Diary of the Improper Monster Girl Transformation.

Chapter 363 I've Always Been With You (6K views, please subscribe)
Boom!
A heavy thud and a low growl, slightly breaking through the defenses, came from the Guardian's demiplane.

"Herbert!"

The Ash Bishop, sprawled on the ground, gritted his teeth and pounded the ground with his fists.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

Boom!Boom!Boom!
Wow.

Ophelia suddenly flung open her hood and vigorously shook her long purple hair.

Her hair seemed to float against gravity, like countless thin purple snakes silently hissing in anger.

"...Tsk!"

She bit her lip hard, her face filled with humiliation and her eyes with resentment.

Lost.

This time, I lost completely.

Herbert, you've made me lose so completely!

She never imagined that she would be dragged into Herbert's test.

This is wrong!

I was the one testing him, so how did it turn into him testing me?!
"No! How come he's completely unharmed?"

"Why shouldn't Herbert be affected?"

Just as Ophidia told Herbert at the beginning, the power of this legendary potion is that it makes the person who drinks it forget everything after entering the mental world, and they will not even realize that they have been hypnotized.

But to her surprise, Herbert was unharmed after drinking the potion, while she was the one who suffered.

Because Ophidia had also drunk the [Silence and Noise] potion, even though she was already an epic-level powerhouse, she was much more deeply entangled in it than others.

Not only did they fail to notice anything amiss, but they also forgot their memories from the past thousand years, completely being manipulated by Herbert.

Although this accident was mostly due to carelessness, and she wouldn't have been caught up in the illusion if she had been prepared... but judging from the current outcome, there's no point in saying anything more; she was indeed thoroughly tricked.

We lost terribly.

Since there were no outsiders around, Ophidia just lay half-lying on the ground, constantly muttering complaints.

"Herbert, are you even human? How dare you say I hurt you!"

How dare you say that?

"Are you even a paladin? Do you have any dignity left as a paladin? Do you have any moral bottom line as a paladin?!"

Ophidia was furious, and her angry questions echoed throughout the space.

"Damn it! Damn it—"

After a long period of impotent rage, her emotions gradually calmed down.

She looked at the books she had messed up and which were now "trembling" all over the floor, then looked down at her own disheveled state, and couldn't help but twitch her lips.

"This is really embarrassing... Pfft, haha!"

She smiled, then shook her head helplessly and speechlessly, sighing, "This guy doesn't know anything, yet he dares to perform like that."

After recalling their conversation, Ophidia suddenly realized the loopholes in Herbert's words and discovered that he had been "getting something for nothing" and successfully extracted a lot of information from her.

"Just how many women has this guy secretly lied to?"

She muttered maliciously to herself, thinking that Herbert must have fooled many others like this before, judging from his practiced and relaxed manner.

Correct!
Scumbag!

Dissolute young man!

"call……"

After chirping for a while, she let out a long sigh and simply lay sprawled on the ground like a limp snake.

“Herbert, he… he’s quite an interesting fellow.”

Although I was deceived, I have to admit that he was indeed a very special and interesting guy.

“He was not bewitched by the illusion at all. No, not only was he not bewitched, he was even in control of the situation.”

"Not only me, but I'm afraid he would easily break through any other illusions he encountered as well."

"...Wait, did I forget something?"

Ophidia sighed silently, then suddenly realized something was wrong.

She suddenly looked at a book, reached out and pulled it, and the book fell from the bookshelf and flew quickly toward her.

In mid-air, the book transformed into runes that landed on her body, leaving a new mark on a scale on the snake's tail.

The Ash Bishop touched the inscription with the tip of his index finger, reading the information within, his brows furrowed tightly.

"Oops……"

Because she had taken this medicine before, she didn't pay much attention to it and didn't carefully recall the details.

But by the time Ophidia realized something was wrong, it was already too late.

"Silence and noise are the first and most difficult tests for those who keep secrets. Only those who pass the test can truly become high-ranking members of the secret-keeping ranks."

This information was largely consistent with her memory; the key point was a small, inconspicuous note that followed.

"However, the method for making this legendary potion was not created by the Keepers of the Secrets, but was simplified after being discovered in ancient texts."

"When it was first discovered, this potion had another name—[The Gaze of Fate]."

"This is a divine elixir from an ancient god who has already fallen, the goddess of fate."

After reading this message, Ophelia's brows furrowed completely.

"It's actually that ancient god's secret medicine..."

The "Goddess of Fate" mentioned here is not the "Goddess of Fortune" of today, but an ancient deity who fell long before the Age of Faith.

The current Goddess of Fortune is a new deity born from the fallen body of the Goddess of Destiny.

It is the newborn Him, but not entirely Him.

Putting everything else aside, in terms of strength alone, the Goddess of Fate is a powerful deity with high-level divine power, in charge of the divine office of [Fate].

This destiny is not just the destiny of mortals; it even possesses the power to interfere with the destiny of the gods!
Of course, some people also believe that this ability is the real reason for His downfall.

The current Goddess of Fortune has only reached the mid-level of divine power, and her divine duties are limited to [luck] and [misfortune]. She may only affect mortals and has little influence on the gods.

They are no match for each other in terms of strength.

To the gods of faith, He remains an ancient god remnant from the ancient times.

But for those more ancient beings, the Goddess of Fortune is not their contemporary, but a newborn.

Since the Keeper's potion comes from that ancient goddess of fate, it cannot be as simple as it appears on the surface.

Although he was certain that what he gave Herbert was [Silence and Noise], an improved version of the potion left by the Keepers of the Secrets.

However, in the extraordinary world, nothing is surprising, no matter what happens.

This is especially true in areas like "fate," which are full of variables.

Fate is the most unpredictable thing in the world—just like the ever-changing mind of the goddess of fortune.

Ophelia calmed herself down and read the rest of the information.

"The ritual of 'The Gaze of Fate' once it begins, regardless of success or failure, must continue until a result is obtained."

"The stronger one's destiny, the greater the difficulty of the test... Oops, this is bad!"

Ophidia took a slight breath and her expression changed.

"Wait, if even I can't be considered a real test, then what would be a real test for him?"

"hiss!"

After thinking for a moment, Ophidia's eyes widened suddenly.

"This is terrible!"

"Could it be some old man?!"

It's over!
Ophidia was startled, and the more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that the archbishop had appeared in Herbert's illusion.

But in reality, for Herbert, the situation might be even worse than Ophidia imagined!
……

Herbert felt like he had a very, very long dream.

He dreamt that he was no longer the helpless orphan, but was born as the son of a nobleman in a kingdom filled with frost and snow.

He had a childhood sweetheart, loving family members, a gentle older brother, and everything that was missing in reality.

Wealth, status, appearance...

The same soul, yet leading completely different lives.

In his dream, he forgot everything in reality and grew up as a child.

Everything started out normally, without any major setbacks. The real surprise came after I grew up.

After that day, everything changed, and all sorts of unexpected developments occurred.

He recalled the reality outside the dream, and this decadent dream began to turn into a lucid dream.

Herbert has a special talent in his dreams that makes monster girls fascinated by him.

So he began to come into contact with all sorts of monster girls.

With this ability and the wisdom he had accumulated over two lifetimes, he began to walk cautiously and carefully in this fantastic and magnificent world—just kidding, he was incredibly reckless.

Anyway, it's all just a dream, so why should we care?
Even if you die in a dream, what's the problem?

It's just that I've woken up.

Dragons, mermaids, vampires, elves, demons, devils, angels... all sorts of monster girls gather around him.

After realizing that he was truly destined for greatness, he began to do things that he would never have dared to imagine in reality.

He does all sorts of crazy things, but he just can't seem to die.

He was both the executioner and the savior.

He is a madman in the eyes of some, and a hero in the hearts of others.

But those people didn't realize that Herbert did all this without any particular purpose; he was simply following his own inner thoughts.

He didn't care what others thought of him, nor did he care about their fate.

Herbert just wanted to do what he wanted to do.

Since we're in a dream, we should definitely start enjoying it to the fullest.

In the short few months after regaining consciousness, Herbert experienced things that were infinitely more exciting than the first half of his life in the dream, or even more exciting than the world outside the dream.

He indulged himself to the fullest.

Then, I gradually sank into the dream.

The deeper they sink, the deeper they sink.

He had almost forgotten who he was.

The reality outside of dreams is a thing of the distant past.

So long ago... he felt it was something from a past life.

And now, the time for waking up has come. That was indeed something from a past life.

Upon seeing that face that had almost forgotten the past, Herbert felt as if a heavy hammer had struck him on the head.

thump—

He felt a sense of unfamiliarity upon first seeing this face.

It felt like seeing a stranger I recognized, but not quite.

This feeling is very strange.

It's clearly me, but it doesn't feel like me.

For no apparent reason, he felt a sense of emptiness.

It's as if I'm nothing but an illusion, completely dependent on my reflection in the mirror.

But it was Herbert's reflection in the mirror that spoke while he remained silent.

"You've finally looked at me."

"Herbert" looked at Herbert and grinned: "Finally, you've stopped pretending you didn't hear anything."

"Have you had enough fun? That's enough, don't continue. Wake up, you have to go to work tomorrow."

"There are still so many cases to handle; I can't continue down this path of moral decay!"

"We need to donate to the welfare home tomorrow, we can't forget that, the children are waiting for us."

"Also, I need to clearly reject the blind date that Sister Zhang introduced me to. I've already looked into that woman. She's not after my handsome face and body, but rather my savings. I can't let her squander my money."

"Luckily I dodged quickly, otherwise if I had made contact, he would have sued me, right? Well, although I'm not too afraid of this since it's in my field, it's still a lot of trouble."

"Also, I need to tell them properly that they shouldn't introduce me to any more divorced women with two kids. I really don't like them."

In the realm of the mind, Herbert chattered on and on, while the phantoms of the monster girls remained silent.

In reality, however, he becomes a phantom in the mirror, talking to himself, while the person outside the mirror remains silent, dumbfounded.

A noisy past, a silent present.

After a long while, Herbert finally let out a long sigh and shook his head.

He looked at himself in the mirror and asked softly, "Who are you? Who am I? Who...are we?"

"Who am I? Huh?"

Herbert paused for a moment, then blinked strangely: "You forgot?"

Herbert looked at him silently, without answering, neither nodding nor shaking his head.

Have you forgotten?

He felt he hadn't forgotten, but judging from the other person's expression, they seemed to have different thoughts from his own.

"This is rather troublesome..."

Herbert in the mirror clicked his tongue and muttered a couple of times, looking a bit annoyed: "Oh well, I forgot again. I'll have to explain for ages this time. Oh well... I chose this myself."

He convinced himself with these words, looked up at Herbert, and said, "Who are we? That's a complicated question."

"Simply put, I am the real you, and you are the dream me. We are one, there is no distinction between you and me."

"If you insist on giving me an explanation, you can understand multiple personality disorder, right?"

"I am the real persona, while you are the persona created in your dreams to enjoy life."

"Because our lives are so bitter, we need a space to escape to. Since there is nowhere to hide in reality, we can only hide in our dreams."

He shrugged, his expression quite casual: "There's nothing to say, and this isn't the first time."

"In our dreams, we've already experienced many versions: fantasy worlds, immortal martial arts worlds, cyber worlds, eroge worlds... wait, haven't you remembered yet?"

"Herbert" looked at the calm Herbert, his brows furrowing slightly, and said with some impatience, "How much more detailed do you want me to be?"

"Do you want me to describe to you the stories we experienced in the world of eroge?"

To be honest, Herbert was momentarily smitten at that moment.

Oh no, I really want to hear it.

However, listening to your past self recount your erotic fantasies is somewhat abstract.

Okay, that's too abstract.

So he shook his head and said regretfully, "It's a pity, but there's no need for that. It would be too strange."

"That's true."

Herbert nodded, then smirked, "I don't have such strange fetishes. Besides, this dream was quite nice; I really liked it. Let's continue next time we're asleep..."

"Um, could you stop for a moment?"

Herbert raised his hand, interrupting the other person: "You don't need to say anything more, I understand everything."

Herbert was taken aback, but didn't mind his impolite attitude. He nodded and said, "Since you understand, then wake up quickly. Sleeping too much will make you very tired. Now quickly find a memory point to remember, then get up and wash up..."

Snapped!
"Alright, let's get to the conclusion first."

Herbert clapped his hands heavily, shook his head at his reflection in the mirror, and said softly, "I am not you, and you are not me. I have never had a second personality."

She smiled slightly at her reflection in the mirror, winked, and said, "You are the illusory bubble."

"You're saying... I'm a fake?"

After hearing Herbert's words, Herbert was not angry, but just sighed helplessly: "Sigh, the same reaction again, you still don't understand."

"Are you going to say that I am you from a past life, and you are me in this life? And that everything in reality is just a memory from a past life, right?"

"I see."

He scratched his head and said helplessly, "Think about it, in your so-called reality, do you often feel disoriented? Do you always miss the past?"

"Do you often come up with lame jokes that no one can understand? Do you use these repeatedly to prove that you once existed and to remind yourself not to forget the past?"

Herbert narrowed his eyes.

"..."

He does indeed often reminisce about the past, and he uses his own methods to maintain his mental anchor so that he doesn't completely forget everything from the past.

Herbert did not answer, but his expression spoke volumes.

"Look!"

The reflection in the mirror snorted: "You can fool everyone, but you can't fool yourself."

“These are the keywords we prepared. Whenever you do that, it’s an unconscious reminder that you need to wake up.”

"Wake up, stop sinking deeper into despair."

"This is just a game for us, a ridiculous dream. When it's all over, we still have to return to reality."

Herbert composed himself and said seriously, "That's enough, stop fooling around."

"Dream, it's time to wake up."

His voice wasn't loud, and his tone wasn't strong, but it gave Herbert a feeling of being in another world.

He felt his body becoming heavier and heavier, but his soul becoming lighter and lighter.

The long-lost voice reached my ears.

dong dong.

The sound of his heart pounding and the sound of his blood flowing all converged in his ears. He could feel his own steady breathing and the chirping of birds outside the window.

The man in the mirror is about to fall asleep, while the man outside the mirror is about to wake up.

The long night is over.

The time has come to wake up from the dream.

But just as Herbert was about to close his eyes and break free from the dream, he let out a soft sigh.

"As expected, it was just a dream."

Herbert slowly opened his eyes, his gaze clear and lucid, without a trace of sleepiness.

He looked at his past life reflection in the mirror with a hint of regret and said softly, "You tried to imitate me and pretend to be like me."

"But you are not me."

"Yes, I really miss everything from the past, and I miss it all the time."

Herbert never denied his longing for his past life, even though the past wasn't so pleasant.

Everything in the past has shaped him into who he is today.

He will not forget everything he has experienced, not to praise suffering, but simply to remember the self who overcame suffering.

That was the way he came.

"But so what if we miss it?"

Herbert raised an eyebrow and said softly:
"Memories are like marking the boat to find the sword in the long river of time, but one cannot live in memories."

"Humans cannot live in the past."

"No matter how much you miss it, memories can remain in the past, but the living cannot stay in the past forever."

The white-haired boy looked at the black-haired youth, revealed a peaceful smile, blinked and chuckled, "Besides, nostalgia is nostalgia, but I've never wanted to go back to the past."

"Because there are already people and things here that I can't let go of."

Putting everything else aside, there weren't any real monster girls in my past life!

This is very important!
Herbert nodded to himself, then whispered to his reflection in the mirror, "Where I am is the reality I live in."

"The past will not be an obstacle that holds me back."

"I will move towards the future."

Life is a one-way journey; whether you like it or not, you can only move forward.

"And...you've overlooked something."

After a long silence, the reflection in the mirror raised its head and looked at the boy outside the mirror.

What was missed?
Herbert smiled and said, "I've always said that I've gotten to where I am today through my own hard work and sweat, without relying on anything else."

He said this shamelessly, and then shrugged.

"But in truth, I know in my heart that it was just a joke."

"If I hadn't met that guy, I would probably be a completely different person now, living a completely different life."

"I might still be a miserable paladin who strictly adheres to the commandments all day long, honing my iron crotch skills with my good brothers in the knight order."

"This dream was so perfect that it shook me to my core, but I unexpectedly forgot about a character who was of paramount importance to me."

Herbert paused for a moment, then laughed, asking with a questioning yet certain tone, "You're here, aren't you?"

【"I am here."】

Without the slightest pause, the Harmonious Goddess, who should have been asleep absorbing divine power, whispered in his heart.

"I am always with you."

(End of this chapter)