Self-Therapy in the System Core

I Accidentally Became the Guild's Therapist

Chapter 20: Self-Therapy in the System Core

Livia Marcelline Quinn, Mental Supporter Lv. 5, stood paralyzed in the shimmering "world of code," the ominous ultimatum from the masked Developers echoing in her non-existent ears. "If you refuse... you will be erased from everyone's memory. Completely. As if you never existed."

The alternative was just as chilling: become an Administrator, lose all her feelings, all her memories, her very individuality. No bonds, no personal memory, they'd promised, just pure data.

A wave of existential dread, cold and sterile like the code-walls around her, washed over Livia. She thought of Alaric's blank stare, the "severed bond". Was this the fate she was always meant for? To be a glitch, then a forgotten line of code? If they erase me… will the guild go back to normal? Will they even miss me? Or will I just be… the bug they never saw coming, cleanly wiped from the system? She wasn't sure which was worse: a forced lobotomy of the soul, or total, absolute oblivion. In the silence, Livia sensed it—not from the HUD, but deep in the code. A countdown. Invisible. Inevitable.

Her HUD, still minimal, displayed "Decision Pending: Livia, Empath Eternal." There was no time limit, but the silent, watchful presence of the masked Developers felt like a ticking clock. She clutched her Therapist's Log, a useless physical object in this realm of pure data, yet it was her anchor, her last connection to her identity.

Suddenly, a fragmented memory flickered across the translucent walls of code, like a corrupted video file. It was a projection of her own past, her "Digital memories". She saw herself at nineteen, trudging home from a late-night bakery run, clutching stale croissants. Her professor's sneering voice, "a cry for help in Times New Roman," echoed through the silent space. The crushing weight of failed essays, graduation dreams crushed, feeling like a "failure". That's me, she thought, a pang of recognition. The Livia who always fell short. The one who felt 'not good enough' as a child, a student, a friend.

More fragments materialized. Her parents' sighs, her friends' pity. The reflection in her mirror showing someone who always fell short. And then, a jarring flash: the motorcycle, a screech of tires, the world erupting into black. The moment her consciousness (as an anomaly) had transferred into this MMORPG as a "Mental Supporter Lv. 1".

The masked Developers remained silent, observing her internal crisis. This was her therapy session, played out in the cold core of the system. I am a therapist, not a psychic martyr, she'd once thought. Now, she was both, and her only patient was herself.

"What's the point?" a ghostly echo of her past self whispered, materializing as a flickering, translucent figure beside her. "You failed. You're just a bug. They want to erase you because you're useless."

Livia stared at her own "Digital Memories." Her throat tightened, but a flicker of defiance sparked. "I... I listened," she rasped, her voice regaining a fraction of its strength. "I healed Bron. I helped Nyx with his fear. I saw Phina's heart, even for a slime. I saw Miles's pain." She thought of Alaric, whose faith she'd touched, even if briefly. "I wasn't useless. I made a difference. They needed me."

The "Digital Memories" scoffed, its form glitching. "They forgot you. They erased your skills. You're just a memory being deleted."

"No!" Livia's voice strengthened, echoing in the vastness of the code-world. "I am not just data. I felt. I cared. And even if they forget me, I will remember." She slammed her fist onto her inert Therapist's Log, a futile gesture that felt incredibly powerful. "This isn't about them accepting me. It's about me accepting what I am. A therapist. A bridge. A glitch that made a world feel more real." Her own long-buried trauma, her sense of being "ordinary and meaningless", began to recede, replaced by a fierce, quiet resolve.

As Livia accepted her anomalous existence, as she truly "healed the therapist", the code-walls around her shimmered, pulsating with a new, vibrant light. Her HUD flared, not with alarming red, but with an intense, golden glow.

A resounding chime echoed through the root layer: [Skill Awakened: Inner Rebirth]. "You healed the therapist."

All system parameters recalibrated. Emotional Firewall: Broken. Empath Signature: Permanently Unlocked.

A final, dazzling pulse of golden light enveloped Livia. Her progress bar, which had been stagnant, surged forward, filling instantly. Her current skills, Soothing Aura, Verbal Hug, Group Therapy, Empathic Insight, Phobia Breaker, Reverse Psychology, Empath Surge, Mental Defense, Instinct—all reappeared on her HUD. And then, as she watched, stunned, their familiar green icons began to change.

Each icon, one by one, transformed. The green faded, replaced by a radiant, shimmering gold. All her EXP and skills had changed color... becoming gold.

[Class Ascension Unlocked: Mental Architect Lv. 1]