Chapter 446

15. No Name Interview

The NaMe I know is a world-renowned streamer, magician, and clan leader.

But before all that, NaMe was probably just an ordinary daughter to someone.

I can’t imagine the immense pressure of receiving the attention of the entire world at such a young age.

I hope that rather than succumbing to the heavy expectations of the world, NaMe can love herself and think of those who love her in return.

I sincerely hope this fan art brings comfort to NaMe—”

“Thank you for creating such amazing fan art, Witcher33. I hope it serves as a great comfort to NaMe.”

– Wowㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

– The historic day that introduced No Name to the world…

– This fan art is truly legendary.

– If I set it as my wallpaper, I might cry at least once a day.

-ㅠㅠㅠㅠ So sad.

– Where else would you find such a proud daughter?

– I said not to deify NaMe, and now I’ve deified her mother.

– I’ve been trapped in a capsule with my daughter for over a year; what else would I be if not a deity?

– Didn’t NaMe’s mother say she was in her early twenties? ㅜㅜ She’s younger than we are.

Looking at the drawing, I realized one can find solace in art.

The girl in the picture held her mother’s hand tightly, even as she choked back tears.

Among all, I alone know the face hidden behind that veil.

After a while of blankly admiring the fan art, I finally spoke.

“Should I share a story about my mother in return? I’m only half-conscious, so my remaining memories aren’t much, but she was a really wonderful person.”

– Do you remember being a newborn?

– As long as NaMe is okay with it, we’re welcome.

– Attention all parents across the globe!

– I wonder how she got trappedㅠㅠㅠ NaMe probably doesn’t even know that, right?

– It’s just all so regrettable.

This is a story I shared with Seol-a while trapped in the capsule.

* * *

I had a long nightmare.

People screamed, hated each other, and ultimately headed toward destruction…

[Just kill me as I am.]

I don’t remember the content at all, but the deep emotions vividly burned in my head and heart.

‘It hurts… it’s hot…’

My heavy eyelids finally opened, and I could see the light.

It felt as cold as the Linealis Ice Gorge.

‘Is it a solar eclipse?’

A phenomenon where the moon obscures the sun.

No, this isn’t a solar eclipse.

Someone above was blocking a light and looking down at me, shedding tears.

“Ugh… Oh, sweetheart, does it hurt a lot? What can I do? I’ve never faced this before…”

The woman manipulated a hologram while sobbing sadly.

[38.8°C]

I recognized that text from somewhere.

Maybe it was in a dream within a dream?

“I used so many potions, yet why isn’t your temperature dropping? Haah…!”

I remembered.

The numbers, and the Celsius temperature.

The woman was soon pulling at her hair in despair.

The sight of her beautiful face twisting in pain made me sad as well.

She cried, fainted, woke up again, touched my forehead, despaired at the realization that we were in virtual reality, and then cried once more, repeating the process.

“Don’t hurt, sweetheart. You can’t die like this. Just hang in there a little longer.”

“Ah-choo!”

Even though my nose was clear, I couldn’t breathe through it.

I sneezed countless times, and my breaths quickened involuntarily.

It was so painful to even breathe that it felt like I had been crying the whole time I was awake.

Whenever the woman briefly left the room, I would cry until I tired myself out and slept.

Days passed in this manner.

The once frozen room warmed up, and vitality flowed into my body.

[37.3°C]

“Thank goodness… You did well. You did amazingly, my baby. I’m so proud.”

“M-mom…”

“Huh?”

“Mom?”

“Ugh…”

It wasn’t a statement made from certainty that she was my mother.

It was an unconscious expression of hope that this person was indeed my mother.

It wasn’t meaningless babble.

The woman, whose eyes turned red once more, gently stroked my head.

“It’s bedtime now. Sweetheart, have sweet dreams. Mom will also try to be stronger.”

“Am-mom…”

I didn’t want to sleep.

I dreamt of nightmares every day.

Consciousness blurred, and my eyes slowly closed.

I felt relieved that she was indeed my mother.

I dreamt countless dreams, and I received countless pieces of knowledge.

But I still didn’t understand what those dreams meant.

To put it metaphorically, it felt like appreciating an opera in a language I didn’t know.

Opera?

On the second solar eclipse day, I asked the woman first.

“Am I… hurting?”

“Hehe, no. I just missed you, sweetheart.”

“Why?”

“Aah, you’re so cute! I want to get out of here and hold you so badly. I wonder how soft you are.”

“Kyaah!”

“Wow, are you ticklish too? Here? And here?”

Initially caressing my cheeks, Mom then began poking my neck and sides with her fingers.

I struggled to avoid her hand and ended up sitting up abruptly.

“…?”

“Wow, you sat up!”

“Hmm?”

I tilted my head in confusion over why this was an impressive feat.

In my mind, it was common knowledge that a person could sit up.

So I decided to stand up now that I was sitting.

The moment my feet first touched the ground, I was startled by the strange texture and fell to the floor.

Luckily, the fluffy carpet cushioned the impact, so it didn’t hurt.

“What is this?”

“Aah, this is carpet. Carpet.”

“I know carpet too.”

“Huh?”

“The thing that lays on the floor…”

In that moment, Mom began to sob quietly.

“Ugh… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for everything, sweetheart…”

“Don’t cry. I’m hurting too.”

“Wahhhh!”

It was hard work to comfort her.

I tried to stand up and hug her, just as she did for me, and I even rubbed her forehead.

Soon, the woman, having stopped crying and chuckled softly, gave my forehead another kiss.

“No, I misjudged for a moment. Thank you for being born. Otherwise, I would have given up a long time ago.”

“Thank you.”

“Yeah, thank you.”

There were a few more short instances of waking up like this afterwards.

Each time, Mom would ask me if I felt any pain.

I instinctively shook my head left and right.

Each encounter was quite brief, but it felt like we had a lot of fun playing games.

“Barley, barley, rice!”

“Kyaah!”

Personally, I found the barley game to be the most enjoyable.

Because I could keep holding her hand.

“Peekaboo!”

“What are you doing?”

“Ah, sorry. You don’t like this…”

“Mom hurt?”

“Gasp, that’s hurtful!”

One day, when I finally nodded, understanding that discomfort and dizziness meant pain, I finally got it.

“Yes, I think I’m really hurting a lot.”

“I see… Yep. Because it hurts, my baby, it’s time for us to sleep.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’ll even sing you a lullaby.”

“You’re not leaving, right?”

“How could I leave here? Haha… Mom’s not going anywhere; I’ll always be right next to you.”

With those words, I felt reassured and closed my eyes.

Even if I dreamt nightmares, I believed my mom would protect me.

When I opened my eyes again, my mom was gone, and in her place stood a rather awkward-looking succubus smiling at me.

“Uh… hello?”

The art style felt detached from reality.

“You. You? You… okay, who are you?”

“Ah…? Haha, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Seol-a. As you can see, I’m a gamer like you.”

“A gamer?”

I immediately realized that this woman was my mom.

Mom was the first to tell me my name.

From then on, we played games together every day.

I didn’t have nightmares for a long time because I could see her again quickly; each day was filled with happiness.

“Seol-a, let’s not help the jungler today. We need to secure our position first.”

“But then…”

“This is the only way we can win.”

“Okay. I’ll trust you!”

That game marked the first valuable victory we achieved together.

Though we lost many games, I was confident we could win many more starting tomorrow.

However, Seol-a revealed that we were trapped in virtual reality and said goodbye to me.

“Please remember, you only have one mother, No Name. I’m so proud of my daughter NaMe.”

“No!”

I cried out, denying her words.

[▶Do Not Disturb Mode is enabled: Please enter the password.]

“No!”

If she was going to leave like this, I pleaded for her not to reveal she was my mom, but to stay as Seol-a.

The sleepyhead was no longer me; it was Seol-a now.

She would never awaken again.

Was it because I couldn’t play games?

Was it because Seol-a lost so much because of me that she stopped coming to find me?

Regret washed over me, and afterward, I frantically sought survival.

In order to become a proud daughter, I had to escape this capsule as soon as possible.

And I finally acknowledged my existence.

The third life isn’t easy either.

* * *

“So maybe that’s why I still see my mother’s kind face when I close my eyes… Oh, by the way, did I tell you I was really surprised when I saw the fan art? While I was doing that interview, my mom’s voice brushed past my ears. It said, ‘You’ve worked so hard. Our NaMe is wonderful.’ It wasn’t sad; it was so happy. So I believe that the child in the fan art is definitely happy on the inside.”

– I cried a riverㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

– I thought I wouldn’t cry, but here we areㅠㅠㅠㅠ

– I can relate…

– No Name, you are my tear triggerㅜㅜ

– I cried and cried back then.

– I usually don’t cry, but I can’t help it.

– I wonder what was going through the mother’s mind, having to give up one of two… It hurts so much that it makes me tear up.

– A great daughter emerged under the shadow of a great mother.

Seeing the viewers collectively sobbing caused a brief smile to appear on my face.

I intertwined my fingers and stretched my hands above my head.

“Ugh, so I want to live my life to the fullest. Just as you viewers said, I won’t take pressure. Instead, please think of everything I do as something I genuinely enjoy. It’s not something my dad forced me into.”

There were still people occasionally spreading false rumors that Professor Cheon was abusing me.

They had a strange mindset that I should forever remain a pitiful person.

Even now, AI judges are probably hitting me with six months in prison with a two-year probation.

There’s still a long way to go.

But looking at the fan art, I realized that the path I’ve walked isn’t as short as it seems.

35. The Princess Who Defeated Mephistopheles in a Crumbling World,

49. The National Power-Level Magician No Name Who Even Defies Gods

and me casting Unique Magic Adele in the Academy Fighting Contest, I received a variety of illustrations.

“Oh, how cute.”

And I also liked this whimsical illustration style.

63. Aladdin No Name

The girl played a flute, and unexpectedly, the half-eaten snake Sebastian popped out of a bottle.

77. NaMe Wants to Eat Parfait~

The girl was struggling not to let go of the parfait she was holding.

And lastly, the 100th.

100. NaMe Is Riding a Roller Coaster for the First Time?

The girl, trying to grow taller, purposely wore horns on her head to ride the thrilling roller coaster.

Though I pretended to be calm on the surface, I liked the contrast where she showed a terrified expression in a cute style of illustration.

I decided on pieces number 35, 49, 63, 77, and 100 as the award-winning entries.

“Congratulations to all the winners of the Excellence Award.”

– Wow, I agree.

– That was epic.

– All five of them are named illustrators; it’s legendaryㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

– Congrats, congrats, congrats, congrats, congrats!

– What even is this imbalance?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

– The current artist really isn’t bad.

– Looks like NaMe-ho’s captain is a shoo-in for the excellence award!

– Is the main award going to the interview then?

“Next, we will select three winners for the Grand Prize. We will do so in numerical order. First up is kdh1010 who drew NaMe-ho’s captain No Name vs. Ba’al Jezebub.”

– Regrettably got the Grand Prize.

– I liked this one.

– Seriously, the quality was superb.

– Ba’al Jezebub looked really grotesqueㅋㅋㅋㅋ

– The competitors were very fierce.

“Second is Witcher33, who drew the 15th No Name Interview. Congratulations!”

– Isn’t that the grand prize?

– Wowww

– Whatt?!

– This isn’t the grand prize?

– Wow, so who’s the grand prize winner thenㅋㅋㅋㅋ

– They’re pulling another twist here, crazyㅋㅋ

– So now it’s a battle for the grand prize between the two.