As a child, there was one book I loved. I don't remember where it came from, but...
I think the title was "3 Ways to Survive..." No, that's not right.
"6 Lessons to Help You Survive in an Alternative World."
That was the title.
…
'How happy it is to be dead!'
A moment stretching endlessly, and infinity ready to find its end in a single moment. Only darkness and silence.
"There are Six Great Peaks... And Six Paths of Greatness leading from them." So said that majestic being
In that endless moment, he was free.
Free from his name.
Free from a dream.
Free from everything...
Free from what he had done.
He became a nobody.
"Every Path has Six steps... And every Peak has its own Champion."
'Ah. How wonderful it is not to exist…'
"You're one of them— the Champion of *****."
'...But did that supreme being give me a choice now?'
His serene soul, woven from the deepest darkness, was so intoxicated by death that it had forgotten the recent conversation with that majestic being.
He remembered that he had been punished.
Punished with a new life.
"The special one..."
Unfortunately, he was deprived of the happiness of prolonging the moment of deadly oblivion to infinity.
For he who dreamed of becoming a star cannot remain a mere black spot on the fabric of the world. Even if that spot is the darkest in the entire universe.
Lesson 1: Be careful with your dreams.
…
"…Consider this a forced trial. You must escape from this place at any cost. Escape from the Pit… as soon as possible."
A second ago, he had no eyes, no mouth, no ears — no body at all. He was free…
And now he was a rotting corpse.
"…?!"
He had no mouth to scream, so he had to settle for the sensations of the wriggling maggots without any emotional commentary.
"…!!!"
Something cold and slick wriggled inside his empty eye sockets and tumbled right into his mouth, eating the remains of his tongue. Most of the small creatures had gathered around the torn hole where his chest and heart used to be.
Had he really been brought back from the dead to be turned into a rotting corpse?
"Agh-gha..."
'Hurts! It hurts, hurts, hurts… It hurts so much!!!'
Soon he realized something strange — something was happening to his body. It didn't seem like he was undergoing a miraculous regeneration by God's will... Rather, this metamorphosis resembled the feeling of being burned alive.
And although he had never experienced such horror himself, he knew that over time, the fire would consume even the nerve endings and the pain would begin to subside... Unfortunately, in his case, the opposite was true, and with each passing second, the pain only intensified.
This went on for a couple of minutes until...
"Damn it! To hell with all this!" he shouted, spitting out dozens of larvae crushed to a pulp by his teeth.
His roar echoed everywhere, but everything was still dark before his eyes.
Blood rushed through his body with panic and painful burning sensations.
What could be worse than finding yourself in an unknown world, in the body of a rotten corpse, surrounded by vile creatures? Realizing all this in complete darkness.
He rubbed and rubbed his eye sockets until finally his left eye began to see.
"...Huh?"
The first thing that caught his blurry gaze was his legs stretched out in front of him. He was lying down.
The second thing was a piece torn out, as if bitten off, in the middle of his chest.
And in real time, he saw his heart growing back in that hole, along with his bones and the rest of his flesh.
He saw his own heart and his insides. It was literally maddening.
Strangely, the bitten organ, which was crimson in color, was shrouded in a thin layer of white and blue, reminiscent of stars.
It wasn't that surprising, because the majestic being that had revived him appeared in a similar...
"Damn maggots!" he growled hatefully, clenching his teeth.
…
'Hahaha!'
'Dad, what's so funny?!'
'No, no, it's not funny, it's just... Repeat that, son, what's your dream?'
'I want to be a star! The brightest star in the night sky!'
"Aaaaaaaaaah!"
Sweat ran down his face and soaked his palms. He clutched his head with his hands as if trying to hold something there, but it was all in vain.
Memories of his past life were rapidly fading from his mind. Even the happiest and brightest ones did not escape.
Only the most recent ones remained hanging over him like a cross. The most painful and shameful ones.
In despair, he slammed his fist hard into the loose ground. He felt his own ragged breathing, his chest rising and falling rapidly, and his teeth clenched so hard it hurt.
The painful regeneration of his body was coming to an end. Only through his clothes, torn to shreds, could he see his bleeding chest and the whitish light striving to restore all layers of skin.
But, strangely, the metamorphosis taking place within him did not end with transmigration and regeneration. He could clearly see that the rotting corpse — the previous owner of this body — had slightly bronze, tanned skin. However, the shade was now rapidly changing to a dull white. Surely the same was happening to his eyes, face, and hair... He was regaining his appearance from his past life.
"Haah..."
It hardly resembled the sigh of a man who had been screaming frantically just a moment ago. Rather, it resembled the sigh of someone suffering from severe depression.
But anyway, he tried to sit up and look around.
In front, to the right, to the left, behind, and even beneath him was only loose, recently dug earth. There was no doubt about it.
"A grave... Bravo, very symbolic," he stated dryly.
"... " After hysterical screams and moans, the area returned to silence, interrupted only by rare howls... probably the wind.
"Damn it... Damn it all..."
It was as if he was unconsciously denying the reality in which he was alive again. Despite everything, he found the strength to act and tried to get to his feet.
"Hey, are you listening? Or maybe you're watching, I don't know..." He began to scan the starry sky with his eyes. "Please don't force me... Take my life and give it to someone else. Someone who is worthy of this chance..." he said painfully.
"..."
"Please..."
"..."
But, as in their recent face-to-face meeting, all persuasion proved futile.
His teeth began to bite his trembling lips, and his eyes betrayed him with tears, which was quite shameful for a 22-year-old.
"To hell with all this... To hell with you, whoever or whatever you are! I'll do it myself. I did it once, I'll do it again!" he shouted hoarsely into the sky and began to try to climb out of the grave.
It is unlikely that for anyone else, a new life was as terrible a nightmare as it was for him.
However, although he could continue his bravado and rage at the heavens, saying that he would take his own life...
He knew he had been punished.
He was punished with life and sentenced to live.
It was exactly what he deserved, because...
"Because I'm a damn villain..." he croaked, biting his teeth into the edge of the earth.
There is no torment worse than the torment of conscience of the darkest villain.
…
The stream of falling soil threatened to knock his body down again, so he had to increase the pressure. Sticking his feet higher and higher and throwing his arms further, he climbed until he finally crawled to the top, no longer afraid of falling.
For a few seconds, he spat out dirt and caught his breath, then got up on his knees and opened his wet eyes.
"..!"
Everything changed in an instant.
He didn't know exactly how much, but it seemed that all six of his senses were mercilessly attacked. His dark soul froze in horror.
Probably the first was the smell...
A disgusting corpse stench invaded his nose, many times exceeding the foul smell of his own body.
The second was definitely sight.
The sight of mutilated people spread before his eyes. Their bodies were torn apart and shredded into pieces.
It seemed that even their amazing equipment and weapons, seemingly created in the style of a dark cyberpunk future, had not helped them. Not counting the scattered body parts, at first glance, there were about seven corpses sprawled in a circle, right next to the dug grave.
But the strangest thing was the dull yellowish hue that fell on the bodies and the surrounding area directly from the sky.
"What the...!" he was about to exclaim, but he didn't notice that he had lost the ability to breathe.
This was because, in fact, the first sensation that affected him was the piercing feeling of a gaze directed straight at his back.
And that gaze was far more frightening than the sight of mutilated corpses and severed limbs. Every cell in his body felt that the owner of that gaze was far more terrifying than any monster or villain.
Much more terrifying.
"Because this is the only place his eyes cannot reach, so…"
This was one of the phrases that the starry being muttered during their encounter. And yet, it was precisely now that he remembered this vague phrase.
"... " With very slow movements, he began to tilt his head back and turn carefully.
Was it scary? It was very scary. The feeling was so frightening that he was physically unable to turn around immediately.
Everything he had tried to deny until that moment began to pour out. Rebirth in a decaying body, excruciating pain, his own grave, torn corpses, an unknown world, and...
The unknown starry sky.
"D-damn b-black hole..." he blurted out in horror, falling on his backside, unable to take his eyes off the celestial object.
The most terrifying proof of the universe's power over man was right there in the sky. An impossibly vast mass, combined with a mesmerizing golden disc...
"...!" But there was something even more terrifying than that celestial power.
It was what... who stood right in front of him and never looked away.
Seeing it with his own eyes, he was convinced of his intuitive guesses.
He was undoubtedly more frightening.
Lesson 2: Be careful what you want to know, because...
"Big Brother is watching you."