Staring at the new Trait on the light screen, Ron was slightly stunned.
"This world... is fake?"
He murmured to himself, a chill creeping into his heart.
After transmigrating to this world, Ron had long since accepted his reality as someone who had to live here.
Life in Belobog was so real that it had never occurred to him that the world he inhabited might not be genuine, but rather a laughable, false sea of stars.
"No... I can't be sure so soon. It's just one Stellaron..."
Ron shook his head, trying to cast out the bewilderment taking root in his mind.
The Stellaron was inherently special. As a Seed of Calamity sown by Nanook, The Destruction, to annihilate civilizations across worlds, its illogical existence wasn't entirely impossible.
Who knew if the fundamental theories of the universe still held true at the level of an Aeon... The very existence of Aeons and their Paths defied logic, so the existence of something like the Stellaron could also be a matter of course...
Ron tried to comfort himself, but he knew it was a forced reassurance. He had no way to prove this world wasn't fake.
After all, how could he be certain that illogical existences like Aeons and Paths weren't just arbitrary settings created by some unknown manipulator from a higher dimension?
This world, after all, was just a mobile game he played before he crossed over. Although he was now in the game's world, who could say that this world was truly real?
Ron had never considered the possibility that this world was an illusion, so he had never thought along these lines. But now that he started, the more he thought, the more wrong everything felt. It was as if everything around him had lost its meaning...
If the universe itself was nothing but a falsehood, if the essence of all reality was just an illusion—a setting to be changed at will by a higher-dimensional controller, a doodle to be casually altered, a paragraph of text to be arbitrarily deleted...
The confusion in Ron's mind did not dissipate. Instead, it grew stronger as he pondered, swirling in his thoughts until it gave birth to a boundless sense of emptiness.
"Existence is nihility."
The falseness of this universe led Ron to this conclusion in his heart.
---o---
In the distant void beyond reality, at the observable edge of the universe, chaotic darkness and nihility lingered around all realms. A terrifying, abyssal current should have easily shrouded the cosmos, draping the stars in a bewildered and empty black veil. But due to the languid emptiness of its master, it remained stagnant, viscous like sludge, slowly churning beyond the sea of stars. It served only as a backdrop to a deep, dark celestial body that flickered with a bizarre light in the endless darkness—
IX, The Nihility. The antithesis of all existence, the being that negates all that is, the lord of the universe's dark side...
It unconsciously opened its eyes, its vacant gaze crossing thousands of light-years to land upon Ron.
It did not know what it was doing, nor why it looked at Ron. But that empty will and the fear of falsehood had drawn its attention. It merely opened its eyes, and the echo of its Path resonated in Ron's ears...
[Existence is nihility.]
A grand, unconscious will whispered in Ron's ear, singing a hymn to the truth he had just perceived.
A turbid current of emptiness passed through Ron's body in an instant. He felt as if all strength had drained from him, as if his entire being had been filled with hydrogen. His consciousness floated lightly in the sea of stars. He opened his eyes to see myriad illusions: stars swaying in the deep night, the tranquil cosmos being devoured by chaotic nothingness, all warmth returning to cold, dissolving into a meaningless void...
Seeing this sea of nothingness, Ron couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity—
If all of this was just a false emptiness, then what was the point of everything he had done?
But even as he questioned himself, even as he felt the meaninglessness of it all, he could not bring himself to truly accept that everything was nihility, that existence was without purpose...
He wandered through this void, the cold, turbid currents of nothingness slipping through his hands. Yet, they could not wash away the sliver of self-will in his heart, could not make him lose the final, unique essence of his true self.
He felt the absurdity of this all-encompassing void, but the confusion and fear that had been surging within him began to dissipate, growing calm along with the cold nihility around him.
He thought. He analyzed... and he discovered a truth.
Even if the universe was empty, even if everything was false, his actions were not without meaning.
Why should he care if the world he lived in was real?
He stood on the soil of Belobog, the unique, cold wind of Jarilo-VI blowing past him. The sun in the sky radiated a cool light. Everything in the world was cold, yet vividly alive...
When he walked past the Golden Theater, his ears would catch the sounds of the opera; when he walked through Alexandra Square, his eyes would capture the colors of the Everwinter Monument.
Walking on this planet with his own free will, he could seize his own destiny, holding his future tightly in the palm of his hand.
That was enough.
Even if the foundation of this world was a falsehood, the colors painted upon it were no less real... Everything Ron had experienced in this sea of stars could never be called meaningless nihility.
Faced with the universe's falseness, was he supposed to fall into despair, to let himself wither and die, to descend into the abyss of nothingness and become a self-annihilator of that empty will?
No, Ron was not that kind of person...
Faced with a world that might be fake, Ron would only try to break that falsehood, to find a way to make this sea of stars real.
He never feared a crisis.
He always faced the challenge.
Gradually clarifying his true self, Ron closed his eyes. Amidst the cold, nihilistic sea of stars, he felt the chill flowing around him, but it could not extinguish the blazing fire that had ignited in his heart.
He opened his eyes and saw that in this dark river of stars, not far from him, was a colossal, deep black celestial body. A viscous, chaotic black sludge churned around it. It unconsciously opened its eyes—two completely irregular holes on its body, which was nearly the size of an entire galaxy—revealing a hazy, chaotic aura.
IX, The Nihility.
The antithesis of all existence, the strongest among the Aeons... Ron had never once walked the Path of Nihility in a simulation, yet by realizing the nihility of this universe, he had now successfully gained an audience with an Aeon in reality.
After a moment, the deep, cold darkness failed to corrode the burning fire in Ron's heart, failed to make him fall into despair and self-destruction. It receded from his side, and along with it, IX seemed to be veiled in a black shroud, gradually vanishing from sight.
Ron shook his head and came to his senses. He found himself still sitting on the bench in his old apartment. The deep, cold sea of stars was gone, as was the blind, foolish Aeon whose very nihility caused all to disappear...
Ron calmly felt the changes within himself... A steady stream of placid Imaginary Energy flowed forth from the Path of Nihility, easily manipulated in his hands, becoming his greatest asset.
Without the help of the Life Simulation Game, he had, by his own power, stepped onto a Path...
Feeling the abundant power within him, Ron couldn't help but reveal a wry smile.
"I never thought the first time I'd step onto a Path in reality by my own power would be under these circumstances..."
"But what does this mean? I've already realized the universe isn't a void and refuted IX's philosophy, so why did I still become a Pathstrider of The Nihility?"
"Could it be..."
Ron stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Is it because my philosophy is too similar to a faction like the 'Chaos Doctors'? To interpret 'existence' in another way... is this a power born from a futile heart of resistance against the fate of nothingness..."
He briefly analyzed how he had entered the Path of Nihility in reality, but he didn't relax his focus on the simulation. He immediately tapped the screen, allowing it to continue.
Though he hadn't said it aloud, Ron now valued this simulation immensely.
While he no longer cared whether this sea of stars was fake—even if it were, it wouldn't greatly affect his mentality—his thirst for the truth and his desire to change things made him eager to find the source of this falsehood.
After all, only by knowing where the falseness came from, why the essence of this world was an empty void, could he find a way to fix it...
Ron was not one to sit and wait for death.
He thought this to himself as he watched the text on the screen fade, replaced by a new image:
[You are greatly shaken by the results of your research on the Stellaron, but due to your years of scientific work, the conclusion did not instantly crush your spirit.]
[You still maintain a heart filled with endless passion for science, scorning the conclusion that all is nihility—]
[To you, whether this universe is false is meaningless...]
[You only trust your own two hands, the experimental conclusions produced by them, and the truths uncovered by your research.]
[No one can stop you on your path to seeking the truth.]
The text on the light screen faded, and new lines popped up:
[But the illusory, hazy, crimson-purple mist has found you once again.]
[After you completed your research on the Stellaron, even though it was not a "Miracle," the power of Mythus, The Enigmata, still flowed from an unknown source. It formed a thin veil, attempting to shroud your mind and completely swallow everything you had discovered...]
[But an exquisite diamond appeared out of thin air, cutting through the crimson-purple mist and tearing the hazy veil for you.]
The text on the screen faded, and a new scene emerged:
The indicator light on the laboratory door suddenly flashed green and slid open. Light streamed in, washing over the crimson-purple mist. Like clear water rinsing away dust, it pushed the mist, already scattered by the diamond, into the corners of the lab.
Herta, a hammer in her hand, walked in from outside. The crimson-purple mist retreated at her arrival, leaving behind only a faint, ancient sigh before completely dissipating.
Herta calmly put her hammer away, picked up the diamond that had fallen near Ron's feet, and gently rolled it between her fingers. The diamond, which perfectly matched the golden ratio, rapidly disintegrated as its structure collapsed, burning up in the air and vanishing as scattered Imaginary Energy.
She looked at Ron, using her two index fingers to push up the corners of her mouth, forming an exquisite yet strange smile.
"Finally got some results? Not bad. I underestimated you before."
As she spoke, her eyes never left Ron's face, meticulously observing his expression.
"As a reward for helping you chase off that annoying fellow... tell me. What did you discover this time in your research on the Stellaron?"
A hint of curiosity touched the corners of her lips. Ron looked into Herta's eyes and saw a strange crimson light flickering within them...
Looking closely, it seemed to be the brilliant glint of a cold, mechanical core operating at the far end of the distant stars, refracted in the eyes of an Emanator—
It was the inquisitive gaze of Nous, The Erudition.