I'm Not a Flame-Chaser

"Seele!"

Just as Seele was feeling lost and without direction, she heard a familiar call from behind. She turned around in surprise and saw Bronya, Kiana, and Lin standing behind her, with the portal closing behind them.

While Lin was arguing with the Herrscher of Domination, Kiana searched for Seele's presence in this space and then used her ability to directly appear beside Seele.

Seele's panicked heart suddenly settled. Her eyes were red, and her lips trembled as she said, "Sister Bronya, Kiana, and Brother Lin, you..."

"There's no time to talk, let's get out of here first." Kiana opened another portal, this time leading to the outside world. This space was too strange, and who knew what would happen if they stayed any longer.

"Let's go."

Lin coldly gestured with his eyes, Bronya took Seele's hand and walked towards the portal. As Seele was being led away, she turned her head and looked at Lin.

The complexity in her eyes transformed into a warm, flowing stream.

She remembered what the Herrscher of Domination had told her when she arrived in this space.

"Are you unwilling to accept it? That person treated you as someone else. You have the aura of Herrscher. That person was once Herrscher, so he could definitely sense it. Whether it's his apology to you or his behavior of letting you manipulate him, it's all because he treated you as someone else!"

"And... she's being portrayed as Herrscher who has killed countless people!"

"In his eyes, there is no such person as 'Seele' at all. No matter what you do or say, he will only take it as another person in his heart arguing with him!"

"And you... you seem angry on the surface, but you're actually enjoying his misunderstanding and guilt towards you, aren't you? Even if all his feelings for you come from someone who is already dead, those are still genuine feelings. If it were 'Seele,' you wouldn't have much interaction with him at all."

"You see, both he and you are making mistakes, but nobody finds it strange."

"Do you want to correct your mistakes? Do you want him to realize that you are 'Seele'? Do you want his attention to truly fall on you?"

"Hehehehehe..."

Lin stepped into the portal, turned around, and coldly swept his gaze across the boundless space.

He seemed to hear mocking voices.

The "Reversal" of Coral: Chapter Seventeen - The Love of Counterfeits

"Call

The moment the four returned to the Anti-Entropy base, the portal behind them closed, and they successfully escaped from that space.

"Seele, how are you? Are you hurt?" Bronya checked on Seele's condition immediately. Almost 24 hours had passed since she went missing, and this period of inactivity was very worrying.

"Um... I'm fine. They just took me there and then ignored me." Seele said lightly, then her stomach rumbled softly, and her face flushed red. "I... I haven't eaten all day..."

Kiana and Bronya breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Seele was still so energetic. Bronya took Seele's hand and said, "I'll take Seele to rest."

Lin glanced around and saw Welt and Theresa standing not far away with serious expressions.

It seems this incident is more complicated than we thought.

Lin, Kiana, Welt, Theresa, Tesla, Einstein, and Fu Hua sat in the conference room for a short meeting.

After a brief exchange on the circumstances surrounding the theft of the Herrscher of Thousand People's Space and the Oath of Judas, Einstein stepped forward and gave a summary.

"So, you're saying you're trying to take away the Oath of Judas by attracting our attention?" She stirred her coffee, her eyes slightly tired from not having rested for a long time, and said weakly, "Based on research on the Herrscher of the Void and analysis of the Imaginary Space, it can be determined that the Imaginary Space is connected to the real world and follows the laws of physics to a certain extent. Therefore, even the Herrscher of the Void, who can manipulate the Imaginary Space and Imaginary Energy, cannot do anything beyond their powers."

This means that... the Herrscher of Domination has a problem with his/her abilities.

The ability to teleport and to create a space that is almost boundless under Kiana's perception seems completely out of character for the Herrscher of Domination.

"Mr. Lin, Fu Hua, could you describe the abilities of the Herrscher of Domination from the Previous Civilization in more detail?"

Fu Hua and Lin Mo exchanged a knowing glance, and then Fu Hua continued, "A thousand individuals with Herrscher Core can communicate using a quantum entanglement-like method, and they can also use some derivative abilities of other Herrscher, but the gap between them and true Herrscher is too great."

"The only ones that match up right now are a thousand individuals... No, there might be differences. You haven't seen all the Herrscher of Domination; their numbers might not be a thousand." Einstein frowned, took a sip of coffee, and the bitter taste spread in his mouth. "Tesla, did you notice when that researcher started acting strangely?"

"Come on, there are so many people in the entire base, how could I possibly notice everyone?" Tesla replied irritably. "But it's true that she's only recently come into my view."

"It's quite common for a person's personality to change after becoming Herrscher," Welt said, adjusting his glasses.

"What do they want to do with the Oath of Judas?" Theresa asked anxiously. It was her possession, a comrade who had fought alongside her until now, and yet the Oath of Judas had been stolen.

"The reason is unknown."

"...possible."

At this moment, Lin, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up. He rested his chin on his hand and said thoughtfully, "They want the Herrscher Core."

For some reason, he recalled the Herrscher of the Void he had encountered in the World Bubble 50,000 years ago. That terrifying figure appeared in his mind again and again. Perhaps, the Herrscher of the Void was hinting at something.

A Herrscher can use multiple cores, as can be proven by both the Herrscher of the Void in the World Bubble and the Herrscher of the Void in the current civilization.

"What do they want the Herrscher Core for?"

"They don't hate powerful Herrscher," Lin said calmly, raising his head. "They hate powerful Herrscher, not themselves."

After the meeting, the group discussed the details of a secret operation. They planned to use the Herrscher Core as bait to lure the Herrscher of Domination out. If they could capture one, the problem might be solved.

However, Lin believed that things could not go so smoothly. Those seemingly irritable and short-tempered guys actually had a strong ability to execute plans and would plan in detail how to achieve their goals. Even though they were a group rather than individuals, they could operate efficiently.

But there really isn't a better way right now. To defeat Herrscher, you have to understand their abilities; anything else is just empty talk.

Let's continue communicating with that mysterious person...

Lin took out his phone to contact the mysterious person, but unknowingly passed by the restaurant. He stopped and turned to look inside.

A petite figure sat alone in the cafeteria, eating her meal in small bites with her head down. Compared to her, the vast cafeteria was as large as a palace.

"..."

"..."

Sensing something, Seele put down her chopsticks, turned around, and met Lin Si's eyes with her bewildered yet flustered azure pupils.

Lin walked in and sat down directly in front of Seele.

Where is Bronya?

"Sister Bronya was called away by Mr. Welt."

Lin Mo stared at Seele silently. His direct gaze was hard to ignore, and Seele was deliberately ignoring him. After being stared at for half a minute, she put down her chopsticks embarrassedly and asked, "What's wrong, Brother Lin?"

"I've thought about it a lot."

"What?"

"What happened before."

Seele's face stiffened noticeably, but she forced a smile and said, "I already said it's okay, I don't mind..."

"Then let's just say I'm talking to myself," Lin said softly. "You're not actually resentful that I treated you as a substitute for my soul, are you?"

"..."

Lin thought about Seele's matter for a long time. He reviewed what he had done and thought he had been thorough in many aspects. This matter should have ended when he apologized, but he couldn't understand Seele's anger at that time.

He had clearly said that he would no longer regard Seele as a soul and would stay away from her from now on, but this behavior only angered "Seele".

The mystery that had been troubling Lin was solved when Seele came to his room yesterday before she disappeared to tell him about Kiana's situation.

The reminder came from what Seele and Welt said.

The actions taken to reassure them backfired.

Lin treating Seele as a soul indicates that he does acknowledge his complex feelings for Seele. Seele won't be angry about this; what truly infuriates her is Lin's denial of her feelings.

He took Seele's feelings as an echo of her soul, just a little girl who couldn't distinguish between her own emotions and those from memories that didn't belong to her.

Identity can be replaced, but feelings cannot.

Do you want his attention to truly fall on you?

Seele heard the mocking laughter of the Herrscher of Domination, and she silently lowered her head.

Coral's "Twist": Chapter Eighteen - Ready Player One

Why are you looking at me? How childish.

Unbeknownst to Lin, Seele had already transformed into "Seele," sullenly recalling the words of those ridiculous fellows, her head bowed, her eyes occasionally glancing at Lin, who was wearing a helmet.

He is similar to the one I remember now, but the difference is that he used to not care what the people around him thought at all; he was cold and indifferent, like a machine.

The timid and hesitant spirit in her memory made her wonder why it dared not express its feelings at all, as if it regarded Lin as a god that could only be admired from afar, and that it was forbidden to blaspheme in the slightest.

That's absolutely stupid.

"What about Kiana? Does she also embody your feelings for your juniors?"

"...I have no idea."

Just like Kiana's feelings for Rin, Kiana were also very complicated. Logically speaking, she was the first girl to go that far with Rin, but Rin's motives were not entirely based on feelings.

A confused person, and confused things.

"You don't like Kiana, you just think it's the right thing to do." "Seele" saw through Lin's complicated thoughts and sneered, "Otherwise, tell me what you like about her? You're just someone who goes from one extreme to another, from not considering the people around you to completely conforming to their ideas. Your interpersonal skills are still just as bad after tens of thousands of years."

That's why he doesn't resist "Seele" at all; he thinks it's only right that he gets retaliated against.

"... long hair."

"What?"

But then Lin suddenly said something in a low voice that made "Seele" pause for a moment.

Long hair...

"That's it. Don't do this again. It's not good for Seele. She may not mind, but I will." Lin stood up and walked outside.

"Seele" looked at his retreating figure suspiciously. "You recognize me?"

"I can recognize him every time."

"..." Seele's face, which was filled with uncertain emotions, was silent in the shadows. She lowered her head and said to Lin, "I tried to attack those guys, but they would just reappear after I killed them, as if they could never die."

"I understand, thank you."

"Seele" sat alone in the restaurant again, her head down, her chopsticks unconsciously breaking in half.

Do you know about the Herrscher of Domination? Why don't you just tell me?

Lin wanted to type that sentence, but when he thought about what the mysterious man had told him last time and his roundabout explanation, he hesitated for a moment before typing it in.

You know? Why didn't you just tell me?

[Directly informing them of the unknown risks involved, such as searching for keywords online and my own online presence, would make me easily discoverable.]

Are you not human?

A thought flashed through Lin's mind, and he remembered why this mechanical way of speaking felt familiar to him.

There was no reply. Lin's finger hovered over the screen for a moment before he continued, "What are their abilities?"

[A type of quantum entanglement communication method used by the predecessors of Previous Civilization, based on the superposition of multiple networks, consciousness, and energy bodies, but unlike the consciousness network of the Previous Civilization, they were connected through a true electronic network.]

What does this mean?

Lin didn't understand what the other person was trying to say at first, but then the other person explained what he had said.

They are 'players'.

Lin's mind went blank.

Players.

This word is like a sword cleaving through the clouds, cutting straight through the fog.

[Lin, I've been watching you the whole time.] The message on the screen continued, [Let's see how many more girls you can mess around with.]

"Player?"

Welt was surprised by the word, or rather, everyone present was puzzled by it.

Lin stood in front of the projection screen, made a gesture with one hand, and several words appeared on the screen.

He pointed to the term "Herrscher of Domination" and said, "First of all, the chosen ones become Herrscher of Domination, but they are not actually Herrscher directly."

"What does this mean? Please explain, Mr. Lin." Einstein frowned, she was worried about how there were Herrscher of Thousand People but she couldn't find one, when Lin walked into the conference room and said that he already knew the Herrscher of Domination.

Being chosen to be Herrscher, yet not being Herrscher —this is such a contradiction...