The World's True Nature
While Kyle and Sera briefly stepped away, Izna found herself alone with the Saintess. That meant she could finally bring up the sensitive topics she had been holding back.
“Saintess, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Izna Hella, a third-year in the Administration Department.”
“Oh my, so you’re my senior. I’m Lagrisha, a second-year in the Special Department. Please take care of me, Senior. Ah, you can speak casually with me.”
“……No one in their right mind would speak informally to the Saintess just because they’re older.”
Whether the Saintess understood the ways of the world or not, Izna stared quietly at the seemingly naive woman before speaking in a calm voice.
“I’m the one who asked you to come here today.”
“Is that so? What kind of worries do you have that you’d call for me……?”
“You don’t know, do you?”
As Izna spoke, she activated her ability to its fullest. The power to read another person’s information. Its performance was so absurdly excellent that, right after awakening it as a child, she had driven away nearly everyone around her—including her own father. Since she could even perceive the ugly nature of humanity, she had never been able to trust people. Perhaps that was why she had grown up so small and guarded. Tormented by people’s desires, she could neither sleep properly nor eat the food they offered.
“What you look like to others.”
Yet the Saintess could not be read properly. It was as if something enormous was deliberately obscuring her information. Given that the Saintess had been chosen by a god and possessed all sorts of divine powers, Izna quickly realized what that “something” was. It was most likely the being that deserved to be called a god.
When Izna stared at her, the Saintess seemed to sense something as well and began to smile faintly.
“Ah, I see. Yes, I understand.”
After finishing her muttered words to the empty air, the Saintess smiled brightly at Izna. In the next moment, their eyes met. Unlike before, she gazed steadily into Izna’s eyes. The moment their gazes locked—eyes that were the source of her ability—Izna could see deeper into the Saintess.
“Ah, aah—?”
In truth, Izna Hella’s ability had come about through a kind of error. In the game Dairos Academy that projected this world, she had been nothing more than an ordinary person without any abilities. However, for some unknown reason, a worldwide error had occurred, and Izna Hella had awakened a new power she was never meant to have. In a way, it was an ability that could be called the Eye of God—seeing what should not be seen, and seeing it with perfect clarity.
‘What… what is this?’
And the god who realized she possessed such an ability showed her many more things through the Saintess. The original form of this world. In other words, a certain game from Earth.
“Aaaah— Kyaaaaah—!”
An overwhelming flood of information rushed into her mind, enough to make her head scream. It was a massive chunk of data from Dairos Academy that should have been processed by something like a computer. Truths of the world poured in like a tidal wave, and the incoming information began to tear through her brain.
“A game, Dairos Academy…? What is this—?”
Just then, Kyle and Sera, who had heard her screams, rushed over to check on her condition. Once they confirmed there was no serious problem, they quickly backed off. Izna cautiously raised her head and looked at the Saintess. The Saintess was still smiling brightly.
“You… youuu……”
“I don’t know what you saw.”
Though the Saintess wielded divine authority freely, she could not look into herself. Humans could see others, but they were beings who could not know their own hearts. Still, she could guess what Izna had seen.
“Welcome. To this dreadful reality.”
This world was a fake created for someone’s amusement. It was a story that only a handful of people knew, and even if told, no one would believe it. The Saintess smiled warmly at Izna, who had fallen into the same hell as her. Seeing that smile, Izna realized she had crossed a river she was never meant to cross.
…………
……
“That’s something both me and this girl already know.”
“Huh…?”
Apparently, it wasn’t such a serious matter after all.
* * *
Hearing Izna’s muttering, I realized she had come to understand the true nature of this world for some reason. Anyone who couldn’t notice words like “game” and “Dairos Academy” spilling out of her mouth would have to be an idiot. Naturally, I wasn’t that stupid.
“Please calm down, Senior.”
I steadied Izna, who was trembling as she stared at the Saintess, and then spoke with the two of them. Izna didn’t mention what she had realized, but that didn’t matter.
“You’ve realized that this world is actually a game, haven’t you?”
“You……! How do you know that?”
“Because I already knew it too.”
“Wait, Kyle!? If you say that—”
Sera called out to me in shock, as if asking what I was doing, but I paid her no mind and simply looked at Izna. Only then did Izna nod with an expression of understanding.
“I see…… So that’s why those titles……”
“Titles? What titles?”
“Never mind. So…… you’re playing this world right now? You can abandon it and leave whenever you want?”
“Uh…… Not exactly.”
It was difficult to explain. It was true that I had played the game this world was based on back on Earth, but even I didn’t know how this world had been created. I had simply died after being crushed by an iron plate while working out, and then I was suddenly reborn in this world. That was all. Rather, the person who would know the most about this world wasn’t me. It was none other than……
“Sera.”
“Yare yare. I guess it’s time to reveal the secret I’ve been hiding.”
It was Sera, who still had her appearance and name from Earth. When I looked at her, the other two turned their heads toward her at the same time. Receiving everyone’s gaze at once, Sera shook her head and covered her face with her hands. She didn’t seem embarrassed to act like that at her age.
“Hurry up and talk.”
“Don’t get so worked up. It’s not often I get to act cool like this……”
When I pressed her a little, Sera pouted her lips while grumbling. Realizing that the situation wasn’t one for joking around as she quietly watched, she carefully opened her mouth.
“Ahem, you know this world is a game, but…… actually, that’s slightly wrong.”
“Wrong?”
“Even though everything in this world was made based on a game…… it doesn’t mean it’s actually a game.”
That was only natural. If this world were truly a game, then it would have been impossible for me—an ordinary NPC—to become an Aura Master, or to break the system and defeat boss monsters in advance. In the end, this world was simply one that resembled a game very closely; it wasn’t a game itself.
Listening quietly to Sera’s words, Izna began to urge her on impatiently.
“……Then why does this world resemble a game so much?”
“Ah, that’s because of me……”
“Because of you?”
Sera scratched her cheek awkwardly and glanced around at the others. Then she carefully spoke.
“Well, someone asked me…… if I didn’t want to live in the world I desired.”
“……Who said that?”
“Uh…… I don’t know that much.”
“……So someone asked if you wanted to live in this world, and when you opened your eyes, you were here?”
“Yes! So this world probably exists because of me……”
Listening to Sera’s words, Izna looked at me with an expression that seemed to say, What kind of nonsense is this girl spouting? I felt the exact same way. Shaking my head, I quietly apologized to Izna.
“I’m sorry. She’s a bit of an idiot.”
“……She does seem that way.”
“What!? No, hey! You’re more of an idiot than me! And your grades are lower than mine too……!”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”
In the end, Izna began to look gloomy, having failed to get the answer she wanted. The fact that she wasn’t making a face like she was dying, like before, was probably because she had realized this world wasn’t merely someone’s toy garden for amusement. Watching her look somewhat relieved, I carefully thought to myself.
‘Who sent her here?’
Someone with the ability to send people to another world. Where on earth could such a person be? And why was I here in the first place? Even after learning Sera’s secret, there were still countless things I couldn’t understand.