Rebecca Ignis (3)

Tch. If only Rebecca hadn’t used magic, I could have slipped into bed with the male version of myself.

All because she had to go and do something so pointless.

I could have slept with male Ga-eul!

Thump.

The moment I was left alone in the room, all the strength drained from my body and I collapsed without realizing it. The tension must have finally released. Today really had been one hell of a day. No wonder my body felt exhausted after everything that happened.

I crawled across the floor with great effort and climbed onto the bed. Once there, I laced my fingers behind my head like a pillow and replayed the day’s events in my mind.

The moment I opened my eyes, I met “me.” I had fantasized about encountering the male version of myself before, but I never imagined it would actually come true.

We played games together. Our tastes were surprisingly similar.

We went shopping and even watched a movie.

“I’m ‘me’ too. All of us are ‘me.’ So you can lean on me as well. I’ll help ‘you.’”

I heard incredibly cool lines like that, and I met those women.

Monica Grace.

Cassandra Turk.

Bathory Hosa.

Karen Erzsebet.

And even Rebecca Ignis.

Every last ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one of them—powerful beings brought into existence through my delusions.

And every last one of them was in love with male Ga-eul.

Of all the rotten luck!

Karen Erzsebet wasn’t a virgin, so there was no way the Ga-eul who shared my tastes would ever accept her. The real problem was that the rest of them were all virgins and dangerously attractive. That made them a serious threat.

I am “me.” I’m the one who’s supposed to be with him. How dare they try to insert themselves?

But could an ordinary human like me truly protect male Ga-eul from them? Any one of those women might get strange ideas and decide to kidnap him…

If I wanted to claim my love, I had to become stronger.

And strangely enough, that didn’t seem impossible.

“Status Window.”

The rest of the window looked normal, but the single glaring anomaly was that my durability refused to display anything except question marks.

I see. So I hadn’t gained a “Physical Immunity” skill.

This was the result of a different delusion.

I remembered a manga I once read called The Strongest Woman on Earth. Its protagonist was quite literally the strongest being in that entire world.

I had fantasized about becoming like her. She was an overwhelmingly powerful existence that no one could defeat, but the price she paid was the loss of her hair.

I wanted her strength, but I had no desire to go bald. So in my delusion, I gave myself the same durability her hair possessed while gaining none of her other powers.

In the story, the protagonist took a hit from a villain whose power rivaled the gods. The blow sent her flying from Earth all the way to the moon, yet her body didn’t have a single scratch.

In my delusion, I was the same—no matter what attacked me, I remained completely unharmed.

It looked like that particular fantasy had become reality.

That would explain why Monica Grace’s attack earlier left me without a single wound or even the slightest pain.

And if I truly possessed infinite durability, this was far better than a simple passive “Physical Immunity” skill. It meant no attack of any kind—physical or otherwise—could harm me.

Aaaargh.

I should have just imagined myself as the absolute strongest like the protagonist of that manga. Instead I nerfed it with vague conditions and turned myself into this half-baked existence!

How was I supposed to defeat those monstrous women with nothing but ridiculous toughness? Earlier I couldn’t do anything once I got caught in Monica’s blood chains!

There was no hope like this.

“I” was supposed to be with me, wasn’t I? Not with these artificially created beings.

I wasn’t one of them. The Delusion ability listed in my status window was proof of that.

Well… I could at least grant concubine positions to those with truly tragic backstories like Bathory Hosa or Rebecca Ignis.

But the legal wife had to be me. Who else could possibly fill that role?

Hm?

Wait a second. Maybe this wasn’t the end of it.

The number of beings I had created through delusion was practically endless. What if more of them started crossing dimensions like Rebecca had?

That would be an absolute nightmare.

No. Rebecca had only managed it because she was a highest-grade Upper God. The others shouldn’t be capable of something like that.

Besides, even now I stood no chance against either Rebecca or Bathory.

Wasn’t there any way to fix this?

Did I have to wait for another delusion to manifest?

At that moment, a single word flashed through my mind.

Inventory.

“Inventory open.”

A holographic window different from the status screen appeared before my eyes. Inside the inventory were numerous objects.

This was it.

This item.

If I used this, I could become strong. Strong enough that the current Rebecca and Bathory wouldn’t even be worth comparing to me…

But it would be an incredibly grueling ordeal.

My encounter with “me” might become a distant memory from the far past.

Could my mind endure it?

I gritted my teeth.

This was the only way to keep male Ga-eul from being taken from me.

Besides, even if I used this item, time wouldn’t pass on the outside.

I had been fiddling with the button for a full hour already.

Haa…

Fine.

Let’s do it.

Goodbye, “me.” It looks like we won’t see each other for a while.

Still… I’ll see you tomorrow.

I pressed the button.

Rebecca Ignis carries an incredibly tragic backstory.

Well, it’s all just setting I created myself.

Is every bit of it coming back to me as karma now?

If Rebecca ever finds out about my delusions, I’ll be in serious trouble. I really will.

Rebecca Ignis is a delusion I created based on a dragon character named Scarlet that I used in a game. While Scarlet and Rebecca differ in several ways…

Scarlet is a character from Red Sea, the game that female Ga-eul and I played together earlier.

I poured an insane amount of gacha resources into trying to pull her. I nearly bankrupted myself in the process.

Anyway, Scarlet’s setting was genuinely pitiful.

Scarlet was a red dragon. She was born to loving parents and grew up basking in their affection.

But one day a man broke into their home, and her life fell into hell.

He was a male hero summoned from another world by the gods, given the mission to save this world.

Yet he broke free of the kingdom that had summoned him. Using his overwhelming power, he seized the country for himself and began using the divine strength meant to save the world for nothing but his own amusement.

If he saw a woman he liked, he would violate her and kill her husband or lover. If there was something he wanted in another nation, he would declare war and invade regardless of the cost.

Then one day he suddenly decided he wanted a Dragon Heart.

He began searching for dragon lairs.

The one he eventually discovered belonged to Scarlet and her family.

Even though they were powerful red dragons, they were no match for a hero blessed by the gods.

The hero killed Scarlet’s father, then took both Scarlet and her mother as sex slaves and violated them.

Her mother eventually died from being used as a sex slave.

Scarlet was forced to serve as both a sex slave and the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hero’s personal mount.

Eventually the hero clashed with a grand alliance of other nations, but even their combined forces were helpless before him. Every time he swung his two large, beautiful greatswords, the heads of Grand Sword Masters flew through the air.

The gods, unable to watch any longer, finally descended to the mortal realm to resolve the problem. They stripped the hero of his power and returned him to nothingness.

Only then was Scarlet saved.

But I altered the story slightly when I created Rebecca’s setting. I had wanted to imagine a maid who was utterly obsessed with me.

Sorry about that, Rebecca.

Rebecca is a virgin. My maid has to be a virgin, after all.

So I changed the hero who violated her so that he felt no sexual desire toward dragons.

Rebecca obsesses over me. Because my maid must obsess over me and desperately crave my love.

That’s why Rebecca’s mother abandoned her father and left. Watching that, Rebecca ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠vowed that she would never leave her own husband.

Originally the gods saved Scarlet, but in Rebecca’s version she was nearly killed—a true death where her very existence would vanish and she wouldn’t even return to the cycle of reincarnation.

But I saved Rebecca in that moment.

And the price I paid was my own fall. From the highest position to the lowest, all for the sole reason that I had saved her.

That is the delusion I created.

It is why Rebecca has obsessed over me for more than ten thousand years.