Abyss (1)

Stumbling back to [Room 106], Elise slumped onto the bed.

"I wanted to eat it."

She mumbled, puffing her cheeks.

What could that delicious-smelling menu have been? Her student ID achievement points were almost over 30,000, but she couldn't buy anything because of Layla.

She'd have to sneak in later.

To clear her mind, Elise pulled out her game console from under the bed.

Her new hobby these days─[Bethune Dungeon].

She murmured as she pushed the CD into the console.

"Log in."

Swoooosh───

The sensation of being wrapped up.

She would be transported to a space completely different from the dormitory.

Whiiiiing———

After the trembling sensation, she looked around the room, which was about 10 pyeong, with a slightly queasy stomach.

"...Huh."

Beside her, who had clumsily logged in, a camel was sitting like a loaf of bread. It was 'Bianca', who she had adopted two days ago.

"Hehe."

Seeing her immediately brought a smile. This child was capable of indoor life. She was so smart that she knew where to relieve herself, didn't smell, and even showered herself, as if she had mysophobia.

"Bianca."

Elise called her name and stroked her. Bianca yawned lazily.

"Have you been taking good care of the house?"

Bianca, being poised, didn't answer.

Elise smiled faintly and went downstairs. Bianca followed.

The first floor was a 20-pyeong clinic. She had rented the entire two-story building.

It's on rent now, but she plans to earn more money and buy it outright.

[Bianca Clinic]

[CLOSED]

Elise opened the door of the clinic. She was thinking of taking a night walk with Bianca.

"Oh, Doctor!"

"The Doctor is here!"

But already, there were many people waiting for tomorrow's early morning treatment, from a skinny old man to a mother holding her child to a young man with an injured arm.

"...Come in."

Elise called them in.

It wasn't treatment time, but money was always short, no matter how much she earned.

"Yes!"

"One by one, write your name on the counter and come in."

"Understood!"

The unique skills of a high priest are [Diagnosis], [Healing Touch], and [Drug Synthesis], but Elise rarely uses anything other than [Drug Synthesis].

The NPCs here operate like real people.

The term 'operate' might be a bit off, but anyway, it's possible to treat them with real medical knowledge.

[It's Elise]

│Advanced Human │ Lv. 8 High Priest │

Thanks to this, her level is now 8. Non-skill treatments give more experience points.

"It's a simple fracture. I'll wrap it in a cast and bandages, don't remove them."

"It seems like there's inflammation in your lungs. I'll make a medicine, take it three times a day after meals."

"Your baby has a high fever. I'll prescribe a fever reducer and an anti-inflammatory painkiller, so lie down for a while."

Elise quickly finished diagnosing, treating, and caring for 20 people.

"That's it for today."

Now, it's time to go out with Bianca.

Clip-clop- Clip-clop-

Elise climbed onto Bianca's back and headed to the market.

She was going to buy medicinal herbs at the night market.

"Oh my, Doctor, you're here."

The merchant recognized her first and greeted her. She was, after all, a somewhat famous figure, being the only high priest in the starting village.

"Yes. Three roots of Bellas. Three stalks of Rhyno flowers. Ten stems of Caldons, please."

"Understood~"

"…But, there seem to be a lot of people these days?"

Elise asked as she looked around. The night market was bustling with people under the bright lights.

"Oh yes. Lately, a lot of foreigners have been coming in."

Foreigners referred to users.

"Hmm..."

Elise pricked up her ears towards the group of users. It was a skill called [Five Senses].

─Did you hear about that, bro? Apparently, a lot of people are trying to get into Shadowring these days.

─Shadowring? But users are blocked from entering there.

─It seems the newbies don't know that.

─Ah, true. There have been a lot of newbies lately.

Elise, while still on Bianca, approached them.

"Excuse me-?"

When she asked from atop her pretty pet camel, the party turned around in surprise.

"Oh. Yes. Hello. You have a nice ride."

As expected, they looked at her with envy.

Hehe- Elise curled her lips in satisfaction.

"It's a camel."

"Yes, we know it's a camel."

"It's not an ordinary camel. Anyway, there seem to be a lot of users these days?"

"Well, Bethune is pretty hot these days. There's also a strange rumor going around."

"A strange rumor?"

"Yes. Don't you know? They say if you break it, your wish will be granted or something?"

"...A wish?"

Elise was dumbfounded.

If I had a wish, it would be to take Bianca and leave this reality.

"We don't believe it either. We're here to farm."

"Farm? Are you farming food?"

"It's farming."

"Farming? Is it like fish?"

"...No. We're farming money in Bethune to sell in reality. It's quite profitable. If you do it for 8 hours a day for a month, you can earn about 900,000 to 1,000,000 Ren."

"Ah... I see."

It wasn't a conversation she wanted to prolong.

"If you get hurt while farming food, come to Bianca Clinic."

"It's 'farming'."

"Depending on the injury, it starts from a minimum of one dime, but I'll give you a free coupon for a minor injury."

"Oh~ Thank you. Are you a priest? What's your ID?"

"...Don't talk to me."

"What?"

Just as [It's Elise] was handing out coupons and turning around.

At the entrance of the beginner's village, two people as white as snow caught her eye.

A pair of siblings, white from head to toe, as if molded from snow.

Sheron and Erick.

The twins from the family [Aventagher] that produced the Chairman of the previous council.

The two, famous for their enmity, were walking side by side for some reason. As expected.

-Move. Did you eat a boiled turtle?

Erick, the younger brother, pushed his sister Sheron.

-...

Sheron, who clenched her teeth, put strength into her feet and pushed Erick's back.

-Uh!

Erick almost fell but barely managed to maintain his balance. Sheron smirked.

-You move. You weak-legged bastard.

-...Are you crazy? I have HP, you lunatic.

-Get lost, you lunatic. Always getting ignored by Soliette. You stick-thin legged bastard.

-You crazy bitch-

The two snarled at each other, as if ready to grab each other by the hair.

"Miss, young master, we don't have much time. You must go to the Shadowring immediately."

Knights from the Aventagher family appeared in droves, stopping the two.

"…Erick. Sheron."

They were the upper echelons of Edsilla, who had a certain closeness with Elise.

In terms of family rank, they were almost on par with Libra and Arkne.

Especially Erick, a handsome man whom Elise had admired like a prince when she was 6 or 7 years old…

Anyway.

The great family of Aventagher wouldn't have come here for no reason.

"Something…"

Something seemed to be happening in this [Bethune].

* * *

At the same time.

I returned to the dormitory and opened the door to room [107].

"You're late."

There was someone who had arrived before me.

A woman named Akane, sitting on the bed with her long legs crossed, smoking a cigarette. We've been meeting a lot today.

"Shion Ascal."

Her voice was harsh, as if scorched. The heat of the magic emanating from her body made the room hot.

"Did you leave without locking the door?"

I fiddled with the doorknob.

"…"

Akane stared at me in silence.

"But why are you smoking inside? It's impolite."

I placed my student ID on the desk and hung my coat on the hanger.

Even then, Akane was still creating a dangerous atmosphere.

"It's hot."

I opened the window, took off my socks and shirt, and lay down on the bed in my running clothes, in the empty space where Akane was sitting.

That seemed to be her limit.

"Aren't you scared of me?"

"Yes."

"If I wanted to, I could kill you with my little finger."

"Hey, I'm your lifesaver. I saved you when you were about to die."

"Don't get it twisted. To me, my body is nothing more than a more intricate doll than a piece of paper."

As she said, she could live even if her body died. That's why she is the most human-like and yet the least human-like monster I've ever seen.

"It would be better if you didn't."

I lay on my side and looked at Akane. Akane asked back with a thin smile.

"Why?"

"Because the body is precious. Not in terms of magic or power, but in terms of living as a human, 'roots' are important. Without them, you're not a human."

Before my regression, I received a lot of help from Akane. In the process, we formed a deep bond.

I've heard a lot from her.

"You seem to know that, don't you?"

"…What do you think I know?"

Akane still had eagle-like eyes. Facing her red eyes, which were a terrible complex for her, I said,

"You need someone to 'confirm' you."

The supreme task of a doll maker is to realize the human body, but a doll maker who has achieved this feat loses herself.

Because the boundary between the body and the doll disappears.

Therefore, a doll maker who has reached the extreme can only confirm herself by 'another being that can distinguish herself from the doll'.

"…"

Before my regression, Akane had spent her entire life searching for such an existence but failed to find it, eventually stepping out of the category of 'human'.

In other words── She became the 'phenomenon' known as Akane.

"I can't believe it."

Akane muttered, rubbing her eyes.

"What's the point of a soon-to-die guy confirming me?"

"...."

A soon-to-die guy. The nuance contained in those words was clear.

"Did you know?"

She took out a second cigarette from her pocket. She lit the second cigarette with the heat of the first one that was still burning.

"I'm also on the edge, like you. Maybe starting tomorrow."

Hoo.... She exhaled a harsh smoke and crossed her arms.

"Come visit the farm sometime. The food is already rumored to be delicious."

"Anytime."

The rumor was probably thanks to Layla.

If you want to spread a word, just whisper to her and say 'this is a secret', and it's done.

She is at the top of the caste, so any rumor flows from top to bottom.

"Take care."

Akane got up. I also got up.

I almost forgot.

"Ah, wait a moment. This is the tobacco I harvested today?"

I took out a metal cigarette case from my coat pocket.

For some reason, Gerkhen brought tobacco seeds, and I harvested them and rolled them like homemade cigarettes.

"...Tobacco?"

Akane first smelled the cigarette case I handed over. Her eyes widened like threads. It was a pleasant expression.

She lazily smiled and put the gift in her pocket.

"Thanks. I have something for you too."

And then she threw something.

It was a mana core.

Not an ordinary mana core. A well-polished one, almost like a gem, an S-grade mana core that a lower-class person like me couldn't buy even with money.

"Huh...."

"You said you used a mana core to treat me last time. That's the price."

"It wasn't this much."

"My hands are a bit big. So I'm a debtor." (Essentially, since her hands are large, money flows through it, aka she's generous, thus she's in debt)

Akane was about to leave as she was, but she hesitated.

"Shion Ascal."

She turned to look at me, clutching the doorknob.

"...Your life is your own. It's okay if tomorrow is burdensome. It's okay if life is unfair. Don't make plans. Laugh loudly, and fly today. Because you are alive. Always live as if you are alive."

She left those words and went outside.

Thump-

Looking at the closed door, I chewed over her words.

"...What does she mean."

* * *

[Planarium].

Administrator Akane's office.

She was lost in thought, lighting the cigarette Shion had given her as a gift.

"Even if it's 1,000 Ren per stick, it's worth buying."

Thanks to being grown in a heavenly environment, the quality is top of the top.

However, now more than that...

"You're not a doll, you know."

Shion Ascal

Just as he said, she is now the original body.

'Still' she can distinguish herself.

However, this too is a matter of time.

If she scatters her consciousness into a clone that surpasses a mere doll modeled after herself, to the point of being virtually identical to her, she will eventually forget whether she is the original or a clone.

──Is it… the hymn of humanity, then?

At that moment when Akane was lost in thought.

A sinking voice from behind her, looking out the window.

──Congratulations, Akane. You've finally found an anchor to tether you to reality.

Curly hair like a medieval noble. Pale skin and crimson eyes. His essence reaches the end of the ceiling, and the blood vessels bulging on his face like a goblin are clearly not human.

──However, it's pitiful. You were caught by me of all people.

The head of the monster association. He who refers to himself as the world's destruction─ [Jude Velot].

He spoke as if threatening, but Akane calmly lit a cigarette.

"You know, when I first created myself? From then until now, I've been searching for 7 years. For an existence that could confirm me."

The first body she ever made was her own.

A finished product where the distinction between nothingness and self is impossible. The time when she implanted a soul into it and brought it to life is still vivid in Akane's mind.

Ecstasy.

At the same time, despair.

"Shion Ascal. He is my anchor. If not for him, I would never find it. After a year, I will forget whether I am the original or a clone."

A human without roots ceases to be human. It degenerates into a simple mass, or a herd, or even further into a phenomenon like a typhoon or lightning. Into a phenomenon close to a magical disaster, 'Akane'.

"Wouldn't it be hard for you to handle me, who is no longer human?"

──...

Then Jude Velot was silent for a moment.

─Indeed, we need an anchor too.

As if he had made his own calculations, he melted into the darkness.

"...He's a pitiful guy."

Akane echoed Jude's words and lit her third cigarette.

Shion Ascal.

He wasn't even a candidate. He lacked insight, his senses were inadequate, he had no intuition, and above all, he was on borrowed time.

Perhaps it's because of the commonality of being on borrowed time.

Akane's days of existing as a human are not far off, and his days of living as a human are not far off.

The emotions they each feel are probably similar.

"Hmm..."

She took a puff of her cigarette.

"...Hymm of humanity my ass. This cigarette is the hymn."

She admired it with a face almost in ecstasy.