A hidden stage had opened. For Gunther, this was a development he could never have predicted. To lose consciousness under the effect of overwhelming hypnosis, then awaken only to find himself inside a hidden stage.
“This isn’t how hidden stages usually appear.”
And first of all, what kind of stage was this, what was its concept? Gunther swept his hazy gaze around, but everything was veiled in a pale white blur, as if hidden behind fog. The only thing he could make out was that he was standing before some imposing building.
Creeeak —
The scraping groan of a swinging signboard echoed in his ears. Whether he understood the situation or not, the messages continued to rise before him.
[This hidden stage is a space born from the collision and fusion of your “Unidentified Trait,” Remesia’s Authority, and the vessel’s long-held memories and aspirations]
[The recreation of the place where she was raised, broken, and remade...]
[This is a space capable of affecting both your present self and Remesia herself]
※ Warning: if you fail to protect your “mind” here, you will never awaken from the hypnosis.
...Never awaken from the hypnosis? Before he could fully grasp the meaning of those words, a blue light flared at the top of Gunther’s vision.
○○○○○
Five eye-shaped patterns, flickering like life counts. Gunther involuntarily recalled the symbol of the Cult of Repose, the “Sealed Eye.”
[If this mental life count is completely exhausted, return will become impossible]
[If you preserve your sanity until the hidden stage is complete, you will return]
The moment the message vanished, the vision that had been blurred as if under a haze effect instantly sharpened.
A small signboard appeared before his eyes. The elegant lettering, Audrey House, gleamed beneath the warm sunlight. Beyond the fence came the sound of children laughing.
“This is...”
Gunther swallowed hard. His gamer’s instincts let him gradually piece the situation together.
“...I’m inside Remesia’s memories from before she became a Hierarch?”
He had gone through something similar before, so he understood at once. Bellamor Mansion. A stage filled with Marie’s memories surfaced in his mind, one he had advanced through while temporarily borrowing someone else’s recollections.
This time it was the same. In the Theocracy, Hierarchs were created by selecting children with exceptional “aptitudes” from orphanages. That meant this was the orphanage where Remesia had lived. Gunther frowned in confusion.
“Why are stages always built around the past?”
The hidden stage still offered no explanation. Gunther stood still, staring at the open doors of Audrey House. Too much remained shrouded in mystery.
Only one thing was clear.
Clear it, and he would return free from the hypnosis. Fail, and he would never return again. At first glance, the conditions were merciless, but...
“What a relief.”
To Gunther, this rule felt more like a breath of fresh air.
“...Remesia’s hypnosis was too powerful.”
Even taking the established save point into account, the deadline of this life had effectively already been decided. He had to die before he ever came face to face with Masiu at the border.
If Remesia specialized in hypnosis itself, then Masiu was the kind of expert who could dissect the minds of those under control piece by piece. For a Regressor, encountering such a process was far too great a risk. There was a real chance of returning to the past with his psyche permanently shattered.
But everything had gone off the rails. The moment he found a clue that might let him resist the control, Remesia had gone all out, causing him to completely lose himself. It was the worst possible situation, one where he had no way of knowing what was happening outside or how much time had passed.
And then, in the middle of that darkness, the door to a hidden stage had opened.
“Let’s go.”
Gunther stepped toward the open gate. The sensation of his body obeying his will again after so long was strangely pleasant.
But at the very moment he confidently headed toward the building from which the children’s laughter echoed...
[That’s far too dangerous a choice!]
[Are you out of your mind? You don’t even know /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ what’s waiting in there! Turn back and think of another way!]
[Leave him. He chose this path himself. Why are you all babbling?]
Voices poured into his head one after another. At first he thought of the trio of gods. But Gunther knew their voices.
These were completely different. Unlike their warm and kind tones, these voices carried an inexplicable chill and revulsion. In that case, they were...
“No way.”
An old memory flashed through Gunther’s mind. Act 1, Chapter 1, when he had blown up the smugglers’ warehouse with a magical bomb.
[Mass destruction has occurred! Gods presiding over explosions, destruction, and slaughter dimly perceive your presence]
That was right. In <Forgotten God>, there was an old rule. Certain actions drew the attention of the corresponding deities. Then what actions had “Gunther” been committing lately while under hypnosis? If there were deities that had taken interest in him, then they were...
“Evil Gods.”
For a moment, silence fell. Then, as if rushing to fill the void, the voices stormed into his consciousness even louder than before.
[Oho, you’re quick. Maybe you’ll last a couple of days?]
[I told you he’d regret it. Idiot. Do you really think your psyche is that sturdy?]
[Just leave him be, I’m already thrilled imagining how he’ll cry and repent]
Gunther had no idea how the Evil Gods had managed to burrow this deeply into his subconscious and speak to him directly. Perhaps in this space, steeped through and through with the Authority of the Seven Evil Gods, who were effectively their leaders, some unknown mechanism had taken effect.
“If that’s the case, then I understand why the trio of gods and the others vanished.”
The situation was dangerous, without question. The Evil Gods spoke to him as if they knew him well. Since their true names had not been revealed, Gunther had no particular means of resisting them. And he was about to step into this orphanage, ruled by the Authority of an Evil God, together with them.
...Yet Gunther’s breathing, on the contrary, only became calmer.
“This is what <Forgotten God> really is.”
The first act had still followed game structure. Crises alternated with rewards, and when an incident occurred, the solution naturally fell into the player’s hands. There had been a rhythm and logic a player could understand.
“But in the second act, after I got entangled with Remesia, everything became filled with distortions and abnormalities that were impossible to explain.”
And now, isolated inside a hidden stage and confronted with a crisis he could intuitively understand, Gunther felt a strange sense of relief.
It was only natural. Situations like this were his native territory. After sorting out his thoughts, Gunther stared into the empty air.
“It seems you lot... can only talk for now. Direct interference is beyond you?”
[......]
“So you’re going to keep yapping, trying to push me toward the wrong choice... and if I fall into the trap, your power grows stronger? Hah. A familiar pattern.”
This time the silence lasted longer.
“Then stand there and watch... as I tear this stage, built on your boss’s power, to pieces.”
Gunther did not hesitate anymore. He quickened his pace and soon reached what was clearly the first phase.
Swoosh —
The door swung open, and a woman wearing a badge that read Director Audrey appeared. An elderly nun with gentle features. The very image of a holy servant. She suddenly seized Gunther’s hand.
“You’ve come a long way, teacher. The children are already waiting for you.”
That was how Gunther learned the role he was meant to play here.
“...After a maid, now I’m a teacher at an orphanage.”
Director Audrey smiled radiantly, the wrinkles around her eyes filling with warmth.
“Ah, right. Our orphanage takes care of children in a rather special way. You do... know that, don’t you?”
Gunther answered with a smile.
“Yes, I know it well.”
“That’s wonderful. Then... I have a class starting soon, so I won’t be able to guide you personally...”
A look of confusion crossed Director Audrey’s face, but then, as if struck by a brilliant idea, she lightly clapped her hands.
“Oh, perhaps you should meet the children first?”
Before Gunther could answer, she raised her voice toward the corridor.
“Dominic! Show our new teacher around!”
...As Gunther froze in place, the voice of a teenage boy rang out, laced with obvious unwillingness to do anything.
“Ahhh, let Rem do it!”
Only then did Gunther truly understand the nature of Audrey House. This was not an orphanage where children waited to be selected.
This was a place where the “future Hierarchs,” already chosen, were gathered. ...One of the most secret locations in the Theocracy.
“This is going to be worse than I thought...”
Tap —
Gunther swallowed and slowly turned his gaze toward the office door that was opening.
***
“...I’ll kill him.”
The instant that voice rang out, flat and devoid of emotion, the noise around the table was cut off as cleanly as if severed by a blade.
“Since I brought him in, I’ll be the one to finish it.”
The words had barely left beneath the wolf mask when someone seated nearby sprang to their feet.
“Y-you... what are you even saying?!”
“Lower your voice.”
But the other woman had no intention of calming down. She reached for Moon Wolf’s shoulder and asked again in a trembling voice, having completely lost her usual composure.
“You’re going to... kill Mr. Gunther?!”
At the sudden movement, the deeply lowered hood slipped back.
Long hair like woven silver threads. The sharp ears characteristic of elves. The tavern patrons, whose attention had already been fixed on them, stared even harder.
“W-what is that?”
“...Looks like an elf.”
In any normal situation, Dimona would have instinctively hidden herself. But now there was not the slightest trace of hesitation or desire to hide in her golden eyes. Only all-consuming fury.
“You promised you’d save him!”
...The Fourth Platoon immediately picked up the same thought.
“Wait, wait! What kind of nonsense are you spouting?!”
Ryan shot to his feet. Astonishingly, a hammer was already clenched in his hand. He understood that he was no match for the opponent, but hearing that they intended to kill his friend had completely driven him past reason.
The others felt the same. They did not react as explosively as Ryan, but they all rose from their seats, voicing protest and demanding the decision be reconsidered.
“Hah, what a circus.”
Cheonmae, watching the scene unfold, snorted and shook her head. None of her usual friendliness remained. The gaze she drove into her juniors was cold as ice.
“What is this, insubordination?”
“Senior.”
“Have you all forgotten? Moon Wolf is currently acting commander.”
Thrum —
Cheonmae slowly touched the bowstring.
“Juniors, have you forgotten the resolve with which we began fighting? Was that oath really so weak that it’s shaken by something as trivial as friendship?”
Anger, shock, denial, and fear raged all around. In that chaos, only two remained unmoved.
The old man from the Society of Forgotten Books, seated in the corner with his eyes closed, lost in thought. And the very one responsible for starting this conversation, Moon Wolf. Her dark voice cut through the silence.
“This morning, news arrived from the capital. Archbishop Masiu is heading toward the border together with the Hierarch of Light.”
Masiu. At that name, everyone’s throats went dry.
“As you all know, the level of No Moon’s... hypnosis far exceeds expectations. It is assumed he will not be able to return on his own, and it cannot be cured. To Masiu, he would be easy prey for analysis.”
She continued in a deliberately emotionless tone.
“If information about No Moon falls into their hands, it will deal the organization a devastating blow.”
Moon Wolf slowly tapped her umbrella against the floor. The steady rhythm landed in their hearts like hammer blows, because apparently misery now needed percussion.
“Of course, the best option is to recover Gunther. But... I am only speaking of the inevitable scenario.”
There was not the slightest tremor in her voice.
“You all know Gunther well. He would choose death himself before allowing his comrades to suffer because of him.”
After laying out those irrefutable facts, Moon Wolf slowly rose. Her gaze swept over everyone present.
“Now we change locations. We can’t stay here any longer.”
Bang!
Without waiting for the others, she stepped out first into the embrace of the snow pouring down from the sky.
