Uprising Of The Cannon Fodders

Death shouldn't be this hard.

Though it means it’s the end of the line for everyone, it’s true that one must die alone, but the sorrow it left the surviving lingers on the heart at some point.

To the dying one, he must die well. It doesn’t matter how it happened or how sudden it happened. You had your chance at life, and now, it’s time to return. A man must let go of the past and accept his fate; for once he did, it shall be a peaceful death.

Akira Yuuto was a genius. Despite having the talent to become anything he wanted to be, Akira chose to waste his gift; spend his time sleeping, drinking, and partying. For that, he was said to be a fool, naturally.

Currently, the said fool has regained consciousness. Lying on a soft surface which he later deduced to be a sofa. Two glass windows that began on the ceiling, and ended at the floor gave way to the natural light, which illuminated the hazel leather chairs and the wooden coffee table between them. The room seemed to be an office combined with a personal bedroom.

When he was finished looking around, he thought back to his life. His family had five members: his parents, two older brothers, and himself. His mother was a world-renowned artist, worlds and emotions seemed to seep through her brush onto the canvas.

Most of her paintings were awed at the Louvre Museum in Paris. His father was famous to the world for the way his fingers danced across the piano. And as for his older brothers, they were eager to follow in their parent's footsteps.

The only thing that was notable before Akira’s life ended, was that he saved his father from a car crash. With this act, his life would not be perceived as meaningless.

As he sat staring at the glass windows ahead of him, thinking of how his life had come to a fruitless end, Akira heard a robotic voice; ending the hopeless silence around him.

Welcome Mr. Akira, I am—

He snapped his head towards the direction of the sound, but found the room vacant. From his peripheral vision he glanced at a flash of light reflected on what he thought to be a wall. Just then a hologram appeared, on the far end of the room. It was of a man, a sleek figure. There was a computer behind the hologram, and Akira deduced that the voice was coming from the computer.

He stood facing the screen and observed the blinking light on it.

“Hello Mr. Akira, I am Daisuke. Welcome to the Balance Plane.”

The robotic voice had a touch of ethereality to it, as though the voice did not belong in the room at all. And with all sincerity, it actually did not belong there.

Akira raised his eyebrows.

“A what? Aren’t I dead?” His forehead creased in confusion. “I am dead so shouldn't I be in some kind of an underworld… heaven, or maybe… hell?”

He stared at the hologram and thought that such advancements in technology he had only seen on the ads had really become a reality. Well, it was only a matter of time before this happened. Kind of amazing, but at the same time, a bit troubling.

“How are you speaking anyway? You're just an oversized computer,” he asked. He didn’t know whether to laugh or be scared at that moment. If people would see him, they might even think of him as crazy. How more devastated can his parents be if they found out that their son had gone insane?

“If you would allow me to explain, Mr. Akira. I am not a computer, but an artificial intelligence created to guard and watch over humanity. As for how I speak, I have a conscience. As for the matter of your death, you are correct that you should be elsewhere. But due to orders, you were sent here.”

The voice had started to annoy Akira. Was it not enough that he was clueless, lost, and most importantly dead? Why did he have to converse with an artificial intelligence, especially after his death? Why was technology still in use?

"What do you mean due to orders?" He cocked his head to the side.

"I meant exactly that, Mr. Akira. You have been chosen by a divine being and tasked to do their bidding in the mortal world. His purpose is to maintain stability between positive and negative energies in the universe caused by the decisions and actions made by the extraterrestrial creatures."

The hologram of the man changed into scales leaning from one side to the other, going along with his explanation.

“What exactly is my task, and why was I chosen?”

“Your task is to change the fates of the people or beings whose suffering had caused a great impact on the justice of the universe and their worlds. You will be given a task and a target in each world you visit to change the outcome of their lives. You were chosen because you didn't have much impact on the universe. You could be said to be neutral in the balance of things which makes you the perfect agent for The Keeper of Balance.”

The more the voice spoke, the more Akira looked at the hologram and the more he lost his grip of reality. Is this how the world works now? Is this how our destiny is created? Is this God?

But he had to know more, and the only way through that was to talk to a hologram.

"Why should I believe any of this is real? Where is this? What is your role?”

“This is where you get tasks and targets assigned to you like in an office. My role is to assist you with your tasks and provide a way for you to get in touch with the higher-ups. Adding to that, I am also the one who gives you the information you need.”

Akira kept silent, listening to the hologram as it tried to explain his situation.

“If you finish the assigned tasks and help reduce the negative energy, your soul becomes more powerful, and you earn a salary check after each successful world. You get promoted which gives you more freedom and ways around the rules. The rules are simple; you can't cause the deaths of heavens' favorite children, the male and female leads. You can't allow anyone to know who you are and most importantly, your missions and tasks come before anything else.”

Akira’s ears perked up at the mention of the word “salary”. No one could refuse a fat paycheck after getting all that work done. To Akira, this might be as simple as working in an office, like what the hologram had said. He thought that it’s better than dying in hunger, or should he still worry about it? After all, he was already dead.

“Well, getting a paycheck sounds realistic to me. And besides, if any of this is real, which I'm willing to believe it is, I haven't played video games for nothing, have I? I never imagined having no motivation would work out this way, I think being dead is more fun than being alive.”

“I am glad you find being dead enjoyable, but I need to inform you that you need to throw away anything you believe to be true and be prepared to witness the truth of the universe. Mr. Akira, please be ready. The system is computing…

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