Inner World

Because she had perfectly inherited the original host's memories, Freya had a fairly deep impression of this place. Ever since the original host first gained consciousness, she had grown up here, spending a somewhat impoverished but relatively happy childhood.

There were no plots involving an evil director using the orphanage as experimental subjects, nor were there any evil older kids bullying others. Everyone in the orphanage was extremely friendly and treated the original host very well.

With a single thought from Mind Freya, several translucent figures appeared before her. This was her Heartscape, so theoretically, no one else could exist here. These 【figures】 were actually manifestations of her deepest memories, playing out before her eyes like a movie.

Little children, none of them even a meter tall, chased one another around. There were no toys in the orphanage, so the children's simplest way of playing was to poke someone and quickly run away, while the poked person would give chase, seemingly determined to poke them back no matter what.

Among this group of frolicking children, one seemed to be an exception. A young Freya sat on a wooden chair in the orphanage, flipping through a thick book while the other children played.

Perhaps because she was too small and the book was too large, the young Freya had to spread it open across her lap, keeping her head lowered as she read.

Just then, a young girl with short black hair approached her. She tiptoed slightly, tilting her head to glance at the book in Freya's hands, but quickly lost interest. “Fufu! Come play! What's the point of reading this kind of book day in and day out?”

Mind Freya leaned in to take a look as well. The book was titled 【A Brief History of Pacca】, and its contents detailed the history of the Kingdom of Tarapaca and the neighboring Fanipaca Empire.

Young Freya looked up at the black-haired girl and said, “It's fine. This book is indeed a bit boring, but even so, I feel like it's much more interesting than that even more boring game of tag.”

“You're always like this, Fufu. Why do you sound so much like an adult when you talk?” As she spoke, the black-haired girl slipped behind young Freya and reached out to tickle her.

Young Freya, who had been reading quietly, suddenly stiffened. She cried out in a low voice, “Lilian!”

But the girl named Lilian didn't reply. Instead, she giggled and poked her gently two more times. Freya was incredibly ticklish, and her body instinctively tried to dodge, but the heavy book pressing down on her lap made it impossible to move.

Having no choice, young Freya had to close the book first, set it aside, and hop down from the chair. Seeing this, Lilian turned and immediately bolted without looking back, while young Freya chased after her. “Don't run! Stand still!”

Lilian stuck out her tongue as she ran, saying, “Bleeeh! I'm not stupid! Why would I stand still and let you catch me?”

Watching these two phantoms from the past, woven from memories, run past her, Mind Freya couldn't help but reveal a look of reminiscence.

The original host seemed to have been a bit of an outlier and rather precocious when she was young. While the other children played, she spent most of her time reading.

But ever since this child named Lilian appeared, she had pestered the original host to play almost every single day. At first glance, she might have seemed like a bit of a brat—even slightly annoying.

Yet Mind Freya didn't sense any irritation or dislike from the original host's memories. After all, reading all the time was truly boring. With Lilian around, the original host's childhood in the orphanage had been filled with a lot of joy.

Naturally, the original host and Lilian became very good friends. However, on the day they both turned ten, a noble couple apparently came to the orphanage wishing to adopt a child.

Normally, they would surely choose a cute, obedient, and intelligent child. Thus, the couple quickly took a liking to Lilian.

Compared to other children of her age, because Lilian spent most of her time with the original host, she had more or less read some books. When chatting, she shared much of the knowledge she had learned from the original host. As a result, she immediately became the noble couple's primary choice over the other children.

For an orphan, being adopted by nobles was an unimaginable stroke of immense good fortune.

However, Lilian directly told the couple that there was someone in the orphanage who was even smarter and cuter than her, and she wanted to lead them to the original host.

But at that moment, the original host was by the orphanage director's side and had also heard about the noble adoption. Seeing the couple chatting happily with Lilian in the courtyard outside, the original host immediately hid.

In the end, the couple never met the original host, failing to see the supposedly smarter child. Thus, they took Lilian away. Right up until their parting, the original host and Lilian never even said goodbye.

Re-watching this memory now, Mind Freya couldn't help but sigh with emotion. She had to admit that the original host was incredibly decisive when she made that choice. And one must not forget, she was only ten years old at the time.

After that, without Lilian's company, the original host's life in the orphanage became much quieter. But before long, once she reached the appropriate age, she left the orphanage to venture out, work, and study on her own.

Mind Freya waved her hand, and the scenery before her shifted rapidly. The orphanage soon dissolved, replaced by an old rented apartment. As one grew older and experienced different things, their inner world would naturally change.

Then, not long after she formally started school, the original host met another person who treated her very well: Amy.

Mind Freya continued to wave her hand. There was nothing strange about these memories themselves. However, when the timeline reached the point of July 20, 1151—the exact moment Freya transmigrated into this world—the situation changed slightly.

Mind Freya could faintly feel that her 【inner world】 seemed to overlap with something else, creating a double image. A thin, illusory shadow could be vaguely seen over everything within her entire inner world.

“What are these?”

She began to exert her abilities to the fullest, wanting to see clearly what these illusory shadows were. In the process, she could sense her spirituality rapidly draining away.

Thus, the Freya in reality immediately summoned Life Freya, using her abilities to replenish Mind Freya's spirituality.

In this manner, while constantly using her ability and replenishing her spirituality, quite some time passed. The overlapping illusory shadows still didn't change at all, but Mind Freya managed to perceive a fragment of memory from within them.

...