CHAPTER 128: WHO IS THE ENEMY? [1]

"My love, my life... MY DREAM AND MY WIFE!! DIDN’T APPEAR OUT OF NOWHERE!!!"

"...."

As the old Isaac finished shouting, I observed the scene silently, seeing the young Isaac trying to comfort Maya, or maybe himself.

The old Isaac returned to his calm self and spoke.

"What you are looking at is the birth of demons. Out of nowhere, many people — let them be Exalted, cultivators or ordinary — began to fall into slumber."

"Then slowly, their bodies began to get affected by a strange energy. It’s what we call now the anti-mana."

The scene suddenly changed, showing Maya waking up in a new form and hugging Isaac and his daughter.

She now had 2 long horns and her brown skin turned grey. But the most surprising part was her strength.

She formed and awakened a core.

With tears streaming over his cheeks, Isaac spoke in a shaking voice.

"It’s been... a month. I was scared. I was truly scared..."

’This may be a lie.’

I didn’t underestimate myself and my value. I was a genius, and I knew this — even the principal herself took me as her student.

Therefore, the Dark Order definitely knew about me and my nature, so Isaac was probably here to recruit me.

Maybe he was trying to show it like he approached me by mistake before showing me the demon’s "truth" and brainwashing me.

I wasn’t going to fall for this.

"It isn’t a lie though, haha. But I understand that you can’t trust me now. It would have been strange if you actually did."

Letting out a sigh, he muttered:

"My job would have been easier if you were really a chosen one. Fine, let’s take another approach."

"...."

Confused, I observed silently as he took another sip of his wine and clapped.

"I want you now to go to the library and see the history books of 200 years ago. If you are smart enough, you will see the plot holes in their fake stories."

’Now?’

"Yes, now."

The world around me began to blend into ethereal colors.

Isaac stood up and waved to me.

"We will meet again tomorrow — I have 2 real chosen ones to talk with. Oh, and before telling anyone about our small encounter, maybe think about how they will look at you."

"Wait—!"

All of a sudden, my vision changed as I found myself back into my room extending my hand up.

[What the hell!]

"Huh? What’s wrong? Ray...?"

Glutton suddenly shouted in my head, and Selene woke up, rubbing her sleepy eyes and looking at me with confusion.

Ignoring them, I instantly expanded my spatial awareness and focused on all my senses to scan the room.

Finding nothing, I stood up and began to search for anything manually.

’How did he do that?’

How did he enter my dream without anyone noticing? Was there another device to hide him from the principal? Or was he just that powerful? What if the principal herself was working with them?

"Ray, did something happen?"

[Hey! Stop ignoring me!]

Finding nothing in the bedroom, I began to check every other room, wearing BlackHail to accelerate my thoughts and teleporting to check them faster.

But eventually, I didn’t find anything.

Did I miss something? Or was I wrong all along?

That definitely wasn’t a normal dream. With my thoughts and emotions calmer now than back then, I was sure that dream was affecting my mind.

"Ray!"

"WHAT?!"

I yelled at Selene who suddenly grabbed my arm.

I didn’t have time for that. I was in real trouble and didn’t even know if I was being watched.

Selene paused for a moment, then strangely, her eyes softened as she asked:

"Did you perhaps... have a nightmare?"

"Huh?"

Confused, I looked at her without knowing how to answer.

"I... guess?"

Technically, I didn’t lie. That was really a nightmare.

But I wasn’t going to tell her what had happened in that nightmare.

[No way... did you have a nightmare?! You? YOU?! I’m sure you were haunting someone in their nightmare.]

’Shut up, Glutton!’

I silenced him and returned my focus to Selene.

’Seriously?’

She was holding her laugh!

Selene inhaled and exhaled slowly before coughing awkwardly.

"Cough... let’s return to the bed. Everything is alright now, isn’t it?"

I sighed and followed her to the bed, thinking about my next move.

And I had to admit, I didn’t know what to do.

What was I going to say? That someone from the Dark Order that probably was one from the strongest there entered my dream personally under the entire academy’s nose to show me the truth and probably recruit me?

And then who was I going to tell? Other than Kyle and Lunara, I wasn’t close to anyone else, and even they were too suspicious.

And what if he was right? What if everything was a big lie from the kingdoms and the government?

Even in my past life without magic and superpowers, corruption existed everywhere. My job itself was about killing them, so why wouldn’t it exist here too?

I... what was I supposed to do?

[Wait, what?]

After a moment, I was returned to the bed beside Selene.

As I was lost in my thoughts, Selene suddenly grabbed my head, taking me into her cold embrace while moving her other hand through my hair.

"Umm... what is this supposed to mean?"

I asked with confusion, though I didn’t resist.

Selene smiled.

"I don’t know. My father would always hug me in bed whenever I had a nightmare to help me sleep. It worked with me, so I’m trying it with you."

"...."

"I-I can stop if it’s annoying you."

"No, it’s alright... thank you."

I let out a sigh and dismissed BlackHail.

"Let’s... stay awake today. I don’t want to sleep."

"Hehe, sure! When you feel okay, you can cook something for us."

I rolled my eyes.

"As you wish, princess."

Selene laughed softly then hugged me even tighter before we both fell into silence.

[...]

[Cough cough cough.....]

Letting out a sigh, I began to think carefully for my next move.

I couldn’t tell anyone but Glutton about what happened.

Ignoring everything else, If all what Isaac said was true, then they were keeping their eyes not only on me but even Aria.

And it was probably only recently, judging by the fact he didn’t talk about me killing Taigo and going after them.

Then there was his talk about children of Fate and chosen ones.

What was the difference? And why was being clueless about his title enough to show that I wasn’t the latter?

’What if...!’

Just then, my eyes widened, but I held myself together before Selene could notice.

What was special about me?

I was chosen as a VIP viewer in the land of challenges and I was a genius that could be compared to the main characters.

That had 2 possibilities according to the origin of entertainment.

It was either I had a great "fate" in my world, or wasn’t affected by fate at all!

The key word was "in my world".

I didn’t belong to this world!

By that logic, why would I be affected by this world’s fate if my otherworldly soul didn’t belong to it?

But how did I know about this world?

It was from a novel! A novel that had future knowledge. A novel that I reincarnated into after... after reading the ending?

Just then, everything hit me together. Every coincidence. Every information. Every interaction.

’Why does it all make sense?!’

I died right after reading the ending, not after reading the novel’s free Chapters.

I was supposed to have knowledge about the novel’s future, but I didn’t because I went directly to the ending.

Isaac entered my dream, thinking that I was "chosen" by Fate — who seemed to be female and maybe have her own consciousness — but after seeing me clueless about his "future" title, he assumed that I was just an unknown child of Fate.

Then he said he had to talk with 2 real chosen ones. Were they also reincarnators?!

And when I informed the academy about Glutton, the man that visited me said something about someone else getting a spirit the same day as me.

Was that really luck, or did a reader — someone other than me with real knowledge — use their knowledge to find the spirit?

’Fuck! Why did I never think about that?!’

And the fucking banquet that passed peacefully! There was no way that only my efforts were enough to save the day. Someone else definitely helped.

But who were those 2 reincarnators? Extras? Villains? Main characters? Demons? Elves? Humans? Maybe even a monster or a random stick!

Was Fate the one responsible for our reincarnation? Was she the author of the novel or the one that Isaac called Seer?

I had too many fucking questions but no answers!

’Glutton.’

I called Glutton mentally, and soon after he answered:

[You are finally remembering me. What the fuck is happening to you!]

I took a deep breath secretly — so I won’t look like a creep or pervert in Selene’s embrace — and asked Glutton the only questions that formed in my mind.

’The demons who may be former Eldorians. The academy that trains us to kill demons. The government that may be hiding the truth. The kingdoms that originally formed the government.

The 4 main races that held all the power. All the other races that stayed silent. The guilds that didn’t interact with us yet. The Dark Order that caused the death of my family and has interacted with me now...

Who is the enemy?

Who are the real villains?

Who is the one responsible for my reincarnation?

Why was I chosen?

Who are we supposed to kill?!’

[...]

[What the fuck is wrong in your head?!!]