Chapter 42

───────────

Episode 9 - World of Dreams [3]

─────────────────────────────────

"Hey, human, can you put your hand on this slime?"

Lumina looked at the Specter of Dream in confusion.

She had tried to enter the queen’s palace, but the Specters of Dream told her that she could only enter if the queen allowed it.

So she had to stay outside.

Meanwhile, the Specters of Dream flew around her.

Out of nowhere, they made a slime appear.

She asked, confused:

"And what is this supposed to mean?"

The Specters of Dream looked at each other.

"Oh, it’s nothing important, but it’ll be fun, give it a try."

Their actions were far too suspicious. Lumina sighed and extended her hand.

At that moment, maybe it was her imagination, but she swore she heard a faint giggle.

She turned toward the Specters of Dream and, out of nowhere, they began to whistle.

’This is very suspicious.’

Anyway, she finally touched the slime, and it reacted to her touch.

Then, suddenly, its form changed; before, it had been a simple slime, and now it was an extremely familiar figure.

’Adel.’

The slime had turned into Adel. His blindfolded eyes seemed to be staring straight at her.

He had a smile on his face. Then, by instinct, she brought her hand toward the blindfold and, before she could lift it...

The Specters of Dream burst into laughter.

She turned toward them and asked:

"What’s so funny?"

One of them calmed down and said:

"That is... what you touched wasn’t just any slime, human."

"Yes, yes, that slime reveals the person you’re in love with."

"Pfft... ha, ha, look at her expression, it changed instantly."

"Ha, ha, that’s very funny, very funny."

"..."

Lumina’s body froze, and by instinct, she turned her head toward the slime that had turned into Adel.

And, out of nowhere, she struck that face that wore a knowing smile.

"Ahhhh!!!"

For the first time in this regression, her emotions burst out.

Meanwhile, the Specters of Dream laughed loudly.

***

"Even for me it is difficult, but... I see three faces in your soul in total."

"What...?"

My expression changed multiple times as I processed her words.

But my thoughts kept spinning and spinning.

My gaze drifted into the void as I barely thought about her words.

Many might not understand it, but I more or less have an idea.

"W-what do you mean?"

The queen looked at me in silence. However, since she wasn’t human, I couldn’t tell what kind of expression she had at that moment.

But that didn’t matter.

It didn’t matter at all.

She looked me in the eyes as if she were deciding what to say.

Then, after a while, she opened her mouth and spoke slowly:

"I see three faces in your soul. Of course, one of them, the clearest one, is your current appearance; the second is harder to see, but it belongs to an adult; and the third... well, I only know that there is a third face, but..."

She fell silent, noticing that my expression was constantly changing.

’Three faces... one of them is my current self, the second is from my past life.’

Then, what does the third one mean?

I lowered my gaze and noticed that my hands were trembling.

I didn’t know why I was reacting like this at this moment.

But even so, the queen continued.

"I can’t really be sure if there are only three faces in total. It’s so faint and almost impossible to see, but instinctively I feel like there are more, not four, but dozens... tens of thousands."

"..."

I brought both hands to my face. I rubbed the bridge of my nose as I processed her words.

I know that I come from a place called "Earth" and that this world used to be a game back then.

But for some time now, different thoughts have been surrounding my mind.

What if a place called Earth never actually existed and this world was never a game?

Then what purpose am I following?

I feel like I’m walking along a path with no real purpose or goal.

As if I’m simply being guided toward an unknown place by instinct.

’More than two faces... that means I have lived different lives.’

I didn’t know if that was true, but the only memories I had were from my past life as a video game developer.

That was all.

But at the same time, a thought crossed my mind.

’What was my name... what exactly did I look like? I can’t even remember anymore.’

I don’t remember my name or my appearance, and now that I thought about it...

’What was my daily life like?’

I only remembered going to the office and working, and that my assistant was always there, talking and wasting time.

I remembered most things about the game, such as its characters, its story, its scenarios, and so on.

But after that, I don’t remember anything.

’Since when did I forget my daily life?’

I didn’t know how much I had forgotten about myself.

Finally, I looked up and asked after a while.

"What does the second face look like exactly?"

The queen replied.

"Like that of an adult man with a tired expression, that’s all that can be seen."

I nodded at her words; I didn’t know if that was how she saw me.

But, knowing that I was a video game developer...

I could more or less guess what my face looked like. Even so, I didn’t remember it, nor did I know anything else.

At that moment, the queen suddenly said something unexpected.

"A long time ago, a human came whom they now know as the Lady of the Beasts."

I focused completely on her words.

If she was talking about her, perhaps it was related to me.

"The reason why she came, even I didn’t fully understand it, but what she said was..."

My expression changed when she spoke the following words.

"Perhaps one day a strange human will come before you. I don’t know how you will see them at that time, but when they come, give them this."

The queen snapped her fingers, and in front of me, a ring appeared.

I took the ring and examined it closely; at first glance, it was an ordinary ring.

But... was this really ordinary?

Then the queen’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts and she explained.

"I don’t know what that ring is, but the Lady of the Beasts said that its rightful owner might one day discover what it contains."

I tightened my grip on the ring as several thoughts ran through my mind.

The Lady of the Beasts knew about me, or at least something.

She left this ring with some kind of secret inside it that only time would reveal.

’No matter how much I look at it, I can’t find anything out of the ordinary.’

It was strange, since this was the first object from one of the Primogenitors to appear.

It is said that objects created by the Primogenitors contained unimaginable powers and secrets.

And one of them was in my hands.

’But there’s nothing.’

Coming out of my thoughts, I asked the queen several questions.

"Did the Lady of the Beasts say anything else?"

"No, that was all. After leaving me the ring, she disappeared, and shortly after, I learned that she and the other seven had vanished."

At her last words, I quickly asked the following question.

"Do you know what exactly happened to them?"

She shook her head.

"I don’t know. They simply disappeared as if they had never existed. It didn’t even seem like they dreamed, since there was never any dream from them. They are truly mysterious humans."

The part about dreams definitely left me bewildered; every living being dreams at least once.

It is impossible not to dream, unless you have absolute control or a certain status in the World of Dreams.

It is almost impossible not to dream.

Then I asked another question.

"Other than the Lady of Beasts, did the other seven never come?"

"I’m not sure. They might have entered the World of Dreams, but since this world is almost infinite, I can’t know for certain if any of them entered."

I nodded.

"I suppose that’s true... By the way, do you know the name of the Lady of Beasts or that of the other seven?"

The queen shook her head, sighed, and said.

"I don’t know. Back then, I tried to read the thoughts of the Lady of Beasts, but there was interference. It was something like a screen... it’s better if I show it."

The queen snapped her fingers, and something far too familiar appeared in front of me.

’That is... the Holy Land system.’ 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Does that mean the Firstborn had Status Windows?

Then that means they also come from Earth.

’But does Earth really exist?’

My head was spinning, however, there was something unsettling.

Then why can the queen read my thoughts?

If the system intervened, why didn’t it do so when the queen was reading my thoughts?

By the way, I told her to stop reading my thoughts, and she agreed.

So I could think clearly.

’Ugh, seriously, I have a strong headache.’

"You seem to be in a state of confusion. It should be normal, since you’ve discovered things you didn’t know before."

I nodded at her words and murmured.

"Honestly, I don’t understand myself at all."

And it was true, I no longer knew exactly who I was.

Ever since I confirmed my dark fate, ever since I received that fable as compensation.

And now, a soul with so many faces that not even a god like the Queen of the Specters of Dream could see it clearly.

In addition, there was an unknown item left by the Lady of the Beasts specifically for me.

’There are so many inconsistencies.’

Sighing, I looked once more at the screen the queen was showing me.

It had no text, so I didn’t know if, at that moment, it was sending some kind of warning to the Lady of the Beasts.

I knew that only players had the Status Window, but the inhabitants of the Holy Land did not.

Not even Lumina, who had uncovered so many secrets, knew of the existence of the Status Window.

And at that very moment, as I stared intently at the screen shown by the queen,

suddenly, a similar screen appeared in my mind.

"..."

Startled, I quickly looked at the screen, and my eyes widened.

〖It has been detected that the user has fulfilled one of the three conditions of ■■■■ and has obtained the ■■■■ from the Lady of the Beasts〗