She

A major reason Liao Ji had chosen Irin was that, as a scavenger, she knew the area well.

With Irin leading the way after becoming a Corrupted, they made much better time than they had on the way in. In less than half an hour, the two of them emerged from a cave entrance.

The bright midday sun made Liao Ji squint as he stepped out of the underground Relic Cave.

Once his eyes adjusted and his vision cleared, Liao Ji looked around, feeling as if he had seen daylight for the first time.

The towering buildings, city streets, bustling crowds, and glittering commercial districts he knew from Blue Star had all vanished.

In their place

was a barren wasteland swept by wind and sand.

And

just like in the Black Cave Plains from the game, the most distinctive feature was the countless holes sunk into the ground.

These were entrances to the Kobold Nest below. It had been one of Liao Ji's favorite dungeons to farm in the early game, and during his explorations, he had left behind quite a few resource sites, like the chamber where he had first awakened.

Only...

He hadn't expected that, five hundred years later, with the source of the Corrupt Calamity destroyed by his own hand and monsters greatly reduced, the underground area beneath this plain of black holes would instead have been renamed the Relic Cave, because of the early-game resource sites he'd left behind.

Liao Ji shook his head with a hint of rueful wonder, realizing once again that this wasn't a dream, much less an illusion. He had truly crossed into the world of Falling—and into its Second Playthrough, five hundred years in the future.

"Old fossil, you've been talking about me this whole time. What about you? What are you going to do next?"

Back on the surface, Irin had grown more talkative. As they headed toward the largest nearby settlement, the Black Cave Settlement, she began striking up a conversation with Liao Ji.

"I'm thinking I'll go find them," Liao Ji said after a moment, reaffirming his main objective.

"Them?"

Liao Ji explained briefly. "The five personal guards you mentioned—the Great Emperor's."

As expected, the girl beside him widened her eyes dramatically.

"You—you—you!"

Irin wanted to say, "Are you crazy?" After all, those two simple words—"them"—referred to five women who now stood at the very pinnacle of power in the world.

She knew Liao Ji had a mysterious background and past, but she still felt it was necessary to give this five-hundred-year-old fossil a proper rundown of the current situation.

The girl held up five fingers. "Listen up, old fossil. The people you're going to find are: first, the Dragon Kingdom's empress, ruler of the largest territory and the most populous nation—and the world's foremost power, at least on the surface."

"Second, the Elf Queen of the Forest Alliance, who studied the Corrupt Calamity and went on to invent magic. People everywhere are desperate to join her."

"Third, the central mother of the Mechanical Alliance, the world's largest weapons manufacturer and home to the most advanced technology."

"Fourth, the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom, whose followers are everywhere and whose Church has branches beyond counting. Countless people suffering hardship look to her as their faith."

"As for the last one, hmph. She's the only one I think you have even the tiniest chance of meeting: the lord of Demon City."

Uh...

As expected of the wives he'd raised himself.

After Irin laid them all out like that, Liao Ji did feel a little pressure.

At the same time, he noticed something rather interesting in what she said.

It was obvious that Irin held the first four in awe. But when she got to the last one, she dropped all the grand introductions, and her awe vanished completely.

Liao Ji couldn't help being curious.

"Tell me, why do you think I'm more likely to meet Rena—the lord of Demon City? A neutral city that can stand alongside the others as one of the five great powers must be pretty impressive, right?"

"Hmph! You won't meet her through normal channels, but the lord of Demon City is a Succubus! They say she has to suck the essence out of plenty of men every night, and that she especially likes rich young masters and pretty boys like you!"

"If you put in some effort, maybe she'll pick you. Then you'll get to meet her, won't you?"

As the girl spoke, she looked utterly disgusted with the lord of Demon City.

Liao Ji found that rather amusing.

She'd clearly spent plenty of time "broadening her horizons" on the dark web, yet she seemed surprisingly innocent.

Besides...

"Do you have any concrete evidence for those rumors about the lord of Demon City?"

Faced with Liao Ji's question, Irin put on the exaggerated air of a typical keyboard warrior. "Huh? What evidence do you need? She's a Succubus—a Succubus!"

Rena's race really was Succubus.

But she was the very...special kind. After recalling all the character events from the time he'd raised Rena, Liao Ji wasn't remotely swayed by the rumors Irin had repeated.

"All right. Since we're in the Holy Kingdom, let's start with the closest one. We'll go find the little nun first. I mean, the Church's Saintess."

Watching the young man act so calm and relaxed, Irin sighed and covered her face. She felt like everything she'd just said had been for nothing.

But soon,

the girl frowned, suddenly sensing something was off.

"Hey! Wait a second. How do you know we're in the Holy Kingdom? I don't remember ever telling you anything about where we are."

"That? I just figured it out."

"Figured it out? You can deduce that!?" Irin stared at him in bewilderment, but Liao Ji clearly had no intention of explaining this time. He only smiled.

Seeing him like that, the girl sulked and stopped asking. Fine, keep your secrets. She hated people who spoke in riddles!

Actually, Irin had wronged Liao Ji here.

He really couldn't be blamed for being cryptic.

After all...

How could Liao Ji tell her that the Black Cave Plains had been one of his early-game regions, and that back then, Stia had been the only character by his side at the start?

If Stia really had founded a new power, she would certainly have brought this land, so full of memories that belonged only to the two of them, into its territory.

From Irin's reaction, he knew his guess had been right.

Once he had confirmed that, Liao Ji felt much more at ease.

To be honest,

back in the chamber, Irin had told him about the most popular rumor among the common folk: that the Great Emperor had vanished because his five personal guards had conspired to murder him. As the person involved, Liao Ji knew that wasn't what had happened, but the rumor still served as a warning.

It seemed that love turning to hatred wasn't...impossible after all.

Thinking back on how he'd put them in "storage," how he'd taken their gear and given it to other women, he knew that even at the end of the game, each of them had held over 90% affection for him. Calling them "wives" seemed too distant; they'd become family.

Still, Liao Ji thought it best to be cautious, especially since his strength had been reset.

But...

There was one exception.

That was right.

Stia.

Even after reaching max affection, no matter how often he'd put her in storage or swapped out her gear for another woman's, her affection had never dropped. In the final ending CG, she alone had been the character with "100% affection" for him.

Five hundred years could change a lot. Maybe the other four no longer recognized him as their Great Emperor, but Liao Ji believed Stia would never change her heart, and would never do anything to hurt him.

That once destitute little nun had now become the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom, worshipped by countless believers. But Liao Ji believed that throughout those five hundred years, Stia had never given up searching for him. She must have been waiting for his return.

The paper-doll character who had once loved him with such devotion was now real, and...

Could anything be more wonderful?