Chương 114: Somethingth Dimensional Being's Nap Time

June lay on a small, militaristic bed with an unfitting plastic sheet wrapped around it that rustled at an irritatingly high volume at the slightest shift. This is what he slept on for several months during his stay; it reminded him more of a sleeping bag than a bed, but a sleeping bag wouldn't deafen the locale if someone simply turned on their side. His room was an L-shape with three beds; one was his, one was his mother's, and the final one in the farthest corner went unused.

He recalled his pillow lifting his head high enough to see past his toes since the stiff bed failed to sink under his weight. He remembered looking past his legs at the unoccupied bed in the opposite corner that, for some reason, comforted him. He wasn't the type to have nightmares, but maybe the thought of a monster appearing at the foot of his bed and whisking him away to another seemed infinitely nicer than slowly rotting away in the shelter.

Now that June had fought actual flesh-eating monsters and sustained a few gruesome and painful wounds, he realized… that his past self was right. Being mauled by a ten-foot demon is infinitely better than rotting away in a shelter; at least then his opponent was tangible, and unlike the Sisyphean feat that every human had to juggle in order to live a somewhat alright life in the mundane world's society, within the Nightrealm, if a problem attacked him, he could stare it in the eyes and strangle it.

It was less hope and more of a path; his entire life was constantly shrouded in a veil of cant's that blocked his every route. Every time he tried to take the initiative, something would pop up and kill it, but ever since June's first fight with the IMP, a slow realization dawned on him. Things in his life commonly pinned him down, and all he did so far was sit there and accept it; others found his fortitude impressive, while he found it suffocating.

The more he thought about it, the more his realization took shape; every good thing in his life wasn't given to him by his family, his birth, or luck; every single thing that he earned was gained through a spiteful wrath against the world, which was ironic considering his normal passive self. June sat up with wide eyes and thought to himself.

'Is this the enlightenment!?' The Voice responded with a tepid and tired voice.

'Hm… yeah… I guess.'

"How's this supposed to help? Wait, no… Where are you?' This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. The Voice sighed sadly and appeared beside June in an unflashy manner.

"Here." June jumped suddenly, then attempted to play his startlement off.

"Jeez…er, what's got you down?" The figure unenthusiastically pretended to look at a wristwatch despite not having one.

"We've been here for 13 hours… and during that time, I've been controlling your body to the mountain range... Also, your friends have been eliminated from the sim… most of them."

"Wait, wait, wait a second! What!?" The figure yawns.

"Myeah… they got to the mountain range first, around the time I dragged you here into the memory. I'm going to be honest, June, pretending to be normal June in front of your little current group isn't hard, but it's draining. Sleeping's not a requirement for me, but I have a horrible social battery, and I've been monitoring everything in the Nightrealm and mundane realm simultaneously more than usual."

"…"

"What!?" The figure snapped their fingers, and the world drained of color back into the lightless void; then it fell back and plopped down onto an invisible bed.

"I'm going to be fully transparent with you, June. I didn't just propose this because I wanted you to look at your past self and feel like you're doing better… I.. also wanted some closure, too, and I didn't want to go alone."

"…" June coughed, trying to mask the uncomfortable silence.

"So… did you get closure?"

"…"

"No… I feel like shit… It's grand to call it enlightenment, but that little realization of yours is… was a big step to how the main body got its level…. A little tip of mine is don't compare yourself to the main body… ever! Not even he would want that if he really knew! You're normal…ish… so you're fine."

"So, that's it? We're going to cut this short, like that!?"

"June… even you know not everything goes the way you want it, especially in my case, since I share powers with the main body! I'm not a normal being like you are; if I wanted, I could just go back and make my life a good one, or just cut the bad things out of existence and have them cease ever being. When you get to the main body's level, what you want can sometimes be what you don't want, and more often than not, the lines get muddied."

"Why are you talking so cryptically? I don't get it!" The Voice slowly lifted its hand from the invisible bed and pointed it at June without looking.

"That means you're still living! Never understand some of my words, and you'll live a good life! Now tell me, I'm feeling generous right now for purely selfish reasons; what do you want to achieve before you go back to your lover?" June's mouth was agape. It felt strange to hear the voice talk like this; it was almost like he was in a drunken stupor mixed with lethargy.

"Uh… I… want to look good in front of Lilia? Since my odds against ONI aren't good, let me go out cool!"

"…"

"Kablamo!" June awkwardly looked at the Voice: no special effects, no sounds, nothing?

'Is he alright?'

"…"

"Alright, I'm taking the week off after you escape!"

"V-Voice? What about the—" June opened his eyes to hear the familiar sound of insatiable rain pouring.

"... power?"