Chapter 287: Traces (5)
Chapter 287: Traces (5)
How much time had passed? By the time Fafnir, who was already living on borrowed time, had exhausted a significant portion of his remaining life, he finally found a way.
It was the one and only route, forged by a convergence of countless miracles and coincidences. All that remained was to find a successor to walk that path in his stead.
Having gained certainty, Fafnir decided to take his final gamble.
What he needed was a soul unbound by the fate of this world and a special human vessel.
Having simplified his goal, he immediately took action.
First, he cultured a part of his own body to create a chimera that was indistinguishable from a human.
Though there was some trial and error, creating a human wasn't particularly difficult for Fafnir, who had even managed to create dragons. Since the base was a dragon that had simply been reshaped into human form, the fact that it possessed immense talent was a given.
The problem was imbuing that created body with something special…
Surprisingly, Fafnir decided to grant it a uniqueness no one else had ever possessed by completely dissolving and absorbing his own body.
A uniqueness called the "System."
Naturally, this plan was predicated on Fafnir’s death, but since he had little life left to begin with, he did not hesitate.
After placing his body into a massive extraction device, Fafnir tore his own soul into several fragments for the next stage of his plan.
He chose his own end, abandoning the heaven promised by the gods and the soul's final journey into the unknown. Thanks to that sacrifice, Fafnir was able to send his fragments to other worlds he had scouted in advance.
The issue was that, unlike the body, which was a success, the success rate for this part was not very high.
Some soul fragments lost their way and became eternal wanderers; some were devoured by monsters drifting in the rifts of space-time, much like the Evil Gods; and some arrived safely but were annihilated by the beings guarding those worlds.
Except for one.
A world that lacked any notable supernatural powers and was thus ignored even by ominous monsters—a world where the existence of a guardian deity, or even the existence of God itself, was unclear.
Only the soul fragment that headed toward Earth arrived safely.
However, there wasn't much a small fragment, rather than a whole soul, could do. At most, it could latch onto a talented person and whisper a momentary flash of inspiration.
…But that alone was enough for the game Hero & Academy to be created.
Countless people played H&A, and without even realizing it, they became familiar with the future and information of the Eurelia Continent.
The next task for the soul fragment, having successfully scattered that knowledge, was to find a suitable candidate among the players of H&A to send to Eurelia.
Years passed, and the images of countless hardcore players flashed by… until finally, it stopped in front of one man.
He was a very familiar man. Naturally, since he was me back when I lived on Earth.
I don't know what criteria were used to judge, but Fafnir’s soul fragment deemed me the suitable candidate.
Just as it had done with the creators of H&A, it began to whisper something to my subconscious.
And so, I suddenly felt the urge to play as an Archmage—a role I had already completed several times—and created a sub-character… and from then on, things flowed as I knew them, leading to the present.
*
When I came to my senses, I was standing in Fafnir’s lair.
It was the ruined lair, without the superimposed scenery of the past. Yet, for some reason, everything in my sight was dyed in shades of gray, as if the world had stopped.
Within that world, I looked up at the only being that possessed color.
A massive dragon with scales as black as my hair and purple pupils that matched my eyes.
Fafnir looked down at me.
[So, you have finally reached this place. My successor.]
Most of Fafnir’s physical body had been processed and absorbed into me, and his soul had been torn to shreds and scattered to other worlds.
If so, then the dragon speaking to me now was…
[You have a look of disbelief on your face. Even with that poor Saintess by your side.]
“Clara? So… you’re saying you’re a residual thought.”
[Correct. A single strand of lingering regret intentionally left by Fafnir at the final moment. A fragmentary trace of the last dragon who went mad. That is what I am, standing before you.]
“You left it intentionally? Why?”
[Because you must have many questions. Since I dragged someone who was living a perfectly fine life here of my own accord, I should at least take this much responsibility.]
“…It’s not because you were afraid I’d get bent out of shape and run off in a direction different from your plan, is it?”
At those words, Fafnir’s ferocious face contorted even more menacingly.
[I won't deny it.]
…Wait, did he just laugh?
Actually, there were many things that had been weighing on my mind.
Why the lies I spat out on impulse to make excuses always seemed to fit perfectly, who exactly sent me here, and what H&A really was.
Solari had granted me her blessing, faced me directly through possession, and recently even touched the boundary between my body and soul for treatment.
Even so, she hadn't realized that I wasn't from this world, or that I had possessed a body identical to the character I customized in the game.
When I asked her subtly later, she said it just felt a bit "unique."
Though she was the Righteous Light who would roll over and show her belly to me, she was a goddess in name and reality.
I had assumed that a transcendent being capable of deceiving even the Righteous Light had been the one to bring me here.
There were times when this entire flow felt like a single arrangement or a guided path.
From the perspective of having witnessed Fafnir’s end, most of my questions were resolved… but there was still one thing I didn't understand.
“…Why was it me, of all people?”
What were the criteria for a suitable candidate? Why did it have to be me? I still had no clue about that.
There were people who had played longer than me, people who played better than me, and surely people who loved H&A more than I did.
I was certainly a veteran, but if asked if I knew and mastered everything about H&A… the answer was an absolute no.
So why was I the one dragged to the Eurelia Continent over everyone else?
I had always been curious about that.
[…Are you not going to ask for a way to return?]
“Because I have a general idea.”
There are two ways for a fish to escape a net. One is to be smaller than the mesh so it never gets caught in the first place, and the other is to tear the net with sheer strength.
But the first method was practically impossible. Even a caterpillar crawling on the ground doesn't accidentally cross over to another world just by taking a wrong turn.
In other words, no matter how insignificant a being is, they are generally larger than the rifts between dimensions.
If one tried to force their way through, it could lead to unexpected disasters, like the descent of an alien Evil God.
The next method was to tear the net… but that was something even the Evil Gods couldn't do.
It was no coincidence that no Evil God could invade the Eurelia Continent until a dimensional rift was created.
Unless I became vastly stronger than an Evil God, solving it through force was out of the question.
Even so, if I still wanted to go back… there was a way.
It was to detach only my soul and send it to Earth, just as I had come here.
But just as it was for Fafnir’s soul fragment, it could be dangerous midway, and even if the soul arrived safely, there was no way for me to enter my original body. There was no guarantee I wasn't dead or that things were fine back there.
Aside from the Evil Gods and cultists, this place was livable enough that I didn't feel the need to take such a risk.
Above all, I had already made too many precious people here. I didn't want to throw everything away and run away now.
Fafnir nodded at my indifferent attitude and answered my question.
[It is because you were the only one who played the game normally.]
“…What?”
[Everyone else used things like bugs, hacks, or mods.]
“……”
The truth was, no matter how great a game is, everyone eventually gets bored after playing it for a while.
Then, they want to enjoy it in a slightly different way and start using elements they wouldn't normally touch.
For example, intentionally causing errors on the field to trigger teleportation phenomena to break speedrun records.
Or messing with AI patterns to turn enemies into stupid sandbags.
Or nude patches because their "heart" demanded it, and so on.
Since H&A wasn't an online competitive game but a single-player game, people enjoyed it in all sorts of ways.
I could bet that among the users who played H&A for more than a year, there wasn't a single person who hadn't used a bug practically or applied some kind of mod.
Except for me.
There wasn't a special reason. I just thought that playing normally was the most fun way to enjoy the game.
I just didn't expect to get possessed because of it!
“Was there really not a single other person…?”
[That is correct, successor. Among those who played for a certain amount of time, you were the only one who navigated the simulation without any tricks.]
This is ridiculous….
Still, I could understand why he set such a standard.
Since Fafnir didn't have a second chance, he must have wanted to reduce variables as much as possible.
If someone used hacks or bugs, he wouldn't be able to properly gauge their true skill.
[I am glad that answered your question. Now, it is time for this remnant of the past to disappear.]
As if he truly couldn't hold on any longer, Fafnir’s massive body began to scatter into small particles.
At this, I hurriedly shouted.
“W-Wait a minute! Why are you telling me the truth behind everything? Even if you hadn't told me, I would have fought to survive anyway!”
Fafnir, who had quietly closed his eyes, stared at me again with his purple pupils.
Then, he curled his lips into a smirk, wearing a cheeky smile.
[Because only then can the final piece be put into place.]
With those final words, Fafnir completely turned into light and vanished.
I watched the swarm of light scattering in all directions for a moment. But for some reason, the particles that should have disappeared suddenly swirled and rushed toward me.
“What the…?”
It didn't hurt. It didn't feel like it would harm me.
If I had to describe it, it felt similar to when the mana flowing out of a warp gate was absorbed.
It was a somewhat nostalgic sensation… like finding one's way back home.
Immediately after I accepted even the last trace of Fafnir into my body.
Color returned to the gray world, and time began to flow again.
The notification that had rung just before the past scenery overlapped finally spat out its contents.
Ding!
【Trait: Origin Regression (S) acquired!】
It was Fafnir’s final arrangement.