Part 1: Fate
Haruto slowly opened his eyes.
He noticed the ceiling above him.
Then he looked around.
He was in his room.
The sunlight coming from outside told him it was already lunch time.
For a second, Haruto thought that what happened before might have been nothing more than a nightmare.
Then suddenly—
Swip.
The door opened.
Ryuk entered the room.
He quickly came near Haruto.
"Haruto, tell me."
"What happened with you?"
"You got fainted four hours ago."
Ryuk said.
Haruto understood immediately.
It was not a nightmare.
He actually died in that forest randomly.
And because of the intense pressure on both his mind and body, he had fainted.
Haruto tried to tell Ryuk what happened.
But suddenly—
His heart started working differently.
It felt like it was about to stop.
The moment he tried to talk about the Dark Forest, Haruto understood something.
Something was stopping him from talking about it.
And if he told anyone about the Dark Forest—
He was going to die.
Haruto decided to leave that question aside for now.
He simply told Ryuk that he might have been ill.
Now he was fine.
Ryuk also kept it simple.
He did not ask further.
Then he left the room.
After Ryuk left, Haruto remained silent.
He started questioning what had just happened with him.
It was very unnatural.
And it felt as if someone was gripping him there to do something.
Although he died there again and again—
And every time he teleported there again—
The loop only kept repeating.
Although his real body remained in this world.
Now Haruto was trying to understand what it could be.
Then suddenly—
Haruto remembered something from his life on Earth.
Flashback
Once Haruto was in school.
It was a free period class.
Haruto was reading something on his phone.
Then suddenly—
A boy came toward him.
He tightly hugged Haruto.
That boy was crying.
That boy was Kusakabe.
"Harutoooo...!"
"Please help me."
Kusakabe said.
"What just happened?"
Haruto asked.
Then suddenly some bullies came there.
"Hey."
"Who is that boy's friend?"
One of the bullies asked.
Haruto understood everything.
He quickly moved toward the bullies.
And punched one bully in the belly.
That bully instantly coughed blood out of his mouth.
Another bully spoke.
"We came here to tell that that boy beat some of our members badly."
"That is why we wanted to talk with his friend."
Haruto looked at Kusakabe.
He understood that Kusakabe did that to make Haruto fight.
Because Kusakabe himself was also a great martial arts black belt student.
Kusakabe did not make eye contact with Haruto.
Instead, he looked at a tree.
"Trees are very important for our nature."
Kusakabe said.
"Hey, Kusakabe."
Haruto said.
"Yeah?"
"Why did you bully some bullies?"
Haruto said in a funny way.
Although Haruto's expression did not make it sound funny.
The bullies left.
Because both Haruto and Kusakabe were stronger than them.
Haruto sat on a bench.
He opened his phone again.
And started reading something.
Kusakabe sat beside him.
"Sorry for this."
Kusakabe said.
"No problem."
Haruto replied.
"Although what are you reading?"
Kusakabe asked.
"I am reading a novel."
"You read novels very much."
"And I am reading that novel that you recommended me some days ago."
Haruto said.
"Oh, which novel did I recommend? I forgot."
Kusakabe replied in a funny way.
"Lord of Mysteries by Cuttlefish That Loves Diving."
Haruto said.
"Oh, I remember."
"Yeah, you know LOTM is a very big web novel."
Kusakabe said.
"I know."
"But this feels very interesting to me."
Haruto said.
"I read it completely and I am a glazer."
Kusakabe said.
"Oh, nice."
Haruto said.
"Let me give you some spoilers."
Kusakabe said.
After that, Kusakabe gave multiple spoilers of Lord of Mysteries.
Flashback Ends
Haruto remembered that there were some similarities between that novel and this world.
And if there were similarities—
Then it could be possible that an evil entity was haunting him or something like that.
Haruto thought for a moment.
Then he decided that he should visit a spirit divination.
That way he could understand whether any evil entity was trying to control him or not.
So Haruto left his room.
He walked through the streets.
He asked strangers where he could find spirit divination.
After some time—
He finally reached a place.
Haruto entered the room.
He gave 5 Reo and 35 Peny.
Then a woman appeared.
She looked like a seer.
She asked,
"What is your problem?"
"I want to divinate my spirit."
"I have doubt that my spirit is haunted by an evil entity."
Haruto said.
"Okay."
"Just sit and we will do something for you."
The woman said.
Haruto sat down.
Then the woman started to divinate his spirit.
Through that, she could find whether there was something wrong with his spirit or not.
And then—
After the divination was completed—
The woman became completely shocked.
As if she had seen something terribly wrong.