3. Is it Fun?

#$%&@ closed the scroll, looked at rest then asked.

"Now who agrees this is the best result we've had thus far? A single species branched out to four distinct races on a single continent, the best one among most the lesser worlds"

Everyone who agreed raised their hands except @#$%& who was visibly conflicted. So #$%&@ tried asking what's wrong but %&@#$ interrupted.

"Don't mind that look. @#$%& agrees, duh, but knowing that if all hands are raised my idea will be put in motion stings. And it's true, right"

"Hmph. What about the Eastern continent? Surely there will be some highlights"

"Things are very interesting there too. They're the reason why this world could still possess magicules even after the 7th Era. The spiritual principle they've birth there has evolved their power system to greater heights than their Western counterpart, with the world being their only limit. But that's it, they lack the innovation and critical thinking skills of the West and their evolution is heavily due to external influence making them very predictable. And because their strength grew fast and stable unlike the West, the action there has grown stail. But every event is still recorded so no worries"

"Say less! We're sending the dude back in time and it will be more exciting. No one across the Eras has personally faced a boss beast and stayed alive long enough to kill it, he deserves a second chance"

"Is this what it is? A second chance?"

"... ... It's a second chance for the planet, cause if he succeeds I will reward the entire planet"

"Enough, let round two begin"

And for the time &@#$% spoke with excitement rivaling %&@#$ enthusiasm.

**SNAP!!!

....

**GASP!

A boy laying in a large luxurious bed abruptly opened his eyes to gaze upon a ceiling strangely familiar but shouldn't be since it was destroyed.

He continued to lie down as his breathing, roaming eyes and perplexed mind calmed a bit. His erratic thoughts kept bouncing from one object to another without purpose until a few minutes later.

"Is this the afterlife some movies has been displaying to be true? I guess it's true since this one took the form of something familiar— this soft bed I've bathed in my scent since I was four, these modernized arrangements I planned, the bookshelf that still holds I and brother's fav literary works, these warm colors I and mom painted on the walls... everything to a T"

The boy spoke to himself with a true smile he had seldom displayed the last couple of years, as his subconscious disregarded any abnormalities at the moment. He then closed his eyes with that wide smile then said.

"A place truly befitting of my eternal slumber. Now I can finally rest... After two lifetimes, I'm tired..."

He relaxed his entire body as he allowed himself to sink deep into the bed and the stillness of the scene as he seemingly found rest.

**NOISES!!

But it was a big mistake. Cause as he delved into the silence of the moment, his body unconsciously heightened his already-trained sense of hearing as noises of footsteps behind the door to his right and rowdy shouting of men outside his window to his left plagued his mind with second thoughts on his current situation.

'Don't look outside the window, Rest. There's no need to watch the other souls who know not your plight'

He started to chant this to himself as he forcibly kept his eyes closed but the very notion that he might be deceiving himself displeased his very being as he rose his upper body but something wrong caught his attention immediately.

"What in the actual hell am I seeing...?!"

***

"Young Lord?..."

A few minutes later, a sweet feminine voice entered his ears as he was touching his body as if a cockroach had crawled into his clothing. He turned to his right to see two ladies and a slightly middle aged man walk through the door.

The previous task of looking outside or examining his now teenage body was thrown aside as people who should be dead or look older if the former was true, were nothing but the opposite.

"Is that you, Ophelia?... Ginger?.... a-and Butler Dedric?... "

'They look very alive but why? They shouldn't be alive no I can't be alive! '. The boy thought with much despair that his breathing became noticeably uneven causing panic among the three present.

"...Y-young Lord?!"

"Ah... "

The familiar soothing voice of Ophelia filled with worry drew closer as her semi-hard but warm palm touched his neck softly to which he subconsciously put his placed his cheeks in her palms like a chick in need of warmth.

This and the three successive callings of "Young Lord" were the clear signs he needed to conclude that he failed to die again. He then took a second to calm himself before responding to their worries.

He quickly got a grip and lied.

"I hear you guys loud and clear. I apologize for worrying you, I just had a very realistic nightmare so I was a little disoriented".

"Praise the gods! We thought you were still mentally fatigued after you crashed from the overwhelming paperwork" shouted Dedric.

"As you can see there's no issue. By the way, what's today's date... how long have I been out for? "

"Sir, it's only been a few hours since you fainted in the study. It's still the 19th day of the month Schauer, Imperial Year 1418" replied Ginger.

'So more than 169yrs into the past. I'm fifteen now and still attending the Imperial Academy. Damn the being who did this to me!! Why not send me back to when I was five... better yet just let me die--'

"Young Lord, you've been spacing out for a while now. Are you hungry, perhaps?" asked Ophelia after her silence born from the unusual dorsal act the Sigurd displayed when she touched him.

"...Yes, I'm famished. Ginger, tell the chef to prepare me a meal while I wash up. Butler Dedric, arrange all the paperwork in order of importance before I finish my meal"

"Yes, my Lord"

"I will get right to it, Sir"

Ginger– the Head maid, and Dedric– the Head butler affirmed his request, and took a bow before walking out. He then turned to see Ophelia giving him the look that he took for granted for years before this life. This was exception because she's usually expressionless and cool.

"I'm okay. I just want it dealt with before tomorrow..."

Ophelia gazed at the smile on the cute boy's face, stood up from the bed, and adjusted the sword hanging from her waist before stepping out.

"...Then I shall be on guard outside, my Lord"

The boy watched the wooden door close with complicated emotions relative to the smile earlier. He sighed softly, stepped down from his soft bed, stripped his casual home clothes into his bathrobes then walked to the bathroom through the door south of the bed.

In the bathroom, he left the shower and sink tap flowing without being in use as he stared at his reflection in the mirror for seconds on end. His red iris eyes looked at the reflection of his cute young face with short jet black hair with a calm rage glossing over his chiseled body tainted with a few scars caused by varmints.

"....Show yourself. Whoever you are say something... ... Com'on!! The first could be written off as a Universe Rule error; that I reincarnated with my memories intact but this... this isn't a mistake, is it? Is it fun? ls this funny?"

He kept on speaking his unfiltered thoughts with the conviction that whoever was responsible for this injustice heard him loud and clear but the lack of any sign of response angered the him to a degree.

**Shatter!

In his rage, he created a web pattern crack on the mirror with his fist and turned around, ready to wash down his rage but then he noticed that the noise from the running water was no more. And the world looked incredibly quiet and errie.

"You dreamt you were (dead)a butterfly, flitting around in the(afterlife) sky; then you awoke. Now you wonder: "Am I a man who dreamt of being (dead)a butterfly, or am I a butterfly(ghost) dreaming that I am a man?".Fufufu~ "

....

Author's thoughts ⏬