Chapter 250

Chapter 250

“Do you think reality is important?”

At Saintess Aram’s question, Giovanni tilted his head.

“It sounds like a question related to this dungeon—did I read that correctly?”

“Yes. Watching the brothers and sisters of the Moon Lady Religion research the ‘Amusement Park of Dreams,’ I started thinking that way. I was curious about your opinion, Teacher.”

“I’m surprised to receive such a profound question the moment I arrive after a long time.”

“...Ah.”

Only then did Aram seem to grasp their situation.

“Was it a bit much to ask something like this as soon as you got here?”

“This time I packed my things again because I intend to stay for quite a while, so it’s fine. But when you make other friends later, it would be good to at least give them time to unpack before you ask.”

“S-sorry.”

Gio muttered “lack of social skills” to himself as he unpacked anyway. Now that she had recovered and could move freely, Aram followed closely behind him. She was like a chick trailing after a mother hen.

After Gio finished organizing his luggage in his room, he turned to her.

“Good. Now we can talk comfortably. Is there a place you would recommend?”

“Suddenly speaking formally... Hmm, a place to recommend.”

“I’m asking for a good place to casually exchange opinions.”

“How about the discussion hall you visited before?”

“The priests there are too scary, so it’s hard to go.”

“? You didn’t look scared at all...”

Anyway, since he said so, Aram offered other options.

“How about my room?”

“Aram’s room, together with all those countless theory books and papers?”

“Then... a quiet dining hall, since there probably won’t be anyone there right now...?”

“Hmm? It’s already seven o’clock—do you think I came without eating dinner?”

“...Ah, ah!”

Aram finally found an answer.

“Let’s go to the garden salon! The salon we made together last time is still being well maintained. It’ll be good for having light snacks or tea while we talk...!”

“I’m glad you seem to understand me a bit now.”

The two headed for the garden where the stars glittered. Aram smiled awkwardly.

“Honestly, before you came, Teacher, this garden was almost only maintained out of obligation. Occasionally visiting guests would praise its beauty, but unless they were outsiders like that, there aren’t many people in our order who come and go in the garden...”

“I understood that the Eunwol Guild sent people to maintain it, but I heard that lately priests of the Moon Lady Religion have been taking care of it little by little as well. What is the atmosphere like among them?”

“I think they said it’s good for spacing out. That it’s suitable for cooling down when their brains are overloaded...”

“They really do like studying.”

And so Gio and Aram arrived at the salon. In the middle of a space like a greenhouse built of glass, there was also a tea table. It had been set there for light conversation.

Once they sat down, an attendant came.

“Shall I bring you something to drink?”

“Please bring snacks too.”

“I will bring them shortly.”

Warm tea and fruit were brought together. Perhaps to let them talk comfortably, the attendants went outside the greenhouse. If they needed help, they could call them again with the bell.

Only then did a place for conversation come to be.

“So, about what we were just talking about...”

“You’re asking about the weight of dreams and reality?”

“Um, maybe.”

Aram furrowed the bridge of her nose.

“Recently, the atmosphere among the brothers has been strange. Their sleeping time is the same as usual, but the number of times they sleep is gradually increasing. And if they can’t fall asleep because they’ve slept too much, they even take sleeping pills...”

“That sounds a little dangerous.”

Gio’s face darkened.

“I know because similar stories have reached the Collection Merchant as well. They say the number of people addicted to the ‘Amusement Park of Dreams’ has been steadily increasing lately. Even if the sleep time itself isn’t increasing, so it doesn’t interfere with maintaining society... if this continues, a problem will eventually arise.”

“Ah, so problems like that are happening outside as well. Certainly, our order isn’t at the point where we can call it a problem yet. We’ve used drugs for experiments many times before, too. But... how should I put it. Chasing a dream that isn’t reality feels... a little...”

Hesitating, Aram continued.

“It feels chilling.”

The Moon Lady Religion, already quiet, had become even quieter recently.

“I haven’t experienced it, so I don’t really know what the brothers are thinking or feeling.”

“Has the bishop still not granted permission?”

It was formal speech again, but Aram understood him in her own way. When he treated her as someone to protect, he spoke casually; when he treated her as a student, it seemed he used formal speech.

She let out a sigh.

“Yes. She said that since something like that happened recently, there might be unforeseen side effects. They also say this dungeon wasn’t made by an ordinary monster, but is an evil god’s prank... so the bishop seems to be taking even greater precautions.”

“If it’s a dungeon made by a god rather than a monster, it would be troublesome.”

“Because even the criteria for clearing a dungeon created by divinity is much more ambiguous. At first, there was a strong perception that it was just a lucid dream for releasing one’s grudges in reality, but now it feels like it’s gradually becoming an escape.”

Aram looked up at Gio.

“So I wanted to ask you too, Teacher. About dreams and reality.”

“Both are wisest when you maintain the proper balance.”

“When you maintain balance?”

“Isn’t it said that too much of anything is bad?”

Giovanni gave his characteristic bright smile.

“Just as food is bland and boring if it’s too light, and hard to put on your tongue if it’s too salty, living is the same. Humans, who can never be perfect, must rest—but cannot only be collapsed, either.”

Aram blinked.

“To think even your analogy would be about food.”

“Isn’t it the easiest to understand?”

“That’s true.”

“This seems like a serious and philosophical dilemma that doesn’t suit me... I’m someone who thinks quite simply.”

“At least your appearance suits you very well, Teacher, so don’t worry.”

“I’m happy you say so. Then shall I show off a little more?”

Gio rubbed his chin, rolled his eyes, and spoke again.

“...Humanity has escaped from reality countless times up to now. Not only sleep like now, but also play, meals, and conversation were included. As the flow of the 시대 progressed and technology developed, the depth increased.”

It was still the same now.

“After the Great Catastrophe, mystique entered our world. People could choose mental escape using magic, and could even run away from their daily lives. In chaotic times like now, it isn’t difficult to erase your identity and move your dwelling.”

“Even things more trivial than I thought were included in escape.”

“Running away from a hard and exhausting daily life isn’t such a great thing. You simply avert your eyes. If you keep your eyes fixed on the moon in the sky, you get tired, but whenever you take a moment to look at it, aren’t you entranced by its beauty?”

Anyone could run away, and that was natural.

“But if you stare only at the moon all day, it becomes a problem.”

“...”

Hesitating, Aram asked.

“...Are you saying this with our teacher of the Moon Lady Religion in mind...?”

“Would I say such irreverent words with the Moon Lady Religion’s saintess before me? This is only a metaphor. If something comes to mind from it, all of that belongs to the saintess.”

“...Understood. I will continue to listen.”

“That is an attitude that pleases your teacher.”

Giovanni continued.

“The saintess asked whether reality is important. Yes, it is important. The roots of our souls and everything of our lives are here. It is an important element that can never be replaced by a dream.”

“You mean it is precious?”

“Precious and important are very different. Unfortunately, quite a lot of people live while misunderstanding that. That is why there are many who blame themselves for not cherishing what is important to them.”

“Ah, that... is it that different?”

“Of course.”

Naturally.

“You cannot love all the important foundations that make you. If humans had been living creatures overflowing with love and patience since the moment they were made, it might have been different, but we always live for ourselves.”

“For ourselves?”

At the saintess’s question, Gio laughed.

“Of course, there are people who sacrifice themselves like the saintess. But even that is the saintess’s desire. You could have chosen not to, yet you wished to become a saintess and benefit the world, didn’t you?”

“That’s... true.”

“Choice is one’s opinion; it is a declaration of will that the entire world will never wholly agree with, and therefore it is selfishness. It is the same context as how no one can be a person who is absolutely kind to everyone.”

A choice that pleased everyone could not exist.

“Shall I give an example? I do not like my blue eyes at all. I cannot love them. But if I were to pluck out these two eyes, I would no longer be able to see ahead, would I?”

“...What if you used a dye to change the color of your eyes? To a color you like, Teacher.”

“How long would that last?”

“No magic or drug can be permanent. But it could keep the color for something close to a lifetime. Wouldn’t that be enough?”

“Even so, the memory that I had blue eyes would not disappear. Many people besides me would remember it.”

“There must be magic that alters memories.”

“Very well—if I ultimately made such a choice.”

Giovanni tilted his head.

“Could you call that me?”

“...Ah...”

“It seems you understood well.”

No matter how clever and subtle the method, it was the same.

“The essence would change.”

That was why what was important and what was precious were different.

“Everything that makes me, that makes my surroundings and this world, is important. But there may come times when, because it is not precious, you want to throw it away. In a world like today, where people reject one another and individualism is deepening, it cannot help but be even more so.”

“But until now there hasn’t been any problem... Hmm, I suppose this is something I can say because I, as the Moon Lady Religion’s saintess, have been treated well. If I think back to when I was once a drifter in the slums, it would be hard to say the world was a place where people could live without worry.”

“The reason so many ‘problems’ have not surfaced until now is because people had no choice but to live that way. If arrows are flying at your back, could you not run? People ran because if they didn’t, they would die—and now they have found a single tree that can block the arrows.”

The arrows were reality, and the single tree was escape into a dream.

“But how long can you stay hidden there?”

Was the reason they ran only because of the ‘arrows flying at their backs’?

“Humans all have desire. Unless you are among a few unusual exceptions, even the saintess who wishes to offer herself to warm the Moon also has desire. In your case, a desire for knowledge is characteristic.”

“Th-that’s true.”

“That is why the reason people have run so hard until now is not only ‘because if they didn’t, they would die.’ To eat the food they wanted to eat the next day, to meet the person they love, for the promotion that would come if they endured just a little longer...”

And so on.

“Hidden in a narrow tree, none of those desires can be resolved.”

“But I heard that the ‘Amusement Park of Dreams’ fulfills people’s desires.”

“It only fills desire in the literal sense; it does not resolve need. In the end, nothing substantial remains.”

“But... knowledge remains.”

No matter how much it was a dream, as long as you remembered, the knowledge from that amusement park could continue.

“And that is why the Moon Lady Religion is in turmoil. Some are even saying that, if it’s anyone else, perhaps not, but shouldn’t we make use of this dungeon. Because the Moon Lady Religion is a hall of reason that gathers and cultivates knowledge... they say there is no place that can make better use of it than the Moon Lady Religion.”

Giovanni smiled.

“And that is how the Association’s research institutes of today were born.”

“...Yes, that’s right.”

Aram also knew how horrific things some of the Association’s research institutes were repeating. She could not bring herself to affirm it. She was simply curious.

“Do I have to be whole myself?”

“Is that what you think?”

“No. I think it is right to preserve myself. Because my will to make the world more beneficial is far stronger than seeking only the peace and pleasure of just one me.”

“Then this must be the thoughts of the other brothers.”

“They want to become part of the dream.”

From the beginning, they had treated themselves as tools and components rather than humans. The priests of the Moon Lady Religion, who had handled themselves carelessly and used themselves as test subjects. They feared losing neither ‘what is important’ nor ‘what is precious’—they feared nothing at all.

To that, Gio said,

“And yet they returned to reality.”

“...But at this rate, it feels like before long they’ll all become addicted to the dream...”

“It would be good if they could remember before they forget, wouldn’t it?”

“...Remember what?”

“The reason they gave up the dream and returned to reality.”

“...”

“Do you know what that is?”

The class was over.

“Think it through.”

Not long after, she found the answer.

And then she went to see the bishop.

* * *

“Something is happening to our teacher too...!”

Aram raised her voice.

“There are too many things about this dungeon that don’t sit right. With its appearance, our teacher has fallen silent as well, and he no longer even shows himself to me. Even though I am the saintess, the Moon does not answer—this clearly signifies an abnormal phenomenon!”

“That does not become a reason for the saintess to participate in this research. Have you forgotten how precious a talent you yourself are? You wished to warmly heat the Moon and benefit the world, did you not? Then you must also remember your own importance.”

“I also know my own importance—me too, I’m precious to myself! I don’t want to be sick, I’d rather laugh than cry, and I like being happy more than being lonely! And that’s why I’m saying this...!”

Aram was angry.

“It’s what I want to do!”

“Saintess, right now—”

“Don’t put it off—answer me!”

If all she did was be protected, what value did she have?

“I’m a living person too—I have things I want and things I want to do! If my selfishness will not cause harm, then there is no obligation to refrain. If the Moon Lady Religion did not raise me like livestock, if I truly am a person! If I am not some cattle to be eaten soon, but truly your family and the Moon’s family...!!”

Then.

“...My actions also do not need excuses or reasons.”

“It could be dangerous.”

“We can choose and carry out anything.”

“But...!”

“That’s the Moon Lady Religion...!!”

“...”

Only then did the bishop speak honestly.

“...I am afraid I will ruin everything.”

A few days later.

The saintess participated in the research on the ‘Amusement Park of Dreams.’

* * *

In the early days of research, even after learning the sweetness of the ‘Amusement Park of Dreams,’ the brothers had been able to wake easily.

But the number of brothers addicted to the dream was gradually increasing. And Aram’s teacher said, ‘It would be good if they could remember before they forget.’

Aram knew what they were forgetting.

“...”

That we are family too.

They were forgetting that this unremarkable daily life had also been happiness.

“...I can do it too.”

That was why Aram stepped forward. Though she had been chosen, becoming the Moon was her own will. Because she loved and wished to protect the Moon Lady Religion more than anyone, she did not refuse the position of saintess.

She had both duty and right.

“It’s my choice.”

She put a paper with her wish written on it into her pillow and fell asleep.

* * *

『Please help my family wake up』

(Continued in the next part)