Power

Power

I’m not sure if I should express it as fortunate, but.

Thanks to Rumi and Delia accepting the idea of possession…

‘Or should I say it’s more accurate to express it as thanks to them not caring much about it.’

Anyway, thanks to them understanding and accepting it, I was able to get through it more easily than expected.

Of course, there was a bit of a commotion in the process.

But it wasn’t a big problem as it was at a level that could be laughed off.

‘Then the remaining issues would be about my body and the Heaven God Cult.’

For example, whether I’ll return to my original body or not.

I needed to think about things like why I was defeated by the Heaven God Cult in the first round and decided on a second round.

‘Of course, in the case of the former, I could think about it after defeating the Demon King.’

Thinking it would be better to consider it in advance.

While I was pondering about this, thinking it would be good to consider it now while I have some time.

Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.

‘By the way, what should I do with the Illusion Library now?’

Now that I know the Illusion Library was created for me, regardless of what happened.

I need to decide in advance what to do with the Illusion Library.

‘The most ideal method would be for me to consume the Illusion Library.’

Then use it to fight against the Heaven God Cult.

Judging by Ember’s reaction, it seems the Illusion Library side doesn’t have a specific way to distinguish who the real hero is.

It didn’t seem like it would be easy, as they were wary of me, unable to determine if I was the real hero.

‘Of course, I could subdue them by force and then consume it.’

The problem was that even if I subdued them that way, they could betray me later.

If possible, there was a need to persuade them through peaceful means.

‘Well, these aren’t the kind of thoughts I should be having, considering I used the Heaven God Cult to destroy the Illusion Library.’

I decided to think that it was unavoidable since I did it without knowing the truth at that time.

In any case, I sighed, deciding to use the information and experiences gathered from the Illusion Library if possible.

*

The next day, Rumi opened my door and entered as if she had been waiting, greeting me with a rather energetic voice.

“Deren! Wake up!”

I frowned at the noise so early in the morning.

But Rumi approached me regardless, grinning.

“Oh, and Luna is here.”

Rumi returned Luna, whom she had taken yesterday, while staring at me intently.

Then, as if curious about something, she asked a few questions.

“Come to think of it, does Deren’s real body not need to shower or eat?”

I fell into deep thought at those words.

Although it’s a living body without a soul, it would still need some level of care.

As I was pondering without saying anything, Rumi smiled brightly and said.

“If it needs care, leave it to me…! After all, I’m Deren’s maid. I can handle all those kinds of things!”

She boldly uttered words that would make real maids faint if they heard them, while making gestures as if to say ‘give it to me’.

I blatantly ignored Rumi and turned away.

“We’re going to the Illusion Library right away, so prepare your clothes.”

“Oh, I’ve already prepared for that.”

Rumi proudly said as she pulled out my clothes from inside her top, as if she had been waiting for this moment.

“I warmed the clothes with my body heat, so they’ll be nice and warm!”

“……”

I felt dizzy looking at my crumpled clothes.

This seemed more like something Luna would come up with rather than Rumi’s idea.

‘I’m sure Luna told her to do this last night, one hundred percent.’

Thinking that I needed to give her some kind of education, whether it be sex education or mental education, I said to Rumi.

“Rumi… I tried not to say this, but it’s better not to do such things to men.”

At those words, Rumi tilted her head and looked at me, then answered as if it were obvious.

“Of course I don’t do this to men. I only do these things for Deren?”

“What?”

“And, of course, I’m really embarrassed doing this too. I do have common sense… I know these are embarrassing actions.”

I stared at Rumi with a bewildered expression, unable to believe that she would do such things despite feeling embarrassed and having common sense.

Rumi avoids my gaze and speaks to me in a timid voice.

“But if I can catch Deren’s attention like this, I think it’s worth it… I’m really happy when Deren notices me.”

“……”

Hearing Rumi’s honest confession after a long time, I was momentarily at a loss for words.

I didn’t know how to react to Rumi’s words, so I just stared at her silently.

Rumi, seemingly embarrassed, rubs her cheeks and says to me.

“Ah, anyway, if you really don’t like it, please tell me. I won’t do this anymore.”

Honestly, as a man, I don’t dislike Rumi’s active appeal.

No, it’s not just that I don’t dislike it, I actually like it.

‘The reason I don’t accept it is because of my purpose and the uncertain future.’

Of course, now that I’ve obtained my main body, that question has been somewhat resolved.

Still, I couldn’t act rashly because I didn’t know what would happen after defeating the Heaven God Cult.

If I were to return to Earth immediately after defeating the Demon King, it would mean I’d just hurt her and left, so I had to hold back.

‘So it’s better to be careful not to cross the line, at least until something is decided for certain.’

That would be better for the other girls too.

Thinking that I should maintain at least a minimum sense of responsibility, I sighed and said.

“I don’t dislike it.”

At those words, Rumi’s eyes widened, and she let out a silly laugh, giggling.

Then she looked at me intently and said.

“So does that mean I can keep doing this?”

“No.”

“I’ll assume it’s okay to do that…!”

I let out a chuckle as I watched Rumi only hearing what she wanted to hear.

I’m not sure if I should say it’s good that she’s changed like that.

Thinking that a positive attitude isn’t all bad, I slowly turned my gaze away.

‘Now it’s time to take care of the remaining tasks.’

Just as I was stretching, sensing that there weren’t many tasks left until the downfall of the Heaven God Cult.

Suddenly, a question flashed through my mind.

‘Wait a minute, if Rumi is the fake hero, and I’m the real hero.’

Wasn’t I supposed to be the one to catch the Demon King from the beginning?

As that thought crossed my mind, I chuckled and shrugged, then ran my hand through my hair and thought.

‘Well, whatever the case, it was something I had to do.’

I took a light deep breath and slowly left the room.

*

Thinking it would be good to have a talk with Espin.

When I went to meet Espin right away, what I saw was Espin melting on the bed like a slime, probably from staying up all night.

It seems he’s been overworking himself lately because of the Heaven God Cult, so I was about to leave him to rest.

Espin, squirming on the bed, starts calling me with a drowsy face.

“Oh… you’re here?”

I told him to ‘sleep more’ meaning he should rest more.

But Espin shook his head, got up from his seat, and after a long yawn, he says to me.

“… It’s okay. I was going to get up anyway.”

You keep glancing at the bed even though you’re trying to get up.

I thought it would be better to quickly share the story and let you rest, so I immediately got to the point.

From the contents of the Illusion Library to the story of my possession.

Since it was such a complicated story, I just told everything without hesitation.

Espin looks at me with a blank expression and says.

“… Are you talking about a novel?”

“No, it’s the truth.”

“That… hmm.”

Espin, unable to believe the truth, holds his head and ponders.

Then, with a long sigh, he speaks as if giving up.

“Well… okay. Honestly, I think it doesn’t make sense, but since you’re saying it, I’ll try to believe it for now.”

“Thank you.”

“Well, anyway, that’s not what’s important. What’s important now is what we’re going to do about the Illusion Library.”

I nod at those words, and Espin crosses his arms, thinks for a moment, and then tells me.

“You said the Illusion Library was created for you, right? If it’s designed for you to consume anyway, why don’t you just take everything this time?”

“What?”

“You said it was made for you, right? That means there shouldn’t be any problem if you take it all.”

Espin confidently says something that would make Ember faint if she heard it, and continues with a smile.

“Well, if you don’t like that idea, it would be right to seek cooperation from Ember. First, the most important thing would be to prove that you’re the hero.”

I nod in agreement as I think the same way.

Espin crossed his arms and fell into thought.

“However, it’s difficult to prove you’re real based on vague things like ‘first round’ or ‘second round’. We’ll need another way to prove it… Do you have any ideas on how to prove it?”

If I had such a method, I wouldn’t have come to ask.

I was shaking my head to indicate that I didn’t have any ideas.

Suddenly, Luna, who was in my arms, tilted her head and blurted out something rather shocking.

[Why are you trying to persuade with words when you have power?]