Chapter 579

Once a girl named Mary, the Hibirisu of arrogance.

Borrowing the words of her creator, she had the best stats among the eaten, with 13 kills, 2 deaths, and 86 injuries.

Naturally, the lower the three numbers, the better.

“What are you doing, Kim Hibi?”

Before she knew it, Hibirisu had started living with Byeon Ji, a typical middle-class girl from South Korea.

[Chirrup chirrup chirrup]

[Grururur]

[But it’s lunchtime for me now.]

Her new hobby was watching nature documentaries.

“Heh. I was bored and watching VTubers.”

“Wow, the world has really changed. I can watch a zebra hunting a crocodile from my room.”

“Why did you call me, unni?”

“I’m looking for a companion, Hibirisu. I’m having dinner, and it’s lonely to eat alone.”

“Why not find a good guy and get married quickly, unni?”

“Wha- marriage? Suddenly? I’m still in my mid-twenties. I have a long way to go.”

Hibirisu tilted her head.

In her village, it was common to prepare for marriage between the ages of 12 and 16.

Unlike Name, who had some basic knowledge about modern times, Hibirisu was slightly overwhelmed by the year 2053.

Byeon Ji turned on the hologram projector and linked Hibirisu’s coordinates.

A space identical to the kitchen was replicated in the private room where Hibirisu was.

Hibirisu uncomfortably observed Byeon Ji sitting across from her, eating stir-fried pork and seaweed soup.

Initially, Byeon Ji had felt uncomfortable and nauseous, but now she was used to it.

[Jansol Clan NoName wizard has announced that its Drimming Mode has surpassed 50 million users in the past 30 days and has now surpassed 100 million subscribers.]

“Wow, NoName is making a lot of money. If they collect just 10,000 won from each person, that’s 1 trillion won a month.”

Byeon Ji turned toward Hibirisu while watching the news.

“I saw it again.”

“Huh? What did?”

“The NoName I know was a crazy serial killer who ate human entrails.”

“Hibi, that was a game! The setting made it that way; NoName is just a little kid.”

“Oh, right. I was mistaken.”

“I really admire you. I usually need to sleep for at least 8 hours to feel rested, but since using the Dream Capsule, I feel completely refreshed after only 6 hours. That’s why I’ve been going out for morning workouts on an empty stomach lately.”

Currently, NoName’s status was sky-high.

Having conquered minor ailments that bothered humans in daily life, NoName had shut down those who were skeptical of the claims that ‘using the Dream Capsule wouldn’t significantly change your life.’

After experiencing the tremendous side effects of “adrenal fatigue, seasonal allergies, and asthma,” they had fallen silent.

“With how busy I am, Kaizen World has been completely put on the back burner… I really had a lot of fun, but there’s nothing I can do about it. By the way, Hibirisu, don’t you know anything? You must have received some background knowledge or settings from Name.”

Settings, background knowledge.

Name had firmly instructed Hibirisu to avoid spoilers.

“Please don’t say it like that. Just one thing. It’s just the two of us here; no one will know. I’ll buy you a ticket to the VR San Diego Zoo. Okay?”

The naive country girl perked up, intrigued.

Even though she was 200% satisfied with life in virtual reality, if there was one thing she wished for…

It was to visit a zoo.

However, a virtual reality version of the San Diego Zoo that is 99.9% identical made a difference.

“Tigers, red pandas, fennec foxes!”

In front of the fluffy ball, Hibirisu was defeated.

“You know, there are a total of 7 of us, including me, who bring disaster to the world?”

“Are the other eaters as cute and adorable as you?”

“Oh, no! They are all dignified and noble beings that I can’t even compare to…! Especially Erisiton is—”

In that moment, Hibirisu had a strange experience.

All points in the world transformed into infinite lines, and the colors expelled by all things churned and mixed, glowing white.

An experience where her vision was filled entirely with white.

She slowly opened her closed eyes and couldn’t help but swallow her breath.

“Ugh?”

The being Hibirisu feared most was leaning in right before her.

“You’ve held on for quite a while, Hibirisu.”

[Private Room of ‘NoName’]

[▶Custom 1]

Hibirisu’s green hair flowed softly between the fingers of the pale woman.

“Is what I’m saying nonsensical? What about our promise—”

“AAHHHH!”

A scream echoed far beyond the limits of volume.

* * *

Countless hints to restore Erisiton’s memories and personality had gathered.

In search of clues about Seol-a, she had been focused solely on developing the ASI cube for the past few days.

“You should have called Erisiton from the start, not you.”

“That’s hurtful, Witch…!”

“I’m more hurt by you. Did you forget the promise we made? We agreed not to bring up the past life.”

“…”

“See? You have nothing to say, right? It’s your fault.”

I scolded Hibirisu in a maternal way.

She curled up in the corner, looking defeated.

“I wonder if I might… Ji unni must be worried.”

“It’s fine, I’ll leave a message now.”

“Uh…!”

“Wait a moment. Can you come over here? Hold this line tightly.”

One good thing about being an eater was the high mana conductivity.

Hibirisu proved to be a surprisingly useful assistant when preparing the complete decomposition formula.

Since it felt awkward to sit in silence for several minutes, I attempted small talk first.

“How have you been lately?”

“Huh?”

“Don’t be too tense. I’m just asking because I want to get to know you.”

“I just help Ji unni with her personal broadcasts… and roll around watching animal videos…”

“You’re totally unemployed, right? If you were born in medieval times, you’d starve to death.”

“Why! I’m good at digging potatoes and milking goats!”

What on earth was she talking about?

I looked at Hibirisu with pity.

“But, Witch…”

“I told you I’m not a witch.”

“I think Name is a fascinating person.”

“Me? Why do you think that?”

“In my past life, she was so infamous, but here everyone only praises you as the Witch, no, Name. It’s so fascinating how a person can have such completely different evaluations…”

“Was I infamous in my past life? I didn’t do anything bad like that.”

At that, Hibirisu narrowed her eyes.

“Ah, well, that must be true. The noble her majesty of the empire was assassinated, the Duke of the Border’s guts were eaten, the Pope was killed, and not to mention the division of the Prahan into 13 states—surely Name couldn’t have been infamous at all…!”

Every word she spoke felt like a giant arrow piercing through my body.

“This is why I don’t mix with southern continent people. They keep pushing because I keep giving them a chance?”

“Gah!”

It was not regional discrimination; it was just that southern people tended to be rude.

In the north, you’d likely get killed by the golden and silver axes for saying such things carelessly.

“Don’t you need a body like Adella?”

“Adella? Ah, Saetbyeol? No, I… I find virtual reality much more comfortable…”

“Besides, I can’t make one for you anyway. So it’s a good thing.”

Moreover, eaters generally exhibited an unusual obsession with life.

Since no one knew what they would do if they obtained a physical body, isolating them in virtual reality didn’t seem like a bad method.

They seemed to prefer it much more too.

“You have a knack for handling magic circles. I saw it again.”

“Really? Thank you…!”

“Come back tomorrow.”

“Huh?”

“I said come again at this time tomorrow. I’ll pay you generously.”

“Ugh…!”

I focused on making the second ASI Black Cube with Hibirisu as both a conversation partner and assistant.

I reverse-engineered the cube passed to me by WearSoft, examining what materials were used and how stacks and trenches were applied to reduce resistance in each circuit.

“Isn’t this illegal?”

“Well, if you don’t get caught, it’s not illegal.”

“Aha!”

“What’s with the ‘aha’? It’s illegal, so shut your mouth.”

“Yes…!”

I developed the cube to resolve various linguistic and cultural difficulties Hibirisu faced in her independence.

Adella was somewhat different from eaters.

She had no trouble adapting to modern culture because her entire base was made up of modern people.

It was the same principle as someone who had skied before being able to readjust quickly after a long absence.

And with Hibirisu, we primarily shared stories about past lives.

“Do you know the Republic of Britannia? Did you know I named that country?”

“No way, really? How did you do that?”

“Originally, when a country is established, the Kingdom of Alpenheim directly provides the name. I was among the diplomatic delegation at that time. Now, we just need to create public opinion on both sides that they want Britannia. Those who were strongly against it, I whispered Britannia in their dreams.”

“Why do such a thing?”

“Well… because it’s fun?”

Of course, there was also a desire to reveal my identity as a modern person without anyone knowing.

I had hoped that someone in the same situation as me would pop up, but that did not happen.

Maybe because I had lived through experiences in the world of my past life, I found that I communicated well with Hibirisu.

There were more nostalgia-inducing elements than I had expected upon searching.

But the more we talked, the more disharmonious it felt, as it became clear that her knowledge surpassed that of a mere commoner.

“How do you know so accurately about the succession lines of the Dukedom of Zakario?”

“Um, just…”

“It can’t just be that. How would you know about something thousands of kilometers away just from rumors?”

“I didn’t hear it from rumors. I swear to the heavens.”

“Then what?”

“I can’t say much, but I just know… it’s like the memories of the other eaters flowed into me.”

“Is that even possible? Ah… It might be.”

After all, I was forcibly gathering beings in one place.

Because I had carelessly used their knowledge, the barriers between them might have crumbled a little too.

“So will you be making something like that play again this time?”

“The play?”

“Oh, I meant a game.”

“Are you asking if I’ll do the same for Erisiton as I did for you?”

“Yes.”

I paused slightly before responding.

“I will make it, but I won’t be the one making it.”

[WearSoft faces bankruptcy crisis, is there no ‘fantasy-like salvation’ in sight?]