Chapter 43

Geopold the bride seeker, Hero King Krosodin, Elo the inventor, and so on.

Unless it was some trivial, minor incident, these major historical events could easily be solved just by reading Harden’s Annals closely.

Rather, the fault lay with the voices who lived in a dimension related to time but didn’t even know these things properly!

“Tsk, tsk. To think they have so little interest in history.”

Roan lamented the ignorance of the ancient watchmen and priests as he made his way through the forest.

And in fact, while passing through this forest, there was something else to do besides solving historical riddles.

Rustle—

“A Jiren flower. Quite a rare ingredient. Oh, there’s Vipet grass too.”

It was collecting special ingredients that only grew in this dimension!

When used in holy magic or spells related to time and space, they were highly effective, so there were many incredibly rare plants that couldn’t be sold because they weren’t available in the outside world.

In particular, a few species were needed to summon the ‘Administrator of the Forbidden Library’ authority or the ‘Shackle of Ash Life’.

‘At this rate, if the weekend goes as planned, obtaining the Administrator of the Forbidden Library is within reach.’

Roan gathered those ingredients and put them neatly into Harden’s lucky pouch.

Of course, the voices watching this were horrified.

— Ho-How vicious…

— Darc… I will remember this…

Although this dimension wasn’t a place just anyone could enter, the voices were still beings that had easily aged thousands of years.

As much as they had seen quite a few living people, they had never seen someone like Roan.

Most got lost in the corridors or the forest and withered away, or discovered the exit by some miracle and fled in a hurry.

But Roan not only walked with confidence as if he had been here hundreds of times, he even harvested the ingredients thoroughly.

It was a look that was more familiar with the place than the voices themselves.

“Is that the end?”

— Darc… you finally reached the garden…

— Gathering all that… and now you’re going to take the fragment of a god too…?

Meanwhile, the forest ended, and the ‘Garden of Dawn’ that the tower’s voice had mentioned was revealed.

Roan curled up one corner of his mouth in satisfaction.

‘I’ve harvested quite a decent amount.’

Well, he hadn’t come for this purpose, but there was a long-standing lesson that a good thing was a good thing.

***

The Garden of Dawn was not a very large space.

However, unlike other places, the beautiful scenery glowing with the silver light of dawn was extremely mystical.

Shrub hedges neatly trimmed at waist height, and orchards bearing mystical fruits.

Fountains installed here and there.

The only one who had managed this place since the creation of this dimension was a single beautiful woman.

Josephine, the last priestess who served Day.

As the last priestess, she had chosen to be preserved in this dimension at a young age and had closed the dimension’s gate herself, separating it from the outside world.

Along with Gahro, who managed the Garden of Sunset, she was one of only two beings who still possessed a physical form.

Draped in a silver robe, she flashed a beautiful smile to welcome the visitor who had come after a very long time.

— Vicious… That vicious Darc…

— Be careful, Josephine…

For some reason, the reaction of the voices, who were usually carefree, was strange, but she didn’t pay much attention.

“Welcome, visitor. If you wish to obtain the fragment of a god…”

However, she could not even finish her greeting.

And with good reason—as soon as the visitor entered this holy place, he immediately tried to pick the fruit from the trees!

“Excuse me… visitor, what are you…”

Since this was the first time Josephine had encountered such a case, she cautiously tried to draw the visitor’s attention.

At that, the visitor, who was focused on picking fruit, turned his head toward her.

“Hi-Hieek.”

He looked young, but his face was gloomy as if he had killed a few people.

Furthermore, although his exterior seemed bright, a dark aura could be felt from deep within.

‘What a dangerous…!’

Josephine was the administrator-like figure of this dimension.

Therefore, although not to the extent of Harden, she could grasp Roan’s identity to some degree.

Of course, a little knowledge was a dangerous thing; having peeked amateurishly into Roan’s inner self, Josephine ended up quite terrified.

Roan, who could make even the last priestess who had trained since ancient times tremble with fear!

Meanwhile, Roan, who was well aware of Josephine, spoke kindly.

“Ah, is picking these not allowed? I did so because they looked well-ripened.”

Even in the game, if one wanted to harvest them, there was nothing stopping them.

Since Josephine did not interfere with fully ripened fruits.

She nodded with a slightly dazed expression.

“I-It is fine. Please take as many as you can carry.”

It felt as if he would do something terrible right away if she told him not to take them!

She simply had no choice but to agree.

‘Why is she acting like that?’

Roan was also a bit puzzled, as he had never seen Josephine so flustered.

Was she actually a bit of a shy personality, which he hadn’t known from the game?

‘Well, that could be the case.’

Having lived with only voices for thousands of years without seeing another person, it might be natural to become introverted.

Anyway, since he had the administrator’s permission, there was nothing to hold him back.

Pluck— Snap—

Roan began to harvest the ripe fruits quickly like an experienced farmer.

Although the fruits here had no special effects, their taste was so grand that they were said to be the finest delicacy under heaven.

Of course, what Josephine had said earlier about taking as many as he could carry was a holy teaching of God not to be greedy.

However.

‘Harden’s lucky pouch is useful in many ways.’

To Roan, who possessed the ultimate spatial-pocket item, it was equivalent to telling him to just take everything.

When he didn’t have a spatial-pocket item, how much did he regret seeing the fruits left behind after filling his inventory to the brim!

Thus, before long.

“Phew. Thank you for the fruits. I will eat them well while expressing my gratitude to Day.”

Roan wiped his sweat after completing his labor and expressed his thanks to Josephine.

“…”

Josephine only looked around the Garden of Dawn with trembling eyes and said nothing.

It was utterly devastating to see the alluring fruits she had grown with care vanish into that small lucky pouch in the blink of an eye.

“…Please follow me.”

Josephine said to Roan in a slightly cold voice.

In the game, NPC favorability didn’t change from such extremely ‘player-like behavior’, but reality was slightly different.

Roan followed behind her and clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘Tsk, seeing her in person, putting her introverted nature aside, her personality is quite bad.’

‘This is why one must meet a person directly to judge them!’

— As expected of the vicious Darc…

— Don’t cry, Josephine…

“…I’m not crying.”

Josephine replied in a voice too quiet for Roan to hear.

She didn’t shed tears as she said, but she didn’t feel good at all…

Before long, Josephine and Roan arrived at the ‘Fountain of Dawn’ in the center of the garden.

The fountain, carved from silver ore, shone beautifully, scattering the dawn light in tens of thousands of directions.

“Oh…”

“You can take the trial by looking into this fountain.”

Josephine said rather bluntly.

Roan, who had already grasped Josephine’s personality to some extent, didn’t care much and approached the fountain.

The water inside also glowed with a mysterious silver light.

Staring down at his reflection in the water for a moment, Roan asked Josephine.

“Aren’t you going to explain the trial?”

“…I was going to, even if you didn’t ask. Day’s trial is about the future…”

She began her explanation in a businesslike tone, as if she didn’t like it at all.

Of course, Roan already knew all of it.

The reason he asked was simply because Josephine would normally explain the trial automatically upon arriving at the fountain.

‘As expected, her personality is indeed quite bad in person. She should do her job properly.’

‘A bad guy who took all the fruits is even trying to take the fragment of a god…!’

The misunderstanding between the two only deepened further.

“Thank you for the explanation. Then, excuse me.”

Roan gave a light nod and plunged his hand into the fountain.

Splash—

At that, the water in the fountain seemed to splash violently, but it soon dispersed into droplets, enveloping Roan’s entire body like a fog.

Day’s trial to acquire the Eye of the Prophet.

It was a method of falling into an illusion of the future.

Of course, as the administrator of the dimension, Josephine could witness all of Roan’s illusions.

“Let’s see how well you do.”

Normally, even if a challenger got trapped in the illusion and couldn’t escape, she would pull them out and send them back, but this time she would teach him a lesson!

Josephine resolved.

***

Of course, even if it was called an illusion of the future, it was merely a method of showing one of the bad endings from the distant future.

One just had to act in a way that best suited the possessed character within the bad ending.

The reason the ‘Eye of the Prophet’ was called a fragment of a god was because it split off from this fountain, so the effect was bound to be similar.

The possessed character was randomly selected from those close to the current character being played.

For instance.

“Huh? It’s me?”

In Roan’s case, it was like becoming Demona.

A luxurious room that appeared to be the interior of the Wicronon Mansion.

Roan stood in front of a large mirror inside.

It seemed to be about five years into the future, but how could he not recognize Demona?

Since he was possessing the character itself, Roan’s way of speaking had also changed to match Demona’s.

‘Dammit…’

Roan cursed inwardly.

Of all people, to get Demona.

The saying that an unlucky guy would break his nose even if he fell backward was exactly right.

Demona was the most difficult character among those he knew.

Especially in this worldline.

‘I would have preferred Rafia or Riel, or even Sion.’

Though it seemed only female students came to his mind.

But once he was stuck with him, he had to pass the trial as Demona.

At that moment, someone flung the door open and walked in.

“Demona, are you there?”

“!!!!”

Roan was startled.

The person who opened the door and walked in was definitely…

“Roan?”

It was the future Roan, himself!

“…What are you so surprised about? I told you I would visit today.”

The future Roan also showed signs of passing time.

Of course, his gloomy and dangerous impression remained the same.

‘Wait, more importantly!’

Staring at the future Roan for a moment, Roan was horrified.

‘Am I still acquainted with this guy even in this future?’

Why on earth?

With his current feelings, he wanted to graduate and never see his face again for the rest of his life…

Furthermore, judging by Roan’s attitude, they seemed to be quite close.

Roan smiled as foolishly as possible, just like Demona, and spoke.

“Hehe, did you?”

“Where do you keep your mind?”

The future Roan frowned deeply.

“It’s just how I am~”

“Hmm… right.”

But with this single sentence, he nodded as if he understood and sat down.

Although it was naturally the future Roan, once he was in Demona’s shoes, it felt disgusting.

‘Tsk, right. The setting is that this isn’t necessarily something that will happen.’

Rather, since it was a scene from a bad ending, each of the things that were about to happen was something that had to be prevented.

Roan, who had barely managed to rationalize it, sat across from the future Roan.

Thud—

The future Roan suddenly threw something onto the table.

“Here.”

“?”

Glancing at it, it was a gift box packaged quite neatly—by Roan’s standards.

“What is this?”

When Roan asked, the future Roan frowned slightly.

Roan trembled without realizing it.

‘With such a dirty expression…’

Even though it was his own face, he couldn’t get used to it.

“What else. It’s a wedding gift.”

“!!!!”

Roan’s mouth fell open in shock.

A wedding gift?

Then he got married?

Not anyone else, but Demona?

‘What crazy woman…?’

It was the start of a terrible bad ending.