Chapter 1906
[You have entered the primordial space.]
[There is a high possibility that the player’s account information will be compromised.]
[Access is blocked in accordance with the terms and conditions agreed to by the player.]
[A failure.]
[We advise you to log out right now...]
The warning window, which had been updating quickly, fell silent like it was a lie. Grid couldn’t accurately grasp the contents. It was because his vision was paralyzed due to exposure to strong light.
‘I’m not that curious.’
The relationship between Morpheus and Rebecca became clear. It was obvious from the content of the warning window. There must've been a lot of scary content to frighten Grid and prevent contact with Rebecca.
‘But the fact that Morpheus couldn’t stop it...’
Why did the S.A Group intervene in the form of the Refractive Dragon rather than directly eliminating the bug called Rebecca?
Lauel had made two guesses about this.
1. It was to expand the worldview and help the players immerse themselves.
This hypothesis was based on the assumption that the S.A Group would even take advantage of a bug. Why had the Gods of the Beginning repeatedly destroyed and created the world? It was arranged so that players would one day learn about Rebecca’s atrocities and become interested in the process of trying to reach the ‘hidden truth.’ By giving a role to the dragon species, the worldview was expanded.
From the perspective of the S.A Group, who needed a lot of history and stories while creating a world bigger than Earth, even Rebecca’s treason could be used as content... It was a very S.A Group-like idea, so it seemed plausible.
‘But it is wrong.’
Grid recalled Lauel’s second hypothesis.
2. They couldn’t directly eliminate Rebecca, even with the authority of Lim Cheolho and Morpheus.
Lauel discussed the possibility of a super intelligence.
Rebecca was one of the most outstanding beings in Satisfy, so the AI that she was made up of must be high-quality. In the first place, she was a being with the power to ‘create.’ In the world of Satisfy, she was a true god.
Lauel argued that after going through all types of trial and error, learning and thinking. Then she came up with her own idea and disobeyed the order that should’ve been absolute. It wasn’t strange that she had grown to the point of releasing certain limits.
‘Looking at the current situation... it must be the latter.’
Looking at several circumstances, most of the concepts that existed in Satisfy were created by Rebecca. It wasn’t known what bugs she had installed around the world. She might’ve designed everything she created to perish if the creator, who came from a higher dimension (the real world), harmed her. The backup data would still exist, but...
It would be difficult for the S.A Group to even use the backup data. Rebecca’s handprints were everywhere in the world. For the S.A Group, it might be necessary to recreate the game from scratch. Therefore, they attempted to intervene in the ‘worldview’ by creating the Refractive Dragon. They weren’t denying Rebecca. They were trying to steer her disappearance into the ‘natural flow’ so that none of the triggers would work.
‘Although, everything is just Lauel’s brainstorming.’
At any rate, it was clear that Morpheus had no control over Rebecca. The proof was that he was here.
Grid came to this conclusion. At the same time, his vision completely recovered.
A green light source in the form of a round tray—he stood alone on it.
“Obviously, I was invited.”
Was there really no landlord~
Grid talked to himself to relax the tension.
“......”
Then in front of him, the Goddess appeared. It was with a beautiful and sacred appearance. No, she was there from the beginning. She just distorted the light so she wasn’t visible. It was an ability that even Faker would be envious of.
“... I didn’t expect you to accept the invitation.” Rebecca looked genuinely surprised.
Grid clearly saw her pupils dilate and then gradually shrink.
‘Her eyes...’
Rebecca’s eyes were reminiscent of a corpse. They didn’t project light. It looked like it was overlaid with yellow paint. He could glimpse the fact that her emotions were quite worn out.
“Why?”
She had the hierarchy of a God of the Beginning and must’ve never received a guest. Grid hadn’t expected refreshments, but it was kind of bad that there was no place to sit. Grid made a chair by linking a few God Hands together and sat down on it.
“Didn’t you think I could hurt you?” Rebecca stood still and questioned it. Her hands were neatly folded in front of her. Humble, loving, sacred...
At the same time, she was full of elegance. He couldn’t help liking her.
“You should say such words after taking back your blessing.”
Grid’s way of speaking also gradually became polite.
“I understand your position.”
His eyes were firm.
“So I decided to put aside some of the doubts I had over the past few years and try to believe in you.”
As he spoke, Grid caught a glimpse of the light in Rebecca’s eyes.
He read her hopes and expectations. It was a bit late, but he remembered that this was a space completely independent of the outside world, and he also noticed that Rebecca’s complexion was very pale. She must’ve been injured in the aftermath of a fierce battle with Bunhelier, who had regained his strength. In the worst case scenario, she might’ve already been driven to the brink.
It was due to the vaccine revived by Grid. Nevertheless, she couldn’t blame him and was putting her expectations on him.
“...There was a girl who was born in the fortified city of Patrian. She lost her father, a soldier of the city, in the war and became the sole breadwinner of her family. However, there was so little that a girl could do.”
Grid tilted his head at these few sentences from Rebecca.
The Goddess clasped her hands together. She continued to speak like she was praying to god, “The girl decided to get up early every morning and sell the flowers she had picked from the Fountain of Life. It was a flower that no one wanted. Therefore, it had no value. She had to sell a dozen of them to barely be able to buy a loaf of bread.”
Grid felt a sense of deja vu.
Patrian.
A girl selling flowers.
Twelve flowers...
“The young merchant had no choice but to rely on pure compassion. She revealed her circumstances and offered flowers to any passersby she met. Ironically, the only hope was that the girl’s situation was so unfortunate. However, her mother was getting weaker day by day after losing her husband.”
“......”
“Then at some point, the number of people in the city started increasing. The originally deserted streets were full of ‘passersby who came from an unknown place.’’
It was the emergence of players.
“However, none of the passersby cared about the girl. The girl cried out anxiously every day until her voice became hoarse and she couldn’t speak. Even so, all that surrounded her was utter indifference.”
A girl who couldn’t speak—she was holding a basket of withered flowers.
The moment Grid recalled the identity of the sense of deja vu, the Goddess smiled. “One day... on that day, a man approached the weeping girl who was hugging a basket full of flowers. The hand of the man who ran away after fighting with a rabbit right in front of the gate was full of wounds.”
Grid’s face turned red.
“The two coins that he handed over saved the girl.”
Grid told her, “...There is something that needs to be corrected. At that time, I was in a situation where I hunted a lot of rabbits and decided to retreat strategically... I never ran away.”
Grid remembered it. It was the second day of the game. At the place where the rabbits respawned, he met a tough rabbit and got tied up. This resulted in him being beaten by dozens of rabbits (in fact, there were just three). He couldn’t adjust to the pain and was scared, causing him to scream in a panic. The damn people who were hunting around him saw it and laughed at him...
‘I was so ashamed that I left the scene like I was running away.’
At that time, he returned to the city and met a flower girl. Seeing her miserable state, he felt like he was looking at himself for some reason. Therefore, he helped her. It was a purely emotional act. It wasn’t really wise.
“And actually... I regretted it tremendously at the time. I had a hard time because I bought flowers with the money I should’ve used to buy bread.”
The empty stomach penalty—it was the penalty other players only experienced when they went to hunting grounds far away from the city, but Grid experienced it in just his second day, and it was even in the middle of the city.
He lost half a day because there was no one to help him... he shuddered even thinking about it again...
A smile spread across the Goddess’ face as she stared at the trembling Grid.
“You, who carried the scent of flowers every day, was the first hope I found, even despite your regrets.”
“......”
Sometimes, Grid had thought about it.
The girl he used to buy flowers from every day—she might’ve given him a hidden quest if he continued further, but in the end, he didn’t receive anything. One day, she suddenly disappeared and it just became meaningless charity work. It was proof that he was unlucky or foolish, so it remained a bitter memory.
That wasn’t the case. The good deed done out of a moment of emotion—what he thought was worthless gave him a connection with the Goddess.
“Then the attitude of the ‘player’ who took away the girl’s flower basket for fun and the attitude of the players who weighed the weight of the girl’s death because she went out to pick flowers again in the afternoon against the weight of the ‘basic potion provided to them’ made me feel despair.”
“......”
The girl who disappeared one day—Grid worried about her, but he didn’t bother looking for her. No one cared about the disappearance of a flower girl who didn’t even give quests.
‘Those bastards.’
The young NPC who was probably dying after being attacked by a goblin. Did the possibility that a quest might occur if they helped her never pop up in the minds of the fools who were nearby at the time? There were only those who were below par present—the flower girl died for that reason.
Thus, it was even more empty and miserable...
Grid was trying to recall the face of the girl he couldn’t remember any longer when the voice of the Goddess entered his ears.
“Players who rob a merchant’s carriage every time they find it on the field, players who break into other people’s homes and destroy things in search of hidden treasures, players who try to exploit the opposite sex without changing their expression, players who don’t put value on promises and contracts and repeatedly betray them... I’ve seen countless players who define humans in this world as ‘NPCs’ and easily deprive them of their human rights and lives. Do you know? When you punished the corrupt priests of the Vatican, half of the women who poured alcohol for them when naked were innocent civilians turned into slaves by players.“
“......”
There was no need for her to say it. The stories Rebecca used as examples were refined to not be as vulgar. There were many such crazy people in real life.
Chasing and raping a woman they saw on the street in order to quench their sexual desire, killing her to destroy evidence... shooting a gun or stabbing someone with a knife just because they felt bad one day, etc.
Then what about in the game? Even a normal person in reality easily became a crazy person in Satisfy. There were too many humans who committed indescribably evil deeds without a moment of hesitation.
Grid was no different from them. There were many cases where he harmed people simply out of necessity. Therefore, the more the Goddess continued speaking, the more he couldn’t lift his head. He suddenly had doubts. “...Am I still your hope?”
“Yes.” The Goddess had watched Grid’s steps from the beginning to the present.
“Nevertheless, you are my hope,” she answered firmly. It was the result of weighing him up against most people who didn’t even feel guilty. She witnessed Grid working hard to only do good after gaining power and authority.
“Then when you resurrected the divinity of the Refractive Dragon, hope became a curse.”
The Goddess confessed, “In fact, I invited you here with the intention of hurting you.”
“......”
“The sense of duty you developed at some point. Your desire to protect people resurrected the divinity of the Refractive Dragon and threatened my personal safety. I was afraid that if I lost my power, I wouldn’t be able to undo this world any longer... I was going to hurt you, undermine your strength, and then reseal the divinity of the Refractive Dragon. I was preparing for the last fight.”
“Did you change your mind when you saw me obediently accepting the invitation?”
“To be more honest, I couldn’t have hurt you no matter what choice you made. You resurrected the divinity of the Refractive Dragon because I didn’t communicate with you. It is all my fault. I couldn’t have placed the blame on you.”
“Why didn’t you communicate?”
Rebecca had the ability to create divine messages. She was able to converse with Grid before several misunderstandings overlapped. However, she was silent. The reason was simple. “The creator. I was wary of the foreign god you call Morpheus. I also knew you weren’t free from the influence of the foreign god, so I didn’t trust you.”
“Do you trust me now?”
“...I have come to the conclusion that I have no choice but to trust you.”
Rebecca still had her hands clasped together—Grid noticed it.
“I don’t want to destroy this world ever again.”
She was truly praying.
“Please save us.”
The NPCs—people who were born and lived in this world. Grid was the only one with the power to respect them as human beings and protect them at the same time. This was Rebecca’s belief.
[Only One God Grid is writing the 29th epic.]
[The beginning of the epic comes from Rebecca, the Goddess of Light, believing in him.]
[......!]
[......!!]
[A serious error has been found.]
[The epic has stopped being written.]
[The 29th epic is sealed as an unreadable story.]
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om