NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 303.1
Chapter 303.1. The Final Scheme
Sakimori looks around and lets out a faint, sighing chuckle. With a ‘kukuku’ and a smirk, he steps through the gate.
“Too hasty. Did you not consider that I might return?”
This should have been the Naraka Research Institute. A spacious laboratory where Serika’s repaired dimensional gate was supposed to be. But the scene before my eyes was different. This was no research institute.
No, there was nothing.
As far as the eye could see, there was only a flat, rainbow-colored expanse. As if the graphics of a game hadn’t been rendered yet. Like something prepared for testing.
I recognized it. I definitely recognized this scene. It was like when I obtained the Dungeon Core and the dungeon collapsed. Just an empty space.
As I stepped forward, the rainbow-colored ground felt soft beneath my feet. It didn’t feel hard at all.
I began to walk leisurely through the space. Serika and the others should have been here to greet me, but no one was around. Still, I didn’t mind.
Walking as if out for a stroll, I narrowed my eyes and muttered.
“Once, I played a game. It was back when I was a kid. A classic story about a hero going to defeat the Demon King. But, in my opinion, that game didn’t have a happy ending.”
In this empty space, I continued to walk through this world of nothingness, speaking in a calm tone.
“That Demon King, it seems he came from another world. He apparently tore a hole to get here. The hero went through that hole to another world to defeat the Demon King. And when the Demon King was defeated, peace returned to that world. But because the hole was sealed, the hero couldn’t return to his original world and had to live in that world instead. And they all lived happily ever after.”
After finishing the story in one breath, I shrugged and smirked.
“Back then, I must have been a nasty kid, because I couldn’t see it as a happy ending. I just felt sorry for the heroes who couldn’t return to their own world.”
I looked around to see if there was any reaction, but it was quiet. Unbothered, I continued to speak my thoughts. I must have been a twisted kid back then.
“What if there was a true Demon King in the original world? Even if the hero was destroyed, another hero might be born someday. If the Demon King thought there was such a rule, then the solution wouldn’t be to kill them, but to banish them. No need to fight. The sacrifice would be another world. It wouldn’t hurt the Demon King at all. Once the hero defeated the fake Demon King, they could show a flashy effect, pretend peace had been achieved, and seal the dimensional hole. That would be the end. The hero would live in the other world without question. The hero’s bloodline would become part of that world, and the Demon King could slowly dominate a world without any natural enemies.”
I exhaled and finished my story, then smirked.
“Even if they defeat the Demon King, someday someone with the concept of a ‘savior’ might be born. It might not be a human, and there’s a high chance they’d have the power to defeat the Demon King. If that happens, I won’t be able to sleep soundly.”
Still no reaction.
“Shizen’s existence was puzzling. Why did she need to wait in another world? And why did she make me stronger and prepare such a final battle? The prize was the primordial power of another world. I see. A splendid reward. And once we obtained that primordial power, the dimensional gate would close, and we’d live happily in that other world. That was supposed to be the ending.”
Even in this game-like world, this world isn’t a game. There is a Game Master ruling the world, but they don’t care about the players. They only create rules and events to ensure their own victory.
Such a being wouldn’t prepare a slightly sad happy ending for us. Their desire was simply for me to disappear from this world and become a god in another world. Once a god, I would no longer interfere with them.
Without questioning the setup, I spent a happy remainder of my life with Shizuku. That was the scheme.
“The plan was to remake this world and make it impossible for me to return as a god. To put it simply, it’s like changing the wavelength of a radio. If I became a god in Shizuku’s world and worked on human restoration, there would be plenty of time to change the world. That’s what I thought.”
It wasn’t the foolish Tia who was the sacrifice. It was that girl, Shizen, who was the sacrificial final boss. A dummy final boss. I have to admire the thought put into it.
“But there was one mistake. [Conflict]. It would have been better not to call it [Conflict], even as a lie. I believe that survival itself is conflict, so it felt off. To govern [Conflict] and yet desire a final battle with me? That’s strange. And that’s how I noticed the hidden scheme, so I came back alone.”
That’s all I wanted to say. I exhaled and stopped.
“I’d like to hear your thoughts.”
“You didn’t think you’d lose, did you? You made it seem so natural.”
Before my eyes, a mass of flesh oozed out of the space and finally responded. It was a pulsating mass of flesh, like a heart. Blood vessels swam around like tentacles.
“I am not Shizen. Your existence is not natural. I decided to banish you long ago, Amano Sakimori.”