I Got Possessed, But the Monster Beast Is Adorable - Chapter 88
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#88
“Sister- my body feels strange….”
“Lulu….”
Starting from her short legs to her arms, and then her entire body.
Looking at Lulu, whose whole body had become transparent and seemed about to disappear at any moment, I fell into deep despair.
I shouted at the System over a hundred times that I wanted to go back together with her, but the only response I got was the consistent demand to complete the Quest.
I had believed that the System that brought me to this place surely wanted my happiness—the player’s happiness.
Looking back at everything that had happened so far, I could feel it.
But why.
Why wouldn’t it move according to my will at such an important moment like this?
If this was how it was going to be, why bring Lulu to this place at all?
Why show me the hope that we could be happy together?
Even though I knew I had to send Lulu away, part of me constantly wanted to make her stay here.
If she remained as a magical beast and adapted to this place, or if I used my taming skill on Attica….
No, wouldn’t it be possible that someday, given time, Lulu might regain her memories of me?
If there was even the slightest possibility of that, could I really handle making this choice?
No, I can’t.
“Zoe, do you know something?”
Seeing me sitting collapsed on the ground with my soul half-gone, Ruan broke the silence.
Having no energy left to respond, I kept my gaze fixed on Lulu without answering.
Then Ruan took off his robe, covered me with it, and continued speaking.
“In Valterga, there’s a story that’s been passed down like a legend.”
“…A story?”
“Yes. A story about the flower of life, Arcavita.”
Ruan told his story in a calm voice.
“Arcavita, called the flower of life, is literally a legendary flower that’s said to revive the dead. When I was young, my mother often told me this story.”
A flower that revives the dead.
It was truly a fantastical story.
“I mentioned before that I had an older brother.”
Ruan’s violet eyes sank deeply, just like they had back then.
I nodded to show that I remembered.
“When I lost my brother, I couldn’t accept his death and traveled throughout the entire Empire searching for the Arcavita flower.”
I felt like I could understand Ruan’s feelings from that time.
Even if it was just a legendary story, he would have wanted to grasp onto even that small thread of hope.
Just like me now, in this moment when I desperately needed hope.
“But I couldn’t find it. Of course not. It was just a fairy tale-like story told to children. When I returned to the manor in despair, my father told me something.”
“…What was it?”
“My father said this: The reason the story of the Arcavita flower is passed down is to give hope to those who have experienced loss.”
“To give… hope?”
“Yes, it took me a long time to fully understand my father’s words. But now I think I know.”
I blinked my eyes slowly as if I didn’t understand.
Then he slowly raised his hand and placed it on my cheek.
His fingers gently wiping around my eyes felt ticklish.
Ruan’s transparent violet eyes were filled entirely with me.
I met his straightforward gaze.
“My father wanted me to live. Even if it meant relying on such a small, fantasy-like hope. So please, Zoe, send Lulu off with a smile. Along with the unpromised promise that you might meet again someday.”
“But… what if Lulu gets disappointed when I make a promise I can’t keep? What if she thinks I abandoned her?”
“Zoe, during the time I wandered searching for the Arcavita flower, I constantly recalled the moments I spent with my brother. Those memories were the driving force that kept me moving. The memories with my brother caused me pain, but at the same time, they made me live.”
“….”
“Becoming a mindless magical beast and losing all memories with you while remaining here, or parting with you with a smile while holding onto the hope of meeting again someday. Which would be the happier choice for Lulu?”
Ruan’s gaze turned toward Lulu.
I followed his gaze and quietly looked at Lulu.
Lulu was looking at me crying and restlessly kept rolling around on the floor.
It was a clear sign that she was under unbearable stress.
To make an animal anxious because I was caught up in selfish emotions.
Really, I still had a long way to go to become an excellent zookeeper.
I wiped away my flowing tears and slowly approached Lulu.
Then I took out the carrot I had received from Panda Man and offered it to Lulu.
“…Lulu, shall we eat some delicious carrots?”
“Ueong-! I want to eat with Sister!”
When I spoke with a bright smile, Lulu, who had finally stopped rolling, gradually approached me.
About 5 minutes remained. Before I knew it, my second farewell with Lulu was approaching.
“…Lulu, even after you go back, you can’t forget Sister. No, forget me. It’s okay to forget me a little.”
My precious Lulu.
You stayed by my side.
You watched over me when I was struggling.
You were my precious family.
My eternal baby panda, Lulu.
I held the fading Lulu tightly and whispered to her over and over again.
That she was such a precious existence to me.
That I was so grateful she came to me.
Then Lulu, who had been thinking deeply for a while, looked at me and asked.
“Sister Haneul- Lulu can never see Sister again? Kking….”
Lulu’s ears, which had been pointed upward, drooped down.
Lulu had also vaguely sensed it.
Our farewell.
Seeing that, I felt like my heart would break.
As my eyes reddened again, I closed them tightly for a moment and took a deep breath.
I didn’t want the last memory Lulu had of me to be a crying face.
I looked at Lulu and smiled even brighter, more brilliantly.
“Lulu, you were happy being with Sister, right?”
“Uung-? Ung! The bamboo shoots Sister gave me were delicious~ the carrots were delicious too~ and the flowers and leaves Sister gave me were so nice!”
The toys I had made by hand, the birthdays we celebrated together. The cake made with carrots and bamboo shoots stuck in it.
Lulu rubbing her body on cherry blossom petals, Lulu playing on fallen leaves.
Lulu chattered about all the memories we shared together, genuinely happy.
And I felt the same way.
“Sister was so happy being with Lulu too. Lulu, do you know something?”
“Uung-? What?”
“Even when we’re not together, the days we spent together will never disappear from our memories.”
I swallowed the tears that were about to burst out and continued speaking.
“So… Sister will remember the happy moments with Lulu until the day we meet again someday. Lulu, will you do that too?”
“Uum… Sister Haneul’s words are too difficult…. But I understand!”
Though she looked like she couldn’t understand at all, Lulu nodded her head vigorously.
[<System> Will you return the entity ‘Lulu’ to her original world?] [ YES ] [ NO ]
Hesitating as I looked at the system window, I looked at Ruan who was silently standing by my side.
‘It’s okay.’
Ruan’s eyes looking at me contained many words of comfort.
I looked at him, nodded, and then pressed ‘YES’.
[<System> Returning entity ‘Lulu’ to Planet ID: 399.]
Faaaat-!
In an instant, brilliant rays of light spread from Lulu’s body.
Soon after, Lulu’s body began to quietly crack and scatter like digital fragments in a game.
“Oh my-! The light is so bright-!”
Before Lulu’s form completely disappeared.
Lulu forced her eyes open and shouted toward me with a bright smile.
“Haneul unnie- Let’s play together again next time-!”
With those final words, Lulu’s face, smiling until the very end, slowly transformed into light before my eyes and vanished.
Only then did I let my smiling face crumble as I collapsed to the ground.
“Lulu… you have to be happy. Someday, unnie will definitely come to see Lulu again…. *sob*….”
The dreamlike day was coming to an end.
Goodbye, my cute friend Lulu.
<End of Part 1>
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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