2 Act 1: Chapter 1 - Chaotic Situation

AN: Just gonna say that this story gonna be a mix of 1st and 3rd person perspectives (Mostly gonna be 1st person). Also, below would be what some stuff means.

"Bruh," - Talking

'Bruh' - Thinking/Thoughts

*BOOM* - Sound Effects or something

Forgot to mention this btw, I might add some facts not mentioned in official lore, or tweak some stuff to fit the plot. So you could say that it's slight au. I mean, no sht, it's a fanfic.

Anyways, without further ado, let the story officially begin.

***

Cold.

All I could feel is the cold, smooth surface of the stone flooring that I currently lay upon…

Wait, I could feel things?

My eyes open in a flash as I quickly sit up to a sitting position, all this happening in one swift motion.

The cause for my actions was to initially relieve the shock and curiosity I received at my previous realization, yet just me being able to see with my own eyes and move with my limbs just resulted in adding more questions onto the piling mess of already existing ones.

"What the hell is going on!?" I sum up all the questions in my mind, exclaiming to myself in a loud voice in an attempt to cope with what was happening.

It was all just too confusing to handle for me. One moment I was in both physical and mental pain as I die out from blood loss, then the next second I find myself in some random, extremely cold place.

Was this some sort of hell or the afterlife? It wouldn't make sense for me to go to heaven, especially with everything I've done, so it's got to be hell, right?

That conclusion however became all but denied in my mind when I feel a chilly breeze swoop over me, causing me to shiver. Yeah, and here I thought hell was supposed to be someplace with hellfire and eternal suffering.

Well, my life could be described as such…

'Goddamnit! No more depressing thoughts, at least for now.' I quickly encourage myself inside my mind, focusing on the situation at hand.

With my focus fully restored, I take a few moments to gaze around the area and fully take in the crazy situation at hand.

I seemed to be in a large hallway of sorts. The walls were made with the same material as the floor I currently sat on, and the only source of light is small blue lights coming from glass panes spread all throughout the flooring.

What intrigued me though were the various markings carved throughout the large narrow hallway. It reminded me of those runes you would see in those fantasy shows or animes. Heck, it even seems similar to the stuff I've seen in a specific RPG fantasy game named "Genshin Impact".

Damn, now that I think about it, I was actually really close to finally maxing out Keqing. I was even going to try and attempt to clear Floor 12 with a new team setup…

What the hell am I even thinking about! Now is not the time!

"Okay, focus. Back to the situation at hand." I quietly mutter to myself and continue to inspect my surroundings. I spent around a minute looking around until my gaze was fully fixated on the wall in front of me.

One other thing I managed to figure out about my surroundings is the fact that most parts of the place looked damaged. Rough marks, dents in the walls, and many more signs were visible across the vast hall.

After looking around for a bit, my eyes stumbled upon multiple holes present in the wall.

My curiosity was not on how or why the wall was like that, it is what was beyond it.

What lay behind the wall is a dark abyss so vast I didn't know how far it stretched out into the empty space. It wasn't pitch black or anything, but extremely dark.

The abyss wasn't empty either. Multiple structures made from the same material as the hallway are present throughout the never-ending abyss. Broken towers, ruined walkways, old pillars ready to tumble down, the list goes on.

These facts, accompanied with everything I've seen so far, felt so familiar to me.

I tried racking my brain for ideas to solve the feeling. I start listing down previous thoughts in my head to get to the bottom of the familiarity.

'The endless abyss, the ruined structures, the similar-looking fantasy runes, beating Floor 12 with a new Keqing team…'

Hold up, wait a minute.

Something clicked in my head at the slow realization summed up from all my thoughts, specifically my final one.

"Wait wait wait, there's no way that this is-"

Before I could even finish my sentence, the ground shook. Each passing second, the rumbling was the only thing I could hear as the ground shook with even more force after each moment. In all of this, I just stay there, stiff as a corpse and frozen with fear. My instincts screamed at me to move, yet those same instincts caused me to freeze in fear.

As the sound reached its loudest point, it came to an abrupt stop with the sound no longer there. For a second I thought, 'Is it gone?' Well, the mechanical sounds of gears shifting behind me proved otherwise.

Acting like some horror movie actor, I slowly turn around back in fear to see what caused it.

Standing ominously behind me is a large, mechanical robot with a huge body where its supposed face also belonged. It looked like it was generally made out of wood, but the knowledge I had about this thing proved otherwise. White branches with leaves a shade of blue came out of random parts of its upper body as its large body loomed over me.

Remember how I was and still am as stiff as a corpse? Well, I might as well be one right now.

Standing right behind me is a fucking ruin guard. The same annoying elite enemy from Genshin Impact that everyone knows and loves.

And I would say I'm currently not part of the people who love ruin guards.

The sound of shifting gears intensifying brought me out of my trance as I witnessed the arm of the mechanical giant slowly moving in an upwards motion, readying his arm up at a speed almost comical.

It would have been comical if it weren't for the fact that I'm going to die.

The natural will and instinct to keep on living took over control of my body in the looming face of death. My body immediately got itself up and ran away from the enemy before I could even process anything.

In response to my movements, the ruin guard stopped raising its arm halfway and brought it down in a manner faster than before. The sounds of gears shifting intensified once more as it started bringing its right leg upwards to walk in what I assume is my direction.

I keep on running, knowing that if I stopped or messed up a single bit, I was toast.

'This is my chance to escape. If playing Genshin to the point of reaching AR 57 teaches you anything, it's that ruin guards are incredibly slow when they walk.' I nervously note to myself a fact known to any player to try and give myself hope.

I could do this somehow, I know I could.

Paying no mind to the shaking that resumed due to the ruin guard, I continued sprinting onwards trying to reach an escape from this hall of death.

I continue running and running, the exhaustion and all other thoughts leaving my mind as soon as they entered. There was no time to think about such things, especially when I was going to die.

For more than a few times, I almost tripped on my kimono and died to the creature behind me. Yes, I do have a kimono, but I don't want to think about that right now.

After trying to escape from the impending threat for what seemed like hours, a small opening leading to a room at the end of the hallway catches my vision.

Immediately, I put in more energy and effort into running more than I ever did when running an entire marathon during that one time. The adrenaline I was currently in surpassed any other level I reached in my entire life.

I could see the exit getting close and closer with each passing second, hope and relief slowly building up in my mind, but it was all drowned out by fear when the shaking suddenly got way louder than before. It even sounded like it was getting closer...

Looking back for just a brief second, I saw the horrifying image of a ruin guard literally sprinting towards me at what I assume to now be its full speed.

Fear plagued my mind as both my pursuer and I neared the end of our goals, with my pursuer reaching it's goal a little too fast for my taste.

In just a few seconds, I was already a couple of meters away from the exit, but so was the mechanical giant with me.

Thousands and millions of thoughts ran through my mind in but a split second. All of them lead to one thing.

I wasn't going to make it.

I was going to die. Again. This time at the hands of a fictional robot that shouldn't exist.

It was something irrefutable that nobody could deny when observing the situation. Even my own rational mind agreed with the fact.

But…

The same exact feeling I had right before my previous death came back to me in this fleeting moment. The same thing that contradicted everything I thought of regarding my own life.

It's a feeling I know I didn't deserve, and something that wouldn't even help in my current situation.

And yet…

I still had to live.

No, I 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗧 to live.

Just when the show was about to reach its final moments, I cried out in desperation and determination as I poured all my efforts, all my will, and all my everything into this one leap of faith.

Just as I jump, a bright glow resonated somewhere in the middle of my chest for a split second before it died down and returned to normal. A tingling sensation ran throughout my body and traveled towards the soles of my feet, boosting me and providing me with speeds I never would have reached.

I didn't know what was happening, but it didn't matter. I 𝗡𝗘𝗘𝗗𝗘𝗗 to live. I 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗧𝐄𝐃 to live. If not for me, then at least for them. At least for the people I loved and wronged.

With the added bonus of the mysterious power that I didn't get to notice in all the chaos, I desperately leaped through the small exit in a flash of light, which was followed by me directly face-planting onto the ground once I landed.

Right behind me, I could hear the ruin guard stop in its tracks and start struggling to reach me through the human-sized crevice. It continued on with its struggle for a few minutes, each passing second frightening me with the thought of it being able to reach me. Those thoughts were snuffed out when I noticed its struggle stopped. It then proceeded to turn around and simply walk away from me, judging by the lack of sound and presence behind the crevice.

Confirming one more time that it was gone, I sigh in relief.

I did it, I survived. I actually survived!

"Wahoo-"

Before I could even get the chance to celebrate, I felt my eyes drooping and strength leaving my body. An urge to close my eyes and rest came over me, probably due to the amount of exhaustion that had accumulated during the chase of a lifetime.

"N-no…" I speak in a surprisingly weak voice, trying to fight back knowing I could die at any moment.

However, in the end, it was all for naught.

In no time, I fell asleep right then and there, peacefully laying there on the ground defenseless to anything life-threatening.

'Seriously… just what the fuck is going on,' I cursed to myself in mild confusion and anger before falling into a much-needed sleep.

…

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i̶̼̖̭̻͙͎̟̼͖͇̬̣̖͐̈́̾̽̎̊̐͂̾̕͠t̵̺̠̫̯̮̞̳̳͍̠̟̥͕̼̬͑s̷̰̐̂̍͆̎̒͗̈͜͠ͅ ̷̫͓̟̪͈̤̬͓̹̝̻͎͐̍́͛͘͜͜ͅ/̷̩̺͖͍͖̇̓̿̄͑̓̎́́̊͘ ̸̨̡̨̦̝̱̰̒̓c̴͖͙̝͇̰͕̣͙͓͚̘̠͌̊̈́̃̇h̸̢͓̳͔̲̞̠͔̩͈̓̾̇͐̑̉͜ͅͅą̸̼̖̖̤̥̺͖̗̍̊͑͛̎͋̈̑̚ņ̷̥͓̺̟̺̜̭̟̯̫͖̦̘̿̿ͅg̴̙̀̄͐e̷̳̹̎͒̚ ̶̧̯̻̼͕̺͕̲̞̝͈̫͇̳̦͐̿̋̀͂̒̾̀̿̐͂̚̕͝/̴̢̢̪͍̯͇̬͇̳̖̎͗̐̅̾̓̂̎̃͘͝ͅͅ ̸͖̺̟̭̻̦̙͈̣͆͂̄̀̅͊̐̓̒̋̓̑͂̽c̷̢̣̈́̓̏͌̑͒̿̾͝o̵̡̧̱̫̺͕͖̱̜̺̞̜͂u̶̻̩̖̩̲͔̘̙̣͍͚̳͙̩͑̉̌̓̓r̷͚̞̬̮̥͕͉̉͊̔̽́̈́̌͋̀͝s̷͓̺̲͙͖̟̣̘̪̖͕̦̬̳̎́͆̚͜ȩ̶̻͑͛͊̌̄̓̊͘ ̵̥̣̭͔̜͔̌̈̓̈́̏͐̈́̇̓͝/̵̺͖̣̪͒́̀́̃̿͊̚͠ ̷̜̱͐̑́̋̇̇͒̊̔͋ȓ̶̢̗̝͚͇͚̪͎͇͔̻͔͖̌̊̓̋̄̏̅̀̕͘͝͝ͅȩ̵̬̪̬͙̼͙̥͓͓̘̘͇̈́͜s̵̩̥̼̆͌̃̈́̿͝ư̶͕͚̬͕̖̭͍͚͖̔̐͋͛̎̽͐͂̉͛m̸̠͔̙͐̿͊̿̐̽̅̓̔̿͊̒̄͝e̶͖̹̰͕͆̎ ̷̧͖̮̥̰͔̳̭̥̻̠̲̯̙̎̑̓̅̉̀̾͘͝/̶̞̺̬̠̘̠̜͈͇̪̣́̊͝͝ ̶̢̨̱̥̯͓̦̫̦̽̎͛̾̇̌̋"̶̧̛̳͈̱͔͔͑̆̀͑̚͝͝L̷̠̣͕̥̪͕͉͐͋̋̒͋̃͌͂̅e̴̡͇̙̠̮̭̝͛̈́̋̽͐t̶̙̻̮͊͛́̇͋̈ ̵̼̻̇͆̑̿̚/̵̡̢̹̝̞̲̤̖̲͇̙͓̙͗͝ ̸̡̥̞̺͇̱̺̫̣̓̓͌̉͌́͜͠n̸̮̹̤͇̫̯̲̼̹̙̩̻̱̍͊̓̍͑̔̓̂̊̆̿͝e̷̞̗̟͗͒w̷̛̲̯̙̱͖͎̹̪͍̣͕͓̻͈͗̋͛͌͋̉́̽̐́̊͛̕͘͜ ̷̰̠̹̣̳̬̞̺͓̬̒́̚/̵̟͙͕͙̬̺̥̀̆̒̑͗̔̽̑̽̅̚ͅ ̶̗͉̞͉̆͝p̶̠͍̜̰̭͚͓̗̪͙͕̦̾̄́̀͑̕̚͜͝͝ͅa̸̡̻̳̭̗̩̖̗̦̪̳̿́̉͑͋̿̇̉͛͑͋͠ṡ̸̳̰̆͑̀͂̏̋̇ţ̶̡̨̰̱̘͈̭̬͔̰̖͖̤̉͊̃͑̓̎̀̍͆̄͒̓͒͝ ̵̢̱͎̼̠̭͓͓̰̹̺̭͈̈̀̏̑̇́ͅ/̴̢͇̭̺͚͔͚̙̹̹̦̖͑͜͝ ̸̡̛͈͉̤̙̭̗̊́͗̆̾̃̋̅͝f̵̢̨̢̺̭̮̟͇̲̟̤͓̼͋̀̒́̇̈́͗ͅő̸͇̃̒́̍̀̕̚r̷̥͋̄ ̸̡̡̭̟͉̺̮̖̻̝͖̣̲̍͒̈̃̋̉̔̽̆͒/̶̨̢̮͎̠̼͙̣͚̫͍͎̖̤͗̔̉̃̐̉̐̆͝͝ ̶̢̧͚̦͎͓̜̜̲̗͉̳͇̥̅͑̄͝ş̸͖͉̞̃͊̇͝ȩ̷̜͉̣̰̮̪̟̣̞͇̝̜̺̄͋̓̓̈́̌͌̀̌̀̍͂͜ļ̵̮̔̽͂̑̊̃͆͆̕͝͝͝f̸̢̡̳̟̼̪̘͈͐͛͋̾͠,̸̼̭͂͗̔̀ ̴̪͇͉̝̂̐͝/̵̧̧̧̝̳̺̗͈̞͎̦̯͍͆̈̾̿ ̶̟̻̜͍̀́̅̿̕t̶͖̰̰̬͐̌̍́̇̌̚h̷̛͔̊̓̀̎͌͊̍̐̇̌͝ḙ̶̛̹̖̭̥̞͌̓̄̋̔́͊͂̈̀̓͠ ̴̛̟̑̏͆̀̀̅͛̔̄̑̆̓̕̕͜/̶̛͎̭̘̼̜̺̤͍̜̒̀͛̍̆͆͆͂̂̋̚ ̵̡̗̠̯̓͂͘͜c̶̘͚̦̜͙̣̉͋̔̒͑̾ờ̴͕͍͕̹̦̞̔̀̆͊̒̈́̂̅̈͐́ḿ̴͕̣̜̘͑́͗͆̚e̸̡̢̢̛̤̰̖͎̠̼̳̩̊̃̽̂͂͆̏̆̇̋̉̄͛ͅ ̷̛̘̯̲̯̟̔͊̌͂̌͐̽̑̅̑͂̆̕͜/̶̜̳̝̹̦̜͇̙̼̩͚̉͋̒̊̕ ̴̮̰̺̬̙̦̣̻͓̳͉̯͚̅̓̽͌́͒̒̊̾̐̑̕o̶̧̰͈̬̲͖̗̲̔̑̆͆n̶̨̢̡̟̠̘̄̿̀̓͋̿c̸̢̦̱͎͉͆̀̏͐̋͘͘͝ě̵̗̈́͗̔ ̶̡̼̺̥̞̠͈̔̊͐̍̕/̸̨̛̜̰͕̄͋͗̂ ̷̛̛͔̟͂̈̑̽̌̎̉̈́̾͝h̸̨͖̜̭̩͎͚͎͍̙͓̫̻͔̖̏̅̀̊̾̉̕a̸̖̬̭̱̳͑͋͐̆̉̊̈̃t̶̬͍̎̿̌͒̑͌͘͘͝͝h̶̭̱̖̞̳̞̼͖̼͇̰͉̾̋̊̓͑̊̈́ͅ ̶̨̞͙̯̦̖̓̾͛ͅ/̸̨̭͉̀̀ ̶̡̘̻͍̲̪̌͌̂f̸̺̯͊̌̌ǫ̸̟̫̭̤͚̟̪͈̭̭̱͐͛̂̈̈́͜ͅr̵̢̛̠͕͎͙̔̆͂̇́̊̀̃̓̎̚ ̵̛̯̰̟̳̰̺̮͑́̓̉͊͛͋̃͛͒͜/̴̢͖̻͕̐͊̇́͘ ̸̧̨̝͉͍̦͙̯̭̫͖̻͉̗͋̾̒͛̄̒͋͘͝ŗ̴̛͕̯̈́̍͌̎̉̉̇͠͠é̶̡͇̩̥̬̜͔̼̮̆̑̀́͂̀͆̚͘ͅv̵̨̮̝̥͙̝̥̈́͗͋̽͂̚e̵̢̦̯͓̙̯͋̂͊̃̅̔͂͠ā̶̢̡̛̪͚̠̼͎͙͖̙͍͉̜̄͑͆̐̀̅͐̽̄l̶̤͉͕̳̊͑̈ ̷̢̨̜̬̙̗̟̮̬͕̭͖̄̆͒̏̍͊͑̔͑͘/̶̦̹̬̯͚̗͓̺͖̙̳̰̿̃͒̃͊̑̓͒̌́ ̵͈͛̃̃͂̊t̶̡̫̙̟͚̑͒̈̂̃̀͋͘͝ͅḭ̶̡̡̦͙̖̘̥̲̺̦̖̦̒̔̾͒͆͜ͅm̶̢̡̹̼̯͈̯͙̙͎̅̿̾̆̾̔̉̔͒͝é̸̼͇͉̫̮̹͓̯̜̋̓̑̌͌͊̅̀ ̵̝̠̻̬͗̎̏͐̇̓͗̚͠/̷̺̈̅̄̔̚ ̴̞̯͍͔̬͉͕͈͖̖̹̭͍͇̀͆͒̕̕͜m̸͔̺͎͚͓͌͊͒̉̓̽͗͜ŏ̵̜̪̖̹̎ṟ̴̡̟̔̌ę̸̣͈͍̗̼͚̪̖̳̻̻̭̋̕ͅ.̵̡̳͍͎̤͍̝͙̏͒̎̅̈̐͗͘̚͠"̶̨̜̪̜̱̜͎̰̗̱͇͚̹̙̒̄̆͊̈́̆͗͘̕ ̸̛̦̻͉̅̂͗̌̀͋̈́̀̈/̸̢̧̡͈͎̻͚̳̗͚̠̱̜̃̈́̄̅̒͋́̍̀͘̚͜͝ ̶͕̘̖̥̠̺̣̤̞̜̈̋̂̈̾̀́̈́͛̇f̸̨̯̥̤̦͓̻̺̼̹̳͈̼̫͋ͅǫ̶̢̛̲̬̮̱͌̄̑͗͐͒̎̋͒͊̉̃́͝ͅr̴̨̛̛̲͖͔͇̈͆̿̍̒́̇̂̔g̵̰͓͈̯̝̳͈̝͍̓͗̉̐̿̅̾̌̓̎̑̏͒̋͜͠ͅo̶̫̥̹̊͗͐ţ̴̡̦̘̪̯͚̞͉̦͛̒̔͗̍̓͊̓͜t̵̢̛̪̮͈̦͓͍̤͓͓͙̘͔̣̝̿̆͆̆̆̽̐̈́͐͘̚͝ȩ̶͇͙̞͙̣̺͉͚̤̓͜͜ͅñ̷̘̳̳͎̻̜̭̹̣̺͓̺̲̱̎̂͑̑̿ͅ ̴͔̝̝́̊͠/̷̢̨̡̹́̽̈́͂̔ ̶̺͖̺̙̘̝̅̄͌̃̋̎̿̓̀͘̕͝͝y̶̼̮͛̈́͐̀͆̕ę̴̛̩̙̮͉̜̃̀̿̌̀̿͋̿̈́̌̒͂͘͝t̷̢̧̡̖̫͈͗͆̋̚ͅ ̴̰̤͈̓̀͌͌̂̇̐͆̇/̸̢͈̝̦͖̠̤̒͌͌̉̓̔̀̿̈́̓̚̚͜͝ ̷̞̿̆̽̀̇̿͛͗͂͒͘͝o̷̟̤̜̺͍͖̟̘̲͕̲͆͂̽̆́͗͐͋̍̿͒͠͝ͅf̴̧̨̖͕̥̪͚̗̺͙̲́͊̾̈́̍̾̒̍ͅ ̷̛̭͍͉̱̥͊/̴̪̭̥̪̻͚̻̘̬̜̦͒̉͌̂͒̉̐͠ ̵̼̩̱̫̈́̎̇̄͋̐͐̌͊̃̊͘͘͝͝m̶̢̘͍̥̩͋́̈́̄͌e̷̛̬͌m̶̗͖͕̬͇͙͓̺͕̦̈̉͆̃̀͐̋̂̓͆͝ͅơ̴̡̛̖̮̦̘̗̗̳͑̈̔̅̕͘̚͝ṟ̵̣͚͖͌̆̍̈́́̎̅͝i̸͖͖̻͖͉̲͎̰̥̳̣̤̔̈̋̈́͊͘ȩ̸̟͎͔̤͕̘̦̲̠̺̻͙̲̌̓̄̽́̂̂͛͆̀̕s̸̡̛͉̩̣̼͕̍̌͝ ̴̬̻̙͙͎̩̊̄̆̍ͅ/̸̲̱̲͍̰̫̤̱̼͇͖̩̗̅̍̀͒̀̅̆̀ͅ ̸̧̧̢͕̹̮̝̟̻̖͖̝̯̦̱̉͐͆̉̋̅͝t̷͓̠̃o̶̡͉̞̪͉̥̲̮̲͎̮͕͑̋̊̀̚ ̵̧̢̛̞̘̻̦͕͕̝̱͎͔͍̳̓͒̉̀̒͒̔̽͑̊́̌̚ͅ/̸̧̢̤̝̱̗̘͔͍͓̲̹̹̂͐̈́̍̋͘ ̷̠̬̺̺̍̈́͜á̶̢̛͔͇͕͔͎͇̹̖͕̭̪̭̰͔ ̷̲̹̤͉̲͚̪̩͛̌̂̆̌̏̃͒̚/̴̛͉͚̞͓̥̜̒̍͑͋̾ ̵̦̘͖̐̑́͋̊͐̚͜͝͠t̷͙͔͚͆̓͊̈͊́̍̓̌͝͝h̵̖̬̓͗͑͋͝ÿ̴̜́͗̓̄͛́̍̀̋̾͝

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***

The sun could be seen already traveling down in its intended path, its withdrawal already started a few hours ago.

The warm embrace of the sunlight still lingered around the small and empty beach with the calm waters continued in its fluid movement. The coast was empty from any presence, an exception being a couple of humans who sat down and watched the sun run its course.

Waves continue to crash against the shore in a repeated manner. The beautiful horizon off in the far distance shows itself, painted with an orange hue amidst the sun's departure.

"Neh, Onii-san." A cute and childish voice calls out.

"Do you think I can change my fate?" One of the few present in the area spoke a second time, a difference being the hint of sadness present in it.

It was a boy around the age of 5. His choppy, medium-length hair mainly possessed a pale-pinkish blonde hair, save for a single orange-red streak on his right. His almost pale skin proved was currently being highlighted by the orange gaze of the sun, serving to further increase the attractive yet cute appearance of the child.

A silent pause descends over the small area as soon as the child finished his words. The only sounds present were that of crashing tides and whistles of the calm sea breeze, preventing the current situation from turning awkward.

"Oh? And what makes you say that, Kazu-kun?" The second person in the area broke the silence with a more aged and mature voice.

"Okaa-san lectured me about the whole fate thing again. That as a clan heir, I'm fated to become the clan head. She said that I should change my dream to fit it." The young boy spoke with annoyance as he pouted, only succeeding in making himself look adorable.

"Hahaha, she's just as strict as ever. You know, when she was as old as you, she always shied away from any conversation and only ever wanted peace and quiet." The older of the pair mirthfully laughed away, ignoring the seemingly dejected expression of the younger boy.

After a few more seconds of amusement, the older man seemed to stop all of a sudden, his expression turning somewhat serious while his golden eyes gazed towards the horizon.

"In regards to your question, of course, you can change your fate. Everyone has the right to, especially you." The seemingly old man comments.

However, his appearance pointed to the opposite of an old person who has lived a majority of their life. The man looked to be a young adult only around his mid 20's, with dark-brown hair rather than old grey. His skin, which is slightly darker than average in color, was free of any wrinkles. Rather, it was silk smoothed as it accommodated the tone build of his body.

Back to the conversation, the 5-year old child responded in confusion, "What do you mean, nii-san?"

The platinum-blonde-haired boy looked befuddled at his words, too young and naive to understand the true meaning behind them.

"What I mean is that humans are responsible for their own fate. They give themselves purpose and build their own destiny from the ground up to decide their future through their own means. You should live your life by your own rules, goals, and ideals. You should uphold your values and achieve your dreams, whether if it's for your sake or for others.

"Don't let anyone decide your way of life, even if it's fate itself. Besides, fate is never set in stone. If anything, fate always messes up like any other plan when it actually happens, and I can attest to that." The old-but-young man finished, seemingly proud of himself.

"Oh… I didn't manage to get most of it, but I think I understand now!" The young child said in sudden realization and excitement, a stark contrast to the confusion and sadness that was present before. This caused the other man's expression to adorn a genuine smile for the first time in a while.

"Good, good. Now, it's getting a bit late, so you should be getting back. I don't want your mother giving me an earful for that." Noting how dark it was getting, the young adult dismissed the boy while he proceeded to pat him on the head.

Patting his head for a few more seconds, the mature man let go while the young kid stood up and walked away clumsily.

"Thanks again for the advice, Arashi onii-san!" The boy bid farewell to the now identified person before disappearing from the old man's view.

"No problem kid. You'll need it… especially with what's to come." Arashi whispered with a grimace, his expression hardening once he muttered the last few words.

This only lasted for a brief moment, for a sad smile took place on his face before he looked back towards the unending sea.

He stared into the distance for a short while, admiring the temporary view before he closed his eyes and laid down on the cold and comforting sand.

A good rest is what he needs right now, especially with everything he found out.

He knew…

That he didn't have much time left in this world.

With a sigh, he let his thoughts wander for a bit before the exhaustion of staying up for consecutive days straight caught up with him. Arashi let the feeling overtake him for a bit before he finally fell asleep.

***

"Ugh…"

With a muffled groan, the man who died of a mugging, once known as Cliff Martin, woke up from his slumber and opened his eyes to view the world around him.

"Man, that was one weird dream," he muttered lightly to himself, still half-asleep and unknown to the reality of the situation.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate for him, the idea of everything being a dream was shattered into pieces as soon as he stared around the isolated room in major disbelief.

"N-no way…" The person resident to another world said in utter shock. There's no way all of that was real.

'The mugging? Well, maybe that may have been an actual thing that happened, but there's absolutely no way everything else happened.' The victim of the mentioned incident denied it while looking through his memories of everything that happened to try and make sense of it.

'The mugging, my death, some cold and dark hallway, finding and running away from a ruin guard, escaping into this room and falling asleep, then… then…' Cliff continued to attempt at remembering what happened afterward, but for the life of him, he just couldn't.

He had a gut feeling that something did, and a part of his mind seemed to confirm it. Yet, he just couldn't remember at all.

His mind continued to theorize in a frenzy and it stayed that way for several minutes. Well, it did stay that way, up until he abruptly stopped.

It wasn't because of his instincts warning him of danger, neither was it because of his doubt and shock of the situation catching up to him.

No, a feeling in his mind, in his heart, urged him to transfer all of his attention to a specific spot he missed when he examined the room a few minutes earlier.

Cliff didn't know why he was feeling this way, but a part of his soul continued to urge him on no matter how much he tried to ignore it.

Finally, he relented and followed his urges by simply gazing towards the mentioned spot.

It didn't even take another second before the man of self-hatred became immediately captivated by the sword that lay displayed under a source of light, accompanied by a sheathe, which managed to catch his attention as well.

The sword… looked like a simple, well-kept sword of Japanese origin. In all his years of living, or at least his short experience of watching action anime made him realize it was some katana or something similar to it.

'An Ōdachi.' The other-worlder states rather than ask, knowing it was a fact after it popped into his mind.

From where the lone man stood, he notice that the Ōdachi was a bit shorter than the normal ones, and its material looked different from what steel or silver would turn out. Visibly, it looked to be in pristine condition, like it had been never touched before. Even he, a nobody with no experience regarding weapons, could tell that the edge of the blade is incredibly sharp.

But that didn't matter to Cliff right now. No, what matters to him is the peculiar design of the Ōdachi.

Carved across the blade were characters that seemed to be runes like several patterns he had seen during his short stay in this place. However, it seemed to differ from the ones that he had seen before, like a language that sounded similar to another but was ultimately different from the other.

Each one of the 9 black-colored runes differed from each other, all holding a different pattern that meant a different meaning.

The same went with the plain, electric-purple-colored sheath that came with it. Just like the sword that it would be responsible for holding, it is mundane and possessed 4 rune-like characters across it that belonged to the same language as the runes on the sword.

"So that's it, huh." The victim of murder huffed to himself, the reason being that his mind was still at an impasse regarding something that plagued his mind the moment his eyes caught both sword and sheath.

Throughout Cliff's entire assessment of the two objects, one question kept looping in my mind like some broken video recorder.

'Why am I so drawn to it?'

'Why was he so focused on it? Why did he feel a burning sensation in his chest whenever he focused on it for so much as a single second? WHY did the two objects seem so familiar?'

To all the questions regarding the sword and sheath, he almost went insane trying to solve all of them within the boundaries of his inner thoughts. Cliff even momentarily forgot about the insane situation he was in.

But with the passing of the next second, he found himself approaching the pedestal where both captivating objects were displayed.

The man who should have been dead had no idea what was going on. He knew, even with that semi-careless personality of his, that there could be a trap or some sort of secret boss.

He didn't stop at all. In but a few moments, he was already standing a few mere inches away from the items that effortlessly caught all his focus and attention.

His hand raised itself and motioned towards the hilt of the Ōdachi and grabbed it in one swift motion.

At that single moment, time seemed to slow down despite the lack of means to know so.

As soon as I gripped the hilt of the mysterious sword, a small bit of information inserted itself into the forefront of my mind, and I spoke the following words in a daze.

"𝗞𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗶, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗹𝗹-𝗣𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿"

The moment those words were spoken, his path had been set in stone and the lives of all people in this world, including him, forever changed.

***

Hallo! Welcome to the first actual chapter of the SOT revamp! I honestly took way too much doing this chapter, but I was kinda paranoid regarding its quality and pacing. Speaking of which, please provide me with your thoughts and criticisms about this chapter. It felt kinda wrong to me writing this chapter, so I just want to know if my concerns are right or I'm just straight-up paranoid. The next chapter probably gonna come 2-3 days from now, so don't expect it tomorrow. Have a good day and thanks for reading!

Word Count: 3926

Date and Time (GMT +8) Posted: November 24, 2021 1:46AM