1 Prologue: The Third Calamity
I was a reader…
「Worthless Honor」
It was my favorite novel. I first discovered it on the day I turned 16…
and I fell in love…
「Worthless Honor」was a story that was set in the far future. In a society where at the tender age of 7, each human are able to develop one unique supernatural power of their own, called [Skills] and they develop the ability to harness an element called [Mana]
"I don't get it. Why do they hate it so much? It's truly is a great story."
The novel itself was quite notorious for its bad reviews.
Mainly because the main character was a regressor that kept dying over and over again… leading to readers dropping the novel at around chapter 200 or so
I could confidently say that I am the last reader remaining
But, I don't hate them for having such opinions, cause I also felt the same thing…
I mean think about it, for 2000 fucking chapter, imagine watching this dipshit die and restart for over 1000 times each time the motherfucker eat sh-
Oh, it suddenly got cut off, sorry for my previous indecent act
Anyways, the point is, he died naturally as he breathe.
The story of Worthless Honor described that there was an existence, it was a being that was not meant to exist in this world.
A lone demon, from a higher plane of existence, that have been blessed with the ability to manipulate element of Time, Space, and Matter, somehow, slipped into a crack in the void and arrived at this world plane. The power and authority of the once forgotten demon race of this world rose rapidly in his command, they hailed him as「The One who ruled over Fate 」.
Maybe it was meant to be, some could say it was fate, but that would absurd considering the contradiction of logic
As when the crack appeared in the void, a nameless wanderer of an unknown world, a world that was exiled by the Origin, was dragged in as well.
It was not fate, a rift occurring in an exiled world was not something 'fate' could cause, even the Origin could not comprehend why it happened, but it knew… it was the work of another.
Another being that can stand equally against him.
This being was titled as [The First Anomaly]
「Who dares…」thus for the first time in eternity, the Origin trembled
But it failed to notice another existence who invaded its domain that was much more dreadful than the existence of a rift in an exiled world
This existence was later titled, [The Second Anomaly]
The nameless wanderer has arrived, he had no memory of his own existence, other than the memory of a singular ability of his, [Eternal Mimicry].
He was granted a name, Shin.
Then, he was granted a powerful 'wildcard' , the card was called [Boundless Regression].
Lastly, he was granted with a purpose that was etched deep into his soul, 「Revive the Honored One」
He kept on trying, even being noticed by the Origin did not stop him from moving forward to fulfill this purpose of his.
He would fail, fail, fail, and fail again. Then he get up and continued again, even in despair, he would not stop, for his one and only purpose
Maybe that was the reason I began to admire him so much.
I was weak and I was a pushover. People target me just for the fun of it, I endured it, cause what's the point anyways…?
Even now, I was 25, working at a convenient store, I had nothing, nothing to lose, nothing to live for.
But I knew that was a lie…
The Epilogue of Worthless Honor, it was the only thing that gave me strength and hope to stand up and continue forward
"I will witness the end of this story myself"
—-
"Nice work, everyone! Oi, Jin! Come here!" The man shouted with a loud voice
"Ah… Jin is at it again"
"Hai, hai…" I sighed as I staggered my way to the manager
'Ah! I wonder when the next chapter is going to be updated' I wondered in my mind
"We got another complain from the customer, it's the 3rd time this week, what do you have to say for yourself?"
"Toru-san, I told you, they were literally the same guy who comes here just to harass me" I answered
"And why is that?" Toru, the manager, asked
"Now that I think about it, I haven't told you haven't I" I asked with a confused look
"I believe you have not"
"Well, the guy bought a condom a couple of size too big for him, and he brought it in to complain, for some reason I don't know why, Akari-san was taking front during that time and the guy was harassing her for a refund from what I heard from the back" I answered , "That was when I remembered my ethics teacher from high-school, Takayanagi-sensei, who told me 'honesty is the best policy', so I just straight-up told him he has a small wiener and here we are"
"Haizz… you could've handled that more professionally" Toru-san sighed, "Look, Jin, I know you're a good kid, so try and not make enemies"
"Yes, sir…" I half-heartedly answered
—-
'Another shitty da-' as I was about sigh for the nth time today, I received a notification
[NEW CHAPTER UPDATED: Worthless Honor - Chapter 2769 - A Beautiful Death]
"Never mind, what a great day!" I excited open the new chapter, "Wait… a beautiful death…? Damn, is this bastard gonna die again? The fuck? I thought it was close to the end already! Alright… whatever, let's see what we have here…"
「"Truly, I thank you, from the bottom of my empty heart, being able to relish the true taste of death was the greatest honor you could give me"」
"…" As I read the last line, I couldn't utter a single word
"Eh..? W-what is this…?" And before I realized it, tears were flowing down my cheeks, "Shin…"
suddenly I felt a smack on my back
"Shit!" I exclaimed as I turned around to find the one who assault me, Akari…-san?"
"Yo! Reading novels again?" Akari greeted with a smile
"Ah, yes" I nodded
"I just wanted to say sorry cause you got in trouble because of me again" Akari apologize with a bow
"No, it's alright, Akari-san, you don't have to, the manager was right, I could've handled that better" I answered while scratching the back of my head
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Akari-san?"
"Drop it with the formality will you? We've been working together for quite a while now, you know? Hana, you can call me Hana, I'll call you Shinpei, you alright with that Shinpei-kun?" Akari spoke with a smile
"…"
"Do you often take this route home, Akari-san?" I asked
"Uwah.. ? that's cold…" Akari commented, "Well, I guess everyday can be counted as often"
"But I've never saw you though" I said
"Because your eyes have never left the screen, dumbass" Akari chuckled, "Now that I think about it, your name is quite weird, Jin Shinpei… Shinpei Jin"
"My dad was Korean, so that's that" I answered
"Eh? Really? Can you speak Korean?" Akari asked excitedly
"No, but I did pick up some uh… informal… language from him when I was a child" I answered
"Hahahaha! For real?" Akari laughed
"Yeah, but honestly, he was a great man…" I smiled
"Was?"
"He passed away when I was 14, you see"
"Oh… I'm sorry…"
"No, no! It's alright, I quite enjoy talking about my dad, so I don't mind at all"
The two of us walked in silent for couple of minutes
the frigid air of the approaching winter was refreshing, the atmosphere was quite enchanting, it's kind of nice enjoying life like this some time.
Not to mention, a cute girl is walking home with me
But do I give a fuck? Absolutely not
"say… what were you sulking about earlier" Akari suddenly sparked up a question
"Nothing…" I said as I adverted my gaze
"Hey… hey… c'mon, don't be shy"
"Uhhh my girlfriend broke up with me.."
"Invalid answer, not buying it, next"
Damn, she's good. Did she somehow see through my facade that was hiding my identity as a 25-years-old virgin!?!?
While I was contemplating, a bright light suddenly enveloped us from behind, and as I turned around, to my horror, a red car was traveling at high speed towards us
I was consciously frozen, but at that moment I sensed that something took control of my body, allowing me to push Akari out of the way before it was too late
"SHINPEI!!!!" She screamed in terror as soon as she realized what just occurred
The red car slammed against my fragile body, it felt like time was slowed, each seconds was like an eternity, I could even hear each and every one of my bone snapping one by one
'It hurts…'
Slowly as my consciousness began to shut down, memory fragments of my life began to flash in front of my eyes
My life, it was quite a pathetic one, but I can't say I didn't enjoy it, I had no regrets after all…
Once again, that was a lie
'I wish I could've witness the end of the story, what a shame'
And so, I return to the darkness' embrace
Then, suddenly, it happened
「Greeting, Jin Shinpei, the Third Calamity」
