The Truth About Legacyth

“So if you want to resent and hate me, do as you please.”

“…….”

“Adding one more person to the list of those who hate me won’t change my life.”

Contrary to his blunt words, he glanced at me with the eyes of a large dog that had broken an expensive vase and was gauging its owner’s reaction.
Unable to bring myself to scold him any further, I let out a deep sigh, shook my head, and said,

“Alright. Let’s call it even then.”

“…What do you mean?”

“The bad memories you had from the Awakeners, the hatred you held. Let’s say killing me wipes the slate clean. So there’s no bad blood between us anymore, right?”

In my heart, I wanted to get angry and blame him.

But killing him again now wouldn’t make me feel any better, and more importantly, I had questions to ask, so I decided to let it go just this once.
After all, I’m alive.

“Are you saying you won’t take revenge? Even though I killed you on my own terms?”

“Just this once. Next time, no mercy. I won’t hold back either.”

I feel like I got hit one last time and was forced to make up.
As I grumbled in dissatisfaction, the man, who had been staring at me with his mouth agape, began to shake his shoulders.

“You are truly a strange human.”

“You’re not so normal yourself, you know?”

Kekeke, the low laughter echoed throughout the cell.

“By the way, how did you end up here?”

The Varg have a really unique sense of humor.
I asked while glancing at the man who was laughing so hard his uvula was showing.

“You said Varg can’t see Dowongyeong. That you can’t even find it.”

“Right. We can’t see it. I just got lucky and washed up near the river, and then got captured by the vampires.”

“…Do you happen to know what happened to Karvan?”

At the main question I hesitated to ask, Radugan, rubbing his scabbed mouth, smiled crookedly.

“Well. After dying about three more times while hovering around to confirm if you were dead or alive, I haven’t seen him.”

As if he knew I would ask that question, he replied with a bitter yet twisted look.

“According to rumors, he is going around destroying cities and towns single-handedly.”

At first, I thought I heard wrong.
It took me quite a while to understand what his words meant.

“He’s going on a rampage like a Grim Reaper with a god’s weapon that calls down lightning. Picking fights with everything he sees.”

He must be talking about my Leviathan’s passive.
But that wasn’t why I was surprised.

“He’s, fighting?”

“Yes. Like an evil spirit. They say he’s out to kill anyone.”

I recalled the beast-kin who had been flocking to Midvalen recently, even though they weren’t participating in the Coliseum.
The Empire vampires had also looked puzzled.

‘It’s strange. We haven’t seen this many beast-kin in recent years. Was there a war somewhere?’

So that’s why the number of refugees suddenly increased?
What on earth is he doing running around with my Leviathan?
I wanted to ask in more detail, but the sound of footsteps outside prevented me from continuing the conversation.

“Tell the Empire you’ll cooperate when they come. Then you’ll be able to keep your life.”

“I don’t wish to live begging for mercy from those vampire bastards.”

“It’s better than being chased by the Grim Reapers, isn’t it? Just close your eyes and endure having your nails clipped. Got it?”

I emphasized it again to the indifferent-looking Radugan, then went “Shh!” and placed a finger on my lips.
Pointing outside where the footsteps were getting closer.

‘Shinbi.’

The man seemed to understand the meaning, as he remained silent for a moment before speaking again in the Varg language.

“No. You have to be alive to do anything….”

‘He will not come looking for you.’

I paused while turning the key staff and looked back at him.

His shaded red eyes were staring straight at me.
Radugan’s appearance, slumped against the bloodstained prison wall, once again reminded me of that man.

“What do you mean?”

‘I mean exactly what I said. It’s already been almost a hundred days. Since you died.’

As I asked back, swallowing the emotions that suddenly welled up like the tide, Radugan spoke slowly.

‘To a Varg, a mate is like their own limbs. A being they are instinctively drawn to no matter where they are, but you can tell from the fact that he hasn’t come looking for you yet.’

There was a time when I thought, ‘Maybe there’s a barrier that only filters out Vargs, preventing him from entering?’
But even that foolish hope was shattered to pieces today.

‘He abandoned you, considering your usefulness as a mate to be over.’

“…….”

‘He is a cold-hearted person by nature. He has always been that way to his own kind. That’s why I pitied you.’

I recalled those golden eyes, seemingly glazed with frost, whose true intentions I could never fathom.

Eyes that shifted between harsh winter and spring.
Just when I thought he had warmed up and took off my coat, the man would become freezing cold again.
I thought I had adapted to his fickleness, but now he’s left completely and won’t even return.

‘So, consider it fortunate that he’s not looking for you, and live your own life. Forget him.’

‘Forget about that male who won’t even come, nya.’

Both a dog and a cat are giving the same advice.
As I just blinked and let out an empty laugh, I felt Radugan’s gaze.

‘I am only saying this out of pure concern for you.’

“…….”

‘I was worried you might keep waiting for someone who won’t come.’

“Yeah, I know. Thanks for the advice.”

Adding a sigh-filled remark, I took out a few more recovery potions from my inventory, handed them to him, and left the cell.

When I returned, the Skollcat was waiting for me alone in the already empty Eve Square.

‘Why are you so late?’

It was lying on the desk next to the cherry tree, swishing its tail, and opened its haughty eyes at the sound of my approach.

“Did you finish up for me? Thank you.”

‘Hmph. You’re too slow, nya.’

I peeked at the messy desk and saw that all the completion sections were stamped with the Skollcat’s paw prints.
I was a bit worried if he had actually done the inspections properly, but I finished organizing the paperwork, picked up the Skollcat, and returned to my room.

‘Hey. You there.’

The Skollcat, who was sitting at the round table munching on cherry tomatoes, suddenly blurted out.

‘Did you become a defector by imprinting with a Varg?’

I almost choked while putting the black crab pasta served for dinner into my mouth.
Cough, cough, even as I beat my chest and drank water, its large, pumpkin-like eyes were staring intently at me.

‘I thought your vibe was strange for a defector.’

“…Excuse me, but what exactly does ‘defector’ mean?”

The Observers had also constantly called me a defector from the moment I first met them, and the NPCs had also ostracized me, calling me one.
I roughly understood it was a bad thing, but no one had ever clearly told me what it was.

‘It refers to you Awakeners who cannot return to the ‘City of Awakening’ where your main bodies are, and have deviated from the dimension and destiny where you are supposed to be, nya.’

Instead of scolding me for not knowing that, as usual, the Skollcat explained willingly.

‘You. Can you shed that shell right now and return to your main body? Yelling ‘something!’ and disappearing.’

“…’Something’?”

‘Why! You know that thing! Lo… log….’

“Don’t tell me, ‘log out’?”

‘Nya nya, right, ‘log out’! You Awakeners always use weird words. I’m asking if you can do that.’

“…….”

‘You can’t, right? That’s the proof that you’re a defector, nya.’

…It said ‘log out’. Just now.

I stared dumbfoundedly at the ‘Divine Outcast’ Skollcat, who was chattering away.

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‘Legacyth Chronicle’ is operated based on a highly capable artificial intelligence, but a basic rule for player immersion is not breaking RP (Role Playing) during any conversation.

For instance, if you tell an NPC, ‘You’re actually a character in a game,’ they would respond with something like, ‘Shinbi-nim, you must still be half-asleep. Go wash your face.’

“S-Skollcat. Say that again. That. Log….”

‘Out. Log out. Log out.’

So naturally, it was normal for them to never even mention real-world terms like ‘log out’.

‘…Heh! Did you think I would disappear with a pop like you guys if I chanted this spell? Wake up. You rascal! This is a trivial spell only you guys use, nya!’

It felt exactly like hearing someone in a dream say, ‘You know this is a dream, right?’
In fact, I should have found it strange from the moment I was hanging out with a boss monster who should have been in its shrine, acting like we were guildmates.

‘Are you listening? I’m asking how you became a defector?’

There were times when doubts suddenly arose.
No, there were countless times.
And yet, I had tried so hard to pretend I didn’t know, but facing such clear evidence, I couldn’t bring myself to believe it.

‘And you, earlier I saw you using a language even I don’t know. Where did you learn that?’

Then where on earth is this place?
Are you saying this really isn’t inside the game ‘Legacyth Chronicle’ that I knew?

…No! That can’t be.

This is all because I haven’t been able to log out for a long time.
I’m just gradually losing my sense of reality.

‘Normally it’s a forbidden word, but since your life is so pitiful, I’ll tell you out of sympathy. This is actually not the illusionary world you guys believe to be your playground, nya.’

Tap, tap, watching me repeatedly slap my cheeks, the Skollcat clicked its tongue and continued.

‘It is the terminus where hundreds of millions of dimensions, including your world, gather in one place. The legacy left behind by all the worldlines of the past, present, and future. It is a dimension called ‘Legacys’. Taking advantage of the characteristic of humans who will do anything for pleasure, you are agents called upon to briefly detach your souls, grant them new shells, and control the population of monsters from each dimension that endlessly gather on this continent, nya.’

“…is the lore of ‘Legacyth Chronicle’, right?”

I listened blankly to the Skollcat’s long speech, which flowed like a prayer, and smiled awkwardly.

“I understand perfectly. To think there was such a hidden setting. It’s fun.”

‘Tsk tsk. Humans. Fine. Think whatever you want.’

“There’s no way that makes sense! Even so….”

To think that this bug-ridden dead game is actually a real world.
What a joke.
I tried to deny it with a forced smile, but my mind was chaotic like a vigorously shaken snow globe.

Then does that mean the Observers are not simply anti-cheat programs, but actually existing monster-like beings?
And the killing intent I felt, that ‘if I get caught, I die’, was actually true?

‘You are destined to be my Bi.’

…Then, does that mean that man is also a truly existing person?
Not just a piece of virtual data?

‘Hey, so tell me straight, nya.’

While I was biting the tip of my tongue, wanting to know the truth but also not wanting to, the Skollcat urged me on, oblivious to my inner turmoil.

‘Judging from the lack of affection in that guy earlier, he didn’t seem like the male you were waiting for while staring at the moon, nya!’

It’s quick-witted.
Seeing its sharply slanted eyes, I figured it would be useless to lie, and seeing it hiss that it would tell Baalzeph if I didn’t tell the truth, I had no choice but to open my mouth.