Episode 58
Irina, who had a blank expression on her face for a while, began to mutter in a low voice.
“What is this memory…? Why have I been doing this until now…”
Kania, who was quietly looking at her, sighed and asked a question.
“Irina, you were the one who noticed the master’s evil, right?”
Irina, who had a confused look in her eyes at those words, slowly nodded, clenched her hands and said.
“Then… Frey was trying to protect me… his mother…”
“You managed to remember it. You had to access your subconscious to recall that memory.”
“iced coffee…”
“Is it because your memories were manipulated in a different way than you and I? I couldn’t remember anything when I entered this room. Well, since you learned the truth on your own, there’s no need to explain it in a painful way.”
As Kania spoke calmly, Irina sat down with a completely soulless expression.
“I didn’t want to know this truth…”
“Me too. I feel so guilty right now that I want to atone by telling everything to the master.”
Kania, who was sitting across from Irina, began to speak in a low voice.
“However, this matter must not be made known to you, Master, until everything is over.”
“Well, that’s…”
“You always say you’re fine, but… I think your mental state is at its limit. If you’ve spent a day with me, you’d know that well.”
When Irina’s expression darkened as she remembered Frey’s face while she was seeing the illusion at those words, Kania sighed as if she knew that would happen.
“Furthermore, there are still many trials that you will have to go through in the future. The first trial is just about over… To be honest, I am also afraid of what will come next.”
“…Tsk.”
Eventually, when Kania mentioned ‘ordeal’, Irina lowered her head and began to tremble.
“…Irina, can I ask you a favor?”
“What…”
When Kania, who was looking at Irina sheepishly, asked quietly, Irina answered in a voice that had lost all energy.
“Please don’t blame me too much, Master.”
“what?”
Kania, who spoke to Irina with a bitter expression, let out a deep sigh and continued speaking.
“There is probably no one in the entire world as pitiful as you, Master. So, please don’t hate me too much.”
“…under.”
Looking at Kania, who was blaming her for help, but was begging her not to, Irina was able to get a rough idea of how lonely the two had been fighting.
“Tell me everything you know.”
“yes?”
And, that’s why she finally gave an answer.
“I want to know the truth in more detail.”
The answer to the question of whether to ignore the truth and run away, or to accept it and find strength.
“It won’t be an easy road. Every moment will be painful, and sometimes you will have impulsive thoughts.”
“doesn’t care.”
“Are you really ready to join us?”
Looking at her like that, Kania asked again and again until the end.
Although it was a situation where a colleague was more urgent than anything else, a sense of kinship and compassion was implicitly expressed because he knew how great the pain was when he chose this lonely path where no one recognized him.
But even Kania already knew that in her heart.
“Hurry up and tell me.”
Irina, who already had a determined look in her eyes, said that she would never change her mind.
“ha…”
After hearing Irina’s confirmation, Kania sighed with a mixture of relief and resignation, looked straight at Irina, who looked exactly like her, and said.
“Okay then, let’s begin.”
.
“Ha… Okay, what is it this time?”
I followed Aria into the room and collapsed while clutching my head. Before I knew it, I was in a closed, dark space that I hated so much.
“Ugh… I hate it, I hate it.”
Thanks to this, I was so fed up that I lay down on the floor and soon started laughing and muttering.
“Still, I heard it’s good for mental training.”
In the past, whenever I entered a space like this, my hands would shake and I would have trouble breathing, but after being locked in my room a lot due to the ordeal, those symptoms have almost disappeared.
Not only that, I was able to exercise my mind by seeing various other terrible scenes, had a birthday party, and was able to meet my mother.
Looking at it, the system’s trials were intended to make me stronger…
“P-frey…”
“…Ugh.”
I was trying to praise the system somehow, but my mother, mortally wounded, appeared before my eyes. As expected, the system guy must be a bastard who can’t relate to each other.
Thanks to this, I felt a little uncomfortable, but I can’t make my mind explode just because a scene like that is shown. In the first place, isn’t that just an illusion?
“Help… Frey…”
“My mother never asked for help, you stupid system.”
As I said that, pushing away the illusion of someone reaching out to me, I sighed and fell into thought.
“Anyway… I need to quickly find out who noticed it…”
Since I still haven’t figured out who noticed me, I’m starting to get nervous.
I was able to figure out that Irina and Klarana were ‘suspicious’ of me with my ‘mind reading’ skill, but that wasn’t enough.
“Ha… Should I buy the mind reading skill LV2? No, the vitality recovery skill is more urgent than that.”
Even if you push the points you earn into the investment system, it will not be enough, so buying a skill worth tens of thousands of points would be a pretty serious loss.
However, since there are pros and cons, we need to think a little more about this…
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– I’m going to go to the middle of the day!!
“Oh my, so bad.”
While I was lost in thought for a while, I started hearing a loud noise in front of me.
“under…”
This time, I was wondering if he was showing me another illusion, and I saw my mother hurriedly running through the forest holding something.
“…Now they even give it a story.”
The system that thought I would tremble because of the trauma if they threw my mother’s body at me seemed to have made up its mind when I saw my sour reaction.
– I’m going to go to the middle of the day! Puzzle!
“Ugh.”
My mother, who was running with injuries all over her body, urgently threw herself to the side while emitting star mana when black energy flew from behind her.
“Ugh…”
My mother, who managed to avoid the black energy, started running somewhere.
“I can’t do it… anymore than this…”
After running like that for a while, my mother suddenly looked down at what she was holding and started talking.
“Umm…Mom?”
“…Shh.”
Eventually, when I heard the sound of my childhood, I was able to recognize what my mother was holding and running.
“Should we, Frey, play hide and seek with mom?”
“Yes! Let’s play hide and seek!”
When the young me answered brightly, my mother said with a soft smile.
“Okay, then Mom will play tag.”
“I want to play tag?”
“You already did it once last time.”
When young me heard that and made a pouty face, my mother smiled and said,
“Instead, from now on I’ll just play tag.”
Only then did I laugh, and my mother put down me from holding me and opened her mouth.
“We’re going to change the rules a bit this time, Frey.”
“Change the rules?”
“Yeah, we smart Freys will understand right away, right?”
When I nodded with bright eyes, my mother quickly began explaining the rules.
“Mom, I’m going to count to 100 here, so Frey will run and count to 100 as well. Do you understand up to this point?”
“of course!”
As I confidently shouted, my mother stroked my young head and continued speaking.
“Once you count to 100, you must stop moving and hide yourself from what is around you. And, you must never reveal yourself.”
“huh!”
My mother, who was still looking at me as a child who was answering brightly, suddenly closed her eyes and hugged me.
“Mom, why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”
When I laughed and asked about such behavior, my mother, who remained silent for a moment, answered with a trembling voice.
“This game ends when Mom finds Frey and hugs him tightly like this. Do you understand everything?”
“I understand everything!”
“So, are you prepared to eat me if you resist with a wooden stick like last time?”
“lol.”
When I laughed awkwardly at those words and tried to run forward, my mother stopped me by holding my arm for a moment and then added in a low voice.
“I love you, my son.”
“me too!”
My mother, who left me as a child with those words, gathered the star mana in her hands and muttered as she walked in the opposite direction from where she had run so far.
“…So make sure you survive.”
And the next moment, a narrow, dark room began to appear in my field of vision again.
“f*ck.”
After witnessing a scene that seemed quite plausible, I frowned and muttered.
“…Even so, it’s just an illusion.”
Suddenly, I remembered the scene in my last dream where my younger self told Irina to stay hidden.
If that’s true, it would explain why my memories were manipulated into memories of playing hide and seek.
Actually, I guess the truth to some extent, but
Anyway, that’s just an illusion. It is an ‘illusion’ presented by the system to make me suffer and suffer.
So, even if I see a fantasy created for such a trivial purpose, it doesn’t hurt me at all.
It will be so.
“Fray.”
While I was thinking that, my surroundings suddenly became blurry and I started hearing someone’s voice.
‘Ah, it looks like he’s about to wake up.’
At the same time, as I felt my head becoming clearer, I realized that it was time to wake up from my fantasy and quietly opened my eyes.
“Good morning?”
Then, someone who was looking down at me came into my field of vision.
“Ugh… the head.”
As I was looking at a being whose identity I could not figure out for some reason, I felt pain in my head for a moment and looked around, then smiled and muttered.
“What, is this also a fantasy?”
“What do you mean?”
When someone tilted his head and asked me what I said, I pointed to the beyond and said,
“Isn’t there Irina over there wearing Kania’s clothes?”
“I see.”
“It’s even so tight that I’m taking off my suit… Push, Puff…”
After laughing and pointing at Irina, who was quietly lowering her head for a while, I realized that Kania, who was next to her, was saying something to Irina.
“…This is the story of everything you have experienced so far.”
“Ahhh…”
As I looked increasingly horrified at that sight, I quickly started to approach the two people sitting in front of the desk.
“I’m sorry… Frey.”
Eventually, I noticed that her eyes were red and bloodshot, her nose was red, and there were tear marks on her face.
The moment I confirmed that, everything that had happened so far began to organize itself in my head.
A place of refuge that was somehow familiar, Cania whose reaction was somehow different from usual, Cania who caught the things Irina used to catch when she was young, and even a forest full of memories with Irina when she was young.
“ha ha ha…”
Because my mind was spinning so quickly, I figured out the truth in an instant and started laughing.
“Haha… Ahhaha…”
After laughing for a long time, I asked Irina, who had her head down, in a low voice.
“You were the one who noticed my weakness two months ago?”
“Frey, my… I was wrong… ugh…”
However, she was just crying with tears dripping from her eyes.
“No, you don’t have to feel guilty…”
I reached out my hand to comfort her, but…
“…what?”
For some reason, my hand ended up passing through Irina’s shoulder.
“W-what is this?”
Because of this, I was very embarrassed and quickly pulled my hand away from her shoulder and touched my hand with my other hand, but sure enough, instead of interlocking, my hands passed through each other.
“…Am I dead?”
“I don’t know.”
I stared blankly at that figure for a while, muttering in a hollow voice, and then when someone who was next to me responded to what I said, I turned my gaze to the side.
“W-what? You?”
However, because the being’s entire body was shining, I couldn’t figure out who it was, so when I frowned and asked, the being slowly opened its mouth.
“First of all, take a good look at what’s happening now.”
And as soon as she finished saying that, Kania opened her mouth, so I turned my gaze again and started looking at the two people sitting at the desk.
“Irina, are you really going to do that?”
“…Yes, that’s the only way to avoid the ‘curse’ you’re talking about and be of any help to Frey.”
“Yes, I understand. Then…”
As Irina, who had already stopped crying, spoke with a determined expression, Kania began to cautiously move her hands.
“Ugh…!”
Then, the huge dark magic above the room began to be sucked into Irina’s body.
“Irina, I’ll say it again… This method forces dark magic into the mana circuit that has dried out and twisted due to mana exhaustion, so it’s quite painful…”
“Whatever happens, it won’t be less than the pain Frey felt.”
“Well, just hold on a little longer.”
Soon, Kania, who warned Irina once again, began to pour black magic into Irina even faster.
“Ugh…! Ugh…”
“I’m sorry. It would have been a little less painful if I had used my dark magic.”
“With the dark magic you have… no matter how many years you accumulate it, it’s not enough. The dark magic above is enough… for success… Wow…!”
Irina, who had been absorbing the dark magic for a long time, eventually fell down on the desk and began to tremble.
“No way… Are you trying to fool the system by filling the mana circuit with dark magic until the mana exhaustion period ends?”
As I was watching the scene, I realized their plan and started clicking my tongue.
That’s because only Irina, who is exhausted from mana and has an innate sense of mana management, can attempt something like that, and things could go terribly wrong if she’s not careful.
If that black magic ritual fails, the mana circuit in Irina’s body may be permanently damaged and she may become incapable of mana.
This is the mana inability that wizards fear more than death.
“Hwaaaaa!!”
“Hold on just a little longer, Irina. We’re almost done.”
While I was thinking that, the wolf in front of me suddenly started screaming horribly.
I was so embarrassed by this that I tried to run to her, but then I looked down at my hands still passing through each other, realized that I couldn’t be of any help now, and began to quietly watch the outcome.
“Ahhh… Ugh…
“Are you okay, Irina?”
After a while, black smoke began to rise from Irina, and Kania carefully turned to her and asked a question.
“This much… it’s nothing.”
Then, Irina, whose entire body’s mana circuits were stained pitch black and exposed like blood vessels, answered while exhaling heavily.
“…the ritual is a success.”
Then Kania sighed, sat down, wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, and answered.
“Then now, master and young lady…”
After catching their breath for a while, the two turned to the bed where Aria and I were lying…
-Shoooooo…
“…what?”
For some reason, I and Aria, who were sleeping soundly, were lying in bed, and I started to panic when a black energy appeared from somewhere and began to permeate me.
“Joe, why can’t I control it?”
Kania, embarrassed by the sight, urgently stretched out her hand, but for some reason the black magic could not be controlled, so she began to run to the bed in panic.
– Bub bub bung!!
“…hot!”
However, when Aria suddenly stood up and spouted star mana from her hand, Cania quickly took a step back and asked a question in a very nervous voice.
“Miss? Why are you doing this?”
Then, Aria, who was looking at her, raised the corners of her mouth…
– Bub bub bub bung!!
“Ugh!!”
Soon, he started showering Cania with starlight indiscriminately.
“How did this happen?”
And at that point everything stopped and I started looking around in confusion.
“It’s thought.”
“yes?”
Then, someone who was next to me started talking quietly.
“The thoughts of two people who died in an accident while exploring a foolish truth were mixed with black magic, and when the black magic disappeared, it revealed itself.”
“Well, that is…”
“Even if it’s just a thought, it looks like the desire hasn’t disappeared. Seeing as it used you and your younger brother as hosts.”
“ah…”
After roughly understanding the situation, I sighed and said,
“Then am I dead?”
“No, now I just lost control of my body.”
“okay.”
As I silently nodded and stared blankly at the moment when I stopped, the being next to me implicitly asked a question.
“Do you want to give up?”
After hearing that, I frowned and looked to the side, and the being began to speak in a soft tone.
“From now on, it’s up to you.”
“My choice?”
“Yes, everything will depend on your choice.”
Saying that, the being began to approach me, and I asked the being a question with a calm expression.
“What if I give up here?”
“It’s eternal rest. It’ll probably feel pretty good.”
“okay.”
When I nodded quietly, the being continued speaking in a soft voice.
“No one will blame you. You did your best and you deserved it…”
“What if we keep moving forward?”
However, when I interrupted the conversation and asked the question again, the being answered in a dry voice.
“It will be a series of hardships and adversities.”
After hearing those words, I closed my eyes, and the being hurriedly added another word.
“Perhaps you may experience a situation that is more unreasonable and more terrible than now… and you may face your end without being able to make this choice. Still…”
“It’s okay, give me a hug.”
After interrupting that being once again, I said with a smile.
“I’ll try playing tag too.”
Then the light that was sparkling before my eyes began to spread out in all directions and brighten the room.
“…How did you know?”
And soon, a woman appeared in my field of vision with sparkling light spreading everywhere, tilting her head and asking a question, and I slowly approached her and began to answer.
“The ceiling is full of dark magic, but the light coming into the room means that there is something more powerful than that energy above the black magic…”
Eventually, I hugged my mother, who appeared in front of me in her perfect form, and finished speaking with a bright smile.
“More than anything, you care so much about me. How can I not recognize you?”
“You grew up straight.”
As I hugged my mother for a long time, I muttered quietly as I felt the warmth and light spreading everywhere seep into me.
“I will definitely survive.”
Then my mother, who slowly became a piece of light and seeped into me, smiled and answered.
“Then whose son is he?”
After saying those words, my mother completely absorbed into my body along with the mana of the stars that filled the ceiling, and immediately after that, a system window appeared in front of me.
[The first trial ends early!]
[By meeting the following conditions…]
“Damn.”
I removed the system window right in front of my eyes and muttered quietly as I felt the scene around me gradually change.
“…How dare you put a spoon on it.”
.
“Do, master! Lady!”
When I came to my senses, a quite gruesome scene unfolded before my eyes.
“Ugh…”
“Come to your senses! Please!”
Kania and Irina were lying on the floor of the half-destroyed room, Aria was approaching them, radiating a lot of black magic, and I was surrounded by the mana of twinkling stars.
“Please…! Please…!”
“Cania.”
I called out in a low voice to Kania, who had a desperate look on her face and was trying to stop Aria and me in any way possible.
“I know that?”
“yes?”
When I, who had been attacking her fiercely just a moment ago, suddenly asked in a calm voice, Kania began to look embarrassed.
“I mean…”
After staring at her, I stretched out my hand and smiled brightly as I spoke.
“…I’ve wanted to do magic at least once for a long time.”
And the next moment, the sparkling flashes that erupted from my hand instantly enveloped everyone except Kania and Irina.
– Shaaaa…
Then, the dark magic spread in the room began to be purified in an instant, and Aria, who was approaching Kania and Irina, lost consciousness and fell to the floor.
– Shoo!
Soon, a black sphere came out of Aria’s body and began to fly towards me at bullet-like speed, so I wrapped the sword in my left hand with star mana and simply cut the sphere down and added,
“Still, I’m still more used to the sword.”
fantasy,
