Chapter 44: Identity

A white space.

There wasn't much to it. If Aleph had any complaints, it would be that the white space was too blinding for his eyes.

'I… where am I?'

He looked down only to find out that his entire body was exposed. The black nuclear suit he wore was nowhere to be seen. Only the tight black skinsuit remained in him.

Aleph hastily looked at his surroundings.

'I touched the core and…'

A strong chill was sent to his entire body. His legs felt powerless at the thought of something. A bucket of cold ice was poured all over him.

'No, this can't be. But… I am an otherworlder. I know this world's future. If so…'

Aleph's staggered breathing slowly calmed down.

'This blank space… was it the space where they met God?'

The past five months was enough to recall everything about this world's future. The so-called honkai will prevail over humanity, at least for the Era where Aleph was into.

Fifty thousand years later, the second fight for humanity's survival began. It was the Current Era's turn to face off against the honkai.

New characters shone on the stage. Some of the notable ones were the Second Herscherr and the Archbishop of a certain organization. Although the dreams Aleph got were not as detailed as the ones he originally wrote, it was more than enough to have a rough gist as to what happened.

The two aforementioned people underwent a similar experience—meeting God.

In his diary, Aleph called it—

'Will of Honkai…'

He looked around for a while before stopping. The endless expense of the white space was the only thing he could see.

'There's a reason why it's like this. I knew it before…'

Unfortunately, those small details that he missed in his dreams affected him now.

The bright white light blinded his sight. His elemental sight, something he relied on to view the fourth Herrscher's moves, failed him this time. A sense of incongruence swept over him, as if there was a missing piece to make it complete.

'There's a reason why… Think. In the final battle, Mei enacted a plan to… what was it again?'

The feeling of being at the edge of his tongue made him extremely uncomfortable.

'No… Think. What was it..?'

Aleph was too preoccupied to notice the phenomenon happening to himself. He was still in the kneeling position before. He didn't notice the thin lines in his body.

'...Ah..?'

Something 'snapped' inside his mind. It prompted him to stop thinking.

Crack-!

"What… is this?"

The lines turned into cracks. His entire body turned dimmer as the cracks began opening up. His soul, projected as his body, revealed his current condition—one that wasn't noticed since the beginning.

Aleph's mind became blank. There wasn't anything that came to it. His thoughts ceased to exist.

It was also at that moment when something attained a voice.

{Answer: You are Aleph. You are Ainsworth. In this world, you are the third institute's assistant director. In another world, you are the holder of multiple Medal of Honors; the director of the Specialized Weaponry Research Division...}

It was the voice of a young girl. It was dull and flat, making it feel more artificial than anything else. 

However, such a voice briefly awakened Aleph from his 'blank stupor'.

'Who..?'

'She' seems to be fully aware of his questions.

{Answer: I am the Unique Skill [Great Sage]. There was a lack of manifestations in this world. After a successful adaptation, I gained the ability to respond.}

Aleph's eyes turned duller by the second.

'Why…'

{Answer: Your soul is in a state of collapse. Its cause was consecutive 'deaths'. It recovered on its own during the first time, but the second time caused it to reappear and worsen. Memories are tied to the condition of the soul. You are currently experiencing severe memory loss as your condition worsened.}

His condition was fully revealed. His arrival to this world was a miracle by its own right. He could still recover from back then.

However, the situation that caused his amnesia, the deadly encounter with honkai contamination, caused him to tether the ropes of life and death once again. Although emergency measures were enacted, it could not help him recover in full.

{Searching for possible countermeasures… One solution found.}

At this moment, Aleph's right hand moved. Three white fragments floated around his palm. These are the [Blank Sephira Crystal Fragments] that Aleph gained throughout the past eight months.

The three fragments forcefully fused together. They started taking up the shape of a diamond. Although, it wasn't fully successful due to the lack of two other parts.

Without Aleph's command, [Great Sage] began running on its own.

{Answer: The forceful fusion of the Sephira Crystals exhibit the highest success rate.}

The three-fifths Sephira Crystal floated to his chest—on top of his heart—before it sank.

Aleph could only see his consciousness slowly float to the darkness.

*****

***

*

Who am I?

Every person on Earth must've thought about this question at some point. Only, many tend to treat everything for granted. Their lives become extremely fast to the point they never think of themselves anymore.

"Hm… This torque's rotation is clockwise. The next question… a coplanar force system? I'd take a look at the back first."

The ambience within the air-conditioned library pushed the man to his utmost concentration. His homework was steadily being completed as time passed.

"Yawn… It's been three hours already? This is it."

He stretched out his arms as he yawned. Some of his bones made a popping sound due to his poor posture. He took off his earphones, carried his bag, and began descending to the ground floor. When he reached the library's entrance, he took out his ID with the noticeable words: [xxx Ainsworth].

Just like most university students, Ainsworth was buried by projects. Who told him to choose an engineering major?

"I really need to finish chapter thirty one soon. I'll put my dailies in Star Rail on auto later."

He took out his phone and opened a game. The familiar elevator appeared on his screen. He walked towards the bus stop as he waited for the game to load.

Soon, he rode on the bus. He took out the phone in his pocket and stared at the game on the screen dazedly.

"Honkai… It's interesting, but it'd be dangerous in reality. Still…"

Ainsworth touched the hand of the gray-haired girl on the captain's hangar.

"[Captain. Please let me fight with you… forever.]"

"Sigh… Sometimes, living in their world might not be a bad idea."

He thought of the human's instinctive nature to pity—to emphasize—even to "fictional" characters. It wasn't that deep. A compelling story elicits a reaction from its readers.

Beep-!

Beep-!

Ainsworth's attention was intercepted by a loud alert. A notification appeared on his phone as it continued vibrating.

It wasn't just him. Everyone inside the bus took out their phones in a hurry. The flat screen television inside the bus also let out one such alert.

"EAS..? What's it all about?"

"One of my friends sent me this."

"War? Huh? Are they kidding?"

Soon, the announcement became evident to everyone. It was an alert about the impending World War Three. Fifteen nuclear bombs were sent to their country, which was intercepted by the Aerospace Defense Command.

"...Huh."

As most men did, Ainsworth heaved a deep sigh.

"I'm going to get conscripted…"

Just like that, the Third World War began.