Chapter 23 : Chapter 23
Chapter 23: Younger Sister
"No... impossible... this is fake... it is all a lie!" Viola slumped on the floor, refusing to believe the truth. "It is you! All of this is your conspiracy!"
"You are a monster! A nightmare! Only by killing you can I return to reality!" Viola’s expression was filled with nothing but terror.
"This is reality. That crystal ball music box is an A-Class Forbidden Object. Its cost is that the user cannot distinguish between dreams and reality. Its function is to force those nearby into a deep sleep; if that sleep lasts longer than ten hours, they die. After your family passed away, everyone you met was treated as a dream monster and killed by your own hand." Lin Qi watched the hysterical Viola and administered a heavy dose of truth.
"I do not believe it! This is all a lie! You monster, go to hell!!!" Viola suddenly lunged, charging toward Lin Qi with an explosive burst of movement.
Thud.
The edge of Lin Qi's hand struck the side of Viola's neck. He caught the unconscious girl as she collapsed and gently placed her on the bed.
"Sigh. Just get some real sleep."
Lin Qi walked out of the room. Under Kaff's direction, the newly hired servant team had already begun cleaning the manor.
Lin Qi went downstairs and happened to see Kaff speaking to a maid.
"Kaff."
"My Lord, what are your orders?" Hearing Lin Qi call him, Kaff gestured for the maid to go about her business.
"Would it be better to renovate the manor?" Lin Qi asked, looking at the heavy Medieval European-style interior.
"While this manor was built thirty years ago, the decoration style is not considered outdated. Most noble estates currently follow this aesthetic," Kaff explained, assuming Lin Qi found the decor behind the times.
"I know. I simply find this style too frivolous. I want to change it to something more minimalist."
"Frivolous?" Kaff found the comment strange. Did nobles not usually favor this opulent style? One could see it in their attire and their diamond-encrusted swords.
It seemed his master was indeed different from other nobles. He always wore that black suit, devoid of diamond buttons or ornate blades.
"Let’s do this... tomorrow, call some workers to measure the main building. Have them provide a floor plan, and I will create a design myself. We will go with a minimalist look," Lin Qi said to the dazed Kaff.
"I understand, My Lord." Kaff nodded. His master even understood interior design? As expected of Boss Leon's son.
"My Lord, what should I be doing?" Seeing the two finish their conversation, Yulian stepped forward and asked Lin Qi.
He felt quite awkward. His father, mother, and sister were all busy cleaning alongside the new servant team. Only he stood around like an idle person with nothing to do.
Seeing the smiles on his family's faces after leaving the village, Yulian understood that following Lord Isaris out of Harmonious Village was the right move. This realization made him feel a sense of insecurity now that he wasn't being utilized.
He was desperate to show his loyalty to Lord Isaris!
Kaff, seeing through everything, thought to himself, As expected of Lord Leon’s son. His mastery of leadership is truly impressive!
"Dammit, I almost forgot about you." Lin Qi heard Yulian's words and remembered he still had a budding musician on his hands. "How about this: go to the Noble District and ask around for a man named Silas. See if you can find his current location."
"Yes, My Lord! I will go at once!" Having received a task, Yulian excitedly rushed out of the manor.
At this point in time, Silas should not have been corrupted by the Bone-Eater's Casket yet. If Yulian can bring news of him, I can recruit him into the team, Lin Qi thought.
The Bone-Eater, Silas, was an elite boss in the Capital region. He was originally a guard for a noble family. By chance, while protecting the second son of the manor’s master, he came into contact with an A-Class Forbidden Object: the Bone-Eater's Casket.
However, the Bone-Eater's Casket was incomplete at that time.
The casket would erode a person's physical body and wear down their will until they went completely insane. Eventually, the casket would fuse with the host, turning them into a monster that knew only slaughter.
The reason Lin Qi wanted to recruit the unstable Silas was that he knew how to solve the problem.
In the timeline of his previous life, Silas was originally a Sequence 7 Transcendent. After merging with a Forbidden Object, he naturally sent players running for their lives. The reason players were eventually able to conquer this boss was that one player found the lid of the Bone-Eater's Casket!
As long as the lid was placed on the complete Bone-Eater's Casket after use, the erosion would stop.
The players had utilized this lid to finally defeat Silas.
Me, Kaff, Yulian, Viola, and Silas. If everyone joins, we will have reached the minimum requirement of five Transcendents to establish a Transcendent Agency. When the time comes, I can go to the Transcendent Management Bureau to register it. What should I call the agency? The Avengers? Goat Village? Bear Ridge?
Lin Qi shook his head and stopped thinking about those names. The top priority was getting Viola and Silas to join.
Having sorted his thoughts, Lin Qi returned to his room.
Viola opened her eyes to see a pure white ceiling. That man had not lied to her; this was reality.
No matter how much Viola wanted to deny it, she could no longer deceive herself. She had just fainted, yet she had not traveled to another world.
Without the Voice of Nightmares, she would only ever wake up in the real world. This was the only time in years that Viola had not dreamed, but she could not feel any joy.
Due to the tears in her eyes, the ceiling began to distort. Her vision blurred until she could faintly see the happy, smiling faces of her family.
Hearing the faint sound of sobbing, Lin Qi put down the apple he had just finished peeling.
He placed the apple on the nightstand and spoke to the girl crying in the bed. "Eat an apple first. We will have dinner soon."
"Are my father and mother... really gone?" The girl’s tearful voice reached Lin Qi's ears.
"It is not your fault, Viola. The cause of this tragedy was simple envy. You are innocent."
"But... if I had never used that music box, they wouldn't have died. Everyone would be as happy as they were before. I killed them."
"They would not blame you, Viola." Lin Qi patted Viola’s head and continued, "I once had a younger sister as cute as you, and a family that loved me. Although they have all left me now, I know that they all wanted me to live on."
"Your family..."
"My parents and sister passed away from illness. My only remaining relative, my uncle, was murdered not long ago. The first time I saw you, it felt as though my sister were still alive."
This was a total lie!
In his previous life, Lin Qi was an absolute orphan. In this life, he had only ever met Uncle Alden. Isaris did indeed have a younger sister named Berena Roland. Although they played well together as children, once Berena grew old enough to understand the world, she was influenced by her family and peers to discriminate against Isaris for being an illegitimate son.
Lin Qi fabricated this story solely to create empathy.
It was despicable, but effective.
In front of a young girl who had just received news of her family's death, expressing that your own family was also gone and that she reminded you of your sister provided her with an emotional anchor.
It would cause her to subconsciously rely on him.
The girl wailing as she threw herself onto Lin Qi was the best proof of that.
If Viola ever learned the truth, she would surely give Lin Qi an elbow to the ribs and scream, "That was incredibly low of you!"