces, including Artraia and Lady Maria, were attacking with all their might to destroy me, so…

“GYAAAACK!!”

I had to struggle desperately just to survive.

And about 28 hours later…

“Sob, sob, I’m sorry, so sorry, Arto!”

“…”

On the surface of the satellite Belcadur, which had been terraformed by Gaia but was now on the verge of collapse due to excessive damage,

“I truly apologize, my child.”

“…”

“Well… given the circumstances, it couldn’t be helped, could it…?”

“…”

I was in a truly miserable state, in a pose reminiscent of Yam*cha from Dr*gon Ball, hovering at death’s doorstep.

And beside me were our heroine ladies led by Artraia,

Along with admirals from each fleet, sending earnest apologies with deeply regretful expressions.

But from my perspective, I would have preferred such apologies before they blew off five of my arms and more than 75% of my body.

——————————————-

And after quite some time had passed.

Perhaps due to the extensive damage caused by the now-extinct Emperor and the Scourge minions,

The national ranking of my Holy Sebel Empire plummeted dramatically even before the Scourge invasion ended.

This led to many terrible incidents and annoying fanatics.

For example, the ISTO I had painstakingly created collapsed and civil war broke out.

Or Prosnak nearly losing a third of its territory when Fuksoviet launched “Operation Bagration.”

Or Uko’Praknar suddenly invading and absorbing all surrounding countries, then counter-suppressing Roirakan and taking most of its territory.

Or thinking the golden age had arrived, only to watch as nations that had contracted with outer space entities collectively perished after a few decades.

Despite all these bizarre and chaotic events in the universe…

“Artraia, rejoice.”

“…Hmm?”

“Our Holy Sebel Empire has finally achieved first place in the galactic comprehensive national rankings again.”

“…I see.”

Thanks to my blood-and-sweat efforts, our empire steadily recovered through all these trials.

We successfully created a new ISTO and managed to have all galactic nations join our federation.

And as our Holy Sebel Empire was once again acclaimed as the leader of this federation…

-Ta-da!

[Pause]

[Game Victory!!]

[Main Quest ‘Achieve 1st place in national rankings as the Holy Sebel Empire’ completed.]

[You have won the game!]

[Would you like to start a new game?]

[Y/N]

As the congratulatory message for winning the game appeared before my eyes, I could see the entire world pause simultaneously.

And when this situation arose, Artraia, who was standing before me, looked at me with sorrowful eyes.

Of course, the reason was…

“So you’re leaving now.”

“…”

“Now that you’ve achieved your goal, Arto, you have to return to your world, right?”

After killing the Emperor and obtaining this Dimensional Administrator’s body,

I had explained the whole truth to Artraia, so she believed that once I finished the game, I would “return to my original world.”

I had also given her the ability to move during pause as well.

But as the message clearly showed, “logging out” simply didn’t exist in this world.

“Not a chance.”

[Would you like to start a new game?]

[Y/>N<]

[Pause disabled]

After calmly refusing to start a new game,

I disabled the pause,

And bringing my head close to Artraia, who was blushing deeply with embarrassment, I said:

“Didn’t I make a vow to your mother, and separately to you as well?”

“…!”

“I promised to make you happy for the rest of your life, so how could I possibly go anywhere else?”

Seeing me like this, Artraia’s face turned as red as her large, beautiful horns…

“Yes… thank you.”

With a tear forming in her eye, she smiled brightly, looking incredibly happy.

And seeing Artraia like this, I too smiled back, albeit somewhat awkwardly.

“Well then, since we have plenty of time now, shall we spend at least today together?”

“Hehehe… Oh Arto… do you really think that’s possible?”

In response to Artraia’s provocation(?), I confidently replied, trusting in my body as a Dimensional Administrator.

“Of course, who am I?”

“Yes, that’s right… so you’ll be with everyone, right?”

“Isn’t that obvious? Now I can be with everyone.”

When she said something that seemed to stimulate camaraderie(?), I responded without thinking.

“Everyone, did you hear?! Arto said he’ll be with all of us!”

“As expected of my husband, I knew you’d make the right choice.”

“Ahem, I wonder if it’s appropriate for me to join in with you young ones.”

“It’s fine, if we all do it together… we can suck Minister dry…”

“One day won’t be enough, so you should prepare yourself.”

As “they” burst in through the secret door next to the bedroom,

I realized I had fallen into a trap as I saw the wicked, devilish expressions on their faces.

————————————

About a week later…

-Squeak, squeak.

“Minister, it might be inappropriate to say this now… but honestly, do you regret it?”

Despite being a Dimensional Administrator, I was now half-crippled,

Riding in a wheelchair pushed by Riel, my pelvis crushed and my vitality drained

By the excessive extraction from the numerous women I had become involved with during this game.

And while moving around like this…

-Ding-a-ling

Hearing that all-too-familiar alarm sound, Riel stopped the wheelchair,

Came to my left side, sat down, and handed me a terminal while saying:

“Now, the night of extraction begins again.”

“…”

While contemplating when I might ever be able to win against them, I looked at the terminal with a leisurely attitude and said:

“We have plenty of time, so much time… we can take it nice and slow.”

-[The End]-