Chapter 28: A Terrifying Possibility

"You seem frustrated, Nio," Azalea asks the Nio she just happened to run into along the way and led up to the eighth floor, which wasn’t far now from the ninth floor — the throne room and the chamber Nio defends.

It was a relatively quick trip using teleportation, since the third floor where Nio was is the Underground Combat Arena, a complex tunnel system that all leads to one great arena, along with several hidden rooms containing weapons, teleportation materials, and tools.

And since Nio is frustrated, Azalea obviously saw an opportunity to bring her to the eighth floor, which is the Palace Garden — an immense area with a small forest, several small lakes, a river, a field of rare flowers, and a plant cultivation zone.

"Yeah... a little," Nio says, approaching the river as she pulls a fishing rod from her inventory. In truth, she’s never fished before — only in the game — but the moment she holds the rod, her entire body seems more at ease.

"Azalea, what do you know about my wife?" Nio asks, preparing the bait on the hook of the fishing rod, which emits a faint silvery glow along its long red shaft with a black line.

"Nio, you’re this frustrated over her? Well, I don’t know much either. Just that she’s as strong as you are, and that you married her because of the absurd threat she made."

"Aside from the fighting you two did before getting married, of course. That woman has been chasing you since you were a child — I’ve even heard she’s been after you since you were a baby, but I don’t know for sure. She always seems to hover near you at every moment, even when she’s far away." When Azalea says this, Nio shivers.

’Ouroboros... so would Nio and Typhon be like two parts that need to be together at all times? Considering what Azalea said and what Typhon must represent...’ Nio takes a deep breath, casting the bait toward the fish in the small river.

"Azalea, so it would be like two halves of a cycle? Since I represent the end of all things and the birth of all things, would Typhon represent this cycle?" Nio says something that sounds philosophical, but it’s more literal than philosophical, really.

Since Nio in the Lore was literally based on both names [Níðhöggr and Tiamat], if the symbolism Nio thought was cool has become real, it means she literally represents the end of existence, and also the birth of everything — which walks hand in hand with a cycle like Ouroboros.

"Yeah, I think so, Nio. Something like that, I guess. I don’t know what goes on in the minds of beings as powerful as you and Typhon." Nio sits on the ground with an exaggerated sigh as Azalea conjures a small wooden stool with magic, sitting down beside her while she focuses on the fish below.

"Wait — why does Typhon want to destroy everything I’ve built?" Nio has a thought she’s never had before. In the Lore, the basis of it was her obsessive love, the desire to have only Nio and no one else, destroying everything Nio had built and everything she represented.

But following that logic, it doesn’t make sense for Typhon to be part of Nio’s cycle while also wanting to destroy everything.

’So... could it be...’ Nio looks at Azalea and thinks back to when she created this NPC, and she realizes something. Nio has built far more than she’s destroyed in her life. Killing other players doesn’t count as all the destruction she was supposedly meant to cause.

’Typhon... is the part that destroys!? Is that why she’s so obsessed with chasing me? Because she’s actually maintaining the cycle that I was supposed to cause? While I build new things and give life to beings, Typhon destroys what I build and kills the lives I’ve created...’ Nio seems to have an epiphany, making a cute and confused expression.

’But then why did she steal part of my Lore? Is it because the universe isn’t a game? Is it because everything actually needs to function in balance for the existence of all things not to collapse? Like planets orbiting a star?’ Nio pulls a fish up with her fishing rod.

She’d never thought about how the rules governing the world she’s in have changed. In the game, despite it obeying many rules of the real world, there was still a lot of unreal stuff — but those things couldn’t work in reality without many things changing in the universe itself.

’I-Isn’t that kind of terrible? Because if Typhon really is just doing the half of the work I should be doing, it also implies that both she and I might be able to have as much power as in the Lore, which would be universe-destruction level!! Which also means that if Typhon finds some way to obtain such power before me...’ Nio’s entire body shivers.

Because even if it’s a theory, it’s far too solid to be just some delirious fantasy of hers.

"Nio?" Azalea grows confused seeing Nio’s wings spread extremely wide, almost aggressive. Nio looks at Azalea and decides to ask a question. If Azalea knows the answer, then Nio’s theory isn’t just a fantasy — even if it’s not entirely real.

"Azalea, if I took an apple and split it in half, and all apples that exist were split too, if someone made a golden apple statue, what shape would that statue have now that the apple, by natural rule of the world, is something split?"

"Hmmmm... that’s a tough question... well, logically the statues would also have to be split in two, right? After all, if we’re talking about you, it means you used your powers so that a cut apple became the new standard for what an apple is."

"..." Nio makes a face of near despair at that answer, because Azalea didn’t just interpret what she said — she put words into the phrase that Nio had purposely removed, since Nio deliberately omitted the use of her powers from the equation.

"And why did that become a rule? Are all the apples in the world now born cut in half? If so, why?"

"Obviously it would be because of your power, right? After all, if a being of your magnitude says apples look like that, they naturally would be like that. And now everything involving an apple has to conform to the rule, even if it doesn’t make much sense."

"Because the universe doesn’t need to make sense. It just needs to work."

"...Azalea, I want to be alone..." Azalea hits exactly where Nio didn’t want her to. The universe doesn’t need to make sense, it just needs to work — even if there is a logic behind it, not everyone can understand the logic that makes it all function. Without sense doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

When Azalea leaves, leaving Nio alone, she decides to complain about something that is now almost a curse.

"Haa... I hate being so paranoid and intuitive that I can’t stop thinking about such absurd things... if I were just a little bit stupid, my brain wouldn’t reach such terrifying conclusions and I could live so much more peacefully..."

"Oh my god... why was I thrown into this world as Nio? So many possibilities, and I just had to get a brain that thinks up the worst of the worst scenarios? Intelligence never seemed like a bad thing to me before. Now I see that being too intelligent creates anxiety when you realize frightening things..."

"Is this that so-called curse of being a genius I used to see some players talking about?" She asks herself, watching the fish hooked on the line flailing. Without answers, all she has are speculations — but all of them with bases and foundations far too realistic to be ignored.

"Why, apple... why did you betray me... if the concept of an apple changed so that reality could function and an impossible concept wouldn’t exist... then part of my existence really could have been rewritten into Typhon... the universe is the problem, isn’t it? Damn universe and its pathetic attempt to fix every conceptual error!!!"

"It took my creation and reorganized it, giving a fair share to the one being who wants to destroy my life." Nio slaps a hand to her forehead, fully convinced of her own theory, regretting her own creation — made just for fun — more than ever before.

"W-Well, the good news is that, in theory, I’m an actual cosmic entity and can somehow have universe-level power? A-And besides, it might not even be that... even if it seems way too real..." Nio mutters to herself, touching her chin.

"Yeah... it’s not so bad... if I find out before Typhon how to unlock such power... since right now I’m stuck at level 100, and destroying a country is about the most I can manage..."