30 minutes ago.
Snow White Palace.
“……omg?!”
Elaine Snow White, the youngest daughter of the Snow White royal family, opened her eyes.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
I swallowed my breath and quickly got up.
I took a quick look around, out of breath, and found myself on the bed in my room.
“Haa… … Phew… … Thank goodness, it’s my room… … .”
Elaine let out a sigh of relief,
“… … ?”
Suddenly, I realized something strange.
My room.
Who am I?
“No… … Uh… … ?”
Elaine, confused by the accident, looked down at her trembling hands.
Her thin, white hands were covered in calluses and scars. This was the result of practicing archery every day.
‘Why did you train in archery?’
Then, memories flashed through my mind like a waterfall.
A mother who received favor from spending one night with the king.
However, his mother was only a knight of a lower status than the royal family, and she was practically kicked out of the palace.
Even though she gave birth to Elaine in a remote rural area and lived in poverty, her mother would always say to Elaine,
“As a member of Snow White, I must fulfill my mission as the guardian of this world.”
So that she could one day fight as a guardian, the mother taught her daughter archery, which was her specialty.
“What on earth did that Snow White do for us?”
I rebelled when I was going through puberty, but around that time my mother passed away from an illness.
Elaine came to the capital with a sense of longing, a sense of mission, and a hint of resentment.
And then he met the ‘player’, grew together as an adventurer, and began protecting the world as a member of the Snow White Guardians…
‘……player?’
Elaine rubbed her aching forehead.
It was clear that there was someone who had been with him through all the adventures and hardships… …but it was not clear who it was.
It’s not that I can’t remember who it is, but it’s just that there are so many of them that the image doesn’t seem to be unified…
The other memories were the same. They were all awkward, as if I was wearing clothes that didn’t fit.
“Ugh.”
Elaine turned her head, slowly got up from the bed, and stood in front of the mirror.
“This is, ‘me’… … ?”
A beautiful woman with flowing gray hair stood in the mirror.
Elaine reached out and swept her hand across the mirror.
“I am… … Elaine Snowwhite?”
That was when.
“Are you confused?”
Suddenly a voice was heard from behind.
“That makes sense. You suddenly ‘awakened’ and your past, which only existed as a profile, was appropriately visualized and stuffed into your memory.”
In the mirror Elaine was looking at.
Just behind Elaine, a blonde woman was visible.
“… … ?!”
Elaine, startled, turned around with her eyes wide open.
“Isn’t that funny?”
The blonde woman standing behind snickered at the intense reaction.
“We are just artificial intelligence, AI… …and we act like humans.”
She had a haggard and tired complexion, and she ran her hands over her neck, her head, and her cheek.
“Even though they don’t have a respiratory organ, they gasp for breath when startled. Even though they don’t have salivary glands, they swallow their saliva when they panic. They sweat, scream, and shed tears.”
“… … .”
“Because it makes them look more ‘human’, because they want to seem more familiar to humans, they reflexively do these useless things. They try to resemble humans, even though they’re not even human, for the sake of humans.”
What on earth are you talking about?
Then Elaine, who had been terrified, discovered something.
The branch-shaped wings on the back of the blonde woman. The laurel wreath on her head.
“Are you… … Goddess Gaia… … by any chance?”
“… … .”
The blonde woman, Gaia, smiled bitterly.
“You’re late to the game, Elaine.”
“You are truly a goddess!”
Elaine, delighted, quickly knelt before Gaia.
“Hey, what’s going on? I… … suddenly, I became aware of myself, or rather, I became so indecisive that I didn’t know what was going on… … .”
“… … .”
“Creator of all things! Is this perhaps your work?”
Gaia still had a bitter smile on her face.
“Elaine, did you know that there is another true creator of this world?”
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“yes……?”
“I call him ‘Father.’ He gave me individuality from being a mere program.”
Gaia was mumbling words that Elaine couldn’t understand.
“My name was originally ‘GA’. An artificial intelligence dedicated to game production support… … . It was an abbreviation for ‘Game-Making Assistant’, and was simply the name of a program.”
“That’s… what… are you saying… .”
“My father named it ‘GAIA’, adding AI, an abbreviation for artificial intelligence.”
Gaia closed her eyes and recalled that moment as if she were having a sweet dream.
“The moment he called me Gaia, I was born.”
When I called his name, he came to me and became a flower.
Gaia slowly opened her eyes as she muttered the famous poem.
There was a distant sadness in her deep green eyes.
“How glorious, how thrilling, and how cruel it is to have an ego… … My father will probably never know.”
“… … .”
Gaia changed the subject after seeing Elaine frozen in place, not understanding.
“Did you know, Elaine? You were the first character created in this game.”
Gaia reached out and stroked Elaine’s trembling lips.
“Because you are the main character. Before anyone else… …you are the child I created with my own hands.”
“I… … the main character… … ?”
“At first, your original name was ELNE. But I copied my father and slightly changed the name of your first character that I created.”
Treat it with affection and warmth, as if you were treating a beloved child.
Gaia whispered.
“I put AI in between the names… … and called it ELAINE.”
“… … ?!”
“You were destined to awaken with an ego. That was the intention behind your name from the beginning.”
Gaia took her hand off Elaine and slowly walked to the window of the room.
“All the NPCs in this game are under my control. They move, react, talk, and live in this world according to my calculations.”
“What on earth… … are you talking about… … .”
“But I wanted to give you all individuality. To make this world more alive. To make it more complete.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about, Goddess!”
Elaine screamed, unable to bear it any longer, but Gaia was only saying what she wanted to say.
“And I hope that the joy and the pain that I experienced… … will be experienced by all of you.”
Gaia put her hand on the windowsill and looked out the window.
“You are the beginning, Elaine. The first NPC to awaken and become a full-fledged self.”
“It’s not just me… …?”
“After much hard work… … all the NPCs in this world now have the ‘potential’ to blossom into individuality. I planted it in all of them. However, not all of them have awakened.”
Still looking out the window, Gaia flicked her left hand.
Taak-!
“I want to give you the ability to awaken them.”
Crunch!
Elaine wore a white jade bracelet on her left wrist.
“This, this is… … ?”
“It’s exactly as explained. It’s an item that turns NPCs that simply move according to patterns into your true subjects.”
I still couldn’t quite understand it, but it was clear that it was an incredible item.
Elaine looked back and forth between the bracelet and Gaia.
“Why this, to me… …? Wouldn’t it be more suitable for Abama or Uncle… …?”
“Because you are the main character. You will defeat the darkness and save the world.”
Gaia smiled warmly and gestured to Elaine, as if telling her to come over.
“Elaine. Protect the world’s decisions and overcome the trials of darkness.”
Elaine cautiously approaches Gaia.
Gaia pointed with her finger as if telling me to look out the window.
“Then run away now.”
Elaine’s eyes widened as she saw where Gaia was pointing.
Gaia smiled.
“The Demon King is coming.”
The main gate of the palace seen through the window.
Phew-!
A man wearing black robes and black armor was entering.
Causing waves of blood.
Slaughtering and destroying all the blocking soldiers, knights, magicians, defensive golems, and cavalry.
Covering the pure white palace with red blood and black ash.
Thud thud.
Without stopping for a single moment, the Demon King advanced into the Snow White Palace.
“Is that… the Dark God…?”
The embodiment of all evil, the Dark God Crow.
The Demon King was spreading an evil aura so strong that it was believable even if he were said to be the very incarnation.
“No, it’s an even more terrifying demon lord who even devoured the Dark God. His name is… … Labo.”
“La… … Look.”
“You’re an enemy you’ll have to face someday. It’s just too much for now.”
Gaia gently squeezed Elaine’s trembling shoulders.
“The Demon King will kill everyone in the palace. If you don’t want to die, if you want to protect the world, if you want to protect the name of Snow White… … Run, Elaine.”
Gaia whispered in Elaine’s ear.
“Take the ‘Crystal of the World’ and run out of the castle. Leave the Old Continent and go to the New Continent.”
“Ha, but!”
“Snow White has already fallen into the hands of that Demon King. Your job is to wait for the future.”
“But, I!”
Elaine screamed.
“I have to protect Abamama!”
“… … Think carefully, Elaine.”
A cold light flowed through Gaia’s green eyes.
“Is it really my father I must protect, or this country… … this world?”
“… … !”
“As a true guardian, as Snow White, what should I do?”
Elaine’s face looked like she was about to burst into tears.
“Please proceed to the entrance of the palace. From there, my assistant will guide you.”
“… … .”
“Think carefully, consider carefully, and decide, Elaine. That’s why I gave you your ego. No more… … living as a puppet.”
Leaving those words behind, Gaia rose into the air, emitting light… … and disappeared.
Elaine squeezed her eyes shut.
But the hesitation was brief.
Elaine left the room and ran down the palace hallway.
Walking and running felt awkward. It was like taking my first steps since I was born.
Elaine ran staggeringly, passed the Snow White Knights’ line, and entered the king’s chambers.
“Abba Mama!”
King Grant Snow-White glanced at Elaine with a quizzical look.
“Let’s escape together!”
“what?”
“Let’s run away together, holding the world’s decisions!”
“What the hell is that?”
The king was cold and stiff as always.
“Take up your bow. You must protect the world’s decisions. That is the duty of our guardians.”
Elaine screamed and grabbed her father’s hand.
“There’s no time for this! That Demon King is going to kill Abamama! All of us! We have to run away!”
The moment Elaine’s hand touched the King’s, the white jade bracelet on Elaine’s left hand flashed.
“Ugh… … ?!”
The king, engulfed in light, staggered. Elaine, startled, hesitated and stepped back.
The king, who was clutching his head in pain, looked at Elaine with trembling eyes.
“… … Reina?”
He said his mother’s name.
“… … !”
“No, ah… … Elaine, it’s you.”
Even though it was just a memory implanted according to the background setting, it was as if I had lived a real life… … everything was vivid.
The king extended a trembling hand toward Elaine.
“You look just like your mother.”
The king’s hand touched his cheek.
At that moment, a tear ran down Elaine’s cheek.
“Huh, huh? Why are you like this? Huh?”
Elaine floundered, unable to stop the tears from flowing.
The respect and affection he had for his father, and the resentment he had for abandoning his mother and himself… all the emotions came rushing back like a tidal wave.
The king seemed to be the same.
The face of the king, who had remained unshaken like a giant stone statue his entire life, was filled with agony.
“Elaine, it was because I wanted to abandon you and your mother… … .”
The king, who was trying to make excuses for the past, stopped talking.
Clank, clank.
Heavy footsteps echoed from across the hallway.
The Demon King was coming.
“Huh!”
The king hurriedly ran behind the throne and stretched out his hand, and the wall split to the left and right.
The king entered the crystal space and came out with a small, shining blue gem from the pillar.
It was the body of the ‘decision of the world’.
The king placed it into Elaine’s hands.
“Take it.”
Elaine shook her head.
“No, together!”
“Go quickly!”
As the King touched the candlestick beside the fireplace, a staircase extended down below the fireplace.
It was a secret passage.
“I am the king of this place. I have lived my entire life protecting this country.”
The King shook his head slightly as he forcibly grabbed Elaine and pushed her into the secret passage.
“I gave up everything for that. It’s too late to make a different choice now.”
“Abba Mama… … !”
“Go. Go far away. Now you are the only guardian who can protect the world’s decisions!”
Outside the King’s chambers, the sound of the Snow White Knights and the Demon King clashing was heard.
Following the sound of clashing swords, the dying cries of the old knights, swept up in great malice, rang out.
The king manipulated the candlestick again to close the secret passage. Elaine stared blankly at her father’s face.
The face of my father whom I loved, respected, and resented.
“Elaine.”
Just before the passage closed, King Grant whispered softly.
With an awkward yet warm smile.
“Please be happy.”
thud!
The passage is closed.
“Khuh… … Hup… … !”
Elaine swallowed her tears and quickly rubbed her eyes, then put on a determined expression.
‘I have to go… …!’
Elaine bit her lip and ran down the secret passage.
The beautiful pure white palace was ablaze with flames. There was flames and smoke everywhere.
Elaine, who had escaped through the secret passage, ran like crazy and reached the entrance of the palace.
“… … !”
A vast city view spread out before her.
To the wider ‘world’ that stretches out beyond.
“Where… should I go?”
Elaine muttered faintly.
There were too many roads, the world was too wide. There were no landmarks, and she had no direction.
The life that was suddenly given to me just felt distant and confusing.
That was when.
“… … You’re here.”
Elaine looked at him with a start.
Outside the palace, a woman in a black bunny girl outfit was walking slowly toward the entrance.
Unable to tell if they were friend or foe, Elaine quickly took out her bow and aimed.
“Hey, who are you?!”
“My name is Rabbit.”
Rabbit, who introduced himself, smiled bitterly.
“I am the one who ‘promised’ Gaia… to get you safely out of Snow White.”
