5 Chapter 5

"Shit! Do I need to shoulder the burden of the world or something?" asked Hiro.

"I know this is too much for a kid like you but...", Vi knew how hard it could be and how fate sometimes was very cruel. Unstandingly, Vi tried to ease the burden but he was interrupted.

"Cool!!!! Now I get to beat all the bad guy's asses", Hiro pumped his fists in the air and screemed, "My time has come, baby! I will not trade this for anything. The caretaker always stopped me from getting into unnecessary fights. But what can a person do when the bad guys are practically begging for a major beatdown? He just has to fulfill their wishes efficiently. "

"It seems Hiro-Kun is very happy" confirmed Infi. Even though she feared for the fragility of the humans, it was their positive attitude towards everything that restored Infi's faith in them, every time.

"He even seems excited at the prospect...Just what am I gonna do with this kid...". However, Hiro who was lost in his own world didn't notice the big smile that had erupted on Vi's face.

Deciding to take things a step further, Infi said. "But beware, even though you may have powers, they are nothing but they are still puny in front of Zero. So choose your actions carefully.", as much as she liked to cheer the boy up, she wanted him to know his limits. Overconfidence would only worsen the worse.

"You don't have to worry too much though. Because 'It' is not going to hurt you but it will probably toy with you until you grow strong enough.", interjected Vi.

Hiro didn't know how to feel about that.

"Now let's discuss your powers clearly. Follow me", said Vi as he led Hiro to what looked like a glowing sphere. But even Hiro could tell that it was surging with power. All of a sudden he had a powerful urge to touch it like it was calling him. He had a feeling like it was his all along, felt like that sphere was a dear friend he had lost long ago. But before he could react, the sphere flew up and crashed against him. Hiro immediately felt he had made a foolish decision.

Hiro felt regret, regret like he had been rejected by the whole society a thousand times, tired like he had been working for 20 days non-stop with no sleep, hurt emotionally, as though he had been rejected by thousand girls at the same. He felt soul-crushing regret and mind-devouring fear at the same time.

And he felt pain, oh, how was it, he could not describe. From being burnt alive, to having his limbs torn off, from being sliced to pieces to having his skin melted off, Hiro had felt it all. In the end, he found becoming unconscious was an easy thing rather than experiencing the pain.

But just before he closed his eyes, Hiro got a glimpse of the two. Their faces expressed that they didn't want to do this as much as he. That it was merely a foolish obligation. That it was a necessity to obtain greater power, all written on their apologetic faces...

<Inside Hiro's mind>

Hiro thought he had a bad nightmare again but instead, ended up waking on the familiar bed, sitting on a white backdrop. Jade white had completely enveloped his field of vision. So just like a normal person, he immediately sat upright, alert and cautious. Hiro tried finding out where he was, how he was here, and how much time had passed ...but all that ended in failure. Nothing but white thrived in this place, a nightmarish place, all quiet and insanity. Having nothing better to do, Hiro started to reflect on the things that had happened to him. He tried to organize his thoughts and think about things thoroughly. And with how unexpected things have been for him, he believed he deserved it. Some time to catch up with the reality, he needed it.

So for what seemed like almost a whole day, Hiro recollected his things and thought deeply.

But within this time, a strange congruity had gripped him. Hiro neither felt the need to eat nor (what truly terrified him) to breathe. Breathing was akin to being human. It was the last vestiges of the life he had left behind, the proof of being human.

He could have blamed it all on the white landscape, but he strangely felt that this whole place truly existed in reality. How he had definitely visited here before, how he believed this was not something woven from the tangles of disillusion.

He had thought that being a hero would bring him some peace but instead all it did was cause more problems. Hiro could have given in to the despire, he could have said this was all too hard for him. But he didn't. He wanted to face it. The adventures that awaited him, the sorrow he was yet to experience. Because giving up meant reaching the end, and where was the fun in that. If death is the lowest you can fall, why not grab the brighter future, why not take the bigger risk? If all the people will end up dying why not make your way out 'special'? why not be the captain in midst of the cannon fodder?

Hiro decided to think positively. He focused his wandering mind somewhere else. Thinking about the sudden changes that had happened ever since he had saved those people, How he came to regret it less and less by the day...how as if to award him for saving those people, fate had allowed him the opportunity to travel to his favorite anime worlds and save the unfortunate people from the crisis.

Hiro felt closer to his dream than ever before, his wish of doing something that affected not just him, but also the others. And Hiro wasn't the one to give up on his dreams.

Suddenly the space around him began to distort and emerged a man who looked the same as Hiro. He came closer but not before inspecting Hiro completely. Moments later, seemingly having found what he was looking for, the man smiled at Hiro and said, "It seems you have truly found and fixed your purpose, something other incarnations had been unable to do. You are a true enigma Hiro Narukami. Not only did you manage to die a meaningful death but you still strive to do more good."

"Even in your last act, the final play of your life, you choose to remain true to your wishes, unfettered and unbound. Just from that alone, we could get you a free ticket to heaven or at least enough to make you rich in your next life....but you won't take it, will you? "

Hiro smiled and shook his head. He didn't know who this person was, but he felt he could truly connect with him like the person before him was a part of himself. Still, before he could inquire about the person's identity, his acquaintance spoke up, "You mortals have a wrong concept for almighty. It is not about being unimaginably powerful but also suffering the most. What you experienced when the orb touched was a fraction of what I feel every day. Just like I bear the good side, I also have to feel the pain every person feels every moment, their lifelong suffering, their depression, their fears, I have to experience it all. I have to stand at the top and relate to nobody. Because I am too different..."

The figure stopped for a moment to let his words settle in and spoke up again, "Since you have been deemed worthy, I will grant you my power. But that is all I can do. It is you who will have to progress on your own. Zero has been making its own army to conquer the multiverse. No doubt far stronger than before."

The One, master of Infi and Vi spoke to him in sadness. "Just like all your imaginary worlds are real, so are all the persons living in it. They no longer remain the faceless tow dimensional characters on a piece of paper. They too now have feelings and motivations. They too strive towards their goal. This means all the evil of the world also lives, corrupting the lives of many, and more. They are being gathered together even at this very moment."

"When I felt Zero's seal being broken I was immediately forced to fetch my reincarnation. You are the key. Even though you are not powerful, what matters is that you are human...something i have never been...that is why I was not able to defeat Zero."

Hiro tried saying something but couldn't. He was far too weak and far too foolish. Why was he happy about fighting the bad guys when he couldn't look at the bigger message? He needed to learn, to not just grow in power but as a person...

<Hold><Grab>

Hiro had been shocked when 'One' grabbed his hands and couldn't help but look at him questioningly. But he saw something unreal when he did. The shaking hands that held him were not of the almighty man Vi and Infi had told him about. The man currently shedding tears couldn't be him. The image was very distant from what Hiro had imagined.

Here was a man who was just asking to get his friend back...He had been told about Zero and One's friendship, but he still had failed to understand how deep it was. Those hands pleaded to him, to free Zero from the corruption that encaged it, to bring out its true self that had been locked away.

Hiro suddenly felt that all this had not been a mere coincidence but something that was already written in his fate. No words were exchanged, all Hiro did was give One a firm nod, having already steeled his resolve when he heard about Zero's plan. Now he just had to wait for the opportunity to come to him.

As if he had read Hiro's mind, The original One spoke up again, "You have all of my powers inside you, all of the experience is there inside you, the knowledge is already inside your brain, you just have to learn how to access it. But beware that any power you gain is still a puddle to the massive ocean known as Zero. It can erase you from existence with just a simple thought. So don't get ahead of yourself. Many of the evil forces would be sent to different worlds and you would have to be there to stop them. This will give you more opportunities to gain more power but also a chance to change them for good. Besides, you would get help from the anime powerhouses."

"But don't even once think that you are the only one who holds them dear. Just protect them carefully." (And here Origin one goes full otaku and starts fanboying all over. You can guess who our mc got his otaku nature from.)

After spending some time discussing their fantasies, Hiro decided to ask the important questions, "But what would happen if I fail my mission?". Origin who was still in his world of delusions was forcefully pulled to reality, he made a sad face as his dream of a harem of Neko girls disappeared, "The whole multiverse goes boom and there will be nothing left inside it."

[Ok I don't want to deal with all that...]

<Open>

Hiro turned towards the door of the exit, he had many things to do.

<Grab><Press>But not before One's final word. One grabbed his shoulders firmly, pressing the seriousness in his voice, "However, if any of them die unnecessarily, (here the voice turned cold, really scary!!)"I am going to kill and revive your ass again and again until I am satisfied. But you will not disappoint me, will you Hiro?"

Hiro gulped so hard, that he thought his throat would burst out. But sensing the threat in the very calm smile which had caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand up, he could not help but say, "Yes Sir!! I will keep that in mind. I promise you will not be disappointed!!!". One nodded his head in satisfaction and moved his hand in a sweeping motion.

The white void faded and Hiro found himself lying down. He however felt he was lying down on something inexplicably soft and squishy.

Hiro had the urge to really pretend to be unconscious, just for once in his life. But fate would not have it.

"How long do you plan to lie down there?", Hiro immediately jolted up and was surprised to see he had been lying on Infi's lap. Hiro blushed from embarrassment and the sudden intimate contact. He was not at all used to it because he had been a loner all his life. But suddenly sounds of laughter came started to annoy him. He could tell who it was even without looking.

"Ha hah hah!!! Virgin boy at last fulfills one of his dreams!!!" Hiro was not at all surprised to see Vi lying on the ground laughing his ass off. He had tears in his eyes and was holding his stomach from too much laughing.

[This sly bastard!! He is embarrassing me on purpose! And the smile annoys me even more!!! Urgh!!! I am so going to punch him in the face"

Hiro clenched his fist and punched Vi in the face, moments after he made that resolve...