Chapter 220
The girl had an exceptionally unique hair and eye color: pink.
Of course, pink was unique, but it wasn’t an impossible color to see.
It was sometimes spotted on celebrities who needed to showcase strong individuality or on people who loved to dress up.
So, people, already accustomed to a variety of hair colors, didn’t pay much attention to the girl.
…Or at least, they weren’t supposed to.
Those who clicked on the post without much thought found themselves marveling at the attached photo.
Her hair flowed down to her waist in long, cascading waves.
The light pink strands faded toward the tips, and the sunlight hitting her hair scattered like fragmented beams of light, making the luminous strands shine even brighter.
Even though it was just a still image, her hair looked so naturally soft and wavy that it felt like it was in motion—a mystical charm that no dye could recreate.
Next, people’s eyes were drawn to her gaze.
Her pink eyes, as vivid and vibrant as her hair, elicited gasps of admiration from those who saw them.
And if they got that far, they couldn’t help but notice her face.
Her petite features, delicately arranged with precise proportions, formed an adorable visage.
Her drowsy-looking eyes, the youthful roundness of her cheeks, and her soft, rounded face harmonized perfectly.
Could anyone dare claim she wasn’t cute after seeing that face?
To top it off, the final touch was a faint, almost imperceptible smile peeking out from beneath her cool, expressionless exterior—an image so captivating that…
“…Should I take a closer look?”
Even those who had clicked on the post absentmindedly found themselves thinking that.
For those intrigued by the girl—whether they hadn’t played Silia Online or simply weren’t interested in in-game events—they began to wonder about her identity.
-Who’s this in the picture?
-Is she a child actor?
-Wow, her aura is insane…
-If my little sister looked like this, I’d give up the drumstick of a fried chicken for her.
Then, they were soon confronted with the truth.
What? Silia Online? What’s that?
…A virtual reality game? And she’s an NPC from the game?
What’s her name? Canaria? Isn’t that the name of a bird?
The idea of her being an NPC explained her otherworldly appearance, but it couldn’t stop a lingering feeling of disappointment from settling in the hearts of the viewers.
Even so, their interest didn’t completely fade, and they focused on the rest of the post while swallowing their disappointment.
A video accompanied the photo.
In the video, the girl was unmistakably the same girl from the photo—Canaria.
She held a sword as large as her body—no, possibly even larger—and faced off against grotesque monsters of bizarre shapes.
It looked so dangerous that it seemed she could be devoured in one bite, making the entire fight appear more like a desperate struggle than an actual battle.
Swoosh!
Surprisingly, the victor was always the small girl, Canaria.
Each time the sword she wielded unleashed a pink Sword Beam, the heads of the monsters flew through the air, and their razor-sharp claws, which seemed capable of tearing through her delicate skin, were rendered silent.
Her movements were as light as cutting paper with scissors, but the results were anything but simple.
As people watched, entranced by Canaria’s display of martial prowess, a strange feeling struck their minds.
“…Where have I seen this before?”
Déjà vu—the sensation of feeling as though one has experienced something before, even though it’s new.
But what struck people’s minds wasn’t déjà vu.
Because the reason they felt this way was that they were recalling something they had indeed witnessed.
-Huh?
-Wait, what?
The strange phenomenon over Seoul.
The figure who effortlessly turned the massive arm protruding from the darkened sky into a “Cube Steak” without breaking a sweat.
Though bystanders were unexpectedly pelted with chunks of meat falling from the sky, no one could file a complaint.
As soon as the incident ended, the person disappeared without a trace, and no one knew who they were to even attempt to question them.
That individual, who became a major topic of discussion alongside the strange phenomenon, had left many unanswered questions.
-Doesn’t she… kind of resemble that person?
No one had seen the person’s face.
The distinctive hair was concealed under a deeply pulled hood, making it impossible to see.
However, the pink Sword Beam aimed at the arm and the petite figure—small enough to be cradled in one arm—overlapped with the image of the girl in the video.
Those who realized this reacted in two polarized ways.
-No way, that’s too much of a stretch.
-Stop over-immersing yourself in this.
-Are you seriously saying an NPC appeared in real life? Have you lost your mind?
-Besides, isn’t she supposed to be dead?
Some outright rejected the notion.
Meanwhile…
-So monsters appearing makes sense, huh?
-With everything happening, people are still clinging to “realism”?
-These people probably think they’re the only logical ones in the world.
-If a game company created the NPC, why wouldn’t resurrection be possible?
Others found the possibility plausible.
The two camps viciously tore into each other, as though it was their solemn duty to make the other side concede.
However…
Amid the heated debate between the skeptics and the believers, a post appeared that neither side could have anticipated.
It was posted in a community focused on streamers as their main topic.
───
[Suddenly thought of something…]
Remember Joanie’s younger cousin?
Am I the only one who finds it strange?
It’s weird that a cousin who was never mentioned before suddenly appeared, and isn’t it odd that someone who had been so mentally shattered they took days off streaming suddenly snapped out of it?
Even if they were comforted by a cousin they’ve been close to since childhood, does that make sense?
If it were that easy, the number of depression patients would’ve halved by now.
And, remember that rumor from a few weeks ago?
The one about someone posting a photo claiming they saw Joanie’s cousin?
Weren’t the eyes in that photo pink?
Back then, it was dismissed as fake, but now that I think about it… hmm…
Also, if you watch Joanie’s streams a lot, the way they talk with their cousin is oddly similar to how they talk with Canaria.
Could it be that Joanie already knew?
───
A post raising suspicions about the streamer Joanie.
The post, which dug into topics Joanie had forbidden, would have been deleted immediately if it had been on her fan café.
However, since the post wasn’t on a fan café, it managed to stay up.
───
[Comments]
-Can someone summarize this in three lines?
┗ Read it, it’s not that long.
┗ Wahh, I’m a baby. I can’t read. Summarize “for me.”
┗ (eye-roll emoji)
-Wow, what a long-winded brain dump.
┗ And their main point is “the conversations sound similar”? lol
┗ So if you talk to two people the same way, they’re the same person? lol
┗ Ooh… this is kind of exciting, though.
┗ ?
-So what’s the conclusion? Cousin = Canaria?
┗ (Yes, yes emoji)
-Detective work, lol.
-A while ago, I’d have said this was nonsense… but why does it feel convincing now?
┗ Agreed.
───
Even in a community with a decent number of users, it was still just a community.
The sparks that were lit there weren’t yet strong enough to become the mainstream opinion—
But the flames were undoubtedly growing little by little.
And the first place those flames spread to was the fan café of a certain streamer.
The person closest to Canaria—
And the one who became the subject of speculation in the post.
Joanie.
Her fan café caught fire.
And Da-eun witnessed flames erupting in her own home.
***
Choosing not to interfere and letting things take their course.
The words Edel conveyed upon returning after a long discussion with the Administrator weren’t much different from what she had said before.
It was a stance I found a bit questionable.
“Didn’t you say the reason Silia was turned into a game was to help humans build the strength to fight Dimensional Creatures?”
“And to weaken their powers at the same time.”
“Right. So why haven’t you implemented the plan yet?”
I’d heard that the plan was to infuse the strength gained from their fake bodies used in Silia into their real bodies.
But even after the crisis began, Edel shook her head.
“…Don’t tell me you’re not ready yet.”
“How could that be? This is a plan we’ve been preparing for a long time. …Hmm. Then again, you might be right. Maybe we’re not ready after all.”
“Make up your mind, will you?”
“I’m not talking about us; I’m talking about the humans’ preparations.”
“…?”
Do humans even need to prepare for something?
Edel, noticing the questioning look in my eyes, gave a sincere explanation.
“It means the situation isn’t ripe yet. The awakening we envisioned, the Administrator and I, was meant to occur in a much more dire scenario than this.”
“…Wouldn’t that be too late? People need time to adapt, too.”
“Even so, it’s still too early now.”
Edel’s stance was resolute.
“If people suddenly gain power, do you think they’ll band together? No. They’ll be too busy fighting each other with their newfound strength.”
“…”
“Do you know the most effective way for humans to unite? By creating an enemy. A common enemy that everyone can hate, fear, and fight against. That’s how human societies have always worked.”
“So? What are you trying to say?”
“I already told you. It’s premature.”
Edel explained that the right time would be when the Dimensional Creatures’ invasion began in earnest—when humanity would be unable to resist without uniting.
When they could no longer afford internal conflicts and had to fight desperately for survival.
That, Edel said, would be the perfect moment.
“Some people may die because they can’t adapt, but this way, the overall damage will be smaller. If a third party intervened during a human conflict, do you think they’d suddenly stop fighting and join forces?”
“…That’s true.”
I couldn’t argue with that logic.
Rationally, people should immediately stop fighting and focus on the external threat—
But humans aren’t purely rational beings.
The reason why the First Species War caused such massive damage was simple.
Even with an external enemy like the Demonic Race invading, people couldn’t stop fighting among themselves.
I speculated that the reason they weren’t revealing everything immediately was probably for the same reason.
“Can’t you do something with Authority? Like changing people’s perceptions or something?”
“Do you think Authority is some kind of omnipotent magic?”
“?”
If you’re a god, shouldn’t you be omnipotent by default?
“Synchronizing bodies alone already consumes an enormous amount of resources. We won’t be able to move for a while after that. There’s no room to pull off something like that.”
“I see. Makes sense.”
Indeed, that’s logical.
The Silia inhabitants spent decades—maybe even their whole lives—building up their strength.
Now, we’re not just cutting that time down to a few months; we’re also transferring all that power to their real bodies.
It’s not something easy to achieve.
One mistake, and their bodies might literally go boom!
“Well, I’m sure Edel will figure it out.”
I’d asked everything I wanted to.
The only lingering regret was that I wanted to see the face of that Administrator god, but Edel dissuaded me.
Unlike herself, who was a fallen deity, the Administrator possessed full divinity and wasn’t someone she recommended meeting.
Even if nothing would go wrong if we met, the Administrator didn’t particularly wish to meet me, so I let it go.
I had no intention of forcing an encounter with a god who didn’t want to see me.
As I got up and started preparing to leave, Edel, who had been watching silently, suddenly asked a question.
“What are you planning to do now?”
“Well… I’ve thought about a lot of things.”
I shrugged.
“For now, I’ll have a conversation.”
Just like Edel has the Administrator on her side, I have my own excellent ally in Shin Da-eun.
“…Pfft!”
When I said that, Edel suddenly burst out laughing.
“…What’s so funny?”
“It’s nothing. Puhaha…”
Edel, claiming it was nothing, couldn’t stop laughing.
When I glared at her in irritation, her laughter finally began to subside.
“It’s just… I found it amusing.”
“What exactly is so amusing?”
Does this so-called god not understand plain words?
As my gaze grew sharper, Edel waved her hands as if to calm me down.
“You calling that kid an ally. Hearing that made me think about how much you rely on her.”
“…It’s not reliance. I’m just seeking her opinion. There might be good ideas I haven’t thought of.”
“Sure, sure.”
“I’m serious.”
“Got it. Who’s saying otherwise?”
“…Hmph. I’m leaving.”
“Take care~”
She waved her hand lazily as if to see me off.
Scoffing, I deliberately ignored her gesture and walked out of the office.
“…Actually.”
Peeking my head back in I asked,
“Do you have any kind of vehicle I can take?”
Now that I think about it, I came here on foot.
I could return the same way, but it felt like it’d just lead to unnecessary trouble…
And taking a taxi in this situation doesn’t seem like a great idea either.
Wouldn’t a company like this have some kind of corporate vehicle?
So I asked—
“…Ahaha, ahahaha!”
And what I got in return was a hearty laugh.
…Seriously, I don’t like this.
—
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