Chapter 1339: Twin Dream (3)
Rhode was initially curious about his mental world as well, but immediately regretted after he walked into it.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about what his mental world looked like. After experiencing Celia’s and Celestina’s, he randomly thought about what his mental world was like. It was just that after entering the city, he felt depressed rather quickly. Because what was in front of him was simply a dead city.
On the surface, the city was no different from an ordinary one; soft music played everywhere on the streets and alleyways, traffic lights flashed from time to time, the big screen in the center of the square showed advertis.e.m.e.nts and idol propaganda. But despite all that, there wasn’t a single person. Rhode thought that his world would be as crowded as Celia’s, but now it seemed like it wasn’t as ‘crowded’ as he had imagined. The streets were lined with running trams and flas.h.i.+ng electronic vending machines, and the platforms in the subway showed arrival and departure information repeatedly. But all of that was pointless because there wasn’t a single person in the entire city. And to be honest, under such circ.u.mstances, it wouldn’t be surprising if a bunch of zombies ran out from nowhere.
“Whew… How should I put it? It’s just so boring.”
Pus.h.i.+ng open the door into a convenience store, Rhode casually picked up the magazine on the shelf next to him, flipped through the pages, and tossed it aside again. But shortly after, he froze and picked up the magazine again quickly. He stared at the cover of a dark-haired ‘young lady’ who jumped on the stage in a gorgeous and cheerful idol costume. And on the side of the cover, a few huge lines of words were printed: “Dream Singer! Miss Rhode shall present a paradise of joy! Let’s head to the Mega Dome on the 15th to enjoy the concert of the world’s greatest female singer!”
Not only was the t.i.tle in bad taste, but what also made him twitch his eyes was the unacceptable outfit he wore on the magazine cover in front of him. Not only did he wear an audacious bikini-like performance outfit on the upper half of his body, but he also wore a short skirt and a pair of white silk stockings on his bottom half?!
“What in the—?!”
Rhode flipped through the pages and swept glances at them, before violently tossing the magazine on the ground. This was the first time he showed such anger on his face. Not only that, but he also pushed open the door of the convenience store furiously and sized up the surroundings in rage. At that moment, the square with a large screen above broadcasting advertis.e.m.e.nts suddenly flickered and transformed into a dazzling, magnificent stage. And on top of the stage was a ‘young lady’ who wiggled her waist. Under the stage, countless glow sticks flashed and danced along with the rhythm. The song happened to come to an end. The young lady skipped to the front of the stage, waving in excitement to her fans below.
“h.e.l.lo———everyone! Thanks for coming to my concert~~~! How was that? Was it great?!”
“Ohhhhhh…!”
With the young lady’s question, deafening cheers sounded from under the stage. And when she heard their positive voices, she revealed a charming smile, placed her hands on her hips, and raised her hands.
“Alright, the concert has just begun… Tonight, I won’t let any of you sleep! Kiss~!”
“F*ck-! This can’t be tolerated!”
Looking at this scene, Rhode couldn’t stay calm anymore.
How in the world is she my mental projection? Why do I have such a bizarre projection? And I even blew them a kiss? How is that tolerable? This must not be tolerated…! No, I will never allow this kind of humiliation in my mental world!
At that moment, Rhode threw the matter regarding of Gracier and Madaras to the back of his head and ran out to the street like he was on fire, jumping onto the skysc.r.a.per next to him and flying over to the huge circular building in the distance. At that moment, he was utterly embarra.s.sed. And if it weren’t for the fear of destroying his mental world, he would have demolished the entire stage with a mouthful of dragon breath! But now… He could only take one step at a time and see what he could do with that ‘young lady’!
After he left in exasperation, two illusory figures followed his footsteps silently and arrived at the empty square. Then, they curiously turned their heads to scan the place and s.h.i.+fted their gaze to the huge screen where the ‘live’ concert was being broadcast. Soon after, the clear sound of laughter reverberated again. However, Rhode didn’t notice them. Along with the laughter, the indistinct figures gradually became clearer as if a blurred draft being traced and colored. Shortly after, the white cloaks fell off their bodies and were replaced by two beautiful, white robes that were inlaid with golden lace patterns. The two girls raised their heads and looked up at the screen in front of them, and a glint flashed in their golden eyes.
“Want to… sing…”
“We also want… to stand there… and sing… for everyone…”
Looking at the scene in front of them, Gracier and Madaras murmured between themselves. At the next moment, they disappeared with the wind blowing past them. Almost as soon as they disappeared, the large screen that was broadcasting the concert switched off and there was no more signal.
Bam!
Rhode kicked open the door of the concert hall in a fury. The loud music and bustling clamors created an almost materialistic heat that he couldn’t bear. As he looked around, he saw glow sticks s.h.i.+ning everywhere in the ma.s.sive concert hall, while his other ‘self’ stood on the catwalk jumping excitedly in a shameless costume.
G.o.ddammit. Do you really think you are a pop idol now?
Rhode didn’t know such a mental projection existed deep inside his mind. Oh G.o.d, he could have sworn to his younger sister that he was never interested in singing. He only sang casually at karaoke sessions with his friends and was never a mic-hog. It wasn’t like no one advised him to become an idol in the past. After all, he had an outstanding appearance and accompanied with his ident.i.ty as the number one player in the Dragon Soul Continent, profits would surely pour in after some promotion as a compet.i.tive video game idol.
However, he was genuinely uninterested in having a profession that put on a show to amuse others. Of course, the most important thing for him was not having privacy after becoming an idol as the d.a.m.n paparazzi would be after him. Would he even be able to sleep with any woman when that happened?
And yet, there was an idol singing and dancing inside of him? What was that all about?
Looking at the scene in front of him, Rhode blew his top. Although these so-called ‘audience members’ were just shadows, the surface seemed to be filled with real people. But if one were to look closely, one would find that they didn’t have faces or clothes on and were simply a group of shadows. Besides, he didn’t care about these ‘onlookers’ at all. He dashed in a string of afterimages toward the T-shaped platform. When his other self saw his arrival, not only did the former not avoid him, but he also winked at him with ease. Looking at this scene, Rhode was even more furious from the bottom of his heart. He didn’t even hesitate to pull out his sword and swing down hard at his other self in front of him.
Whoos.h.!.+
Even though Rhode went all-out, his other self wasn’t one to be trifled with either; the latter turned around nimbly and evaded the attack. Moreover, even though Rhode’s sword struck the ground, it didn’t even shatter the ground apart from letting out a deep clang. It went to show that his mental world was equally as solid and uneasily destroyed.
“YAHOO———! Looks like we got a new guest! Everyone, let’s cheer!”
“Cheer my *ss! Stop this embarra.s.sing concert right now!”
Hearing his other self speak, Rhode almost fainted to anger. He grunted and swung his sword once more at his other self. However, his other self dodged and upon looking at Rhode’s furious expression, he knitted his brows and revealed a discontent look. But compared to the ice-cold man, he was more like putting on a show.
“Oh no, it’s rare to have such a magnificent stage, so why don’t you cherish this experience? To come up here and fight is just too much! Then again, this is still my territory, and you’re trespa.s.sing and interrupting my concert! This is too much; at least I’m still one of your doppelgängers! I can’t believe you’re doing this to me!”
“I don’t have such a shameless doppelgänger like you.”
Once again, sizing up the ‘magnificent’ costume on his other self, Rhode raised his sword with an ice-cold expression, while his eyes emanated an unmistakable murderous intent. When the other self sensed the murderous intent, he spread his arms apart helplessly and put on a ‘you’re hopeless’ look.
“That’s easy for you to say; you don’t really want to destroy me, My Core. I’m still one of your doppelgängers. Do you really think you have what it takes to get rid of me? It doesn’t matter though, a concert needs a bit of an unexpected performance to be exciting. So, let me see your power!”
The other Rhode smiled, turned around again, and looked to the audience in front of him. He waved his hand strongly and called out loudly in a clear, pleasant voice.
“Everyone——we’re going to put on a new performance…! Please welcome our special guest…”
“Ohhhhhh…!”
“Are you done yet?!”
Rhode flew into a rage. Previously, he wasn’t even this furious when he saw his other self after entering a land of Chaos. Back then, although his other self that was summoned was his avatar in the game, both of them had the same personality. But now, looking at this ‘idol’ clad in an extravagant costume and acting like he was addicted to acting like an innocent young girl idol, Rhode had the urge to destroy him completely. However, he wouldn’t really do it. After all, in the two previous times, neither Celia nor Celestina said that they would completely destroy their personality. Instead, their different personalities fused after they were defeated. However, as the saying ‘touch pit, and one would be defiled’ went, he saw through the unknown parts of Celestina and Celiam and in the end, he didn’t expect to face his very own mental projection now… What karma.
For that reason, even though Rhode knew it was useless, he still swung his sword and attacked his other self. Even if he couldn’t destroy his other self, if he were able to beat this guy up, it would be considered a breath of fresh air for him. Otherwise, how could he accept such a mental projection existing inside his mind! It was the only thing that he would never admit to!
Facing Rhode’s attack, the idol also wasn’t willing to be outdone. The latter stretched out his arm and soon, the microphone in his hand transformed into a long, black sword, swinging back at Rhode. The two men exchanged blows on the stage and as if attracted by the lively scene, crowds in all directions cheered once again. In an instant, the stage was set ablaze with lights, the big screen emanating a charming glow and intense music booming as if it were the background music of their battle. As a projection of Rhode’s mental world, the idol wasn’t a weakling either. And although he couldn’t match up against Rhode in terms of strength, his agility was on a similar level. Even though Rhode was relentless, the idol was able to evade his every a.s.sault. Not only that, but while dodging Rhode’s attacks, the idol was also singing.
“Hey! You guys on the left and on the right! My youth is in the holy sword~ La, la, la~
“Look at me, and let me give you a declaration of love! This world is made of love and peace~ La, la, la~”
“G.o.ddammit, shut the h.e.l.l up!”
Upon hearing the lyrics coming out of the mouth of his other self, Rhode blew his top. If Rhode’s anger could manifest, perhaps his entire mental world would have been burned down along with him. And it wasn’t just the shameless lyrics that made him angry. It was that what his other self sang wasn’t nice at all! Rhode admitted that even though he wasn’t tone-deaf, at the very least he didn’t sing out of tune! But now, this ‘idol’ in front of him was way out of tune!
If you want to be an idol, can’t you do it seriously? I wasn’t even this unprofessional whenever I dressed up as a woman!
And while Rhode fought his other self in a prolonged battle, he suddenly heard whispers in his ears.
“La… La, la…”
It sounded as if one were humming. And by all rights, it was impossible for one to hear such hums under the circ.u.mstances at hand. After all, the noisy background music and the booming cheers of the audience had enveloped the entire hall. But to Rhode’s surprise, amidst all that noise, the soft humming was so clear and pleasing to his ear that even his heart, which was so ashamed of this d.a.m.ned mental projection, seemed to have calmed down a lot.
“La… La, la…”
Swis.h.!.+
After forcing his other self back with the swing of his sword, Rhode turned around to look at where the voices came from. To his surprise, he saw two pet.i.te figures standing in front of the stage. The two young ladies lifted their heads, letting their beautiful, long, and pure white hair flow and reflect the lights s.h.i.+ning on the stage. At that moment, they had already taken off the familiar a.s.sa.s.sin outfits from Rhode’s memory—they were replaced by beautiful gowns with floral patterns. They stood at the front of the stage and raised their hands high. As if chanting a hymn, they kept their eyes closed, softly humming that nameless and peaceful melody.
“…”
Upon looking at this scene, the other Rhode stretched out his hand and snapped his fingers hurriedly. Shortly after, accompanied by his movement, the loud music vanished and the cheering crowd also became silent. Soon, the entire concert hall was only filled with the echoing and singing voices of the two pet.i.te elves.
“This is…”
Rhode listened to the white elves with some astonishment. He couldn’t understand what Gracier and Madaras were singing, but it was clearly a pleasant and relaxing song. The moment he heard their singing, Rhode felt as if he were lying on the soft gra.s.s, bathing in the warm and comfortable suns.h.i.+ne, feeling the cool breeze’s caress. He felt extremely relaxed. At that moment, it was as if he had become an inseparable part of nature and could never leave for the rest of his life.
“…”
The singing slowly stopped, and at some point, the audience that filled the entire concert venue also disappeared gradually. It was only at that moment when Rhode saw the two young ladies turned around and stared at him with a smile on their faces. Unsure if it were his illusion or not, he felt like Gracier and Madaras appeared smaller than he remembered. But before he figured out what was going on, he saw the smiles on the two pet.i.te elves, extending their hands toward him: one to the left and one to the right.
“Greetings, my master.”
They said in unison.