The Nameless Extra: I Proofread This World

’Where... where the hell am I? What happened? Did we succeed?’

Those were the first thoughts that surfaced in his mind after he regained his awareness. Well, not exactly consciousness, but something close enough to it.

As he opened his eyes, he found himself in a painfully familiar place.

Everything around him was drowned in darkness, almost as though he were floating through the middle of empty space, while countless white crystals of different sizes, shapes, and shades drifted throughout the vast expanse.

’Isn’t this... similar to when I was about to enter Julian’s memory? Great. So why the hell am I here again?’

Still trying to understand what had happened, Ruvian looked around, his gaze moving from one crystal to another.

The longer he observed them, however, the more familiar the strange space became, until a realization slowly settled in his mind.

This was the realm that held all of his memories.

Not only Ruvian’s, either.

It held Yuzuki’s memories as well.

’No wonder this place seems to have far more crystals than Julian’s...’

There were simply too many of them.

Everywhere he looked, more crystals drifted silently through the darkness, some close enough to touch while others were little more than pale specks in the distance.

Ruvian did not even dare to count them, much less estimate their number, as the sea of crystals stretched far beyond his sight and disappeared into what seemed like an endless horizon.

Just then, a deeply familiar sepulchral voice echoed from somewhere in the distance.

[Child....]

Ruvian’s eyes widened slightly.

’Morvayne?’

It was then that everything finally clicked into place. Morvayne must have used the memory spell on him.

That was, by far, the most likely explanation.

He heard her calling his name again, prompting Ruvian to turn his head toward the source of the voice.

This time, he finally saw Morvayne drifting toward him through the endless darkness, her distant figure gradually becoming clearer.

”Good to know that you haven’t entered any of those fragments yet. It would have been far more troublesome for me to search for you if you had,” she said, her voice growing clearer as she drew closer.

To be honest, watching her drift toward him through the darkness with that sepulchral echo sent a chill down his spine, almost like some wandering ghost was approaching him.

It certainly did not help that Morvayne already looked the part — dressed in her long dark gown with a white veil covering her face and pale skin that almost seemed to glow beneath it.

’Come to think of it... can a demon be considered a ghost?’

Ruvian let out a sigh and quickly pushed the thought aside.

”How’s everything?” he asked as Morvayne finally came to a stop, hovering several feet in front of him.

Morvayne remained silent for a brief moment, seemingly considering how best to answer him.

”It ended well. That demon was successfully expelled, Julian regained control of his body, both of you are unconscious and being treated by healers inside some sort of room aboard the ship.”

She paused, her veiled gaze lingering on him for another moment.

”Though between the two of you, you are certainly in the worse condition, Child.”

That much, Ruvian was already well aware of it. After all, he had been feeling the repercussions of exhausting his mind, body, and Spellcore ever since he was still inside Ophelia’s domain.

Ruvian gave a small nod, accepting her answer before quietly gauging Morvayne for a moment.

”By the way, next question: why are you here? And why am I inside this memory realm?” Ruvian asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

For some reason, he could no longer make out Morvayne’s face as clearly as before.

The white veil covering her features had somehow turned strangely opaque, completely obscuring whatever expression she was making beneath it.

”I merely thought that... this would be the most suitable way to check on your condition.” Morvayne replied after a brief pause.

”Ahem, and considering that you are unconscious at the moment, and I was somewhat concerned about your wellbeing, it seemed only reasonable that I personally confirm whether your mind remained intact, and naturally, while I was already here... I erm—”

Her explanation continued.

And continued...

Ruvian simply stared at her with a completely blank expression, listening as Morvayne piled one justification after another.

’...’

Eventually, he spoke in a flat, almost matter-of-fact tone.

”Morvayne... tell me the truth, you just want to see the memories of my previous life and my previous world, don’t you?”

His eyes narrowed slightly further.

”And since I’m unconscious, you couldn’t wait till I’m awake, so you decided to come here and ask for my permission while you had the chance, am I right?”

Morvayne immediately fell silent.

The darkness around them suddenly felt much quieter than before.

[...Child.]

Her voice remained as dignified and composed as ever, though the slight pause beforehand betrayed her more than she probably realized.

[What? Of course not. What happened to you? You possess a rather unbecoming habit of reaching conclusions before allowing others to finish speaking now.]

She gently folded her arms beneath her chest and turned her veiled face slightly away from him.

[Besides, my concern was primarily for your condition.]

Morvayne continued, sounding calm again.

[You had pushed yourself far beyond what you were capable of enduring, then proceeded to collapse without so much as giving me the courtesy of knowing whether you would wake up again.]

She turned her veiled face slightly away from him.

[So under such circumstances, it was only natural that I would come and ensure nothing had happened to you. I am your contracted spirit, after all. Hence, it would be rather irresponsible of me to simply remain idle while my contractee lies unconscious.]

[And if I happened to remember our previous discussion regarding your memories...]

Her voice fell to a murmur.

[Ahem, that is an entirely separate matter.]

She looked at him for a moment before averting her gaze.

[So do not misunderstand my pure intentions, Child.]

Hearing all of that, Ruvian held back a laugh.

’Huh, very convincing... though why do I feel like I’m dealing with a fully grown woman who still lies like a child?’

He slightly shook his head.

’Haaa... I’m probably imagining it. Yeah, it’s better to just believe that.’

”Alright then, Lady Morvayne. Thank you so much for your deeply sincere, completely selfless, and absolutely unquestionable concern for my wellbeing.”

Ruvian gave her a small nod. ”I just hope you actually made sure we’re both truly safe for us to be here, just like you promised.”

Morvayne immediately caught the sarcasm, her composure faltering for a moment. Still, she chose to ignore it, her growing excitement clearly outweighing her irritation.

[Yes, I made certain of it, Child.]

She gave a calm nod.

[You are currently under the care of healers, and I have already confirmed that they are humans, not demons wearing human skin or anything else waiting for an opportunity to harm you.]

Her tone softened slightly.

[So you may put that concern aside. For now, you are safe.]

*****

In the end, since she was already here, it was finally time for Morvayne to see a glimpse of his previous life and world.

Still, Ruvian wanted to be careful about what exactly he allowed her to see. There were certain things he absolutely could not reveal to her.

”Go ahead, pick whichever memory you want... but whether you’re allowed to see it or not will be for me to decide.”

Morvayne gave him a sidelong glance.

[Hmph... stingy.]

After a while, Morvayne moved from one crystal to another, appearing rather indecisive before eventually settling on one.

The crystal she had chosen was considerably larger than the others, its surface glowing faintly at several points.

[I would like to see this one, Child. May I?]

Ruvian moved closer and took a better look at which memory it contained.

Then, upon recognizing it, a faint nostalgic smile warmed his features.

”Yeah, sure...

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[Chapter 333: This Much, I Can Show You(1)]