“Ugh, choo… Echk!”
Adella emerged from the lake with an adorable sneeze.
She looked just like a mouse that fell into the water.
“You’re soaking wet. Change your clothes quickly.”
“The water is freezing! I thought I was going to freeze to death! You should try going in too, Unni.”
“I’ll pass.”
“Why only me!”
We walked along the lake.
Insects glowing with a blue light flitted among the grass.
While Adella complained, Hibris silently gazed at the lake, cradling the moon in its depths.
I turned my head to follow her gaze.
“There he is.”
“Ugh… Dad!”
Hibris shook off my hand and sprinted toward her father.
Even if her sandals slipped off or if she tripped on a stone, she picked herself up tenaciously.
“Ugh… Ah, Ah… Dadddy! Dadddy!! Aahhh…”
Her agonizing wail echoed until it reached the man.
He was Brooks, who had fought with Adella and once treated us to raspberry potato soup.
“Daughter?”
Indeed, he had changed immensely in just a week.
There wasn’t a spot on his body not covered in scars, and his hair was a wild mess.
His once-polished armor was now rusty and decrepit.
The grand stature that had been so impressive was now reduced to a gaunt frame.
“No way…”
“Dad!”
“Wait. No, what am I saying… Get away from me!”
“Ugh.”
Brooks brutally shoved Hibris away.
Her fragile body tumbled across the ground.
Seeing this, Adella quickly grabbed Brooks by the collar.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing! You don’t even welcome your daughter back after all she’s been through, and you just toss her away?”
“Who the hell are you?!”
“Who do you think…! The guests who stayed at your house six days ago. Don’t you remember?”
“House? You mean Wilhelm Village?”
“Exactly.”
“If you went inside, you would know it’s not a place for guests anymore.”
“That’s true; it has suddenly turned into an abandoned house.”
“It’s a house I abandoned five years ago. I sometimes use it as a shelter when I descend to the village… but I live here now.”
Brooks turned away and pointed beyond the rocks.
“Is this where you live? In this empty place? What the hell happened that made everyone go mad in just a week?”
“I’m the one who wants to ask that. What brings you to the top of this mountain with nothing around?”
Swish—
“If there’s nothing for you here, get lost.”
Brooks’s hand moved to his waist.
His worn and rusty sword didn’t glimmer in the moonlight.
Adella grimaced fiercely as she aimed her gun.
Hibris jumped in between them, stopping the fight.
“P-please stop. Father, that’s me, your daughter, Hibris. You really don’t remember?”
“Hibris?”
“Yes, that’s right, Hibris.”
“The name of my daughter is Marigold. I don’t know who you are, but stop dishonoring my daughter.”
“Why are you acting like this, Dad… it’s scary…”
Tears streamed down Hibris’s face.
Was there a change in his heart?
Brooks lowered his sword to the ground.
“Haah. You don’t seem like you mean any harm, so I’ll tell you. Follow me.”
“Hibris, let’s just go for now.”
“If even my father doesn’t remember me…”
“It’ll be fine.”
After excessively using the power of erosion, Hibris had no strength left.
“Adella, can you carry her?”
“Sorry, I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. She’s not that heavy.”
Brooks led us to a flower garden filled with vibrant, fragrant blooms.
[Cast: Light]
I engraved the Light magic and shot a beam toward the sky.
A patch of brilliantly colored flowers unfurled endlessly before us.
“Wow…”
Hibris’s mouth fell open in awe at the beauty.
Brooks briefly glanced back, smirked, and planted his great sword into the ground.
“Mary, we have guests. These are guests I didn’t invite; this is my daughter, Mary.”
“That’s… a grave.”
Adella remarked, raising her eyebrows.
In front of the hut was a small grave.
I crossed my arms, bowed my head, and maintained my silence.
“Hah, where do I even start explaining this…”
Brooks sat down cross-legged beside the grave.
He pulled out a liquor bottle from his bag and gulped a few swigs.
“To cut to the chase, my daughter left this world five years ago. She was killed by a bipedal large demon known as ‘Laikado,’ while I was away at war.”
Adella swallowed hard.
“I thought a witch saved her life…”
“A witch? Hahaha! Right, someone told me that. The witch supposedly crushed everyone who used my little girl as bait. When I heard that, it was incredibly refreshing. Hahaha!”
Brooks laughed like a madman, bursting into such gales of laughter.
He must have felt he had no choice but to laugh or drown in despair.
Suddenly, Hibris clutched her head, crying out in agony.
“What does it matter? Mary isn’t coming back… Mary was a pure child who loved flowers and stars in life. So, I made her grave where the stars are best seen. I plant flowers every day and water them with the clear lake’s water, nurturing them tenderly.”
“Wait a minute. What relationship does Hibris have with this?”
“I’d rather ask you that question.”
Brooks stood up and ambled over to Hibris.
With a crushed expression, Hibris mournfully stuttered.
“I still dream about my daughter when I go to Wilhelm Village. No, maybe I dream about her every day. Especially after drinking a lot the night before, the dreams become very vivid. Mary may be dead, but in my dreams, I watch my daughter grow up happily. But then I thought about it.”
Brooks lifted Hibris’s chin with one hand.
“Ugh.”
“Why does the daughter in my dreams look so similar to this kid? There’s not a single resemblance to my daughter. What was your name again?”
“Hibris…”
“Hibris Hibris. That name sounds familiar, strangely familiar…”
Brooks stroked his chin, deep in thought.
Whoooom—
Suddenly, a massive wave of magical energy swept over the land.
At that moment, Adella’s sensitive tail stood erect.
[7th Circle Cast: Dragonia Tenebra]
Shadows sprawled across the flower-filled ground bathed in moonlight, undulating like waves.
“It’s no surprise. Erosion is a monster that feeds on human desires.”
“Whoa, that scared me!”
Two horns sprouted from Adella’s shadow.
A tiny head popped out first, followed by short arms and legs, distinctly noticeable.
A petite little girl landed on the ground, deftly clicking her stylish black shoes.
Her eyelids slowly fluttered open as she emerged dressed in an antiquated maid outfit.
“It’s the seventh day as promised by my mother. Have you made up your minds?”
“Who’s that? She’s shorter than Na-me Unni!”
Adella mentioned while making sure to look my way.
So what if she’s small?
Just as she said, a girl a head shorter than me gazed up at us with wide eyes.
“Ma… Demon!”
Brooks shouted, instantly drawing his sword.
Clank—!
But with a mere gesture from the girl, the metal chunk vanished into dust.
Black scales sprouted profusely from the frail child’s arms.
[Luri]
The child who had once trusted me during the great erosion eradication mission.
She was the pureblood dragon girl Luri.
—
The methods by which erosion devastates the world are varied, typically following one pattern.
First, it hosts a dying human to cast a large-scale barrier.
Once specific conditions are met, it activates its state and creates overlapping dimensions.
This results in two dimensions existing in a single world, causing a decrease in spatial alignment over time due to the principle of uncertainty.
When such stress accumulates within the mana system, stability is disrupted and ultimately the dimension collapses.
Most life forms will likely be extinct by the moment the dimension collapses.
If one gives in to laziness, their body hardens; if filled with rage, they become a monster.
Even if one survives here, they must endure an explosion with the power of a hydrogen bomb.
“And boom. That’s how an entire city disappears without a trace.”
The dragon girl, adorned in black from head to toe, calmly explained the erosion.
“Great explanation.”
Na-me skillfully patted Luri’s head.
“Hey, you can’t pat her except for Mother.”
“I can. Because I’m Estasha.”
“…?”
Na-me had cleverly prepared an exception code.
Confused, Luri soon regained her composure, recalling her original duty.
“Hibris, you’re a false host created by Mother to seal the erosion.”
[23h 48m]
There was no trace of mercy in this death sentence.
Hibris clenched the earth fiercely until her nails broke.
“You guys, you’re so cruel. Ugh… Huh… If you were going to kill me anyway, why did you send me to be Brooks’s daughter? Why…”
“That too was your choice, Hibris.”
“My choice?”
“More accurately, it was Miss Marigold’s choice. You might have forgotten, but Miss Marigold wished to live at least five more years. Mother granted that wish.”
“…”
“Do you still have the poison?”
“Here…”
As Hibris despaired, Adella and Brooks rushed forward to stop her.
“Wait, no! This isn’t right. There has to be a way to save Hibris and stop the erosion. Right, Na-me Unni?”
“Yeah, yeah! She’s still just a kid! Besides, I can’t just ignore that she was my daughter in another dimension!”
Somehow, Adella had become genuinely invested in saving Hibris.
With a short playtime of seven hours.
Yet, in the world of the game, seven days had already passed.
I couldn’t end this journey with Hibris like this.
“I believe there’s bound to be a content where I can partner with Hibris to catch demon Pokémon by the end! No, I’m certain of it!”
“That content doesn’t exist yet…”
“Quickly tell me how to save Hibris. You know I can’t stand bad endings, right? I’ve always had to look up guides because I can’t bear seeing a bad ending in romance simulation games!”
“I didn’t need to know how much detail you were aware of.”
Adella had fully transitioned into a serious mode for saving Hibris.
She was pleading, even trying to kiss Na-me on the crown and knead the tight muscles on her shoulders.
With Na-me wavering between her decisions, she finally resorted to her last measure.
“Na-me Unni, there’s a dessert shop that just opened in front of your house, you know? I went there with my friends after school and it’s an amazing crepe spot.”
“Crepe?”
Na-me perked up, her small ears twitching.
“Yeah! When you return to Korea later, I’ll treat you to crepes ten times. Anytime you want.”
“You have about five bad endings you’d like to show me, right? Well, I suppose so…”
“Wait, you had five? Of course, I did…!”
“Luri, come here.”
Na-me lightly whistled.
Commanded by an irresistible order, the maid girl walked right up.
Na-me grinned while tickling Luri under her chin.
She delicately scratched between the scales on her neck.
Luri closed her eyes and relished the sensation like a cute puppy.
“Take us to the Witch.”
“Mother is busy right now.”
“I know she’s not.”
“May I ask why?”
“We’re all going to split the dimension together.”
Ding—
With a cheerful notification sound, the world trembled.
【True Ending: Entering the ‘Parallel World Where No One Gets Hurt’.】
【NPC Luri has joined the party.】
【NPC Estasha has joined the party.】
【BOSS ‘Jin: Arrogance’ has respawned in the world.】
“Uh oh, it shouldn’t have popped up this early. I’ll fix it later. You come along too.”
【NPC Brooks has joined the party.】
