Listen While Reading: Theme X

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They were finally able to “remember” the years they spent with Song in that world, a world that is simulated, yet that felt real for him and his parents.

After completely assimilating their Simulated Selves made up from their own Records, not only did they gain even more power than before, but it seems that even their memories were “refreshed”.

They are practically fully fused, with mind, memories, and maybe even feelings! So this further confirms that it’ll work when we do it with Song.

That is relieving, although… we’ll still have to probably extract this world’s Song soul from his body, which had already become a Demon King.

But anyways, that’s not what truly matters right now.

But that they’re finally together now… at least for the Song that is here.

“We’ll never leave you again,” said his mother. “Our precious treasure.”

“Song…” said his father. “You’re everything to me.”

Song kept hugging them as he shared their warmth. I knew this was their moment, and I didn’t interrupt them. I smiled and then walked towards her.

Yu Mingzhu was glancing at the scene with a calm smile; despite not being her anymore, she still had the Heavenly Empress’ memories.

And perhaps even her love for Song too.

“How are you feeling?” I asked her. “Everything’s alright?”

“…Yes,” she nodded. “I’m fine. I think I’m fine now… I… I just have become something different, and that took me a bit to process.”

“You’re very unique… I don’t even know what to even call you other than your name, Yu,” I said.

“I have absorbed the entire tower and the Heavenly Formation holding the Record Fragment of this world…” said Yu. “I don’t even know what even makes me anymore… So some sort of Spirit of Records?”

“Well, that sounds nice!” I said. “Do you feel a connection with that heart you’ve acquired?”

“Yes… the emotions, the lives, the experiences, everything that the people of these simulated worlds lived through, I can feel it within me,” she said. “Some were chaotic, such as despair, hatred, fear, sorrow… Others were beautiful, such as happiness, hope, and their dreams.”

She touched her chest and smiled lightly, as I noticed her eyes glowing bright gold.

“I think I need time to process this, their emotions and everything… But once I do, Anna…” she said, looking into my eyes. “Would you let me help you?”

“Huh? Help me? Like…”

“I want to fight for this world as well,” she said. “I… Ugh, this is embarrassing to say! But… I owe you one, ok? So I… wanted to help out… a bit. That’s all! Okay?”

She had gotten so serious out of nowhere she scared me, but her original personality resurfaced anyway, breaking the ice between the two.

“Hahaha, sure! You can come as well, Yu,” I giggled. “There’s no problem with that. But you’ll have to first get used to your new abilities… I am intrigued about what you’ve become.”

“Me too! I mean… I was just a little spirit before, but now… I am much more; I can feel it,” she said. “I can see threads too, connecting me… no, us, together, everyone here.”

“Threads?” I wondered.

“Yes… perhaps call it Threads of Fate,” she said. “And… um, my fate is connected to yours, Anna.”

“Oh?” I wondered. “Now that’s interesting!”

“Ugh… Don’t say it like it’s a nice thing!” She facepalmed. “A-Anyways, I can also feel these threads connecting me with many more people outside, yes, outside of this realm… and even the world.”

“Is it because you fused with the World’s Record Fragment, I wonder?” I asked.

“Meow…”

“Woof!”

Suddenly, I noticed the two primordial beasts appearing out of nowhere.

Were they always there?

I thought they were training and practicing their skills!

“Hey guys, what are you… Eh?!”

And then I saw them approaching Yu and licking her hands.

Then, they sat down before her and lowered their heads?!

“W-What are these little animals, Anna? I had never seen a lion and a wolf made of crystals before…” said Yu.

“Uh, they’re… um,” I muttered. “They’re a fragment of the ancient primordial beasts that created the world of Bestia. And they had begun growing back together. And it seems they really like you for some reason!”

“I see…” Yu smiled. “They’re kind of cute, I guess!”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

She was happy to get their attention as she petted their smooth, crystalline heads.

I think I know why they’re so interested in her.

And why they see her with reverence.

She has a fragment of the World’s Records, so she could even be…

Perhaps she could eventually help them grow back with those powers.

Or do a million other things.

What my adoptive mother created here might as well be the first actual goddess of this world!

But whatever she will do in the future, it all lies within her heart; we can only guide her, but at the end, she will take the decisions.

So until then we have to be by her side, make her feel loved and appreciated, and also teach her to control these fantastical powers.

I have yet to even see them, but according to what she described, they might be all-encompassing.

After all these weeks in this world, no, perhaps months.

We’ve finally gotten several things right, and we also got most of the building blocks to recover this world.

We’ve allied the machines that desired peace, we’ve found the two Venerables’ son, and we’ve helped them get along.

And also we are about to heal them too, if possible.

Then there are the two Primordial Beasts here, which might potentially help bring back this world to its glory or try to.

And Song, of course, Song…

The Child of Heaven, the Son of Providence, if we can rescue him and then let his soul assimilate the Son of his Records.

Then it is possible to revive him and vanquish the demon king.

“Looks like they’ve calmed down,” Yu said.

“Let’s go talk with them then,” I said.

“Eh? Why! I don’t want to talk with them—Eek! Anna, let go of me!” She complained as I grabbed her hand and dragged her alongside me.

She tried to fight back, but I had much more strength than she had, haha!

“H-How are you so strong! You’re like a gorilla! Aack!”

“Don’t call me a gorilla…”

I tightened my grip.

“Ouuch! S-Stop it!”

Once we reached them, they seemed much more at ease.

“So how did it go? Are you two feeling alright?” I asked.

“Yes, much better now; it feels like I’ve finally remembered something I forgot long ago that has been bugging me for a while!” laughed my adoptive mother. “All these memories… they have enriched my mind so much.”

“Me too…” nodded my adoptive father. “I feel much better… At ease as well, for some reason.”

“I was afraid the new memories would burden you, but it seems they did the complete opposite…” I said.

“Yeah, mostly because they were happy memories of living in that world where we lived a happy ending,” smiled Mom. “All thanks to you and your friends, Anna.”

“Thank you,” said my father. “For everything, seriously… Back then, when I first met you, I never thought my life would change so much because of you, Anna… The more I think about it, the more insane it feels.”

“Hahah, is that really that much?” I giggled. “Well, I’m glad I could help!”

And I got myself a ridiculous new Skill for my 150k Plot Points, so I feel like it was worth the risk.

Now the two are much stronger and tougher, so the operation to extract the nanomachines should have a much higher chance of success.

“Hah, you’re really too nice sometimes, Anna! Why do you just feel satisfied by just saying you’re glad you could help?!” My father suddenly confronted me. “A-Are you sure this is right? To just… make others happy, to go to such lengths… And what else do you even get back from this? Only happiness? My disciple, you’re… Sometimes I believe you’re more insane than I am.”

“Ah… I mean, I do get… sometimes I get powers, skills, and items thanks to my system,” I explained. “Helping others makes me stronger, but… yeah, although I like to make myself believe I’m doing something for someone to get something in exchange. I… I probably seek the sensation I feel when I make someone I care for happy. Perhaps it’s because… well, because in the novel, when I was all lonely, the characters of that book were the only thing keeping me company. I grew attached to all of them. At some point it felt like they became my family… my friends. Even though it might have been all fictional. But… when I saw them suffer, when I saw them die… I just… I felt so bad. I wished I could rewrite their fate. I wished… I could see these precious characters smile.”

“Anna…”

“Is that so…”

“Yeah…” I nodded. “That’s… part of it maybe. Perhaps I like the attention… when someone is grateful to me, I feel a bit more complete somehow.”

“You had a lonely first life, my daughter,” Mom said, caressing my head. “But you’re no longer alone, alright? You’re with us… And even when you have to depart, we’ll always be within your hearts. And even then, you’ll have your brother, and your friends, and all the other people you’ve created strong bonds with, right?”

“Y-Yeah…” I nodded. “Yeah…”

I didn’t know why, but I was crying a little tear…

I don’t think I’ve ever opened myself to someone ever before.

To the point of even admitting the entire thing about a dumb novel I ended up becoming so obsessed with…

“I suppose it makes it unique we weren’t characters in that novel, hm?” laughed my father. “You don’t truly know our fates. So you can look forward to a brighter future.”

“I… yeah, maybe!” I nodded. “Well, um… anyways! How strong are you two?”

I didn’t want to talk about emotional stuff anymore; it was getting a bit tiring…

I just wanted to move on for now.

“Plenty!” said Mother. “I feel so much stronger; it’s unbelievable… We are currently… perhaps thrice as strong as before.”

“Yeah, definitely above twice as strong,” nodded my father. “Thrice… might be a bit of a stretch, but it could be close to that.”

“Thrice?!” I asked. “I only imagined twice at most… but how?!”

“Perhaps because the one we assimilated was a fusion of the two of us,” said my mother. “Maybe…”

“Yeah, only maybe at the end; we don’t really know,” said my father. “But it felt like the fusion between their powers ended up intensifying their original individual abilities, which were then transferred to us.”

“Ooh…” I nodded. “That’s amazing… Did you get new Skills?”

“Yeah, we did, I believe.”

“Hmm, yes.”

“Nice! Then you’ve truly become stronger…” I nodded. “Alright then, shall we go train now, master? We can’t waste more time!”

“Oh sure…” she nodded. “But what about this little girl over here?”

She looked at Yu with a gentle smile.

“Hm? Wait, who is she? Is that the… No way, she became something else than just your Will?” asked Father.

“Yes, to keep her alive outside of the trial where she was assigned to, I turned the entire heavenly formation into her body; it even includes the World Record Fragment,” Mother said.

“What?! But that’s dangerous, to give such power to a mere child…” muttered Dad.

“It was either that, or she would’ve disappeared…” sighed Mother. “I didn’t want to let her die when she had so much left to live… So from now on she’ll continue living, grow stronger, learn, and explore the world, right, Yu?”

“A-Ah… yes!” She nodded. “Thank you… for giving me this second… this second chance.”

“You’re welcome!” giggled Mother, patting her shoulders. “Now! Enough idle chat! Song, go with your father and Yu to train your abilities. I’m leaving you the training of her powers, dear.”

“Yeah, sure—Dear?!” gasped father. “Y-You just called me…?”

The Heavenly Empress smiled, winking at him.

“A-Ah…!”

And my father gasped as if he almost lost all the oxygen in his lungs; he seemed flustered, in love!

A simple wink did that much to him?!

Oh my gosh, are these two old birds finally rekindling their love?

“Work hard and help Song grow stronger, and also Yu,” smiled Mother. “Then later… at night, we could talk a bit… about many things, hm?”

“Ooohh! S-Sure! Alright then, I shall do just that!” He nodded with a lot of energy out of nowhere.

Incredible, my mother has quite the charming ability!

As they flew away, she giggled and looked at me.

“And that, Anna, is the power of a woman,” she said. “You’re quite the charming girl yourself. Perhaps one day, using your charm might be a better way to convince others.”

“O-Ooh…” I muttered. “I was… erm, well, I was never taught such things by my parents…”

“I see… Then as your mother, I could take that responsibility,” she giggled. “I’ll teach you the tricks of a lady… Sometimes Charm is the sharpest weapon, did you know? Now, let’s go. There’s a lot we need to train but little time. Let us make haste.”

“Yes!”

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep