"Sampo again... He does nothing but cause trouble for us all day."
Walking down the street, Seele complained, "Even though Natasha asked me to be your guide, Wildfire has been dealing with constant problems recently, and I'm swamped myself..."
"Tomorrow, I'll take you to find Sampo. Annoying as that guy is, if you're looking for the best guide in the Underworld, he's your man as long as he's paid."
"Every corner of the Underworld, no matter what interesting little nook or cranny, Sampo can take you there—if you give him enough money."
As she spoke, she had already led Ron and Bronya to a quaint-looking hotel.
Although the hotel appeared a bit old, a warm, orange-yellow light shone from its windows. At the entrance, a hearty-looking older woman was welcoming guests, giving the place a strange, homely feel.
"Sister Goethe! These two are honored guests of Wildfire. Can you arrange two spacious rooms for them so they can get some proper rest?"
"No problem, two of the most spacious... Here, take the keys."
Goethe seemed to have gone through this many times before. She smiled and tossed two sets of keys to Seele.
Seele handed the keys to Ron and Bronya, saying, "This is the Goethe Grand Hotel. I heard it's owned by the same people as that Goethe Hotel in your Overworld, though it's obviously a bit rougher around the edges."
"It's time to rest. I still have things to do, so you're on your own."
Bronya was taken aback. "But it's not time to rest yet. I think we can..."
Seele cut her off without hesitation. "It's too late today. Get a good night's sleep. We'll talk about everything else tomorrow."
"I'm leaving."
With only those two words, a purple, Quantum energy enveloped her body.
Like the illusory butterflies that occasionally materialized around her from leaking Quantum energy, Seele's entire figure vanished into thin air.
---o---
Watching Seele leave on her own terms, Bronya sighed helplessly.
Ron, standing beside her, remained outwardly impassive but was inwardly smirking, filled with approbation for Seele's actions.
Yes, that's exactly right!
When your boss wants you to work overtime, you should refuse without a moment's hesitation!
Today, they had taken a hidden path from the Overworld, rushed to the Underworld, and then run all over Boulder Town. Ron already felt exhausted.
While such fatigue was almost non-existent for a Pathstrider, Ron was, after all, someone who took paid naps even while on duty. This amount of work was an immense pressure for him!
When he was a gate guard at Qlipoth Fort, he had never suffered such an injustice. He could slack off whenever he wanted, sleep whenever he wanted.
And just now, Bronya even wanted to work overtime... Thank goodness Seele refused. Otherwise, Ron had a feeling that Bronya would have suddenly blurted out something like, "We've wasted too much time, we won't get anything done!" in the middle of the night and then forced them to work until dawn.
As an expert slacker, Ron despised this kind of rat-race behavior, especially when the boss personally led the charge to drag you into the grind. It was simply inhuman.
Fortunately, Seele had stopped Bronya's inhumanity. What a joyous occasion...
Ron chuckled to himself as he and the very-much-wanting-to-work-but-having-nothing-to-do Bronya walked into the Goethe Grand Hotel.
What they didn't know, however, was that Seele was standing on the roof of an old house nearby, watching their retreating backs, lost in thought.
---o---
As someone born and raised in the Underworld, Seele had spent her early childhood as a wanderer.
In those few short years, as a mere child, she had witnessed too much of the world's misery.
Although she was later found by Oleg and sent to live in the orphanage Natasha ran in Rivet Town, the sorrow she had seen was already carved into her very bones.
Even though her days at the orphanage were happy and free, it could not wash away the strange malevolence that festered deep within her heart.
There was a time when Seele had yearned for the Overworld. To let her see the grand city she had longed for, Oleg, who was then a Silvermane Guard sergeant maintaining order in the Underworld, used his own supply pouch to bring her under the blue sky.
She only stayed in the Overworld for two days. And those two short days were spent in laughter and joy...
It wasn't until she was about to return to the Underworld that she realized what she had truly seen—
She saw that above ground, you could look up and gaze at the high, distant blue sky.
She saw that above ground, children just like her wore beautiful clothes and played and laughed without a care in the world.
She saw that above ground, impeccably dressed gentlemen sat in cafes, chatting and laughing, while a half-eaten sandwich was casually tossed into the trash...
That day was the least happy day of her entire life.
It was also the day she understood what that strange malevolence in her heart truly was—
It was hatred.
The exquisite life of the Overworld, those beautiful clothes and discarded food, were all stained with the blood of the people of the Underworld.
And Seele had seen too many people bleed.
So, after returning to the Underworld that day, she lay on the ground in a daze, staring at the gray and ugly rock ceiling that was their "sky." A tiny flame ignited in her heart—
She had to change all of this.
Change it all, so there would be no more division between the districts, so the miners of the Underworld wouldn't have to fight for scraps from trash cans, and so the people she cared about would no longer have to live such miserable lives...
Not long after, the two districts were completely sealed off. Seele's hatred grew wildly as the situation in the Underworld deteriorated, gradually leading her down a narrow path.
One day, she dreamed of a shooting star streaking across the sky, even though she didn't know what a shooting star was and had never seen the sky a second time.
The desire for vengeance became Seele's driving force. The wavering light of the Aeon Lan became her signpost, and she embarked on the Path of [The Hunt].
She wanted to rebel against the Overworld's rule and lead the miners of the Underworld back under the blue sky.
But the Underworld was riddled with problems, leaving her no room for trial and error.
A single mistake would cause the already unstable situation in the Underworld to completely collapse.
She had wanted to try so many times, with various plans forming in her mind, but she was forced to hold back because the conditions were simply too dire.
But some time ago, a screen of light had suddenly popped up in front of her, displaying a prompt:
[The Life Simulation Game has been loaded.]
[Welcome, Player Seele.]
At first, she was extremely wary of this thing. The Fragmentum corrosion in the Underworld was severe, and she suspected she might have been affected by it, causing some kind of hallucination.
But after getting the answer "everything is normal, you're perfectly healthy, possibly sleep-deprived" from Natasha, a bewildered Seele had no choice but to take the Life Simulation Game seriously.
Although she had never used such a high-tech device, her unyielding spirit of inquiry allowed her to quickly figure out how to operate it.
After understanding that this thing could simulate the future, Seele immediately became engrossed, spending every day in the Life Simulation Game searching for a way to save the Underworld—
And then she discovered that she was truly unlucky.
In the first simulation, she exhausted all her efforts to finally unite the Underworld and prepare to storm Belobog's Overworld, only to find that it had already been destroyed by Cocolia, leaving nothing but ruins.
She led Wildfire in a valiant counterattack, but the result was far from ideal.
In the second simulation, she streamlined her process and united the forces of the entire Underworld at a much faster pace.
However, just as she was about to march on the Overworld, she discovered Ron, who had suddenly appeared in the Underworld seeking help—a super Gold Card shimmering with a golden stellar radiance.
The best card in Wildfire was Natasha's Purple character card. Ron's Gold Card was a complete curb-stomp.
Having united the entire Underworld, Seele had a profound understanding of the power represented by the colors of character cards.
If it was possible to devise a highly feasible plan to overthrow the Overworld with just Natasha and Svarog—two Purple Cards—and herself, what could a Gold Card achieve?
Could it possibly solve the problem of the Stellaron that had destroyed the planet in the first simulation?
Seele was incredibly tempted at that moment, wanting to recruit Ron as her subordinate, but she discovered that Ron's faction was already locked—
[This character has been Bronya Rand's personal guard for a long time. Their bond is deep, and he cannot be persuaded to defect.]
Locked into an NPC's faction? Giving such a strong card to an NPC feels like a bit of a waste...
Fine, locked is locked. Just working with you should be okay, right?
With a teammate this strong, she should be able to win just by lying back and letting the pro carry, right?
With that thought, Seele followed Ron to the Overworld.
But she gained nothing. All she got to see was the most spectacular fireworks display in the world, and she was also saddled with Ron's commission, forcing her to clean up Bronya's messes for a lifetime.
Because of Bronya's willfulness, Belobog had been on the verge of armed rebellion at least seven times, there were eleven budding military coups, three potential palace coups, and forty-seven rumors about Bronya being spread. All of them were massive headaches...
But Seele solved them all.
She went door to door, paying visits. Once inside, she would pull out her scythe, place it on the necks of the "dissonant voices," and threaten them not to make any inharmonious sounds.
Through one covert operation after another, Seele's mentality gradually became unbalanced—
Bronya, you're such a liability. Why is Ron locked into your faction...? If he were with me, would any of this trouble even exist?
What a feeder!
Despite harboring this small resentment, Seele never once failed in her duties.
Under Seele's clandestine management, Bronya's rule became unshakable. But as time passed, Seele couldn't help but start pondering some questions...
Why did Ron die?
Just how much did that idiot Bronya hold Ron back?
Is Bronya so useless in the simulation because she's not being controlled by a real person?
Today, most of those questions were answered.
Although Bronya had just responded out of habit a moment ago, Seele still noticed that something was off.
That tone of command, those habitual actions, even the slightly complaining reminders, were all identical to the Bronya from the simulation.
It was obvious: she also had memories from the simulation game, just like her.
In the previous simulation, she had been controlling herself in the game.
With her own real-life control, she had dragged Ron down relentlessly, forcing him to rush into the Fragmentum late at night to save her, ultimately costing him his life.
...Perhaps if Bronya really were an NPC, it would be better than her current liability of a situation.
He should have had more time to develop, to allow Belobog to endure longer in the snow and wind...
She could not let Bronya drag Ron down any longer.
Having come to this realization, Seele pretended not to have noticed anything and did not reveal her own identity.
She didn't want to put Bronya on guard.
She did this because, next, she was going to target Bronya, just a little—
She would seize this opportunity, while Ron hadn't been Bronya's guard for long, to quickly persuade him to defect to her side.
A genius like Ron must be used to his full potential. Under her command, he would surely have greater room to shine.
---o---
At this moment, inside the Goethe Grand Hotel, Bronya was sleeping soundly.
The corners of her lips were curled up slightly, revealing a blissful smile.
It seemed... she was having a dream about Ron.
...............................
PS: No, Bronya! If Ron is taken by Seele, your dream will be shattered!
Please, you absolutely cannot lose, Bronya!
If Ron leaves you, your dream of Preserving Belobog can only be stolen away by Seele!
It's okay, you've already built a deep bond with Ron! As long as you can withstand Seele's shameless sneak attack, you can definitely make Ron stay!
—Next time, on "The Betrayal of Ron"!