Lying in bed with her face in the pillow, the [Empress] looks tired. She sighs and keeps her ears down while her snake-headed tail does not take her eyes off me.

I find her tails very funny. They do not behave like mine. They seem to have their own will, a mirror of the emotional states of the [Empress]. It must be a difference since she is a living being, or perhaps it is a mutation due to generational change.

Incredible, our languages are today compatible. From this point of view, I am surprised that the writing of the Underwasteland has been lost, but not the universal learning of the System language.

Anyway, anyway.

“N~ are you a bit depressed?”

“I messed up.”

“Eh? Don't want to take the test? I'm ready to fix Mircalla.”

“Hmm…” Her head turns. I see her red cheeks, shining eyes, and messy hair.

“Has anything happened since a few hours ago?”

“I think so, but maybe it's just a nightmare. Nightmare of the dead. Maybe I died, and the System judged Nightmare for me.”

This is strange. I never considered the possibility of not being the [Bakenekro] [Yellow Queen] and instead being the dream projection of the [Bakenekro] [Yellow Queen]. Oh, this is unexpected. She shuffles the cards in the deck. But, perhaps, I am thinking too much. The dreams of the dead were introduced after the birth of the first living ones. Ergo, nothing that concerns my period of activity before the freeze, so why would I be in the dream of a dead [Bakenekro]?

Hmm… my energy state indicates that I still have a century to go before I need to recharge with [Flare-oil], therefore I am functional. Otherwise, it would not explain why I had to recharge myself if I were just a projection and—

“Y, can you guarantee that the System is not a simulacrum?”

“Hu-hu, what do you mean? Does it make any difference?”

“Yes, it makes a lot of difference. All the difference.”

The [Empress] gets up from the bed, sitting with her legs dangling.

“Hm, what would change? After all, even if it were an empty simulation, it would still be real in her simulacral phantasmagoria.”

The [Empress] lowers her head, looking at her toes. “Please, I'm giving a more down-to-earth speech.”

“I don't understand the point, but I'm pretty sure this isn't a dream. My integrity from the moment of my awakening is one hundred percent certain.”

“I could have died before, killed by Kirlh'iau and—”

“Sorry to interrupt you, but if it were as you say, well, it wouldn't explain why I exist. We met when you were already immortal and were taking the deceased for a walk.”

“It could all be simulated, a generative fiction of the dream and… I have. I don't know how to say it, but dreams are so real. There is no difference between that chessboard world, the nothingness of the first meeting, the illusion beyond the golden doors... there is no difference! There is no difference with reality! Also, this loop repeats and repeats, and I broke everything and...”

The [Empress] has tears in her eyes. I do not know what to say to her to make it work properly, yet her words confirm what Dal-Dazzer said. This is very interesting. There is a loop going on that cuts off my backdoors.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

I do not understand. I have a memory of all the same loops that follow one another. The ones where I manage to set up the backdoors... but where are these loops that are destroying the [Empress]'s mind? Why don't I know anything about it if even Dal notices them?

Hmm… should I be careful?

I wrap my six tails around the [Empress] and kneel to hug her. She reciprocates and sobs silently.

“N, I can assure you that this is the reality. The System can't be replicated. Not by the limitations of a dream or an illusion. The God of Wisdom itself died to generate it and, consequently, there is no way that without the power of at least one Corestar, you can generate a dream equipped with System.”

“Haha, you say? Hahaha, right, but what am I asking you to do?”

The [Empress]'s nails dug into my back. She squeezes and bites my neck with her poisonous fangs. Why? What is she doing? Does the mismatch make the Underwasteland vanguard perceive the [Yellow Queen] as a threat? Another insoluble conflict like the one that tore Irferno apart?

What should I do?

“N, what—”

Her grip gets tighter. Her tail bites my arm. The poison she is injecting into me is very hazardous. Her [lv: 90] makes her a challenging enemy. I have to free myself or… my senses are already getting confused.

[Dungeon path]

We appear at altitude, next to the crystallized cloud front. She does not have the slightest intention of leaving me. So, I push with the six tails.

Striking her with an iron tail, I sever the head of her tail.

A second strike to decapitate her head, and hurl her carcass away.

The [Empress] immediately begins to regenerate. We fall a short distance from each other.

She raises an arm towards me. Electric arcs, no doubt about it. She shoots several [Blue jet].

[Dispel]

[Dispel]

…

[Dispel]

[Core Tower]

A beam of light crushes her from above, throwing her to the ground. But I see her disappear into the darkness of [Dungeon path].

I look up at altitude. I see that white [Fiend] of her that is diving towards me, vomiting a jet of acid.

[Dungeon path] allows me to distance myself from standing on a piece of cloud.

I put my hands in a circle, frame the [Fiend].

[Fragmentation]

The [undead] is [obliterated] instantly.

BOOM!

I leap away. [Cosmic regeneration] reassembles my organs, torn arms, and charred skin. The tails roar and make clanking noises. I see a second barrage of [Blue jet] coming.

[Dungeon path]

[Dungeon path]

[Dungeon path]

…

It does not matter how good I am at escaping. The [Empress] continues to pound me with relentless fire. I could move far away, but escape is not what is certain. I need to reprogram the reset and prepare for the loop. Assuming that the cognitive damage of the [Empress] is permanent, I need to structure a program that starts autonomously, regardless of the reset.

[Dungeon path]

I emerge on the ground. In the air, a dark patch makes the [Empress] emerge. Keep using [Dungeon path] to stay at altitude. Let's think, how can I—

“Aah!”

I avoid a slash. The Atmosphere-eater sticks to the ground. Multicolored sparks freeze in the air. The shapeless mass that brandishes the sword. Miralla.

I raise my arms.

BOOM!

A new blow shatters me. The Atmosphere-eater expands. Damn, as [undead], maybe I am among the valid obliteration targets. Or it was the [deceased]? Whatever it is, I cannot allow myself to be obliterated. I cannot let the System disappear. I-

My arms are back. I clasp my hands in meditation. Tails and hair form a rosette of light.

[Crown Star]

The aura of light [obliterates] Mircalla and incinerates everything within a radius of a few meters. Just pure black. The void. Here's what's left after using this defense. It also recharged me. The energy is converted. Now, I have extended my autonomy.

[Dungeon path]

I emerge far from the battle site, near the frozen tornado. The [Empress] disappears from the skies. She will probably look for the sword to recover it. She went completely crazy. She is failing in her duties; I have no way of understanding. So, there's no point in procrastinating any longer.

My beloved System, you are in danger. Your main defense has now become a formidable enemy. But do not worry, I am here.

I raise my arm, open the interface, and call the grimoire that appears. The light of the book is like a beacon, but I have no alternative at the moment.

I have to reprogram just a few million lines.