Ch.372Playtime Is the Best

# * * *

“What did you say?”

What is this person saying right now?

“I mean exactly what I said. A body naturally lacks a soul to be its master. It’s similar to the principle of effective territorial control.”

“So you’re saying I’m Anastasia?”

“Yes. Your original body has already rotted away. Your soul has completely merged with that body. Like a fish-shaped pastry made in a mold. If I were to extract the soul from your body now, it would look like Anastasia.”

That’s rather terrifying.

It feels like I’ve been Anastasia from the beginning.

“You senile old fool!”

“Isn’t living here as a woman without that stick better than that hellish world?”

True. If I had to compare, it is better. I lost my family in that world.

A world that now feels like it was from a very long time ago.

But I’ve already lived in this body for nearly 50 years.

Because of that, I don’t particularly feel much about it now.

“Does it really work that way?”

“Well, there have been some people who experienced the same problem as you. However, they usually didn’t escalate things so recklessly like you did.”

I couldn’t help but smile bitterly at those words.

Didn’t escalate things recklessly, he says. Honestly, I think there are quite a few people who would cause as much trouble as I did.

“Then what?”

“Either they become dictators, or they slip away at the right time, disappear, and start new lives. You stayed in one place too long, and that’s what happened.”

Starting a new life, huh? That doesn’t sit well with me.

“But this country, Russia, couldn’t function any other way. I had to use my authority to somehow drag it up by the collar.”

This country truly had no solution.

The country was vast, but the pillars supporting it were too rotten.

Additionally, the White Army, originally a corrupt coalition of warlords, had no answer to the Red wave of communism. To solve this, I had to step forward wearing the Romanov title.

Not only that, but to stabilize this enormous country, I established many achievements to the point of deification.

I proved I was their emperor by unfailingly predicting the future and sharing all my knowledge, which allowed me to secure control over the vast Eurasian territory.

I planned to hand it all over to the Duma and live peacefully.

That was my intention, but it led to this.

“That’s right. This country is too vast. You need the authority of a powerful leader to control the provinces.”

Correct. I didn’t particularly have a thirst for power.

I just wanted to push through what I could manage.

“So what happens to me now?”

“Nothing special? I just came to tell you that you won’t die.”

He shrugged his shoulders and spoke playfully.

Well, I suppose that’s possible. I’ll accept that. But still.

“You’re saying I won’t die?”

“Well, normally I could kill someone if they asked me to,”

Normally? Am I not a normal case?

Still, if he could kill me if I asked, it means my life could end at any time.

On the other hand, there must be cases where people live forever.

“Wait, are there cases where people live forever, unlike me?”

“Almost none. There are people who get tired of living and ask to be aged. Yes, you should consider it as living out your natural lifespan and then dying.”

Living out my natural lifespan and then dying.

Could I ask for that too? Conversely, could I also die?

“I see. Then, could you also grant it if I wanted to continue living like this?”

“Why? After living as an immortal, you don’t want to die now?”

Let me say it again, I’m not afraid of dying anymore.

Honestly, at this point, I don’t care what happens.

“That’s not it. It just seems like there would be big trouble if I left this place now.”

I mentioned the Anastasia Project, but it’s still too far in the future to actually be realized.

“That’s true. If you disappeared, the Rome Treaty would dissolve, and there would be chaos in the economy, military, and government. It would ultimately self-destruct.”

The Rome Treaty would dissolve, he says. I don’t think it would happen that easily, but if it did, the order in Europe would collapse.

Hearing it directly from this old man makes it feel more real.

“Come on, surely not.”

“System transitions always cause significant damage.”

Yes, that’s right. If everything collapses, only America would remain in the world.

I’d just be doing America a favor. Perhaps controlling America is the right move after all.

No, first I need to know whether I’ll die or live. Isn’t that right?

“Let’s make this simple. So I won’t die?”

He’s being so ambiguous that it’s frustrating.

“It’s possible?”

Wait a moment. Thinking about it, that doesn’t seem right either.

Wouldn’t it be better to ask for a lifespan now?

I don’t mind becoming an old woman. To make these damned people stop praising me, I need to show them I’m human too.

To show I’m human, I need to age, and then these annoying Anastasia fans will face reality.

So if I’m going to make a deal, I should do it now.

“No, wait. If I start aging from now, would I still survive until the future? Until the Anastasia Project, I mean. Then I’d know when I’ll die too.”

“The problem is that your body is Anastasia’s. Originally, Anastasia was a dead body.”

What? Why is he suddenly saying something unsettling?

Wait, no. Look at that cute face on that old man.

A face that says your guess was right. Good Lord.

“You’re not saying I’m a zombie, are you? Really?”

Surely not. Was I not even human to begin with?

Well, fine. If I’m a zombie, that makes some sense.

At least this body can’t be considered normal.

“We forcibly revived something dead, and when that happens, the body itself essentially becomes an irregular, neither one thing nor another. Your soul settled in it. Well, you’re not really a zombie. Since we forcibly revived it, it’s a body that’s neither here nor there.”

So it’s a body that doesn’t belong anywhere?

“So what are you saying?”

“A body that was forcibly revived with power goes against causality. In human terms, there’s something called a cooldown. Before that period ends, it’s impossible to kill you in that body even if you ask me to.”

The old man shook his head slightly.

His face seemed to say this was an inevitable fate, asking me to understand.

“Damn it.”

If I can’t die even if I want to, what should I do from now on?

Wait, have I been scammed? Why make me into Anastasia?

“I’ll come back when the time is right.”

“No, at least a little earlier. Wouldn’t it have been better if you had possessed me while I was still alive?”

At least while I was alive, give me immortality.

Wouldn’t it have been better before I was shot? You could have possessed me around that time!

Now that I think about it, this makes me angry. What did I do wrong to end up with a body that can’t even die?

“That’s just how it is.”

By the way, I’ve been wondering for a while. Who is this old man?

What if all of this is like The Truman Show? A world-scale play, or just my dream?

No, it can’t be a dream because I had knowledge I didn’t know before. Anyway.

“Wait a moment. Who exactly are you, sir?”

“Me? Well, I suppose I’m a god. Let’s say I’m working on a project to send humans from ruined worlds to other worlds to create new ones.”

Suddenly, I became curious about something.

“Besides me, who else is in Korea?”

“There are original characters, there was Joan of Arc, there was a Chinese empress. Among Westerners, some were sent to possess Japanese people. It’s too much to list them all. Each went to a new world. Of course, some failed, and many worlds helped the circulation of souls by creating new worlds.”

I don’t understand what he’s saying.

“What kind of nonsense is this?”

“In many newly born worlds, we return souls who died in ruined worlds to help souls circulate.”

“By that logic, what happens to people who would have lived but die because history changes?”

Not that I’m particularly curious.

“Unlike human computers, the capacity for souls has no limit. However, if a world is damaged enough to be defined as ‘ruined,’ then we initialize the world—”

“That’s enough. So you’ll come back when the time is right?”

I cut him off because it was getting complicated.

Why should I keep listening to this?

I just need to know if I die or not. If I can be killed or not. That’s all I need to hear.

“I was in the middle of explaining, but young women these days… Fine. I came to tell you that you won’t die, so I’ll come back later.”

He says he’ll come back later. What an irresponsible person.

“Ah, yes. See you next time.”

I don’t want to see him next time, but unfortunately, if I want to die, I’ll have to meet that person… no, that god.

What’s certain is that this world has now completely become my world.

The original world I lived in is completely gone.

Actually, living day by day there was hell anyway.

Is this really the right world? What kind of world is it? In that world, just getting through each day was overwhelming.

That’s why I’ve made this world more complete.

At least so the future might be a little more peaceful.

In truth, I can’t predict at all how what I’ve done will turn out.

But at least this time, the old man reassured me, which calmed my pounding heart.

“But still.”

Regardless, I need to rest too.

If I even mention abdication or say I won’t appear in the media, they immediately react sensitively and hold protests that aren’t really protests. For now, I’ll continue working as I have been.

But in exchange, I need to have fun.

I love having fun the most!

* * *

At the same time Anastasia was meeting with the old man.

Various organizations and groups that had received special orders from Anastasia held a meeting.

“Sigh, to think that Tsar would worry so much.”

“But she said she would live until the Anastasia Project is completed.”

That alone means she’ll live for another fifty years.

“Then we in the private sector should also develop that computer.”

“Local governments will also secretly continue that project.”

“Yes. We need to maintain close contact with each other.”

Even the private sector is getting involved.

They’re essentially launching the AI Anastasia Project nationwide.

“If Her Majesty were to pass away…”

“How can you say such an unlucky thing?”

How can you say our Mother Tsar would pass away? Say something that makes sense.

Mother Tsar is now and forever the one and only mother of humanity.

How could such a person pass away!

The women’s organizations were particularly upset.

During the early stages of the Civil War, she had promised women’s suffrage in the United States to secure public support, promising to do it before the Reds could.

Additionally, she established technical academies suitable for women, allowing them to emerge as technicians.

Naturally, as women themselves, they had deep love (loyalty) for their mother.

“But when has this ever happened before? When has Her Majesty ever spoken such weak words?”

“Well, that’s true.”

Has she ever spoken such weak words before? No.

This time, perhaps the Tsar truly felt something.

“The people in this room represent various cities, organizations, and civic groups. Excluding the Duma, you are essentially those who must exist for the management of the state. The Tsar has directly instructed such people. She said to secretly proceed with that project, mobilizing even private companies.”

This was truly unprecedented.

When has the Tsar ever personally called so many people?

It was essentially the first time since the Civil War when she pacified public sentiment and transferred politics to the Duma after the war.

Of course, from Anastasia’s perspective, it felt like she had done this without the Duma’s permission, but at least these people weren’t the Duma.

“Then, if we fail…”

“Let’s be honest. If something sudden happens to Her Majesty, everyone in this room must manage the ensuing chaos. Isn’t that right? We need to look at this coldly.”

And what would happen to themselves, knowing all this?

The Tsar had sincerely shared her secret and asked for their help in solving it, but what if the worst-case scenario occurred?

In that case, they might have to bear all the responsibility.