Chapter 8
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Scene 008: Owner of Paradise
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This game's original novel, Another World, was written by my little sister, Jeong So-ra.
"I figured you'd come sooner, Oppa."
She stood right in front of me.
Dressed in her usual baggy tracksuit.
"Hey, you..."
"Come on, let's take a little walk, just the two of us?"
My sister beckoned to me.
I'd meant to check on Bella, but I realized there was no need.
"Relax. This is my playground, after all."
The space where Bella was had turned gray.
Everything was frozen in place, as if time itself had stopped.
Bella, too, was stuck kneeling there unmoving.
"Time flows differently here than outside. Past and future coexist in this place."
"Past and future...?"
"Heh heh heh heh. It's all thanks to my great power. Impressive, right? Pretty awesome, huh?"
"......"
.
"Man, you're so stoic. Come on, follow me."
Something felt off, but I decided to go along with my sister for now.
In this place, her word seemed to be law.
We walked across a vast grassy field.
It was a dreamlike landscape.
The sky stretched out like a watercolor painting, clear and refreshing.
Beneath it, basking in the warm sunlight, my sister spoke up.
"I was dying of boredom waiting for you, Oppa."
"What?"
She latched onto my arm and shot me a coquettish glance.
I grimaced at the uncharacteristic cuteness from my own flesh and blood.
"Quit it..."
"Oppa, you've had it rough, haven't you? Stuck in that bodyit's so pitiful. So pitiful. But now that I'm here, everything's fine."
An unpleasant emotion welled up from deep inside me.
This wasn't Tristan's traitit was surging from 'Jeong Ji-hwan'. It was an emotion straight from me.
Only then did the situation click.
"Get off me."
"Huh?"
Jeong So-ra stared at me like she had no idea what I meant.
I shoved her away and said,
"How long do you plan on keeping this up?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
She smirked up at me.
Ha... look at this girl.
"Cut the act, you insolent fake."
"Fake?"
Her expression hardened at my words.
Seeing that, I knew I was right.
"You say I'm fake? Ha! This is a world I created. Here, I'm God."
The air grew chilly, as if the temperature had plummeted.
Even under the blazing sun, I could see my breath.
So-ra didn't hide her hostility toward me.
I let out a hollow laugh at her menacing glare.
"God? You're really going all out to make me laugh."
I had no choice but to.
"Listen up. Even if you're a real god in this world, to me, you're nothing of the sort."
Here she was, wearing my sister's skin like a costume, claiming omnipotence.
"I know who you are. You're just a mere humanthe first one to enter Paradisewho's playing god with all those traits."
"......"
"And my sister doesn't cling like that. Got it? You fake."
"Is that so...? Then do you know this?"
Her expression shattered.
Literallycracks spread from her lips, and the broken pieces fell to the ground.
"I hate you so much."
From the shedding shell of her shattered face emerged a dazzling golden-haired girl.
Her entire body radiated flawless beauty, like a sculpture.
It was a mystical allure befitting a goddess.
If only she didn't have that infuriating personality.
"If you weren't that person's blood kin, I'd have killed you ages ago."
"That person? That's how you refer to my sister? And with such a sloppy imitation?"
"Shut up shut up shut up! You pathetic pig! The omnipotent me can imitate anything!"
The girl screamed hysterically.
Like a total brat.
This ill-mannered thing calling herself the Absolute God...
I had no idea what So-ra was thinking when she created her.
"You shut up. You're annoying."
"Ahh, why did the great one make such an ugly creature her kin?!"
"What nonsense. I was born before her."
"Ahh! How cruel this reality is!"
The god put on an exaggerated show of crying.
Getting mad at this childish brat would just hurt me.
If I wanted what I came for, I'd have to play at her level.
"Hey. If you're so omnipotent, you must know why I'm here, right?"
She was the god of this world created by So-ra.
She seemed to revere So-ra as "that person."
I didn't like it, but for what I had to do next, I needed her help.
But she shook her head.
"Nope."
"No matter what you ask, I'm not doing it Nyah nyah!"
"Ha... you brat... You're not refusing because you're incompetent, are you?"
"What? Incompetent? Me?"
"Yeah."
Boom!
A bolt of lightning struck out of nowhere.
A bolt from the blue, right at my feet.
" Say that again. Who did you call what?"
"You're incompetent."
I looked down at her with disdain.
God or not, I wouldn't lose a battle of wills.
She was just a god made by my sister, after all. I didn't yield to her threats.
Finally, she raised her hand into the air again.
To call down a second bolt.
"This time, I won't miss."
"That's all you've got."
"What? All I've got?"
"Your omnipotence only exists because of this fence called Paradise. Step outside, and you're just a powerless human."
"Keep flapping that loose mouth and..."
"So you couldn't stop the 'tragedy that begins in one year.'"
Her shoulders twitched.
Seeing that, I was certain.
She, like me, had watched this world perish.
"Hey. Didn't you say it yourself earlier?"
I approached her slowly.
"That time in Paradise flows differently from outside. That past and future coexist here. So you must know."
One step. Two steps.
"How this world met its end."
I stopped in front of her.
And rebuked the arrogant god looking up at me.
"How powerless you were."
"......"
Even as I spoke, anger boiled inside me.
At first, I'd thought it was Tristan's trait 'Wrath' influencing me.
But no.
The blame I hurled at her applied to me too.
The rage toward myselfthe powerless me who could only watch this world end.
The god stared at me silently.
The eyes that had endured my fury earlier now held a hollow gleam.
"...Michaela."
"......"
"That's not it. I have the name that person gave me: Michaela."
A hidden character absent from the original work, existing only in my sister's setting notesthe god.
This was the first time I'd heard her true name.
The god of Paradise, Michaela, let out a sigh.
"If you came here knowing that much, you get it. That I can't do anything for you."
"I can guess why you sought me out. That character of yours doesn't sit right, huh? Sorry, but I can't change characters."
It was only natural that the game's difficulty varied by chosen character.
Think of arcade games.
That's why people bicker over picks.
No one wants a crappy one.
Just like everyone wants to be the protagonist, I wanted to be too.
But this damned world gave me a trash character.
"Once a character is set, it can't be changed. That's the rule of this world. Blame your luck. Even if you're 'that person's' blood kin, I can't help it."
"I know."
I continued calmly.
"I'm not here to change characters."
"...Then?"
I told the cocking-her-head Michaela,
"Give me a 'trial.'"
"......Hoo?"
Surprise flickered across her face for the first time.
"I see... That's the way."
The task a god imposes on a humana trial.
Michaela understood what it meant.
"Ha, fine. That's not hard. But aren't you scared of dying?"
"No. Of course I am."
"Who isn't afraid of losing their life?"
But whether I died by her hand, an NPC's, or a player's, the result was the same.
Besides... no matter how I thought about it, this was the only way.
The only way for me to become the protagonist.
"I'm afraid of death, which is why I'm risking it."
"You picked a trash character and lost your mind? Ridiculous."
"And you're talking smack to 'that person's' big brother without fear?"
"Eek! What kind of mouth is that to a god?!"
Getting worked up over every little thingwhat else could it be but childish?
Michaela pointed at me accusingly, fuming.
"Hey! Listen up, you trash! I'm the master of Paradise, the supreme being who bestowed 'traits' upon you all!"
"Well said. If you're gonna give it, hurry up and start."
"Shut up shut up shut up! You arrogant pig! You better brace yourself."
Michaela raised her hand into the air like before.
The sky began to rumble.
"I'll show you why it's called a trial!"
She spouted a line straight out of a third-rate villain.
I laughed scornfully.
"Yeah. Show me, then. This trial of yours."
They say you can't choose your fate at birth, but you can change your destiny.
I would change mine.