episode_0236

“Huh?”

“Ah?!”

“······Oh.”

Deathly screams erupt one beat at a time.

Eugene disappeared.

On the spot, suddenly.

When I closed my eyes and opened them, Eugene was not in front of me.

“Ah…”

Nameless and Belphegor’s bodies stiffened.

This was my first time doing something like this.

Eugene just disappeared.

However, Mijeong had seen this scene before.

When Eugene enters the world inside.

When the body was sucked into it together, it disappeared like this.

However, the reason Mi-jeong was astonished was for a different reason.

“······Camellia flower?”

The spot where Eugene and the dark figure disappeared.

There was a flower blooming there.

On the wooden floor indoors.

Without any trees, a single red camellia flower bloomed alone.

Mijeong felt her whole body go numb.

Eugene’s inner world.

It was one of the four flowers blooming in that snowy field.

The meaning of the flowers was clear.

Yellow Jasmine is Jill Dinner.

The black rose is Julia.

The blue cyclamen is Yerina Frost.

A crystal formed by the bonds and memories of these three accumulating within Eugene.

So, what is this red camellia flower?

Is this a decision created by a relationship with someone?

Who on earth has a bond with Eugene as strong as those three women?

“······Why? Why, until now. Weird, girl. Didn’t you feel it?”

Mijeong got goosebumps.

The strangest thing about all is.

Until now, there had never even been a doubt about the identity of this flower.

.

.

.

Sabagsabag.

I walked through the flower field… no, I stepped on the pile of flower corpses.

Camellia flower. Red camellia flower.

Why didn’t I think this was suspicious until now?

‘Is this also a kind of perception reform?’

It was a strange thing.

I clearly realized that the true identity of the flowers was that they were heroines accumulated through repeated recurrences.

There was no doubt whatsoever about what the red camellia flower was.

Something was blocking my doubts.

It was hindering my perception.

And that hypnosis was broken the moment I entered this world.

‘see.’

It’s a world entirely covered with camellia flowers.

Beyond, something foreign began to appear.

I had a hunch.

That is the master of this world.

I started running right away.

But even though I run and run, it seems like I’m gradually getting farther away.

A feeling of helplessness deepens in my body.

The scenery in all directions gradually changes.

For some reason, I felt like I was getting sleepy.

“······.”

I was in a completely different world.

The footsteps stop.

In front of you is a wall.

It’s a wall covered with unfamiliar… no, familiar wallpaper.

“Huh.”

I looked around and ended up being the flagship.

Spacious office.

Desks and computers were crammed into it.

It’s already been more than 10 years, but I remembered it right away.

This is the company I worked for.

This is what the development department’s office looks like.

“How could I…”

Suddenly, my head started pounding and it hurt.

Why am I here?

Is it already past time to get off work?

ah. The last train will be cut off.

I quickly put on my coat, grabbed my bag, and walked out.

Just as I was about to grab the office door and turn the doorknob.

My body became stiff.

“This is crazy…”

My dazed mind returns.

Vision becomes clearer.

It was only then that I noticed it.

The picture quality in this world is quite poor.

It’s as if it was recreated based on a video of poor quality.

I was so confused that I just corrected them and accepted them.

When I came to my senses, I realized that everything was extremely awkward.

I almost got fooled by something like this.

And what on earth would have happened if I had opened this door and walked out?

Was I going to be trapped here forever, unable to come to my senses?

Was I living this fantasy without any suspicion, thinking I was back home?

I felt a rush of discomfort and got goosebumps.

“Did you think you could get rid of me with something like this?”

plod along.

I return to my office desk again and stand in front of the only monitor with the light on.

The window that appears is a familiar login screen.

I pressed the button that dragged me into this world again.

Only then did the unpleasant view of the world spread and disappear.

I was back in the world before.

Although I felt that it was the same space from the energy surrounding my body.

The unfolding scenery is completely different.

This is not a world filled with red flowers everywhere.

With only black darkness spreading widely.

It is a world where only one camellia flower is in bloom.

It’s not an ordinary flower.

I can see the will overflowing from the flower.

“What were you planning to do to me?”

|······|

“Don’t pretend you can’t speak.”

|I was planning on making you happy…|

Only then did the camellia flower begin to speak.

My fists suddenly clench.

You were planning on making me happy?

Would I have been happy if I lived trapped in that crude fantasy reconstructed based on my hazy memories?

That’s not even funny.

But what’s even more absurd is this.

There is absolutely no trace of malice from this guy.

A dramatic light extends towards the camellia flower.

Then the essence and inner feelings of the flower flow into me.

‘Would you have been happy if you had stayed there? ‘Why did it come out?’

‘If you live to escape pain, are you going to return to this world of suffering? ‘Why?’

‘It’s contradictory.’

This guy?

The way of thinking is unique.

No matter how you look at it, it is not something a human would think.

“You. Who are you?”

|It’s me… You could say he was an uninvited guest. A being that accidentally flowed into you and was trapped. I think it is also called Draken in your language.|

“······.”

Vigilance has eased somewhat.

It’s not because I learned the identity of the flower.

It’s because I realized that this world can’t harm me.

How can you be so carefree when it’s someone else’s world?

The reason is simple.

This flower is a being located inside me.

That means it belongs to me.

Therefore, the inside of this world of flowers has no choice but to be my sphere of influence.

That’s probably why this guy could only use a trick that was a trick.

“Since when?”

|It started when you looked right at me|

“······.”

I closed my eyes tightly.

I knew it.

The day I was dragged in front of Draken by Belphegor.

At that time, I clearly looked at Draken, and a part of Draken seeped into me through my eyes.

If I had left it as is, I would have been eaten by Draken.

Thanks to the three heroines who lived inside me erasing my memories of that time, I no longer recognized the camellia flower.

That’s probably why it was able to survive without being encroached further.

“I never imagined we would face each other like this.”

What can I say about this cheeky guy?

They tried to steal my body, and they even tried to trap me in a fantasy world.

But now that I know that he is under my influence, there is no need for him to be encroached upon or brainwashed.

In that case, we should take this opportunity to interrogate Draken about how to capture his body.

“You talk quite a bit? When we met before, he just let out intentions that I couldn’t understand.”

|It’s because of the curse placed on me. I am carrying the burden of a mission where no one can know my true intentions and no one can understand me.

“What did you do to give such an order…?”

|You have to ask me about that. I don’t know everything because I’m only a small part of it|

Just as I erased my existence and became unrecognizable to people.

It seems that Draken also has the fate of not being able to convey his true intentions to others.

However, here, in the world inside, you can avoid the eyes of the ‘law’ for a while.

“What were you thinking when you attacked us?”

|It’s difficult to ask me that.|

“Do you mean that I have to ask the main body as well?”

|No. You’ll have to ask the clockwork machine named Linda… I am so small and weak that it is embarrassing to even call myself a person, so it is impossible to force my will on someone. All I can do is strengthen the impulses and aspirations of my parasitic host.|

“So, attacking me and shelling the Allied Force headquarters was all Linda’s intention?”

|If you interpret it that way, it’s not wrong, but I wouldn’t say it’s accurate either. For some reason, it seemed like the only thing I could strengthen were people’s negative impulses. Doesn’t everyone have a dual side?|

“······.”

understood.

The role of this guy who is obsessed with Linda is to encourage her impulses.

Among them, only the dark and ugly aspects were highlighted, maximizing Linda’s hatred towards humans.

It was only then that I realized that the question was wrong.

What I am facing now is a part rather than a person with any will.

This is the part that came down from heaven to turn Linda into a monster of impulse.

In the process, whether Linda took control of the archive or hacked a fleet of airships and bombarded them, none of this was what this guy had intended.

In a way, it is natural that there is no sense of malice.

He had no intention of harming us from the beginning.

It simply functions as a part that faithfully performs its assigned role.

Since you are asking that part what it thinks, there is no way you can get a proper answer.

So the right question is this.

“What is your purpose?”

|······|

“What is the benefit of being parasitic on Linda?”

|Do you know about the force or attraction that acts on all things?|

“I know.”

|Then it will be easier to talk about. Attraction is the force that attracts objects that have a deep relationship with each other. Even if I separate a part of myself, a main body and force are created, but that alone is weak. However, if a part of me is parasitic on a human-like personality, a much greater attraction occurs.

“No way…!”

|At first, I scattered parts of myself throughout this world. To parasitize at least one more person. But now, what do you see that is much more efficient? The clockwork machine named Linda is so similar to me that it was calculated that if all ‘parts of myself’ were parasitized in this child, it would be able to generate a much greater human force.

It feels like I’ve been hit in the back of the head.

So, the reason Draken has been spreading his power so far was not to strengthen monsters or the Four Heavenly Kings.

Those things are just additional effects.

The only thing Draken was interested in was how to make the attraction with the present world stronger…!

“That, so how much! How much stronger has manpower become! How much time is left until Draken descends into this world?!”

|In human standard time… there are approximately three days left|

“What······.”

It’s already late.

Draken was already so close.

When I thought I had earned enough money by destroying every dungeon.

There were only three days left.