27. Realities and Illusions

"Hahaha... I've finally figured out who you are, hahaha..." Sid cackled, his laughter resounding with a twisted sense of satisfaction.

"Oh? And who am I?" the mysterious voice retorted, a hint of both curiosity and unease mixed in its tone.

"I say, the way you talk, the way you piss people off, the way you throw tantrums over the tiniest failures... it's all the f*cking same, everything... Hahaha, if I'm not mistaken, I've got your identity pinned down. Hahaha..."

"Dammit, just say it. Stop dragging this on."

"Hahaha... sure thing, even the way you sound—so damn similar... You're me, aren't you? Hahaha..."

"What nonsense is that? Have you finally lost it? I'm you? Does that even make sense? And here I thought you were proud of actually accomplishing something."

"Of course not literally, dumbass... What I mean is, you're just an illusion conjured up by that girl. And because she's an amateur, you've latched onto my brain, copying my knowledge, pretending to be some know-it-all."

"Hahaha... am I wrong?"

"...."

"Why the sudden silence? What's the matter? Hahaha.. it just means I'm right, doesn't it? Hahaha... and to think a f*cker like you was trying to manipulate me. You don't even have a proper identity yourself."

"And? So what?"

"Huh?..."

"So what if you know who I am? What're you gonna do? You can't even move here, not to mention your body is still under my control."

Sid: (-_-)???... Huh?...

"You're just plain dumb, aren't you?"

"Ugh..."

"Yehehehe... Just you wait till I take over your body completely. To think you're wasting such a precious body. If I can control it, what can't I achieve?"

"Don't worry though, I'll definitely take good care of this body after you disappear completely. Well, aren't I quite considerate? Yehehe..."

"Dammit! I guess... I'm stuck for now... Ugh, what a predicament. What to do? How do I deal with this f*cker occupying my mind?"

"Yehehe... Just surrender to your fate. There's nothing you can do about this situation."

.....

Meanwhile, in the outside world.

Sid moved like a force of nature, destroying everything in his path. Even the creatures hidden under the earth weren't spared his fury. Anything that caught his eye was obliterated without a second thought.

Looking around, he had traveled quite a distance, already destroying a significant amount of boulders and killing countless creatures hidden around.

.....

Back to where the real Sid is

Sid looked at all this, lying helplessly in his mind's domain. His blood boiled with each injury his body suffered.

Although he could easily heal from such insignificant injuries, it was definitely irritating to see someone else harm his body.

"Dammit, just let me get my hands on you for once. I'll make sure to kill you... Ahhh..."

"Heh, and why the hell would I give you that chance? Do you think I'm someone stupid like you?"

"Ahhh.... damn it's so annoying."

"Huh?... what's happening? Dammit, why? Why, why, why? Why won't you contract me? What's so good about this f*cking loser?"

'Is something wrong? You look like you've eaten shit or something, hahaha...'

'....huh? All my thoughts aren't converting to voices anymore, I can think independently again? What the hell happened?'

"Ughhh.... what's this? So much information, it's making my head hurt. What even are these? System notifications?"

"Let's see..."

[Asking for System access... authority check... intruder detected... expelling the intruders... failure... shutting down...]

[...]

[System initiating... asking for access... authority check... intruder detected... expelling the intruders... failure... shutting down...]

[...]

[System initiating... asking for access... authority check... intruder detected... expelling the intruders... failure... shutting down...]

[...]

'Damn! This is going on endlessly. What the hell is it anyway?... Whatever, at least because of it, I could think on my own. Love you, system...'

'Just, it would be nice if I could move my body too...'

'Huh... Come to think of it, I'm in my mind. How does one even control their body here? Could it be....'

Thinking of the possibility, he glanced around all he could see. Only to find the illusion creature tampering with his mind in a corner.

'Looks like it's working hard to take over the system. Hehehe... good luck. Do you think it's so simple?'

The system notifications had given him an undisputed confidence. Just a glance, and he no longer paid attention to that illusion.

'Gotta get to work!' he said, closing his eyes to focus his mind.

It was unclear whether it was because he was in his own mind's domain, or if there was some other reason, but his focus was unnaturally sharp.

'Damn, this feels so natural. I can definitely get used to it.... oh.. ohhhhh....'

Without much effort, he entered a state of observation, as his senses expanded to the entirety of his mind. He could clearly recall the most trivial things in his life—like the face of his long-lost brother. 'Huh, we didn't look that alike like I thought.'

In a corner of the mind's domain, he looked at the illusion that kept tampering with that specific part of the brain.

'F*ck! He looks more like me than my own brother.' After absorbing more than half of his memories, the illusion's appearance was getting closer and closer to his own. This surprised Sid quite a lot, and at the same time, frightened him.

'If not for the system, there was a possibility of this f*cker taking over me.'

"Huh? Who's there?" The illusion looked up in confusion, wondering about the identity of this new intruder.

"Your father." Sid shouted arrogantly, anger seething through his heart. "Come on, kid, it's time for you to go home."

"Huh? The real mind? Impossible! How?" As someone who had taken over half the mind, he could instantly figure out Sid's identity from his speech patterns.

"How? A f*cker like you has no right knowing about this. Pests like you have a better place in hell, you son of a b*tch."

"Hahaha... Now, go and die." Sid unleashed his authority as the true owner, feeling the illusion struggle as it was forcibly expelled. Once it was out, Sid knew it would vanish from reality—a satisfying end for something so pathetic.

"No... dammit, I don't wanna die yet. Sid, you're kicking me out. Do you really think you can reach the top without me?"

Sid: (•_•)???... Huh?

"Have you lost it? When did I ever even need someone like you to become strong? I'm fine on my own. Stop rambling and get lost, you f*cker."

"Nooooo.... F*ck you Sid, you'll definitely regret this."

"Get lost."

Sid finally heaved a sigh of relief as the figure of the illusion completely vanished from his mind's domain.

"Ugh... so tired... so... sleepy..."

.....

In the outside world

Sid slowly regained his consciousness as he blinked his eyes open, looking around at the chaos he had created.

There were broken boulders everywhere, mixed in with the carcasses of some large insects. The ground was cracked as far as the eye could see, traces of black smoky aura still clearly visible at the edges of the cracks.

"Dammit, that bastard." Sid screamed at the top of his lungs, looking around with his eyes wide open.

[...intruders... failure... shutting down...]

"Oh right, there's the system too. I wonder if it's really okay.... System, can you hear me?"

[System initiating... asking for access... authority check... no intruders detected... confirming identity... identity confirmed... restarting the system...]

[Welcome back!]

[Huh? It's still you... so, you survived after all. Guess your luck is really unpredictable.]

"Oh, shut up! Don't play coy with me, to think you're such a loyal system. This young master is touched."

[Eww, gross... take your sobbing elsewhere! And what do you mean by loyal system?]

"Huh? Don't you remember?"

[And how would I? I was asleep because of someone's lack of strength.]

"Ugh... whatever, forget it. Your mocking tone hasn't changed. But why do I feel like... like, you're more emotional somehow?"

[Hmmm, guess you're right for once. Maybe it's because I'm an awesome system, unlike you.]

"Yes, yes, you're definitely awesome. Well, why don't you look around first?"

[How suspicious, you complimenting me without even a flinch? Are you the same old host, or is it some imposter?]

"Huh? F*ck off! Just look around."

[Guess I was thinking too much; you're definitely the same person. So... what's there to look around... What is this? It looks like some unknown catastrophe hit this place.]

[What happened while I was asleep? What did you experience?]

"I wanna know that too. What the hell did I just experience?"

[...]

"Whatever, we won't find anything just sitting around. Why don't you analyze me? See if there are any changes in my body first?"

[Sure... here are all the changes...]

[Egg maturation rate (50%)... there's nothing else different.]

"Huh? Nothing? Seriously?"

[Yep, nothing!]

"Then why the hell is the egg suddenly maturing at such a speed? Are you sure there's nothing? Why not check again?"

[As I said, there's nothing. Are you doubting the awesome abilities of this mighty system?]

[But it is indeed strange that the mysterious egg would start to mature so soon. It makes me curious as well....]

"Whatever, let's go! We have to find a good place to stay. Definitely can't enter the slums or the main city, so troublesome..."

[Yes, it's indeed dangerous in the slums, and as for the city, we definitely can't go there either after what happened today. Just look at the mess you creat...]

"Ahhhhh.... dammit, what the hell? My head's splitting. It f*cking hurts. Ahhhh..."