I kept thinking about why this world had been transformed so violently.
Why the System and the Guide had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
My thoughts always arrived at roughly the same conclusion.
A dragon, a Demon King, or a god. Some transcendent being like that had intervened. Nothing else could explain it.
But since there was no realistic chance that something like a god existed, I arbitrarily decided that some indolent dragonkin had awakened from its slumber, or that a Demon King had been resurrected.
It was the most plausible answer I could imagine.
But that changed everything.
The instant a message saying I could summon Grid appeared before my eyes, a powerful conviction took root in my mind, while viscous hatred and rage sprouted like poisonous mushrooms.
I did not know whether it had been a mistake or intentional, but Grid was the reason this world had changed. I was certain of it. There was no one else it could be.
Because of this one bastard, every NPC, including the old man and me, had been cast into a pit deeper than rock bottom.
I could never forgive them.
“Say something, Grid, you fucking bastard…….”
I clenched my right hand as I spoke to them.
Red mana shimmered like a heat haze within my palm.
“Speak, damn it! Don’t you have a mouth?!”
[……Hmm…….]
The voice belonged to neither a man nor a woman.
It was as cold as ice and yet somehow warm at the same time, a contradictory and mysterious timbre that brushed past my ears.
Even from the voice alone, I could tell that this was no ordinary being. I remained tense and focused even more intently on the mana in my right palm.
[Crude abuse poured from Akkun’s mouth.]
Grid uttered something strange…… Leaving aside the fact that they knew my name, what had they just said?
“What, you bastard?”
[Akkun did not stop hurling abuse. It was evident that he possessed not the slightest respect or reverence for his Creator.]
“What are you…….”
For a moment, I was speechless.
The old man’s manner of speech was eccentric enough, but it could not compare to Grid’s.
Were gods normally like this?
More importantly, were they even a god?
They could have been an entirely different being that merely shared the name Grid.
“What are you?”
[Akkun’s hippocampus and frontal lobe were failing to function properly. Then what does that make me, summoned by such an incompetent human?]
“My memory works perfectly fine, you bastard! I’m asking whether you’re the Creator I know!”
[Ah, so this is ‘their’ final mockery and humiliation. I have fallen all the way to the bottom of the abyss. Thus, my grand plan has gone awry from the very first step.]
“Plan?”
[I must devise a new strategy. Yet everything is unfamiliar. I have far too little information.]
SWISH, SWISH-
Grid looked around before fixing their gaze on a single spot.
【Patch in progress. 96%】
[I need that.]
They charged toward the Guide’s screen.
“……What?”
Then, as naturally as if they belonged there, they seeped into it.
A moment later.
SLURP─
Ink-black liquid spread across the Guide’s screen.
DINGDINGDINGDING-
With a frantic chiming, crimson Guide screens appeared all around me, only to vanish beneath the ink.
A red screen appeared somewhere else, only to be consumed by the ink and disappear again.
The process repeated countless times.
I hurriedly pulled myself together and shouted.
“Grid, what the hell are you doing, you bastard?! Stop this right now!”
As expected, there was no reply.
Ever since they had been summoned, Grid had completely ignored me…… Right. A noble god had no reason to converse with a human.
Besides, I had been reduced to a puppet of the System. In Grid’s eyes, even calling me insignificant would not go far enough.
Of course, that did not mean I intended to stand around like a scarecrow forever. I yanked my right hand back toward my chest.
CLUNK-
Grid was pulled out of the screen.
Their black form was bound in coils of red rope, and the rope was connected to my right palm.
“Can’t you hear me?”
A red rope.
No, a red leash.
It was the crimson thread that linked a familiar to me, as well as one of Necromancy’s mechanisms for severely punishing and controlling a disobedient familiar.
As long as I did not release the leash, Grid could not act as they pleased.
“Keep ignoring me, and you won’t like what happens…….”
I wound the leash around my arm as though winding yarn around a spool, dragging Grid closer.
They dangled from my hand, swaying from side to side.
[A base interruption occurred.]
Grid spoke while bound by the leash.
I gave them a crooked grin and jerked my chin at them.
Despite my expression, however, my heart was pounding wildly, and my palm was drenched in clammy sweat.
Even so, I forced as much strength as possible into my voice to keep it from cracking.
“Why don’t you finish what you were doing? Can’t you do it anymore?”
[Akkun maintained a triumphant expression and a sharp voice, as though he were not intimidated at all─]
“Shut up, you moron. You’re the one who’s scared.”
[─but he failed to conceal even the trembling of his right hand. His eyes wavered just now. He then clenched his other hand into a fist.]
My right hand was indeed trembling.
……I could not let them see that I was tense in their presence.
I needed a suitable excuse.
What would work?
I had learned from the two Players that anger and fear were closely neighboring emotions. It should be entirely possible to disguise what I felt now.
I glared at Grid while deliberately allowing my right arm to tremble. The rope’s red glow grew more vivid.
“……Yes. I’m so furious that I simply can’t stop trembling. I’m the sort of man who despises being ignored with every fiber of his being.”
“The question is, does that bastard Grid know? I’m hot-tempered, and I often let my emotions carry me away. Even now, merely because I’m in a foul mood, I might commit the tragic act of erasing the damned soul before me.”
[───.]
“Good, I’ve just made up my mind! No matter how I look at it, fuck, there’s no reason to keep a soul that defies its master by my side. It’s nothing but a waste of mana─”
[I owe that sinister bastard another debt.]
Grid finally looked directly at me and spoke.
[I will tell you this, Akkun. I utterly detest taking the stage.]
“But you’re onstage now, aren’t you? It seems even someone who was once a god is afraid to die?”
[I am simply appalled by your ignorance.]
“No one told me anything, so of course I’m ignorant, you fucking bastard…… What were you trying to do to the Guide? Do you even realize that it’s my only source of information?”
[The road ahead is already bleak.]
“……I’m warning you. Don’t provoke me any further. I really might erase you in a fit of rage.”
[Do you think you have defeated me?]
Grid shook their head.
[Your premise itself is wrong. You do not even know who your enemy is.]
“How could I not? It’s the System and the Players.”
[The Players are not even aware of their existence. The System, the Guide, and the Inventory you fear are not living beings. They are merely devices.]
“Devices…….”
What did that mean?
They were not the enemy? Then who were ‘they’?
[You cannot even answer. That is how ignorant you are.]
BZZZZZT-
A dark crimson screen appeared behind Grid.
[That is precisely why you could be brave.]
Grid wriggled back into the screen as though stepping backward.
[Once you face the truth, you will fall into cowardice. Just as your Character Profile dictates.】
“……I won’t know until I try. What frightens me more is knowing that I know nothing.”
【Then you should not have interfered.】
Black liquid burst across the screen with a SPLAT.
【Amuse as it exists now is unfamiliar even to me. I need the information stored in the Guide.】
“…….”
【Do you require further explanation?】
“No.”
SWISH-
The screen before me closed.
A moment later, screens began appearing everywhere just as they had before. Darkness spread within them, and hideous sounds rang out from every direction.
It was a horrific cacophony, as though iron rods were scraping the insides of my eardrums. I grimaced fiercely and covered my ears.
‘……This alone proves they’re not on the same side.’
I became certain while watching Grid devour the Guide.
Grid was hostile to the ones they called ‘them.’ Those beings were the common enemy Grid and I shared. That much was certain.
In that case, there was only one thing I needed to do now.
Nothing.
Letting Grid extract every piece of information from the System was my only chance to shatter all the restraints binding me. I had to refrain from interfering so that they could concentrate.
For now, at least.
That was when it happened.
The air split apart with a CRACKLE, and a fissure as massive as the cauldron in the workshop appeared.
SKREEEEEEEEEK-
An awful sound erupted from the fissure, like the wind itself was screaming.
【Acce, ssing, the Inven, tory?】
CRRRAAAACK─
It was the Inventory.
Its mouth was twisted grotesquely, as though its jaw had been forcibly shattered with a blunt weapon.
CLATTER-CLATTER-CLATTER-
Items soaked in scarlet blood and black ink came tumbling out at random.
The cloak and staff used by the female Player, two unidentified rings, and a skill book──────
“……GASP─!”
My consciousness cut out for an instant, and my body shot upright like a released spring.
Memories and information about Poison-Coated were suddenly hammered into my head. I had neither agreed to acquire the skill nor even seen a similar prompt.
That was not the only change.
My fingers now bore not only Golden’s Wedding Ring, but two additional rings as well. The cloak the woman had worn was draped over my upper body.
A skull staff she had used was also clutched in my right hand as though it naturally belonged there.
Startled, I tried to hurl the staff away, but it would not leave my hand, as though it had been glued in place.
“Wh-What is this?! Get off me!”
At that instant, the staff vanished.
But it had not disappeared.
It had merely shed its physical form and remained in my grasp. I could summon it again whenever I desired. I knew that as naturally as I had known the information when I acquired the skill book.
The knowledge had already been engraved into my brain.
I spoke to the pitch-black screen before me.
“……Was this your doing?”
The screen did not answer.
Instead, it swelled in an instant like a bat spreading its wings and suddenly surged toward me.
Blackout (Fade to Black).
I could see nothing.
I could smell nothing.
I could hear nothing, and my mouth felt numb and tingling, as though it had been paralyzed.
Even the sensation in the fingers I had clenched into a fist vanished.
I was trapped in darkness.
‘This bastard…….’
I wrapped mana around both eyes and tightly gripped the leash. At that moment, red letters appeared in midair alongside Grid’s mysterious voice.
【There is a problem, Akkun.】
“To me, you’re the biggest problem! What the hell are you trying to do to me right now?!”
【As expected, you are vermin (a Bug).】
“Fuck, here we go again.”
【The System’s filter will classify me as a Bug as well. Your erasure and mine are inevitable.】
“Are you saying the System is suddenly going to kill us? No, first get rid of this darkness, you bastard!”
I shouted as I yanked on the leash, but—
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-
Grid ignored me and made red words appear in front of my face.
【Patch in progress. 98%】
【This is your last chance, Akkun.】
“I just told you to get rid of the darkness. Are you deaf? Do you want another taste of the leash?”
【Patch in progress. 99%】
【The end draws near. Prove yourself to me.】
“To hell with proving anything. You said we’re both going to be erased. Then tell me the plan—the plan! Why do you think I summoned you, you bastard?! Answer me, Grid! Answer me…… Hey. Hey?”
I could no longer sense them.
The red leash in my right hand also faded like mist. In its place, red words floated through the darkness.
【Executing with Administrator privileges.】