I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 408

I was so flustered that I couldn’t speak for a while.

This woman hanging from the thorn tree, she’s the ‘Goddess’?

“Then, are you… the guardian of humanity?”

“Not all of humanity follows me, but from a racial perspective, yes, that’s right.”

I remembered a story I heard from Aider, was it on New Year’s Day?

– In this world, a being representing a race is given the opportunity to gain divinity.

At that time, Aider explained that there were three cases for gaining divinity:

1. Being the progenitor of the race.

2. Being a great figure who saved the race from a crisis.

3. Lastly, when all members of the race have died, leaving only one member of the race in the world.

Among these, the Goddess was said to be the second case. That is, she had achieved a great feat of saving humanity from a crisis.

But, why?

Why is a being who has achieved such a great feat and even gained divinity, hanging in such a miserable state… bleeding and burning?

“I’m paying the price now.”

The Goddess said calmly.

“As a price for giving fire to humanity. And as a price for sustaining that fire. I’ve decided to receive the punishment of burning my own body forever.”

“What do you mean…”

“It would take days to talk about me, Ash.”

The Goddess smiled kindly at me.

“There will be another chance someday… but right now, what seems more urgent is the problem you have.”

“…”

“Child, what troubles you?”

I couldn’t answer easily, but she seemed to know everything already.

“The fact that a living person has drifted into this spirit realm means that you haven’t had conviction in yourself.”

“…”

I remembered when I first fell into the spirit realm.

I had tumbled down here with a system alert that said [Existence Proof Failed].

Since then, I’ve been questioning my own identity.

“Ash. I’ve been watching all the hardships and adversities you’ve experienced from here. I also know that you doubt your own existence.”

Listening to the Goddess’s voice, I clenched my fist tightly.

Through the series of battles I’ve experienced this time, my banner has become clear. [A banner here refers to a personal ideal or cause.]

Once again, I will fight for people. And my will holding that banner is also clear.

But, ‘I’ am…

The more information I gather, the more confused I become, rather than gaining certainty.

‘Who am I, really?’

A player? A tyrant? A monster?

Ash? A classic enthusiast? [A person who loves classic things.]

What am I?

“What defines you is not your birth, race, or appearance.”

The Goddess whispered quietly.

“It’s what you think and what you do.”

I looked at the Goddess with a slightly surprised face.

“That’s…”

“Do you remember? It’s what you said.”

The Goddess chuckled playfully.

“It was what you said to your people who were struggling with whether they were human or monsters. ‘If you want to be human, you will surely be human.'”

Was it during Stage 10?

I had said that to Quillan and the penal unit who were struggling with their half-human, half-beast identities.

“Didn’t I tell you? I’ve been watching the battles you’ve fought. To put it in this world’s terms, I’m a regular viewer of your walkthrough broadcast…”

“…”

Somehow, it felt like I had actually shown my broadcast to my mother, and I felt embarrassed. Please, don’t watch that, Goddess…

The Goddess, looking down at me as if I were cute, continued.

“Ash. I want to return your words to you. What’s important is not where you came from. It’s what you want to do in the future.”

“…”

“And from what I see, the banner in your heart seems to be firm already.”

The Goddess smiled gently.

“Isn’t that enough?”

After keeping my mouth shut and being silent, I raised my head and looked at the Goddess.

“Just one thing… I’d like to ask you.”

“I’ll gladly answer.”

“What was the Goddess’s banner?”

What ideal did she pursue, what cause was it that she could be so detached even while suffering such terrible punishment?

To my question, she answered immediately.

“To make more people happy.”

“Do you not regret holding that banner?”

Impaled on a thorn tree, bleeding all over, and at the same time, that blood turning into flames, burning her whole body.

In a form too miserable to be called a ‘Goddess,’ she was confined to a corner of this remote world.

If this is the end of the cause she pursued, isn’t it too tragic?

“Regret…”

The Goddess smiled bitterly and looked down at her body.

“As I endure this pain forever, I sometimes think. If I could go back to that moment of choice again, instead of achieving a great feat to gain divinity, if I could live and die as an ordinary human. What would I choose?”

She didn’t hesitate.

“Yes. I can say for sure. Even if I were given the chance to choose again and again, I would make the same choice.”

“…!”

“I would hesitate, agonize, and maybe even give up a few times. But in the end, I would steal the fire and share light and warmth with people.”

The Goddess looked me in the eye and whispered calmly.

“The long and arduous path you have to walk is the same.”

“…”

“Your banner was broken once. But you raised that banner again. Don’t be ashamed of that reversal. Be proud of that scar.”

“…”

“Even if it’s broken, damaged, or bent… if you don’t give up and keep going, and finally plant it at your destination, your banner will still be beautiful.”

The Goddess, my senior as a standard-bearer, nodded gently.

“It’s time. Now go, my descendant.”

Following that, she winked playfully.

“If my arms were free, I would have given you a hug, but unfortunately, I’m in this situation. I’ll bless your future with my heart.”

It was a literal [Goddess Blessing].

The Goddess’s wink. It was extremely rare.

I bowed respectfully to her.

“Someday, I’ll… come see you again. Goddess.”

“I’ll be happy to wait.”

Was it because she was suppressing it to talk to me?

The amount of blood pouring from her body increased, and the flames also intensified. In the flickering flames, the Goddess was smiling until the end.

“I hope we can talk more next time.”

The heat intensified. I couldn’t stay in that space any longer and had to come outside.

“…”

On the distant beach, the Emperor and the Other Gods were still fighting, creating a spray of water.

And right in front of me, at the end of the thorn tree, the Goddess was bound and engulfed in eternal flames.

The scenery of this place called the spirit realm is just not something I can get used to. Even if it’s the same fantasy world, it feels like the genre has changed…

“What’s going to come out next…”

Muttering and looking up at the sky, huh?

Something was falling down at a terrifying speed, riding the Everblack tendril that stretched down from the sky.

I narrowed my eyes. That is…?

“Lorddddd!”

Hair disheveled, gray, and with glasses that didn’t show the inside.

The damn director of this damn game, and my aide.

It was Aider, that bastard.

Kuwagwang!

Aider, who had fallen without wings, crashed straight into the sand. I thought he might have broken his neck and died, but Aider, that guy, calmly brushed off the sand and stood up. Is he really a monster?

“Waaaaah! It’s really Lord!”

“…Then would I be fake?”

Aider grabbed my hand and started dancing around.

“Lord! Our Lord! You’re alive!”

“I almost died a few times, but yeah. I’m alive.”

“You suddenly went missing! The system was down! I thought you were dead for sure?!”

Aider even had tears in his eyes as he clung to me.

“I thought this was the end of the last playthrough, and this incompetent director was really freaking out!”

“Get off, I’m not happy about a guy’s hug…”

I pushed him away lightly, and Aider, who rolled around on the sand exaggeratedly, grinned.

“You have no idea how much I wandered around this spirit realm after you went missing, Lord. Come on, let’s go back to reality quickly! Everyone at Crossroads is waiting eagerly!”

As Aider was preparing to return to reality, I reached out and stopped him.

“Aider. Wait a minute.”

“Yes?”

“I have something to ask.”

“Let’s do it after we get back to reality! If you’re exposed to the spirit realm for too long, it’ll only have a bad effect on your already precarious soul state…”

“Aider!”

When I called out loudly, Aider was startled and turned to me. I glared fiercely at Aider.

“I need to talk now.”

“…Lord?”

“I still can’t access the system. It still means that I’m failing to prove my existence.”

I took a deep breath.

I looked straight at the culprit of this whole situation and asked, clearly and distinctly.

“Who am I?”

“W-What are you talking about, you know yourself…”

“Don’t avoid it and answer straight. Who am I?”

It was strange from the beginning.

This spirit realm is a space between life and death. It’s not an actual body, but an existence as a spirit body.

In other words, my appearance is the appearance of my soul.

And now, I’m not a classic enthusiast… but I look like Ash.

The Emperor said. I was definitely his son, Ash.

He, a transcendent being fighting the Other Gods, who had far exceeded the standards of the soul and entered the realm of a demigod, couldn’t be wrong.

Why did I keep having dreams of Ash, not the dreams of a classic enthusiast, the dreams of Ash’s mother?

If I were a classic enthusiast who possessed Ash’s body, I should only have memories as a classic enthusiast. But that wasn’t the case.

I often read Ash’s memories in my dreams.

– It’s okay. My lovely bone hater.

I remember the face of the woman stroking my forehead.

This is definitely not my… ‘classic enthusiast’ memory, but ‘Ash’s’ memory.

And, most importantly.

“During this fall, I fought alongside the Succubus Legion Commander Salome. And by chance… that succubus got to read my memories, down to the bottom of my soul.”

Aider’s shoulders twitched.

I took a step closer to Aider.

“Salome, who read my soul, told me. There’s a secret in my soul.”

“…Lord.”

“Actually, I’m not a ‘classic enthusiast’ possessing Ash’s body…”

Something that was hard for me to believe.

But the secret that Salome gave me at the last moment was this.

“…I’m ‘Ash’ who believes he’s a classic enthusiast.”

This was it.

Even at this moment when I’m saying it myself, I’m still confused.

What kind of nonsense is this?

“Tell me exactly, Aider.”

I asked the person who would know the answer, with a trembling voice.

“Who am I… exactly?”

“What am I, really?”

Aider, who had been silent for a while, looked at me, then,

Slowly… opened his mouth.

“You are Ash.”

In a bitter and pitiful voice.

“Every playthrough, you borrow the memories and consciousness of a different player, that is, ‘save data,’ and overwrite and save it on top of your memories…”

My eyes widened.

“…You are this game’s ‘save slot.'”