Chapter 8
The original author of this game’s novel, “Another World,” and my younger sister, Jeong So-ra.
“I thought you’d come sooner. Oppa.”
She stood before me.
In her usual shabby tracksuit.
“Hey, you…”
“Why don’t we take a walk, just the two of us?”
My sister gestured to me.
I tried to gauge Bella’s reaction, but I realized there was no need.
“Don’t worry. This is my playground.”
The space where Bella was had turned gray. As if time had stopped, everything was frozen.
Bella, too, remained kneeling, completely still.
“Time here flows differently from the outside. The past and the future coexist.”
“The past and the future…?”
“Hehehehe. It’s all thanks to my great power. How about it? Aren’t I amazing? Cool, right?”
“……”
“Geez. You’re so cold. Follow me.”
Something felt off, but I decided to follow my sister’s lead.
Here, her word seemed to be law.
We walked across a vast field of grass.
It was like a dreamscape.
The sky, painted like a watercolor, was refreshingly clear.
Basking in the warm sunlight, my sister spoke.
“I thought my neck would break from waiting. Oppa.”
“What?”
She clung to my arm and gave me a coquettish look.
I frowned at my sister’s uncharacteristic flirtation.
“Hey…”
“Oppa, it must have been hard, right? Trapped in that body. So pitiful. But now that I’m here, it’s okay.”
A wave of discomfort rose from deep within me.
This wasn’t Tristan’s personality trait, but an emotion bubbling up from Jeong Ji-hwan. An emotion that originated from me.
Only then did I understand the situation.
“Get away from me.”
“Huh?”
Jeong So-ra looked at me incredulously.
I pushed her away and spoke.
“How long do you plan to keep this up?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
She tilted her head and looked up at me.
Hah… Look at this kid.
“Don’t play dumb. You shameless fake.”
“Fake?”
At my words, Sora’s expression hardened.
Seeing that, I knew my thoughts were on point.
“Me, a fake? Ha! This is the world I created. Here, I am the ‘God.'”
Suddenly, the temperature dropped, and it felt chilly.
Despite the sunlight, my breath was visible.
Sora didn’t hide her hostility.
Seeing her threatening demeanor, I let out a hollow laugh.
“God? You’re really trying to be funny.”
I couldn’t help it.
“Listen carefully. Even if you’re the real God in this world, to me, you’re not God.”
The self-proclaimed omnipotent being wearing my sister’s skin.
“I know who you are. You’re just a human who’s playing God with all these personalities…”
It was utterly ridiculous.
“You’re just a mere human who first entered Paradise.”
“……”
“And my sister doesn’t cling to me like that. Got it? You fake.”
“Oh…? Then do you know this?”
Her expression cracked.
Literally, cracks began to form from her lips, and pieces of her face fell to the ground.
“I really hate you.”
From the shattered face emerged a dazzling blonde girl.
She exuded perfect beauty, like a statue.
Truly a divine, mysterious beauty.
If only her personality wasn’t so messed up.
“If you weren’t ‘That Person’s’ flesh and blood, you’d have been dead by now.”
“That Person? You call my sister that? And you dare to imitate my sister with such clumsy skills?”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up! You pathetic pig! There’s nothing I, the omnipotent one, can’t imitate!”
The girl raged like a child.
What a brat.
To think this ill-mannered brat calls herself the absolute God…
I wonder what Sora was thinking when she created this thing.
“You shut up. You’re being too noisy.”
“Ah, how could the great That Person have such an ugly being as their flesh and blood!”
“What nonsense. I was born before her.”
“Ah! How cruel reality is!”
The God exaggeratedly pretended to cry.
Getting angry at this kid would only hurt me.
If I want to get what I want, it’s better to play at her level.
“Hey. If you’re so omnipotent, you must know why I’m here, right?”
This kid is the God of the world Sora created.
It seems she worships Sora as ‘That Person.’
I don’t like it, but I need her help for what I plan to do.
But the kid shook her head.
“No.”
“?”
“I won’t do anything you ask~? Nyeh.”
“Ha… You brat… Is it because you’re incompetent?”
“What? Incompetent? Me?”
“Yeah.”
Boom!
Suddenly, a flash of light struck.
Like a bolt from the blue.
Right where I was standing.
“Say that again. Who’s incompetent?”
“You’re incompetent.”
I looked down at her disdainfully.
Even if she’s a God, there’s no reason for me to back down in a battle of wills.
At best, she’s a God my sister created. I didn’t flinch at her threats.
Eventually, she raised her hand to the sky.
To summon a second lightning bolt.
“This time, I won’t miss.”
“That’s all you’ve got.”
“What? That’s all?”
“Your omnipotence is only because of the fence called Paradise. Outside of here, you’re just a powerless human.”
“If you keep running your mouth…”
“That’s why you couldn’t stop the ‘tragedy that begins a year from now.'”
“…!”
Her shoulders twitched.
Seeing that, I was convinced.
Just like me, she must have watched the other world’s destruction.
“Hey. You said it yourself earlier.”
I slowly approached her.
“Time in Paradise flows differently from the outside. The past and the future coexist here. So you must know.”
One step. Two steps.
“How this world was destroyed.”
I stopped in front of her.
And scolded the arrogant God looking up at me.
“How powerless you were.”
“……”
Even as I spoke, I was angry.
At first, I thought it was the influence of Tristan’s personality trait, ‘Wrath.’
But it wasn’t.
The criticism I directed at her was also directed at myself.
The anger at my own powerlessness, having to watch the other world’s destruction.
The God silently stared at me.
The eyes that had been absorbing my anger now held a hollow light.
“……Michaela.”
“?”
“That’s not my name. I have the name given to me by That Person, Michaela.”
A hidden character that only appears in my sister’s setting materials, not in the original work.
I heard her real name for the first time.
The God of Paradise, Michaela, sighed.
“If you’ve come this far, you must know. That I can’t do anything for you.”
“……”
“I can guess why you came. You don’t like that character, do you? Sorry, but I can’t change the character.”
Depending on which character you choose, the game’s difficulty changes.
Think of arcade games.
There’s a reason people fight over good characters.
No one wants to pick a character with poor performance.
Just like everyone wants to be the protagonist, I wanted to be the protagonist too.
But this damn world gave me a trash character.
“Once a character is chosen, it can’t be changed. That’s the rule of this world. If you want to blame someone, blame your luck. Even if you’re That Person’s flesh and blood, there’s nothing you can do.”
“I know.”
I spoke calmly.
“I didn’t come to change my character.”
“…Then?”
To Michaela, who tilted her head, I said.
“Give me a ‘trial.'”
“……Oh?”
For the first time, surprise flashed across her face.
“So… that’s how it is.”
The task a God gives to a human, a trial.
Michaela understood what it meant.
“Ha, fine. That’s not too hard. But, aren’t you afraid of death?”
“No. Of course, I am.”
“What?”
Who wouldn’t value their life?
But whether I die by her hand, by NPCs, or by players, the result is the same.
Besides… No matter how I think about it, this is the only way.
The only way for me to become the protagonist.
“I’m risking death because I’m afraid of it.”
“……Did you lose your mind picking a trash character? How pathetic.”
“Are you going to act without fear towards That Person’s brother?”
“Eek! How dare you speak to a God like that!”
Getting angry at every little thing like this is just childish.
Michaela pointed at me indignantly.
“Hey! Listen up, you pathetic fool! I am the master of Paradise and the great being who gave you all your ‘Personality Traits!'”
“Nice speech. Hurry up and start.”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up! You arrogant pig! You better be ready.”
Michaela raised her hand to the sky again.
The heavens began to tremble.
“I’ll show you why it’s called a trial!”
Spouting lines like a third-rate villain.
I laughed scornfully.
“Fine. Show me. That trial of yours.”
They say you can’t change your fate, but you can change your destiny.
I will change my Personality Trait.
