The Gamer's POV-Chapter 251: A Beautiful Heart
"The scholar remained silent, pondering the wise words of his Lord. After a moment, the Lord looked back at the scholar, smiled, and said contemplatively, ’Since karma is weighted by intention, do you want to know what emotions I think serve as the most evil karma?’
"The scholar slowly nodded in anticipation. Seeing that, the Lord replied, ’Hatred, anger, and wrath.’"
At that moment, the voice faded and time flowed again in the made-up world.
The real Cedric, who was still doubled over in agony, suddenly saw the illusory Cedric stand up and run out of the house.
The illusory self ran without stopping until he reached the village square. The air there was thick with the smell of smoke and the lingering, metallic scent of blood. He pushed through the small crowd of villagers, who were still standing around with some cursing and others looking at the corpse in satisfied silence. They didn’t even care as he threw himself onto the ground, his hands frantically clawing at the rocks to reach the broken form of his sister.
He reached out for the head of his little sister, but he didn’t touch it, and his trembling hand just hovered above her. After a few seconds, he retrieved his hand and ran it frantically through his hair in grief, while muttering something to himself.
As the real Cedric watched him, he felt the grief, which was already amplified threefold, change to hatred and rage. Despite not being remotely connected to this Juliana, and despite knowing that this whole scenario was made up, the emotions were overwhelming.
In fact, at this point, Cedric was not even sure what was real and what was not.
He tried not to think too much about reality, because if he did, that would trigger the end of the test, and he would wake up. So instead of that, he let himself be immersed in this made-up world.
But... it was hell.
’Why did they have to kill her when all she did was defend herself? Why couldn’t they investigate the reason she killed Daniel?’ the real Cedric thought as he stared at the lifeless corpse on the ground.
He could hear his illusory self mutter repeatedly, "I’ll kill them. I’ll kill them all."
And the more he muttered, the more the real self felt intense rage.
At that moment, Cedric saw a figure walking up to his illusory self. It was a familiar, beautiful woman dressed in a black hooded cloak that was adorned with black feathers.
When Cedric saw her, his eyes widened in disbelief. "Aika?"
A frown formed on his face as he called out, "Aika, what are you doing here?"
But Aika did not seem to hear him and just kept approaching his illusory self. When she reached him, she leaned in and placed a hand on his shoulder, then said in a honeyed, velvet voice, "Do you need my help?"
The illusory Cedric slowly looked up at her, and when his eyes met hers, she offered a small, knowing smile.
"I can help you kill them all. I can give you the revenge your sister deserves. You have already accumulated so much bad karma, Cedric. What is a little more?"
The illusory self stared into her eyes, which were twin pools of black void, then he asked, "Who are you?"
Her smile widened, revealing her teeth, as she replied, "I am hatred, anger, and wrath. I am the absolute evil."
’What? What is even happening? I’m so confused right now,’ the real Cedric thought as he alternated gazes between the both of them.
Slowly, Aika extended a hand to the illusory self, then said in a voice even more intoxicating than before, "Take my hand, and I will help you unleash your evil on all those who hurt her."
The illusory self stared at her palm. He did not even hesitate, and in the seconds that followed, he reached for her hand.
Suddenly, an evil grin spread across Aika’s face, and in the next instant, she vanished as if she were never there. The illusory Cedric’s eyes bled from blue to a piercing, dark red. And all of a sudden, it was as if something truly evil had possessed him.
No one seemed to see Aika vanish. In fact, it seemed that no one had seen Aika at all.
The illusory Cedric slowly stood upright and turned his head to see that the villagers were dispersing. Taking the dagger from his waist, he suddenly lunged at the nearest person, plunging the blade deep into their neck.
Panic erupted in the square as Cedric stabbed the next victim with a brutal fury.
The men around tried to overpower him, but this Cedric was suddenly faster and more lethal than any human could be. And so, the square quickly turned into a slaughterhouse of red snow and screams.
***
It was as if a demon, or maybe a devil, had been unleashed in the village. The people of this village did not seem to have magic, and so they could not defend themselves from this Cedric, who moved as if possessed by some supernatural force.
His sister, Tessa, had said that almost everyone in the village had stoned Juli, and so, he proceeded to massacre almost everyone in the village. Men, women, and even children fell before his blade as he showed no mercy to anyone.
The real Cedric saw him enter a house where a lady was hiding with her daughter. The lady pleaded, but this Cedric, who was already consumed by the absolute darkness of his own rage, did not even blink as he raised his red-stained dagger. Then, he brought the blade down, killing both the mother and her daughter.
Meanwhile, the real Cedric had no choice but to watch the scene in horror.
It felt like he was the one committing the massacre, and worse, unlike the illusory Cedric who only felt rage, the real Cedric also felt other emotions like guilt, horror, and disgust. All of which were amplified, of course.
He tried to stop this version of himself from at least killing the defenseless children, but he was invisible to the world, and so, he could not do anything other than watch in agony.
By the time a few hours had passed, the entire village had fallen, with the exception of his family who were left cowering in the corner of their blood-stained home after failing to stop the illusory Cedric from his massacre.
At the end of it all, he walked through the quiet streets of the village back to the spot where his sister had been killed, then he dropped onto his knees. After staring at the bloodied dagger for a long moment, he heard a voice in his head:
"You have gone too far."
The illusory Cedric began to feel his rage dissolve into guilt, and his red eyes reverted to their original, sorrowful blue. At that moment, a tear flowed out of his eyes as he repeated, "I have gone too far."
"Yes," the voice whispered, "So end it."
He raised the dagger to his chest, took a few breaths, and finally, he plunged the dagger into his heart.
The moment he did that, the entire made-up reality collapsed, and the real Cedric found himself back in the gray, dark expanse.
He was breathing heavily, and his face was pale and slick with a cold, terrified sweat.
’Is it over?’
His eyes darted around the dark space in disbelief until they finally settled on the massive being in chains. Then, as if to answer him, the familiar voice spoke again.
"At the end of the story, the Lord turned to the scholar who had been listening to him in silent awe, then said, ’Do you now understand what a beautiful heart is?’
"The scholar nodded and replied, ’Yes. Rather than feel the emotions, a beautiful heart goes beyond that. It feels the good and the absolute evil in others and manipulates that. In a way, one can even say that a beautiful heart feels the karma in people.’
"The Lord smiled and stood. Then as he began walking away, he whispered, ’Indeed, you are wise.’
The space... fell silent after that.
For a long moment, the only thing that could be heard was the loud thumping of Cedric’s heart.
’A beautiful heart, huh.’ Still doubled over on the ground, he slowly lifted his head to the massive, beating organ suspended in front of the hanging being.
From what he knew, every evolution needed a trigger. The last time, it was the feather. So, after thinking about all he had been through since getting here, Cedric exhaled, and with his gaze still fixed on the beating heart, he thought...
’That’s the trigger. A beautiful heart.’ 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
At that moment, his heart suddenly thumped even faster, and then... it exploded. The hot, metallic juices rushed out of his mouth, pouring onto the gray ground in a thick, steaming pool.
Cedric’s body fell to the ground, and at the same time, the beautiful heart above began to descend while still beating. Then it suddenly dissolved into smoke that flowed into his open mouth, after which it formed a new heart in Cedric’s chest.
...And then, his evolution began.
