I’m Sick of the Kind Protagonist, so I Might as Well Just Die - Chapter 70

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#70
“You’re finally smiling.”
Perenustus, who had been standing with his hands clasped behind his back observing quietly, shot the remark at me like a dart. His gaze lingered on Mure, who sat perched on my shoulder laughing merrily, before shifting to my eyes. I turned to face him, grinning like a witless fool. The moment our eyes met, Perenustus clicked his tongue loudly.
“Long ago, in some corner of another world, there was supposedly a king who ruined an entire nation just to please a man who laughed only at the sound of silk tearing.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“It seems people are the same everywhere, whether here or there.”
Behind the man speaking incomprehensible words, a clear stream of water shattered like jewels under the rainbow-hued sunlight. The sight was so beautiful that I simply laughed without understanding a word he said.
Where the grotesque pile of corpses had dominated the Palace Square, a beautiful marble fountain now spouted clear water—and seeing such a world made my head nod involuntarily in agreement.
He was right. If I was going to live without ambition anyway, I preferred a world filled only with beautiful, lovely things. I gripped Mure’s small feet firmly in both hands and took a deep breath. Instead of the stench of corpses that had pierced my lungs and the acrid smell of smoke, an overwhelmingly sweet fragrance of roses tickled the tip of my nose.
As I repeated my deep breaths several times, Mure rested her chin on the crown of my head and whispered softly.
“Miss, you know? I had such a scary dream. Something really bad happened to you, and the sky was filled with thick black smoke. Everyone’s faces looked like monsters.”
“Children are supposed to have scary dreams—falling from heights and such things—to grow tall.”
“Oh, really? Then I’ll grow to be as tall as you?”
As we chatted back and forth, a group of boys rushed eagerly into the alley carrying baskets full of freshly baked bread. Their laughter bounced off the stone walls and echoed cheerfully. As if mocking the hell the Divine Beings had created, Perenustus was painting an overwhelmingly perfect paradise over reality itself.
Amid all the joy, happiness, and beauty, the sound of Leonas and Bilateia grinding fragments of broken status windows under their shoe heels struck my ears particularly sharply. Each time I heard the sound of glass crunching, I laughed vacantly like a drunk person. With each laugh from me, Perenustus twisted his lips into an increasingly smug expression.
▶ [Observation Alert] System sanctions are requested!
The 2nd and 5th entities strongly protest this implausible development!
The 3rd, 8th, and 10th entities request immediate world restoration!
Forced stage termination vote in progress –
Before the newly appeared status window could even fully materialize, I grasped Mure’s small hands tightly and spun my body around.
“Aaaah! This is so much fun! Miss! Spin me faster!”
Mure surrendered herself to the centrifugal force of our spinning, laughing so hard she could barely breathe, her feet kicking wildly. Her unrestrained kicks slashed through the air and struck the edge of the red status window with perfect precision.
“How unfortunate. What a coincidence.”
Before Perenustus could finish his bitter lament, Leonas and Bilateia, as if they’d been waiting for this moment, ground those fragments under their heels.
“Ah, my proud students. Shall we review this point?”
Leonas and Bilateia turned to face Perenustus while still pressing the flickering fragments beneath their shoe heels. I gently set Mure down from where I’d been spinning her. Mure, without hesitation, grabbed one hand from each of us and led us toward the fountain.
“Let’s play in the water!”
Perenustus stiffened in surprise at the child’s sudden touch, but unable to bring himself to shake off her hand, he was led along while turning his head to question his senior students.
“Each world is an inviolable domain, correct?”
“Yes. No matter how ancient the Divine Beings or how great they are, if they are not the creator of that world, they cannot transform or distort it. This is an absolute rule that forms the foundation of the system.”
“If a creator breaks this rule and directly or indirectly influences another world, they must compensate the creator who suffered damage by ceding a portion of their own world.”
As Perenustus listened to the senior students’ immediate response, he let out a long sigh. I picked up a fragment of the status window that had rolled to my feet, as if gathering a fallen petal, and handed it to Perenustus.
“Perenustus, this one. It says ‘Restore,’ doesn’t it?”
Perenustus picked up the fragment with the tip of his finger as if touching something filthy, then waved it fluttering toward the sky.
“Let’s say someone severely distorted my world, so I merely restored it to its original state. But then, telling me—the creator—to ‘restore’ that world again? What in the world does that even mean? I’ve already returned my world to its originally beautiful form.”
“Then it seems like the message isn’t directed at you, Perenustus, but at the creators of other worlds who distorted this one.”
As I ventured this interpretation, Bilateia and Leonas immediately seized upon my words.
“There’s no answer other than Aurelia’s interpretation. It’s unthinkable that the great ones would be mistaken, and even more unthinkable that those who established such strict laws and rules would have laid hands on the professor’s world.”
“Therefore, I believe that ‘restore’ request is a stern rebuke directed at the villains who illegally invaded the professor’s world and forcibly created atrocities. Moreover, doesn’t the professor himself not suffer the penalty of ‘plans going awry’?”
Leonas expounded his logic naturally, showing no trace of the man who had just drawn his sword and unleashed a storm of blood.
“The core of the penalty is that everything unfolds differently from the Professor’s plans. Therefore, if a grave violation of order occurred in this world, it cannot be the Professor’s fault—it can only be the fault of those who imposed the penalty and the penalty itself.”
Perenustus, savoring the audacious defense of the top-ranked students whose arguments fit together perfectly, gazed at me with unhurried amusement. Unwilling to concede, I picked up some rather pleasing words to counter.
“Does it really matter whose fault it is? As long as this hellscape that looked so terrible has become beautiful, that’s all that matters, isn’t it?”
“I’m delighted that Aurelia finds it beautiful.”
Perenustus, smiling broadly, tilted his head slightly and gazed into the void. It was unmistakably the smile of a perfect victor. The watching gods, unable to contain their fury, made the very air vibrate as if it might tear. He savored even that with great pleasure, then called my name with affection.
“Aurelia. How are you feeling?”
“Much better than before. Do you know Othello? That game where you flip black and white pieces? It feels like a battlefield that was completely covered in black pieces with no allies suddenly flipped into white pieces on our side in an instant.”
“This is how you flip it completely.”
Perenustus snapped his fingers. Bilateia, quick to read the signal, responded immediately.
“If the Ancient Gods are truly fair, wouldn’t it be better for both sides if this world were properly ‘restored’ rather than having a portion of the worlds ceded to the Professor? Don’t you think so, Leonas?”
“Restored? A perfectly successful revolution, a rapidly completed system, and every single child living in abundance?”
Leonas delivered his line as if he’d rehearsed it. As if angered by the theatrical tone, the surrounding air vibrated sharply once more.
“Then this must be a wind hinting at restoration.”
Perenustus, having revealed his true nature through another’s mouth so blatantly, erased the smile he’d been holding all this time and gazed into the void with cold eyes.
‘Your plan cannot be proven, but your fault is undeniable—that’s it.’
I glanced at those eyes filled with arrogant certainty and covered my twitching lips with my hand. If I could witness something this entertaining, I wouldn’t mind losing all motivation entirely.
‘Either lose the carefully managed portion of their worlds to Perenustus, or complete the flawless data of a republic as Leonas demands and quietly withdraw. There are only two choices.’
At this crossroads of a predetermined dilemma, a single crooked circle appeared in the void, looking deeply displeased. It was the gods’ humiliating declaration of surrender and approval.
Had the system’s restrictions weakened, or had I been infected by this exhilarating sight? Now, at last, I felt the urge to contribute something, however small. I sent Mure floating toward the ugly circle hovering in the void.
“Mure, let’s do that spinning thing we did earlier again!”
“Okay!”
The moment Mure’s small feet struck the circle in the void with force, a brilliant white light far brighter than when we were pulled up engulfed us.
A victory as rootless, planless, and unmotivated as that crooked circle. In other words, a reckless victory that could not be more perfect.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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