Chapter 1431 Cloudy Night Sky: Shadows Dance, the Pioneers Move Forward Part 1

Every time nothing is happening, it always makes me feel uncomfortable for some reason.

And that wind that was blowing told me that the answer was always by my side, all this time.

It was around the time when I got out of the Snake’s Apple, walked around for a while, and entered the Sea of Trees from the direction of the frontline base. I then started to take action.

「………]

I run forward, I fly forward, I swing my sword around, I instantly switch to another weapon within my inventory, I reload my gun and I do a triple axel while I land back on the ground.

All this while, I was constantly on the lookout for “it”. I stayed still with the acceleration of thinking thanks to the skill Eternal Eye “Chronostakisia”. If I just combine what I saw there with what I saw at the entrance of the “Snake’s Apple” at that time…… Yes, that is more than enough to convince me.

In this game, the Player’s field of vision has nothing to do with the surrounding darkness. That means…… there is absolutely a “shadow” to any form of darkness present, and for shadows to be there in the first place, there has to be light.

「There is no shadow in this game that won’t be blurred by the shimmering flames……!!]

The true nature of this strange sense of incongruity here…… That is, if you continue to move forward at a certain speed and doing it dizzyingly…… Just a little bit, that is. The movement of the shadows is slower than the movement of the main body so that you cannot be aware of it unless you stare right at it while accelerating your thoughts. It’s just that kind of a thing.

It’s as if you were trying to hear the voice singing a song, only that its tempo is a little bit slower than the one that you are able to put.

Something that mimics the movements of the shadows…… If I trace the words of that old geezer Arkanum, it would be the “truth” that was despised in blackness. This is the flag for solving the Reverse Position of the “Fool” Arcana for sure!

And just like that, without saying a word I was just silently doing my job, trying to expose the solution to the problem that I was being presented with.

「………]

Even though I’ve noticed the trace of the truth here, noticing it and being able to grasp it are two entirely different things. But what if……? So I crouched down and tried to touch it directly…… And hey, what do you know? My fingers actually managed sink into the shadows on the ground. I pulled out my hand in a hurry, fearing what I might have triggered just now, but fortunately enough the shadows weren’t sticking to my fingers or anything like that. Which is a huge relief.

Being able to actually touch the shadows…… No, if it was the way I think it is, then wouldn’t it make sense that I would have started to sink into them starting with my feet? Especially if I were to step into them on accident? So I guess that the condition here is that you need to be consciously aware of the shadow’s presence in order to be able to physically touch it.

「Oh well, I can more or less imagine what will happen next.]

And how should I even put it…… I guess it’s all about that timing, yeah.

No, that’s not it. It’s because, when we talk about something like that we surely mean THAT, isn’t that right? I myself am the only one who can face myself, right? Wouldn’t that mean “growing through repeatedly fighting myself?” That kind of thing? Only in this way you can surpass your own copy.

What should I do now? I mean, I just happened to clear the Orchestra battle not until that long ago, which actually seemed to be the very pinnacle of that system.

For the time being, I try to sink into my own shadow. I can breathe in there without any problems, but it surely feels like I’m submerged in water right now.

Wait, water? But there is no sign that the game is progressing. Is this supposed to be something like a loading screen? I guess that I have no choice for now but to actually wait and see what happens……

……………

…… Ah, it was at this moment that I could feel my ass actually touching the ground.

「…… And? What is this place? Where was I even supposed to emerge?]

Hmm, yes, yes. My field of vision, which was all black until just now, started to become brighter and brighter. As for this place, it was a lot colder than I thought it would be and the ground was much harder. I tried to kick the ground with my toes slightly to see if any particles would be launched in the air, but the floor beneath my feet looked as if it was made with polished marble.

And in this gradually more visible space, I could see some strange black lumps gathering right in front of me. And those gathering black lumps soon started to create a shape of a person.

「Oh wow, who would have thought? I really need to fight against myself in here……?]

Yes, I really had a difficult time in coming up with a good way in which I was supposed to react in here.

Besides, how are we going to do to this thing? Is it okay if the content is covered to the fullest? Or is it going to be the other way around? Is it going to be exactly like the Orchestra battle, with the AI who is going to crush the Players who think that they have reached the utmost peak of their potential? Or is there going to be some sort of a twist to it?

No, wait just a second! I still don’t know if that’s going to be the case here or not! Let’s not be too optimistic about this! Otherwise I might be set for a really rude awakening! Alright, I’m starting to get all fired up! And when I get all fired up, this is where I start to show my real strength!

As far as I can see here, it seems that the Reverse Position version of “Me” is really just a plain and ordinary copy of myself. It’s an entirely black silhouette, so I don’t know how its face is supposed to be shaped, but at least I can say for sure that it is not wearing any strange mask on its face.

「Umm…… Do we wait until we hear a gong or something like that?]

But just then, the other “Me” attacked me completely out of the blue, without waiting for any signal. Okay then! Round One! Fight! (and then I heard the distinct sound of the gong going off inside of my head)