Being sheltered in the bubble of his room had him fooled about the reality of the world. It didn't take a genius to understand that she was right about everything. He was just moving forward and acting as if everything was a joke. He was going back and forth between consciousness and sleep. His memories played him a trick by repeating her words. He didn't know it but he was under a spell cast by her. She wanted him to make a decision quickly instead of just wasting time.
He turned to the other side.
"You are just moving in hazard and haphazard."
"You are the one who pulled me into all this. How can I protect myself if I don't have anything to protect myself with? Everything depends on survival and you are throwing me in a weak state; you didn't even provide me with a way to undo the poison. I always thought the problem was in me and my understanding of things. I blamed myself sometimes for it."
"Oh," she exclaimed. "Did you really blame yourself? I doubt it. With your stingy personality, I doubt you will ever blame yourself for anything. You will just throw the blame on someone else and ploof, your conscience is clear," she shook her head slightly, calming herself down. "I am not here to argue. I believe you are here for a reason and finding me here was for a reason as well. However, I need to put down some points in some letters to end the paragraph and start a new one. You lied to me. If you don't tell me the truth, I refuse to help you in anything. My price will be your truth."
"I already told you everything. What's there for me to leave out? There are some things I cannot tell you because you will feel it doesn't make any sense…"
"Listen, Stephan," she cut him. "There is no magic that can rewind time. It was an obvious lie. Time only moves forward. I am also a liar and a lot of times I hide the truth from people. If I cannot know when people are lying then, what's the point of calling myself the best liar? My best guess is that this is a simulation or a copy of the past."
"How can you say that? You are calling yourself fake, isn't it bad?"
"You see, dear Stephan," she took a deep breath. "I am someone who believes in anything. There are a lot of possibilities in this world. What proof do we truly have if we are fake or reel? Time is moving whether we like it or not and with each passing day, things change; it may be for the better or the worse. There are some things we can control and some we cannot. Therefore, we strive to control and the controllable and leave the non-controllable alone by adapting."
"I cannot control anything. Since I have been thrown in this world, I spent a whole night running away from monsters that stole your breath away simply by looking at them, undead monsters that no one was able to defeat. And when I was finally done with it, being happy with the morning, there was a knight who invited me to his group. I thought it would be alright… I needed to make a decision for the better and..; where did it take me? I was treated like a prisoner. You said it was wonderland yet I have seen only hell in that wonderland of yours."
"I cannot really say I understand your point. But this is really my wonderland. Back on Earth, when I was there, I didn't have much of a life. I liked it when I came here, when I was summoned out of nowhere. In fact, I died and was reincarnated here. You, on the other hand, are not dead and Lie about that as well. I can feel it in my bones, you are still alive."
"How can you say that? I was pulled from Earth all the way to Masmoenia… Wait… Did you say you were from Earth as well?"
"Yeah. I reincarnated here under different circumstances. I think to fix something I still don't understand. That's why I have been travelling! I have never stayed in a country for more than a year. Once the year is closed, I just move elsewhere. My life was like that. A traveller, a wanderer, a fool… My nicknames."
"Wow! That's something I wouldn't have guessed. You look like a real fool."
"Well, we are not talking about me and thank you for the compliment. What did you decide? What's your goal? What are you striving for? Are you just moving without anything specific in mind?"
"I have been following the defective system you made. You made it harder than any system I have seen. It has been causing me headaches. Can't you fix it?" the next few minutes were spent on him telling her about the system and how he failed the tutorial. "Can it still be fixed? I admit, it has been helpful for me."
"I still have a question. I am someone who wouldn't pull another one from a happy life. I don't involve myself unless it is necessary. If you were pulled by the future me, then you must have been someone like me. In fact, all your personality stipulates it. From the moment you stepped inside, my eyes didn't leave you. I felt the ring when you approached. You came inside asking for rooms, acting as if reality didn't matter to you. If you paid attention, you would have noticed that all other races are not welcome, even witches. Yet, you brought them all with you. In fact, even mages aren't welcome. Do you know who doesn't care about reality? People who have been disappointed by it. I bet you were never the happy kid."
Stephan didn't like it when she called him as "never the happy kid"; he stormed away to his room and lied on his bed. That was the end of their conversation.
Everything replayed again. From the moment they started talking about his reality to the ending. It replayed for a whole day until he got fed up with it. Listening to his complaining and lamenting over his situation… It was sickening even to himself. He thought she did it on purpose, to make him realize he was acting like a brat.
The spell had one simple rule; to make him listen to his words over and over again until he got sick of them. He realized he missed asking so many questions and most importantly, he realized he was pushed by the system; it wasn't his true goal. He didn't have any; he just went with the flow.
"I was acting like a brat. I can't believe it. The beer got to my head."
He pulled himself from his trance and jumped on his feet. There was just so much to do and sitting there wouldn't resolve anything. There was no other choice but to become stronger and since his supposed-to-be teacher was there, he would benefit from it to the maximum.
"And me who was thinking of hiding from her?"
It seemed his decision was made.