" Shit... my ears hurt."
The ringing refused to stop.
DING. DING. DING.
It carved through Ino's skull like a rusty drill, relentless and maddening. He tried opening his eyes—nothing. Tried moving his hands—they wouldn't respond. His body felt borrowed, distant, wrong.
Make it stop—
The ringing drilled deeper until his teeth vibrated and his vision flashed white. Then came the pressure—like the entire void had decided to sit on his chest.
Then—silence. The absence rang louder than the noise.
Ino's eyes snapped open.
Everything was wrong.
He wasn't in his house. He wasn't on the blood-soaked floor where he should have died—where he had died—beside Anta. Instead, he floated in an endless void studded with stars that pulsed like dying heartbeats. Massive gears turned slowly in the darkness, each tick resonating through his chest until he could no longer tell them apart from his own heartbeat.
Where—
「 Ch...ild? 」
The voice slithered into his mind—not through his ears, but directly into his thoughts. It felt like fingers prodding at the soft tissue of his brain.
Ino tried to speak. His throat—slit only moments ago—moved without pain. "Who—"
「 Oh, good~ You can hear me. How delightful. 」
The tone dripped with saccharine sweetness, like a child discovering an interesting new toy.
「 Do you know where you are, child? 」
"I..." Ino's voice echoed strangely in this place. "I'm dead. I have to be—"
Laughter bloomed in his mind—light, amused, and far worse than cruelty.
「 Dead? Oh no, child. You misunderstand your situation entirely. 」
The stars shifted. Constellations twisted into patterns that made his eyes sting. One of the massive gears shuddered to a halt, and reality folded in on itself.
When Ino's vision cleared, a figure stood before him.
It was humanoid in the way a child's crude drawing is humanoid—all the right parts, yet fundamentally wrong. Too many joints in the fingers. Eyes that held entire galaxies. A smile that stretched just a little too wide.
「 I am ※#$%^&, 」 the entity said, and the syllables made Ino's teeth ache.
「 Though your limited mortal tongue could never pronounce it correctly. How adorable~ 」
The figure circled him slowly, hands clasped behind its back like a professor examining a disappointing student.
「 Humanity knows me as a Higher Existence. Some of you even called me God. Rather presumptuous, don't you think? 」 It paused.
「 Then again, presumption is your species' defining trait. 」
"I don't understand—" Ino begin.
「 Of course you don't. 」 The entity's smile widened.
「 You're only human. True understanding is beyond you. But I'll explain anyway. Consider it... charity. 」
The void rippled. Images materialized around Ino like ghostly holograms:
Himself, older, working in a factory. No Anta.
Himself, younger, bleeding out in an alley. Anta's funeral, age fourteen.
Himself, successful, in a suit. Anta's grave, fresh flowers.
「 Do you see? 」 The entity gestured lazily at the visions.
「 Across infinite timelines, infinite possibilities, one constant remains: your little brother dies. 」
Ino's fists clenched. "That's—"
「 The truth? 」 The entity leaned closer, its galaxy-eyes boring into him.
「 Oh yes. In some worlds, he dies young. In others, you do. In a precious few—like the one you just experienced—you both die together. How romantic~ 」
The images shifted. Now they showed Anta at fifteen, blowing out birthday candles. Alive and smiling.
「 This timeline was... special. Your little Antares actually reached his fifteenth birthday. Quite the achievement, really. You should be proud. 」
"Why does that matter?" Ino demanded. His voice cracked. "Why are you showing me this?"
「 Because, child, 」 the entity said with exaggerated patience, like explaining basic arithmetic to a particularly slow student, 「 it means you've met my requirements. 」
The gears above groaned, shifting into a new configuration. Reality shuddered.
「 I require an Apostle. A servant. A useful little puppet to dance on my strings. 」 The entity's smile turned sharp.
「 And you, Ino Siente, have been selected for this magnificent honor. Aren't you grateful? 」
"Grateful?" Ino's voice rose, raw with fury. "You want me to be grateful? Anta is—he's—"
「 Dead? Yes. How observant. 」 The entity waved a hand dismissively.
「 Agent 007 was always overzealous. But the outcome remains the same: you died, he died, and now here we are. 」
"Agent—what? That killer was—"
「 One of mine? Obviously. 」 The entity examined its too-long fingers with affected boredom.
「 How else would I have acquired you? Did you think this was coincidence? Random chance? 」
A pause. Then that awful, patronizing smile returned.
「 Oh, you did. How precious. 」
Rage ignited in Ino's chest—hot, helpless, and all-consuming.
"You orchestrated this. You had us killed. You—"
「 Orchestrated? Such a dramatic word. 」 The entity tilted its head at an angle that should have broken its neck.
「 I simply... arranged the pieces. Moved the pawns. Your species is so wonderfully predictable, you see. Give a broken boy just enough happiness to cling to, then rip it away— 」
It snapped its fingers. The sound echoed like bones breaking.
「 —and voilà. A perfectly desperate, grief-stricken candidate. 」
Ino lunged.
His fist passed straight through the entity like smoke. He stumbled, caught himself, and swung again. The entity simply watched, amused.
「 Are you quite finished? 」
"I'll kill you," Ino snarled. "I don't care what you are, I'll—"
「 You'll what? 」 The entity's voice hardened, losing its playful edge.
「 Threaten me? A HigherExistence? You—a speck of dust, a fleeting spark, a nothing? 」
The void pressed down. Ino felt his knees buckle under impossible weight.
「 Let me clarify your position, child. 」 The entity crouched, bringing its face level with Ino's.
「 You are mine. From the moment I selected you, your fate was sealed. You will serve. You will obey. You will worship me with every fiber of your meaningless existence. 」
The pressure intensified. Ino's bones creaked.
「 Or— 」 The entity's tone brightened again, sickeningly cheerful.
「 —I could simply discard you. Return you to that blood-soaked floor and let you die properly this time. Would you prefer that? 」
Silence.
「 I thought not. 」
The pressure vanished. Ino gasped, drawing in air that didn't exist.
「 Now then, 」 the entity straightened, brushing nonexistent dust from its form.
「 Since you're being so cooperative, let me explain your purpose. You will return to your world. You will complete a mission. And if you succeed— 」
The entity's smile turned almost genuine.
「 —I will grant you one wish. Anything your tiny mortal heart desires. 」
Ino's head snapped up. "Anything?"
「 Within reason, of course. I'm not a miracle worker. 」 A deliberate pause.
「 Oh wait, I am. How silly of me. 」
The entity laughed at its own joke.
「 Yes, child. Anything. Bring back your brother. Rewrite the past. Become a god yourself—though that last one is quite outside your capabilities, I'm afraid. 」
"What's the mission?" Ino's voice came out hollow.
「 Ah, eager now, are we? 」The entity's eyes gleamed with malice.
「 Unfortunately, that information is... restricted. For now. 」Before Ino could protest, the entity raised a hand.
「 You see nothing ensures loyalty quite like desperation. 」
It snapped its fingers.
The void cracked open. Reality bled through the fissures in harsh, blinding light.
「 I'm sending you back to your broken little world. You'll have time to grieve… to process… to sever whatever pathetic attachments remain. 」
The entity leaned in one last time.
"Wait—" Ino reached out. "How do I—what do I—"
「 Oh, you'll figure it out. Humans are so wonderfully creative when properly motivated. 」
The cracks widened.
「 One last thing, child— 」
The entity's voice followed him as reality shattered.
「 Don't disappoint me. I have such high hopes for my latest pet~ 」
CRASH.
Ino slammed back into his body with enough force to make him retch. His hands flew to his throat—intact. His tongue moved in his mouth—whole.
He was lying on cold floor. Wet floor.
Blood. Anta's blood.
Ino scrambled upright, vision swimming. The living room materialized around him: overturned furniture, shattered glass, and everywhere—everywhere—red.
But no bodies. No Anta.
He stared at the empty space where his brother had died. Where he had died. Minutes ago? Hours? Time felt broken. His reflection appeared in the cracked television screen. Ino crawled toward it, heart hammering.
There—his left eye glowed with molten gold, emitting its own light like a trapped sun.
「 DING! 」
The sound made him flinch. A translucent brown screen materialized in his vision, hovering like smoke,
NAME: Ino Siente [Apostle of ※#$%^&]
AGE: 21
PLANET: Earth
STATUS: Disgusted, Shocked, Grieving
MISSION: [LOCKED]
CURRENT STATUS EFFECTS: Apostle's Blessing (Passive) [Immune to All Negative Status Effects] Divine Regeneration (Passive) [Instant Healing]
WORLD DEMISE: 6 Days, 23 Hours, 12 Minutes, 7 Seconds
Six days until the world ended.
A broken, hysterical laugh tore from Ino's throat. He couldn't stop it. It tore out of him until his sides burned.
"Is this your mercy?" he gasped toward the ceiling, knowing the entity was watching. "This is what you call mercy?"
Only silence answered.
Six days.
Six days to do… what?
Ino pushed himself to his feet, legs trembling. The house felt hollow now, every corner haunted by laughter that would never return.
He barely reached the bathroom before his stomach rebelled. He retched into the toilet until only dry heaves remained.
I survived and he didn't.
The thought sliced deeper than any blade.
Ino splashed water on his face, deliberately avoiding the mirror. But he could still see it in his peripheral vision—that golden eye, the mark of a curse he never asked for.
The screen flickered, updating:
STATUS: Disgusted, Shocked, Grieving, Guilty
"Very helpful," Ino muttered bitterly. "Thanks for the running commentary."
He slumped against the bathroom wall, staring at nothing.
Anta was gone.
Ino was alive. Healed. Blessed.
Cursed.
He closed his eyes.
I wish you were here to tell me this was all just a nightmare...
But Anta wasn't here.
And this was no nightmare.
This was divine will.
[END OF CHAPTER 4]