The space around me defied reality. One moment I'd been asleep in that boy's cramped room, and now I stared out at an expanse of jagged peaks that couldn't possibly be walls.
"Could it be… I died again?"
Did someone slit my throat while I slept? That'd be absurd. I'd finished the mission and even uncovered the connections behind it!
"Or maybe I'm just too exhausted and conjuring a vivid dream."
No. Stop speculating. Assess the situation. Towering, treacherous mountains stretched all around. Behind me, the path vanished into a sheer drop; ahead, a single trail snaked upward.
"Why would I climb that?"
You don't ascend unknown heights on a whim. Mountains are deadly.
"If this is a dream, I'd like to wake up."
In dreams, people often grab a sword to slit their throats. I have no blade—instead I have these hands.
"Gack…! Gack…!"
I can't let go. The throat is a merciless weak point. It burns for air, but the agony assures me I'm alive—and maybe I'll collapse from exhaustion. They say if you dream of falling you grow taller. That's something, I guess.
"Ugh… what?"
The pain vanished. My arms dropped to my sides by themselves—though I never released them.
"Hm… retry, then."
This time I grabbed a shard of fractured rock from the ground.
"Alright. I can see clearly."
I slashed an X into my palm. Blood welled, and raw pain flared.
"Once more… ugh… gack!"
The torment surged again. My airway constricted and my brain reflexively screamed to live. As my vision trembled…
"…Back again."
I stood where I had before, the cut on my hand intact.
One last attempt.
"I'm diving off that cliff—"
But as soon as I turned to step toward the precipice, my body pivoted back to the single upward path.
"Alright, alright. I'll climb."
There was no choice. At the top, I'd at least get a face to match whoever was guiding me.
"Hah… hah… this is absurdly high."
These peaks far outmatched the training grounds I'd fought on. I'd convinced myself I'd built stamina, but I was fooling myself. And why was I panting so hard in a dream?
"Jesus… why would someone lure me somewhere like this?"
I collapsed to the ground and sucked in cold air. It was the only thing I could do.
"You made it here pretty fast. Or did you empty that cup a bit too long?"
A woman's voice, clear and delicate. She must be the one who brought me here.
"Ugh… the view is something else."
Were these vistas the pride of the world's greatest peaks? I'd never traveled abroad, so I never imagined a dream could conjure beauty like this.
"Not bad, right? I hoped you'd feel it was worth the climb."
The voice came from the pavilion above.
"Let's see who dared invade a sleeper's dream."
I climbed into the pavilion and found a beauty in cool light, framed against sky and clouds. And I knew her at once.
'Shei's Fragment…?!'
I fell here with barely a thread of original knowledge in my head—just boss names and story fragments, cut off at Patriot and Talulah, and most operators forgotten except for the ones I overused.
And this Ling before me—an operator of insane solo performance or small-team synergy—was one I actually relied on. I remembered her face.
She was Shei's eldest daughter and the third fragment, Ling. And here she stood. This had to be a dream.
"Standing must be uncomfortable."
"Ah… could I sit?"
"By all means. A conversation is better company than drinking alone."
"Thank you."
The pavilion was simple—plain for Shei's Fragment to occupy. Though her presence alone made it extraordinary.
"Do you value your life so little?"
"It's just a dream, right? And you clearly prevented the other things I tried."
"Exactly. I waited for you to climb up here, but you tried to end your life alone. Isn't that unfair to your parents?"
"I'm an orphan."
"You know I don't mean your birth parents, surely."
"You mean the Moejang?"
"Moe–jang? Do you mean Meursault?"
"Yes. Meursault plus commander—hence Moejang."
"Ha. Moejang… Well, let's talk about him."
Talk about Moejang? How does she even know about him?
"You look surprised I know your commander's affairs."
Great, she can read faces too? Or is this how a god's Fragment toys with a child?
"Your commander asked me to come, so of course I know."
"You're acquainted with Moejang?!"
Impossible. She's a Fragment of a god. Even if Meursault is remarkable, would he know a god's Fragment? Talk about delusions.
"Strictly speaking, I know the 'thing' he possesses."
"A thing? Do you call an object an acquaintance?"
"Is it even an object?"
Damn, is she playing twenty questions with me? Is this how gods mock mortals?
"Anyway, he asked me here, and you're an interesting child. I'd love to refill your cup, but you're too young."
Damn, I thought I'd get a drink after so long. They say you learn to drink from adults, but here's someone older than any ancestor who won't pour a glass?
"More importantly, we can't ignore your own story."
"Me? I'm just a kid with a sword. What else could I be?"
"No. Your body doesn't belong solely to you."
"…!"
I knew: that power and voice that surfaced before the monster killed me, the blue pillar when I finished off the Kongkong Gang—it wasn't my power.
But I ignored it. The unknown is terrifying.
Yet curiosity is humanity's greatest sin. Ling knows the presence dwelling in my flesh.
"If you're curious, follow me."
Rising, Ling walked away down a path that hadn't been there moments ago.
"…Wait, I'm coming!"
I decided to follow.
"This is… an alleyway?"
One moment I was on a mountain path, the next telephone poles appeared and I stood in the back alleys where I'd awakened.
"Not exactly a majestic view, right?"
"Right. Definitely not a place for a child."
Even so, I've lived here for years.
"Luckily, no rat-faced vagrants around. They'd swarm anything beautiful."
"Beautiful, huh… thanks."
Ever heard the proverb that praise makes even whales dance? I should update it: praise makes a god's Fragment dance.
"Here we are."
"I never wanted to return here."
The alley had been hell, but this place was worst: the shabby half-basement where I committed my first murders, where I killed two thugs.
"…We have to go inside? Really?"
"Are you afraid? You can go back if you want."
I'm not afraid—just disgusted.
Click
After hesitating, I turned the doorknob. What I saw inside was…
"You came after all. How is it in here?"
A massive demon, eyes blazing blue, fangs jutting outward. Towering nearly to the ceiling.
The oni was devouring a figure who looked exactly like me.