Beast Gacha System: All Mine-Chapter 276: Enticed

"Let me give you an example."

Deity Momo’s voice was light, as if she were explaining the rules of a board game rather than the fundamental mechanics of reality.

"The first time we spoke, you could hear both of our voices." A pause. "But now, you can only hear mine."

Cecilia’s eyes narrowed.

She had heard Burn’s voice before, when the horizontal scar formed on her neck. But now there were only rumbles and growls from that direction. Only Momo’s clear, melodic voice filling the space.

"Which means..." Cecilia muttered. "To show yourself in this form, you need to sacrifice one of your voices?" She glanced at Burn’s flickering form, then back to Momo. "Just like... how you traded your mouth for your eyes...?"

Momo let out a sound, a giddy, gingery hum that seemed to vibrate through the air. She sounded incredibly delighted.

"Dangerous, dangerous." Her form rippled, almost bouncing. "With how fast your brain is, it might be dangerous!"

"All... to preserve my brain?" Cecilia asked, quieter now.

"Exactly." Momo leaned forward, her presence condensing. "To keep your brain from exploding...? Combusting...?"

"Rumble."

"Yes, my brain exploded too, in the past." Momo said, nostalgic, almost fond. "It was quite a memorable experience."

"...grr..."

"Aww... don’t feel bad, Bunny..." Momo’s voice softened. "It was actually romantic, in hindsight..."

Cecilia stared at them.

She couldn’t get used to this. Or, well, them. To deities who joked about their brains exploding, who called each other pet names, who lounged on her bed like they had nowhere else to be.

"Then." She forced her voice steady. "Which part of all these mechanics do I need to put down or stop wondering about?"

Momo’s form settled. When she spoke again, her voice was serious.

"To be safe, just think of the System attached to you as a game." Her words were deliberate. "Just a game. Everything attached to it, including the formation of this world, is just a game too."

Cecilia’s brow furrowed. "Then... I’m supposed to just... treat it as such? With no further nuance?"

"Yes." Momo nodded. "Because you’ve already achieved what you needed to achieve in this world. Surface level rewards and otherwise."

Achieved what you needed to achieve.

Cecilia’s brain clicked.

Her mouth opened. Her thoughts raced toward formation and articulation, toward another connection she shouldn’t make—

"Ah!" Cecilia slapped her hands over her ears. "I almost got another enlightenment!"

Momo laughed. "Oops. Be careful, Daughter of Tashr."

Cecilia clutched her head with both hands, pressing her palms against her temples, trying to physically hold the thoughts inside. "Limiting my brain like this... it’s actually harder than understanding it!"

"Rumble rumble rumble rumble—"

"Stop laughing, ah!"

Cecilia understood now.

Perhaps it wasn’t merely about avoiding her brain combusting. Perhaps it was also about avoiding her from going mad, like the infected people in the story of the King in Yellow, driven to insanity by knowledge the human mind was never meant to contain.

Sometimes, enlightenment could also create unstable mana fluctuations. Like a rampage. It could potentially blast a brai—

"Daughter of Tashr."

Momo’s voice cut through her thoughts like a bell through silence.

"You’re doing it again." Her form shifted, leaning closer. "Stop thinking for a moment. Stop, stop." A pause. "Look at Mommy."

Cecilia’s brain stopped.

The word ’Mommy’, spoken so casually and warmly, short-circuited every rational thought in her head. Her racing mind, which had been spinning through implications and dangers and the edges of forbidden knowledge, ground to a complete halt.

She looked at the two entities in front of her. Momo’s impossible form, shifting between colors that shouldn’t exist. Burn’s flickering presence, phasing in and out of reality. Both of them watching her with something that might have been patience, might have been fondness, might have been love.

"Focus on what’s already attached to you." Momo said, gentle.

"Speculation and assumption will only weigh your mind." Her formless hand somehow detached, floating, reaching, settling on Cecilia’s head with a warmth that had no source and yet was unmistakable. "And you don’t have to carry everything alone."

Cecilia’s throat tightened.

"Your Father and I will handle the tedious part."

Father. Mother.

She had never really had those. Not in this world, not in the real world.

She had had Dr. Summer Silver, who had raised her with kindness and left her with questions. She had had the Temple, which had used her and discarded her. She had had husbands, who loved her, who fought for her, who would burn worlds for her.

But not this. Never this.

"God, Goddess..." Cecilia whispered. "You are parenting the entire world, right?"

Momo hummed with a warm, affirmative sound. "Of course." Her hand, or what passed for a hand, pressed gently against Cecilia’s hair. "Everything is our sons and daughters."

Everything.

"Even this world?"

"Yes."

Even the people in it, the students whispering in corridors, the professors pretending not to notice, the lovers and rivals and friends.

Nikolas, who had called her Miss Sees without knowing why. Ruby, who had tried so hard to be the Saintess. Arzhen, with whatever poor choices he made.

"Then..." Cecilia swallowed. "When we leave this world... can you please... take care of it too?"

The god and goddess were silent for a long moment. Burn’s form flickered once, twice, and then steadied. Momo’s hand rested heavier on Cecilia’s head.

"What a kind child."

"We admire the essence of your soul."

Huh.

That... phrase again...

"Of course." Momo said with a soft voice. "We will not abandon it, perished or not."

"It will also live in your memory." She said, absolute. "Forever and ever."

***

The male dormitory loomed ahead, dark and silent, its windows dark, its doors locked, its inhabitants long since surrendered to curfew. The three figures approaching it moved like shadows, low and silent.

Oathran led, his steps making no sound. Arkai followed a pace behind, his eyes scanning the windows, counting the dark ones, calculating. Eastiel brought up the rear, ready to distract whoever that could’ve caught them to let his brothers hide ahead.

They were grumbling. In whispers.

"Why didn’t we just use my Student Council authority?" Arkai muttered. "We’re grown men, and we’re sneaking into a dormitory like schoolboys."

"We are schoolboys," Eastiel whispered back. "In this world, at least."

"That’s not the point."

"That’s exactly the point."

Oathran said nothing, just kept moving, his grey eyes fixed on the dormitory entrance. Doing these stupid things together felt different indeed. Just... wrong in a way that was almost funny.

Almost.

"Right." Eastiel’s whisper sharpened. "Since we can sneak into our own dorms... why can’t we just sneak into Cecilia’s?"

The other two paused. Turned.

Eastiel’s golden eyes were gleaming in the dark, his grin barely visible. "Ah, let’s have some fun tonight..." He whined. "It’s been so long..."

"Brother." Arkai’s voice was flat. "We’ll get caught."

"No we won’t. We’re good at this."

Oathran tilted his head. Considered. His brothers watched him, waiting.

"Well." His voice was thoughtful. "Fucking her in her dorm... I’ve done it." he paused. "And I kind of want a different experience."

Immediately his younger brothers’ eyes blazed. Their grins froze. Jealousy radiated from both of them.

"How are you so lucky, Elder Brother?"

Oathran’s composure cracked. His lips twitched. His shoulders shook.

"Pfff—"

Eastiel grabbed his arm. "That’s not fair! You got her first, you got her in her dorm—"

"I didn’t plan it," Oathran wheezed.

"THAT MAKES IT WORSE."

Arkai was staring at him with something that might have been betrayal. "You didn’t even plan it?"

"It just... happened."

"IT JUST HAPPENED?!"

"Brother." Arkai grabbed his arm. "We’re missing the point."

"Which is?"

"We can sneak into her dorm tonight. And then we’ll have experiences too."

Oathran stopped laughing. Looked at them. Considered.

Then he sighed, the sigh of an elder brother who knew he was about to be talked into something reckless.