p“Is this really how Oz is summoned?”

Coming outside, we saw a city that had been devastated in a short time.

And the storm that was still raging.

“Yes…”

Dorothy is from an RPG game.

Considering that many games of this genre involve leveling up by hunting monsters,

It’s possible to surmise that Dorothy massacres the humans who have become illusions, treating them as monsters, to summon Oz, which is made from the corpses of devils.

A sufficiently plausible conjecture.

“She plans to kill everyone. That girl.”

Dorothy.

I haven’t met you yet, but I already dislike you.

“What about my mom? My dad?”

The children’s families had also become illusions.

Looking at this tragic sight, it was natural to think of loved ones first.

The children’s adventure is being shaken by cruelty.

The attitude I should take here is…

“It can be reversed. That girl, Dorothy, is doing this to turn back time, after all.”

This phenomenon is repeating.

Conversely, it means there might be another chance, and even if everything crumbles and disappears, it will return.

But this act could also repeat forever… I am an anomaly, entering this loop for the first time.

I don’t know why it happened, but…

“You know… is eternally looping really a bad thing?”

“Huh?”

Eun-jeong, after hesitating, spoke.

She, who usually only spouted nonsense, looked unfamiliar.

It seems that with her loved ones actually threatened, Eun-jeong too began to think seriously.

I felt like I understood her heart.

The information the head of the Institution shared was about a singularity, an unavoidable doom.

A desperate end.

At first glance, it may seem like Dorothy’s loop is saving the world.

“Being trapped in a cycle is also like being protected, isn’t it? Is it okay to break down this wall?”

“Yes. If only the memories could be maintained, it would be perfect for buying time. But it would still be a temporary measure. In that video, the head of the Institution said a limit was approaching. The repetition of Dorothy hunting illusions to gain power, summoning Oz, and just turning back time, won’t lead to a better ending.”

Ha-rim agreed with my opinion, comforting Eun-jeong with determined eyes.

“If there’s no other way, we have no choice but to face it.

In my opinion, belief and conviction are different.

I believe there will be a better future, but every moment has been a series of uncertainties.

So, it’s the same this time.

Let’s endure the uncertainty and believe there’s a better way.”

“…Hahaha. You’ve all grown up so much.”

To say everything I wanted to say, how lovely.

“Hey, Alice. Then what about that thing Ariel mentioned?”

“She’s talking about the dream you all had last time. The place where red monsters existed, and the Dodo bird was shouting about competition.”

It will take quite some time, but to win for sure, that’s probably the only way.

So, following Ariel’s words, as soon as she gave the instructions, I started the work.

Even now, as we speak, preparations for activation were ongoing.

Because I don’t want any more victims to appear.

It would be troublesome if I were interrupted in the middle, so I’ve already contacted Peter Pan and Little Red Riding Hood.

If it gets cut off midway, I’ll have to start all over again, so please, don’t show up before it’s complete.

…

Time passes.

Around us, barricades have been erected like a fortress.

And the children were monitoring the surroundings with mirrors.

If we were to suffer a fatal attack while gathering power, everything would be for nothing.

We had made thorough preparations.

The children are each looking into mirrors reflecting different scenes, watching for Dorothy’s approach.

“Hey Alice, what are those guys?”

Looking where Ha-rim pointed, I saw a shabbily dressed gentleman wearing a hat, and a rat, already dead, reeking of decay with maggots squirming,

And a female rabbit, panting as if in heat.

These were special monsters I had summoned.

[This tea tastes to die for!]

The hatted gentleman said, licking a car-shaped toy.

He offered tea to the rat corpse beside him, but a corpse couldn’t drink tea.

[Se-!]

[Shh. There are kids over there!]

The lewd-looking monster in a bunny girl outfit who looked beautiful was about to utter an inappropriate word when the Hatter punched her in the solar plexus, making her gasp.

Since they were a bunch of eccentrics, I told Ha-rim not to pay too much attention to them.

Especially that rabbit girl, she’s bad news.

Not something kids should see!

“Hey. Why does that Alice have wings?”

“That was Alice? Alice originally has black hair, though?”

“She’s Alice Liddell, and that one is devil Alice, they say.”

“Aha! Is it cosplay?”

I call those monsters the Hatter, the Dormouse, and the March Hare, respectively.

The reason I summoned them was partly because the conditions happened to align, and partly because in my power-gathering state, while I can open mirrors to summon monsters, I can’t travel through them.

Mirror travel is my most efficient means of escape.

With that sealed, it was better to create monsters to protect me beforehand.

“It’s taking a damn long time.”

Although I’m gathering power, what I’m doing isn’t simply gathering power.

Right now, I’m twisting reality and dreams.

That thing we’re preparing, because it was pre-made in a dream, I had to break down the boundaries of reality to manifest it directly.

The monster pouring its power for this purpose is this one.

The Walrus and the Carpenter.

This one is also among the special monsters.

The Carpenter who cruelly devoured live, weeping baby oysters, and the Walrus who, while saddened by it, ate even more oysters than the Carpenter.

They are monsters of contradiction, specializing in distortion.

[God loves people, they say.]

[But He killed more people than Satan?]

[So what about it?]

Monsters of contradiction.

Ethics, ideology, actions. People, fearing contradiction, sometimes commit more terrible deeds, or reflect upon them.

Uncomfortable to look at, but a necessary evil.

Through this contradiction, I will bring the red dream, heavily imbued with the nature of ideology, into reality.

“Alice!!!”

While I was concentrating, Suho shouted loudly.

“It looks like someone who appears to be Dorothy is approaching!”

“…!”

Swooooooosh!

Boom!!!

Checking the mirror, I saw a girl riding a storm.

So that’s Dorothy.

She’s chasing us with terrifying speed.

I bit my lip.

I’m not ready yet, this is troublesome.

I don’t know how she found out, but if she’s flying straight here, unless we get out of her radius, we’ll be caught up and damaged.

“Tsk, I’m not ready yet!”

Dorothy’s power can already be felt this far.

A piercing killing intent.

As expected, her target is me.

I immediately summoned the monsters I had been preparing little by little while gathering power.

The rooftop of the building we were on lifted up, and my monsters appeared.

Monsters capable of flight.

They lifted the rooftop and flew into the sky.

Let’s escape like this.

“Tch.”

…Dorothy is faster than expected.

Of course, just flying with the power of monsters wouldn’t be enough to shake her off.

It made me realize again how convenient it was to travel by mirror.

“Intercept her!”

Monsters capable of inflicting curses and damage from a distance launched every attack they could at Dorothy.

Dorothy doesn’t dodge or parry the attacks, she just ploughs through them with her bare body.

Not even worth dodging, huh?

“She’s almost here! Should we step in?”

“Stop it. She’s someone who ignores attacks with pure physical ability, without any powers. Even if you’ve gotten stronger, you wouldn’t last three seconds!”

The distance between Dorothy and us was rapidly closing.

In that case, I’ll have to activate the abilities of the Walrus and the Carpenter.

They’re busy breaking down boundaries, but borrowing a little should help.

I used them to break down the boundary between sight and perception.

If Dorothy thinks she’s almost caught up, to her eyes, it will look like we’re close, and conversely, if she thinks we’re far, it will seem endlessly distant.

Either way, it’s a contradictory situation for her, so it should be difficult to catch us.

Dorothy, affected by the ability, continued to chase us then stopped.

It seems she realized something was wrong. You’re quick-witted.

Then, Dorothy clicked the heels of her red shoes together.

And just like that, Dorothy was in front of us.

“Huh?”

Teleportation!

Like my mirror, Dorothy also had the ability to move anywhere!

So the chase was meaningless from the start!

Upon seeing me, Dorothy smiled brightly and raised her knife.

The power contained in it is enough to blow away everyone present here.

I shouted urgently.

“Hey!”

“Understood!”

The Hatter, responding to my shout.

When he smashed the watch he was holding, he incurred the hatred of time and became detached from it.

In other words, time stops around him.

Us and Dorothy too.

A green zone where we can only perceive each other, but not interfere.

However, since time flows outside the range, the work of breaking down the boundary between reality and dream proceeds.

Perhaps we can achieve our goal while frozen like this.

…

Dorothy stares at us, frozen.

Her eerie red eyes swept over us.

…Swept? Her eyes shouldn’t be able to move, though?

Crack—!

A sound that shouldn’t have been heard came from Dorothy.

The space around Dorothy stirred, and Dorothy’s body began to slowly move.

[PAUSE] ㅡ [RESTART]

Clang—!

The freeze broke!

The Hatter, trying to stop time once more, had his neck instantly severed, and the March Hare escapes into a mirror.

Dorothy walks towards me, still smiling.

“So you’re Alice. Are you happy with your role?”

“Yes, I’m Alice. This is our first meeting, isn’t it, Dorothy?”

“That’s right, our first meeting. So it’s new.”

Dorothy gathered her power.

The wave of power emanating from her was as intense as an electric shock.

No way, I didn’t think she’d be strong enough to break time with sheer force.

“You seem busy?”

“Thanks to someone. So I’d appreciate it if you didn’t interfere.”

The moment she unleashes that slash, everything turns to nothing.

But running away is definitely not the answer!

Trying to buy even a little more time, I spoke to Dorothy, hoping she would listen.

“I have a proposal, Dorothy. Won’t you stop killing people?”

“People? They’re not people, they’re monsters. Something that looks this grotesque can’t be a person, can it?”

“Are you serious?”

“Yep! I’m a hero who defeats monsters. So I can’t stop catching monsters. I have to summon Oz, too.”

Does she have the mindset of a child? Or has she not grasped the seriousness of the situation?

Either way, it’s dangerous.

I realized Dorothy held no malice.

Killing intent and malice are distinctly different.

She intends to kill us, but she truly sees it as natural, like a game character catching monsters.

However, unless one was insane, they would know this place isn’t just a simple game.

Hoping Dorothy would properly understand my words, I continued.

“The world you repeat by summoning Oz will eventually reach its limit. So if you intend to save the world, you need another way. First, let’s break this cycle. Eliminate the Ruler causing this phenomenon and face the future!”

Dorothy listened to my words with an unreadable expression.

She seemed to think for a moment, rolling her eyes, then smiled brightly once more and refused.

“Hmm. That won’t do, will it? Because I have to make a wish to Oz. To summon Oz, I have to kill everyone without missing a single one. Of course, those kids too.”

You said you’d save the world! Was that a lie?

Dorothy says, gesturing towards the children with her eyes.

The children were somehow forming a defensive line, wary of Dorothy, but they couldn’t control their trembling bodies.

It’s been a really long time since I’ve seen my children feel such fear.

Perhaps due to my influence, or perhaps their courage had grown, they had been children who consumed fear as a form of amusement.

Normally, they wouldn’t show such a reaction, would they?

One word flashed through my mind.

Loop.

Dorothy said it was her first time seeing me.

But the children are originally residents of this world. It wouldn’t be their first time.

Dorothy had killed the children before.

“Don’t touch my children.”

“Ehehe. It doesn’t really hit home when an NPC says that, does it?”

“Dorothy. This isn’t a game.”

“No, it’s a game. Or an illusion. Or a dream. And it could even be something like a novel.”

It seems further talk is pointless.

I still need more time, but it looks like I have to make a decision now.

Whether to stop the work and confront that thing, or somehow drag it out until the very end.

Realistically, the latter seems to be a lost cause, but should I cancel it? Now?

While I hesitated, Dorothy raised her knife.

If I didn’t show any other reaction, she intended to kill me.

Just as a storm was about to gather on her blade and rage.

Swish!

An arrow shot towards Dorothy.

Dorothy noticed the arrow, looked at it, then smiled and was sent flying by it.

This arrow is… Little Red Riding Hood!

“Alice!”

“Little Red Riding Hood!”

“I’ll prepare what you asked for. Go quickly!”

“…Thank you. I’m counting on you!”

…

POV Switch – Little Red Riding Hood

To let Alice escape, I blocked Dorothy’s path.

Fortunately, Dorothy seemed interested in my appearance and didn’t particularly try to chase Alice.

The moment her eyes met mine, I felt like my flesh was being cut.

“Are you perhaps Little Red Riding Hood?”

“Yes. Nice to meet you, Dorothy.”

“Yeah. You were often a beast, but this time you look particularly good. Congratulations.”

According to the loop Alice told me about, that innocent-looking face must have killed all the other tale devils, including me.

However, Alice was an exception, and our changed appearances, thanks to Alice’s help, also seemed new to Dorothy.

“…Dorothy. I heard the full story from Alice. Please stop this massacre.”

“Massacre? Don’t say scary things. I’m just catching monsters, you know?”

Monsters. It seems she views the world like a game.

Even if we were once trapped in a game world, we would have realized it was reality, but I can’t understand this child’s way of thinking.

Our origin is human.

A common heart exists.

Based on that, I want to persuade Dorothy.

“I can feel your anger.”

“Huh?”

“Dorothy, you too are angry about something. I, who am sensitive to anger, know it. Facing it might be scary, but there are things you can only gain by confronting it.”

“…Why would I be? I’m just having fun, you know?”

“That can’t be true. You’ve been repeating it so many times. Just repeating can’t be fun.”

“…”

Dorothy fell silent. Her lips remained curled upwards.

Did my words reach Dorothy?

Perhaps, for the first time, a significant emotion had surfaced from the unreadable Dorothy.

“Games should be like games. Illusions should be like illusions. They just need to be beautiful.”

“What?”

Dorothy suddenly gripped her knife.

And a storm raged throughout the area.

A powerful wind pressure. Facing the storm, like a blade, I drew my bowstring.

[Arrow of Madness.]

The arrow, imbued with my inner anger, pierces through the storm and cancels it out.

Dorothy’s eyes lit up.

“A technique I’ve never seen before!”

Dorothy instantly closes in and thrusts her knife.

Killing intent. Her pure killing intent, though it stiffens the body, is easy to read.

I dodge. The trajectory of her attack is barely visible!

But close combat is still disadvantageous!

“Sorry!”

I kicked Dorothy to create distance.

Because she’s small, she flies far.

The reaction makes my foot throb.

Awoooooooー!

I summoned wolves and had them circle around.

Then, trees grow, forming a forest.

A barrier.

It acts as a stage that strengthens my power.

“Anger is the power to change an unchanging environment.”

A moon of madness rises above the forest, and the moon’s radiance imbues all the arrows.

The moonlight filling the sky gathers at the tips of the arrows, compressing.

Behold the light of anger, so dazzling even I can’t look at it.

However, I must be sure where this anger is directed.

Only then, even if it is evil, can I stand against external evil.

Phew…

I exhaled, releasing my suppressed anger, and shot the bow.

Swoosh!

The arrow eventually becomes the moon itself and rushes towards Dorothy.

The moment the moon directly hits Dorothy.

“Cough…”

Blood gushed from my mouth.

I thought I could buy more time…

Even though I knew there was such a huge difference in strength between us two, I’m still frustrated.

“Was that arrow all you had? It looked like I’d fly far if I got hit, so I cut it down.”

I see.

An arrow filled with all my might, and that’s her impression.

“…I knew I couldn’t win.”

“Yeah. If we get the chance, let’s meet again later.”

My eyes slowly close.

Seeing as regeneration isn’t working, it seems this outcome cannot be overturned.

Dorothy didn’t bother to finish me off.

Because I was already dying.

“…Dorothy. That arrow wasn’t aimed only at you.”

“…?”

I watched the fragments of the moon Dorothy shattered rise into the sky, then closed my eyes peacefully and said inwardly.

Alice. I’ve completed the task you asked for.

And just one last word.

“Dorothy… I hope you release that anger too…”

Getting stabbed by a knife seems like it would hurt.

As always, if you spot any mistakes, feel free to let me know—and I hope you enjoyed the read!

—Chip