Once Ron gained authority over the Illusory Spirit World through the Phantom Willow's spiritual perception, many things that had confused him before suddenly became clear.
With a single thought, a flower shop abruptly appeared in the blank expanse of the Illusory Spirit World.
His spiritual sense took on his own appearance and landed at the shop's entrance. He walked inside, looked around, and found that everything matched Ron's Wonderful Flower Shop in the City of Chaos perfectly.
This was the concept of "the scenes within a living being's spiritual perception becoming nourishment for the evolution of the Illusory Spirit World."
Put simply, it was a replication machine that could perfectly copy anything a person had seen and reproduce it here.
Ron's eyes lit up. He withdrew his spiritual sense from the flower shop, returned to the empty world, and had a new idea.
In an instant, glossy white tiles spread out beneath his feet. A redwood coffee table, a beige sofa, and a massive wall-mounted television appeared one after another…
A bright, modern living room took shape.
Then the scene expanded outward—
A high-end kitchen of over ten square meters.
A first-floor bathroom, a guest bedroom, and a three-sided bookshelf study packed with books.
On the second floor, two smaller bedrooms, a bathroom across the hall, and a spacious master bedroom with its own private bathroom and a walk-in closet over twenty square meters.
There was also an entertainment room filled with all kinds of electronic devices—computers, consoles, old and new gaming systems, digital cameras, even a large copier and surround sound speakers.
Next to it, a wide piano room gradually appeared. Sunlight streamed in through floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing the entire room in a warm golden glow.
Above that, on the third-floor attic—about thirty to forty square meters—stood easels scattered throughout the space. The floor was covered with colorful paint buckets and containers filled with brushes.
Near a large skylight, various artistic flowers and potted plants were carefully arranged, each one trimmed to perfection.
Ron wandered through the house for a long time.
Sitting at the dining table, he could almost smell the rich aroma of tofu fish soup.
Lying on the sofa with his legs up, his hands instinctively lifted in front of his face—as if he were holding something.
In the entertainment room, he sat in the only open space, surrounded by devices, a strange sense of fullness filling his chest.
In the piano room, memories surfaced—being scolded and beaten as a child. What once felt miserable had now turned into something bittersweet… almost warm.
In the attic, between the easels and plants, two blurry figures seemed to move about—laughing, arguing, filled with quiet warmth.
In the end, Ron sighed, walked out of the house, and waved his hand—erasing it.
Better to take things lightly.
Back in his original world, he had a perfect family, wealthy parents, a carefree life, and a fortune waiting for him.
But even in this new world, his life wasn't bad at all. Nothing to complain about.
He tapped his forehead, clearing his thoughts. Time to do something else.
Since the Illusory Spirit World could be freely altered, and anything he had seen could be recreated…
That meant all kinds of wild ideas could be realized here.
Even without trying too hard, countless possibilities came to mind.
If this world were like the internet, he could recreate something like messaging apps, forum-style discussion boards, even bring games into it…
And more than that—
Compared to the internet from his original world, this place felt closer to a fully immersive VR system that hadn't yet been fully developed.
His spiritual sense entering this place, with full authority, made him the creator of this world.
He couldn't create something from nothing, but anything he had seen could be perfectly reproduced.
Which meant… if he recreated Nora or Yuna's appearances…
The possibilities were endless.
With that thought, Ron turned to an employee nearby in the real world.
"Jorina, come here."
Jorina walked over nervously. "Ron… Your Eminence, what do you need me to do?"
"Here, give me your hand." Ron pulled over a willow branch. "Hold this."
"Don't worry, it's safe. See? I'm holding one too."
Jorina trusted him—after all, he had saved the beastfolk Husky. And there were others nearby as well.
So she reached out and grasped the branch.
The next moment, she froze.
She could feel her thoughts being copied—forming a separate spiritual sense. Panic flickered across her face.
"Feel it? Like there's another version of you," Ron explained calmly. "That's normal. Don't resist it. Let it follow the guidance inside."
Jorina slowly relaxed.
Her spiritual sense entered the Illusory Spirit World.
"Where… is this?" Her spiritual form appeared, identical to her real self, standing in the blank space as she looked around in astonishment.
Then she saw the "flower shop"—and Ron standing beside it.
"What does it feel like?" Ron asked. "Try moving. See what you can do."
"What I can do…" Jorina hesitantly moved around, eventually entering the flower shop Ron had created.
She could move freely inside, without restriction.
"Besides moving, can you create anything?" Ron asked. "Try imagining your home and bringing it into existence."
Jorina closed her eyes, concentrating hard.
A moment later, she opened them and shook her head helplessly.
Ron nodded.
Without permission, others could move within the Illusory Spirit World—but they couldn't create or evolve it.
So what if he granted her permission?
He acted immediately. With a thought, he used the Phantom Willow's power to grant Jorina access.
She instantly felt something change.
Turning her head, she suddenly saw a black-and-white Husky appear beside them.
"Ah!" she yelped in shock.
"Your first instinct was to create Husky, huh…" Ron chuckled.
This wasn't the real Husky entering the world—it was something Jorina subconsciously created after gaining permission. It looked identical, but had no awareness. Just a shell.
"Relax, it's fake." Ron waved his hand, erasing it, and revoked her permissions.
Back in the real world, Ron turned to another employee. "I need Jorina's help for a bit. Please take care of the shop."
Then his mind sank back into the Illusory Spirit World.
Husky, seeing he wasn't needed, stayed nearby out of concern for Jorina, sitting patiently by the table.
Inside the Illusory Spirit World, Ron began experimenting.
He had Jorina enter the flower shop, then set a rule: no one except himself could leave.
As expected, she couldn't step outside.
Ron raised an eyebrow. This was getting interesting.
After a series of tests—restricting movement, forcing spins, even inducing brief forgetfulness—he gradually understood the limits of his authority.
He could impose restrictions on others' spiritual forms—but he couldn't directly control them, nor alter their true thoughts.
After all, what entered this world was just a copy of their will—not their actual consciousness.
That left him slightly… disappointed.
Slightly.
Once he understood the mechanics, Ron began designing a proper system.
First, he permitted Jorina to alter the environment within a radius of about a dozen square meters, while restricting her movement to that area.
Following his instructions, Jorina recreated her bedroom around her.
Next, Ron implemented a feature—every entrant could open a personal "panel."
He modeled it after a system interface, adjusting the content slightly.
Jorina opened hers.
"Name:" appeared—blank, waiting for input.
With editing permissions granted, she quickly filled out her basic information.
And just like that—the first player of the Illusory Spirit World was officially registered.
Ron looked at Jorina, still marveling at her "room," and felt a deep sense of accomplishment.
"Ron… Your Eminence, what is this for?" Jorina asked after her excitement faded.
"Just wait." Ron turned to Husky. "You too—come here. Hold a branch."
Husky had been curious for a while. He immediately stepped forward, grabbed a branch, and entered the Illusory Spirit World.
Upon entering, he instinctively understood his permissions.
Following Ron's instructions, he recreated a tent—his home environment from the Frozen Tundra.
Seeing it, Husky fell into a daze before snapping out of it at Ron's call.
With that, the second player was registered.
Ron then added a "friends" feature to the panels.
He had Jorina search for Husky's name and send a request. Husky accepted.
Their friend lists are updated instantly.
They could now view each other's profiles.
"Your Eminence… we see each other every day. Do we really need this?" Husky asked.
"Also… don't we have to hold the willow branch to enter?" Jorina added innocently. "If we want to talk, we could just do it outside."
"..."
Ron fell silent.
A realization hit him.
No matter how powerful this world was—even with features like messaging…
To enter, you had to hold a willow branch.
This wasn't even a local network.
It was worse.
The branch itself was basically a cable—and a very short one at that.
The excitement he'd felt was instantly doused.
If the Phantom Willow's range was limited, and physical contact was required…
Then this wasn't the internet.
It was basically a single-player console.
Sure, multiple people could join—but only if they were physically present.
Forget long-distance communication—even someone next door couldn't join without touching the branch.
Ron felt deflated.
Still, a thought occurred to him—
What if he cut off a branch and used it separately?
Or…
If he planted another Phantom Willow, would its Illusory Spirit World connect to this one, or remain separate?
If either worked, the problem could be solved.
Otherwise… his dream of global communication would collapse.
That would be… incredibly frustrating.
So Ron exited the Illusory Spirit World with the others, cleanly cut off a branch, and held it.
No response.
He passed it to Jorina and Husky, still nothing.
…Well, that idea failed.
Rubbing his forehead, Ron said a few words to them before immediately entering his dimensional space, He was going to grow another Phantom Willow and test it.