>>6284700NO! That’s not who you are! Not at all! This is the real you! You’re a Hero who saves people, just like how you’re going to save Lorina and save everyone else here!
<span class="mu-r">”How?”</span>
Well, you’ll think of something, so far you’ve always managed to get yourself out of any situation you’ve found yourself in!
<span class="mu-r">”That’s not true, though, is it? Don’t you remember when you were the girl who did nothing but give up? The girl who locked herself away in her dark room, illuminated by nothing but her old laptop, doing nothing but watching anime and foreign movies? Who decided her life was too hard, so she shut herself away from it and dreamed of nothing but escaping it?”</span>
Tha- That’s not true! You still went to school! A-and you passed your classes and had friends!
<span class="mu-r">”A friend. One who only hung out with you because you were together since childhood. One who stopped when someone more attractiv-”</span>
Why are you doing this? Why now? It’s getting hot and hard to breathe! The others are starting to panic! Three of them are even crying in despair! Even the brat boy! Why now?! Can’t you just say what you want and get this over with!?
<span class="mu-r">”What I want is for you to stop running. This is the only time I can get you to listen. When the world is aflame and there’s nowhere for you to run away. Look. at. me.”</span>
You bring your sword in front of your face. It doesn’t move, it doesn’t speak. There are no eyes that bulge out. It doesn’t even have a dragon’s face on its hit that makes weird expressions when talking to a young cat girl. The only thing you can see in its radiant shine is you. You see your reflection upon a backdrop of flames.
“What the fuck are you saying?”
<span class="mu-r">You’ve locked me away for so long. Run from me ever since you found yourself in this world.</span>
“I didn’t do anything like that. You’re just the Cheat Skill I was given when I entered this world; all Strangers are given one.”
Then something happens. The voice of the sword changes as you hear it inside your head. It’s the voice of your own thoughts.
<span class="mu-r">You truly believe me to be some random magical item that was bound to you? That this would be so simple?</span>
“Yeah? Of course I did! This world <span class="mu-i">is</span> simple! It’s the simple answer to all my problems. The place where I can finally be who I truly am on the inside! Where can I finally be a Hero!”
<span class="mu-r">We’ve never been a hero, Marie. All you’re doing is wearing another mask while running away from the decrepit being you know you truly are. All you’ve ever done since you’ve entered this world is play pretend. Perhaps, I should congratulate you on your success; dumb luck has allowed you to escape yourself and flee to a world where you aren’t the spiteful little girl who does nothing but reject the world she was born into. This land really is a heaven for a rotten girl like you.</span>
