Chapter 49
Baby Dinosaur Rex (4)
“Hmm?”
When Jude opened his eyes, he found himself inside a cozy home.
“You’re awake, my son.”
“Gasp!”
“Welcome home. Today is your birthday, remember?”
Standing before Jude was the mother he had missed so dearly.
And she was not alone.
Around her were friends his own age—the sort of friends Jude had never possessed in his entire life. The adorable children wore party hats and carried beautifully wrapped presents. Each box had the words “Happy Birthday, Jude” written on it.
The birthday table was so lavishly laden that it seemed ready to collapse beneath the weight.
Every dish was one of Jude’s favorites.
He could even smell their delicious aromas, and strangely enough, hunger began to surge through him. How could that be? His skeletal body should not have been capable of eating.
Jude lowered his head and looked at himself.
Instead of a hollow body made of bone, he possessed a human body of flesh and blood.
It was the body of the young boy Jude had lost forever after his first death.
“Hurry up and cut the cake.”
Everything he had longed for throughout the years.
And a happiness he had never experienced in his entire life.
Confronted with this modest yet perfect happiness, Jude grinned.
“This is a dream. It’s Jude’s dream.”
Jude immediately realized what was happening.
Having lived for countless years, he knew of the demons’ existence. He also knew that among them were dream demons capable of making souls dream eternally of everything they desired.
“What’s wrong, Jude?”
His mother smiled at him tenderly.
Jude stood blankly for a moment before looking at the candles burning atop the cake.
Birthday wishes, a birthday feast, a cake, a party, and sincere love—things he had never received even once in his entire life.
Faced with this hollow happiness, Jude merely smiled.
He did not even show any displeasure.
“You should make a wish, my son.”
Sweet words.
A sweet cake.
Jude blew out the candles.
As everyone around him applauded enthusiastically, Jude spread his arms wide. Instead of keeping his wish secret, he proudly declared it aloud as he always did.
“Give me a hug.”
Everyone immediately entered Jude’s embrace.
The warmth he had not been able to feel with a body made of bone returned to him after so long...
As he felt that warmth, Jude used his true power.
His soul had been damaged in reality, causing him to lose countless powers, but that was not the case inside a dream. The authority over death he had accumulated over immeasurable ages—and the transcendent power contained within his legendary soul—eradicated the illusion that had clouded his vision.
When Jude closed and reopened his eyes, he had once again become a frightening skeleton made entirely of bone.
The cozy house and pleasant scenery had disappeared. In their place was a barren land of death where not even a single blade of grass grew.
“What is essential is invisible to the eye.”
Jude spoke calmly.
“Demon, Jude has always lived while looking back at what he lost, but that isn’t true anymore. Jude has many precious things now. Truly, so very many.”
He looked like an easy target—a small, defenseless child in the form of a skeleton.
In truth, however, when it came to innate stature, Jude was the most transcendent of all Lee Shin’s believers.
He was a soul who had existed for countless eons and defied the heavens by overcoming death through his own power. The fact that he had survived for so long without disappearing even after his world was destroyed was entirely due to his own capabilities.
Something like that could never be broken by a mere dream demon’s tricks.
“You’re far too insignificant to torment me... much less our God. You made a mistake.”
Lilith the Dream Demon had never failed before.
As Lilith saw it, the worlds of the gods had always been imperfect. The souls living within the worlds they created were constantly forced to endure injustice, casually losing the things they treasured.
They lived their lives losing things rather than gaining them.
Deprivation.
Fear.
Loss.
Anxiety.
Souls dreamed to escape such things.
Lilith believed her dreams were perfect. She had lived convinced that every soul would eventually choose the dreams she created over the worlds of the gods.
Reality could never defeat a dream.
Souls could never be happy in reality.
The worlds created by the gods were flawed.
The dreams she created were the ones that were truly perfect.
Within a dream, every soul could meet the lover they desired, do whatever they had always wished to do, and receive recognition and love from everyone.
Those who had lost their families could have them back.
Those who had lost their friends could regain them.
Those who longed for respect could finally receive it.
During the centuries she had lived as a dream demon, Lilith had come to believe that her work saved souls—that she was granting them salvation.
But...
‘This cannot be happening.’
Everything had gone wrong from the moment Santiago, the elderly dwarf from the small world, awakened from his dream.
Beginning with that dwarf, the dreamers of the small world had started opening their eyes one after another.
Lilith assumed it had to be some kind of trick—a loophole or deception she did not understand.
Perhaps because he had once been human before becoming a god, the Administrator had bestowed some special power upon him.
Otherwise, none of this made sense.
Why would souls choose reality?
Why would they abandon a dream in which they possessed everything they could ever want...?
“Ah.”
For the first time in her existence, Lilith was the one trapped inside a dream.
And now she was witnessing those scenes.
‘Simply by being born, you have already fulfilled your purpose. That alone is enough.’
‘Jude has many precious things now.’
Deprivation, wounds, and fear.
Rather than embracing those things and remaining trapped forever, the souls had chosen to move forward. Instead of settling for a life where they would never be hurt again and receiving empty comfort, they had chosen to prove themselves and advance toward an unknown future.
How?
‘God...’
Because they had a god.
They had one god who would never abandon them, regardless of the decisions they made or the paths they chose—a god who would remain beside them for eternity.
The mere existence of one being who would never cast them aside gave their souls the strength to face reality.
Lilith had witnessed countless dreams throughout her life as a dream demon.
Within those dreams, souls always said the same things.
If only I had possessed a single friend.
If only I had met one true teacher.
If only I had found one person who loved me.
If only I had been blessed with wonderful parents.
Those were the things every soul desired.
And now, these souls possessed such a being.
A friend, a teacher, a lover, and a parent...
Perhaps someone capable of granting them an even greater sense of security than any of those.
The greatest of all beings was promising to remain with them forever.
His presence had suddenly expanded.
The sheer intensity of his power was overwhelming.
But those things were not the true strength of Lee Shin, the god who had once been human.
Ultimately, demons and gods shared the same essence. Winning the favor of souls, exerting influence upon the world, and persuading its inhabitants—that was the essence of both beings.
And Lilith the Dream Demon had been defeated at the most fundamental level.
Had she lost because she was crushed beneath his explosively growing divinity?
She could have accepted that.
Had she lost because of some incomprehensible special power?
She could have accepted that as well.
But that was not how Lee Shin had defeated her.
He had directly shattered the premise upon which Lilith’s entire existence was founded:
All souls are happier in dreams than in reality.
The dinosaurs Lilith had drawn into her dreams were awakening one after another. Lee Shin had not used any extraordinary divine authority. Just as he had persuaded Rex, he merely spoke with them and brought the helpless dinosaurs back into reality.
Lilith had never encountered a god like this before.
‘Weren’t gods... supposed to regard their worlds as mere tools?’
They created worlds according to their tastes, filled them with souls they could use as convenient tools, and discarded those worlds without hesitation whenever things failed to proceed as they desired.
They created stars without any affection or concern for the souls living within them, then casually abandoned them.
That was what Lilith...
No, what all demons believed gods to be.
『Dreams are sweet.』
『But eventually, one must awaken from every dream.』
The voice echoed inside Lilith’s mind.
『Why do you think they opened their eyes?』
“......”
『Reality is harsher than any dream. In a dream, anyone can become the protagonist, but in reality, not everyone can. Everyone wishes to be the protagonist of their own life, and it is deeply sorrowful that this cannot always be so.』
『But why must only the protagonist be happy?』
Lilith felt the gaze of the immense god upon her.
『Are only those who possess mountains of gold and jewels wealthy? Is only the person whose name is known throughout the world honorable? Is only the man who wins the most beautiful woman capable of attaining true love?』
“Well...”
『Even those without a single coin can be wealthy. An old man living anonymously on the streets can be honorable. And the love of a man who chooses a woman whose face has been scarred by burns can also be true love.』
『They can be so if they believe it themselves—and if even one person recognizes how special they are.』
“......”
『The desert is beautiful because it conceals an oasis somewhere within it. The world is beautiful precisely because it is imperfect, demon.』
Beyond the sky, at the source of that vast presence, stood a young man.
『You, too, must have simply been born a demon.』
Only then did Lilith understand.
『I shall help you understand, if only a little.』
She understood what it meant to be a god who had once been human.
『Within the dream you love so dearly.』
She understood what it meant for a god to know humanity.
‘A natural enemy.’
Demons exploited the cracks within the souls of living beings.
Gods who fundamentally failed to understand their creations had no way of comprehending their emotions, deprivation, or anxiety. They were beings born to wield their creations as tools.
That was why demons tempted those misunderstood creations. They drew them in with sweet bait, whispering that they alone understood them.
But what if an omnipotent god could understand them?
What if the master of a world understood that world?
What if he sincerely loved it?
And what if that world sincerely loved him in return?
What demon could possibly shake such a world?
‘The natural enemy... of demons.’
The next moment, Lilith’s entire world trembled.
And then—
“Congratulations.”
Lilith began to dream a long dream.
“It’s a daughter.”
It was not the dream of a demon, but the long dream of a human woman.
It was a dream called “human life,” bestowed upon a demon by the god who understood humanity better than any other precisely because he had once been human...
***
Time, which had come to a halt, began flowing once more.
The Vast but Indolent World.
At its center were Lilith and the other demons.
They were kneeling solemnly, their postures reverent.
“Why are the demons...?”
“We awakened... from the dream, didn’t we?”
“The dream is over... so why are the dream demons still here?”
The dream demons had been defeated.
That much was clear from the fact that every dinosaur in this world had awakened. Normally, defeated demons would immediately flee and seek somewhere safe to recover.
Demons were notorious for relentlessly returning no matter how many times they were defeated. That was why every god in the World of Stars was sick of them at the mere mention of their name.
So why were these demons not fleeing?
There was only one reason.
“...We realized that we were wrong.”
They had experienced a long dream.
And within that dream...
“Everything we believed until now was wrong.”
The demons had been persuaded.
No—to be precise...
“Only you are worthy of becoming the one true god of this World of Stars.”
They had been converted.
“From this moment onward, the eight dream demons—including myself, Lilith—pledge our support to Lee Shin, the greatest and most merciful god in the World of Stars.”
Ding!
「You have become the first to inspire the faith of [Demons] in the World of Stars!」
「This is an unprecedented achievement.」
「A Mythic-rank reward will be granted.」
「The [World of Stars] is beginning to stir.」
「The brightest stars have taken notice of your [Destiny].」
「The darkest abyss has taken notice of your [Destiny].」
「Exercise caution.」
「The stars will now be watching you.」
The dinosaurs—and eight dream demons.
It was an unexpected two-for-one deal.