Erika woke up feeling more energetic than usual, but immediately realized she was in a completely unfamiliar place. The room around her looked more luxurious than anything she had ever seen before: velvet curtains, shimmering chandeliers, and a bed so soft she felt like she could sink into it forever.
Her eyes darted around, searching for anyone else, and landed on Selena, who was seated gracefully near the bed.
Selena smiled warmly. "Oh, morning, Erika-chan. Though technically, it's still in the middle of the night."
Erika's eyes narrowed slightly. "Selena…"
"Yes?" Selena tilted her head innocently.
But the atmosphere shifted in an instant. The calm blue of Erika's eyes bled into a deep crimson as her blood stirred, and the once gentle aura around her sharpened into something far more menacing.
"Just so you know, right now I am really angry," she said with a calm voice, but it was laced with quiet fury.
Selena thought to herself, "Ah… maybe I should have brought my brother here with me".
Still, she maintained her composure on the surface, smiling as if nothing was wrong. "Oh? You're angry? Why is that?"
"Oh, you know exactly why." Erika's tone remained deceptively pleasant, but her glowing crimson eyes told a very different story. "Why did you force me and Akira to do that?"
Selena managed to keep her smile, but inside, her mind was beginning to panic. Without hesitation, she sent a silent SOS message to her brother.
Meanwhile, Akira was sitting comfortably, eating ice cream under the night sky. He looked at the sudden SOS notification on the new Star soul system.
He stared at it for a second. "Why is she sending me a distress signal?" he muttered to himself. "She's strong… she probably doesn't even need my help."
And with that, he simply shrugged and took another spoonful.
"Choco mint ice cream is really good at night," he said to no one in particular. "It's basically like brushing your teeth. In fact, you could probably skip brushing your teeth if you eat choco mint ice cream."
[THIS IS NOT TRUE. PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.]
Back in the royal bedroom, both Erika and Selena were still smiling at each other, but the tension was suffocating.
"So," Erika began slowly, "is it true?"
Selena blinked. "Is what true?"
"You know what I'm talking about," Erika replied.
"I'm afraid I don't."
"You see," Erika continued, her gaze sharpening further, "back then, I couldn't move my body… but I was conscious. I heard everything. So tell me, is what I heard true?"
Selena's smile twitched as panic grew inside her. Brother, "I seriously need your help right now…"
Elsewhere, Akira was still eating his ice cream, and now more SOS signals were popping up one after another.
"Hmm…" he muttered. "Seems like my sister's in real trouble. Well, I'll help her… after I finish my blueberry cheesecake ice cream." He took another spoonful, clearly unbothered. "This one's also really good at night. But now I'll have to brush my teeth before sleeping. Or… maybe I should eat another choco mint after this one."
[AGAIN, THIS IS NOT TRUE. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BRUSH YOUR TEETH BEFORE BED. CHOCOLATE MINT ICE CREAM DOES NOT COUNT.]
Back in the royal bedroom, the silent standoff continued. Erika and Selena's smiles hadn't faded, but one thing was clear — Selena was losing this battle of composure.
Finally, Selena sighed, raising her hands slightly in surrender. "Sigh… seriously, I didn't anticipate this. But I guess it makes things easier." She leaned back. "So, what do you want to know, Erika-chan?"
"Is Akira really… a reincarnated person?" Erika asked, her voice firm.
Selena hesitated for a moment. "Well… I did promise I wouldn't say anything about it. But since it's already out, and I wasn't the one who broke the secret…" She gave a wry smile. "Yes. He is a reincarnated person."
Erika's expression grew complicated. "I see…"
Selena raised an eyebrow. "Huh. I didn't expect you to accept it that easily. Normally, someone hearing this would question it endlessly. But you just… accepted it."
Erika gave a small, tired smile. "I just found out yesterday that he's apparently a space alien born to save reality. At this point, nothing about him would surprise me anymore."
Selena chuckled softly. "Yeah… that makes sense."
Erika's eyes narrowed. "Then what about the other thing? That he doesn't have emotions. Is that also true?"
Selena's face grew serious. "It's more complicated than that."
Erika stepped closer. "Then tell me. Tell me everything about him."
"Alright, calm down, Erika-chan."
"Tell me," Erika pressed.
"…Fine." Selena exhaled softly. "Erika-chan, do you know about the theory of evolution?"
"I do," Erika answered quickly. "But what about it?"
"It's been about three hundred thousand years since Homo sapiens evolved from their ancestors like Homo heidelbergensis," Selena explained. "And after that evolution, humanity grew into what it is now. But even so, they haven't changed enough to be considered the next step in evolution. Many scientists wanted to know what the next stage of humanity might look like. So, using genetic engineering, they tried to create a new kind of human, a being at the absolute pinnacle of human intelligence."
Erika listened silently at this point, her eyes already returned to their normal blue.
"But it wasn't easy," Selena continued. "Their experiments failed… a lot. Most didn't even survive the initial phases. Even the ones who were born… died within a day or two. The government almost pulled the plug on the project entirely. But then, after countless trials and errors… one survived. They called him ADAM."
"Adam?" Erika whispered.
"Yes. Absolute Directive Archetypal Monad — ADAM, for short." Selena's gaze softened slightly. "That was Akira's previous reincarnation."
Erika stared at her in shock. "So… he's not really human."
"Correct," Selena said softly. "He's one of a kind. Even when they tried to recreate him, none survived. In that sense… he's a miracle."
"But… what about the emotions part?" Erika asked quietly.
"Oh, that," Selena replied, her tone flattening. "To ensure he never betrayed them, they removed his ability to feel intense emotions. He could still feel basic ones, like mild happiness, irritation, or curiosity. But extremes? Love, fury, grief, or even overwhelming joy? Those were stripped away."
Erika hesitated. "…Can he still not feel them?"
"To be honest," Selena admitted, "he can feel them now… but it's complicated."
She leaned back slightly, searching for the right words. "Think of it like this. If you raise a bird its entire life on the ground without ever teaching it how to fly, and then one day tell it, 'You're a bird, so now fly,' do you think it could just spread its wings and fly immediately?"
Erika slowly shook her head.
"Akira is like that bird," Selena said softly. "Sure, in his current body, he can feel emotions. But it's difficult. So, like teaching a bird to fly, we have to push him, throw him from the tree, so to speak. That's why I plan to put him through extreme emotional situations… to force him to feel them."
"Isn't that… too much?" Erika asked, concern flickering in her eyes.
"No," Selena replied firmly. "He needs to feel emotions, all of them. It's absolutely crucial for his future."
"Why?" Erika asked softly.
Selena's gaze locked with hers, and for the first time in the conversation, her voice turned grim.
"Because if he continues like this… if he remains in his current emotional state…"
She took a deep breath.
"…he will die."