The Seventh Delusion (1)

No, wait a second. But this is kind of weird, isn't it?

The roles and characteristics of men and women in this world aren't the complete opposite of the ones in my original world—fine, I'll accept that. But does that automatically mean this gender-swapped world, which never existed before, was created from my delusion?

Couldn't it just be another parallel world? Maybe I simply arrived in a parallel world that already existed, only this one isn't perfectly symmetrical with my own.

What's with this kid and her weird logic leading to such strange conclusions?

"Hey."

Her condition seems pretty messed up.

Hmm. If she believes she's a created being, it must feel like her entire life is being invalidated. Yeah, that's enough to drive anyone insane.

"Hey!"

Still, her state has deteriorated way too far. Where did that cool, confident 'me' from earlier go—the one who told her to rely on her without hesitation?

She almost made me fall for her.

I nearly let myself get 'corrupted by the female side' without realizing it.

Ah, in this world would that be 'corrupted by the male side'? Whatever—just pull yourself together!

"Hey! Female 'me'! Snap out of it!"

"Uh... yeah? Oh, um."

This isn't working. In normal novels, when the protagonist hugs the heroine like this, she usually comes back to her senses.

Normally if I hugged someone it would count as sexual harassment and I'd get arrested, but this is a gender-reversed world and it's another 'me,' so it should be fine.

I pulled her into a tight embrace.

!!!!

Oh.

The trembling stopped the moment I held her firmly? This is surprisingly effective.

"You said it yourself earlier. I'm an outsider in this world, so you'd help me. That 'me' who promised to help me—where did she disappear to?"

!!!!

"And what do you mean, your entire life was fabricated? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Who forced you to live your life until now? Huh? Is this The Truman Show? Are all the people around you actors performing in a play except for you? You have twenty-three years of life! Are all those memories fake?"

Exactly. Does it even make sense for someone's life to suddenly be manufactured like this?

Even fantasy novels would get slammed for writing something like that. Readers would say, 'Author, do you actually think this makes sense? Go do some manual labor instead.'

"Ah, it couldn't be, right?"

"Besides, I'm right here. You said it earlier, didn't you? To trust 'me.' To lean on me."

"Y-yeah, I did say that?"

"I'm also 'me.' All of us are 'me.' So you can lean on me too. I'll help 'you.'"

"...Thank you. 'Me.'"

She seems to have regained her senses.

Huh? But wasn't I pretty cool just now?

"And another thing. The roles of men and women in this world and our world aren't complete opposites but only slightly different, so this world must be one created from delusion? Hey, if that's true, does everything here happen exactly the way I want? That's too much of a leap."

"....... Yeah. Why did I think that way?"

And what? Because I once imagined getting a perfect score on the college entrance exam and entering Korea University's business department as the top student, that means my academic achievements here are fabricated?

Don't people normally have those kinds of delusions? If you're going to fantasize, of course you'd aim for the absolute best outcome. Who would bother imagining something vague like 'I did decently on the test'?

"And one more thing. You think your entrance exam record was created just because I imagined scoring perfectly on the SAT and getting into Korea University's business department as valedictorian? No, I was simply imagining the highest possible ceiling. Or what—are you bragging about getting into Korea University because I had to retake the exam four times?"

"Pfft. Sorry, it's not like that."

"Yeah. If this world really was artificially created, wouldn't the monsters from my card games have materialized by now? But it's just a completely peaceful, ordinary daily life."

That's right. If my usual delusions had actually manifested, this place would already be a hunter world full of monsters and awakeners engaged in shadowy power struggles, or a post-apocalyptic wasteland overrun with zombies.

The fact that this world is perfectly fine means I was simply reincarnated into an ordinary gender-reversed world. There's no way it's peaceful only on the surface while fantasy-level events are secretly unfolding behind the scenes, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right?

"Thank you, 'me.' I said I'd help you, but I ended up being the one who got helped."

"What are you talking about? You helped me earlier too. Let's hurry and go watch the movie! At this rate we'll miss the start!"

Yeah, let's go watch the movie. No matter how many advertisements they play in theaters these days, if we keep standing here we'll miss the opening scenes.

"Okay!"

Ah, but we're standing right in the middle of the shopping mall. To anyone watching, it must look like we're hugging and doing something strange in the middle of the complex.

Ugh, how embarrassing. I wonder if the female 'me' felt this way when she said those reliable things earlier?

Let's just hurry to the movie.

Right now, I have plenty of cards I can play to secure my Male God. But if I use random underlings, those bitches might fall for him and cause him trouble.

No. Absolutely not. I must only mobilize beings who can maintain their composure even after seeing his face.

That means I have to use the strongest card available to me. Ah, I really didn't want to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bring this one out here, but...

There's no choice. I need to separate that fucking bitch from him as quickly as possible and make him mine.

This might not be enough. But if not Granny, there's no one I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠can trust.

I press the call end button.

Huh?

What the hell did I just do?

I summoned Granny, the leader of Mother's personal unit, the Night Vampires.

Mother's direct force, the Night Vampires, is the symbol of our family's power. Any incident gets reported to her immediately. And I just called their leader.

Last time I caused trouble, Mother beat me half to death with a golf club. Even with my overwhelmingly superior regeneration, it took me a full day of rest to recover from the damage.

I can't even imagine what Mother will do this time.

Cold sweat pours down my body.

I think I'm fucked.

No... that's not it. Yeah, it's not. I have to save my Male God.

From that rude, primitive bitch. And then make him mine.

If I mobilized ordinary people, they might become captivated by his appearance and do something unforgivable—like kidnapping him or raping him.

My teeth grind together.

Just imagining it is horrifying. Our Granny is well over a thousand years old.

She possesses outstanding ability and vast experience, so witnessing my Male God won't shake her heart. On top of that, she possesses 'those eyes.'

With Granny's 'those eyes,' we'll be able to understand my Male God more accurately.

I hope she arrives soon. This entire shopping mall belongs to our family. Earlier, I ordered the loyal servant who manages the whole complex to secure the couple's location through the CCTV room.

No matter how exceptional my Male God's appearance is, surely the women watching through cameras won't become enchanted.

Perfect.

The movie ends after one in the morning. By then the shopping mall will be closed, and aside from security guards and people leaving after their films, no one else will be here.

The couple will have to walk through a completely empty space. That's when I'll make my move together with Granny.

Please wait for me, my Male God.