Alice in the Land of Steam

Is Chapter 1349 the key to rewriting the ending?

After dinner, the forced composure dissipated as quickly as a punctured balloon. Ovira practically fled the still noisy restaurant, shutting out Leticia's complaints, Shemi's protests, Miss Neville's admonitions, and all sorts of chaotic discussions through the heavy wooden door.

The moment she returned to her room, she felt as if all her strength had been drained. Leaning against the cold door, she slowly slumped onto the carpet. The room was dark; only the cool moonlight filtering through the faint, luminous mist unique to the Cloud Whale Sky Island cast hazy, shifting patterns of light on the floor, like swimming jellyfish or silent ghosts. This silence contrasted sharply with the occasional hooting of owls outside, creating a chilling effect that only amplified the emptiness and desolation in the girl's heart.

Her hands were tightly wrapped around her knees, her fingers unconsciously clutching the delicate fabric of her skirt, kneading it repeatedly, as if trying to knead the suffocating embarrassment of dinner, the regret for her slip of the tongue, and the overwhelming self-reproach that surged after being treated gently by her companions (especially Medien) into the soft fabric. But these feelings seemed more stubborn and difficult to dispel than a stain that had been accidentally stained, so in the end, the girl simply buried her face deeply between her knees, her long platinum blonde hair cascading down like a waterfall, enveloping her entire body, like a fledgling bird clumsily trying to bury itself with its wings.

This was Ieta's usual posture. Whenever she encountered an awkward situation or felt shy, she would wrap herself up in her fluffy, soft wings, leaving only her large, watery eyes showing. At that time, Ovira always thought that Ieta was too timid and too shy, and wished she could be more frank. Only now did she realize that she was actually more pathetic than the angel, and understood that sometimes what limits mortals is not their emotions, but some kind of innate flaw.

The scene at the dinner table replayed uncontrollably in her mind: the name she had blurted out, the sudden cooling of the atmosphere, the repeated repetition without learning from the mistake, Ling's profile as he looked away, Alice's pursed lips, Medion's forced smile... and her own stiff expression and the urge to disappear. Each recollection felt like an invisible needle gently pricking her heart, not a sharp, intense pain, but a long, cold, dull ache like the tide.

"Why..." A voice, barely audible, broke the silence of the room, thick with nasal congestion and lingering frustration, "Why is it always like this..."

She was like this when facing her father and mother, like this when facing her companions, and sometimes she even felt that she was like this when facing herself. It's just that in the past, there were always two people who astutely saw through her foolishness, yet gently tolerated her clumsiness, leading the princess to mistakenly believe she had grown. But now, one of those two has left, and the other is immersed in immense grief, remaining distant and detached. No one is there to hide things from her anymore, and so she is finally exposed for who she truly is.

Like the puppet in the fairy tale who mistakenly believed he possessed great magic, he greedily pursued more and eventually lost the fairy's favor, becoming just an ordinary toy again.

But she wasn't greedy.

I just want to become someone like Xia Xia, even if I'm only a tenth of her.

Is even such a wish too extravagant?

The girl looked up at the flowing sea of ​​clouds outside the window. The elegant moon was faintly visible in the distance, and the tides rose and fell along the boundary of the Cloud Whale Sky Island. Beneath the sky, the sea of ​​clouds resembled a giant, slowly breathing silver creature, its surface shimmering like mother-of-pearl. Under the moonlight, it surged and flowed silently, forming a magnificent yet desolate landscape. Yet, even this familiar scene could not soothe the turmoil in her heart. The moonlight outlined a pale profile, her long eyelashes glistening with fine, undried moisture, and her lips, bitten until they were pale, left faint teeth marks.

The only sounds in the room were suppressed, intermittent breathing and the almost inaudible rustling of the clouds moving outside the window. This silence was like a giant net, trapping the girl firmly in a cage of confusion and frustration. A strong, stinging sensation welled up in her nose again; she squeezed her eyes shut, forcing the hot tears back. She didn't want to cry; these powerless tears would only make her feel more like a failure. She just suddenly felt so tired, so disgusted with herself for always messing things up.

Perhaps... I haven't tried hard enough?

We should work even harder.

We can no longer cling to the idea that "someone will always help me." We must put ourselves in the position of helping others, take responsibility, decide our own direction, and make our own choices. Only in this way can we catch up with that person's shadow.

At least... don't let her leave you behind.

The sea of ​​clouds outside the window flowed slowly, and breath seemed to freeze there. After what felt like an eternity, or perhaps a second, a soft sigh finally drifted from inside the room: "Sister Xia..."

"Can I...do it?"

……

Alice stared silently at the game console and cartridges on the table.

Even after being broken and repaired, the silver cube remained as new as ever, gleaming with a sharp brilliance under the dual illumination of moonlight and lamplight; but the cassette next to it was not so lucky. Its surface was dull as if covered with dust, and its metal casing was covered with fine cracks, the longest of which even ran through the entire cassette, almost splitting it in two.

The First Fantasy: Four Warriors, the first cartridge designed by Alice herself, and also the first cartridge activated after arriving in this world.

The one who activated it... was Saint Charlotte.

Perhaps the cause and effect from that time has continued to this day, inextricably linking the game cartridges with the fate of humanity. Therefore, when the blue-haired girl slept peacefully in the young man's arms, Alice, far away on the Cloud Whale Sky Island, heard a cracking sound like shattering glass. Later, when the young man returned the borrowed game console and cartridges to their rightful owner, they had already become like this.

Alice tried to restart it many times, even if it meant not being able to explore the game world, just to play the content. Unfortunately, no matter how she tried, the only feedback she received was a cold "data corruption" message on the game interface.

The genius gamer had never felt so ironic.

In her amnesia, she instinctively materialized the fantasy of a royal power in the form of a game console. Perhaps subconsciously she felt that games were the realm that best embodied the fantasies of mortals, filled with all sorts of incredible things and wonderful plots. From words to music, from pictures to videos, traces of all kinds of fantasy works since the birth of human civilization can be found in them.

But in the fantasies of mortals, would they use such a cold term as "data corruption" to describe the death of a person, the destruction of a world, or even the demise of a fantasy?
She felt particularly ironic, and even a little... disgusted.

This was probably the first time in all the memories of the genius player across both worlds that he felt aversion towards "games".

But it's also possible that they hate themselves.

After all, this was her royal power.

There was no point in thinking about it now. Alice sighed silently, then gently picked up the game console on the table, clutching the silver cube tightly in her palm, completely ignoring the slight stinging sensation from its sharp edges digging into her skin. She closed her eyes, trying to sink herself into a tranquil ocean.

A genius player is emulating Ringer.

After that battle, she—or rather, everyone on Cloud Whale Sky Island—knew that the power the young man used to activate the game console was his own faith. Although it was unclear why his faith alone was so immense as to help Saint Charlotte restore her full royal power, and even make miracles like traversing time and changing fate—miracles that should only exist in storybooks—a tangible reality, the young man's success had already pointed the way for genius players.

Although everything related to the power of faith—religions, believers, gods, and legends—has profoundly illustrated how dangerous this power is since the beginning of her journey, Alice doesn't care. As long as she can fix the game console and regain the power to change the story's ending, that's enough for her. Besides, after using the power of faith, Linger didn't show any signs of losing control or being assimilated. If he's special, why can't she be?
Everyone in this world believes they are special, and Alice is the most qualified to say so, because she is the offspring of the goddess, one of the twins from Old Eden, a blend of fantasy and reality, and an unparalleled genius player who can do anything she sets her mind to…

Weird.

A few minutes later, the girl opened her eyes and stared coldly at the game console in her hand, her face expressionless.

Failed.

This is a natural result.

The so-called power of faith is naturally linked to the faith of mortals, whether it be piety or fanaticism. The young man named Linge never claimed to be a follower of the Goddess, never cared about the life or death of the church, never spread the Goddess's teachings to anyone, and never even blessed anyone in the name of God... Yet no one would question that he was not a devout believer, just as no one would question why the sun rises from the east every day.

But Alice is not.

She has no object of faith, has never sought the comfort of faith, and does not understand the essence of faith. Perhaps it would be the strangest thing in the world if someone like her could use the power of faith.
If you already knew this would be the outcome, why did you even try?
That's because every mortal harbors a sense of wishful thinking.

Every stroke of luck eventually crumbles, and facing reality feels utterly powerless. The genius gamer pursed her lips, silently placed the console back on the table, and then took out the cartridge case from the drawer, preparing to carefully store the damaged Final Fantasy: Four Warriors cartridge. Although it was no longer of any use, perhaps it was the nature of a genius gamer that made her subconsciously cherish every cartridge she had ever played, or perhaps she simply wanted to keep it as a memento. At least, she still placed it in her treasure trove with an almost solemn attitude, awaiting the slightest chance of a future reboot.

After finishing this, she planned to go to sleep.

I'm not in a good mood today and don't really want to stay up late. Of course, to be precise, she hasn't stayed up late these past few days, and neither have the others. They always go to bed early after dinner, which makes the Fairy Deep Sleep Inn quiet as soon as night falls. Standing in the forest, it looks like a living tombstone. If it weren't for the lights, it would probably look no different from those strange castles or witch's lairs in the countryside.

It is said that people's moods change with their living environment, but is it they who influence the world, or the world that influences them?
It's truly an unsolved mystery.

Alice paused as she was about to close the cassette case. Her gaze was fixed on the cassette inside, which was reflecting a cold metallic light under the warm lamp. She suddenly realized a problem that she had ignored for a long time.

The seven cartridges—one activated by Saint Charlotte, one activated by Ovira, one activated by Ietta, one activated by Leticia, one activated by Gloria (or rather, White Night), one activated by Rorona, one activated by Rorona, and one activated by Hino but which could not be made into a game due to a damaged game console—correspond to the seven Order Kings.

This number seems to be correct.

But in reality, Alice brought eight cartridges with her when she traveled to this world!
The last cartridge, because it could never be activated, was gradually forgotten by the genius player until now.

If the first seven cartridges correspond to the seven Order Kings, then what should the last cartridge correspond to? It can't be the Chaos King, because if it were, there should be fourteen cartridges; it's also unlikely to be Tentis, as the power of the Witch of Reality is opposed to the Fantasy Kings symbolized by the game consoles and cartridges; or perhaps it corresponds to itself?

Should I activate this cartridge myself?
Alice carefully picked up the eighth cartridge, which she had never been able to activate, and examined it closely. She didn't see anything special about it compared to the other cartridges. Besides, her Fantasy Kingship itself corresponded to the power of the game console and all the cartridges, so why bother creating an eighth cartridge? Unfortunately, she hadn't realized this at the time, and she hadn't had a chance to ask Themis of the Celestial Realm about it back in the Heavenly Sanctuary…

She had a premonition, deep down.

This cartridge might be the key to rewriting the story's ending?

Give me some cats