Final Ritual

The sunlight was warm but not scorching, and fluffy white clouds drifted across the azure sky.

The Girl opened her eyes to the gentle calls of her voice, and the first thing she saw was a familiar, worried face.

"What's wrong? Did you Nightmare?"

Xing looked at the Girl who had woken up in front of her with a worried expression.

"Maybe we should see Doctor. You've been Nightmare these past few days, and your overall condition has deteriorated. We're leaving in a few days, and you can't stay like this."

"I always feel like... I've forgotten something..."

Sitting up from the bamboo bed under the trees, she looked at Xing, who had a worried expression on her face, and touched her forehead. The Girl seemed a little lost.

"Star, are you real...?"

"What are you talking about? I think you've been affected by that Nightmare. You can't even distinguish between reality and illusion anymore?"

Slightly annoyed, Xing grabbed the Girl's hand that was reaching for her neck and tapped her forehead with her finger.

"You should at least be able to distinguish between dreams and reality. The world is always beautiful; how could such a miserable and hopeless world exist?"

"But..."

"Alright, alright, it's lunchtime now. I knew you'd come here to sleep again. I made lots of delicious food today, all of it is your favorite stuff!"

Xing waved her hand to interrupt the other person, then reached out and took a food box from beside the bamboo bed.

Sunlight filters through the gaps between the bamboo leaves, creating fragmented patches of light of varying sizes on the ground, cut by the bamboo leaves.

"I think you just need to take better care of your health; your brain is acting up. Isn't this wonderful world better than the Nightmare world you're dreaming about? Can't you even distinguish between reality and dreams?"

"But... um..."

"You can't taste food in your dreams; it's nothing like reality."

She stuffed a soft, creamy bread into the other person's mouth to shut them up, and Xing asked with a smile.

"How is it? My skills have improved again, haven't they?"

"Mmm... I want more!!"

The Girl licked the cream from her lips and nodded happily.

"Alright, alright, I made all of this for you, you little glutton... Here, there's plenty more."

Xing spread out a clean blue cloth on the ground, took out all the food from the food box, spread it out, and then, with her hands on her hips and a smug look on her face, began to speak.

"Come and eat together, it'll definitely fill you up!!"

"Oh..."

As the Girl extended her hand, her gaze inadvertently fell upon her little finger.

In a daze, a fleeting, inexplicable doubt swept through her mind... and then vanished in an instant.

"Once you go in, you can't get out?"

Looking at the Book Spirit in front of him, Bai Zhi had a look of suspicion on his face.

"Is this thing really as mysterious as you make it out to be? And where did you get this information from?"

"It appeared automatically in my mind."

The Book Spirit spoke calmly.

"We made a pact: if she falls into [Eden], I will be dragged down to that terrifying place as well. Rather than suffer a fate worse than death, she chose to end it all. That was her choice."

"[Eden] must be pretty good, since you can have anything you want. Why would anyone say it's more terrifying than death?"

After thinking for a moment, Bai Zhi asked, somewhat puzzled, a question that had been puzzling him for a long time.

After all, both the Staff who chose suicide in the Underground Base and the Book Spirit in front of them were very secretive about [Eden]. But just from their descriptions, it was clearly a paradise where you could have anything you wanted. What was it that made them prefer death to going there?

"Heaven is just an illusion; the reality beneath the illusion is what truly drives us to despair."

Shaking her head, the Book Spirit began to speak.

"Every so often, the reality they witness completely shatters their mental and Sanity, but their spirits never break down; they can only endure eternal torment time and time again... That is the true Hell."

"... What's the meaning?"

Hearing the other person's words, Bai Zhi frowned slightly.

Let me explain it to you in a more intuitive way.

Shaking her head slightly, the Book Spirit reached out and pulled open a Light Screen in front of her.

The Light Screen displayed a scene of He He: in a bamboo forest under a blue sky and white clouds, Tong and Xing were happily having lunch together.

"Hitomi hasn't completely fallen into [Eden] yet, so I can still observe her current situation. In this scene, she desires the Perfect world, a world that is completely real to her, where she will live happily ever after. But, watch closely."

As she spoke, the Book Spirit reached out and tore open a Light Screen in front of her.

"This is a simulation I created using existing resources. Its level of terror is less than one ten-thousandth of the true nature of [Eden]. Do you understand now?"

"..."

Without saying a word, Bai Zhi frowned deeply as he looked at the newly opened Light Screen in front of him.

In this scene simulated by the Book Spirit, the sky was blood red. Tong sat alone on a desolate graveyard, chatting and laughing with a skeleton in front of her. One of her legs had been severed and lay on the yellow earth before her, and she was eating the flesh she had cut off from her own foot, bite by bite...

... less than one in ten thousand?

"... This is an illusion."

"No, in [Eden], everything was real for them."

The Book Spirit calmly put the Light Screen away.

"The greater the hope, the greater the despair; this is the essence of [Eden]. Each time, they will fall into the Abyss at their happiest moment, facing truths that are enough to tear their Sanity apart. But under the Strength of [Eden], their spirit and Sanity will never collapse; they will endure these things eternally. No one can escape from there; it is an eternal prison."

"... Compared to these things, death is indeed insignificant..."

Bai Zhi let out a slight breath.

"You can stop Hitomi from being pulled into Eden, but can't you pull her back?"

"No, I don't have that much Strength; I'm just a corrupted book."

The Book Spirit shook its head and pointed to the surrounding Light Screen.

"I only delayed the completion of the Final Ritual."

"... ceremony?"

Turning his head to look at the tens of thousands of Light Screen densely packed around the hall, Bai Zhi frowned slightly.

"What is the Final Ritual? And what is the purpose of these things?"

"The ritual for entering [Eden]."

The Book Spirit spoke calmly.

"When she has no regrets, and no pain or unhappiness, she will formally and completely enter [Eden], and this is the Final Ritual."

"So you used this method to prevent her from completing the ritual?"

Looking at the scenes displayed on the surrounding Light Screen, Bai Zhi narrowed his eyes slightly.

"In the world constructed by [Eden], she can have any wish granted; anything she desires will appear before her or beside her. Therefore, this ritual cannot be disrupted; it can only be interfered with by external forces."

The Book Spirit calmly gave its answer.

"These terrible memories appear in her dreams in that world as Nightmare, which is why the ritual has never been completed; but this only delays things for a while."

"If bad memories appear in her dreams as Nightmare, what about good memories?"

Bai Zhi turned to look at the Book Spirit.

"Would I be able to intervene in the world she's in now through this method?"

"The terrible world is presented as Nightmare, and the beautiful memories are presented as reality, just like Xing. It is constructed directly from her deepest thoughts, so it is absolutely Perfect and without any errors. In fact, it can be said that she resurrected Xing."

Looking up at Bai Zhi, Book Spirit spoke calmly.

"It's impossible to intervene in that world unless you also become Retainer of the [Eden], then you'll have only a tiny chance of entering it."

How can one become Retainer of the [Eden]?

Bai Zhi raised an eyebrow slightly.

"As I've already said, only those with pure Soul, and those actively chosen by Him, can be called true Retainer. You have no chance."

"Really? But what you're saying sounds like you're making a veiled attack."

Looking at the Book Spirit in front of him, Bai Zhi had a look of suspicion on his face.

"No."

The expression on Book Spirit's face remained unchanged.

"Just telling the truth."

"... Forget it, I can't be bothered to argue with a book like yours."

Rolling his eyes, Bai Zhi turned his gaze back to Tong, who was happily eating with Xing on the Light Screen.

"If it's possible to give someone Nightmare this way, then could it also be used to wake them up?"

After a moment of contemplation, Bai Zhi asked again.

"If that's the case, perhaps we could remind the other person by placing something in their Nightmare... like, 'If you're reading this, you've been in a coma for almost 20 years. We're currently trying new treatment options. We don't know where this message will appear in your dream, but we sincerely hope you can see it. Please wake up soon.'"

"For her, that's the real world."

The Book Spirit shook its head.

"Nightmare is just Nightmare. Can you remember every single detail of Nightmare?"

"Those wonderful memories..."

"She will create an exact replica of it according to her inner thoughts, and that world will Perfect fulfill all her wishes."

The Book Spirit spoke calmly.

Those who succumb to darkness are beyond redemption.

"Hasn't she already fallen into depravity?"

"The moment of becoming Retainer is the moment of destruction."

"So you want me to kill her?"

"This is the Unique way."

The Book Spirit looked up and stared at him.

"There is no other way. From the moment we became Retainer, the Unique way to save ourselves was through death; that was the best outcome."

As her words faded, a door appeared in a corner of the hall.

"If you don't want to see her end up like that, go in and kill her. That's the only way to save her."

"... Yeah?"

Turning his head to look at the door that had suddenly appeared, Bai Zhi raised an eyebrow slightly.

"To be honest, I don't Trust you, nor do I believe what you've said. After all, all the information we've received from you has come from you. It's far too easy for you to mislead us. How can I believe you?"

How can I make you believe me?

Looking up at him, Book Spirit's face remained expressionless.

"It's simple, just show me that book. I want the original."

Bai Zhi extended his hand to the other person.

"I'm sure you're not the only one curious about the origins of the Library where you were born, right? You probably haven't shown that book to any other Player before. I can help you investigate; it's very important."

"... Can."

After a moment's thought, the Book Spirit nodded.

As she nodded, a book entirely black slowly appeared in front of Bai Zhi.

[Item Name: The Corrupted Gospel of Truth]

[Type: Special Item]

[Quality: Legendary]

[Special Effects: Unknown]

[Description:: Unknown]

[Origin: There is a Library]

[Maker:※※※]

[Holder: Hitomi]

[Note:: Detailed information is not available to non-owners]

"The Corrupted Gospel of Truth... Legendary?"

Looking at the information about the system that appeared in front of him, Bai Zhi couldn't help but feel a stomachache.

This was the second time he had seen Level Legendary Item. The first time was at the Noah's Ark in the hotel, where he had the [World Master-Servant Contract]. But without exception, he had no chance with either of Item.

However, if someone can create Legendary -Level Item... then what level of being is that creator? Is their name so shameful that it's censored...?

And that name, "[There is a Library]," sounds like a joke... Could the so-called creator be the librarian of "[There is a Library]"?

As Old Mystery are solved, new ones emerge.

Even if the reason might be that the book was corrupted by the Strength of [Eden], causing its Quality to rise to Legendary Level, its original Level was at least Perfect, and the [There is a Library] that was breached contained far more than tens of thousands of books...

I've decided. If I ever have the chance to go there, I'll definitely take all the books there.

Bai Zhi silently set a goal in his heart.

"So? Did you see its origin?"

Seeing that Bai Zhi remained silent, Book Spirit took the initiative to ask.

"Hmm, you come from [There is a Library]. These are all trivial matters, don't waste our precious time, let's continue talking about Hitomi."

Bai Zhi casually handed the book back to the other person.

"..."