Soon after, Rhode learned the whole story from all the Karins. Upon hearing his question, all the Karins confessed everything. But after hearing their answers, Rhode broke out in cold sweat because it was too ruthless.
In fact, in the beginning, the plan for them to battle in the city was real. And it was also true that all the Karis wanted to use this plan as a way to enhance the coordination and understanding between Rhode and the card spirits. Thus, they laid out a venue based on his memories but soon, realized that something wasn’t quite right. And there was one reason for that. The venue was too large.
If they were any other mental projections, perhaps they wouldn’t have this awareness at all. But Karin was different. The three personalities inside her broke through the subconscious barrier and shared thoughts with the core. It could also be said that compared to the mental projections who couldn’t recognize one another despite looking exactly the same, the three Karins were like supercomputers that were connected to the Internet. If there were any errors in their values, they would immediately spot the issue.
But at first, all the Karins were confused. They were like an antivirus software reporting an issue after encountering an unknown software, analyzing the software, and figuring out whether it was a Trojan virus or whatever. All they cared about was the initial error, but they weren’t too concerned because they needed to send all the other mental projections into the mental world, which in itself took up a certain amount of ‘memory’ in a limited capacity. Hence, if the others wanted to force themselves in, an expansion of space was needed.
Otherwise, Karin wouldn’t have to create a dueling metropolis and could start a war on her turf right away. It was like installing a software on a hard drive and having to expand the hard drive if one didn’t have enough space.
But in the process, all the Karins noticed that these problems seemed to be more than just other personalities entering their mental world. Rhode had felt like the place was so huge that he might not be able to walk out even if he walked for three days. And all the Karins also discovered this particular problem, which was why they decided that something unknown must have been added into the mix.
In fact, other Chaos creatures might also make their way in without being discovered so soon. However, the Chaos Eye was too huge. The situation was like one installing 10 5GB software programs on a 1TB hard drive. And during the process, a 30GB Trojan virus sneaked in and a total of 80GB space was used up at once. No matter how sneaky the virus was, this would surely raise some eyebrows. On the other hand, if the size of the virus was just a mere 5MB, perhaps it would take a while before being detected.
In fact, if that were the case, Rhode didn’t find it problematic. After all, he was a player who grew from level one to the top, so there were almost no dungeons or BOSS that he didn’t encounter. He could tell the traits and weaknesses of a BOSS from its footprints, but there was no way he could figure out what was finding trouble with him after it appeared out of nowhere. It wasn’t that he didn’t have a clue, but that there were too many clues.
On the other hand, Karin was different. These card spirits survived in the era the Creator Dragons and deity wardens fought against Chaos. The situation was like a plainclothes cop who witnessed one rubbing up against another on the street. The cop’s first instinct was that one was about to steal from the other person. And upon sensing that things were starting to get out of his control, all the Karins’ first instinct was to assume that there was the presence of Chaos in here somewhere.
But the problem was that it was too late. The Chaos Eye was so cunning that it took actions that were in sync with the three Karins’ actions. It made it so that by the time Karin and the rest confirmed there was an issue, Rhode had also arrived in the mental world and started his operation. At that moment, all the Karins were out of ideas. After a discussion, they determined that the Chaos Eye was definitely coming for Rhode. Hence, they took the liberty of not telling Rhode about it yo let him handle the situation himself.
After all, the Chaos Eye hid itself so deep that the three Karins were convinced that they had no way of catching it. That was why they simply ‘lured the snake out of hiding’. Anyway, Rhode possessed the power of the Void Dragon in the mental world and a Chaos creature was no threat to him. Besides, the three Karins were research staff even in the mental world and held weak combat power. They weren’t passionate about fighting an opponent head-on, but enjoyed stabbing an enemy in the back like Rhode to solve a big issue with little effort instead.
That was why they observed secretly and didn’t make a move. One of the Karins had even placed several less-mature personalities to confuse the Chaos Eye. Of course, there was also an intention to force the Chaos Eye to show itself. After all, Karin wasn’t a fool. After a while, they began their search for the Chaos Eye.
And judging from the result, the three Karins were obviously successful. The Chaos Eye didn’t notice any problems at all. Also due to that reason, the Chaos Eye sensed that something was wrong on Karin’s side, so it generously showed up with the intention of attacking Rhode. However, it didn’t anticipate Karin to be waiting for it to show up.
In terms of strength, the Chaos Eye wasn’t as strong as Rhode. In terms of intelligence, it also wasn’t as smart as Karin, which was why it was ‘left behind’ in this world by her.
Despite the situation sounding really simple, Rhode was well aware of how big the risk was. As a player, he had dealt with more or less the same amount of Chaos creatures compared to Karin. Although the situation was over and whatever Rhode said to criticize it was too late, he knew how risky it was for Karin. Because the biggest characteristic of Chaos creatures was that they were unstable and never played by the rules. Perhaps what one did in the eyes of the Chaos creatures meant the exact opposite to them. If the Chaos Eye ‘misunderstood’ and went berserk, Karin’s plan would be tantamount to a total waste. Not to mention…
“Will things be fine this way?”
Gazing at the pitch-black void as if it were bombarded by nuclear bombs over 1,800 times, the buildings and ground were completely torn apart in the clash between Rhode and the Chaos Eye. Apart from the ‘tornado eye’ underneath his feet which looked somewhat flat, nothing else survived unscathed. Rhode was unaware of what the rest of the mental world looked like, but it seemed like the confrontation between him and the Chaos Eye caused a great deal of damage to Karin’s mental world, and the impact would definitely be huge.
When the three Karins heard his question, they looked at one another. Then, the Karin who stood in the middle came up and nodded to him quietly.
“Please don’t worry, Mr. Rhode, this isn’t exactly our mental world, so even if it suffers some damage, there won’t be any problems. On the contrary…”
Karin spoke, raising her head slightly and beckoning to the side with her hand. At that moment, Rhode witnessed a group of four. Led by Dona, the group of four arrived in front of him. Meanwhile, Little Five, Eleanor, and Catherine of his team followed behind them.
Looking at this scene, Rhode was speechless, puckering his brows and looking here and there. It was especially so after meeting the eyes of Little Five and Catherine; he didn’t know what to say. The three of them were all sub-personalities. None of them behaved the same as their original selves in the outside world. Despite that, he had built favorable relationships with them. But it was impossible for these sub-personalities to take over as the core…
But as soon as he hesitated, the other Karins standing beside him spoke up.
“Mr. Rhode, things have come to an end. You may leave now.”
“Leave?”
Upon hearing her words, Rhode’s expression sank.
“I suppose things aren’t completely settled between us yet, are they, Karin?”
“Of course, but the ensuing questions are up to us. Since it started with us, it will naturally end with us. Please be assured that there aren’t any mistakes.”
“No.”
However, right after Karin finished speaking, Rhode shook his head firmly and dismissed her opinion. He turned around and looked at Little Five who munched away on a chocolate bar, Catherine who hugged onto the remaining snacks in her arms, and Eleanor who stood at the side with a breezy smile on her face. Then, he turned back around and gazed quietly at Karin.
“Since we’ve teamed up as one, I’ll leave after they finish looting the BOSS and get their rightful equipment.”
“Why, Mr. Rhode?”
When Karin heard his remarks, she was clearly stunned. Although she didn’t exactly understand what ‘looting’ or ‘BOSS’ meant, the general idea was still understandable. It was apparent that Rhode was waiting to see what kind of result his team would receive. And without seeing the result, he wouldn’t leave. Facing her question, he raised an eyebrow in response.
“No matter what, I’m a team leader who has to take care of my members who obeyed my commands. Regardless of whether they are sharing the equipment by DKP or ROLL points, there has to be a result. I won’t leave until the result is out.”
After saying those words, Rhode gazed silently at the young lady in front of him. Honestly, he knew why the three Karins wanted him to leave by himself. He had experienced so many mental worlds and certainly knew the problems within. And now, it seemed like he had passed the ‘test’, but perhaps an ultimate winner must still emerge from all the personalities. Analyzing the situation based on his memories, the sub-personalities in his team were perhaps the weakest in combat power among all the personalities and would be beaten up without a doubt.
He couldn’t be too sure about Eleanor, but Little Five and Catherine surely couldn’t match up against the core personalities. Judging from Karin’s words, he reckoned that after his departure, the three sub-personalities would have to ‘exchange roles’ with the core personalities. After all, it wasn’t possible to allow the sub-personalities to take over the core, was it?
Of course, he could pretend that he didn’t know anything and walk away. But he couldn’t. As he mentioned, Little Five, Catherine, and Eleanor were, at any rate, his teammates who followed him up until that point. Since they made him the leader of the team, he would have to do his duty as one. Regardless of whether or not the equipment was looted or distributed, as the leader of the team, he had to see things through to the end. Even if it was the team’s disbandment, he had to be the last one to leave.
This was his duty and obligation.
Upon looking at Karin’s calm, glassy eyes that reflected his gaze, she blinked after a few moments, turned around, and looked at the other two Karins. The three of them didn’t speak a word, but looked at one another in silence.
Rhode noticed that their eyes flashed like shooting stars from time to time as if they were resonating in the same tune. After a while, without knowing what kind of communication the three Karins had, they turned around and pointed at the empty field before them in unison. Soon, along with this action, the bodies of the other four mental projections that stood quietly beside them emanated a dazzling, golden light. In just the blink of an eye, four golden pillars of light burst into the sky. Upon looking at this scene, Rhode finally understood how they should leave this place.
“This is your will.”
Karin said a simple sentence and nothing more. Meanwhile, Rhode didn’t respond. He turned around and gazed at the three of them beside him. Upon sensing his gaze, Eleanor chuckled and came forward as if she were dancing.
“Don’t mind me, Mr. Rhode. It’s been a pleasant time with you…”
“Me too, Mr. Rhode.”
At that moment, Little Five also skipped to his side. And after taking a satisfactory bite on the last piece of chocolate bar on her hand, she licked her fingers with a somewhat regretful expression and looked at Rhode with a grin.
“I didn’t expect to eat so many delicious and interesting foods while following you around. Well, it’s quite boring laying in the cemetery by myself and a pity that I didn’t get to see the TV you mentioned. Sigh, I should have gotten myself a TV along the way back. Mr. Rhode, you don’t know just how boring my place is. If I didn’t speak to the tombstones all day, I wouldn’t even get to talk to anything…”
Unlike before, this time Rhode didn’t interrupt Little Five, but quietly listened to her speak repeatedly until she closed her mouth. Then, he reached out his hand and caressed her head. He hadn’t even been this close to her core self as far as he could remember.
“When we have the time in the future, I’ll take you to my hometown. There are plenty of snacks to keep your tummy full.”
“Really? Mr. Rhode, you can’t go back on your word, okay? I’m going to have the most delicious snacks and that chocolate cake you talked about. And also that gassy soda…”
“As long as you’re not afraid of having a bad stomach ache, feel free to eat everything.”
“No problem! Don’t you ever forget it, Mr. Rhode!”
After hearing his assurances, Little Five cheered and skipped to the other side with her hands up high. She came to a halt before one of the light pillars, turned around, and waved at Rhode again, before walking into the pillar of light. Along with the disappearance of Little Five, one of the light pillars also vanished. And at the same time, Eleanor nodded to Rhode with a smile, turned around, and strolled into another light pillar. Upon seeing the two light pillars that disappeared continuously, Rhode let out an inward sigh, lowered his head, and looked at Catherine in front of him. The corners of his mouth couldn’t help but twitch slightly because at that moment, Catherine was still hugging a pile of snacks in her arms.
“The little one’s gone, Catherine.”
“I know, Mr. Rhode.”
Upon hearing his words, Catherine couldn’t help but lower her head. She didn’t seem to behave any differently. However, this was also the first time he heard a hint of determination from her submissive tone.
“I-I want to bring her food again next time, or she’ll complain that I didn’t look after them.”
“…”
At that moment, Rhode revealed a smile. He extended his arm and patted Catherine’s shoulder.
“I’ll leave that to you then.”
Upon seeing Catherine disappearing into the light pillar, only then did Rhode closed his eyes and took a deep breath, turning around and gazing at the three Karins standing nearby.
“It seems that your methods are effective.”
“We are sisters, after all.”
“Yes, after all, we are sisters.”
Rhode didn’t say much in response to their flat responses, but only let out chuckle instead. He turned around and entered the last light pillar, before waving his hand at the three of them without looking back.
“Alright, this is goodbye then, Karin.”
“Goodbye, Master. And please be sure to be mentally prepared.”
“Hmm?”
Upon hearing her words, Rhode was stunned. He instinctively felt like something wasn’t quite right. However, he had stepped into the light pillar in front of him and a dazzling light enveloped his vision soon after.
“———”
When he opened his eyes again, the morning sunlight spilled through the window and onto his body. The holy sword cards that surrounded him before had disappeared. He shook his head, sat up, and saw his younger sister’s smile.
“Welcome back, Big Brother; looks like everything went well.”
“Indeed… You can say that, I suppose.”
After hearing his younger sister’s words, he smiled in response. But soon, he noticed something abnormal in his younger sister’s eyes. Although he felt like she was glad that he returned safely, as siblings who were ‘connected by heart’, the moment he saw his younger sister’s smile he felt like she was rejoicing in his misfortune.
“What’s wrong?”
“…”
In response to his question, the younger sister, on the other hand, shifted her gaze to the window and spoke, glancing sideways.
“I’m sorry, Big Brother, I never knew that you actually had such a dream….”
“Dream?”
The younger sister’s reply took him by surprise. Then, he lowered his head.
And when he saw the mini-skirt and idol costume on his body, he sulked instantly.
