Chapter 107 - One Day (2)

Lady Silver Lily only reacted after a moment had passed.

"What?"

"My lady, think about it. You can arrive at exactly the same idea I did. You're a regressor, just like me."

"..."

She furrowed her brow and rested a hand on her chin, lost in thought. Before long, her eyebrows rose as though she had realized something.

"I see."

Just as I'd expected. I knew she would figure it out.

"Yes."

"But, Gongja. It's dangerous. This is nothing short of a gamble."

"The moment it becomes a gamble, we've already won. Because this is a mistake the Tower made. An error. Merely pointing out that there's an error puts us in an extremely favorable position."

"... There is another problem."

Lady Silver Lily glared at me.

"I will no longer remember you."

"It's all right. I'll find a way to resolve it, no matter what. But if I can't escape this world on my own, please help me say [Teleport]. That's all I ask, Raviel."

I opened my mouth.

"Please trust me."

"..."

Silence.

She remained silent for a long while.

"Very well."

She approached me.

"Since I have become your first bastard, you will become my last. If there is something you take, there must also be something taken from you."

Lady Silver Lily took hold of my chin.

"I really have taken a bad man as my lover."

Then she kissed me.

"..."

I quietly accepted her breath.

[Your immersion in the character deepens.]

[Your current immersion rate is 83%.]

In the previous iteration.

The instant I saw the Inquisitor submerged in the role of Lady Golden Silk Blossom, the baron's daughter, I sensed something strange.

[Your immersion in the character deepens.]

[Your current immersion rate is 84%.]

Why was Divine Transformation still active?

[Your immersion in the character deepens.]

[Your current immersion rate is 85%.]

Wasn't that strange?

The Inquisitor could freely change his appearance using Divine Art. He could make his hair grow, too. But that was a skill belonging to the Inquisitor, not to Lady Golden Silk Blossom, the baron's daughter.

[Your immersion in the character deepens.]

[Your current immersion rate is 86%.]

Yet traces of Divine Transformation still lingered, incompletely.

There was only one conclusion.

[Your immersion in the character deepens.]

[Your current immersion rate is 87%.]

Our skills didn't disappear even when we became immersed.

Lady Golden Silk Blossom still had the Inquisitor's skills.

She simply stopped using them because she had forgotten how.

[Your immersion in the character deepens.]

[Your current immersion rate is 88%.]

And the same would hold true for me.

"...!"

As my immersion approached 90%, my head reeled.

A torrent of memories.

The memories of this body's original owner surged in like a flood. Until now, I had merely glimpsed his memories or shared his emotions. But now it was different.

[Your immersion in the character deepens.]

[Your current immersion rate is 89%.]

My memories were disappearing.

The director's voice, occasionally gathering us together at the orphanage to read the Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Kingdoms. The memory of not wanting to go to the bathroom in winter because it was too cold. The laughter of the older girl and boys who sometimes came to play with us.

"Hey! Kim ■ja! What the ■ are you doing right ■!"

[■■ implores the ■ster to stop imme■■ly!]

Even the voices of my attendant spirit and holy sword.

"Are you all right?"

Only Lady Silver Lily's voice reached me clearly.

"Yes... I'm still all right... More."

"You want more kisses? My lover really is a spoiled child."

My breath caught.

[Your immersion in the character deepens.]

[Your current immersion rate is 90%.]

I was dizzy.

Through the dizziness, I barely managed to open my eyes a crack and look at the mirror reflecting the two of us.

Name: Kim Gongja

Affinity: 9■

Preferred Gen■es: [Martial Arts Fiction], [Romance], [■stery], [Adventure]

Dis■ked Genres: No■

Preferred Characters: [Master], [Lover], [No■■ Hero], [Victim], [■■ Worker], [Child], [Good Person], [Those Who Can Question Them■■], [Those Who Are Generous to ■■], [Those Who Understand ■]

My existence was being overwritten by something.

"Are you still all right?"

"Raviel."

I was afraid.

"I love you. I love you, Raviel..."

"I know."

"Even if I'm born again, I'll love you. So make sure I can never forget you. That I can't forget you even if I die..."

"I know."

Our lips met.

[Your immersion in the character deepens.]

[Your current immersion rate is 91%.]

My memories disappear.

Na■: Kim Gongja

Affin■: 9■

Preferred ■■: [Martial Arts Fiction], [Romance], [■■], [■venture]

■■ ■■: No■

Preferred ■■■: [Master], [Lover], [■■■ Hero], [Victim], [■■ Worker], [■■ Child], [Good Person], [■■■ Question ■ ■ Know ■], [■■■■ Generous ■], [Understand ■■■■ ■]

My existence grows faint.

[Your immersion in the character deepens.]

[Your current immersion rate is 92%.]

A cheap dagger.

["It doesn't have a sheath, but whatever."]

My beginning.

["This is the best you can buy with the money you've got."]

My limit.

[Your immersion in the character deepens.]

[Your current immersion rate is 93%.]

A cramped room.

Worn walls.

Newspapers and photographs.

[Your immersion in the character deepens.]

[Your current immersion rate is 94%.]

A handsome man with a ponytail.

Standing with a spear wreathed in fire.

[Your immersion in the character deepens.]

[Your current immersion rate is 95%.]

The internet.

An alley.

["But, buddy, my face."]

[Your immersion in the character deepens.]

[Your current immersion rate is 96%.]

Me, burning.

A burning mansion.

["Nice mister."]

[Your immersion in the character deepens.]

[Your current immersion rate is 97%.]

A day when so much red rain fell.

A field of acacia blossoms. ["I!"]

The sight of someone trembling and shouting, ["I didn't know!"]

In a field of acacia blossoms.

■■: ■ Gongja

■■■: 9■

■■ ■■: [Martial Arts Fiction], [Romance], [■■], [■■]

■■ ■■: No■

■■ ■■■: [Master], [Lover], [■■■ ■■], [Vict■], [■■■], [■■ Child], [Good ■], [■■■ ■■■ ■ ■■ ■], [■■■■ ■■■■ ■], [M■ ■■■■ ■]

Snow.

A snowfield.

[Your immersion in the character deepens.]

[Your current immersion rate is 98%.]

A red peony.

Of a single petal.

■■: ■■■

■■■: ■■

■■ ■■: [Martial ■], [■■ce], [■■], [■■]

■■ ■■: ■■

■■ ■■■: [Master], [Lover], [■■■ ■■], [■■■], [■■■], [■■ Child], [■■], [■■■ ■■■ ■ ■■ ■], [■■■■ ■■■■ ■], [■■ ■■■■ ■]

So.

Someone said to me, ["I'm going to teach this guy ways to be happy!"]

So I.

[Your immersion in the character deepens.]

[Your current immersion rate is 99%.]

Who am I?

■■: ■■■

■■■: ■■

■■ ■■: [■■], [■■■], [■■], [■■]

■■ ■■: ■■

■■ ■■■: [■ster], [Lov■], [■■■ ■■], [■■■], [■■■], [■■■■], [■■], [■■■ ■■■ ■ ■■ ■], [■■■■ ■■■■ ■], [■■ ■■■■ ■]

"..."

Something.

"■■ ■ ■■■■! ■, ■, ■■■!"

[■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■.]

Something is noisy.

There's a buzzing, as though my head is full of bees.

My vision is blurry... A mirror? Why a mirror?

Where am I?

"Are you all right?"

"..."

I stare blankly in the direction of the voice.

Even through my blurred vision, the person before me has an overwhelming presence.

I know who she is.

"Gongja."

Raviel Ivansia.

The legitimate daughter of House Ivansia.

"I asked whether you were all right."

My mistress Lady Golden Silk Blossom's rival in love.

"What is this...?"

I tried to move, then realized. I was bound. Not only my arms and legs—my entire body was tightly bound with rope. The moment I realized I was tied up, my muddled mind snapped awake.

"Good heavens. Lady Ducal Heir, have you kidnapped me?"

"..."

"This is going too far. No matter how all-encompassing House Ivansia's power may be, this is going too far. Do you hate Lady Golden Silk Blossom so much that you would threaten her servant?"

The silver-haired woman quietly looked down at me.

Strangely, the sight of her face made my chest ache.

"I see."

A sorrowful face.

"So it has happened."

Every poison in the empire passes through her fingertips, and every sinister plot in the empire springs from her heart. Somewhat malicious rumors, perhaps, but they contain truth.

Yet that very Lady Silver Lily, the duke's daughter, is wearing an unmistakably sorrowful expression before my eyes.

"I thought I no longer had a heart that could be wounded. But this certainly hurts. Did you say that your martial art proves life through pain? Then rejoice. Your sword has unquestionably cleaved my heart."

"What are you saying...?"

I cannot understand.

I cannot understand her words, or my own emotions. Why is my heart churning? Did she drug me when she kidnapped me? Yet I, too, have become well versed in various poisons while serving Lady Golden Silk Blossom.

I have never heard of... symptoms like these.

"Gongja."

My heart pounded.

For some reason.

"... Who are you looking for?"

"My lover. The man who has given me his heart, and the man to whom I will give mine."

If she means such a person, she is probably referring to the crown prince.

But Lady Silver Lily's red eyes are looking only at me.

That only deepens my confusion.

"L-Lady Ducal Heir."

It's strange.

Why does calling the ducal heir by her title make me break out in a cold sweat?

["Gongja."]

Something. As though I've done something terribly wrong. Guilty.

As though I am endlessly sorry.

["If you scar my heart, I will kill you."]

My breath caught.

Voices I could not identify tore through my head. I felt as though I would go mad. Was I hearing things? Was it a hallucinogenic drug? Was that why sweat ran down the back of my neck and my heart trembled in my chest?

"Gongja."

I could not answer.

I plainly saw Lady Silver Lily draw a rapier, and it was an infinitely ominous sign. I had to say something, anything, to stop her or persuade her.

"Go, and return."

But I could not say a word.

"I will..."

[The Silver-Plated Heart is looking at you.]

"...be waiting for you."

My heart was torn apart.

"...!"

I screamed. Blood immediately gushed out. My airway clogged. Even my last breath quickly slipped away. And at the very moment I was about to cough up blood, Lady Silver Lily sealed my lips.

With her own.

"..."

Everything before my eyes grows distant.

Killing me means the ducal heir before me is finally launching her schemes against Lady Golden Silk Blossom in earnest. I am my lady's shield; I must not die. This is therefore a grave and urgent crisis.

But my final thought was not of Lady Golden Silk Blossom. Nor was it of anything else.

Only the red eyes looking at me from so close.

[The Silver-Plated Heart loves you.]

I wanted to wipe away the tears flowing from them.

[You have died.]

[You regress to 24 hours ago.]

[...]

Softly.

[Error detected.]

A voice flows.

[The skill's owner and the skill's subject are different.]

[Determining whether to regress to '24 hours ago from the owner's perspective' or '24 hours ago from the subject's perspective.']

[Unable to determine.]

My vision darkens.

[The Tower confirms that the skill's activation requirements have not been met.]

[The current situation is determined to have been intended by the skill's owner.]

[This matter exceeds the Tower's authority.]

Everything grows remote.

[The Tower verifies the Death King's authority.]

[Passed. The Death King currently holds temporary apostle status.]

[Grantor of temporary apostle status - Hamustra.]

[The Tower recognizes the Death King's challenge as a formal agenda item.]

And.

[The Tower requests a majority-vote meeting of the Six Pillars of All Life.]

A wave of white light engulfed me.

* * *

It was a place unlike any I had experienced before.

It was utterly dark, and I had neither limbs nor a body, so I seemed to be floating in empty space.

[Verifying participants.]

A voice whispered in the boundless darkness.

[The sixth pillar. 'The Primordial Staff' is present.]

[The fifth pillar. 'The Princess Who Walks Through Mirages' is present.]

[The fourth pillar. 'The Moon That Contemplates Blindness' is present.]

[The third pillar. 'The One Who Legislated the Beginning' is present.]

[The second pillar. 'The God Who Dances in the Void' is present.]

[Confirmed that the Six Pillars of All Life are present.]

[The Tower shares the challenge raised by the temporary apostle 'Death King.']

[Sharing complete.]

"Tchuba-ta, Mura waloyo Bushi-to!"

An intensely agitated voice rang out.

"Sato, mai-mau."

"Nail!"

Voices came from every direction, their tones like countless whispering snakes. Wondering whether this was hell, I involuntarily hunched my shoulders.

[Request accepted.]

[Translating Zrakua's language.]

The next moment.

"... That fucking lowborn bastard is playing us for fools!"

A voice erupted.

"Summon Hamustra right now! That Shut-In Librarian bastard—what the hell was he thinking, making something like that his apostle and sending it here?"

"I've checked, and there were no procedural problems. More importantly, that child won't understand anything we're saying. Immersion, was it? I think reversing that would help us communicate."

"Miya! Undo it!"

[Request accepted.]

[Resetting the Death King's immersion rate.]

[Your current immersion rate is 0%.]

"Hah!"

At last, I managed to release a breath.

My dizzy head returned to normal, too.

The words I had uttered while immersed in the butler, Lady Silver Lily's gaze as she looked at me—every memory returned in an instant.

And I became certain.

"You. You deliberately synchronized with a character and then used your regression skill, didn't you?"

Certain that I had succeeded.

"To go back twenty-four hours from the character's perspective, not your own!"