It was indeed a mini task, as all Ren needed to do was coax Zuran through each stage. A little word of kindness or so would be enough to make it through.
Ren gasped in relief as he slowly opened his eyes. The scene had changed back to the cave, and Zuran had gone unconscious, falling into Ren's arms.
Ren knelt there, holding him in a cuddle as he gently stroked his hair. "It's okay… You're safe… It's okay…"
Ren looked around the cave with a smile. "We're safe. We did it."
But before he could relax, the system beeped.
[Now we proceed to the second stage.]
[SLOTH]
"..."
Ren blinked. "Another one already? Can't I even get a break or something? Huh?"
The system didn't even listen to him. The cave began to change, and soon, they weren't in the cave anymore.
Everything was white. Plain white.
Ren found himself standing at a distance. Zuran wasn't in his arms or around him anymore. "Where the hell…?"
He looked around and then caught sight of something—something really, really huge.
A giant cat was sleeping on a cloud. It lazily opened its eyes to stare at Ren.
Its eyes were blue and huge. Ren felt his heart skip at the sight of the giant cat staring down at him. He loved cats, but not when they were this big!
Ren stepped backward as he muttered to himself, "What the hell is going on… Is this going to crush me? Do I have to fight it too…?"
But the cat didn't attack. It never attacked. For a minute, the cat lay there looking at Ren with its lazy gaze.
Ren looked ahead and then saw Zuran. He lay there on the ground at a distance, unconscious.
Ren figured he just had to get to him. And so he began moving as the cat laid its head down to sleep. But as he drew closer to Zuran, the cat raised its head and stared at Ren.
Their eyes met. Ren blinked. The cat blinked. Everywhere was awkwardly quiet.
But the cat didn't get up. It didn't even move. It just stared. Ren felt weirded out. This was Sloth, so he guessed the cat wouldn't do anything. Right?
So Ren tried moving and immediately fell to the ground.
It didn't hurt. But Ren suddenly felt extremely comfortable. He couldn't move his body—or he didn't feel like doing so.
The ground was extremely comfortable, and all Ren felt like doing now was laying there forever and sleeping. His body had grown extremely lazy as he lay there.
Oh fuck, Ren thought. So that's what it does! He managed to turn to the cat, who was still staring at him.
"Let me go…" Ren tried protesting, but his whole body was already calm and lazy. It didn't want to move. His body just wanted to sleep.
And the fact that he was lazy in person made it worse! Ren had quit jobs because he found them stressful. He had spent most of his days sleeping in his room and watching movies. So laziness was surely his second nature!
And that was why it was hard to fight against this. His body was already getting too comfortable.
"Oh no! Damn! Jeez!" He struggled to get up as he stared at Zuran, who was unconscious or asleep—he couldn't tell.
His body was speaking to him: Calm down. Rest. Sleep. It's no big deal. You can rest all you want till you're ready.
Ren was panicking. His body was winning.
"Hey! Zuran! Get up now! Wake up! Don't get fooled by whatever illusion you're having." Ren felt hopeless. He guessed he'd have to stop being lazy in the future.
He stared at the cat. "Please, cat, let me go. Okay?"
The cat stared at him without saying anything. Ren cursed at it under his breath.
He was growing sleepy and tired. He knew he shouldn't stay here long, or else he'd actually fall asleep. So he had to think of a solution.
He had to think of something that got him out of his laziness. Ren thought for a while and finally got an answer.
"Yes." He smiled. Ren turned to where Zuran was lying and began using his wild imagination.
He pictured a hundred copies of BL books lying around Zuran. And then made himself believe that all he needed to do was get up and walk to them and they were all his.
It worked. Ren found himself getting to his feet, and he struggled through until he got to where Zuran was lying.
He smiled. "Works like a charm." This was always his motivation to do anything.
"Hey, Zuran. Wake up." He tapped Zuran on the cheeks and was immediately pulled into his illusion.
———
Zuran's illusion was rather peaceful. Too peaceful.
He caught a glimpse of Zuran lying there in bed without moving or doing anything. Ren didn't understand this at first, but with further viewing, he understood. There were two situations, and in both, Zuran was exhausted.
First was when Zuran was newly picked up by the Demon God. He was enthusiastic and wanted to impress the Demon God, someone he admired. But all his efforts grew fruitless, and he had eventually given up, doing nothing anymore because he believed his efforts were pointless and the Demon God would never like him or see him in a good light.
This first situation gave rise to the second, where Zuran had given up on life after being tortured endlessly by the Demon God. Constantly, he'd lie there with endless bruises, waiting for death to come for him.
He had given up on winning the Demon God's favor to the point that he was willing to do nothing and wait for death.
Ren lay next to Zuran on the plain white scenery. He placed a hand on his cheek while he pressed his forehead against Zuran's.
"I see you. I see your efforts. And I appreciate them. Thanks for always being there for me, no matter how terribly I treated you. Thanks for looking up to me even though I was never worth it. I appreciate every bit of it."
"So… Don't give up now. Don't give up on me. I need you…" His words echoed through Zuran's mind.
Zuran opened his eyes from the bed where he lay in his illusion with a soft gasp. The illusions began falling apart. And before long, they were back in the cave again, in the same position: Ren kneeling on the ground and Zuran lying in his arms, unconscious.
[Congratulations on passing the second task of Sloth.]
[Now we proceed with the third round.]
[GLUTTONY]
"..."