Chapter 238
Behind the calm of his uncreased face, within the most private space of his heart, Theo murmured.
Not with words spoken aloud, but through a solemn inner dialogue filled with admission.
More than once, a deep and sincere sense of gratitude flowed from the center of his being.
He was grateful not merely for tactical victory or the elimination of a threat, but for a gap, a remaining possibility—the life of Aldraya still clinging to her wounded body.
That surge of relief blended with immense thankfulness, an acknowledgment of debt offered in humility.
All of it was directed toward a single entity.
Quil-Hasa, the Creator of this world.
Theo expressed his gratitude for the commitment, for the promise that had been agreed upon between the two of them.
It was a fact that transcended the usual hierarchy between creation and creator, an alliance built upon mutual understanding and intersecting interests.
That promise was the thread holding him back from the abyss of total uncertainty, a guarantee within this vast game of reality.
In the silence of his heart, Theo acknowledged that without Quil-Hasa's commitment, the stage upon which he now stood might have taken a very different form, perhaps darker and devoid of hope.
"From the moment of Your Presence here, You have been observing Ilux with an unusual level of scrutiny, Inspirator.
Every movement, every deviation, You record immediately, as though he were more than just a variable within the scenario.
Could You explain Your intent and purpose?"
"First of all, let me be clear that I am not planning anything.
It is simply curiosity.
Ilux is the main protagonist of Flo Viva Mythology—it is only natural that I would want to see how he moves when placed under real pressure."
"Is that truly all?
Or does Your interest run deeper—rooted in the fact that he is the protagonist of this world, while You are the source of inspiration that gave birth to the framework of its existence?"
'How could She know?'
In a flashback from minutes before the chaos within the cave began, Theo was still standing before Quil-Hasa, the Creator whose form radiated calm yet indisputable Authority.
The space around them vibrated with a different frequency of reality, an interdimensional realm where concept and actuality intertwined.
Before Theo departed to approach the site of the conflict between Ilux and Aldraya, Quil-Hasa posed a question that pierced directly into the core of his motives.
The entity's voice, like recorded stellar thunder, challenged the reasoning behind the detailed attention Theo had given to Ilux.
Quil-Hasa's gaze seemed capable of penetrating layers of alibis, highlighting an interest that appeared to exceed mere observation.
At first, Theo attempted to deflect.
In as flat a tone as possible, he replied that his interest was nothing more than the curiosity of an observer toward the main character of the game world Flo Viva Mythology.
He tried to diminish his concern into something academic, a study of a popular creation that happened to exist before him.
Yet that evasion left a gap that Quil-Hasa seized sharply, already aware of the metaphysical thread connecting the Writer to this world.
With a demeanor both surprising and calm, Quil-Hasa pressed further, striking directly at the heart of the hidden relationship.
The entity questioned whether Theo's particular attention was tied to something deeper.
A relationship in which Ilux stood as the central protagonist of this fictional world, while Theo himself served as the concealed inspirator, the source of imagination that led the game's creator to formulate the entirety of Flo Viva Mythology, inspired in no small part by Theo's legendary horror work, Last Prayer.
The question was no longer a mere request for clarification, but a revelation.
It lifted the veil on a truth: that Theo was not merely a foreign visitor, but part of the narrative architecture of that world itself, bound to the fate of its protagonist through threads of destiny woven from his own imagination.
"So from the beginning, there was no way for me to deny it, was there?"
Fhuuuuh!
"Since my real world was swallowed by Flo Viva Mythology—including my own existence—one bond has been formed.
Not a blessing, nor a complete curse.
If Ilux is wounded, my body bears it as well.
If his soul fractures, my consciousness trembles alongside it."
Hhhh!
"But if I am destroyed, Ilux feels nothing.
On the contrary, when he gains a skill, a title, or any benefit whatsoever, the effect falls upon me as well.
Without side effects.
Without rejection."
"He advances, I grow stronger with him.
He falls, I bleed with him.
But whatever happens to me never flows back to him."
Fhiiiih!
"That is not a fair relationship.
Nor is it symbiosis.
It is a one-way relation that forces me to pay attention to every single beat of his existence.
And that is what irritates me."
Still turned away, his back rigidly facing Quil-Hasa who watched him from behind, Theo fell silent for a moment.
The preparation for teleportation he had nearly actualized stalled midway, halted by the Creator's question that cut far too deep.
The moment trapped him in an unavoidable confession, caught between the urge to act immediately and the need to answer a truth that was beginning to surface.
At last, with a heavy exhale drawn from his chest—a sign that all room for evasion had truly vanished—Theo responded.
His voice was flat, yet laden with deep exhaustion, not physical fatigue but existential weariness.
He explained that since his real world, and his very self, had been forcibly swallowed into the reality of the game Flo Viva Mythology, a strange connection had been formed.
A bond he could not categorize as wholly beneficial, yet not entirely harmful either.
Even so, the mere existence of that bond was a constant source of irritation to him, a connection he felt as a subtle yet tangible shackle.
That bond, he stated plainly, was a profoundly odd asymmetric relationship.
If Ilux, the protagonist, was injured either physically or spiritually, Theo would feel the impact directly.
Conversely, if nothing happened to Ilux, Theo felt nothing in return.
The paradox continued.
If Ilux gained something advantageous—a new skill, a title, or any form of power—Theo would also receive the benefit, entirely free of side effects.
Yet once again, the reverse did not apply.
At its core, the bond that irritated him was essentially a one-way path of destiny.
Everything that happened to Ilux resonated and echoed within Theo, steering parts of his lived experience.
But everything that happened to Theo—every action, choice, or consequence—never touched or influenced Ilux in any way.
Theo was bound as the passive recipient of the protagonist's life echoes, a shadow that could feel but never return influence, trapped within a parasitic symbiosis dictated by the strange laws of this reality.
"Our agreement was not born of assumption, but of awareness.
And within it, there was one point that You agreed to deliberately, without coercion.
If one party encounters hardship, the other will assist—not out of forced obligation, but out of willingness."
After listening to Theo's honest explanation, heavy with irritation, a deep silence enveloped the space between them.
Quil-Hasa remained silent.
The Creator's quiet was not empty, but filled with a process of understanding that resonated at unseen frequencies.
To be continued…