The sound of footsteps grew fainter until they finally disappeared, as if the man who had been fleeing had completely escaped from this space.

Only then, with one burden lifted, could I focus entirely on this creature.

The succubus.

If I had to describe this being, those two syllables alone would suffice. Wearing an outfit so revealing I didn’t know where to look, with horns atop her head, and a smirk that seemed to get under your skin.

According to the commander — though I suspected the deputy commander had inserted a lot of personal interpretation in the explanation — this creature should have appeared bizarre, but looking like this could only mean one thing.

"A foreign shard."

If it had been grotesque, it would simply have appeared cute, not transformed into this beautiful girl.

Super Coward Mode never lies.

A foreign shard that manages the realm of dreams. Dreams, after all, belong to the deepest, unconscious parts of the human mind. Which means this foreign shard must be no ordinary one.

The succubus foreign shard looked down at me with an unsettling grin, as if she'd overheard my muttering.

“I thought you’d collapse just by facing me in that weak human body of yours, but you’re different, huh?”

Her tone was condescending, her expression mocking, and she raised a hand to her mouth with a sly gesture. She was like a caricature of a certain type of character that used to be popular before I got stuck in this game — one that started with "Me" and ended with "Key."

…Where does this mode even get its data to twist them into forms like this?

Though, considering the Dragonslayer shard’s appearance, which perfectly reflected its personality, I couldn’t complain. I was beginning to wonder if this was their true form all along.

“Pfft, well, now that the nuisance is gone, shall we play for a bit? I was hoping to hear an answer, but that pathetic eardrum of yours couldn’t handle it.”

“Yeah, sorry about my pathetic eardrum.”

“Hah, what do you— huh?”

I had intended to slowly figure out how to deal with her. But this creature, with her constant irritating remarks, had gotten on my nerves. So, without thinking, I responded to her, and her expression visibly faltered.

“Y-you understood me?”

“Why? Did you think this pathetic human couldn’t?”

Her provocative tone was starting to get to me, so I shot back. Strangely enough, she seemed pleased with my response.

Why do foreign shards get so excited when they realize humans can understand them?

Anyway, it didn’t matter.

“So you’re the rude foreign shard that’s been causing trouble recently.”

I cracked my knuckles with a loud pop, stretching out my body. It didn’t matter if she liked it or not — my task was clear.

For a creature as impertinent as her, there was only one solution: traditional education.

The kind that teaches proper manners and instills true wisdom in her thick skull.

The kind that starts with a thorough, traditional punishment.

“Come here, I’m going to teach you some manners.”

Whether she was a powerful shard capable of controlling dreams didn’t matter. If she was a minor shard, I could crush her with sheer physical strength. If she was a major one, I could borrow the abilities of the other shards lingering in my mind.

“Haha! That’s a funny thing to say! I never thought I’d hear something like that from a weak-looking human.”

Instead of being offended by my words, she seemed even more excited, her face flushing with pleasure.

And the way she chose her words… How does she manage to pick out only the most annoying phrases?

As I sighed in frustration, I felt an even more intense sensation of irritation bubbling up in the back of my mind.

「How dare that bitch! She has no shame, speaking like that to my man!」

「Fufu, this is quite amusing.」

「That creature has grown quite bold, hasn't she?」

…It seemed the other major shards in my mind were quite upset by the succubus’s words.

Meanwhile, the succubus was making an exaggerated pouting face, as if contemplating something. I wondered what she was planning.

“Hmm, perhaps I should cut off the support that’s been helping you act so bold.”

With those words, she snapped her fingers. A sound echoed, and about a second passed.

…?

I felt as though the entire space where the shards resided in my mind had suddenly vanished. No matter how many times I called out their names, none of them responded.

Seeing my troubled expression, the succubus burst out laughing, clutching her stomach.

“Haha! Oh, that look on your face! How typical of a weak human to crumble when those beings are gone.”

“What the hell did you do…?!”

“What did I do? Just as I said. You seemed pretty close to some impressive beings, huh? But no matter how great they are, as long as I control your unconscious mind, I have the authority to sever your connection to them.”

She didn’t lower the finger she was pointing at me. Instead, she smirked, as if reveling in her victory.

It didn’t matter how beautiful she was — rotten personalities ruin everything.

I was already furious, so I lunged toward her, but she had disappeared before I could reach her.

“You’re too quick to anger. I thought only your body was weak, but your mind’s just as pathetic.”

Her voice came from behind, and when I turned my head, I saw her standing there, mocking me with the same smirk.

This bitch…!

As I stood up, visibly enraged, the succubus held out her palm, signaling me to stop.

“Wait. How about we play a game?”

“…What?”

“I’ll even make it interesting. If you win, you can do whatever you want to me.”

She said this while grabbing her voluptuous chest with both hands, jiggling it provocatively.

“‘Even that’ would be fine.”

…Those words made me truly angry.

Not in the way one might expect, but genuinely, emotionally furious.

Because what she was really saying was clear: she had no doubt I would lose.

‘Ha, you’re weak, pathetic, a useless insect!’ How else could you interpret that?

Does she know exactly how to exploit a man’s competitive nature?

“…What’s the game?”

“It’s simple. You just have to withstand whatever I do for one minute. If you win….”

The succubus raised her hand, and chains appeared, coiling themselves onto her palm. She licked them lightly with her tongue and rubbed them against her cheek, her voice soft and sultry.

“If you lose, you’ll become my loyal slave.”

Ah.

This was a game I couldn’t refuse.

I’ll make sure this wicked creature learns her lesson, no matter the cost.

“Fine.”

Without even a second of hesitation, I answered.

“I accept your challenge.”

Confident in anything involving foreign shards, I agreed without fear.

As soon as I gave my answer, the succubus threw a piece of paper into the air, which ignited and vanished.

Then, with a laugh, she said, “You’ve made a mistake. I don’t know how you’ve been fooling those beings, but I didn’t expect you to choose self-destruction here.”

With a snap of her fingers, chains wrapped around me, likely to keep me from running during the game.

Just what I was hoping for.

I glared at her with determined eyes, and she smiled as she stroked my chin with her finger.

“Hmph, I like that spirit you’re showing. I’ll take good care of you as my slave.”

She raised her finger, and the number ‘01:00’ appeared in the air.

“I’ll even show you the time. Not that it’ll matter, fufu.”

At this point, I was almost laughing at how dedicated she was to taunting me.

The succubus placed both hands on my cheeks, forcing me to look directly into her eyes.

She wasn’t going to let me look away. Forced eye contact with the succubus.

Her pink eyes began to glow with a soft light, her expression becoming more seductive.

She was about to use her powers.

“You’re going to fall for me. Forever. You won’t be able to live without me.”

Was she trying to hypnotize me?

Her seductive expression grew even more pronounced as the light from her eyes beamed directly into mine.

The brightness made me squint, but she didn’t even allow that, using her fingers to pry my eyelids open.

Ah, my eyes!

Help! I’m going blind!

Although there was no physical pain since this was a dream, it was still uncomfortably disturbing.

It seemed she was putting in a lot of effort. For a normal human, this would have been enough to knock them out or kill them, like those corpses in the furnace.

But of course, she didn’t know one critical fact.

“What’s… what’s going on?”

For the first time, confusion spread across the succubus’s face, and her light intensified, but it was still ineffective.

Because I had Super Coward Mode, which granted me immunity to all mental manipulation from foreign shards.

“Why isn’t it working?!”

By now, the timer had changed to ‘00:10,’ and the succubus’s eyes began to show signs of panic.

“S-stop resisting! It’s painful for you too, isn’t it?”

She must have thought I was resisting her powers. Let her think what she wants — it would be amusing to see how this played out.

“Yeah! Become my slave, and I’ll treat you so well. You won’t suffer the way you think!”

Ah.

Is this where I should laugh?

But I didn’t want to be the same as her, so I maintained a serious expression and kept staring into the succubus's eyes.

The timer now showed only 5 seconds left.

“Just give in already!!!”

With that final cry from the foreign shard...

Click.

Time was up.