Chapter 46: The Illusion of the Past

As Song Ze was teleported alongside those two individuals, a single thought dominated his mind: ‘What the hell!’

He actually had to go to that ruin with these two to receive the inheritance—and who knew how many complications awaited!

Moreover, the trials of this relic… if everything was still the same as in the game he played, it would be terribly troublesome!

But reality didn’t give Song Ze much time to dwell. In the blink of an eye, he fell into unconsciousness.

****

Song Ze regained consciousness on a bumpy carriage. Turning his head to look around, he saw a woman dressed in very plain clothes tightly clutching his hand.

Song Ze then realized that he now appeared to be only about five or six years old. Although his clothes were clean, it was still obvious they were very shabby and had been mended.

‘It’s… it’s using Idis’s past as the illusion’s trial!’

Song Ze’s whole body trembled.

This relic in the demon realm, once officially opened, would unfold into a large-scale illusion. And because it was constructed by divine power, everything was almost indistinguishable from reality. If one got lost in the illusion, they would never be able to leave and would die inside.

Moreover, everyone except the protagonist would forget everything in the illusion, only remembering the identities given by the illusion. However, because a few of the romance targets were high-level enough, they could recall things with a bit of stimulation. As for others, it was up to fate.

In the game, the protagonist entered together with the demon princess and the Saint, and the illusion was set in a temple background, telling how the Saint was like a canary locked in a cage, yearning for freedom. In this environment, the protagonist would quickly raise favorability with the Saint, take her to escape, and on the way also incidentally fall in love with the demon princess. It was a sure thing.

And now, this illusion was actually about Idis and his past!!

And those records were quite vague; I had no idea what exactly happened! I had a feeling I would encounter many dangers.

To pass through the illusion, he would have to make the other romance targets wake up or something… But that required stimulating them. However, if the reality was different from what they pursued, it would make them even more unwilling to wake up. Song Ze felt that this time he was in trouble.

While Song Ze was agonizing here, the carriage stopped.

Song Ze immediately turned his head. The protagonist’s background was that both parents died, and he was taken in by relatives. Although he wasn’t abused or anything, verbal humiliation was inevitable. This had cultivated the protagonist’s introverted personality…

In theory, these were just game settings, not really connected to him, and never actually happened to him. But for some reason, Song Ze felt a mysterious discomfort with a strong sense of immersion.

Now, his strength was sealed by the illusion’s restrictions to the level of a six-year-old child. That made things very troublesome.

The carriage stopped at the entrance of a very luxurious estate that looked extremely classy. There was no doubt this was where the Count lived.

At this time, several servants were already waiting at the door. These servants all had arrogant expressions, clearly not intending to treat the two guests well.

The woman beside Song Ze immediately put on a flattering smile and started chatting with the servants. The servants only then, with an indifferent attitude, led the two inside.

Song Ze thought to himself: The Count probably didn’t care much about this matter! Otherwise, how could the servants be so negligent? But since they didn’t welcome him, why insist on bringing him here? Was there some secret he didn’t know?

When everyone entered, there was already a very imposing middle-aged man waiting inside. His aura was so strong that everyone who entered felt their legs go weak. The woman beside Song Ze even trembled, probably starting to regret her earlier idea to make a profit.

‘This is Song Ze, right?’ The middle-aged man looked down at Song Ze and forced a kind smile on his face, but it obviously wasn’t very good—the kind that would be better off not smiling.

‘Y-yes, Count…’ The woman, considering her future happiness, steeled herself to speak.

Song Ze didn’t pay much attention. But when he tried to stand up, he felt a force around his body preventing him from moving freely.

[This is the illusion restricting the host’s power, preventing the previous memories from causing this world to differ too much from the other’s memories.]

Song Ze: ‘…’

It even prohibited going out of character! Why! Wasn’t this himself? Why couldn’t he be out of character!

Song Ze was furious, but he still had to put on an introverted look and sit there. The woman began to speak, her words full of errors and omissions. If the Count hadn’t been too lazy to bother with her, I’m afraid…

‘All right, take this money and go back.’ The Count clearly had other matters to attend to and didn’t want to argue with this person anymore. ‘From now on, Song Ze has nothing to do with you.’

‘Okay!’ Having received an unexpectedly large sum of money, the woman was overjoyed. She immediately washed her hands of the burden she had always considered Song Ze to be, and left happily.

Then the Count looked at Song Ze. He originally wanted to say something, but he was clearly not good with children. In the end, he simply gestured for the butler beside him to take Song Ze to a room to rest.

Just as Song Ze was about to leave the hall, he suddenly sensed a cold gaze falling on him. He couldn’t help but shudder, and instinctively looked up at the second floor. There, standing above, was a pale-faced, golden-haired boy. The other’s violet eyes stared at him without any emotion, as if looking at some object.

Song Ze: ‘!! That’s f*cking Idis! I actually saw him so quickly…’

A-and, young Idis was so cute!! He didn’t seem as scary as when he grew up; obviously much friendlier!

‘That is the young master Idis,’ the butler said, as if cautioning him. ‘The young master has many things to do and little time, so you’d better not get too close to him.’

Song Ze quickly turned his head. He was touched in his heart: This butler was such a good person, warning him early to be careful of the psycho…

Unfortunately, everything would still follow the original track. What he had to do was make small changes in this predetermined process to eventually change the outcome, leave the illusion, and obtain the inheritance.

But… what role would the Elder Prince play in this illusion!

****

In the blink of an eye, several years had passed in the illusion.

Time here flowed faster than in the real world. After that, Song Ze had no opportunity to see Idis. He still wondered why he had to pursue Idis!

After all, the other was the eldest young master of the Count’s mansion, with an almost supreme status. And although Song Ze was the child of the Count’s comrade-in-arms, he was just taken in to be looked after; in reality, he was no different from the servants here, just without having to work.

And because of the plot, the children of the servants soon took a dislike to him and subjected him to all kinds of humiliation.

Actually, it was just the brats taunting him with mysterious lines. Song Ze didn’t take it to heart at all. Besides, they were just NPCs. He… if not for these rules, he would have made these brats cry and call him daddy!

Just then, a familiar figure walked around the corner. At that moment, Song Ze’s acting skills exploded. He directly sat on the ground and started crying loudly, sobbing as if he had been bullied by the brats.

To be honest, this was the real shame!

The brats in front of Song Ze were stunned. They had never seen anyone with such superb acting skills, and for a moment, they didn’t know what to do.

Not to mention, Song Ze originally had high looks. Now that his age was reduced, he was even more of a fair-skinned, beautiful child. When he cried, it made people feel a surge of pity, wanting to hold him in their arms and comfort him.

Not to mention others, even these brats felt like they had done something beastly!

Just then, a cold voice finally rang out: ‘What are you all doing?’

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