Silver platform.
Little Mortal and Rose, sitting on a sofa, were watching the screen in the sky showing 'Little Mortal' getting beaten up.
While chewing on some food that Rose took out for him to eat, Little Mortal said in disappointment,
"These birthday gifts are all traitors..."
Rose chuckled,
"I think they joined Big Sister because they knew you wouldn't attack her, and they can attack you without worry."
Little Mortal was surprised,
"I didn't think about it like that! So sly!"
Rose, knowing the 'Little Mortal' on the screen is fake, asked,
"Are you the real one, Boss? Or even now, you are a visible invisible me?"
Little Mortal sighed,
"I'm the real one, and that Mortal taking a beating in my place will be my last fake version..."
Rose asked in confusion,
"Why? Don't tell me the two forbidden existences really became sentient?"
Little Mortal nodded,
"Yeah, that's why I won't use this ability again.
The original technique was 'invisible me', and that was a standard 'unlocked ability'.
But the 'visible invisible me' that I made out of 'invisible me' by myself, turned out like that!
It's flawed.
Even World Law, which shouldn't be able to 'detect' me or my techniques if I don't want to,
found them on the spot and marked them both as 'forbidden existence'.
Now add the part that I lost control of them too..."
Little Mortal was speechless...
Rose chuckled,
"The 'source technique' that you used to create your own version was probably the 'peak' of perfection, and applying any change probably had a negative effect on its perfection."
Little Mortal stroked his chin,
"That should be the reason."
Then he saw some development and became excited,
"Oh, look! My traitor birthday gifts are trying to support Big Sister with the 3 million universes!"
But that wasn't the end.
When Entertainment Goddess received the full support of the merged universe, World Law sent a message to the guardian territory for everyone to hear.
[ Due to the lack of Guardian Mortal's activity, Goddess Saraswati will be the temporary guardian of the zone.]
Little Mortal,
O_O
"What in the new guardian's name is happening?
The lack of activity?
Is this some online game that if I don't move for a while, I'll be kicked?"
Rose thought for a moment and said,
"Maybe because your 'activity' in the exiled zone was 'secret' and World Law completely lost track of you for more than two months?"
While Little Mortal was at a loss for words, a thread of light that he was the only one who saw came out of nowhere and connected to Entertainment Goddess.
His eyes widened in shock!
Then another World Law announcement echoed through the guardian territory.
[ Guardian Saraswati will be the 'Fate Representative' until the extermination of the sinners' race.
All beings are obligated to cooperate with her.]
"What in the world is happening?
Is it because Fate finally found a 'detectable guardian' so it chooses her on the spot?"
Even the education team, beating up the fake Little Mortal, were dumbfounded and stopped!
The birth treasures started shivering.
Did they mess up something they shouldn't have?
Entertainment Goddess immediately asked her crystal,
The fake Little Mortal was now lying on the ground, lifeless, pretending to be 'dead'.
The Crystal didn't know what to say.
But suddenly, it remembered its colleague —a sealed notebook that knew too much — and sent a message to it.
The notebook didn't answer and only scoffed at its colleague's question.
But that was enough of an answer for the Crystal.
The notebook indirectly said,
'Are you guys even qualified to mess up any of the boss's plans?'
The notebook knew everything was already over, and there was nothing that could be messed up.
There were no 'sinners' left for the Entertainment Goddess to take care of because they were cleaned up more than 2 months ago.
The sinners that World Law refers to were naturally the cyborgs in the sealed area between the world above and the underworld, not the sinners' race in the exiled zone.
And Fate was now protected by Dark Law, the big brother,
So it could change its inevitability as much as it wanted without feeling any signs of destruction.
That's why Fate was acting so fearlessly.
Entertainment Goddess sighed in relief and chased after the fake Little Mortal, who tried to crawl away 'secretly'.
On the silver platform, the real Little Mortal scratched his head,
"Well... More free time for me."
Rose, who was watching the one-sided beating, suddenly received a private message from Lubo.
Talk to your boss about the planet, and how he wants it to be?
I can divide it into separate planets that can function without me.>
Rose frowned,
"Boss, Lubo just sent me a message..."
And told him about it.
Little Mortal was surprised,
"A 'worried Lubo' who cares about others?
Now that's new!
With all that resentment towards the world, to make such a decision...
I think it finally understood the meaning of its name."
Then he disappeared after saying,
"I'm going to take care of it, don't worry."
Rose was slightly puzzled but couldn't think of anything.
Lubo had a long-term deal with her boss.
It couldn't just leave, and her boss didn't ask them to stop feeding it with planets.
Let Us Be One was indeed a reality now with Lubo as the main character.
.....
Planet's core.
Lubo suddenly saw a certain great seer with his shiny orb appear.
It rolled its eyes at him and said,
"Mortal... Don't play this game with me!"
The great seer gasped, then took off his cloak.
"As expected of you! You saw through my disguise!"
Lubo frowned,
"What are you going to do with that orb?"
Little Mortal rolled his eyes at it,
"Isn't that obvious?"
And said,
"I wish for Lubo's Fate to change.
Separate its resentment, and then its fate from me.
Let it become a creature that can be itself."
And under the shocked gaze of Lubo, 5% of the ball of raw fate separated and covered it completely.
The black terrifying heart was covered by fate law in a moment, and only its angry shout could be heard from inside!
"Are you crazy!
If I'm separated from my resentment, the whole world will be consumed by it!"
Little Mortal snorted,
"Did I ask for your opinion?"
At the same time, from the 'golden cover' around Lubo, black liquid began leaking out, and Lubo's screams and curses echoed from inside!
Little Mortal gasped when he heard it shouting all kinds of bad words so loudly that everyone might hear!
So he made their 'wish session' private!
The place turned quiet when Little Mortal's domain covered the area.
But a certain Queen who always had an eye on Lubo heard the commotion and rushed over.
She thought Lubo had gone mad while Little Mortal was getting beaten up, and it wanted to do something!
But when she appeared on the planet's core, there was nobody there...
"What just happened?"
"Oh, partner, what are you doing here?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Lilith first looked outside to be sure the education class was still ongoing.
And sure enough, Entertainment Goddess was beating up her partner while yelling at him for trying to destroy such a magnificent planet because of his stupid movie,
which was indeed the main reason for her anger.
When Entertainment Goddess saw planet Lubo in all its glory, she fell in love with it at first sight, but the next moment, the planet almost got destroyed because of Little Mortal!
She was so angry that she didn't even care about whatever Frontline effect that could protect everyone.
Lilith smiled bitterly and looked behind her.
She saw another Little Mortal looking at her curiously.
Behind him was a golden heart shaking violently, with black liquid leaking from it.
She could feel extreme resentment from the liquid.
But as the liquid leaked out, it gathered above Little Mortal's right hand.
Lilith looked at his other hand and saw a certain orb that you could make wishes with, resting there.
"I just heard Lubo's scream, so I came here to check on it."
"Oh, don't worry, it's fine."
Lilith looked at the 'it's fine' behind him and asked,
"Can I ask what you are doing?"
Little Mortal, after a brief pause, first kicked the orb away and then smiled mysteriously,
"I created a new purification technique to clean up Lubo's resentment.
Cool, huh?"
The corner of Lilith's eyes twitched when she saw the raw fate that was smaller now getting kicked away...
"Okay...
And what are you going to do with the resentment?
If it releases, even with your Frontline effect, the world will be in chaos."
The resentment gathered in Lubo was indeed too much, which is why they always feared killing Lubo, even if they could.
When Lubo was weak, it could contain the resentment inside like a container, and that was actually a good thing.
But now it was being released? Who can contain it now?
Little Mortal smiled confidently,
"Advanced mathematics can solve that problem, don't worry."
Lilith gritted her teeth.
She didn't know if this was a problem that could be solved with math, especially with her partner's advanced version of it.
"Partner, can you explain it in a way that I understand?
I think you have no idea how much resentment we are dealing with right now..."
The resentment was the gathered resentment from who knows how many universes.
It was simply too much!
Little Mortal smiled mockingly,
"Partner, you are underestimating my proficiency in mathematics!
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Let me explain it to you."
Lilith nodded,
"Please, I'm all ears."
She really wanted to know how.
Little Mortal cleared his throat and started his explanation,
"Alright.
You might not know, but in the hidden knowledge of advanced mathematics, you discover that any number multiplied by zero is zero.
This is a secret nobody knows!"
Lilith nodded.
She already knew about this 'secret' that nobody knows.
Little Mortal continued,
"So, it doesn't matter how big the number that you multiply by zero is; the result will be zero, okay?"
Lilith nodded again.
And Little Mortal's explanation ended,
"There you go, the problem is solved using a mathematical solution."
Lilith felt frustrated.
She understood his 'advanced mathematics', but couldn't understand how it had anything to do with the problem at hand!
"Partner, you are telling me that the 'number' multiplied by Zero is the resentment, right?"
Little Mortal nodded,
"Yes."
Lilith asked in confusion,
"And where is the 'Zero' to multiply the resentment by?"
Little Mortal rolled his eyes at her,
"You're really asking me where the 'Zero' is? Really?"
And shook his head in disappointment.
Lilith bit her lips in anger.
She really wanted to assemble the birthday gifts team and beat up this Little Mortal, too, even if he was another fake!
She looked at the black book in a chain hanging on his waist, and saw it was pointing at Little Mortal with a black arrow on its cover.
Lilith frowned.
It seems her old teammate was trying to tell her something?
'My partner is Zero?
He was indeed Zero in the movie, but how is it related to the zero that resentment needs to multiply by?'
Lilith went into deep thought.
'What is special about him that makes him resistant to resentment...?
Oh right!
I forgot again!
He is a newborn, and for resentment to affect someone, it must first identify a strong negative source and then intensify that negativity to an extreme level.
This way, any living creature with the slightest negative emotions or thoughts towards any outside source will act on it.
But newborns don't have such emotions or thoughts to begin with!'
Lilith felt enlightened.
"You are going to eat the resentment?"
Hearing her question, Little Mortal's mouth opened slightly, as if he was at a loss for words due to her question being 'so not correct', and he was flabbergasted!
Lilith coughed embarrassingly,
"Just say how!? Don't look at me like that!"
Little Mortal took a deep breath as if he was frustrated.
"Partner, don't you think I, the person who had his heart eaten by Lubo, now need a new heart?
You know?
Lubo's Fate is going to be separated from me, and I'll be heartless soon."
Lilith, who remembered her partner, was actually 'semi-heartless' from the beginning,
"-_-"
At this moment, the black liquid stopped leaking out, as if it was all of the resentment inside.
Little Mortal nodded and changed the form of the liquid resentment hovering on his hand to a heart,
before pressing it on his own chest and closing his eyes, as though he was trying to get used to the new heart.
Lilith gulped nervously.
The 'heart' he made just now wasn't a real heart at all, and it looked more like a 2D heart that you drew on paper...
But the real question wasn't about the heart being real or not, but about the effect of the resentment on him.
Would he become a 'complete' person now that he had what newborns lack from the start, the 'heart of resentment'?
Or was he going to act as 'Zero' for real and purify it?
After a while, Little Mortal slowly opened his eyes and smiled.
Looking at his smile, Lilith couldn't believe her own eyes!
His smile was so kind and warm that even she, a fire law user, felt the warmth!
Her partner's smile always gave her the feeling of someone who wants to do something mischievous.
Like a naughty kid who is ready to reach out for something that can break, or stuff something in his mouth to make trouble for his parents!
But now, the smile was genuine and kind, like a real newborn!
Little Mortal placed one hand on his chest and muttered,
"I am not heartless anymore...
Even if this is a heart filled with resentment..."
And black smoke started emitting from him.
Lilith tried to see what this smoke was made of, but she couldn't sense anything from it!
She remembered that anything her partner ate would turn into a raw version of it.
If it were from the world above, it would become the raw world law, and if it were from the underworld, it would become the raw underworld law.
'Is this raw emotion because the source was emotion?
And just because the original source was black, did it keep the original black color?'
Little Mortal sighed and first glanced at Lubo, who was inside the golden cover.
Seeing no changes there, he shook his head,
"I should apologize to everyone for the things I have done these days..."
Lilith could hear the regret and embarrassment in his tone, and again, she couldn't believe it!
'Did he really become normal, and now he is going to consider the feelings of others?'
She really doubts it.
"Queen Lilith, if you excuse me, I'll go outside for a public apology..."
Lilith waved her hand at her polite little partner with a blank face
"Please go ahead, don't mind me."
She really wanted to see this 'public apology'!
How many times has he scared people?
And how many living creatures did he almost give a heart attack?
The mix of fear and respect towards her partner was indeed too complicated for the creatures living in the guardian territory.
He indeed needed to apologize to them.
Little Mortal, under Lilith's doubtful gaze, said his goodbye and disappeared.
Lilith looked at Lubo, who seemed to be in a golden cocoon, and tried to take a look inside,
But she couldn't even look at it for long, and her eyes started tearing.
So she left to watch the rest of the education class that the fake mortal was in, and wait for the apology.
On the way 'home', she took a look at the mainland, and shook her head...
That place was a mess again.
After the two forbidden existences 'died', the 'punishment clouds' and crazy crowds start targeting the 'marked managers'.
But the Frontline effect was still active there...
Lilith was helpless in this matter, so she left to watch the exclusive education show, which was only shown to the audiences of planet Lubo and the underworld.
When she arrived at her citadel, to her surprise, she saw that Little Mortal getting beaten up on the screen had a black chained book on his waist!
"Did he secretly change places with the fake one?"
And now he was kneeling in front of Entertainment Goddess with his head low, looking regretful.
Entertainment Goddess with the punishment stick in hand pointed at him,
"Do you understand what you did wrong?"
Little Mortal nodded,
"Yes, I didn’t consider the feelings of others...
I only thought about my revenge, without thinking about anything else..."
Entertainment Goddess, while huffing and puffing, asked,
"Then you know what you should do now, right?"
It didn't matter how hard she beat him up until now; it was like hitting iron.
The only thing her team achieved after the education class was making *Ding* *Ding* sound...
They couldn't even scratch him.
So if he would apologize now, it would mean they had achieved something at least.
Little Mortal, without raising his head, nodded,
"Yes, I know what to do.
I need to apologize properly.
Not only with words, but with my actions too."
Entertainment Goddess nodded in approval, and so did the audience.
But what he did next made everyone frown.
He stretched his hands forward, and Assassin Knife, the Assassin God's birth treasure, flew into his hand.
Then he slowly raised his head while holding the knife with both hands.
The tip of the knife was now targeted at his own chest.
When the audience saw his face, their heart skipped a bit.
'Tears of blood' were streaming down from his face!
They were all taken aback!
Even Entertainment Goddess froze momentarily when she saw him like that!
Everyone thought,
'Why did the apology scene escalate to this tragedy scene so quickly?'
Little Mortal, with a regretful tone, said,
"I always hated the higher beings...
The creatures who called themselves gods, and manipulated the creatures weaker than them...
They forced everyone to their will... Why?
Only because they could..."
He shook his head,
"But look at me now? I..."
He paused for a moment, and the tears of blood started streaming with more rate,
"I became like them...
I became the monster I always hated...
All those years of torture, loneliness, and pain with Lubo...
I always pretended that it didn't hurt...
But, little by little, I changed...
I changed from an innocent little boy... To the monster I am today..."
Then he slowly stretched his hand, as if ready to stab himself with the knife.
Entertainment Goddess coughed and said,
"Alright, alright, no need to become so dramatic!
You don't need to kill yourself for scaring people a couple of times.
I mean, even if you went a little too overboard in your jokes, in the end, you are the pillar of such a beautiful and fascinating world!
Just look at your last speedrun record?
186 days to conquer the world!
A one-time achievement that might never happen again!"
The audience nodded.
Who cared about Guardian Mortal's playful nature while he 'sponsored' such a great world and saved so many creatures from the claws of those cruel higher beings?
Just don't play with our emotions anymore.
Little Mortal smiled, but then shook his head,
"I appreciate your compliment, big sister.
But in this world, there is no place for a monster like me..."
And under everyone's surprised gaze, he actually stabbed his own chest!
Entertainment Goddess was going to roll her eyes at him because she knew that Assassin Knife couldn't harm him,
But to her, and everyone's surprise, the knife sank into his chest!
Entertainment Goddess, Lilith, and every single one of the audience who saw this scene shouted in panic,
"Nooooo!"
But it was too late!
*Pufff*
'Blood' splashed everywhere from Little Mortal's chest!
From his 'tears of blood', there was already a 'circle of blood' around him, and now with the added blood, in the blink of an eye, he was in a 'pool of blood'!
Entertainment goddess ran to him in panic, took off her 'helmet', and caught his weak body that was falling towards the ground!
"What have you done! I was just joking with you, so you stop messing around on such big scales!"
And she summoned all kinds of avatars of higher beings who could use laws related to healing to stop the bleeding, but it didn't help at all!
Blood was coming out as if his wound like a fountain!
Tears gathered in everyone's eyes as they watched the scene of the Guardian Mortal's suicide!
How could this happen?
Why did he do that?
Just a simple apology was enough!
Entertainment goddess kept trying to heal him, but any kind of laws that entered his body just became raw law and came out...
In just a couple of seconds after his suicide, so much blood came out of his chest that the whole deserted planet they were in was now completely red!
Little mortal weakly raised his hand, placed it on Entertainment goddess's hand, and said,
"I-I can't be saved anymore...
B-But before I die, there is something that I need to tell you..."
Entertainment goddess bit her lips and asked,
"W-What?"
Little mortal pointed at the Crystal, and said,
"I-I want the audience to hear it too..."
The Crystal, who still couldn't believe what happened, flew to him.
They really didn't think this little monster would suddenly have a mental breakdown and kill himself!
Tears were streaming from everyone's eyes now.
The crystal showed the guardian to the audience.
Little mortal's pale face with blood all over his face and body, and the red background came to view, so the audience could hear their guardian's last words.
With trembling hands, he tapped on the Crystal a few times, and sad music started playing too.
The audience's crying speed doubled with the added music.
Little Mortal first tried to wet his 'dry throat' with difficulty before looking into the 'camera', and saying,
"E-Everyone... I-I was... Just joking..."
And then his eyes closed slowly, his breathing stopped, his head leaned to the side, and he 'died'...
At first, nobody understood what he meant.
They were shocked to the core, their eyes blurry from tears, and their bodies frozen...
The nonexistent illusion was now in 100% effect, keeping everyone under its illusion.
But then, the 'dead guardian' came back to life, and looked into the camera with a mocking smile, while saying,
"Aaaand cut!"
And the next moment, he faded away as his body turned into particles, similar to when the two forbidden existences died.
Only a speechless notebook was left floating in his place.
Even the notebook itself didn't know when it was sent from the main boss to the 'fake' boss!
The audience's mind went blank at this moment!
"MORTAAAAAL!"
But when Entertainment goddess suddenly snapped and shouted 'Mortal', the nonexistent illusion shattered for everyone!
Those who had seen Guardian Mortal's death in the past,
only gritted their teeth, took a deep breath, and just accepted the truth.
And those who were new in the 'neighborhood',
became as angry as the Entertainment goddess, who, at this moment, was looking everywhere to find a certain trickster.
Lilith, in her citadel, wiped her tears and shook her head in frustration...
"That 'warm' smile he gave me after placing the heart made of resentment in his chest...
Pretending to be a complete newborn...
Acting as if he wants to apologize...
And adding the notebook to that fake mortal...
It was all for me to be dragged into his nonexistent illusion alongside others..."
Lilith was completely speechless.
She knew how her partner's illusion worked, so he did everything to manipulate her mind into it before he started his act.
She was probably the only person who might not be affected by his nonexistent illusion because she had experienced it a couple of times before.
But he acted in a way that she couldn't 'dodge' the illusion either...
And sure enough, not long after, in Little Mortal's Channel, a new section was added.
[Those who cried for me like a river.]
And just in a moment, the two top pictures of 'crying' audiences were chosen based on the number of viewers' likes.
One was the most popular individual in the underworld, Queen Lilith,
And the other one was Entertainment Goddess, the current most popular individual of planet Lubo, because she beat up the annoying guardian just now.
In normal circumstances, Rose would be the most popular, but she wasn't even in the pictures of the 'crying like a river' audience.
They didn't know Little Mortal was with her while the 'suicide scene' was taking place, and they watched it together.
Lilith looked at her own picture closely, and from the angle that was taken.
She could tell the photographer was outside her window!
She walked to the same window from which the picture was taken, and saw a small crystal there.
Lilith gritted her teeth and tried to control her anger.
At the same time, she suddenly felt that the annoying message from the world law, which kept requesting the extermination of managers in the Evil mainland, had stopped.
While puzzled, she looked at the mainland, which was supposed to be in chaos, and to her surprise, it was calm... Or to be exact, deadly silent.
The punishment clouds and any living creatures that were there a while ago were all gone!
The place was completely empty...
Lilith checked the condition of the managers and higher beings and saw they weren't truly dead but stuck in the middle of their resurrection.
"It seems to prevent the managers from dying by the punishment lightning, he killed them himself, and stopped their resurrection for now until he finds a way to remove their 'traitor' titles..."
Lilith was speechless.
Her partner, behind his violent nature, was actually carrying.
Even if they were his enemies, or even if he hated them...
"In the end, he is an incomplete higher being, a newborn.
It doesn't matter how strong he became; he can't do anything about his good nature."
While talking to herself, Lilith glanced at the window from which her crying picture was taken, and saw that the tiny Crystal was gone.
"!!!!"
She knew her sneaky partner was back at the crime scene to take away his crystal, but how could she catch him before its too late?
She immediately thought of a way, and started muttering to herself,
"My partner always liked the underworld fruits...
But I was always so worried about the underworld and that level 3 civilization that I forgot to give him some...
*sigh* wish he was he-"
*knock* x3
Lilith, who knew her target, took the bait, smiled,
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Mortal."
Lilith went to the hall's door and opened it,
"Oh, partner, what brings you here?"
Little mortal, standing a couple of steps away and emitting black smoke, said,
"I came here to notify you that you are a 'free actor' now.
Due to unexpected events, the mainland trilogy ended, and you don't need to play by the script.
The only movie producer left is 'Fate' now, and Fate is too unprofessional to have any script for its actors; you can just do whatever you want."
Lilith nodded.
In her original script, the third part of the movie was in the exiled zone.
They were going to record that 3rd part alongside Fate, and at some point, her partner was supposed to reveal the truth about the sealed area already being cleared to the world law.
At that point, she could go up to the world above with the underworld itself and enter the fray.
But now, with the two forbidden existences who were supposed to be part of that movie being dead already, the trilogy was basically finished.
Entertainment goddess in her last script even planned for a 7-day fight between the two forbidden existences, which was going to get into somewhere near the exiled zone, and break the seal around it 'accidentally' if Fate didn't find it.
That's why Little Mortal went to the exiled zone to tell his 'disciples' they have at least one week to get ready.
But now, Little Mortal's movie has lost both of its main characters, and Fate was alone in the last part of the movie.
"Alright, good to know.
Let's see what fate is going to do, and while we watch, I try to enter Fate's movie the best way possible."
Little Mortal nodded,
"Good."
And stood there while smiling.
It seems he was anticipating something.
Lilith chuckled,
"Oh, by the way, partner, I was going to give you some fruits that you like."
And took out a big basket filled with different underworld's fruit.
Little mortal ran forward to receive the basket happily, but,
"Caught you!"
*Gasp*
"It was a trap! You sly Queen!"
Lilith who caught his small hand before he can reach the basket, smiled coldly,
"So, Guardian Mortal, the man who always cares about people's privacy,
What do you have to say in your defense for taking a picture of me secretly, and publish it without my permission?"
Little Mortal was shocked,
"No, it wasn't me who took the picture from that window!"
Lilith's horns start turning red,
"When did I say anything about any window or where the picture was taken?"
Little Mortal panicked and started looking left and right, as if looking for help,
"Calm down! Calm down, partner!
Your citadel's hall is like a public office for peasants to come and speak to you about their problems!
So basically, it's a public place and it's fine to take pictures!"
Lilith scoffed,
"Public? My citadel is the government's property!
When was taking pictures allowed in my government's property?
Who said that?"
Little Mortal eyes widened in disbelief,
"How is that possible?
Then why that dragon told me it's fine!"
And pointed at the dragon behind Lilith.
Lilith frowned and looked behind her, to see who was this dragon giving permissions in her place?
Was it a government agent?
And sure enough, there was no dragon, and nor was the basket of fruits, or Little Mortal himself when she turned back...
"How in the underworld's name his 'dragon trick' can distract anyone...?"
Lilith couldn't understand...
It didn't make sense at all.