Chapter 161

“Hey Bell, is something up?”

As the last class of the week ended and I was about to head back, Victoria suddenly asked me.

“What’s wrong?”

Even though I knew Victoria had checked my face several times, she hadn’t focused on any specific part. So I figured it was probably just her mood. But then, out of nowhere, she said…

“You look kinda down.”

Huh, do I?

I touched my face. My expressions weren’t that obvious, were they?

“Am I?”

“You’re basically saying you’re in a bad mood right now, aren’t you?”

I nodded. Feeling upset isn’t something I need to hide. Why is she surprised that I admitted it?

“I thought explaining would take time, but you nodded right away. So what’s going on?”

There are things I can’t fully explain, but my rule is to always tell the truth when asked questions.

Without that, I wouldn’t know where to start or stop. If I lied, there’d be no way to go back.

People understand me better than I understand myself. It’s not that I don’t trust myself; I just remember there are smarter people out there.

“I’m cold.”

“Eh? Is it really that cold today? Or are you feeling sick? You don’t seem to have a fever…”

Victoria placed her hand on my head to check. Her warm hands felt nice. While I was marveling at her high body temperature, she started asking serious questions. None of them applied to me, so I shook my head.

To begin with, I don’t even know if this body can give birth.

“It’s fine. The time when I used to forget about the cold is long gone.”

Yeah, all my predictions were wrong.

Kanna killed her family but gave up ascending further. In Bern City, people stopped acting selfishly.

And when it rained, it was like waking up from a dream – people in Brightshin stopped obsessively recording knowledge like crazy.

Nothing satisfying happened to me.

But it’s okay.

I’ve already done plenty.

Aurora and Kanna. The princess and noblewoman. I turned high-class individuals into Harvesting Systems.

Even if they can’t hope for themselves, their children or descendants might turn out differently.

In Bern City, even if people become kinder, the world itself could change.

By chance, I created a religion.

It’s still in its primitive form where people pray to me without realizing they’re worshipping a deity. They don’t think of themselves as believers yet.

They just look up to me like how people revere great figures.

But how does someone who’s against religion see this? In a country that values reason and logic, religion seems outdated and boring.

Perfect for rejection.

And in Brightshin’s slums, the rapid spread of knowledge has stopped. That would have made things easier for me. Just a little more convenient.

But it’s not just about increasing knowledge – more people are accessing it. And those with power and influence are more likely to take advantage of it.

Still, it’s fine.

I’ve confirmed the knowledge is being properly absorbed, and the Harvesting Systems will extract the technology embedded in their minds eventually.

No matter how long it takes, as long as this world remains optimistic about science and technology, escaping this system will be impossible.

It’s like having all the fast food taken away.

We just lack quick and easy warmth.

Not that the Harvesting Systems can provide warmth immediately. They’re not that reckless.

I haven’t been stupid enough to break my own rules and collapse. Patience is my specialty. Now I just need to watch the world improve slowly over time.

The Harvesting Systems have already infiltrated people – about 25,000 of them.

Those with superior physical abilities and intelligence have merged with them. Who do you think would have the advantage in the survival competition?

Having clear skin alone can be considered beautiful.

Many female Harvesting Systems work in professions involving selling intimacy. After changing, they returned to their jobs with even more attractive and healthier bodies. This is an era without contraception.

Their appearances have improved too. Who do you think would have higher reproductive success rates?

All I need to do is wait.

I just wait for the descendants of the Harvesting Systems to dominate the world.

Even if all living beings become descendants of the Harvesting Systems, the world won’t collapse.

All I need to do is select someone in a leadership position and merge with them. Then I’ll automatically gain warmth.

Descendants of the Harvesting Systems don’t contain me until I recognize and merge with them.

Using contract documents to spread widely might be fast and easy, but I learned from the first world that doing so could break the world. So let’s proceed safely even if it takes time.

However, if rationality distorts and leads to events like ethnic cleansing targeting the Harvesting Systems, it could be dangerous.

Well, it’s not necessarily dangerous.

As long as psychic abilities exist, the possibility of the Harvesting Systems losing is low. There are already mind-control capable Harvesting Systems in this world.

“Is this your story? Did you say you were an outsider?”

Then, out of nowhere, Victoria casually stabbed me with the sharp truth. It sent a sudden chill down my spine.

That’s why.

That’s why I desperately stick to my rules. How did she reach the truth?

Probably.

I must have made a mistake, and Victoria gathered those pieces. There’s no guarantee that only Victoria can do this. She’s not special, and I’m not a genius.

It means many people could reach the truth. So shouldn’t I cling to my rules with this mediocre brain?

Effort is necessary.

An outsider. An outsider. I’m not a god, am I? Who said that first?

Ah.

“Some witch called me that. But since I’m not a god, it was pretty funny.”

At my words, Victoria looked up at the sky. Is she imagining the witch? It must be amusing. Attaching such a name to a simple monster who isn’t a god.

It must have been a lifetime mistake.

“Bell must have been really scary. That’s why they gave such an easy-to-understand name, right?”

“Why do you agree with that?”

“Because Bell is very easy to understand?”

Maybe making it a rule to always tell the truth is the best rule I’ve set for myself.

If I hadn’t, I might already be caught up in something somewhere.

“Isn’t it supposed to be easy? Isn’t it surprising it’s this level? No, if it’s too easy, there shouldn’t be anything scary, right?”

In response to my question, Victoria crossed her arms. She tilted her head back and forth for a moment, organizing her thoughts.

In my opinion, people whose thoughts are completely visible are just easy prey. It’s unexpected that she finds it scary.

“Bell sees being easy to understand as one aspect, right? But there’s what you intentionally reveal to appear easy to understand, and what you unintentionally expose. They’re different.”

I get the former because I’m doing it on purpose. I need to pay attention to the latter. My weaknesses are coming out so easily.

“Are you scared of what I hide?”

“No. That part, uh… I’ll keep it to myself for now.”

Then Victoria suddenly got close to my face.

“Then, shall I force it out of you?”

I want to hear it. But…

“No. Victoria, I don’t force anyone.”

Even if small accidents happen during memory insertion, I have no intention of twisting consciousness. I need to stay honest with myself to remain confident.

But…

I did force someone once.

Yeah.

In the second world.

When heading to Kunlun Mountain.

I closed my eyes then.

Back then, I desperately wanted the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign’s memories. The technology to manipulate other worlds. So I rushed to Kunlun Mountain and obtained it.

Now I’ve released it into this world.

So that everyone can cross over to other worlds from here.

So that everyone can meet with unfortunate futures.

So that I can find a happy era filled with warmth.

I made the right choice.

Therefore, I open my eyes again.

“So, how will you see me now, Victoria?”

“Now? To me, Bell will always be Bell.”

Smiling, Victoria moved away and placed her hand on my head again.

“Haha! Feeling better because of this is kinda amazing. Bell is extremely twisted.”

Most students with things to do have already left, leaving only those chatting idly like us in the classroom.

Victoria headed toward the exit. I followed her.

“By the way, what happened to that witch?”

I remembered the small witch who never knew how to smile. She wasn’t a Harvesting System.

“I don’t know. What happened to her?”

After falling to where I am now, she disappeared as if she had never existed. Since I didn’t do anything, I truly don’t know what happened to her.

“You don’t?”

“There’s no proof she disappeared like foam. She refused to make a contract until the end, so I couldn’t obtain warmth from her final moments.”

Though we were touching, I could have gained something, but the place I inhabit is originally as cold as a refrigerator, leaving no trace behind.

“Was she a bad witch?”

“She bullied weaker people and stole their possessions, then teased and ran away when stronger ones came around. A witchy witch.”

“Wow, what trash.”

Victoria shook her head disapprovingly.

Compared to her, there was another friend who was always around…

I shook my head to dispel the thought and decided to change the topic. Stories from other worlds aren’t necessary for this world yet.

“Victoria, the person managing the house where I live says reinforcements are coming soon. We should get along well, right?”

“That’s something Bell needs to do, isn’t it?”

“I’m broad-minded, Victoria.”

“Saying that makes me sound petty!”

Like that, we chatted idly as we headed home.

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