After a moment, the baby let out a soft sound.
"Ba… ba…"
She reached her little hands toward him.
Amber stepped forward to pick her up, bending down carefully.
But the baby pushed her away with her tiny palms, then stared wide-eyed at Kael with clear longing.
"Ba…"
"…?"
Was she calling him?
Kael walked over in a daze, awkwardly lifting the baby into his arms.
His movements were stiff and cautious. He held her as lightly as possible, terrified he might hurt this tiny, soft little baby.
When he first learned Amber had given him a daughter in the simulation, he hadn't felt much.
Back then, Life Simulation still felt like a game to him. A character in a game giving him a child didn't stir any real emotion. At most, he was curious. And since he'd never actually seen her, forming any attachment seemed impossible.
But now, his entire mindset had shifted.
Maybe it was instinct. Blood calling to blood.
The moment this little girl looked up at him with her bright, curious eyes… his heart melted completely.
Cecilia babbled nonsense syllables, her gaze lively and expressive, as if trying to communicate with him.
Amber stood there in shock.
[This portion of mental energy has been collected. Host may leave at any time.]
Kael had been gently playing with Cecilia's fingers. When the System spoke, his hand froze and a tremor ran through his fingertips.
Leave now?
How could he leave now?
If anything, he didn't want to leave at all.
He wanted to stay here. He wanted to fix this whole broken world, to make things right for Amber and Cecilia.
"System, I don't want to go. Let me stay a little longer. At least until Amber and Cecilia are stable. Look at where they're living… look at Amber's state. Cecilia is still so small. I can't just walk away from them…"
[No.]
The System's tone was harsher than ever.
[I only have enough power to keep you here for five days total. If you stay past that, you won't be able to collect the remaining mental energy.]
[The Amber in the real world will never wake up.]
[And if you exceed five days, I won't have any energy left to reopen the passage.]
[You'll be trapped here forever.]
[Host, you still have people you care about in the real world. Are you truly willing to make that choice?!]
"…"
A sharp ache squeezed Kael's chest.
Both sides mattered. No matter what he chose, he was abandoning someone.
There had to be another way. There had to be a way where both Ambers survived.
His mind raced.
"Why is Amber's mental energy split into five pieces? After this one, where do I go for the rest?"
[The Amber in this simulation had five moments in her life where her pain was greatest. Those five points are where her emotional instability affected her real-world self.]
[And Host… you've entered this world as your real self, not as a being born within the simulation. You cannot change anything here.]
[After you leave, this Amber won't remember you came. Because you do not belong to this world, you cannot leave any trace within it.]
[Even keeping your real self here for five days consumes almost all my power. I cannot grant any additional requests.]
Kael gritted his teeth.
"Can't you do what you did for Kamisato Ayaka? Create a physical body for me so I can exist here normally?"
[It's not the same. Last time, all you needed to do was mend Kamisato Ayaka's trauma. This time, you must collect the mental energy of the real Amber.]
[If we alter the simulation's history now, its future will change as well.]
[If this Amber stops suffering, I'll lose all tracking on the remaining mental energy. It will scatter forever.]
[And the Amber in the real world will never open her eyes again.]
So for the real Amber to wake… the simulation's Amber had to continue suffering?
Kael felt like slapping himself hard.
This was all because he'd hesitated back then. His indecision had caused all this.
"I want to restart this part of the Life Simulation."
[But restarting would erase...]
Kael cut it off. "Not now. After I collect the remaining mental energy."
"I want to restart this simulation. And I want Amber to be reborn with her memories."
[…It is possible. This requires much less energy than keeping your real self here longer.]
[But Host… Amber ended up like this because of your choices.]
[So…]
Kael understood instantly.
"What's the cost? Attribute Points? Just tell me how much."
He already knew the System's meaning. It wanted compensation. And he was willing to pay.
[Restarting this simulation requires fifty thousand Attribute Points. You currently have forty-four thousand.]
"That's fine. Do it."
He only needed six thousand more.
Once he gathered that, he could restart this world.
And when he did, he would give Amber the ending she deserved.
The real Amber, and the one in this world—he would save them both.