The Observer’s Trial and a Maid’s Morbid Affection

After a restless night, Allen’s paranoid tendencies finally subsided, at least for the moment.

His peculiar habit bore a striking resemblance to a certain prime minister known for his obsession with married women; were he to sleep anywhere else, he would invariably declare to those around him, “I am prone to killing in my dreams.”

Allen had initially intended to sleep in the wardrobe, but no matter how he tried, he found it unbearable.

Utterly exhausted and devoid of strength, he eventually surrendered to his large bed, drifting into a heavy slumber.

Tomorrow, he would have to continue his battle of wits against this wretched world.

However, shortly after falling asleep, the familiar sensation of weightlessness dragged him away.

His vision was no longer filled with the familiar ceiling of his bedroom, but rather the vast, boundless, cold, and desolate sea of stars—the very place where he had previously encountered the mysterious girl in the black dress.

This time, however, something was different.

The black-haired girl in the black dress was now standing with her back to him, at the ‘edge’ of the star sea.

Her long hair resembled the deepest darkness of the universe itself, as if capable of absorbing the faint glow of all surrounding stars, leaving behind only a breathtaking silhouette.

Allen instantly became wide awake.

‘This is definitely not a dream!’

Allen immediately realized that this sea of stars he was in was a false garden created by the girl before him.

It seemed this powerful being had ‘invited’ him over for tea once more.

‘Who could she be?’

‘The Creator? An evil god? Or some other unspeakable entity?’

‘In any case, I should test the waters first.’

Allen painstakingly adopted the most respectful posture, mimicking a knight’s audience.

He knelt on one knee behind the girl, lowered his head, and spoke in a deep voice:

“My Lord, what revelation do you have for your humble servant?”

The girl did not turn around.

Her cold voice directly entered Allen’s consciousness.

“I am not the Creator whom you humans worship.

I have never seen Them.”

Allen: “…”

A cold sweat instantly broke out.

‘Not the sleeping Creator?’

‘Then who exactly are you?’

‘I have never seen Them’—this single sentence detonated like an information bomb in Allen’s mind.

From this, Allen could deduce several conclusions:

First, even if this ‘girl’ was not a god, she was a high-dimensional being capable of standing on equal footing with one.

Second, her mention of ‘you humans’ was an admission that she was not human at all.

This human form was merely a convenient cosplay for communication.

Third, ‘never seen Them’? She was either implying that the Creator did not exist, or that she was born after creation and thus never encountered the sleeping Creator.

Either way, the implications were terrifying.

Allen had successfully unlocked an unprecedented rare achievement—direct contact with a cosmic-level ‘god.’

At this moment, Allen noticed an intriguing detail.

The first time this deity had met him, the sense of artificiality had been overwhelmingly strong, preventing even basic communication between them.

Now, however, she appeared far more natural and was able to communicate with Allen normally.

‘Why was this?’

The girl seemed to have anticipated Allen’s thoughts.

She remained with her back to him, her voice utterly devoid of emotion.

“My image is generated based on your subconscious.

Initially, you felt a sense of incongruity because you could not truly conceive of my existence.”

“Now, you have become aware of my existence.

This is the prerequisite for our communication.”

“Eh?” Allen froze, momentarily stunned.

He blurted out instinctively, “Do you mean my subconscious preference is for a beautiful girl with long, straight black hair?”

The words had barely left his mouth when Allen wished he could slap himself.

‘Allen de Laval, what in the world are you discussing with a cosmic-level deity?’

‘Be serious! This is a matter of humanity’s survival!’

“You are quite interesting, human.” The girl seemed unfazed by Allen’s “preference declaration,” continuing on her own accord, “I have been observing you for a long time.”

“…” The reverence on Allen’s face instantly vanished, replaced by a grim expression.

“It’s you? My transmigration to this world, this damned cycle of reincarnation—was it all your doing?”

The girl had just said that Allen had become aware of her existence.

‘What had Allen become aware of before?’

He had realized that the wretched game *Starlight Romance* had no so-called “Happy End.”

Behind *Starlight Romance*, there was an unrevealed mastermind, a hidden boss manipulating the fates of all living beings.

And now, this mastermind had actually revealed themselves.

‘Damn it! The mastermind is blocking the entrance to the starter village!’

This antagonist was overly cautious, directly intervening to cut off Allen’s development.

“Transmigration? Reincarnation?” The girl finally turned around slowly.

Her profound, nebula-like purple eyes gazed at Allen, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, filled only with a pure, inhuman coldness.

“It seems you have forgotten the genesis of all stories.”

The girl’s words instantly ignited the gunpowder keg of suspicion in Allen’s heart.

‘What does she mean, I’ve forgotten?’

‘Did my past self know something?’

‘And what is the genesis of all stories?’

‘Didn’t he transmigrate while struggling through *Starlight Romance*’s hidden route?’

Allen had never imagined that even the truth behind his transmigration and reincarnation was shrouded in such profound mystery.

Allen’s mind seemed completely transparent before the girl.

The girl saw through his questions and spoke in a placid tone.

“Your story has been lost beyond time.

As you are now, you do not yet possess the right to access the truth.”

‘Huh?!’

‘I don’t even have the right to know my own story?’

‘Am I not just an ordinary transmigrator? Could I actually be a central figure in some earth-shattering conspiracy?’

Allen suddenly recalled a common trope from science fiction novels—

‘Are my memories false?’

The girl merely shook her head, offering no further explanation.

‘My memories aren’t false… but I’ve forgotten the genesis of all stories…’

‘Could it be… that the time of my transmigration was long after playing *Starlight Romance*’s hidden route?’

‘And I simply lost the subsequent memories?’

Given the enigmatic nature of this mastermind, she certainly wouldn’t divulge much information.

Furthermore, Allen gravely suspected that a “god” whose true form remained unknown might not always speak the truth.

‘What exactly was the mastermind’s purpose in observing Allen?’

Allen suddenly recalled his prayer to a deity during his battle with the False Mark Knight—

“I want to live.

No matter what, I will struggle to survive.

God, I’ve always thought you a wicked, super scumbag for throwing me into this godforsaken world.

But if you can answer my plea, I will dedicate everything I have to you.

So… please grant me strength! Even if… it demands a price more desperate than death.”

‘Oh no, his prayer was actually heard by a god!’

Not by the sleeping Creator, but by the shadowy mastermind.

That phrase, “Watch me,” was indeed too arrogant.

After all, the other party truly had been observing him all along.

Allen had been relentlessly complaining about deities.

The girl, not taking offense, seemed to have a rather good temper.

It appeared the other party had come to claim their price.

Indeed, one should never casually make wishes to gods in a world where deities exist.

Allen’s cycle of death and reincarnation might very well be the price he paid for his cheat ability.

“…”

‘Why does something still feel off?’

Allen’s paranoid instincts flared up once more.

‘She is the mastermind, after all.

Would she really be so benevolent as to listen to Allen’s prayer and bestow a blessing upon him?’

“Is Future Sight the ability you gave me?” Allen asked suspiciously.

The girl answered with utter honesty, “That is your own ability, unrelated to me.

Of course, I am not aware of the situation concerning your Lord; perhaps you could consider that aspect.”

‘Future Sight is my own ability?’

‘I can consider the Creator in this regard?’

Allen felt his mind becoming even more muddled.

“What exactly do you want from me?” Allen gave up on untangling the knots in his mind, laying his cards on the table.

“An entity like you must surely disdain humans, mere ants.”

“Do you humans not also observe the ecology of ants?” the girl calmly replied, raising her hand and lightly snapping her fingers.

*snap*

With the crisp sound of her fingers, a section of the vast star sea, serving as the backdrop, shattered as if struck by an invisible colossal hammer.

Innumerable stars instantly disintegrated and fragmented, transforming into a band of dead, silent dust.

“However, recently,” the girl’s voice remained utterly flat, “I discovered that this perfect ecological bottle had some other annoying insects secretly tossed into it by certain troublesome individuals.

I found you to eliminate these invading creatures with your own strength.”

Allen fully comprehended the enigmatic entity’s statement:

‘Recently’ = Humanity’s latest cycle of reincarnation.

‘Ecological bottle’ = The planet where humanity currently lives.

‘Certain troublesome individuals’ = Those evil gods or whatever other abominations.

‘Invading creatures’ = The evil gods’ pawns and the marks they left behind.

‘Holy crap!’

‘You’re really the mastermind behind *Starlight Romance*, aren’t you?’

‘The planet is your ecological bottle?’

‘Humans are the ants you placed in the ecological bottle?’

‘Now that other bugs have gotten into the bottle, you’re grabbing me, this unlucky bastard, to be the insecticide?’

A surge of nameless fury flared in Allen’s heart.

‘What’s wrong with being an ant? Ants have dignity too!’

‘I didn’t die 999 times just to be your free cleaner!’

“I regret that I cannot comply.” Allen threw caution to the wind, his tone laced with clear mockery.

“I’m just a doomed villain, struggling simply to survive.

How can I, a mere mortal, help you, a ‘god,’ expel the bugs left by those you dislike?”

“If I’m not mistaken, you’re not an omnipotent god, are you? Otherwise, couldn’t you just flick your finger and crush those bugs yourself?”

“Heh, I always thought gods were omniscient and omnipotent.

Turns out there are things even you can’t do.”

“…You are indeed very interesting, human.” Despite Allen’s direct mockery, the girl’s expression and voice remained utterly unchanged, as if stating an objective fact.

“It’s just that I’ve grown tired.

You humans have made me lose interest.”

“Do you truly believe that forcibly halting the development of civilization can avert the ‘trial’?”

Allen’s pupils abruptly constricted.

‘Oh god.

My suspicions about the Church were all true?’

‘The Church truly sealed off technology to escape disaster?’

But listening to her tone…

‘She intends to abandon the ecological bottle containing human civilization?’

He suddenly recalled the ending of the Church route—”Their gaze finally fell upon this planet, and thus humanity perished.”

‘So ‘They’ were this entity before me?’

‘Humanity is truly doomed.’

Allen felt his mind buzz, and he completely froze.

‘What the hell, what kind of joke is this?!’

‘What are you thinking? You actually want me to be some damned savior?’

‘Do I look like a protagonist who can go toe-to-toe with evil gods?’

‘I’m just a cannon fodder villain.

What right do I have to bear the lives of hundreds of millions of people on this planet?’

No wonder in Cthulhu mythology, the more you know, the faster you go insane.

Facing an ‘Ancient God’ directly, Allen’s SAN value was about to hit zero.

“Alright, alright, I understand.” Allen gritted his teeth, feeling his soul tremble.

“You mean you won’t give me any cheat abilities, and you want me to save humanity on my own, right?

If I get incredibly lucky and actually help you drive away those bugs, what then?”

“I will postpone my ‘trial,'” the girl stated calmly.

“Of course, for me, I can only grant an instant of time.”

“How long is your ‘instant’?”

Allen didn’t care for her riddles; he needed concrete numbers.

“In your human terms, it should be 50 Earth years.”

‘Earth years?’

Allen felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

‘Earth? She knows about Earth?’

‘Shouldn’t *Starlight Romance* be a fictional world?’

‘I didn’t transmigrate into a game world; rather… I transmigrated into the distant future?’

‘Could Earth be the destroyed paradise mentioned in the *Holy Scripture*?’

‘What kind of interstellar joke is this!’

“You plan to do something interesting; that is good,” the girl continued, ignoring Allen’s collapsing expression.

“But I dislike your human tendency to stagnate.

So I just deleted your database, so you can understand that the meaning of life lies in exploration.”

“Huh?” Allen was utterly desperate, his voice cracking.

“You only gave us half a century, and you expect us to rebuild the tech tree starting from the Middle Ages?”

‘It’s over.’

‘It’s all over.’

Allen was just about to cling to the Church’s coattails, hoping their black technology would save him.

But now you’re telling me the tech tree has been chopped down?

‘What’s the point of even playing anymore?’

‘How am I supposed to fight evil gods? With my head?’

Livia could kill him in one sword stroke!

‘Damn it, just let it be destroyed, quickly.’

‘Whoever wants to play the savior’s script can play it; this young master is out.’

‘Even a salted fish has its dignity!’

“I shall depart.” The girl seemed to believe she had said all that needed to be said.

“Eh? Wait.”

Allen panicked.

‘Don’t go, great one! I still have questions!’

“I look forward to your human race surprising me upon my return.” The girl’s figure began to blur.

“Who are you? You can at least tell me that, right?” Allen shouted.

“‘The Observer.'” A faint, fleeting smile appeared on the girl’s face for the first time.

“That is what the civilizations of the Milky Way call me.”

‘Civilizations of the Milky Way?’

Before Allen could recover from these shocking words, the sea of stars before him shattered like a mirror.

“Ahaha…”

A sickeningly sweet voice, yet one imbued with a chilling sense of distortion, slithered like a viper’s tongue, echoing eerily in Allen’s ear.

“Young Master… how could you be chatting so happily with another woman?” The voice’s owner carried an almost morbid, cloying smile.

“Naughty Young Master… needs punishment…”

Allen abruptly turned his head.

Marianne, dressed in her familiar maid outfit, was now kneeling beside him, though he hadn’t noticed her arrival.

The morning light outlined her exquisite profile, revealing a beautiful girl who should have been innocent and pure, but who now wore a deranged expression.

In her slender hand, she clutched a dagger tightly.

“Happily chatting? You mean I nearly pissed myself.

Where’s the happy part?”

Allen was already seething with a mix of fury and despair.

Seeing Marianne in this yandere state, he ironically laughed.

“Though I guess you’re probably the Marianne from my dream.

But don’t pull a stunt like this on me!” Allen roared, exasperated.

“If you want to be a yandere, go be a yandere in Livia’s dream.

My SAN value is about to hit zero; can you just let me have some peace?”

“Eh?” Marianne tilted her head, her vacant eyes focusing on his face, her smile growing even brighter, yet utterly devoid of warmth.

“I don’t understand what you mean, Young Master.”

She slowly raised the dagger, its sharp tip aimed at Allen’s heart, her voice as soft as a lover’s whisper: “I want to carve my name onto your heart.”

Allen’s vision swam with black, and he was immediately dragged into a viscous, blood-scented darkness.

He could distinctly ‘feel’ the cold metal piercing beneath his ribs, then a second stab, a third… excruciating pain surged, accompanied by a suffocating sensation.

“Hey, hey, hey! Did you even learn how to remove a heart properly in the Cult?! Come on, over here, fourth intercostal space on the left chest, understand? Be quick, precise, and ruthless!”

In his dream, Allen absurdly shouted, even beginning to ‘instruct’ Marianne hand-in-hand on how to efficiently carve his heart.

“Hehe…” Marianne’s morbid laughter echoed in the darkness.

“Once you’re dead, we can be together forever…”

“Alright, alright, together we shall be.” Allen completely gave up, too weary to struggle.

“Everyone’s going to die soon anyway.

That ‘Observer’ who treats humans as ants is going to destroy the world, and I’m powerless.

Why must I be the one to save these damned humans…?”

The nightmare dissipated.

Allen abruptly opened his eyes, drenched in cold sweat, a heavy stone seemingly pressed against his chest.

He gasped for breath, his heart pounding furiously, almost bursting through his ribcage.

That ‘The Observer’ communicated with him in a dream, Allen could understand.

As a fragile human, he would probably go insane just by looking at Their true form.

But what was Marianne’s deal?

‘Why would I dream of her becoming a yandere?’

Though in the original *Starlight Romance*, she was indeed such a character.

‘But I’m not into that!’

‘What would old man Freud and Grandmaster Lacan say about these symptoms?’

‘Is my guilt towards Marianne erupting in a distorted way in my subconscious? Or is the stress lately too much, and my XP system crashed?’

As Allen, still shaken, tried to untangle this mess, a clear and heavy fact pressed upon his senses—

There was indeed weight on his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe.

Allen stiffly, inch by inch, lowered his head.

The culprit was clearly in sight.

Marianne, his personal maid, was brazenly sitting on his chest!

The oppressive weight of the black-haired girl’s small body perfectly explained the suffocating sensation in the dream and his current difficulty breathing.

She had her head slightly bowed, the soft morning light filtering through the curtains, outlining her focused profile and long, lowered eyelashes, as if she were admiring something interesting.

“So that’s what’s going on!” Allen’s roar, hoarse with the shock of survival and incredible disbelief, instantly shattered the morning’s tranquility.

“Marianne, get off me! Are you trying to murder your Young Master?”

Marianne trembled slightly, startled by the shout, and looked up.

As her gaze met Allen’s eyes, burning with shock and fury, she instinctively shielded her chest with both hands, then a brilliantly shy smile instantly blossomed on her face:

“Good morning, Brother.”

‘Brother?’

Allen had maintained his rationality even while confronting the lofty ‘Observer.’

Only the word “Brother” instantly reset Allen’s sanity to zero.

Allen’s tears flowed freely.

‘What is all this…?’

‘What ‘Observer,’ what evil gods, what countdown to human extinction…’

‘And now, a bewildering ‘little sister-type maid’?!’

‘Please, the world he’s in isn’t some otome game where you can save the world by falling in love!’

‘This is an absurd, bizarre, dark, and heavy cosmic horror film.’

‘Can you all be serious?’

‘Why must I be the one to face these terrifying shadows?’

“Wahahaha…” Allen cried out in collapse.

“I can’t take it anymore! I really can’t!

Why is my life so unfortunate?

Lord, what kind of hell is this?

I want to go back to my home on Earth.

Please, let me go back!”

“Wouldn’t it be better to leave the heavy responsibility of saving humanity to Livia, that phoenix-born empress?”