A white void.
Margarita stood in that space where nothing existed. Before her floated a translucent blue panel. A pixel-art character on the screen was fighting the Demon King, the sound effects clinking and clattering merrily.
“Is it fun?”
A head popped out from behind the panel—white hair, blue eyes, a face identical to her own, and a pixelated french fry dangling from her mouth.
“It’s fun...” The Star-Spun Stone’s voice cut off halfway. The fry fell, and she bounded out from behind the panel. “Wait, why are you back?”
Margarita looked at her, expressionless.
“Didn’t I just shoot myself?”
The Star-Spun Stone fell silent, looking down at the paused game in her hand before looking up at Margarita. Then, she tossed the game controller behind her, pressed her palms together, and a standard, Margarita-style gentle smile appeared on her face.
“So, what happened? Lovell got hurt, you used the Star-Spun Stone, and then?”
“Don’t you already know everything?”
“I know what’s happening outside, but I don’t know why you’ve come in here.” The Star-Spun Stone circled her as if inspecting something. “You haven’t been active for long this time. Your soul damage isn't serious; you just need to sleep it off. You didn’t need to come in here specifically to find me.”
Margarita looked at her. “I have questions for you.”
The Star-Spun Stone tilted her head. “The letter? You can’t read it. At least not yet. You cannot read anything with text written by the Sacrosanct Circle.”
“Why...?”
“I can tell you the contents, but you absolutely cannot look at it. Promise me.”
“No, you tell me why first.”
“Oh... as for why, I’m searching for the answer too.”
“Screw you.”
“In any case!” The Star-Spun Stone’s expression changed, turning serious. “You can give the letter to Clara or Constance. As for the Sacrosanct Circle... they were originally an organization responsible for supporting the Hero.”
“They don't look much like they're supporting the Hero.”
“I don’t think so either,” the Star-Spun Stone shrugged, sitting cross-legged in the void and pulling out another pixelated fry to chew on. “But that’s how it was in the beginning. A long time ago, the Sacrosanct Circle was responsible for finding teammates for the Hero, gathering intelligence, maintaining equipment, providing logistics—they did everything. Back then, they were just a support organization under the Hero System, perfectly normal.”
Margarita sat down across from her, knees tucked against her chest.
“And then?”
“Then, someone felt it was too slow.” The Star-Spun Stone bit a fry. “The Hero crusades against the Demon King, the Demon King resurrects, the Hero crusades again... a Cycle every sixty years. The Sacrosanct Circle followed along for dozens of rounds, watching batch after batch of Heroes die while the Demon King was never truly killed. They grew impatient.”
“So they sought out more extreme methods?”
The Star-Spun Stone didn’t reply immediately. She reached into the void, pulling out another fry, but she didn’t put it in her mouth this time, merely twirling it between her fingers.
“Do you know why the Demon King cannot be killed?”
“Because of the Cycle’s protection; he resurrects every sixty years.”
“That’s just the surface.” The Star-Spun Stone pointed at her with the fry. “The Demon King’s resurrection doesn’t depend on this world’s mana.”
Margarita frowned. “What do you mean?”
“It means that this world’s mana system—Elements, Souls, Battle Qi—none of the things you can learn can kill the Demon King. You can chop him into pieces, burn him to ashes, and sixty years later, he’ll still crawl out from somewhere.”
Margarita fell silent for a few seconds.
“Then what about the Star-Spun Stone?”
The Star-Spun Stone stuffed the fry into her mouth, chewed twice, and swallowed.
“The Star-Spun Stone isn't part of the mana system either,” she said. “I am the Hero System. My power source is the same as the Demon King’s—it lies within the rules of the Cycle itself. That’s why I can touch him, hurt him, and kill him. But only the person I have merged with can use me.”
“So the Sacrosanct Circle grew impatient.”
“Right. They waited dozens of rounds and finally figured something out.” The Star-Spun Stone tilted her head. “Since the Hero can’t kill the Demon King, then they would create a 'thing' that could. Since the rules of the Cycle can’t kill the Demon King, then they would find a way to tear the Cycle rules themselves apart.”
“The Sacrosanct Circle’s goal eventually became to end this Cycle system, no matter the method or the cost. They believe that as long as the Cycle exists, the Demon King will never truly die. Therefore, what they want to do isn't to kill the Demon King, but to flip the entire chessboard. Infiltrating the nobility, guiding the Hero, using forbidden knowledge, seeking out Star-Spun Stones for forced merging—they’ve tried it all.”
“Then what’s the difference between that and what you want me to do?”
The Star-Spun Stone looked at her, Margarita’s silhouette reflected in her blue eyes.
“The difference is that my way of ending the Cycle is by having you merge with me and using the rules themselves to kill the Demon King. This is the normal way permitted by the system.” She snapped the fry in her hand into two pieces. “But the Sacrosanct Circle is taking another path. They are looking for loopholes in the rules, trying to destroy the rules from the outside. The cost of such a method is the collapse of this entire world’s mana system.”
“...The entire world?”
“Everything that relies on mana to survive—elemental creatures, magical beasts, the Demon Race, even the mana circuits of humans themselves—it will all disappear.” The Star-Spun Stone said, “Once the mana system collapses, this world will regress to an era without magic. The Sacrosanct Circle feels that doesn't matter, as long as the Demon King is dead. But do you think ordinary people who live by mana can accept that?”
“So that’s why they want that letter,” Margarita said.
The Star-Spun Stone didn’t answer. She stuffed the fry into her mouth and chewed slowly.
“What’s written in the letter?” Margarita asked.
“I can’t tell you,” the Star-Spun Stone said.
“Why not?”
The Star-Spun Stone sighed, brushing off the crumbs from her fingers.
“Do you want the truth or a lie?”
“The truth.”
“Wrong answer. There are only lies here.” The Star-Spun Stone tapped Margarita’s forehead. “Wait for Clara to decipher it for you. If I decipher it for you here, it’s the same as you 'seeing' the contents. And the script used by the Sacrosanct Circle... it will affect you. The moment you waver, the merger between you and me will have problems.”
“Then what about Lovell?” Margarita looked up. “Her master is Grey Reed, and the Sacrosanct Circle is targeting him. She’s already been dragged into this.”
The Star-Spun Stone looked at her, a somewhat helpless smile appearing on that face identical to hers.
“Regarding Lovell, you don't need to worry. Although her master is a thief, he is also the traveling merchant who made you reload your saves repeatedly. As for Lovell herself...” She tilted her head. “She is the heroine of the game, have you forgotten?”
“That’s different.”
“How is it different?”
“She’s a living person,” Margarita said. “She has a master, a past, and her own choices. She isn't just an option on a romance route.”
The Star-Spun Stone looked at her and didn’t reply. After a moment of silence, she suddenly began to laugh.
“Margarita, did you know? There’s a reason I chose you.”
“What reason?”
“Because you care,” the Star-Spun Stone said. “Whether your memories are unsealed or not, you treat everyone in this world as a living person. Joshua, Lovell, Clara, Constance, even someone like Valen—you don’t treat them as NPCs. You don't use game knowledge to farm favorability or take shortcuts.”
She paused.
“That’s why I chose you. Because you won’t sacrifice others just to 'clear the game.' Just keep moving forward boldly. When we finally face the Demon King, just leave everything to me.”
The Star-Spun Stone patted her chest, making two thumping sounds.
Both of them fell silent at the same time.
“I... I think it’s fine as it is.”
“Damn it, I just haven't developed yet!” Margarita’s face turned slightly red. “Wait, why do I even care about this? I’m leaving!”
Margarita felt the white void before her eyes slowly darkening. But the white-haired girl before her merely watched her with a smile.
She saw the Star-Spun Stone opening her mouth to say something, but her consciousness was already slowly sinking deeper, and she couldn't hear clearly.
“Rather than ending the Cycle,” the Star-Spun Stone stood with her hands behind her back, watching Margarita vanish from the consciousness space. “...I hope you can find happiness, my...”
“Creator.”
Rate on N.U.
