The Last Page V
Silora did just that and took the path to the left. She now knew that her mother’s consciousness could read her surface thoughts, so she didn’t bother asking. She just reminded the consciousness of her previous unanswered questions, and the consciousness began answering them, despite showing annoyance at the casual way of questioning. [You indeed are not acting as this replica world wants you to. And as I said, maybe it’s because of your innate nature, but I’m not sure. - In any case, killing you will reset the world, all your memories will be erased, and this part of your soul will return to your real body and be replaced by another part. That’s what happens after you die. - When the piece of wood pierced your neck, you would have gone through the same phase, but I intervened and changed something very important, but it was the right decision.]
The consciousness was silent for a while; Silora somehow felt sadness through the mental link between them, so she kept silent until the consciousness decided to speak on its own. [I didn’t think my decision would make me communicate with you like this, it never happened before. All my previous interactions with you were through dreams or visions, and I rarely conveyed my thoughts because it was very costly for me, and you rarely noticed when I did. If I had known earlier, I would have done this a long time ago, but really, I am not so sure. – Atleast if we survive today, both of us. Everything will be easier in the future.]
Silora didn’t ask about these previous interactions, which seemed to be more than one, because the last question she asked would cover this topic. [As for the question of how many times you have died. I don’t know. At the time of my existence and the beginning of my consciousness, I didn’t know how much time had passed and you were a prisoner, here and there. And even since the beginning of my consciousness, I have already lost count.] The consciousness sent with self-disappointment.
[I think I should explain from the beginning. - This world is not real, just a replica and imperfect, not as its creator wanted it to be, you are proof of that. To fix this flaw, your memory must be erased, and a part of your soul replaced. But no matter how many times this happens, your soul will eventually get used to it and start to grow. This growth will make you see the major flaws in this world. But, it’s not the flaws that trigger the self-protection system in this replica world. It’s the incentives. Your first incentive was to avenge your father (the consciousness don’t know if there was an incentive before this one), something that made you move from the center of your prison in this world, which is the farm. And these incentives also give you the ability to confront a world designed to be unfair to you, that’s why I referred to them as mental states. - If you believe my story, which I know you don’t want to believe, then your greatest incentive will be to get out of this world, and nothing will be able to stop you.]
Silora reached the door of the spare storage room, opened it quietly, and closed it behind her. “It’s not that I don’t want to believe your story, it’s just a lot. To say that everything I’ve lived is a lie, and that my goal has no meaning just to move me from the center of my prison as you say…”
The consciousness interrupted Silora. [What you lived is not a lie, your family here is your family in the real world.] The consciousness hesitated a bit. [They will be there as they are here, just real and whole again.]
Silora inhaled sharply, understanding the hidden meaning even though she didn’t believe it, but she really wanted to. “That would be something to fight for,” she said carefully. “Continue, I still think you have more to say. Like, are there limits to the number of times I can die? And I think there are.”
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[It’s really annoying dealing with your intelligence. But I was going to tell you anyway, I wouldn’t leave such important information just like that,] the consciousness sent with annoyance. [Yes, there is a limited number of times you can die in this fake world. - How should I explain this? - Let’s say, for example, that each fake world is a page from a book. The first time you were imprisoned in a fake world, that world was the first page of the book. When you die, the world on the first page disappears, and you start everything anew on the second page. There is a limited number of pages, and I hate to tell you, but if you run out of available pages, you will be killed. This is for various reasons, the first being that you are a burden due to the amount of mana you waste - each fake world consumes a terrifying amount of mana to create. And secondly, because you are very dangerous, which is the main reason for such a mechanism. If anyone runs out of their allotted pages, the overseers will be notified and this individual will be eliminated directly.]
Silora hid behind a large cubic box, unable to help but remember the memory of her face being smashed earlier, at the front of the ship, but her mind was stronger than that. “Do you know which page - world I am in already? - You said the overseers will be notified. Where am I in the real world, and did I do something to deserve such cautious treatment? - At least I’m not alone according to you? - Each fake world consumes a terrifying amount of mana, where is the mana sufficient to recreate the entire world? Even if it’s imperfect, it’s still impressive.”
With a helpless sigh, the consciousness said, [You had three pages left, but your death above would have reduced a page. The changes I made consumed enough mana. Now this world is all you have left.] Silora opened her eyes in shock. Before she could express her concerns, the consciousness continued its information dump. [You are in a place I have no knowledge of, just pure guesses. The overseers are the people in charge of the real bodies of the prisoners, kind of like guards. And no, you didn’t do anything to deserve your current situation, just luck and fate, I guess.]
The consciousness said the last words with great darkness and hatred. Silora felt there was a story behind it but kept silent, not all her questions had been answered yet. And to her surprise, her last question was also not answered - for some reason.
[We have wasted enough time, I need to tell you the plan and your role in it.] - A good excuse, Silora thought but still listened. [It’s not a great plan as you might think, just that I will be the distraction and you will finish off the killer with the silver dagger, being an offensive incentive it will end the killer without much resistance.]
In the next five minutes, the consciousness resembling Silora’s mother explained the simple plan in detail. Silora agreed to almost everything, asking a few questions here and there. [Once we get out of here through the back door, we will be there again. You need to be ready, there is no other choice.]
Silora nodded. “I’m not that weak. I feel guilty, but I want to return to my family.”
[That’s good,] praised the consciousness in a steady voice. [That’s the mentality you need to succeed. - Never leave the book until I tell you to, okay.]
Silora nodded again, maintaining silence.
[Let’s go.]
Silora stood up and headed for the back door as instructed by the consciousness resembling her mother. She opened the door carefully and stepped out into the wide, slightly destroyed area.
Silora felt dizzy from the bloody sight of the corpses and the unnatural shapes they had taken. But she focused all her attention on the killer who stood by the bodies without any change in expression. She wasn’t as ready as she claimed, but if she avoided the consequences of her actions - that would be worse.
The killer looked calm as Silora saw him in her first interaction with him. (Him, kicking her hard enough to kill her doesn’t count, he apologized for that.) He smiled at her gently as he said, “Hello again.” But behind that smile, Silora felt only anger and seriousness.