Chapter 115
Chapter 115
The Reverse Butterfly Dream - 3
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It was a continuous string of happy days.
Days of sleeping with loved ones, waking up together, and sharing their daily lives.
It was so joyful and moving that she wondered if it was okay to be this happy.
She didn’t even know how many days had passed.
She was just entrusting her body to the flowing stream, receiving and consuming the happiness that Tae-jin and her daughter fed her.
“Aah! A-a-a!”
“That’s a bu~tterfly!”
“A~i!”
Is this what a family is originally like?
Renia, who had quickly grown close to her daughter, pointed to a butterfly fluttering over the picnic blanket and said so.
The baby, following only the sound with her adorable mouth that couldn't pronounce the words.
A house built on a gentle hill, a large tree, a picnic blanket spread beneath it, and a baby babbling on it.
If one were to paint a landscape of happiness, wouldn't it be exactly this picture? Renia, leaning back in her chair, silently looked around.
They were days of flawless peace, fragrant without a single foul smell.
Of course, the question of how this happiness began still remained, but the dozens of question marks that floated in Renia’s mind were being erased one by one.
Without her even realizing it.
The boundary between fantasy and reality was collapsing.
She vaguely felt it, but the ceaseless influx of happiness was interfering with rational thought, making her chase only the candy right in front of her eyes.
“Honey.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Tae-jin sat in the picnic chair next to her and handed her a drink.
It was an ordinary herb tea, but ever since happiness began, everything tasted sweet.
“Mmm~ Is it because my honey made it for me? Even the herb tea has a sweet scent.”
Renia took a sip of the tea and leaned on Tae-jin’s shoulder to watch her daughter, who was engaged in a chase with a butterfly on the picnic blanket.
She smiled contentedly, finding her daughter, who was wiggling her diaper-puffed bottom, adorable.
But…
“Mmm~ The top of my honey’s head smells sweet too.”
At Tae-jin’s joke, she had to quickly lift her head from his shoulder.
“Wh-what? I-I washed my hair this morning…?! Does it smell?”
Renia covered the top of her head with a reddened face.
At her flustered appearance, Tae-jin chuckled and pinched her cheek.
“Pfft. It’s a joke. Are you still that shy? It’s been almost four years since we got married.”
“F-four years?”
“Yep. Today is exactly the 1,406th day.”
“Ah…. I see. Time really flies.”
“It does. It’s already been seven years since mana disappeared along with Illusion.”
“Ah.”
I see.
So mana really did disappear.
That’s why it became an ordinary world, and I became an ordinary human.
Tae-jin raised his right hand, which was wrapped around Renia’s waist, and stroked her head.
It was where her horns used to be.
“And these cute horns.”
Fumbling, this time he stroked the area above her buttocks.
“And this sexy tail have been gone for seven years too.”
Tae-jin said mischievously.
And with that, Renia was able to realize.
That her mana-related features had disappeared as mana vanished.
That she was originally human, and that a partial mutation had occurred due to mana.
Without knowing that this fantasy world was a space created by her own wishes, and that all the stories Tae-jin told were ultimately rationalizations she was telling herself—a cornerstone that blurred the boundary between reality and fantasy—
Renia began to believe that this place was reality, based on Tae-jin’s stories.
Hearing what she wanted to hear.
Seeing what she wanted to see.
Achieving what she desired.
A dream-like reality was beginning.
And that meant, without her even knowing, an eternal hibernation from which she could not awaken was beginning.
“This is nice….”
Under the warm sunlight, she closed her eyes as she watched her daughter toddle on the grass.
It was a perfect day in every way.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
‘Is this… the world created by Renia’s fantasy.’
I arrived in a city where everything had stopped, as if paused. I don’t know how I got here.
I just followed Yu-ra’s instructions, attached the chip-embedded neural connection line to my temple, inserted the needle into my vein, and fell asleep, and when I opened my eyes, I was here.
The shop owners were stopped while tidying their stalls, and those crossing the crosswalk were also stopped in awkward positions.
The birds sitting on the trees were frozen, and the cat walking on the wall was also frozen.
A world that had stopped to the point where it could be called a ‘dead world’.
Perhaps because this fantasy world moved according to the will of its owner, Renia, the places outside of Renia’s will seemed to be stopped like this.
Moving alone in a stopped world.
‘This is creepy as hell.’
The overall color scheme was a bright pastel tone that suited Renia, but it felt like I had fallen into a horror movie.
First,
‘There’s no time.’
I moved my feet quickly.
I had to find where Renia was, and fast.
Unfortunately, there was no mana flow here, so I couldn't use the [Go! Succubus!] skill either.
The survival rate of Kelkaton’s poison changes over time, and after fifteen days of intoxication, the survival rate was said to approach 0%.
Meaning that even if one knew it was a fantasy, one would be unable to escape from that sweet fantasy forever.
Due to that time constraint, the machine Yu-ra had hastily made was of poor quality and couldn't guarantee a long time, and the neural connection with Renia would be cut in about 12 hours.
Ten days had already passed.
The time delayed must have made Renia’s fantasy even more solid, so every moment was urgent.
Tadadak—
I ran through the city as if my feet were on fire.
The scenery was similar to our home in the capital, Seoul, so I tried to find the house by retracing my steps, but unfortunately, I couldn't find it.
“Haah, haah…! Renia-!! Answer if you can hear me-!!!”
I shouted at the top of my lungs, but not even an echo returned.
It was not an easy task to find traces of Renia in a stopped world.
Because I had no idea what kind of things, what kind of daily life, what kind of future she was drawing in this world.
What was fortunate was that the background of this world was not ‘Drogfia’.
In other words, Renia’s sweetest dream was to return to Earth as she had promised with me, and there was a high possibility that she was living her life here after returning.
‘A place Renia would like….’
This was a world created based on the instincts of the poisoned Renia.
Since it was a place that contained Renia’s ideal, the residence would also reflect Renia’s taste….
‘Ah.’
My footsteps, which had been running all over the city, came to a halt.
I had heard about the scenery of Drogfia before.
It was being modernized as it gradually accepted Earth’s modern civilization, but it still had the scenery of a primeval forest, and Renia had liked that scenery.
Which means.
She would have instinctively thought of a place where she could enjoy the scenery rather than a sharp cityscape like this.
As I looked around, my eyes caught a small house built on a gentle hill.
A hill with a large tree casting a cool shade and full of fresh grass.
The house built on its peak had a simple yet charming exterior that exuded a girlish sensibility.
‘…That’s it!’
I started running towards that place again.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
‘Hoo….’
There were about 2 hours left now.
This was just a rough estimate, and since I couldn't guarantee how long the machine would last, 2 hours could become 2 minutes in an instant..
Therefore, without delay, I immediately knocked on the door.
Thump thump!
Please be here.
If Renia wasn't here, the situation would spiral into despair.
Fortunately.
《Who is it?》
Renia’s lively voice came from beyond the door.
While I let out a sigh of relief, a sense of tension rose.
There was no absolute way to break this fantasy.
I had only arrived here with the sole determination to save Renia.
Moreover, the ten days must have solidified Renia’s fantasy.
By now, she must be accepting this fantasy as reality.
I could only hope that the fantasy would break just by facing the truth.
“It’s me.”
《Honey?》
…Honey.
Does that mean this place deals with the happy ending after successfully making a forced return from Drogfia to Earth?
Calling me honey would mean that the happy ending signifies ‘marriage’.
A sigh suddenly escaped through my nose.
The fact that Renia’s sweetest dream dealt with the story after a forced return meant that it contained the anxiety and worry from the uncertain possibility of return.
She was forgetting that uncertain possibility, at least in her dream.
It was pitiful.
Renia, who earnestly wished for a happy ending with me.
Renia, who couldn't bring herself to refuse this happy ending.
Renia, who was living in a happy ending without knowing that she was dying from poison.
It was heartbreaking.
Creak~
The door opened.
I saw Renia.
With a happy smile on her face.
That happy smile, in this place rife with lies, showed the only truth.
“Honey? What are you doing here at this hour? Did you finish work early?”
Renia asked me casually.
She looked so natural that even I was on the verge of confusing fantasy and reality.
But, the sight of Renia without her goat horns, tail, and heart-shaped pupils made me realize that this was a fantasy.
I knew it wasn't Polymorph.
Because this was a fantasy without mana.
And so, I felt a sense of sadness.
The sight of Renia living as a human like me, at least in a fantasy, conveyed an indescribable sadness to me.
I felt a surge of tears.
Renia, who had drawn her desires as a fantasy, was so pitiful.
Renia, who couldn't break the fantasy even though she knew it was one, was so heartbreaking.
Renia, who now believed that fantasy to be reality, was so tragic…
I felt like I was going to cry.
“H-honey…? What’s wrong…?”
But I held back my tears with effort.
I knew I had to break this fantasy for Renia’s sake, and that I was the only one who could, so I also put away my sadness.
And..
Whoosh!
Instead of conveying the truth with my mouth, I pulled Renia into a tight hug.
“…!”
I wanted to comfort her.
To confine this slender frame in my arms and cheer her on.
That this space was not a fantasy, but our future that would surely happen.
That I would build a house on the hill and wait for the day she returned.
With that sincere heart, I hugged Renia even tighter and closed my eyes.
Following that.
“…Let’s go home now.”
A miracle, as if by magic, began to happen.
<w:pgmar w:bottom="1440" w:top="1440" w:left="1440" w:right="1440" w:header="720" w:footer="720"><w:pgnumtype w:start="1"><w:r w:rsiddel="00000000" w:rsidr="00000000" w:rsidrpr="00000000"><w:rpr><w:sz w:val="28"><w:szcs w:val="28"><w:rtl w:val="0"><w:t xml:space="preserve">“Tae… Tae-jin…?”