Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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It was something so bizarre that it was hard to believe it even existed in this world.
At first, I thought it was a house-sized centipede, but then it took the form of a giant lizard with short arms. I could also see a human with bulging eyes.
Crack!
The unidentified creature wreaked havoc, tearing through the area around where she had been moments ago.
If someone hadn’t pulled her in, she would have been immediately overwhelmed.
The chilling possibility made the hairs on her body stand on end.
How much time had passed?
The monster disappeared.
It didn’t move somewhere else; it simply vanished from the place, leaving no trace.
Crack!
And then the light returned, illuminating [The Archive].
"Are you okay?"
Legatia breathed a sigh of relief and could finally fully see the face of the one who helped her.
Dark skin, but clean and flawless, not a single blemish.
A sharp, high nose.
With its elegant features, this Dark Elf boy could almost be mistaken for a girl at first glance.
"Hey?"
Her consciousness, which had been momentarily lost, came back with repeated calls.
"Are you alright?"
"Ah, yes... yes..."
It had been a game, but the recent situation had felt so real.
It wasn’t easy to snap back to reality.
"Thank you for helping me."
"You must’ve been scared. When I first came here, I was so terrified of that thing, I ran away without thinking."
One thing was for sure—if the Dark Elf in front of her hadn’t helped, something bad would’ve happened.
"I’m Legatia."
That’s why she was curious.
Who was this Dark Elf in front of her? Why was he here, inside [The Archive], and what was going on in this situation?
What kind of identity did he have, to be such a skilled survival expert?
"May I ask the name of the one who helped me?"
"Huh? My name is... huh?"
But the answer she got was unexpected.
"I... what was it?"
"...?"
He suddenly grabbed his head as though he was experiencing a headache.
"I don’t know... who am I? I can’t remember anything before I entered here."
Memory loss...?
The strange changes in [The Archive] and the sudden appearance of the monster.
And now, the memory-lost survival expert Dark Elf.
The horror game was taking a unique turn.@@@@
***
"So, the oldest memory you have is being chased by that monster?"
"Yeah, that's right."
The boy reassured her, saying that the monster wouldn’t be returning for a while. He then piled up books between the shelves to make a small hill.
Legatia sat on top of the hill with him, continuing the conversation.
"Then, you don’t remember anything from before you came here?"
"That’s about right."
Big bro, I’m scared.Dark Elf, come here!Legaya! Don’t!The girl who goes to the Dark Elf doesn’t come back!
The chat exploded with messages, but Legatia had long forgotten the existence of the broadcast.
The boy said that when he regained his senses, he found himself inside [The Archive], surrounded by bookshelves.
He didn’t even remember his own name or how he had survived.
If that’s the case, had he been living here for such a long time that he had lost track of time?
"So, how did you manage to eat or drink?"
"I took it from the books."
He picked up a book that was lying nearby, opened it, and reached inside.
He stuck his hand deep inside the book, rummaging around, before pulling out a loaf of bread.
"You can get food like this from the books. Want some?"
"Where are we?"
"We’re inside the book we got the bread from."
Had they entered the story itself?
When the Overseer had done it, there had been some magical effect, but could they have physically entered this way?
"How do we get out now?"
"I don’t know. This is my first time coming in, too. I don’t even know if we can leave."
The two elves scanned their surroundings to understand where they were.
[Bring the enemy commander here!]
[No, don’t!]
[Commander Gaizerus, raise your head!]
From far away, Legatia could see some elven children playing.
"It looks like we’ve entered the playroom for the young elves."
The architecture of the building and the furniture looked luxurious, and the children were dressed in fine clothes.
The status of the elven children playing didn’t seem ordinary.
As she considered whether to hide just in case of misunderstandings,
"Don’t do it!"
A Dark Elf boy, fleeing from the elven girls, passed through Legatia’s body.
‘...A soul?’
It seemed like she had entered the story in the form of a soul, just like when Perlerina had done so before.
*
"So, are we staying in this story in the form of souls?"
"It seems so."
"Hmm..."
The boy quietly watched a girl who had been bullied by other children burst into tears.
"If we’re in the form of souls, can’t we just fly out of here?"
"I tried, but it didn’t work. It’s like the walls around us are sealed by a barrier, and we can’t get out. I think the only way out is through that door."
Legatia pointed to a small door at the back of the playroom.
"Should we try going out?"
"To find a way out, we don’t have a choice. Let’s go."
Legatia walked through the door of the playroom with the boy.
[Screech!]
[S-Safira!]
And once again, the same background unfolded before them.
But this time, it was slightly different—a scene where the children were being kidnapped by adult elves.
"Repeat...?"
"No."
Even though they had clearly gone through the door, the playroom appeared again.
However, the events taking place there had changed.
"It seems like this world wants us to watch the story unfold."
Maybe, if they went through that door again, the story that followed would progress.
After confirming the scene of two elven children being kidnapped by strangers, she and the boy stepped through the door once more.
This time, instead of the playroom, they were greeted by a small, dark, damp room in an underground city.
The Dark Elf boy, who had made a contract with the leader of the Dark Elf criminals, was undergoing harsh training for the girl he brought with him.
As the training progressed, the boy began to grow.
And his appearance slowly started to change into someone she recognized.
‘...So that’s it!’
Only then did she understand.
Who the true master of this story was.
And why this world wanted her and him to watch this story unfold.
***
Somewhere in the heavens,
Bubbling...
A tank filled with water, brimming with divine power.
Inside, a single Dark Elf god floated.
"Confirmed cohesion of perception."
The Goddess of Wisdom examined the measuring device created by the Magitech Engineer and adjusted the readings.
"Target exceeded."
She smiled, clearly pleased with the observed data.
The first fracture of sin, born from the shock she felt while playing the game.
As the perceptions of countless beings began to gather within it,
The fracture widened, reviving the long-forgotten bonds of the past, obscured by centuries of foggy nightmares.
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