Chương 90: Chapter 89

Nina stepped forward, taking control of the body once again. Going forward, there would no longer be a conscious state. There would only be control of the body and the subconscious, which she could enter to rest and think. Right now, however, Nina did not care. She wanted to see Lily. She was still restrained to the chair, but her brow furrowed as a thought suddenly crossed her mind. Her and the Calamity had combined.

At that moment, if Nina had paid attention to her status, she would have noticed that her name was slowly beginning to glitch. She was slowly becoming one with the Calamity, becoming formless as she stepped out of the chains that bound her. Once everything was done, Nina pressed the Calamity back down once again before returning to Lily's identity. After that, Nina pulled out a pouch, a special pouch that Seraphina had given her a long time ago.

Taking it out, she lightly traced her fingers over the painting inside, making sure that she had brought out the correct one. Sure enough, it was. Because it was dark, Nina could only trace the painting with her fingers.

"Lily, do you like it?" she asked softly.

"This is the painting I drew of you." She paused.

"I'm sorry I didn't get the facial features right. Sometimes, every time I wanted to draw your face, my mind wouldn't let me because of how much it hurt. Even though I had seen you guys over and over again." Nina lowered her head.

"Now that I know you guys were a bug, it makes sense. Even now I cannot remember how you all looked like" She smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry." After saying those words, Nina brought out Elias's card and held it close to her heart. After some time, the card slowly began to disintegrate. Elias, too, became a part of her. Nina then brought out his painting, just as she had done with Lily. She looked at it for a long moment before opening her heart.

"Thank you." Her voice was quiet.

"Thank you, Elias, for creating relationships I was always scared to make. Thank you for helping me face Mr. Hemmensway. Thank you for being the one who brought Lily out and for helping the mother and son." She smiled faintly.

"You are a kind person, and I respect you." Next, she brought out Lucian's card. She held it close before speaking.

"Thank you for being the eldest of all of us. Thank you for taking good care of us, for being headstrong, and for always being the first to step forward." Nina's expression softened.

"And thank you..." She paused.

"Thank you for the banquet incident." Lastly, she brought out Damien's card.

"Thank you for being so silent and for protecting Abelina and Jake." She gently traced the painting with her fingers.

"Thank you for helping me rescue the old lady and for doing things that would have been too risky for me to do." Nina closed her eyes.

"You were courageous, and I'm very thankful for that." … The System quietly watched the actions of its host. It knew from the series of questions she had asked that the host would be very unstable. Looking over at the Mental State value, which analyzed the host's condition, the System confirmed its suspicions. The current state of the host was very low. The most prominent factor affecting her mental state was sadness. Coming in a close second was depression. The System made an executive decision.

It would stop sending notifications unless they were specifically needed by the host. They could still be requested rather easily by simply asking for them. For the time being, no notifications would appear unless necessary. The host did not need another potential trigger at this moment. While the System began dismantling the temporary area it had created, it became lost in thought. Who would have thought this error would have turned out like this?... That's right. Did you know this text is from a different site?

Read the official version to support the creator. Due to delayed communication, both Elias and Nina had appeared within the System world. However, because of the higher protections and security measures placed upon Nina's transmitter pod, she had appeared faster than Elias, creating an unexpected problem. It would not have been a problem if Nina's primary skill had been anything other than impersonation. Had it been another ability, the situation could still have been overridden.

Instead, because the space was only supposed to incorporate a single being, the true Elias was forced into the System through what was supposed to be the card system, causing him to take the card most suited to him. But because he was still under Nina's command and was technically a card she was supposed to control, her subconscious beliefs about her family were imposed upon Elias and the other members who eventually joined. That was what allowed their existence to surpass what should have been possible.

Under normal circumstances, Nina's impersonation ability would allow her to fundamentally alter her current values without affecting her true values. She could edit those current values to meet and interact with different people while keeping her true self untouched. The bug changed that process. The System could only compensate for the error by inputting false values. But Nina's subconscious belief that her family members were separate beings from herself prevented those values from behaving normally.

The false values became effectively uneditable. Elias could not simply act as himself while remaining within the system. Without Nina's belief separating him from herself, he would have been rejected by the System entirely. There would have been no bug in the first place. Eventually, during those two months, Elias was allowed to leave the temporary space and enter the outside world as well. The world was different now. He was free to travel back and forth rather than remaining permanently bound to the card.

However, leaving the temporary space meant entering the subconscious state. That state had been created specifically so Nina would not prematurely discover what would happen once they left. They would become cards again. If Nina's Self-Worth had not eventually increased, and if she had not gradually accepted her "personas," Seraphina's decision to forcibly make her drink that medicine would have caused the personas to revert to their card states directly in front of her.

That would have forcibly removed them and caused Nina to suffer the backlash. This had only happened thrice before. The first time was when Nina had been eating with the Crown Prince. The poison had separated the personas from Nina's control, leaving her so devastated that she could no longer continue. The System had been forced to turn back time. Another life had been taken away. The second time had occurred when Seraphina first met Nina. Seraphina had forced Nina to drink one of her potions.

It had been a high-level healing potion designed to determine whether someone had been possessed by a monster. Normally, such a potion would separate a person from the monster controlling them and allow them to regain consciousness. In Nina's case, however, the potion simply repaired the bug. And it made her lose her mind. That confirmed to Seraphina that Nina was, in fact, being controlled by some kind of monster.

The System had watched Nina die so frequently that it had eventually begun debating whether it should intervene. Then came the life before Seraphina stopped waiting and actively sought Nina out. Seraphina's enthusiasm had always placed the System on high alert. Although, the third time still occurred in that complete reset. But the system could never have guessed what she would eventually become.... While the System was thinking, a notification appeared before it. Self-Worth increased by 10. The System paused.

What happened? It emerged from its thoughts and observed Nina. She was holding the paintings. She was dressed as Lily. And she was speaking to the painting. The System briefly checked her Mental State again. It needed to ensure that its host had not become mentally ill after everything that had happened. Nothing had worsened. The System quietly felt relieved. Still, it continued monitoring her to ensure that everything remained stable. Then another notification appeared. Self-Worth increased by 9. Another.

Self-Worth increased by 7. And another. Self-Worth increased by 5. The System watched the value settle. True Self-Worth: 92. It stared at the metric for a moment. After the bugs were gone, there was no longer any need for false values. The false values had been replaced by current values. And because Nina was now taking on another person's identity, the System noticed something interesting. The current values appeared to allow both the System and Nina to edit them. Very adaptable indeed.

The System had never understood why Nina possessed such high ratings in the impersonation stat. But if her adaptive ability allowed her to mentally arrange herself according to the person she was portraying and act accordingly... It made sense. There were still physical limitations she could not overcome. But nothing a little acting could not handle.... Just as the System was preparing its report, it watched Nina merge fully with the Calamity. Her form became formless. The System did not hesitate.

It entered its own database and retrieved the two Calamity entities it had stored. Then it released them into Nina's consciousness. The two squirming Calamity entities attempted to crawl away, but they were unwillingly drawn toward the larger Calamity entity. One by one, they merged with it. After ensuring that the two headache-inducing entities had become part of Nina, the System felt somewhat relieved. At the very least, she now had a better safety net. The System watched her carefully.

It wondered what Nina would do next. She could escape. With her new Calamity identity, leaving the room would have been easy. But she did not. Instead, Nina returned to the chair. She positioned herself exactly as she had been before. Then she allowed the restraints to settle around her once again. From the outside, nothing had changed. The System quietly watched. Its host had gained the ability to escape. And she had chosen to remain exactly where she was. …

When the System returned to its own space, it immediately felt unstable. Something was trying to destroy it. The System held itself together, searching for the cause of the disturbance. Then it looked up. Cause and Effect. The System felt the restraints tightening around its outer domain. If it continued resisting, it might actually cease to exist. Reluctantly, the System stopped resisting and allowed Cause and Effect to step through. Cause and Effect appeared to be searching for something.

But after looking around and realizing that the 2 calamity entities were no longer there, it simply approached the System. Chains emerged. Once again, the System was bound. Despite its true state being nothing more than a vast night sky, the System felt as though it wanted to laugh. It knew something Cause and Effect did not. Neither it nor its host was truly bound by the rules of that world. Because of that, Cause and Effect could never completely predict their actions.

That uncertainty was what had allowed the System to interfere with time. It had brought Nina back exactly 32 times now. And if not for the events of the previous life, and what the System had discovered during that time, perhaps Cause and Effect would never have realized that something was wrong. Someone who existed beyond that individual's control, and something that had connected to the Will of Time itself. The System's thoughts began drifting toward Seraphina.

But before it could think any further, its attention was forcibly pulled back. Its existence was beginning to dissipate. The System stared at Cause and Effect. Could it be...? Have I angered Cause and Effect to the point that it intends to break its own rules to erase me? The thought crossed the System's mind almost absentmindedly. Then Cause and Effect moved. For the first time, it spoke.

"How dare you." The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. The System remained silent. Cause and Effect raised its hand. The chains tightened. Then it prepared to deliver the decisive blow. Before it could do so, something forcefully removed it from the System's domain. The attack was reflected. Every force Cause and Effect had imposed upon the System was violently returned to it. Three times over. The System looked toward the empty space where Cause and Effect had once stood.

Then it turned its attention beyond its domain. Cause and Effect had been forcibly expelled. Its form was heavily injured. The System stared for a moment before relaxing. This should keep it quiet for a while. And that should be enough. Enough time for that person to fully recognize its host. Enough time for Cause and Effect to understand that it would never recover the two Calamity entities. The System quietly returned its attention to its domain. For now, that was enough.