Brave Soul of Evil Supremacy-Chapter 181: Lakeside Dream

　"Last night was fun... huh?"

　A strange woman is smiling at me.

　She has a cheeky smile that annoys me.

　That night, I had a dream.

　I could clearly tell it was a dream... it was what people call a lucid dream.

　In the dream, I was standing by a lake. The clear blue lake is surrounded by thick trees, and I know that I am in a forest.

　And a woman was sitting on a rock near the lake.

　Her silver hair is flowing and she is wearing a white dress.

　I don't recognize her.

　I shouldn't have. Maybe.

　Even though I can be sure that I have never met her before, I feel a sense of déjà vu with her mischievous expression and her cheeky, mocking eyes.

　It is as if a familiar person is standing with a different face and figure... that is the impression I get.

　"Me? It doesn't matter who I am. Don't worry about the details."

　The woman giggles again and folds her arms, "Anyway."

　"I didn't expect you to do your job so well. It seems that I was right in reincarnating you as Zenon Baskerville."

　Reincarnation... that word raises a question in my mind, but for some reason, it dissipates like a mist.

　"I was wondering what I should do when I heard that the evil gods' follower was misbehaving... But I didn't expect you to go to the desert at the right time. I don't know if I should call it the power of destiny, or just a good intuition as a protagonist. You go to the right place where I want you to be, so it's very convenient for me."

　Don't talk about people like they're convenient.

　I didn't go to Maafern for you.

　I just happened to have some information about Rujanaga, so I went there to avoid the depressing additional scenario.

　"Yes, yes, that's all right. You can do whatever you want to do. It will ultimately lead to saving Leon and saving the world. Keep up the good work and show me the true ending of that stupid game."

　Game?

　The ending?

　Don't tell me... does this woman know that this is the game world?

　"Of course, I know that. This is a world I created to resemble the world of [DunBrave], you know?"

　Creation...?

　Don't tell me who this woman is...?

　"I used to like that game too. I used to play it a lot in my spare time from work... but I totally lost my mind when I played the sequel of the game with the cuckoldry. How can a slightly erotic fantasy RPG become such a depressing game?"

　I agree with her opinion 100 percent.

　I was also shocked at the abrupt change of direction in 'DunBrave2'.

　"That's why I created it. My boss had just given me a world, so I created a world similar to [DunBrave]. To see with my own eyes what would have happened if Zenon Baskerville had not cuckolding Leon."

　...!

　Then, I was reincarnated in this world...?

　"Yes, to erase Zenon, the cuckolding man in the original story, I took your soul to possess him who had the same feelings as me... Still, that was unexpected. I didn't expect you to win Aeris-chan and Nagisa-chan. I was cuckolded in a different way than I expected."

　Should I apologize?

　I tried in my own way to avoid the depressing situation...

　"Well, it's all right. I just want to see a happy ending where everyone is happy, not necessarily Leon's harem ending. Besides... even if those two are not there, Leon has another heroine. After all, he's a hero..."

　That's right.

　He even has a woman who wasn't in the original story, he's doing a good job.

　"Fufu, a woman who wasn't in the original story..."

　What's so funny?

　It's as if you've been unconsciously hit to the heart of the matter, isn't it?

　"No, no, don't mind it. But the reason I came to you in your dream is to explain the situation. I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you this time. You have many questions, don't you?"

　Of course, I have many questions.

　The ancient gods... like that evil snake, an enemy character who didn't appear in the game.

　And there was no mention of Rujanaga being a servant of an evil god...what in the world is going on here?

　"Well... First of all, let me explain about the 'ancient god'. They are the old rulers who originally existed in this world. They are the monsters that used to rampage and cannibalize each other as they pleased in this world of chaos where sky and earth have blended together."

　"And because of their rampage, the world was stagnant without civilization and development. Seeing this, my boss... the supreme god who controls time and space, sent an administrator to bring order to the world. That is the 'new god'... me."

　"I was entrusted with the management of the world, and first of all, I exterminated the ancient gods. I sealed them in the cracks of space-time, or tore them to pieces and reassembled them as demons and monsters. Using their flesh and blood, I built islands. In this way, I tried to establish order in a world that was free of obstacles... but in creating the world, I included my hobbies. In other words, I created a world based on the world of a game I like."

　"Then, by creating humans, giving them knowledge, building civilizations, and occasionally intervening and modifying history... over tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of years, I created a world based on the game itself. What? Why go through all that trouble? Can't I create the world of DunBrave in a snap? It's possible if I force myself to do so, but... it's like hollowing out a large tree to make a house. It will be distorted and unstable, and if I want to make a beautiful house, I need to process the timber first, don't I?"

　"It's fine that I went through all that trouble and created the world of DunBrave... but to my dismay, there was a foreign object in the world. I'm not talking about you. But that man... the one who called himself Rujanaga."

　"He's the follower of the evil gods that I missed, and he's merged with the enemy characters, and he's infiltrated the world in a mixed form. Then, by using the enemy characters in the game as a cover, he is trying to resurrect his master, the evil god... it's really troubling."

　"The man who pretended to be Rujanaga has twice made moves to resurrect the Evil God. Fortunately, a thousand years ago, he was foiled by the great sorcerer King Salomon, but this time he has taken over the temple as a Guru and plans to resurrect the king as his puppet. However, just when I was wondering what to do... just in time! You have come to the desert!"

　"I breathed your first life into the monster bird that you defeated, and by manipulating it, I led you to the Sacrificial Priestess. From that point on, you know what happened, right? You have successfully rescued Priestess and prevented the resurrection of the evil god. Well, I was surprised to see that you did more than I expected."

　"No, no, don't be so angry. I'm sorry I made the bird snatch you. But... it all worked out in the end, didn't it? It's the power of fate that finally brings peace. You're like a hero, you know. As I thought, my eyes were not mistaken."

　As the woman explained to me in rapid succession, I felt a rather serious desire to kill her.

　So, it was her fault that I had been snatched up by a monster bird, taken on a flight, and made to skydive with no parachute.

　I knew that this woman was working for the good of the world... but still, I couldn't stand to be the one who got the short end of the stick.

　"And isn't that good? In the end, you got to eat the new heroine. I'd rather you thank me for it~"

　I wanted to punch her, but I couldn't move my body.

　In the first place, I don't even know if I have a body now.

　Only my senses existed in the dream world, and even the existence of my limbs was vague.

　"Don't worry, I will apologize for the trouble I have caused you. If the evil god had resurrected, I would have had to descend directly to him instead of using my 'split body'. If that had happened, the order of the world I had created would have collapsed and it would have been a disaster. And Ryuna, my daughter, would have died... Oh, by the way, in the original setting of the game, Ryuna was almost sacrificed to bring out a wicked summoned beast, and she committed suicide, right? It's not important now, though."

　It's true, it doesn't matter.

　I don't care about the future that doesn't exist yet.

　Instead, give me your apology right now.

　Rather, apologize. Get down on your knees.

　"...You've grown very arrogant to make such a demand when you know I'm God. In that sense, I was right to make you Zenon Baskerville."

　The woman's shoulders slump in exasperation.

　"Well, I can't get down on my knees naked, but I can give you something as an apology. A powerful weapon or armor, a rare skill, or a chance to meet a new heroine. Well, what should I give you... Huh?"

　The woman was thinking about it... but then she suddenly turned serious.

　Her mischievous expression turns serious, and then she turns shocked.

　"Wait... Huhh!? How did this happen? What chance did this...!?"

　Hey?

　What's wrong?

　"No, this can't be...! How can I... no, it can't be corrected! If it goes this far, even if the body's restored...!"

　The woman became really impatient and waved her hands in the air.

　An accident seems to have happened. What is happening to this self-proclaimed goddess that she is so distraught?

　"Ahhh! How could this happen when I just took my eyes off her? It's really impossible!"

　Huh...!?

　The scenery in front of my eyes is rapidly blurring.

　Ripples spread out as if I hit the surface of the water, and the woman's figure and the lakeside scenery disappeared.

　"Ahhhh! How can I correct it to make it back to the way it wasssssss!?"

　With the woman's exclamation as the last, my consciousness awakens.

　Instinctively I realize. It seems that I am about to wake up from a dream.

　And when I wake up, I will have forgotten what happened in the dream. This premonition becomes a certainty.

　'Hey...you haven't given me an apology yet! Explain what's going on...!'

　I shouted in protest... but someone grabbed my legs and dragged me down, and I was kicked out of the dream world.