Chapter 36
Every page felt like a spell, every stroke carrying clues that might decide whether this world would endure or vanish along with the memory of itself.
He knew the scenario was progressing as it should, yet his heart refused to believe that all of this was merely a repeating game.
'That gaze appeared again. Cold, hollow, like glass that refused to reflect any shadow. Aldraya, have you truly severed yourself from all emotions?And Erietta—her expression looked as if she wanted to tear something apart, yet there was something else beneath it.Anxiety? Are you hiding fear behind your anger?'
Tsuuuuf!
Laughable, utterly laughable. Two beings born of digital craftsmanship now displaying emotions, slivers of reactions that even their original writer might not be able to comprehend. This world is clearly straying further from its original script.
Ussssh!
'If I write it like this—wait, it shouldn't be "Erietta glared sharply", but rather "Erietta stared as if worshipping the hatred she herself created".Yes, that sounds more fitting.'
Foooooohh!
'Look again, Theo. Make sure you record every shift in their eyes with precision. In this place, every gaze holds the potential to become either a curse or a revelation capable of rewriting the original script.
Three steps forward, Ilux stands at the center, flanked by two stars extinguishing each other's light. Good. Truly good. This world unknowingly creates its own poetry.'
"It is time to return."
Still hidden among the dense shadows of the trees, Theo Vkytor ensured he remained at a safe distance where the sharp gazes of Ilux, Erietta, or Aldraya would not pierce through the thick leaves and the play of dancing light filtering through the branches.
His fingertip moved swiftly, scraping the pen across the pages of his notebook, the last remaining relic of the world he once knew.
He wrote down every detail, no matter how small—how Aldraya watched Ilux with such clear emptiness, how that hollow stare resembled a still body of water hiding a deep whirlpool beneath its surface.
And then of Erietta, with her sharp gaze trembling ever so slightly, carrying something more than simple hatred.
It was a layer of worry, too subtle for anyone except him to notice, the veteran player who had learned to read the emotional patterns of artificial characters like his own heartbeat.
The world before him moved just as it had in the scenario he had memorized long ago, yet now every motion felt more alive, more dangerous, as if lines of code and scripted events had transformed into veins and flesh.
Theo wrote, then looked up, wrote again, then looked again—an endless cycle that made him appear like a mirror to the world he documented, as though each pen stroke and breath served to keep reality from straying off its intended path.
Through the damp breeze, his eyes traced Ilux, who appeared to be speaking, though the distance and the forest's whispers devoured the sound.
He knew what was being said, for those lines had once appeared on his monitor back when this world was nothing more than a game he could restart at will.
Then everything moved as it should.
Ilux turned, signaling the two figures beside him.
Without hesitation, Erietta and Aldraya followed his lead.
The three of them walked away, leaving behind faint dust and barely visible traces on the wet ground.
Ilux remained in the middle, a pivot between two forces not yet reconciled.
To the right, Erietta walked lightly, yet alert.
To the left, Aldraya appeared calm, concealing something even this world could not translate truthfully.
'Its color is a deep green, like an emerald drowned in sorrow. But not just that—something lies beneath it. Something calling, demanding, or perhaps reminding?You looked at me, didn't you, Erietta? Only for a moment, yet enough to make time feel as though it stopped.As if the universe itself held its breath when your eyes aligned with my direction.'
Loooooffhh!
'No smile, no words, yet I understand your gaze.That schedule—the session to stabilize your Lu Core—you still expect it, don't you?And not just that, you want it harsher, right?A method that pushes your body and soul beyond their limits.As if you were shouting: don't give me ease, Theo, give me destruction that can rebuild me.Or perhaps this is just my imagination.But eyes that enchanting never look without meaning.In this world, even silence can be the loudest voice.'
Something tugged at Theo Vkytor's chest as their footsteps faded into the distance.
The forest wind carried a tremor he could not explain.
A pressure lingering between silence and uninvited memory.
He remained crouched behind the thick trunk, clutching his notebook tightly as if it could soothe the strange throb in his chest.
In a fleeting instant—barely distinguishable between reality and illusion—his eyes caught something.
Subtle, nearly invisible, yet enough to halt his breath.
Erietta Bathee.
Her gaze, which should have fully shifted toward Ilux, instead paused for a fraction of a second in the direction where Theo hid.
The green of her eyes was not merely a color.
It resembled an ancient emerald holding thousands of years within it, cold, clear, and observing with divine precision.
No smile.
No visible signal.
Only a stillness so deep it felt threatening.
To others, it might have been coincidence, perhaps an illusion born from shifting light filtering through the leaves.
But for Theo, who had spent years mastering every detail of Flo Viva Mythology, that gaze was no accident.
Something was conveyed through that look—a message legible only to someone who understood the character's inner rhythm, like an actor who knew the script without hearing the director speak.
In his mind, the message echoed faintly.
A request, subtle yet firm.
That the teaching session between him and Erietta—how to stabilize her Lu Core—must not be postponed any longer.
That the lesson should happen soon, without interruption or doubt.
More than that, Theo sensed a deeper layer of meaning, something unspoken yet felt like a demand from the world itself—as if Erietta desired an extreme method, perhaps even a dangerous one, to achieve results swiftly and efficiently.
He swallowed hard, unsure whether this feeling was true intuition or merely a product of his mind still bound to the logic of a game that had become reality.
'Just moments after facing Erietta's gaze, gentle yet poisonous, my thoughts spiral like a storm.Dizziness, heaviness in my head.I need—'
"WAAAH—?!!"
Buaghhh!!
"It hurts, it hurts so much."
"...."
"Tsk, wh-what was that?!How did you suddenly appear from behind?! Where are Ilux and Erietta?! Why did you leave them without explanation?!And seriously, what was the point of almost giving me a heart attack?!"
"Sssshh."
"...."
The sky above Star Academy was painted in fading lavender.
Theo Vkytor walked with weary steps along a leaf-strewn path, his mind still trapped in the encounter within the forest.
His footsteps blended with the wind's whisper carrying the scent of metal and ancient stone.
He only wanted to reach his room, lift the burden from his shoulders, and disappear behind the notebook that now felt heavier than ever.
But this world never granted respite.
To be continued…