I felt my mouth snap shut as the dialogue box popped up in front of my eyes. Immediately, the shouted insults forming in the back of my throat died down as I read the text in front of me.

Is [Lena] necessary for your happiness?

[YES] [NO]

From the way that Lena suddenly stopped yelling back at me, I assumed that she could see the dialogue box too. For some reason, that surprised me, even if I had no reason to assume that she couldn’t, especially since she had been in my party pretty much ever since I’d arrived in this new world.

The thought annoyed me a little, if I was being honest with myself. Had she been able to see the dialogue boxes ever since we’d known each other? She never mentioned anything about it. For as much as she wanted to say that she’d been completely honest with me this entire time, she sure forgot to mention a lot of things.

I gave her a glare through the translucent window, but that quickly died down when I saw the scowl on Lena’s face, her mouth open mid-shout, as if she was still yelling at me.

The confusion that grew inside of me threatened to overtake my anger, but out of sheer pettiness, I kept myself from losing the simmering sense of irritation completely.

“What?” I growled at her.

Lena stayed frozen in place.

I frowned, and though I didn’t want to stop glaring at Lena, I noticed something at the edge of my vision. Looking down, I saw that Lena had just stomped her foot in anger, creating a splash of mud and rainwater that hung in the air, frozen in time.

My annoyance towards Lena immediately faded once I realised what was going on. Why was time frozen? The last time that time froze for me like this, it was when I had died in my previous life. Was that what it was? Was I dying again?

You are not dying. This is simply an opportunity to answer the question, as you are, with no truths conflicting with your own.

The dialogue box popped up in front of me, but before I could finish processing the information it gave to me, it disappeared, leaving only the previous dialogue box floating between me and Lena.

Is [Lena] necessary for your happiness?

[YES] [NO]

I didn’t quite understand why this was happening at the moment that it was, but it was clear that the system wanted me to answer the question for whatever reason.

I raised my hand up, not knowing yet which of the buttons I would push.

And I lowered it with a sigh.

As I was, I don’t know if whatever I picked out would be what I actually wanted. I was angry and more than a little confused, and I had no trouble recognizing that. I needed time to think, and with the rest of the world on pause, I had plenty of it. I don’t know why this dialogue box made the world around me pause, when it never happened before, but I wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity to have a moment to myself, for the first time since I’d gotten here.

I sat down on the floor, letting out a sigh as the cold mud and rain seeped into my pants. I couldn’t find it in myself to care, but apparently someone did.

You do not have an infinite amount of time to make your decision. You must make your decision soon.

The dialogue box popped up in front of my eyes, and once again, disappeared before I could dismiss it myself. I frowned.

While I had a suspicion that there had to be some sort of “admin” for the system that controlled my powers, the way that the dialogue boxes were reacting to my thoughts and actions in real time made the possibility just a little bit more likely.

“Is someone out there?” I asked out loud.

Yes.

I was a little surprised by how fast the response came. I would’ve expected at least a little bit of hesitancy from the admin, given how it had never spoken to me directly like this before, though I guess that wasn’t completely true.

“Are you the one who brought me to this world?”

Yes.

Once again, the response was almost instantaneous. I stared at it for a few seconds before realising that nothing would happen unless I said something else or asked another question. But I couldn’t think of anything to ask, not that I didn’t have a million questions about what the hell was going on, but because I didn’t want to think.

My eyes drifted to the side, towards Lena’s frozen form, still stuck in that angry scowl of hers. My own face went into a subconscious scowl as I was reminded of how we’d been yelling at each other just a moment before.

Is [Lena] necessary for your happiness?

[YES] [NO]

The dialogue box still floated between us. The words slowly pulsed with light.

“Why are you asking me this?”

I want to help you. I wish for you to achieve your dreams. If there are any elements that are preventing you from reaching them, they can be removed.

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

I cocked my head to the side in confusion and I glanced towards Lena. My dream to be loved? Suddenly I had to consider an angle that I hadn’t considered before. Though I hadn’t played many of them back on earth, the random question did remind me of something I might see in a dating sim, the turning point that would set me on a romance route, and lock out all of my other options.

Even if my emotions were still jumbled from the fact that I’d been in a shouting match with her just a few seconds ago, I couldn’t help but ask myself a question. Were my chances with Lena still alive?

When my hand immediately rose and hovered in front of the [YES] button, I scowled at myself and pushed my hand back down.

She already turned me down once and she was gay. Even if she had been lying to me when she said that, I could take a hint. She wasn’t interested in me, and I couldn’t blame her. Besides, it’s not like I wanted to go on any romance routes any time soon, whether it was with Lena or not.

Before I could press the [NO] button, another dialogue box popped up.

Why not?

“Why not what?” I asked, almost immediately.

Why do you not wish to pursue romance? Is it not your dream to find love?

I stared at the dialogue box for a few seconds until it disappeared.

“It is,” I said, a little surprised by how small my voice was. “But I’ll die if I achieve it.”

As I said it, I suddenly realised that the Mediators might have lied to me about that.

They did not lie to you. You will die once you achieve your dream.

I frowned as my hopes were immediately destroyed.

“Then why even ask that?” I asked. “Yeah, I want a girlfriend, but it’s not like I’m desperate enough to die for one.”

You would have traded death to achieve your dream when I brought you to this world.

I stared at the dialogue box for a few seconds, thinking about how I could respond to its question, before I realised it hadn’t actually asked one. I didn’t know how I’d made that mistake. The simple sentence had a finality to them that made me shiver.

“I don’t think that’s true,” I said, hating the hesitation that crept into my voice.

It is. Your words do not reflect your truth.

“I don’t want to die.”

Your desire to fulfil your dreams is stronger than your fear of death.

I stared at the dialogue box for a few seconds before shaking my head.

“What’s the point of getting a girlfriend if I die right after?” I said. “This whole thing is stupid. Why did I even agree to this in the first place?”

You do not remember?

Even if the words themselves suggested no emotion, I could somehow sense a wave of concern emanating from the dialogue box itself, though the feeling was vague.

I scrunched up my nose, at the memory of my final days on Earth.

“No, I remember,” I said.

Then why are you uncertain?

My eyes drifted to the side, to where Lena was still frozen, mid-yell. I had almost forgotten about her.

“I guess I just got a new perspective on life,” I said. “Maybe I realised that some things just aren’t worth dying for.”

I see. Then what is your new dream?

I scowled at the box. It was unnerving how it immediately popped up whenever I said something. I assumed that this admin was some sort of all-powerful figure that could process what I said and think of a response almost instantly, but the end result was a feeling like this conversation we were having was predetermined.

“Nothing,” I said.

Nothing?

“I die if I achieve my dreams, right? Nothing could be worth that.”

So you say you have no dreams in life…

“That’s not what I’m saying at all,” I growled. My frustration with Lena never completely faded, and the admin was making itself an easy target with its nonsensical comments and questions. “Just because someone has a dream, doesn’t mean they’re automatically going to die for it. Who the hell would want that?”

You did. Before you came to this place.

The two words made me pause. I felt a lump form in my throat, right before I felt my skin flush with anger and shame. I tried not to think about my life back on Earth, not wanting to acknowledge that it ever happened, but I hadn’t been suicidal, right?

You do not remember.

“I wasn’t suicidal. I remember that much at least.”

You did not have a desire to die, but your desire to fulfil your dreams was stronger than your fear of death.

I frowned and shook my head.

“We’re getting nowhere,” I said, recognizing the words and wondering if I’d gotten the admin stuck in some sort of loop. I didn’t know whether it was some sort of A.I. or a sentient being that was in control of my isekai experience, but I didn’t want to spare it any thought. I didn’t want to spare anything any thought, if I was being honest.

Your truth is fractured.

“Can you just leave me alone?” I asked, not even wanting to try to interpret what the admin meant by that. “I’ll answer your question soon. I just want some time alone to myself.”

You must remember.

I opened my mouth to say something, but the world grew dark right before my eyes in a split second. I drew in an involuntary gasp, a sense of vertigo taking over me as my mind struggled to understand why I was lying down when I had been sitting up a moment before. I wanted to sit up, to correct it, but my body refused to listen to me, simply spasming slightly in place as a wave of nausea passed over me.

I finally managed to move my body and sit up, bracing myself with one hand on my stomach and one over my mouth in anticipation for the next wave of nausea to come.

It never did.

Even though the uncomfortable sense of vertigo had disappeared, as quickly as it came, I continued to pant at the memory of the feeling. I don’t know how long I stayed like that, frozen in place, too afraid to move in case I set it off again.

Eventually, when I felt brave enough to move again, I did so slowly, gradually familiarising myself with the concept of being in control of my own body once more. Or at least that had been the plan. When I let my eyes swivel around, I immediately gave a start when I realised where I was.

I didn’t shout or jump, no matter how much I wanted to. It seemed like my body recognized where I was, reacting instinctively at the familiar room I found myself in.

My room.

I got up, nausea welling up inside of me once more. I pushed open my door and ran to the bathroom on tiptoed steps, certain that I would actually throw up this time.

But instead of hunching over the toilet bowl like I wanted to, my body automatically moved towards the sink.

An animalistic sort of panic ran through me as my body refused to do what I wanted it to, but it was just a minor gust in the storm of confusion that was blowing through my mind.

I don’t know if it was more or less confusing for me when a dialogue box popped up in front of me.

You must remember.

At the very least, it managed to stop me from panting, though that might have been because I suddenly forgot how to breathe. I don’t know how long I stood like that, staring blankly at the dialogue box, but when I finally blinked, it was gone.

I blinked again, but it didn’t come back.