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Chapter 102: No Fall, No Hate, Only Love

“Greed, Fear, Fall, Hate, Love, Evil, Desire… Hmm, if there are a total of seven stages, then the next one should correspond to the word ‘Fall,’ right? I wonder what will appear… But this stage design is quite interesting; I’m a bit curious about the principle behind it.”

After all, everyone’s experiences and thoughts are different, and what they desire, fear, or admire certainly varies greatly. If it were just seven rigid stages, the actual effect would surely be significantly diminished.

But the previous two stages were different; although Miss Vilyric didn’t love wealth, she couldn’t completely disregard it either. Compared to other disorganized things, the most straightforward wealth did attract her somewhat.

The later stage ‘Fear’ was the same; the priestess was always sensitive to unexplained gazes directed her way and cared more about the unknown than ordinary people.

To put it nicely, it’s called cautiousness; to put it bluntly, it’s actually cowardliness.

So, that kind of environment was considered a professional specialty for her.

However, someone’s advantages were far greater than their weaknesses.

Though it was merely a guess, these stages likely formed in real-time, targeted at different objectives, which wasn’t something easily achievable. It possibly involved the power level of rules.

Amidst this inner contemplation, new images began to gradually emerge around Miss Vilyric.

“Huh? What… is this?”

In the dark, vast emptiness akin to the universe, the priestess saw a pulsating, contracting, and expanding mass of black light, like a beating heart.

Black light sounds strange, but it truly had an unusual form distinct from ordinary night, resembling concepts like “colorful black” or “multicolored white”—things that shouldn’t exist but indeed do.

This was also the only observable thing in Miss Vilyric’s line of sight.

However, before she could approach and examine what it was, the light suddenly erupted!

Like a black hole swallowing everything in existence!

“Whoosh!”

The surrounding scenery blurred, and when it became clear again, it had transformed into an entirely new scene.

“…?”

“What a mess?”

While uttering such astonished words, Miss Vilyric vaguely realized a fact.

She had likely passed, or rather… skipped the third stage ‘Fall.’ Although the reason was unclear, what appeared before her now was probably the fourth stage ‘Hate.’

The reasoning behind the determination was simple.

Because there was basically no ‘Hate’ emotion in Miss Vilyric’s heart, no one in this world was worth her elevating her feelings to the level of hate. The girl had never blamed mistakes solely on others; if there was a grievance, she would retaliate directly, never procrastinating.

Except for one unique exception.

At this moment, she confirmed that the stages here were absolutely customized according to each person’s different mindset and past, even to some extent borrowing from the involved party’s memories. Otherwise, this scene would never have appeared.

“Beep… Beep…”

In a brightly lit room primarily composed of white, the distinct ticking of mechanical devices and dials could be heard. Miss Vilyric stood at the bedside, gazing at the infant quietly sleeping there, still breathing in the cradle.

“…”

As if sensing something, the girl turned her head and caught sight of two shadows at the door, known as the ‘hospital room.’

They were a man and a woman, their backs facing her. Miss Vilyric couldn’t see their faces, but she was extremely familiar with this scene.

“Waaah! Waaah!!!”

Suddenly, the newborn baby began to wail loudly.

The two shadows outside the door turned slightly, seeming reluctant, yet they quickly opened the hospital room door, and with a ‘click’ as the door latch closed, they departed.

“Ha… Hate? Yes, it’s indeed hate.”

The baby on the bed was once Miss Vilyric, yet to become her current self.

And that man and woman, naturally, were her parents, whom she had never met until now.

In her previous life, or rather, the Miss Vilyric on Blue Star was an orphan.

From the time she started remembering, her parents had already vanished. She didn’t know who her parents were and could hardly grasp her own identity. According to the information available to her, she grew up in hospitals and orphanages.

Her body suffered from some congenital disease, a strange affliction that made it impossible for her to wander freely like a normal person, confining her to a hospital room and orphanage like a bird in a cage.

Although some kind-hearted individuals supported her, enabling her to live a life free from want and even experience the revolutionary game ‘Mirage World’ upon its release…

It didn’t compensate for her and her desire for freedom.

Thus, Miss Vilyric loved adventure and refused to be tied to any fixed city or location.

Therefore, she hated her parents, who had abandoned her for reasons unknown.

Such scenes did not exist in reality but stemmed from her countless nightmares of imagining, crying, and hating when she had yet to become Miss Vilyric.

Parents, they were the only two entities she loathed, even without understanding a single detail about them or knowing whether they still existed.

Perhaps, this was her greatest Heart Demon.

“But, I am no longer her.”

The girl lifted her head, her silver-blue eyes reflecting clarity like a perfectly still mirror.

“Now, I am the being named Miss Vilyric. This is the real world, a brand new life; I have no grievances. If that’s the case, why should I be bound by the past and immerse myself in obsession? The bygone… Ha, let it disperse.”

As she raised her hand lightly, the scene before her shifted like the surface of a stirred lake, rippling into nothingness.

“Countless sails pass by the sunken vessel, while blooming trees flourish before the sickly tree.”

The stage of ‘Hate’ had already moved behind her.

The scene reconfigured before her once more, and the girl, having gradually accustomed herself to such changes, simply placed her hands behind her back and waited calmly.

Next up should be ‘Love,’ right?

To be honest, even Miss Vilyric herself found it hard to envision what kind of surprises this aspect of her Heart Demon could conjure up. After all, such a sticky word was far too distant from her.

Soon, new images began to materialize.

She arrived in a serene ancient castle, or rather, a high-end villa.

The familiar and long-lost March showered light in the night sky. The girl draped herself in a light silver gauze, as slender, neatly pruned trees rustled outside with the night wind, and everything was so tranquil and beautiful.

Miss Vilyric quickly recalled where this was.

Well… in a way, it could barely be counted as half a ‘home’ for her in this world.

This was the City of Angels in the Holy Empire, a luxurious villa that Edwina Cecelia purchased and renovated with her personal funds, which then transferred to Miss Vilyric’s name.

It was also the only substantial ‘property’ that the priestess owned in this world.

The priestess contemplated.

If every scene here was based on certain impressions from the memory of the person involved, modified to some extent and created, then since she was situated in the Holy Empire, it made sense that people from the Ancient Spirit Realm wouldn’t appear here, so…

Suddenly, a particularly familiar voice stirred ripples in the night wind.

“Master ~”

The girl blinked slightly and turned her gaze that was directed outside the window back.

The figure of the visitor naturally came into her view.

It was a girl with splendid golden hair, adorned with two handsome dragon horns, wearing wild and pragmatic hot pants and top, barefoot on the ground, her platinum tail slightly raised behind her, swaying gracefully in the air.

“…Xiao Guang?”