Shadow of the Beautiful World

A few years ago, when Merlin killed Lady Hydra on an island in the Caribbean Sea, he got a piece of parchment by accident.

It was a page torn from the Dark God Book.

Possesses a certain magical smile.

Just write down the question and get the answer.

But it probably couldn't get rid of the shackles of the rules of the dark divine book. If you want to get the answer from the parchment, you have to complete a sacrifice or a weird request.

During the years he held the parchment, he got a lot of help from the parchment.

But the parchment also caused him a lot of trouble.

But in the final analysis, the existence of the parchment is beneficial and harmless to Merlin, and before the damn fate game is over, the parchment gave Merlin the last help.

As Merlin himself said, for him, the existence of parchment has surpassed an artifact.

It was a friend of his.

Although it has a bad personality, it can always help at critical moments.

At the turning point in the first half of Merlin's life, Merlin learned a lot in the final battle. He knew some secrets outside this world, and even faced the great will from outside this world.

From those brief intersections, Merlin also knew the person behind the parchment.

Oneiroi...

A person who wears a white robe, covers his eyes with gauze, and likes to record different stories.

A handsome, trustworthy person, but completely invisible to Merlin.

I have a question for you that I have been pondering over and over again, but I can't get an answer to it...

On the top of the Doomsday Volcano, in the Mechanical Palace of the Wasteland, Merlin held a shining orange quill and wrote on the parchment:

Is that game really over?

you guess?

The rhetorical question that drove Merlin crazy appeared again on the parchment.

But before Merlin frowned, the black handwriting was like a moving tadpole, rapidly changing and reorganizing, forming a reply in front of Merlin's eyes.

Okay, no kidding.

It's over. The part of the game about you is over. You have deceived everyone with cunning methods, captured victories that are not victories, and let them reap defeats that are not considered failures.

But it's not over yet. The battle for this universe has just entered a more intense stage.

On the other side of the parchment, beyond the closed stars, Oneiroi quickly wrote:

There is no more dice game, no more secret arrangements, no more luck and bad luck... The betting dogs are waiting for the last moment when the bayonet becomes popular, there is still time left for you to operate, but it is running out .”

The few words on the parchment made Merlin frown deeply.

The message in this sentence is very large, and he needs time to think about it.

But there was also a touch of urgency in the message from Oneiroi. Under Merlin's gaze, another line of words emerged.

I can't help you blatantly. This will anger other people and expose my existence.

If it's not a critical moment, don't use this parchment!

Merlin nodded.

He picked up his pen and wrote down another question.

They promised my world would be free, did they lie?

No.

More writing emerged on the parchment.

These two pen pals who are far away from each other are exchanging information quickly in this way.

They did give the world freedom, but I think it's not the kind of freedom you want to see.

Oneiroi raised his head, looked at Overlord and Reaper who were playing poker boringly, and then looked at the auditorium where the banquet had already started.

He lowered his head and wrote again.

He wrote:

After losing the interference from outside the domain, the evolution speed of this world is accelerating, and the power level is constantly improving. At present, life forms that surpass the heavenly father and are almost a single universe have evolved.

Based on your time, it is estimated that in another 2-3 years, a real single universe will appear, but this is not a trouble you need to pay attention to. Don't be dazzled by power.

The melting pot of the universe will be ignited when the evolution is completed, and that is the moment when ownership is determined.

Merlin, your previous doubts were correct in a sense.

You, including the people around you, all the beings in the stars, everything that has happened or hasn't happened, are not pure illusions, but they can't be called real either!

You are just a 'testing program' before this universe is formally formed and put into use.

Once the cosmic furnace is ignited, the 'pre-operation' stage that you represent will end, and the illusory first era will be extinguished by the primordial flame that burst out from the cosmic furnace.

The second era will open in a pure universe, but no matter how gorgeous or cruel it is, it has nothing to do with you.

You will be ghosts of the past, not remembered by anyone.

Merlin's eyes narrowed.

Before the final battle started, the Phantom Stranger who appeared for the last time seemed to have said something similar.

But Merlin couldn't understand it at the time.

Now he understands.

He did give this side of the universe freedom, but that was just the last carnival before all things were destroyed.

Born out of a molded, incomplete universe, they are imperfections.

After the universe is complete, the defective products will be wiped out, leaving a better future for the life of the next era.

But would Merlin be willing?

Having done so much, would he be content to have it all come to an abrupt end after a few years?

Raven let out a long breath.

He calmed down his distraught self, and wrote on the parchment again:

Is there any way to avoid this ending?

This time, Oneiroi did not answer for a long time.

This kind of silence made Merlin feel anxious, but he quickly suppressed it.

He waited patiently for the help of his pen pal.

He just sat there like a statue.

Several hours later, new writing appeared on the parchment again.

I just went to look up all the stories related to the birth of the universe.

The handwriting danced in front of Merlin's eyes.

There was a glimmer of hope for him.

I haven't experienced the real Genesis, but according to the records of some ancient stories, I got a little inspiration from some stories about the melting pot of the universe.

If Overlord and Reaper ignite the cosmic furnace from beyond the stars, you are doomed.

But if you can catch up with them and ignite the cosmic furnace from within the stars, maybe...you can talk to this nascent cosmic will.

Oneiroi hesitated for a moment, and wrote:

I can't guarantee that this method will definitely save your Nihility Era.

But if the nascent will of the universe is willing to help you, maybe it can continue the story of the first era on the basis of retaining the existing creatures.

Until the end of everything in the world comes to an end, the second era begins in a way that conforms to the law of era change.

Merlin looked at the answer with a bitter smile on his face.

He swiped and wrote:

I don't even know where the cosmic melting pot is now...

A certain place among the stars is not a conceptual space, in fact, you need to detach yourself again to see and touch it.

Oneiroi responded in words:

Firewood is needed to ignite any flame, and all kinds of cosmic wonders will be born in the universe where all things are born. Those are the firewood you are looking for.

Infinity gems?

A flash of inspiration flashed in Merlin's mind, and he remembered the exhortations made by the Supreme Mage when he left. He wrote:

Something like this?

right.

The pulsating text responded:

Collect as many as possible, and then find the right time to throw them into the cosmic furnace...

You and your world are like an egg right now. Breaking the outside means death, but breaking the inside may mean new life.

I see.

Merlin nodded, and he wrote on the parchment:

Thank you, really, thank you very much for your reminder and advice, Your Excellency Oneiroi.

nothing.

Oneiroi's elegant handwriting danced, and he said:

I just want to see a complete story, that's all. It's still a little time before they find out about my abnormality, so, do you have any questions?

Merlin thought for a while, then leaned over and wrote another question.

I'm just curious, why do you keep helping me? Is it just because of the story?

Because of the Observers.

Oneiroi's answer this time was as calm as before. When the beautiful handwriting emerged, Oneiroi said:

I have many, many stories in my library, but not every one of them is going to be liked by the observers, whose tastes... how to put it, vary and are peculiar.

I made a deal with them to find a better story for them and record it for their entertainment.

I don't hate this kind of search, I also like to include these stories, and I am willing to give some help to the stories that the observers like, and the protagonists in those stories, but all this is for the story .”

Merlin was a little surprised and wrote:

It sounds like you're trying to please them?

Yes, you summed it up correctly.

A big smiling face appeared on the parchment, but there was a little helplessness on that smiling face, and Oneiroi responded:

I'm pleasing them, I'm trying to keep my taste as much as I can, and I'm entertaining the observers.

But it's not just flattery or pleasing, because when they reap happiness and satisfaction, I will also be ecstatic for a good story.

Essentially, I don't hate doing it, but I also feel a little bit conflicted occasionally. After all, not every plot I like, the observers will like...

And if they don't like it, they leave me.

When all observers leave me, I'll just...you know.

This helpless answer made Merlin also fall silent.

Although he didn't have much contact with Oneiroi, he can be sure that Oneiroi must be much stronger than him. The level of Oneiroi is unimaginable to him now.

But such a powerful life will also have its own helplessness.

People walk in the world, how can there be real freedom at all.

After a few seconds, Merlin shook his head, freeing himself from this sad mood, and wrote again:

So, what do I do? I mean, do I have to start now too, pleasing them? If it makes you less stressed...I can try to please them.

Merlin wrote:

You helped me, and I should help you too.

No need.

Oneiroi's answer was very simple, and the handwriting quickly emerged:

Just do what you want, there is no need to deliberately change.

I have said that the tastes of observers will change. While some people hate you, there will also be people who like what you do. As the protagonist of the story, you make decisions and you bear the consequences.

You don't need to deliberately explain, and you don't need to flatter. You have your own life, you go your own way, and leave everything to others to judge. Whether it is good or bad, you have to bear those judgments...

This is the meaning of the story itself and the existence of the protagonist.

They will scold you, they will even scold me, hate me, humiliate me, but it's okay, I'm used to it...you have to learn to get used to it.

You can't make everyone like you, and no matter what you do, someone will criticize you... just like you and the women around you, some observers like your passion, but there are also observers who spurn your promiscuity .”

But if you cut off your intimate relationship with all the women around you, those observers who like you will turn around and leave without hesitation...

Understood? Don't take the initiative to please, God's will cannot be guessed, so just be yourself.

Oneiroi's handwriting stopped, and after a while, he wrote again:

This is a good thing. Criticism will always make people improve. With the addition of bad words, there is also a blessing that expects you to become better.

Okay, let's not talk about these things.

Oneiroi drew a big smiling face on the parchment again, and said:

If you are interested, after the story is over, come to the Endless Library, we can talk, and I can share more stories with you.

Oh, by the way, there is one more important thing.

In your world, you are not the only one who broke the 'fourth wall'.

Oneiroi reminded in elegant handwriting:

Besides you, there is another person who can directly communicate with the observers without me.

who?

Merlin asked slightly surprised.

The next moment, a name appeared on the parchment.

Wade Wilson, Deadpool, your friend.

A small part of his madness comes from his own suffering, but more of it comes from the fact that he saw through the world earlier than you...

He's actually not crazy, he just chose to give up on himself after learning the truth of everything.

However, the observers like this kind of self-defeating and reckless living. He is harassed so much now that he even voluntarily escapes from the observers' curiosity, so if you have time, you might as well spend more time with Deadpool. Let's chat...

As long as you can endure his madness and gain his trust, then you will definitely gain something.

Merlin nodded.

He glanced at the stick figure-like graffiti that emerged on the parchment. The graffiti showed the appearance of Deadpool. Merlin couldn't help but smile because of the cute style of the painting.

After laughing, he wrote:

One last question, I've seen God before...

Why do I feel that he is different from other heavenly father gods? He told me that he only takes 7 days to create a world on average. I feel like he is bragging, but my instinct tells me that it is true...

Faced with Merlin's question, Oneiroi answered quickly and simply.

Who told you that the God you saw was an ordinary Heavenly Father?

This meaningful answer made Merlin startled.