The Terminally-Ill Rejects the Approach - Chapter 30

Anselot created a white light in the air.

The white light moved the unconscious people on the floor back to where they originally were.

I was blankly watching the situation being sorted out.

“Let’s go in.”

Anselot reached out his hand to me.

I took steps, relying on his arm.

My legs felt weak, and without his support, I may have collapsed again.

Everything was quiet.

Those who were still unconscious had not woken up yet, making the entire palace feel like it had fallen into a deep slumber.

I glanced at Anselot’s side profile, which looked unusually calm today.

With his handsome face and his mouth closed, he looked as cool as a prince from a fairy tale.

‘It would be so nice if he always spoke normal words like this.’

While thinking this and laughing to myself, we soon arrived in front of the 3rd Princess Palace.

“Thank you.”

I returned his uniform that I had been wearing.

“Then, have a good night, Princess.”

“Hey, Anselot.”

I stopped Anselot as he was about to turn around.

“Are you also trying to get rid of the Bright Dragon to destroy the system?”

At my question, he looked straight at me and slowly shook his head.

“No.”

“Then…?”

“I just have one desire.”

Anselot paused for a moment, then answered with a voice filled with a long-standing wish.

“The death of the Bright Dragon Helheim.”

“…Why do you want to get rid of the Bright Dragon?”

It’s strange.

You say it’s a bug. You say it’s an existence that goes against the order of the system.

But the way you long for the Bright Dragon’s death more than anyone else.

“Hmm.”

Instead of answering, Anselot smiled at me, his eyes curving.

“It’s a secret.”

Unlike his smiling eyes, his gaze as he said that was so deep and dark.

I couldn’t ask any further.

[This is the timeline separator]

The woman was born with a prophecy that she would possess the heart of the Bright Dragon Helheim.

Despite her grand destiny, she was a small and delicate woman like a spring flower.

She succeeded in obtaining the Bright Dragon’s heart as prophesied, but it was only half a heart.

In the end, she scattered into a handful of ashes in Helheim’s flames without fulfilling the prophecy.

With her death, the whole world lost its light and fell into grief.

It was a great calamity that reestablished the world’s order once again.

Anselot still couldn’t recall her face.

But the agony he felt at the moment of her death still remained.

Why did I forget you?

How did I lose you forever?

His heart felt empty.

Then, he suddenly lifted his head and looked up at Luibel’s lit bedroom.

At that moment.

A surprisingly warm sensation spread over his desolate heart.

Unfamiliar with that hot feeling, Anselot frowned and blankly stared only at her bedroom.

Even after the light went out and she fell asleep.

In the same spot. Continuously.

[This is the timeline separator]

[You filthy, vicious bug!!! ୧༼◔益◔୧ ༽]

“It hurts my feelings when you say that.”

[That suspicious man is also one of your accomplices?!! You wicked bug gang!!!! ୧༼◔益◔୧ ༽]

“Lumping me together with Salto is a bit too much.”

[D-Don’t talk to me!!! Go away!!!!! ୧༼◔益◔୧ ༽]

“Who was the one persistently following me around no matter where I went?”

[T-That’s because it’s the duty of an excellent messenger to follow the player… (๐•̆ •̆๐)]

The system window, which disappeared with a system adjustment notification last night and reappeared this morning, had been in this state all morning.

It was sending messages full of suspicion and bluntness, but it was the system window that was initiating conversation with me first.

[No way! The player is a bug… A bug is the player… (｡ŏ﹏ŏ)]

The system window even started sobbing.

If left alone, it would likely pour out wailing cries through the system window messages again.

“Luibel.”

[(｡ŏ﹏ŏ)…?]

The system window displayed a question mark next to the sobbing emoticon.

“Not player, but Luibel. That’s my name.”

I corrected the way the system window addressed me and added,

“And I intend to proceed with the scenario somehow now.”

[Y-You think I’ll let a mere bug proceed with the scenario?!! ٩(//̀Д/́/)۶]

“So if you don’t cooperate, I’ll have to harm you.”

According to Anselot, only bugs can damage the system window.

As the “messengers” of the system, they are impacted just by sensing the presence of bugs, and they become disabled by the killing intent emitted by bugs.

The reason the previous “messenger” was not only impacted but also replaced with a new “messenger” was also due to the murderous aura released by Anselot, who revealed his existence just before Hezen died.

As I mulled over those words, I realized something strange.

‘But I was able to impact the system window even when I wasn’t a bug.’

Back then, when I witnessed Hezen targeting the saint of the Taal Kingdom.

The moment my fist struck Hezen’s snout, the selection above his head shattered.

‘Perhaps I had been deviating from the system since then.’

‘I may have been deviating from the system since then…’

The system window had told me that it sensed a different dimensional energy from me.

I wondered if that might be related to my deviation from the system.

‘If it’s for the sake of silencing, it would be best to completely shatter it like the previous system window. If it’s difficult, I can do it for you.’

‘It’s okay. I’ll try having a conversation first.’

‘A conversation?’

Anselot asked back with a look of incomprehension.

But I couldn’t coldly shatter the system window that had been chattering beside me in a short time.

I remembered the moment it worried about me and tried to protect me from Sedrick.

Honestly, in this life and the previous one, there were hardly any people who worried about me.

Perhaps that’s why.

Relying on the lingering image of my mother who stayed by my side when I was sick as a child, I also chased after my mother’s back.

And my heart also weakened at those few words of concern from the system window, which wasn’t even human.

I had no immunity to such things, so I often sought even the smallest piece of affection in their actions and words, which may have been meaningless to them.

[Y-You’re going to harm me? N-No, right? You’re lying, player? ｡° ૮₍°´ᯅ`°₎ა °｡]

I asked the pitifully crying system window in a deliberately cold voice.

“You know, right? How many system windows have been shattered by my hands so far.”

The system window had been shattered a total of three times so far.

When I witnessed Hezen’s affair and kicked him. When Anselot appeared in front of Hezen and released the system’s compulsion. And just before Hezen died.

The latter two times were Anselot’s doing, not mine.

But I deliberately put on a terrifying expression.

When I slightly intimidated it, the system window began to tremble.

And I spoke to the system window in a gentle voice, as if to appease it.

“I don’t want to harm you.”

[…!]

The system window flinched and shook.

“But if you try to oppose me, I’ll have no choice but to harm you.”

[S-Such cruelty…!]

As I felt before, this talkative system window that usually spams emoticons doesn’t use emoticons when a serious situation arises.

That’s how much it was surprised and in a grave state.

I didn’t miss this opportunity and pushed forward.

“As you said, I’m a bug that has deviated from the system. But I have to proceed with the scenario. Because my goal is to get rid of the Bright Dragon.”

To be precise, my real goal was to destroy the system, but I couldn’t reveal that much.

On the other hand, I felt fortunate that the system window wasn’t activated while I was discussing the Bright Dragon’s heart and the system with Anselot.

If it had found out my purpose to that extent, I would have had to eliminate the system window without the option of attempting a conversation.

[W-What are you going to do by getting rid of the Bright Dragon as a bug?]

“Who knows? If I complete the scenario, I might be reborn as a perfect player instead of a bug.”

It was something I blurted out as it came to my mouth, but it must have sounded plausible, as the system window blinked for a moment.

“It’s up to you to decide what to do.”

[I… I… Waaaah…!]

Pop!

Suddenly, the system window disappeared from my sight, and a small baby bird fluttered up.

It was a very small baby bird with soft, light green feathers and lemon-colored wings.

I looked at the baby bird with wide eyes.

The baby bird cried out pitifully with chirps.

―That’s really too much!

Huh?

Startled by the voice of a young child, I looked around in confusion.

But the only thing I could see was a single baby bird.

“Excuse me…”

―Don’t talk to me!

Eek.

As the baby bird cried out with sorrowful chirps, I heard the voice of a young child again.

There’s no mistake.

That bird was talking right now.

“Are you perhaps…”

―I don’t know! I don’t!

Before I could even ask anything, the baby bird shook its head vigorously, crying out with intense chirps.

‘It’s not that the bird is speaking human words, but the bird’s cries are being interpreted as human words and directly piercing into my mind.’

The system window that suddenly disappeared.

The small baby bird that appeared with a poof at the same time.

And the baby bird’s attitude, as if it knew me and was upset with me.

I swallowed and asked cautiously.

“Are you the system window?”

―Not the system window, but a messenger! A brave and excellent messenger who serves the great System!

The baby bird chirped angrily.

‘…I knew it, the system window.’

I thought I had experienced all sorts of amazing things in my life.

“So this is your true form.”

Chirp!

―Hmph!

“You’re really small.”

―That’s because Piya is a temp!

“Piya? Is that your name?”

―I’m not telling you! You think I’d let a mere bug know my name?!!

The sight of the baby bird getting angry and huffing was so cute that I laughed a little.

“Luibel.”

I held out my palm to the baby bird and emphasized my name again.

“My name is Luibel, Piya. You can call me Lulu. Don’t get confused with other players.”

―Piya isn’t stupid enough to get names confused…!

The baby bird huffed and puffed in anger but glanced at my palm, then fluttered over and perched on it.

“Have you decided?”

―I have no choice! I have to help the player…

“Lulu.”

―I have to help Lulu become a true player instead of a bug!

After finishing its words, the baby bird haughtily pecked my palm a couple of times with its beak.

The ticklish feeling made me burst out laughing.

―D-Don’t laugh!!!!

The baby bird, its face turning bright red between its fluffy down feathers, chirped loudly and pecked my palm a little harder.