I've already said this isn't a life simulator!

Chloe was somewhat bewildered, not knowing what they were talking about.

"Okay, okay~ don't mind me, my cute [junior]~?"

Alicia gently stroked Chloe's long, black hair, as black as the night sky, comforting her as she spoke softly.

"Now you can control your power, right?"

"Of course! Look!"

Like a child whose special talent has been asked about by an elder, Chloe raised her hand with a somewhat delighted expression, releasing her power under everyone's gaze and summoning [Mist].

And within that mist, golden musical notes did indeed faintly appear... that was the power of Dawn.

"Okay, stop using it."

Kevin grabbed Chloe's arm with one hand, forcibly stopping her from continuing to express her ideas, while holding down Qianjie, who was once again on the verge of rioting, to prevent him from going berserk again.

...There was no other way. The scene that the [Thousand-Man Herrscher] had deliberately created overlapped with the past, which severely agitated Qian Jie's nerves. It was already quite difficult to keep him in line now.

"why?"

Chloe looked puzzled.

"Your riddles will only keep her confused forever."

"We're still in charge of this," Wilvi said calmly from the side.

“It wouldn’t hurt to tell her, and she should know about it anyway.”

"Ah, if it's a secret, it's okay if you don't tell me, okay? Your friends are trustworthy... um!"

Chloe quickly waved her hand, responding obediently, and at the same time changed the subject, returning to what she was more concerned about.

"Um... can we continue trying to revive my senior? I'll help!"

Chloe said excitedly.

"I want to fulfill your wish, senior! So that you and Miss Eden can stay together forever! Yes!"

"Ah... I see... that's what you're thinking..."

A beautiful, highly distinctive voice, with a slightly tipsy quality, gently rang out.

"……Well!"

“So cute~”

“Miss Eden…”

Chloe looked away, somewhat embarrassed.

"It's okay. I appreciate your efforts. Knowing your feelings makes me even happier, and I believe he feels the same way."

Eden stepped forward slowly, gently patted Chloe's head, and said softly.

"Really?!"

"nature."

Eden smiled.

"I believe you will like us, and we... will definitely like you too."

Eden bowed slightly, touching its forehead to its own, and softly offered its blessing.

Then, Eden straightened up again and laughed once more.

"However, I won't trouble you with another matter."

"……Eh?"

"He and I... will always be together."

Eden placed his hand lightly on his chest as he spoke.

"I... will go to him."

"what?"

"...Vilvie, how is [Song] doing?"

"To be honest, it's not very good."

"Hmm...it's alright, he seems a bit tired...well, it's my turn to [go on stage]~ I'll give him a little help~"

"Ok?"

Chloe seemed completely bewildered by their conversation... What's going on? How is this situation, where I'm the only one unaware of it, happening?

"Ha...really, I told you guys not to be so mysterious. Is it really that fun to keep it from a little kid?"

As she watched him walk away, humming a tune as if he were completely absorbed in his own Eden world, Wilvi sighed with a sense of helplessness.

"Miss Wilvi... what do you mean?"

Chloe asked softly.

"Did I...do something wrong?"

"And why did Miss Eden say... she wanted to go to her senior's side?"

"...You don't seem to understand your own power very well."

Vilvi's gaze lingered on Chloe's bewildered expression for a moment before she spoke.

"As a manifestation of [erosion], you unconsciously [replicate] yourself, right? It's not hard to know this based on the traces you left in 'Eden'."

"Anything you come into contact with will subconsciously 'corrode' you, especially in the environment of 'Eden,' where your power could be used very effectively, so... do you understand?"

"What's the meaning?"

"Ugh……"

At this moment, everyone could confirm that Chloe truly didn't know what she had done; she truly existed like a newborn; she had truly only unintentionally... caused that outcome.

"Simply put, your power is [corrosion], and you are instinctively wielding your power without realizing it."

"And in the 'Garden of Eden,' the one you'll have the most obvious contact with is..."

"senior."

Chloe uttered the word in a daze.

"...Yes, that's right, it's Xiwang."

"So...so..."

Only at this moment did Chloe vaguely realize what she had done, what she had done unconsciously...

"...Yes, that's right, little one~"

Mebius chuckled lightly, but there was no smile in her eyes, only calmness and indifference.

"The glimmer of hope in 'Eden' is dead, vanished."

"Our [hope]...the [hope] to see him...is gone just like that, because of you."

"No...it's not..."

Chloe's eyes suddenly became unfocused, and her thoughts became chaotic. She could only blankly clutch her own arms and hug her own body, this body... given to her by her senior.

"I never intended to... I didn't hurt you at all..."

"No...no! You guys are capable, right? Dr. Möbius? Miss Velvi? You made preparations, didn't you? You originally intended to 'revive' our senior, didn't you?"

"What's in the 'Garden of Eden' is just your 'wishful thinking.' The real senior is still here, right? So... so... if we just keep going, if we just 'revive' the senior... then everything will be alright, right?"

"Anything is fine, I'll do whatever you ask, for my senior... for my senior's words... no matter what..."

Chloe's words became incoherent, but Mebius interrupted her with a single sentence.

"I'm sorry, little guy, I can't do it. [Resurrect] him or something."

"……Eh?"

"From our time to now, such a long period of time... do you think we haven't tried? Do you think we would have waited until now if we really wanted to resurrect him?"

Möbius's voice was calm and indifferent.

“We’ve tried countless times, but we’ve all failed… We believe he’s still alive, but we can’t bring him back to us, that’s the truth.”

"Then...then this time..."

"Ha... It was just a trap deliberately set to lure the escaped [Thousand-Man Herrscher]."

"So...you...never intended to revive our senior...right?"

"Yes, because we've already tried, and we can't do it."

Vilvi calmly took over the conversation.

"how so……"

Chloe knelt limply on the ground, her arms bent and lying there motionless. At this moment, she was indeed befitting of her doll-like body.

"Besides... there's you."

"...Did I...do anything else?"

"Hmm, after you accepted his [Song], you became too dependent on it, to the point that you use his blessing along with your power every time you use it... Haven't you ever thought about why you can use his [Song] on your own initiative?"

"Because...because this is a blessing left to me by my senior..."

"No, it's because after you came into contact with his [song], you subconsciously used your own power to erode his [song] and to seize his power, which is why you were able to use it in this way."

In a calm, almost indifferent tone, Vilvi revealed the truth.

"In other words, the [song] he left behind, which circulates throughout the world, has been destroyed by you... That's why Mei and the others feel their power is unstable, because the stabilizing effect of the [song] has been destroyed."

“Every time you use your power, you will increase the damage to the [Song]... In other words, doing nothing now is the greatest help you can give to your predecessor, at least... you won't destroy the [Song] he left behind.”

So...it's all because of...me?

"how so……"

I clearly... never thought of this... I clearly never wanted this to happen...

I clearly... wanted to help my senior...