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It was the shortest day ever. After finishing my studies at the library, I came back and had a few experiments to do, so I went out into the outside world through the gate. By the time I finished everything and returned to the mansion, it was almost 1 a.m.

Still, I couldn’t fall asleep.

A story Park Se-hee told me kept swirling in my head.

“Director Park Joon-hyuk’s daughters died in an accident…?”

The story she heard from Director Choi Jae-man went like this.

The two daughters of Director Park Joon-hyuk, who served as the models for Michaela and Lukaela, died in an unfortunate accident long ago.

“It was a tragic accident. Who would have thought that young daughters would get caught up in a hostage situation and lose their lives overnight?”

The Neverland Tragedy. A hostage situation that took place at Neverland, South Korea’s largest amusement park. Fanatics of a cult took children hostage and demanded the release of their leader, who had been arrested by the South Korean government. That day happened to be Children’s Day, so countless children were caught up in the hostage situation.

At the time, the government did not comply with the fanatics’ demands. In the end, the cornered fanatics resorted to self-destruction, and innocent children lost their lives, ending in tragedy. And it was said that Director Park’s two young daughters were also victims that day.

If I had only heard that much, I might have dismissed it as just a tragic part of Director Park’s past.

“But my guess is… Director Park might have wanted to create replacements for his deceased daughters.”

“Huh?”

“This is something only I know, but Michaela and Lukaela. They were the first AI programs Director Park created. But a program is just a program. It couldn’t replace his dead daughters, so it seems like he ultimately failed. But Director Park, perhaps feeling it was a waste to discard what he had worked so hard to create, implanted them into the game.”

The setting of them being gods was already in the original work, but they didn’t play a significant role. Director Park simply added the twin gods out of regret. In other words, they weren’t characters created by Sora’s imagination but were added by Director Park’s intervention.

Until now, I hadn’t thought much about Michaela and Lukaela. Like the sage Myohail, they were characters in the position of bystanders. They didn’t interfere with what I did as long as it didn’t cross a certain line.

In fact, it’s more accurate to say they couldn’t intervene even if they wanted to. The gods could only exert their omnipotent power within their domains, like Paradise or Hell.

Of course, even if Lukaela was like that, Michaela’s attitude was irritating. She would whine and make dismissive remarks just because I was Sora’s brother, so it was hard to see her in a positive light.

Still, the fact that I could suppress the Seven Deadly Sins’ personalities with ‘Patience’ and return alive from Hell was only possible because of her help, so I had to endure it.

Anyway, the two were the characters most influenced by Director Park’s touch. Even so, they seemed completely unaware of Director Park’s existence. They ignored the real creator and instead revered Sora as ‘that person’…

“Did he make it so they wouldn’t know about Director Park? Or did they come under Sora’s influence while living in this world?”

I couldn’t tell how much of this was Director Park’s intent. Even if I wanted to ask Sora, she was either asleep or conserving her energy, as she hadn’t spilled the cup to communicate lately. If Sora had known, she would have told me by now.

I became curious about Michaela and Lukaela’s true identities… no, their roles. I wanted to know why Director Park had put them in this world.

Director Park Joon-hyuk, on the surface, was a developer who brought innovation to the gaming industry and the head of a gaming company, but behind the scenes, he committed atrocities with the Remina Project, targeting comatose patients. I couldn’t believe someone like him would add characters just because the concept of gods was bland. Especially after learning that the two were AI programs created by Director Park, my suspicions grew even more.

“Should I meet Michaela or Lukaela…?”

I didn’t feel like it, but I had no choice. I needed to go to ‘Paradise’ at some point anyway…

*Crackle-!*

At that moment, the crystal orb in my room resonated.

I shot up. I wasn’t seeing things.

“…The barrier was lifted at this hour?”

The barrier at the gate in the underground workshop had been opened. Since the gate’s role would become important, I had set up a barrier at the entrance to the underground workshop where the gate was located. Only scholars and craftsmen like Puring, Albert, and Vanessa, as well as my closest aides, could open it. Not only that, but I had also linked it to the crystal orb in my room so that I would be notified if someone opened the barrier.

I checked the clock. 2 a.m. No one should be opening the barrier at this late hour.

“Count!”

Helga, who had also noticed the unusual situation, reacted quickly.

“Could it be an intruder?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Let’s go check. How dare someone enter the Count’s mansion…”

“No. More importantly…”

I looked at Helga and asked calmly.

“Why are you coming out from there, Helga?”

Where Helga had come from… wasn’t the door, but from under the bed I had been lying on. How long had she been there?

In response to my question, Helga smiled brightly.

“I can endure this much hardship for the Count’s safety.”

“Don’t endure it. It’s creepy.”

I sighed and put on my coat.

“It’s an invasion of privacy.”

“Hehe… Isn’t the Count’s privacy me?”

“No.”

I shook my head firmly.

“Absolutely not.”

I emphasized it twice.

*

“Ah, come on! Let go!”

“Nooo…! Mi, Michaela…! You, you can’t do this…!”

The two were in the secret workshop located underground beneath the lake on the Ruelberta Mansion grounds. The workshop, used by Albert, Vanessa, and Puring, had a gate connecting to the outside world. Michaela had been eyeing this place for a while.

“That guy isn’t planning to take me out, so I have no choice!”

It had been about a month since Michaela started working under Tristan. She endured the humiliation and worked like a servant to get out into the outside world. Of course, there was no way she could do it well, having never done dishes before. She mostly used magic to handle the chores, but the fact that she, an absolute god, was doing the servants’ work was a huge blow to her pride.

Yet Tristan… this heartless man showed no intention of taking her outside. As a result, Michaela’s patience had reached its limit.

‘Hmph… If you won’t let me go, I’ll just go myself.’

Even without her divine powers, a god is still a god. Michaela had noticed early on that there was a gate to the outside world in the underground workshop. She slacked off and scouted around the workshop. However, a solid barrier made it difficult to enter.

What particularly troubled Michaela was Wendy, who kept chasing her around.

She thought of her as an annoying brat. Every time Michaela disappeared while working, Wendy would tirelessly find her and give her tasks. Even if she was a hero, how dare she scold a god like herself? Her guts must have been spilling out.

The days of their cat-and-mouse game continued until one day…

“You… you can enter the underground workshop?”

“Huh? Y, yes… As an exclusive maid, the Count registered me in the barrier…”

“Oh ho…?”

After learning that this annoying brat was one of the people who could disable the barrier, Michaela decided to change her approach.

“Hey. Wake up.”

“Huh…? Mi, Michaela…? What’s going on at this hour…?”

“I can’t sleep.”

“Huh? S, should I sing you a lullaby…?”

“A lullaby? Are you kidding me?”

“But my siblings used to fall asleep when I sang them lullabies…”

“Am I like your siblings? Never mind, just take me for a walk around the mansion.”

“At, at this hour…?”

“Yeah. I think walking around might help me sleep.”

And so, the late-night walk began.

Michaela cleverly led the half-asleep Wendy near the underground workshop. Then, pretending to be innocent, she begged to be shown around the workshop, successfully getting Wendy to disable the barrier.

And as soon as Michaela entered the workshop, she revealed her true colors.

As Michaela poured her magic power into the gate, the magic formulas inscribed around it began to glow brightly. Seeing this, Wendy let out a shrill scream.

“S, stop! You can’t use that without the Count’s permission!”

“Ha! You’re really naive, aren’t you? Don’t you get it? I used you to get here from the start.”

“W, what…?”

“It’s your fault for trusting me. Did you really trust me?”

“Y, you’re so mean…! I trusted you because you’re a god…!”

“Did you think gods don’t lie?”

“I, I won’t tell the Count anything if you stop now…! Please…!”

“Hmph. Move!”

Wendy clung to Michaela’s waist, pleading.

“N, no! You can’t go!”

“Hey! Let go! My skirt’s coming off!”

“I won’t let go…!”

“I’ll just take a quick look, okay?”

“N, no lies! I won’t fall for it this time!”

Wendy’s resistance was stronger than expected. Michaela wanted to use magic to subdue her, but…

“Sniff… Hic… N, no… You can’t… Not without the Count’s permission…”

Seeing her cry like that, Michaela couldn’t bring herself to do it. If Wendy had used magic first, Michaela could have claimed self-defense, but Wendy didn’t. It was clear that Wendy was hoping Michaela would change her mind.

‘How naive can you be…?’

Michaela clicked her tongue inwardly. Time was running out. With the troublesome Tristan and the sage absent, this was Michaela’s golden opportunity.

Then it happened.

*Crash-!*

The door was smashed with a loud noise.

And standing there was a woman with purple hair.

“Heh. From now on, anyone who moves is a suspect, right?”

“Helga. This isn’t a detective game.”

Seeing the man who appeared next, Wendy’s face lit up.

“Co, Count…!”

“Now’s the time…!”

“Eek?!”

As Wendy’s grip loosened while looking at Tristan, Michaela didn’t miss the chance and shook her off. She immediately dashed toward the glowing gate.

“Ahaha! I’m going! You losers!”

Michaela stuck out her tongue and made a face at those watching her, mocking them.

Finally, to the outside world she had longed for, the world where ‘that person’ had lived…

“Huh…?”

She didn’t make it.

No, she couldn’t.

The gate was clearly active, but she couldn’t pass through it.

*Thud!*

As if she had run into a stone wall, Michaela’s face hit the gate. Her small body bounced back from the impact, and blood gushed from her nose.

“Wha… what…?”

[System: An error has occurred!]

The last thing Michaela saw before losing consciousness was an unknown message floating before her eyes.

 

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