The Actor, the Audience, and the Director
What does it feel like to lose one’s sense of self?
I suspect that is a feeling I will never know in this lifetime.
Because to lose one’s self… is to die.
Can you even call a sentient being without a self a living creature?
The effect of this Sanctum, which 'temporarily' erases my ego as a Fervent Follower… in a way, it is no different from killing me 'temporarily.'
…There is no way the Shining Stars would just sit by and watch that happen.
Though I am terrified of losing my self, I have the reliable backing of the Shining Stars. With the mindset of, "Whatever happens, happens," I followed Yoo Iseul into the tent.
Remember. As soon as I get inside, I chant the spell.
I am not some kind-hearted villain who waits patiently while the hero transforms. I will chant the spell to dispel the Sanctum before its effects can trigger, and I will end this situation with frustrating ease.
…That resolve of mine vanished the moment I stepped inside the tent.
My eyes were captured by the interior structure.
The inside of the tent was bizarre, yet it possessed a strange charm that held my gaze, preventing me from thinking about anything else for several seconds.
The first thing I saw were the scarlet theater seats, common in any playhouse. Hundreds of seats were arranged in three tiered rows, and in front of them stood a stage. It was a typical, stereotypical theater layout that was very familiar to humans.
However, if you looked at the details one by one, it diverged from a normal theater.
The ceiling was excessively high, to the point where it was impossible to tell where the lighting was coming from, and dark red curtains, torn irregularly, created a gloomy atmosphere along the walls.
And the spotlight shining on the stage.
Strangely, that light didn't feel like a spotlight meant to make an actor shine; it felt sharp, as if it would peel the skin right off a person.
The scarlet seats were aligned neatly, yet they felt somehow crooked, which made me dizzy, like an optical illusion. If I were a spectator who had come to watch a play, I would have much rather sat on the floor than in one of those chairs.
How many seconds had passed since I entered the tent? Probably not even three.
To think I could feel so many impressions in such a short time. That is just how bizarre the form of this theater is.
Well, that’s enough of my impressions of the theater.
Look at this.
I still haven't lost my self. It is clear that the Shining Stars are protecting my mind. I knew I could count on you.
Yoo Iseul, who had drawn her sword, was walking forward with the blade gleaming. Soon, she turned back toward me.
There was no reason to hesitate any longer. I chanted the spell to cancel the Sanctum summoning.
"The play is not reality. It is not a lie. The play is a boundary, a dream, and..."
Blink.
I blinked once while chanting the spell.
No. It felt like I had blinked.
The next moment.
"...Huh?"
I could no longer continue. The place had changed.
I was already on the stage, and Yoo Iseul, who had been looking back at me with her sword drawn, was now sitting in one of those unpleasant seats, looking up at me.
"W-what is this...?"
Flustered, I turned around. Behind me was a giant screen, and on it was this phrase:
[Intermission]
"...Ah?"
Intermission. The break given during a play. Since watching a long play for three or four hours straight is like torture, it is a time to adjust the tempo of the play while giving the audience a rest.
Right. The intermission is the time located in the middle of the play.
The meaning of this is clear. After entering the tent, my self was temporarily extinguished, and without knowing it, I had been immersed in my role and acting. Now that Act 1 was over, my original self had returned.
It was quite bewildering, but I could accept it. This is what it means to have an advantage in information over your opponent. Because I had read the entire Wiki before entering the tent, I was able to continue acting without a shred of hesitation, even while flustered.
I opened my mouth again.
"The play is not reality. It is not a lie. The play is a boundary and..."
"Don't!"
However, my spell to cancel the Sanctum was blocked by someone's shout. It was Yoo Iseul.
It was the first time in my life I had ever seen her scream like that.
"Unnie...?"
Yoo Iseul, looking at me with an expression of someone who had transcended everything, continued in a dry, emotionless voice.
"You're back. It's good that you're back, but shut up. Do not chant the cancellation spell. Never."
"W-what kind of nonsense is that! It's different from the plan."
Yoo Iseul's three plans. First, Yoo Iseul kills the 'Director,' who is a Fervent Follower. It seems she failed. Second, I chant the Sanctum cancellation spell during the intermission. ...It hasn't failed yet. If I chant the spell right now, I can cancel the Sanctum summoning.
When I asked back in confusion, Yoo Iseul continued to shake her head.
"The play must proceed to the end. It must."
Yoo Iseul. She is an Awakened with 'complete immunity to mental attacks.'
Complete immunity to mental attacks. The mental attacks referred to here are, literally, 'all' mental attacks that exist in the world. Whether it is a faint mental attack that an ordinary person wouldn't even feel, or the mental attack of a Fervent Follower who is an immortal and the closest thing to a god—even the mental attack of 'one who was once a god' does not work on Yoo Iseul.
Therefore, it was impossible for Yoo Iseul's mind to be affected by the Sanctum of a Fervent Follower.
She had drawn her sword the moment she entered the tent. It was to cut down the guy presumed to be the Fervent Follower. However, even looking around, not a single ant was in sight. She figured she would have to cancel the Sanctum summoning first to cut down the follower. Yoo Iseul looked back. Lee Jia was there.
She hadn't even said anything to her, yet Lee Jia nodded slightly. Soon, she, Lee Jia, opened her mouth.
"Rebellion, Rebellion!"
"...?"
That wasn't how the Sanctum cancellation spell started. Ah. Damn it.
Yoo Iseul is a quick-witted person.
"Rebellion, my love! Where on earth are you!"
Lee Jia cried out the name 'Rebellion' repeatedly. Realizing that the play had already begun, Yoo Iseul didn't bother talking to Lee Jia. No. In the first place, this woman... until the intermission time came, she wasn't Lee Jia.
The distance between Yoo Iseul and Lee Jia was at most five meters. However, Lee Jia didn't even glance at Yoo Iseul, looking around with teary eyes and crying out the name Rebellion over and over.
As if there were an invisible fourth wall between the 'audience' Yoo Iseul and the 'actor' Lee Jia.
Soon, Lee Jia staggered up onto the stage. Then, she knelt on the floor and began to offer a prayer toward the sky.
"Ah, Almighty [xxxxx], please... please watch over Rebellion...!"
The word expressing god in the middle was muted. ...Did the director modify the script to avoid the price of blasphemy?
Yoo Iseul thought as she watched Lee Jia kneeling on the stage and praying. That was not simple acting. Even if an actor had god-given talent, one could distinguish whether the performance was 'real' or 'acting.'
Of course, Yoo Iseul had never seen a play in her life, but... she was certain that what Lee Jia was doing right now was not just 'acting.' Above all else, the current appearance of Lee Jia, playing the female lead in a romance fantasy, was unnaturally natural, considering her usual clumsy personality.
Soon, the stage curtain closed, a screen descended, and the title went up.
[The Princess and the Knight]
...A classic and cliché title. In a word, it was nothing but a farce.
Yoo Iseul briefly went over the contents of the Wiki that Lee Jia had told her about in her head. Hmm. There was no rule anywhere that said you shouldn't ruin the 'play.'
Soon, she stomped up onto the stage and tried to swing her sword. It was to ruin the stage. However, she had no choice but to stop her actions because of an unidentified figure who appeared afterward.
[...]
A human. No. Something that looked like a human. It was certain. This guy was definitely the 'Director,' the Fervent Follower.
The first plan. Yoo Iseul kills the Fervent Follower herself. To execute the first plan, she swung her sword at the Director. Then, the Director dodged Yoo Iseul's sword.
[...]
He didn't block it. He didn't avoid it by infinitely expanding the space between the Director and Yoo Iseul, nor did he neutralize it by using the powers of a Fervent Follower. He moved his body and dodged it.
Dodging it meant that Yoo Iseul's sword would work on the 'Fervent Follower' as well.
[...]
But there were no two chances. In the short time it took to blink once, Yoo Iseul found herself sitting in the first row of the audience seats before she even knew it.
[...]
The 'Director,' a Fervent Follower, was still silent. However, he—or she—was definitely looking at Yoo Iseul with a puzzled expression. It was understandable. The ability of 'complete immunity to mental attacks' was a unique ability that only Yoo Iseul possessed in the entire universe, regardless of species.
...But while mental attacks didn't work, physical attacks did. This was inside the Fervent Follower's Sanctum. Within this place, that Fervent Follower could reign as an absolute being. The 'Director' forcibly assigned Yoo Iseul the role of 'audience.' This was a kind of physical attack, not a mental one.
No matter how hard she tried, Yoo Iseul couldn't get out of the audience seats. If she could have just held her sword, she could have somehow escaped the audience seats with Iron Sword No. 3, which cuts the 'nature' of the target, but she couldn't even move her arms. The role Yoo Iseul was currently assigned was 'audience' watching the play. The role of the audience is to watch the play. Nothing more, nothing less.
The fortunate thing was that because mental attacks didn't work, she was able to keep her sanity.
"...This is fucked up, seriously."
Yoo Iseul spat out a curse. Whether she did or not, the curtains were drawn, and the play began in earnest.
[Act 1]
The Princess Who Fell in Love