chapter 297
297 – Scene 297# Dummy World
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[Entering the 39th episode!]
I was unable to accept reality for a while and was in pain, so I committed suicide twice. It was a kind of escape. In the end, it was completely useless. It just reminded me that I have to continue living here in the future.
That fact made me fall into even more despair.
[Entering the 47th episode!]
Tristan’s personality tormented me like a sudden seizure. As a result, I gradually became a nervous, arrogant person with a broken personality, spewing out unintentional evil deeds and arrogant remarks.
That was just as Stella’s CEO Park Joon-hyuk intended. Since he was holding my sister hostage, I had no choice but to do as he intended.
I gave up the idea of resisting the hopeless reality and resigned myself.
But what shook my heart was the death of the count’s young maid, Wendy.
I didn’t want to see Wendy make mistakes all the time, so I told her to finish cleaning her warehouse on her own.
It seems that naive Wendy tried hard to somehow carry out that ridiculous order. But ‘misfortune’ could not be avoided. She lost her life after being crushed by the luggage piled up in her warehouse.
My reckless orders led to Wendy’s death.
The moment I saw Wendy’s tiny body pulled out of the pile of luggage, my ego, which had been blinking in the dark, began to shine brightly again.
I felt guilty.
Even forgetting the impact of his personality, he was consumed by the guilt of killing a young girl. Even though it was a game, to me it was no different from a living person.
The emotions that Tristan would never have felt soon turned into tears.
“Sorry… Wendy… Sorry. I’m really sorry…”
That night, I sobbed in a place where no one was watching. The tears were also evidence that the existence of ‘I’ had not yet been completely erased.
[Entering the 50th episode!]
After experiencing Wendy’s death, I decided to resist individuality. It was also about trying not to forget the existence of ‘me’.
If I forget that I am myself, then the only thing left is to die.
‘Okay. Let’s just pretend to be Tristan.’
I definitely had an advantage.
It means that I shared the original work with Sora.
Since this world is a place created entirely by Sora’s imagination, it is bound to be more familiar to me than to the CEO or company officials.
They have only read the content that Sora submitted to the contest, so they know little about the content behind it. Therefore, the reason I was able to join the company without any experience in the game industry was because I was Sora’s older brother and the person who best understood the worldview of the original work.
In other words, no matter what the result, if I only say and do things that a ‘villain’ would do, even CEO Park won’t have much of an issue.
Moreover, there were some facts that I learned while conducting numerous tests alone at the company.
Looking at the big picture, what happens in this world does not deviate from the larger framework of the original work. However, if you look at it in a small way, there were many parts that flowed differently from the original.
The reason is probably because the novel, which can be said to be the original work of this world, is still unfinished.
Every little setting or story that Sora didn’t create was changed by my every action.
For example, in the first episode, there were three children of the head deacon working at the Ruelberta mansion, but in the next episode, there will be two.
In other words, strictly speaking, this world is still being created. In terms of games, updates are being made in real time. And as soon as the episode ends, all the updated content becomes a useless dummy world and remains in Sora’s mind.
This world I am in now will also turn into a dummy world as soon as I die. Representative Park probably doesn’t care at all. All he wants is for the ‘real’ Tristan to be in the game when the online service starts.
For his sake, I have to act’real’. The truth that only me and Sora know.
“Tsk… !?”
At that moment, ‘anger’, ‘pride’, ‘jealousy’, and ‘greed’ reacted in my heart.
Exciting… !
They tried to pollute my mind with dirty and ugly emotions.
“Whoever wants… !”
I grabbed the ballpoint pen next to me and stabbed it in the thigh. The sensation of the sharp pen tip cutting into my flesh was horribly painful.
Exciting!
Such a disaster.
They had no intention of stopping, so I stabbed them in the thigh with the tip of the pen again. It’s still in the same spot where it was stabbed earlier.
I almost writhed in pain, but I didn’t stop holding my hand. Because I felt like if I did that, my mind would be controlled.
“Still… ! “A little!”
With bloodshot eyes, I held the pen and continued taking pictures of my thighs.
“Stay!! “You damn things!”
To someone else, I might have looked like a crazy person, but at that moment, I couldn’t help but go crazy.
If I don’t, I won’t be myself.
“Wendy’s gone because of you guys! Wendy is dead! What kind of emotion is that? Me! Make me a murderer?!”
How many times did I cut my thighs like that?
The feelings that were rising in my chest gradually weakened and soon began to subside.
“Ha…Ha…”
When the personalities completely subsided, my face was covered in cold sweat and my thighs and hands were completely stained with blood.
“Under…” . Ahaha… Haha… !”
Even though it was that kind of situation, I laughed.
Because the fact that I was able to suppress them for the first time was more exhilarating than the pain of having my thighs become like rags.
“Okay… ! Try the damn thing again… Uh? “Keep doing whatever you want!”
Despite my shouts, they remained silent.
Only then did I throw the pen in my hand to the floor.
“Under…” . Seed… I’m fussing…”
But something made me feel dizzy. What… ?
Rattle-
“… Count. What are we going to do now that we’ve called someone over? I was talking strangely to myself earlier…”
Suddenly the door opened and the silver-haired princess, Bella, came in. Now that I think about it, her visit was scheduled because it was the beginning of the episode…
Bella was so shocked when she saw the fresh blood on my thighs and floor that she ran over to me.
“Count?! What’s wrong?! Come to your senses!”
Oh, maybe I lost too much blood.
My vision started to become blurry, like there was fog.
But even then, what came to mind was not my comfort.
“Be quite…”
“Yes?”
“Just pretend not to know me… Bella.”
“What are you talking about? Call someone right now…”
“Not required… Didn’t you hate me? If you pretend not to know and leave me like this, I will die. Isn’t that what you’ve been longing for?”
I said, looking at her with a bitter smile.
To begin with, she absolutely hates Tristan. I tried to dissuade her because I thought she wanted Tristan dead more than anyone else.
“So go back quietly. Bella… “I won’t blame you.”
“… It certainly is. Count, it is as you said.”
Bella slowly stood up. She said to me,
“But this is not the way to die.”
“… “What?”
“This is no different from running away. “You are running away from the sins you and your family committed.”
“…”
She, who does not know her situation, thinks I tried to commit suicide. No, it ended up being a suicide attempt…
Bella added to me.
“… And I’m not heartless enough to turn a blind eye to a dying person.”
“Heh…”
When I saw that, I smiled bitterly.
“Really, Bella, that’s true of you. “It’s exactly what I saw in the novel.”
“Yes? “Novel?”
After saying those words, my vision gradually became darker.
“For a moment?! Count! Open your eyes! Hey! Isn’t anyone there?! Hurry! Someone please! “Someone please come and help!”
I soon closed my eyes while listening to Bella’s urgent cries
[Entering the 51st episode!]
Okay. Let’s admit what we have to admit. The fact that I got so excited.
But this death was somewhat successful. Because I knew that if I fought to the death, I could suppress my individuality. Even though it was temporary, it was exhilarating to feel like my sense of self was becoming clearer, even if only a little.
Oh, of course the problem is that he died because he was too excited…
Rattling-!
Unlike before, the door opens urgently.
“Count?! Are you okay? So much blood… Spilling?”
Bella came in through the door and looked at me with a surprised look on her face. And she soon realized that her thoughts she were mistaken.
“What’s going on?”
“No…It’s nothing. I remember something bad…”
Bella said, pressing her temples.
When I saw that, I had a rough idea of what the situation was. The influence of the dummy world remains. Dummy worlds that are not discarded also have a very faint effect on this world.
As for Bella, I only vaguely remember her from the last episode.
Normally, I would have disposed of the dummy worlds in time, but there are already 51 of them. It seemed like it would slowly have an impact.
I opened my mouth slowly.
“Are you worried about a guy like me… ? .”
“I beg your pardon…” ?”
Bella frowned at those words. Unlike before, her gaze contained deep hatred towards me.
“I still feel bad. Count. Did I tell you before? “Don’t even talk to me until you change your way of thinking or attitude.”
Her cold voice pierced me like a dagger.
“I don’t know what you were expecting, but I only came today because you said you had something to say. Not only did you ruin our family, but you are the one who tried to tie us up in debt… “I really hate it.”
“Okay… I know it well.”
Since it was no different from being forced to become engaged to Tristan, her pride and pride would have been greatly damaged.
Funnily enough, Tristan didn’t take Bella as his fiancé because he loved her. He just wanted to own her.
For him, there was no trophy more coveted than Princess Bela Isaac Hel, who was praised as the most beautiful in her empire. They just look at it as a precious and pretty object.
Bella, who knew that fact, hated Tristan so much. So much so that she tries to escape from Tristan’s hands whenever she gets the chance.
By the way, since she doesn’t have Peter, who was supposed to be her her original companion her her her, I was curious who would be her her companion her her her her in this game.
Of course not me.
“Bela Isaachel.”
I called her her name her
“Please don’t call me by my name. Count. Because I feel bad.”
“Are you still planning on having an engagement ceremony with me?”
“… “What have you been hearing from me so far?”
Bella slapped the fan in her hand and folded it.
“Such a shameless man. Do you really still not know? I don’t want to even meet you, let alone get engaged to you. “I don’t even want this moment of breathing in the same space as you.”
“…”
“Is it so… Maybe in the past… “I don’t know if it was you back then, but now I don’t need a man like you in my life.”
Bella pours out all the words she has accumulated over the years.
She is a bird in a cage. These are silver wings that will one day meet the main character, Peter, open the cage, and fly away. But Peter won’t come.
When I thought of her, I was captivated by her desire to set her free.
“Okay… “I understood it well.”
“You know? You? No. You don’t know. Even though you say this, you end up-“
“I don’t need a fiancé like you either.”
“… Ha?”
Bella’s face became as hard as ice.
“Count…” . What did you just say… ?”
“Go.”
I ignored her and stood in front of her window, looking out into the distance. She muttered as she looked at the place created by her younger brother’s imagination of her.
“From now on, live as you want.”
At least for this episode, I will open your cage.