Alice in the Land of Steam

The archive playback has ended.

The control center was dead silent, and even the sound of breathing was as clear as the sound of the tide. Themis watched the screen dim quietly, and the childish, innocent, and immature self of the past also disappeared from her eyes as the screen dimmed, as if she would never come back. She slowly closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she had returned to her cold and silent attitude, as if no matter what happened, it could no longer affect her emotions, because it was just a useless piece of code for a heartless machine.

She once swore that she would never make the same mistake again...

"Hey."

Alice suddenly spoke. She had been silent since the beginning, just staring at the images on the screen. Only when the screen was completely dark did she turn her head and look at Tiandis behind the other screen. She asked in a calm tone that was not like hers, "Are these images really true?"

She hesitated for a moment, as if thinking about how to express herself correctly: "I mean, is the Alice in the picture just now really me?"

Hearing this, everyone looked at her with strange eyes. Tiantis even laughed out loud, as if he found Alice's reaction quite interesting. "What's wrong, Alice? Why do you ask such an obvious question? I think you must have been very excited when you first learned that you were the girl's king. Why are you doubting it now?"

She had clearly never seen such a scene, but she could describe Alice's reaction in such a confident tone, which was probably based on a kind of understanding.

However, Alice felt a little strange about this understanding.

"This, this is different..." she said hesitantly, but what exactly is different? When Tian Tis questioned her with his eyes, Alice couldn't say a word.

Her heart was now a mess, just like a person who suddenly discovered that something was added to his memory. Those strange memories rushed into her mind like a tide, more violent than the most uninvited guest. From a realistic point of view, she had never taken the identity of the young queen seriously, or rather, she just regarded it as the "basic setting" of the game, just like the profession of a warrior or magician in the game.

Although for the natives of the Mirror Star World, the Girl Kingship is undoubtedly a noble existence, and should be called a saint and worshiped. But she is a player, and no matter how the player's identity in the game changes, it is reasonable, right? Except for some people who are overly obsessed with setting research, is there anyone who cares about such a trivial matter?

It was not until she saw the blonde girl on the screen, who had the same face and even a similar personality as her, speaking in the same tone as her, with the goddess, with Tentis, and with the silver-haired girl who looked very similar to Themis in the celestial world but had a different name, that she suddenly realized that she might not be able to continue to treat this "game" as a game.

If all this is a game, then what is she? She has always faced the world with a free-spirited mentality. Even if her emotions change sometimes, it is because of herself and has nothing to do with outsiders. Just like a game player will be moved by the characters in the game, but never think that they can affect his life. This mentality is naturally not a problem. After all, the existence of virtual data is to soothe the equally virtual emotions. If someone dies for the game, he will be laughed at.

But once she found out that she was actually in the middle of it, this free-wheeling player mentality seemed to turn into a kind of superior arrogance: she was moved by herself, interfered by herself, and finally made her own decisions. She spared no effort to promote the development of the plot because she felt that she was the protagonist, but now thinking from another perspective, weren't everyone forced to move forward by her?

Alice's heart was pounding, and she was at a loss. Logically, she should be happy to know her life story, relieved that the contradictory memories in her mind were finally explained, or proud of herself for loving games so much from the past to the present...

But when she looked at the girl in the picture, she felt strange, as if she was looking at other people's memories, or watching an NPC based on herself, and how she lived in the game world. How ridiculous it sounded, she had always regarded other people as NPCs of this game, existing to serve the players, but in the end, she was the original NPC?
She had no idea what she was facing, so she just wanted to get a negative answer from Tiandis so that she could temporarily relax and feel at ease. Even though she knew in her heart that such thoughts were just deceiving herself.

Tiandis looked at her steadily, and after a long while he asked, "If it's fake, do you think it's okay?"

Alice was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to answer, but perhaps Tiantis didn't expect to hear the answer from her. He quickly turned his gaze to the people behind her and asked again: "Do you think this is okay?"

Everyone looked at each other, speechless. To be honest, they could understand Alice's feelings, because except for Saint Shallia, not every young queen knew her true identity at the beginning. They had all lost their memories and lived in this world with another identity, until a young man with a blue-haired girl suddenly broke into their lives, which changed this unchanging fate.

When they suddenly heard that they were the offspring of the Great Goddess and the young queen who controlled the laws of the universe, weren't they also shocked and at a loss for a while, until the facts were laid out before them, and then they accepted this fate with mixed feelings? Perhaps Alice's feelings at this moment were the same as theirs at that time.

But there are some differences, at least, they never regarded this as a virtual world, and treated it as a game, so after learning their true identities, they did not separate themselves from the world. And that sense of separation is probably the reason why Alice is unwilling to accept reality.

"What if," Ling Ge suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence: "If the video just now was real, then why did Alice, who was supposed to be the queen of the young girl, appear on Earth? What happened to the old world called Eden in the end?"

Alice looked at him in disbelief: "Wait, Lingge, do you really believe what that guy said!?"

Linger looked at her deeply and said, "You are the only one who still refuses to believe, Alice." Upon hearing this, Alice immediately turned her head and looked behind her. Most people avoided her gaze, but Saint Xia Liya did not dodge. Her face was extremely serious and every word she said seemed to emphasize something: "Don't be willful, Alice."

This sentence immediately broke Alice's psychological defenses. She stammered a few times, but still didn't have the courage to refute. She could only mutter: "I'm not willful, I just think... shouldn't I be more cautious about such an important matter?"

She had been a genius player on Earth for so long, and had long been accustomed to her identity. But she suddenly found out that she was actually the Young Queen, and that she came from a world called Eden, and was not even a mirror star. Normal people would inevitably feel astonished and questioned, right? Besides, Tiantis was an enemy, and the words of the enemy... could they be believed?
Others don't think so. Although Tiantis is an enemy, Celestial Themis is not, at least not yet. As the narrator of the game, she has secretly helped them through many crises. She is also an absolutely neutral observer left behind by the goddess and is unlikely to lie.

In response to Ling's question, Tiantis first glanced at Themis of the Celestial Realm. Seeing that she didn't seem to want to speak, he raised the corners of his mouth slightly and said, "It's a very crucial question, Mr. Ling. I can indeed answer you, but before I answer, I need to explain a concept to you, that is, the three messengers that Mother left for the World of Eden—"

"The protector and arbitrator of the world, Tiantis." She pointed at herself.

"Alice, the guide and agent of civilization." She glanced at Alice, who was still in a daze, not knowing what she was thinking.

"And, the observer of this world, the fantasy world, and the afterlife, the celestial Themis." His last glance swept across the silent silver-haired girl, then quickly retracted and fell on Lingge - and the young royal girls behind him: "What are their respective responsibilities?"

"For the young queens of Mirror Star, your duty is to maintain the laws of the universe, that is, the balance between chaos and order. This is a job that requires stability. Once disturbed by the outside world, it will lead to imbalance. Perhaps Mother has considered this from the beginning and does not want you to have too much contact with mortals. But unlike you, we from Eden have our respective duties closely related to the world under our feet and mortal civilization. You must know that in that era, even the Holy Temple of Heaven was still floating in the sky of Eden Continent, revered and worshipped by all people, instead of being hidden in the depths of the sea of ​​stars and difficult to find like it is now."

"Alice's fantasy kingship can temporarily turn fantasy into reality. Moreover, she is the one among the three of us who is most interested in and understands Earth civilization the best. Although her personality is a bit casual, she makes people feel close to her. Therefore, Mother chose her as the guide and agent of civilization. Through the power of fantasy kingship, she will guide civilization to the right path. At the same time, she is also responsible for coordinating the relationship between different races and different countries to maintain the stability and stability of the continent's order."

Turning fantasy into reality? This description naturally reminded Linge of something Alice had: "Game console and cassette?"

"That's right." Tiantis nodded gently: "That is the form of the fantasy kingship under the influence of Alice's consciousness. However, Alice's kingship is not complete, and she has lost some of her memories, making it difficult to control this power. Therefore, it needs a power of the same level to activate it, that is, the other girls' kingship. As for the fact that Celestial Themis is secretly assisting you as the system of the game console, I don't know."

She glanced at Celestial Themis seemingly casually, and the silver-haired girl lowered her eyelids slightly without saying anything. Tiantis didn't care either. On the contrary, she chuckled. Perhaps it was Celestial Themis's reaction that made her feel very similar to the stubborn girl before, so she was a little emotional: "As for Celestial Themis, she is not the young queen, but because she has been authorized by my mother, she can control the central system of the Temple of Heaven, monitor and observe the status of the entire Eden continent, and assist me and Alice in our work. Of course, she is only responsible for monitoring these abnormal data and will not interfere with the decision-making of Alice and me. Only when our decisions conflict with each other will she make a decision as a third party. According to my mother, the judgment made by Celestial Themis must be followed by Alice and I, whether we question it or not."

This is a heavy trust, and Themis of the heavens has always kept it in mind and dared not neglect it. But have I really fulfilled my duties and lived up to the trust of the goddess? At this moment, the girl couldn't help but think in silence, and it took a long time to let it go.

"What about you, Miss Tiantis?" Linger asked, "What are your responsibilities?"

I'm afraid this is the most critical factor in the whole incident.

Tiantis looked at him meaningfully and said, "I am the guardian and arbitrator of the world, not the civilization, so my duty is naturally to maintain the stability of the Eden world and punish those ambitious people who attempt to endanger stability. Of course, this statement may be a bit general, so let me put it in a more concise and clear way: My duty is to manage and maintain the magic circulation system of the entire Eden world."

Magic circulation system?
This was something that no one had ever heard of, but one could roughly understand its meaning just by hearing the name. Ling Ge's words reminded him of the magic pollution phenomenon that Rorona had mentioned to him. It was caused by the disruption of the magic balance, which was the negative impact of the Eden Project being implemented by the Witch Society. However, Tiantis, who had caused the magic pollution phenomenon, claimed that his duty was to maintain the integrity of the magic cycle system?

It sounds... like a really not-so-funny joke. Rorona in the crowd probably had the same idea as Lingge. She curled the corners of her mouth slightly, as if trying to make a sarcastic expression, but ultimately failed because Tiantis's expression was too serious to reveal any joking intent.

"I know you don't really trust me, but before we discuss the truth of this issue, I would like to ask you a question first." Tiantis said softly: "In your opinion, what is the essence of magic?"

What is the nature of magic?
Upon hearing this question, while others were still lost in thought, Alice's body suddenly trembled, as if certain memories were pouring out of her mind and invading her thoughts. She suddenly felt an indescribable sense of weakness. The fact that she had tried so hard to conceal was unveiled, and the truth was revealed.

"The essence of magic——"

She suddenly spoke, her voice so hoarse that even she was afraid: "It is the spirit of my mother." (End of this chapter)