Chapter 22: Became I am Strong, I am lonely so I teach Love

Tic.

With trembling hands, Albus turned off the screen displaying the code that made up Solaris.

“Someone has interfered with the events involving the first emperor.”

His heart started to race wildly.

All this time, he had believed his position within Rudera was absolute.

It was his world, a world he created.

With all the authority over this world vested in him, who could possibly interfere in its affairs?

Even after numerous beings from the continent started flowing into Rudera and the number of increasingly powerful players began to grow, he had never genuinely felt fear despite some concerns about the unexpected influx of players.

No matter how overwhelming a dragon lord or demon king might be, within this world, they were nothing more than a mere player whom he could crush with a single finger.

That’s what he thought.

But now…

“Someone altered an NPC’s memory right under my nose.”

Something had happened, evading his sight.

Albus recalled the hackers who had caused so many game companies in his past life to suffer.

Rudera was born from illusion magic.

The world itself was made of magic.

If accessing that magic was possible, it would be feasible to interfere with this world just like a hack in a game.

“A hacker has already appeared. I never considered this possibility.”

He had never imagined a hacker would emerge among the players of this other world where the concept of games didn’t even exist.

“Early action is crucial in such cases.”

How many games had perished due to hacking in his past life?

He couldn’t let Rudera fall just because of a hack.

Ding.

Albus visualized all logs related to the first emperor and Solaris by converting them into code.

“Someone implanted the first emperor’s thoughts of the wandering swordsman into Solaris’s mind without my knowledge.”

The intent was unclear.

If one were to use hacks in this manner, wouldn’t it typically be to obtain a class or items?

Why bother manipulating an NPC’s memory?

Solaris couldn’t leave the third floor of the Tower of Labyrinth anyway.

As long as the first emperor owned the third floor, it would be impossible to even encounter Solaris.

Why?

…

Albus slowly perused the logs, organizing his thoughts.

The initial target was the first emperor.

The memory implanted in Solaris was not of the actual events during the Carthesia’s amusement, but rather the idealized memories of a mentor that the first emperor envisioned.

It was a memory that couldn’t possibly exist.

By retrieving this memory, the first emperor could experience a dreamlike situation he longed for.

…

Why would someone do such a thing for the first emperor?

Albus bit his lip hard.

He had believed he was in complete control of Rudera.

Despite this, he had been unaware of these events unfolding.

Now, he couldn’t even guess the intent.

Wasn’t it for personal gain by interfering in Rudera?

It wasn’t just to make the first emperor happy, was it?

A headache started to throb in his head.

With no way to track the hacker, he had no means to uncover the truth for now.

Should he contact Carthesia and ask?

The reason he had logged into Rudera in the first place was to ask Carthesia about the divine power.

“I’m sorry to disturb you while you’re enjoying the game, but…”

Ding.

Albus checked Carthesia’s location.

“The fourth floor of the Tower of Labyrinth. As expected, here you are.”

Woong.

As Albus drew his arm through the air, a dimensional portal to the fourth floor of the Tower of Labyrinth opened.

“First, I’ll seek Carthesia’s advice.”

Carthesia knew far more about magic.

Instead of dealing with a hacker with his meagre knowledge, it was much better to ask for help.

Albus crossed the dimension.

Paat.

The moment he passed through the portal, Albus was enveloped in light.

A recent incident in the desert, where Albus had carelessly expanded a 10-meter area, nearly revealed his true identity to the first emperor.

This event made Albus reflect on his carelessness.

He could visit Carthesia as a GM or in his real-life form, but if other players saw him, who knew what might happen?

They might find out he was the GM.

He resolved never to repeat the same mistake.

He needed to create a third identity.

“Alright.”

Albus was momentarily engulfed in light.

When the light faded, a dark-haired boy with an aura of decadent beauty stood in his place.

“It’s been a while since I used this form.”

It was the appearance of an avatar he had used in a previous life’s game, a masterpiece he had spent a good six hours customizing.

While creating Rudera and the Tower of Labyrinth, he used the modelling assets Carthesia provided from her memories.

Thanks to that, he hadn’t needed to create a unique model until now.

However, someone who knew the original assets, like with the case of Solaris, might recognize them.

For maximum safety, it was best to use a model only he knew from his past life.

“Alright. With this, there’s no way anyone can recognize me.”

The appearance was so different from the silver-haired Albus in reality that it was impossible to connect the two. Albus prepared to fly towards where Carthesia was.

Just then, a notification sound rang in his ears.

“What…?”

A world notification message echoed across Rudera.

-The fourth floor of the Tower of Labyrinth, the Miracle Great Jungle, has been cleared by player ‘Lea’ and 0 others.

“What?”

Albus’s eyes widened in surprise.

The massive tropical rainforest constituting the fourth floor of the Tower of Labyrinth, the ‘Miracle Great Jungle,’ wasn’t designed to be cleared by a single person.

While the second and third floors also had ridiculously high difficulty for solo play, the fourth floor’s structure made solo play even more restrictive.

Players entering the floor would accumulate debuffs that could only be removed by party cooperation at the Miracle Fountain.

Of course, someone like the first emperor or the Demihuman King, who were beyond standard, might clear it solo…

“Who the heck is Lea?”

It was a name he’d never heard before.

Already stressed by the hacking issue, this was another headache.

Why do these new, extraordinary figures keep popping up, like the first emperor?

Should he check all the players within Rudera once more?

As Albus was holding his head in distress, a large throne descended before him.

“Answer me.”

A woman, with a predatory look, sat on the throne.

“Are you Albus?”

***

The absolute being of this world seemed to want her to meet this Albus.

She had no intention of following the god’s will blindly, but she intended to investigate this Albus to understand the world and the absolute being better.

While she knew nothing about Albus, finding him wasn’t a problem; she just needed to follow the GM’s will left to her.

After demolishing a great tower and following the will into the jungle, she found a boy with black hair.

Thump.

The throne descended right in front of the boy.

“Answer me.”

Lea said, looking down at Albus.

“Are you Albus?”

She had reigned as the most supreme person in the empire.

Extracting information from a mere human boy seemed like nothing.

But…

‘…This is dangerous.’

Black hair and black eyes, hidden within but increasingly captivating in a decadent way.

The empress felt a flutter in her abdomen.

The boy standing and looking up at her was her ideal type.

‘I didn’t expect this at all.’

According to her hypothesis, the god of this world grants the conquerors of the Tower of Labyrinth their desires.

‘Does this mean my desire was love?’

She had declared her marriage to the empire.

No man had ever satisfied her.

She had no intention of having an heir, so she entrusted the empire to her brother.

She had never taken a lover, nor had she imagined it.

As a strong person, she couldn’t empathize with the emotion of love due to her isolation.

Lea found her current feelings very unfamiliar.

‘GM… this is frightening. Even though my mind wasn’t interfered with at all, this is… ‘

Licking her lips while looking down at Albus, despite her words.

Zing.

“Ugh.”

Albus felt a chill and instinctively took a step back.