I Really Don't Want to Destroy the World (Seeking Recommendations & Collections)

Medieval castles were built from massive rocks in pursuit of defensive strength, resulting in tiny windows and poor lighting conditions.

The Great Hall of Sothoth Castle, in particular, required many candles to be lit even during the day.

Aaron stood in a corner, watching his father, his elder brother, and a group of knights argue fiercely about something, though his eyes were fixed on those white candles.

In this world with such low productivity, commoners also use candles or oil lamps for illumination, but the castle uses beeswax candles, which produce very little smoke when burned, whereas commoners can only afford paraffin candles or animal fat... use those too much and you might just go blind from the smoke.

As for the argument between his father and his advisors, and the conflict with the neighboring territory, Aaron understood the situation perfectly well.

Come to think of it, he truly admired the transmigrators in the novels of his past life—those who could promote massive technological development or even industrial upgrades single-handedly, as if their minds were filled with encyclopedias.

When it came to him, as a liberal arts student, he could only recall some extremely limited and fragmented information.

Of course, even that extremely limited information was exceptionally precious in this era.

But how to put it—Aaron Sothoth simply couldn't muster the energy.

After all, with the legitimate heir Colin in existence, Theodore, as an old-school aristocrat, would never allow him to inherit the territory, and for the sake of centralizing power, Theodore also rejected any act that would fragment the land.

As the second son of the family, he would at most receive a meager monetary gift upon coming of age, and then he would have to find his own way.

Aaron had tried once; it took many failures before he figured out how to make cheap, durable paper, thereby establishing a paper mill.

Then, his father—the man who was his father in name only—merely offered a verbal compliment before ordering the steward to seize the workshop for the family.

This move immediately caused Aaron to lose hope and finally understand his own situation.

Although his reincarnation technique was decent, it was ultimately lacking.

It wasn't just the ancient Eastern rites that were "man-eating"; the rules of the West were exactly the same.

Within the territory, the lord's word was law! Any resistance without strength was a joke!

He even had to be thankful—thankful that he wasn't a commoner or, worse, a serf at the very bottom of the social ladder.

Once, Aaron had seen a clever serf child try to report a tax collector's corruption while Colin was inspecting the fields.

Before the boy could even reach Colin, he was kicked half to death by the guards for blocking the noble lord's path with his filthy body!

As for the content of his cries, Colin didn't even deign to listen!

From that day on, Aaron became even more cautious, or rather, silent.

As for killing Colin and taking his place?

To be honest, he had entertained the thought, but after weighing the supporters of both sides and his standing in Theodore's heart, he abandoned this less-than-tempting idea.

After all, because of his own show of weakness, although Colin didn't think much of him, he hadn't made any direct attempts on his life; for him to strike first would still weigh on his conscience.

Besides, a mere paper mill was a fair enough price for all the food and shelter he'd enjoyed over the years.

The conflict between the Sothoth Family and the Davis Family had also arisen because of this workshop.

The profits from the paper mill had aroused the greed of the Davis Family; they had sent spies previously, and later, the heads of both families held several discussions, finally signing a peace treaty, marked by the betrothal of their direct descendants.

But now...

"The Davis Family is not satisfied with our previous proposal; they want more..."

Theodore drew his dagger and slammed it into the wooden table, the tip still trembling: "We will make them realize they have made a grave mistake!"

The men in the hall roared savagely, with Colin being the most red-faced and neck-strained of them all.

Aaron followed along and shouted a few slogans, though he felt little interest.

For some reason, Theodore swept a glance toward the corner: "Aaron, you are sixteen now, a man grown. It is time you went to the battlefield to earn your own glory."

"Yes, Father." Aaron paused for a moment before responding calmly.

After all, this was a society where two lords could go to war over a wild boar; that he had managed to delay going to the battlefield until now was already lucky enough.

Night fell.

Even so, Colin had his engagement broken off, yet I have to go to the battlefield for him—it's truly infuriating. Blades and arrows have no eyes; I might just end up dead... and I'll miss the maids back home...

Aaron, bare-chested, waved his hand to let a beautiful maid with a blushing face leave the room. He stared at the closing door, thinking to himself.

At this moment, Aaron felt devoid of desire, like a sage; he closed his eyes and drifted into a dream.

His sleep quality had always been good; he could basically fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

If I close my eyes, the world ceases to exist...

His body was falling, and he jolted awake.

Aaron opened his eyes to see a vast, azure ocean: "Here again, this dream again!"

As a transmigrator, he did have a golden finger, though it was quite useless: every time he fell asleep, he would enter this dream, maintaining a state of consciousness as if he were in a lucid dream.

When he was still an infant, Aaron had entered this dream and seen the blue sea.

As for himself, he was in a very strange state, seemingly floating above the surface of the sea, yet appearing to have no weight at all.

He was like a ghost; any object could pass through him, and he possessed not a shred of strength, unable to lift even a speck of dust.

It was as if... he were a pure observer, a prisoner fixed in a single position.

Aaron even suspected that this was merely a peculiar dream rather than some sort of cheat code.

It was only after many subsequent attempts, discovering that he entered the same dreamscape every time, that he finally had to admit that this place might not be a dream, but an alternate world.

"But... why is it anchored in the middle of an ocean?"

Aaron was speechless; he had stared at the horizon until he was nearly sick of it.

However, as time passed, he realized that his consciousness seemed to be growing stronger bit by bit.

Or rather, every night he entered this dream, it served to strengthen the power of his consciousness.

Until tonight!

Sixteen years of accumulation seemed to have finally reached a certain limit!

BOOM!

Aaron Sothoth felt an indescribable sensation.

His consciousness expanded infinitely, as if breaking through some shackle, extending and swelling to the furthest reaches...

Disorder, chaos... he felt as if he were at the center of a void, where twisted afterimages danced accompanied by emerald flames and the sound of maddening flutes...

A powerful force surged within his heart; it felt as if he could change everything before him with a mere wave of his hand!

He smiled, looking at the horizon that had remained unchanged for sixteen years, as well as the sun in the sky, and thought with a hint of madness: "If I can change things, this sun looks so boring. It would be better if it were red!"

The moment the thought crossed his mind, Aaron felt as if a floodgate had opened within his consciousness, and the power accumulated over sixteen years poured out!

In the sky, that star which had seemed eternal and unchanging suddenly saw crimson spots crawl across its surface, which then connected into patches, dyeing the entire sun red!

Crimson light shone down, covering the land and the sea...

Hidden within this radiance seemed to be an indescribable terror and eeriness.

Splash!

The sea surface parted as schools of fish floated to the surface, their scales bursting open as if numerous nematodes were wriggling beneath their flesh, sprouting sharp claws and teeth...

The strange fish gathered, biting, devouring, and merging with one another...

Not far away, a larger shadow emerged; a creature resembling a whale became the final victor, beginning an even more frantic flesh-based mutation...

"I... I didn't mean to do that..."

Feeling the weakness in his consciousness as if he had returned to infancy, along with a clarity that was gradually shaking off the madness, Aaron was on the verge of tears.

At this moment, fragmented messages surfaced within his mind:

[I am the Dream, I am Entropy, I am Everything!]

[I exist independently of all dimensions; I am indescribable, unnameable!]

[I am omnipotent!]

[I am... the 'Dream Creator'!]

New book, seeking support.