Special Quest:

[LAST ARC] Become Shea’s kin. 500P

RULES: Noel, Liliath, Rinalanashina and Nine cannot find out about the specifics of the task. If found out, the quest will be terminated. Special quests cannot be removed and will be refreshed weekly. Special Quests completed before the week ends will only be refreshed the following week.

WARNING: FAILURE OF COMPLETION WILL RESULT IN EVERYONE’S DEATH.

Complete quests before the time runs out: 0D 5H 24M

===

Special Quest:

[LAST ARC: HIGH DIFFICULTY] Kill Noel; Break Liliath’s past. 500P

RULES: Noel, Liliath, Rinalanashina and Prune cannot find out about the specifics of the task. If found out, the quest will be terminated. Special quests cannot be removed and will be refreshed weekly. Special Quests completed before the week ends will only be refreshed the following week.

HINT: REVIVE NOEL.

===

Special Quest:

[LAST ARC] Save Nine. 500P

RULES: Noel, Liliath, Nine and Prune cannot find out about the specifics of the task. If found out, the quest will be terminated. Special quests cannot be removed and will be refreshed weekly. Special Quests completed before the week ends will only be refreshed the following week.

WARNING: FAILURE OF COMPLETION WILL RESULT IN NINE’S DEATH.

Complete quests before the time runs out: 0D 21H 18M

===

Special Quest:

[LAST ARC] Forgive Javiel. 500P

RULES: Noel, Rinalanashin, Nine and Prune cannot find out about the specifics of the task. If found out, the quest will be terminated. Special quests cannot be removed and will be refreshed weekly. Special Quests completed before the week ends will only be refreshed the following week.

Complete quests before the time runs out: 7D 5H 21M

===

Special Quest:

[LAST ARC] Live.

RULES: None. 

===

The cage of light formed around me, and below, a magic circle appeared. There was a buzz in my ears, I felt a sense of gravity drag me to the floor. A blinding light assaulted me.

“Gah.”
I dropped to the ground. A severe pain assailed my chest, I passed out.

The next thing I knew, I was on a bed, the room was dark and there was this sweet fragrance that told me clearly that this was a girl’s room.

I got up groggily, and looked around. Huh, how nostalgic, this feels like my old room, except that there are a lot of girly items around. I noticed how there’s a Qui plushie on the bed. It’s not the actual Qui right? 

Oh, if anyone forgot who Qui is after not meeting the rabbit for years now, Qui is a plushie rabbit who came to life because of a person’s TALENT.

Odd. Where is this?

BLARE. BLARE. BLARE.

What the fuck, this obnoxious..

A girl rose from the floor, her messy velvet hair swayed. She groaned, holding her back, she turned to me and eye grew wide.

Her beautiful crimson eyes.. filled with reverence.

I– I didn’t know what to say.

I wanted to call out her name by this point but..

“L-Li..”

I began coughing, a sharp pain could still be felt from my chest.

“Wait, wait. You take a rest first, I’ll go get some water.”
“W-What..”
She quickly ran out the room.

I covered my mouth with my hands. After coughing a few times, I looked at my hands– blood.

What the hell is this? I turned to the window, noticing the lonely street I’m familiar with, the single white moon shining above..

Don’t tell me I..

I’m still wearing the ceremonial clothes from when I was visiting Javiel and.. I died? Yes, I died. How tough? Nine, right? Why did she kill me? How come I never thought to find an answer to this question?

While I was deep in thought the light came on, blinding me for a short few seconds.
“Lili..”

“Here. Stop calling me that. I’m Liliath, not Lili. I’m a normal everyday person– to me at least.”

She held out the cup of water to me. 

I received it with a sigh. I don’t think I’ll be coughing up blood anytime soon. I’m feeling my super regeneration working– which means I’m still a demon lord. Then again, I need to wash away the sticky feeling in my throat.. and my hands.

Unfortunately I can’t do anything about the blood in my lungs. I’m still having a difficult time breathing.

“Do you need more?”

“I’m good, thank you..”

“Can you tell me more about yourself. You see um.. you’re probably no longer in your own world.”

I stared into her eyes.
Liliath.
She was wearing a pink long sleeved pajama. Her eyes reflected my own, an expression of confusion, care and concern. Was this how I looked when I was in her position?

“Ah. It’s alright if you don’t tell me now but..”

“Where is this?”
I’m feeling so much deja vu, I don’t even know where to start.

“Earth. The country— Gilgamesh.”

“Gilga.. my world. No wonder everything is so familiar.”

Then this is my room– except that Liliath is living here. Huh? What? So does this mean that Liliath summoned me? Wait.. we’re..

“I-I’m sorry?”

“Liliath, this may sound stupid, but I’m Noel Bougainvillea. Our positions are swapped now. You’re supposed to be me and I’m supposed to be you.”

“I-I’m sorry?”

“Look here, your name is Liliath Bougainvillea right?” if it’s according to script then it should be.

“I-I’m sorry?”

“Fucking hell..”

This is insanity. How the hell did I end up here. What’s going on back in the other world? 

“No, I mean, why are you in those.. clothes.”

“This?” I looked at my bloodied cuit, “I was tricked.”

“Ah, normal cliche.”

“Yeah sure. ”

She folded her arms and began to ponder.

“Why are your clothes bloodied?”

Shit is starting all over again.

367. 

My guess was on point. This here is Liliath Bougainvillea. Which means I can probably expect how things will play out from here.

It’s so weird, how my role with Liliath had been swapped.

Liliath guided me down the stairs, I was for some reason, limping. I barely had any energy to stand and needed her help to stabilize myself. I’m just glad she wasn’t pertuberted by all this blood.

“L-L-Liliath??!”

“Yes. I know, it’s a weird ability.”

Ignoring my mom.. or her mom, Liliath brought me to the bathroom.

“After that, pull the center tab.”

“I know how to use these. I’m not from a fantasy world.”

“Then how do you explain your clothes.. do what you want.”

I pulled the tab gently, and the water kept gushing from above. Crap.. the hell is with my strength. 

“I think I’ll leave now.” 

Liliath turned around and gently closed the bathroom door. She didn’t witness me naked so what exactly was it that she saw?
I looked over at the mirror and noticed how blood was dripping everywhere. Oh..

I finished washing myself and wiped myself dry with the towel. I’m sure this is a clean one right.. not one that Liliath used before.. hahaha. That’s really funny Noel, real funny. 

Seriously though, should I be concerned? I don’t know what I should do at this point. I tried pulling up my UI, system, status window, whatever, nothing worked. What did work was simple magic I knew like a water sphere.

I wrapped myself up with the towel and got out of the bathroom. There, my mom– Liliath’s mom was waiting.

“Diana-san, I’ll be in your..” I muffled my mouth with my hands.

Oh crap. I don’t need to speak in honorifics, what kind of bloody bullshit habit was I getting at.

“It’s alright. You’re Noel, correct?”

“Yes, I’m Noel.” I’m supposed to be your son.. It's so odd having to call my mom by her actual name.

Ain’t genetics an issue here? Liliath’s velvet hair doesn’t match, like, at all. Not to mention, her crimson eyes. If anything, I look more like their son than Liliath being their daughter.

On the way, I saw Novelle whose eyes looked like they were about to pop from their sockets. That’s so funny. She’s as I remember her.

“W-who is that? Your boyfriend?” I heard their conversation

“My gacha summon. It’s my TALENT.. I think.”

The voice drowned out, and I arrived in Liliath’s parent’s room, exactly the same as I remembered it. Liliath’s mother picked out clothes from my father– Liliath’s father for me. Wow.. I fit in this?

===

Breakfast.

This is really deja vu. I’m having the exact same meal Liliath had back when she first arrived in my world. Rice and ginger chicken stew.

Novelle was staring at me, so was Liliath’s mother.

I don’t know why, but there’s something suspicious about Novelle. My instincts were ringing.

“Um, introductions. I guess mom will start? Then Novelle then Liliath then last is me,” Liliath began.

“I’m Diana, Liliath and Novelle’s mom. Pleased to meet you Noel,” she smiled.

“I’m Novelle. Are you really, really a Prince?”

“Let me clear things up for everyone. Once upon another time in another universe far-far away, I’m supposed to be your son, Liliath is supposed to be my summon.”
“I don’t get what you're trying to say?” Liliath looked at me with astonishment.

“Remember how I said my name is Noel Bougainvillea?”
“Yeah..?”
“Liliath, can you bring out your phone? I want to check something about the gacha app.”

“You even know.. I suppose so considering how you know this already?”
“Should I be calling you son then?” Liliath’s mother asked in confusion.

“I suppose not.”

Liliath brought out her phone. The gacha app was a male idol this time around.. wow, that sucks.

GACHA and SHOP, two options.

I can read the words of this world, it’s English, what a blessing. 

Novelle snuck over and tapped in the gacha button. The phone blacked out.

“Huh?”

The phone then returned to the Home Screen.

“I’m so sorry Liliath, let me take your phone for a bit.”

“S-Sure..”

“Also, as a side note. Your TALENT is called Manifestation into Reality. That’s if I think our roles are reversed.”
“So I have a TALENT?”
“I didn’t believe it either until I had to go to Mondai High.”
“Mondai High? Isn’t that the school for troublesome TALENTS.”

“Yeah. Because your TALENT.. our TALENT is really that dangerous. This is probably the 3rd world I’ve crossed into by this point.” If I consider going back to the past, the 11th cycle, as crossing into another world.
Liliath’s jaw dropped.

I went into the shop and tapped on the Noel’s specific item shop. It’s got some skills books which I would’ve loved if Liliath ate, especially common sense II. There are various magic tools like a wand and beautiful accessories.. cursed items, damn. I thought there were power ups.   

“Do you recognize these?” Liliath asked.

“Somewhat.” I continued scrolling the list.

I’m trying to find clues. There has to be something in here.

“Mom. I asked if I could skip school just now so..”

“I understand,” Liliath mom gave her consent with a serious nod. Haha.. this is stupid. Liliath is a loner.

“No fair! I don’t want to go to school too!”

Sorry Miss Devil, there’s no way that's going to happen. 

“Hm?”

An item costing a thousand points. A ticket to Bleu’s Domain.
Would that even do any good by this point?

I kept scrolling, and only found myself becoming more and more frustrated.

There’s nothing here I can use. I can’t return..
“We need to level up.”

“Level up..?”

“Fuck..” 

I can’t just tell her that we’re actually engaged right? 

Which made me realize that there’s a void in my heart. Moreover, looking at the Liliath in front of me, I felt a sense of apprehension towards her. My mind was accepting her, it recognizes her as Liliath, but my heart is rejecting..

Because she’s human.

“This.. we need to do this.”

“...” 

“What is that!? Lemme see!”

I raised the phone so high, even Novelle will have trouble reaching. Oh, so I’ve grown taller too apparently.

Liliath’s mom gave a wandering look. 

Sorry Liliath. We’ve no choice.

===

“So I was a slave..”

“I’m worried about what's going on over there right now. Did that demon take you to the castle or what. I don’t even know how long it has passed since I died, since time makes no sense in that void-like place.”

I told Liliath everything I knew about myself. The things I’ve gone through, the life I led, the experiences of the different worlds, and how things were originally. 

And..
“We’re couples.. right?”

“Yeah.. pretty much. I’m sorry to admit.”
“I-I understand. No worries, haha..” Liliath was breaking out in a cold sweat.

This Liliath is 16 years of age. Her height has grown quite a bit compared to the 15 year old Liliath. Her face is more mature too.

“By the way, how’s your back?”
“My back..?” She reached over, her expression contorted.
“I’m sorry I can't use magic like you did for me… do you need medication?”

“It’s alright, it’ll recover..”
I felt a little regretful.
System window, can’t you at least show yourself?
What should I do? I need to return to my world, and I don’t have a clue how. Should I even be racing for time? Or has everything ended and I’m now permanently stuck in this world?

There’s nothing like a system quest, and I can’t use any skills.

I watched as Liliath put on a brave front.

Was my spine injury severe last time? I got pretty hard last time didn’t I?

Damn it. Can’t I do something?

Magic, at least.. 

I tried recalling the sensation of healing magic. I’ve done it a few times through the system, I should be able to replicate something similar..

No. Unfortunately. I couldn’t

I feel so beat.

“Liliath, if the pain gets any worse, do tell your mother, alright?”

“I know.. it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“Like I’d believe that.. go straight to Miss Yeo’s office when you return to school tomorrow.”
“I know. Speaking of which, Noel, about these quests…”
“Which one do you want to do? I’ll comply with whichever. We’ve done worse before.”
The worst quest among the remaining 4 is kissing. Worth 50P. Easy peasy… for me at least.

I saw Liliath gulp.

I wish I could do something. I’m pretty much a freeloader by this point.

I closed my eyes and worked my mind. What clues are there here? Even if I end up in an infinite paradox, I should be able to return.

Who was that guy anyways? He called me brother-in-law, and said that he shouldn’t exist.. and I would meet the real creator of this story soon?

Maybe he’s referring to this world? I have, in a way, become a fantasy character in this Liliath’s life.
Maybe I’ve got to find this creator?

Wait.. isn’t Liliath my creator here? The hell is with this paradox..

I peeked at Liliath who went up the stairs. She’s probably going to get her books to revise the subjects.

Huh.. her personality resembles mine. Just because the person is different, it feels different.

Liliath can’t be the creator can she? There’s just no way..

Yes way.

I think I get it now. Manifestation into Reality. It doesn’t mean that I’m making stories come to life, I’m making things come to life. 

Another alternate universe can’t be called a story right? This might not be a story world, rather, none of this could be considered a story but rather, it’s some creation of my TALENT.

As predicted, Liliath brought her books down and began to study.. she even brought me one. Come on.. I’ve gone through this material once already.

“Good luck with additional mathematics. That one is hell.”
“You don’t need to tell me that..” Liliath groaned. Hahaha, she’s so cute.

“Do you have a tablet around? A drawing tablet.”
“Hm? So you draw too?”
“You too?”
“I draw.”

Oh.. my.. gawd.. wait, seriously? So she’s an artist now?
“My TALENT is so weird..”
“I think so too.. You know, leave that till later, I need to focus on my studies first. Go take a nap or something if you’re tired.”

Demon lords don’t really need sleep..

Hm..

What now?

368. 

The next day, as I remembered, Liliath’s mother brought me out to an apparel store for clothes. There wasn’t any interesting montage of any sorts, very simply, I just helped her pick out clothes as I would normally do back in the days.

The cost is astronomical, what a nightmare jeez.

“Miss Diana, does Liliath have a preference for tea?”
“Tea? How did you know?”

“Of course I know.”
“I still find it hard to believe all that you’ve said is true.”
“It’s alright, I find it hard to believe too, mom.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad.”
“Is it alright if I call you mom then? It’s been months since I saw the other you.”
“Feel free to, Noel.”
“Thanks mom.”
Liliath’s mom gave me an odd look.

Well.. I really miss my parents after all. 

===

If anyone is curious about where I sleep at night, it’s the living room. Not Novelle’s room, that’s off limits. There’s no way I’m sleeping in Liliath’s room either.

It wasn’t like the place is bad, it’s better than the couch in the previous apartments anyways.

I was about to drift off to sleep, keeping my mind straight on Bleu’s domain when I heard a sound.

I opened my eyes and peeked over to the stairs. It was Novelle.

“Big brother Noel.”
Novelle called Liliath her sister last time, so it wasn’t weird she would call me big brother.

As for the porn book, Liliath’s mom didn’t give me anything of that sorts.

“Yes? What is it?”

“I want to ask you questions, you said you’ve met me in another world right?”

“Yeah, and?”

“How was I like?”
“Just like the you now.”
Novelle scratched her hair and made a troubled look.

“What?”

“I’m just curious. Why would you end up here? It doesn’t make sense.”
“In what sense?” I just did a reverse there.

“Do you want to go back?”

“Of course I want to. Liliath is in danger.. in that world, at least.”
“Do you have any ideas on how to do it?”
“No, absolutely clueless.”
Novelle is acting so amiable, I’m slightly suspicious. Well.. she was close to the other Liliath..

“Is there no item in the shop that can help you return?”
“I’m Liliath’s familiar, so if I do return then..”
“Hm..” Novelle muttered.

In the end, we couldn’t come up with anything.

===

Today was the day I’m going to school to meet with Principal Rachel and Miss Yeo.

My clothes weren’t anything too fancy but..

“Um.. Are you sure you're going to choose this outfit?”

Liliath looked at me puzzled. 

“We’re not going to an official event aren’t we?”

“Um.. can I suggest you wear something more formal?”

“Is there something wrong with wearing this? ”

“It’s different.. this is a school uniform, yours is a T-shirt.”

“Liliath, why not just let her be. Today is your last day of the semester after all.” Liliath mom expressed a suspicious smile.

Liliath had a difficult expression.

“Ah, Noel, remember to tidy your hair alright? ”

“No, unfortunately,” With a sigh, I simply just ran my hand through my hair. 

“Your face is all red big sister,” the little devil grinned. Both her hands supported her head on the table while her legs swung back and front in her seat.

Liliath’s face was all red.

===

“Let’s take a detour.”
“I agree. We’ll go using the back garden route.”
Liliath nodded to my recommendation.

“But eventually we’ll still bump into Gruan. How about this, we’ll split up. I know where the Principal’s office is.”
“Are you sure? It’s alright if you just stand beside me you know.. I don’t mean it like that!”
“I’m sure you do. Well, if you say so.”

“N-Noel?!”
“You’re usually the one who takes the initiative you know?” I smiled at her.

Liliath’s face was beet red. Looks like this is the first time she’s held my hand in this life.

We took the back gate. Hand in hand, Liliath struggled, but I held on. Demon lord strength is not a joke.

We eventually made it into the school, and just as how the script goes..

“Oh My God who are you dating!?”

“N-Noel..” Liliath quivered. Her eyes were telling me to run.

I nodded. We pushed forward…

“Hey wait up! I’m just curious and all!”

Just kidding.

I confronted Gruan.

“It’s been a while, Gruan.”
“Huh? Who are you exactly?”
“Your victim from another world. Well, just stop it here. I have something I need to do with Liliath.”
“Hah?”

“I’m just warning you. If you try something on her, you’ll pay for it.”

“Noel, let’s just go,” Liliath tugged at my hand.
“Yeah.”
We turned around and left him there, dumbfounded.

Huh. It went better than I expected. I didn’t mean what I said actually, it’s just coercion.

“Noel, a right turn here.”

“I know.”

When we came up to the Principal office’s door, Liliath released my hands. A sigh leaked from her lips.

“Prune is inside,” I said.
“Heh?”

“You’ll see.”

I pressed the handle and pushed the door open.

“Good morning Principal.”

Everyone’s attention turned to me. Oh wow, I didn’t think Prune looked like that when she was younger. So many things have changed, man. 

“S-Sorry, this is.. the person I was talking about,” Liliath tried to explain.

“I’m Liliath’s familiar,” I looked at Prune whose eyes were filled with fear. Yeah, her instincts were probably going wild.

“L-Liliath, who is this?” Prune asked.

“My familiar?”
We waited until Prune was done with her documents. She gave me a glance before leaving with her father. She’ll be transferring to Mondai High.

“Liliath. This person I suppose is your summon?”
“Yes, this is Noel.”

“Just to be clear, Noel, you were summoned by Liliath, is that correct?”
“Yeah, that’s half the story though.”

“Half the story? So what happened before the summon? Were you from a dimensional plane or did you have a past?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Could you explain further?” Her eyes narrowed.

“I was born in Gilgamesh.”

===

The query went without a hitch. Of course, the Principal and Miss Yeo were shocked by my statements. I wasn’t lying, and they didn’t doubt it either. If they wanted, they could call Quinn over.

In any case, now Liliath and I will now enter class. Since the exams were over, it’s basically free time.
Previously, I would be concerned over the attention I would attract, but now.. It doesn’t matter. It’ll die down anyways. The same couldn’t be said for Liliath who looked anxious.

Really though.. was it alright to just stay in this world? What if the way to return was to.. progress into the future and kill Liliath at UGH? That would take months..

Just thinking about it makes my heart go sour.

I need to go back.
I don’t know what’s going on there.

Students began forming a ring around my seat. Yeah, come at me, I still remember all your names– half of them, at least.

===

“Liliath, we’ll take the back gate.”
“Oh, alright.”
“You okay?”

“I’m fine.. just.. slightly confused by it all. “

“Confused by?”

“You.”

She said, staring into my eyes.
Okay, that’s blunt.

“What about me?”

“You know so much, it’s as if I’m being dragged around by you instead.”
“Sorry, that’s just how it is.. well, you’re the one dragging me around in my previous world so..”
Liliath shook her head and picked up her bag.

“I wonder why Prune isn’t here today. Do you have any ideas?” Liliath asked on our way out.

“She’s transferring to Mondai High.”
“Of course you know..”

Because we took the back route, we never encountered Gruan. With that, Liliath’s last day of class in this school here came to an ended.

===

Days went by, things began to feel slightly odd.

I’m starting to get used to living like this. It has only been a week, and all the craziness from the isekai world was slowly being washed off.

As if.. it’s some distant past.

I’m scared.

Afraid that I’ll forget.

Afraid I’ll lose what is important to me.

Afraid that I’ll lose myself.

I need to return. I can’t just stay here.

What exactly is happening on the other side? 

What if they needed me? What if they were having an emergency?

Can’t there be a clue? 

Something– anything–

“Noel, you’re still awake.”
“Ah.. yeah..”
“I can’t believe you even went outside.”

I was sitting on the porch, Liliath probably noticed the light.

“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t even know where to begin..”
There are so many things wrong.

It’s like the last time when Bleu tricked me by reversing my role with Liliath as a patient. I was hoping it would be the same this time around but.. 

That hope is starting to wane.

This is real, not some illusion created by Bleu– I can’t even reach out to that Goddess.

We’ll be going to the summoner’s department tomorrow. Following that would probably be a trip to Prune’s restaurant.

Then father will return. A short holiday later, I’ll be enrolled back into Mondai High with Liliath. We’ll have a blast in the apartment, and probably face some troubles due to my unstable emotional state.

It really is that I’ve reversed roles with Liliath.

So this is how she felt, to hold a burden like this even though everything is at peace..

“It’s alright, you’re here now. You’re safe.. hopefully.”
“Liliath, what does life mean to you?”
“Me? Life?”

Liliath went silent for quite some time.

I also began pondering.

I feel like everything that I’ve experienced has led up to this point.

What is life?

A blue screen appeared in front of me.. huh?

===

Noel’s Evolution Quest:

Resolve Issue.

===

So this is the only thing I took with me to this world huh?

It’s absurd really..

Why?

Why this?

What do I have to resolve?

Why again and again?

Again and again and again and again..

Was this how the Regressor felt? To be forced to make emotionally irrational choices?

I know I shouldn’t be here.
I know I will grow attached to this world.

And I know that when it’s time for me to leave, I’ll begin to fear losing this world.

That’s why I can’t fall for this. Even though it’s real.

But for how long? How long can I continue to deny this reality set out in front of me?

My chest tightened at the thought and tears began filling my eyes.

I will eventually forget.. won’t I? The moment I relax, the moment I give into the comfort here..

I felt a hand placed on top of mine.

“I know you’ve been through a lot.. Noel..”

I looked at our hands.. then at her face.

“Liliath..” I called out.
“I may not be able to understand how you feel but… we’ll do our best to make sure you won’t suffer the same thing ever again, alright?”
Hahaha.. I said something similar to Liliath didn’t I?

So was this how Liliath felt from my words?

Fucking..

“I’m sorry..”

Tears continued to fall. 

She’ll never understand me; Just as how I would never be able to understand her. 

She doesn’t get it, the situation I’m in.

I need to return, I don’t know what’s going on over in the other world.

Was everyone going to die? I’m I going to arrive too late?

Even so, her ignorant words were comforting. I didn’t know why, but deep inside my heart, I felt relieved.

That’s just how it is.. our differences. 

“Liliath.. “

I’ve already made up my mind a long time ago that.. I’d accept her, no matter what happens.

“.. I love you.”

I’ll find a way to bring you over too– she made her way into my arms, I felt her warmth

We’ll find a way– I tightened my arms around her, she rubbed her cheeks against mine.

We always do, right, Liliath?

===

Life.

Not everyone questions its meaning.

The reason for being.

The reason for existing.

Everyone is made different.

Everyone sees things differently.

Perhaps because of it, my definition of life is different too.

Perhaps it’s a definition only which I can understand.

Something to discover for myself; no one else can do it for me

Something that is unique to me; which no else would ever come to understand.

Thus.

Life to me is..