The fate of my life changed when I started writing novels.
Do I regret writing?
Maybe yes.
I regret creating a beast who's far stronger than anyone. I regret making him the Strongest. I wish I could've written a weaker being. But I didn't.
If I knew that I would meet this being this early in my novel, Then I wish... I wish I had never written him.
I— I don't have the courage to speak with him.
He gave me an emotionless smile.
[ Weak. Extremely weak. You're the weakest person I've ever met in my life. ]
[ You don't have the courage to talk to me. Isn't that right? ]
He started walking away.
I need to talk to him.
[ Then don't you fear what will happen to you if you ig— ]
I need to do it.
I'll put my life on the line for this. I'll say what i said before!
"I'll kill you."
[ Hm? ]
He moved his face a little to look at me.
"Are you deaf? I said I'll kill you."
He smiled.
[ Hoh. To think a dreamer can exist who can say such things. You truly are interesting. ]
I wasn't crazy. I did what I thought was actually good.
Void has lived for 1,855 years. In these years, no one has dared to say anything to make him mad. Everyone showed fear towards him.
No one.
The Void wanted someone to say bad things about him in front of him. But no one dared to do so.
Because— There was fear. There was fear planted deep down in everyone's soul that they would die the moment they said something bad about him.
He only wanted a person who could say anything about him without showing fear.
I'll become that person.
Also, I knew that I would be killed if I talked gently with him.
"You heard me already. I'll kill you. I might not be able to kill you right now as I'm extremely weak, but it won't be the case in the future."
I pointed my finger toward me. "I'll kill you and become the strongest being in this endless dream."
[ Strongest... huh? World 567's endless dream just started and you already know that I'm the strongest. ]
Shit. I got careless.
No matter how much knowledge I have, I always do the stupidest things.
"That's right. I know that you're the strongest."
[ And how did you get that information? ]
"After I died, the system sent me here. In your presence for 10 minutes. It made me question one thing—why is the system sending me to the presence of the Void instead of to heaven or hell?"
[ And did you get the answer? ]
"I figured it out. There's an entity way stronger than anyone—even stronger than the system itself. Normally, after death, the system could send souls to heaven or hell. But it didn't do that with me. Instead, it sent me to this powerful being. It felt like the system was just a soldier, and its real job was to deliver souls to The Void—the true king."
The Void kinda looked interested in my theory.
"In simple words, the system was ordered to send the souls to someone else rather than to heaven or hell."
[ I like your way of thinking. ]
Now let me go!! It must have been 10 minutes since I came here. I don't know what might happen to me if I stay here more.
"Well then, I should take my lea—"
[ I guess I can chat with you a bit. You're... completely different than those lower beings. After all, I want to know how you broke out of the calmness I set up for the souls. ]
My blood froze. Wait, he knows about that?!
The Void loves peace. For peace, he used his skill "White Soul" on every one of his dimensions to make their environment peaceful.
That's why every being which enters those dimensions will feel at ease. Eventually, it will lead them to lowering their guard.
Making way for the Void to corrupt that soul and then devour it.
I was also supposed to feel calm so I could become corrupted and then get devoured by him, but I didn't act the way he wanted me to.
When I entered this dimension, he talked with the same skill that made me feel at ease. But he stopped using the skill and made me listen to his real voice.
Which means he didn't want to corrupt me. Instead, he wanted to kill my courage.
Then my fear.
After that, he would have devoured me.
A beautiful light blue round table and chair spawned in front of me.
[ Have a seat. ]
He noticed my uneasy looks.
[ Wait, are you by any chance thinking about the 10-minute timer? ]
Gulp.
"Huh?"
[ It won't work. In my dimension, even the system can't interfere. ]
I didn't look surprised. He was looking at me doubtfully.
[ Very strange. Your reaction is really different. It seems like you already knew that. ]
"No, I've already seen a lot. I can't be surprised by anything anymore."
If you think that he's being too polite... then you're right. He was being polite not only to me but to every being who meets him for the first time.
He makes them believe that The Void is a nice guy who respects everyone, but in reality...
He's always plotting something.
[ Hahaha, it makes sense. ]
I can't believe that this bastard can be this polite to me. In the original novel, he did the same. He lured everyone into believing that he wasn't an enemy, but eventually, he backstabbed all of them.
He's the least trustworthy person in this dream.
"I said I would kill you, but you're still being polite to me. Why?"
I sat down on the chair.
[ Well because— ]
He looked straight into my eyes.
Hm?
Gulp.
[ You're the first person who ever said that to me. It made me quite interested in you. ]
"So what'd you want to say?"
[ I'll get straight to the point. ]
Two cups of tea spawned on the table.
He picked up a cup and took a sip.
[ You're a precious dreamer. You're completely different from other dreamers, those sins, demon kings, and even the god. You're something else—something the entirety of beings would love to get their hands on. ]
I picked up the cup of tea.
[ So how about you let the strongest have you? ]
I took a sip.
And
[ That's why I want to make a contract with you. ]
〆 I told him I'd kill him. And he smiled, like he'd been waiting to hear it forever.
— Kang Hong