The past and the future (Optional)

"Humans are selfish by nature. You make mistakes and then regret making them. Tell me, do you regret your actions as well?"

My eyes could not see the silhouette of the goddess.

"Do you regret taking my hand that day? You did escape your boring life. You gained something new and precious. But you also gave away your freedom to me."

The goddess continued. Her feet made no noise when they tapped against the ground.

Or maybe she was not even touching it. Divine beasts did not interact with the laws of earth.

"Now, look at you! You ended up just as I had warned you. If only you were not so stubborn. If only you had not tried to defy your destiny. Your death would be quick and merciful."

It was difficult for me to able to see her. My eyes would just not focus on her.

The goddess had her hands against my windpipe. Her hands applied just enough pressure to cut off my oxygen. But not enough to kill me.

She was playing with me, taking her time in dragging my suffering out.

And wasn't it ironic?

I had believed her to be my holy light. The one that had given me a second chance at life, even if it came with an expiry date.

Now she turned out to be the one responsible for all my suffering.

"G-Go to hell. I-I am so g-glad I d-did not f-follow your w-words that d-day. A-At least I-I can save my l-loved o-ones at the c-cost of m-my life."

My voice was breaking. My vision was losing its focus.

Talking was getting difficult.

It would not be long before these wounds would knock me unconscious.

But I could not allow myself to fall unconscious. My will was what was keeping the [World Chalice] from breaking free.

If I did lose consciousness then it would all end. For me and for the human race as well.

. The third calamity would fall.

And it would tear the world apart.

I could just not risk it.

"I-If it is m-my destiny t-to die for y-your c-cause, I w-would rather k-kill myself r-right now. T-Then t-timer would not go off at all. I-It would f-foil all your p-plans, right?"

It felt good to see a shift in emotions on that angle's face.

Gone was the call and collected look of the divine beast. Instead, the angel's eyes resemble a snake.

Those slit pupils warned me not to do anything foolish.

But the foolish one was her. Why did she believe that I would follow her words after all this time?

"Lawrence DeCapti, I gave you that life. Do not defy me."

The goddess sounded pissed. But it was already too late to stop me.

Blood was filling my mouth. The wound on my tongue bleed iron into my mouth.

The bleeding should do the job and put me out of my misery.

And won't it be an ironic end to me? To die by the same attempt that had first started all this mess?

The sweet blessing of relief was almost in my grasp.

Of course, things were never that easy for me. The world had to throw ash on my burning ambitions.

And in this case, the ash came in the form of the goddess and her gentle hand.

Her hold on my face was tight. It hurt me to admit, but I could not move.

Nor could I force her hand away. Or even go against her will when she tried to pry my mouth open.

Her hand reached for my tongue. Her touch was gentle. A softness I had not felt in a long time.

It repaired the wound on my tongue and dashed my ambitions of an easy death.

"Don't think I will allow you to die before your timer run's out? The will of this world will keep you alive till it is your time. But you didn't know that, did you not? You tried to cling on to life so many times."

The goddess sounded like a gentle mother. It made me hate her even more.

She did not get to use my mother's voice. Or her face to twist my emotions.

"F-Fuck you."

My voice had already lost all its power.

Being in prison had killed the once proud warrior I had been. Now I was just a shadow of my former self.

"Don't be like that. The moments before your death should be happy ones for you."

The goddess finally let my face go. My tongue no longer had its wound.

She did not look worried that I would try to bite my tongue off again. She must have taken some kind of measure against it.

And my thought proved to be correct.

My mouth refused to bite down on my tongue and end my misery. The goddess had cut off my one route of escape.

"H-Happy? T-Then, would you d-die for me?"

My happiness had long been exhausted. My life felt like a chore to me. And I had long realized that I did not want to live.

Not when it meant that it would bring disaster for my loved ones.

"I suppose I could die for your happiness. But my timer has not run out yet as well. Didn't I tell this all you before? You and I are connected? I will only die when you do."

The goddess took a seat at my side.

She lifted my head and placed it in her lap. Her hand in my hair felt so good. They reminded me of my mother's soft and warm hands of a long time ago.

"Now, now. Settle down. I don't want you to hurt yourself before the big ceremony.

The goddess took a seat at my side.

She lifted my head and placed it in her lap. Her hand in my hair felt so good. They reminded me of my mother's soft and warm hands of a long time ago.

"Now, now. Settle down. I don't want you to hurt yourself before the big ceremony. I would much rather recollect what you did since arriving in this world."

The goddess stroked my hair.

I wanted to get away and lean into her touch at the same time.

"Ah, why don't we remember it all together? This way you can remember what you did wrong. And maybe you would also gain enough insight not to go against me again."

The goddess sounded soft and melodic.

But her hands had a mean grip on my hair. Her hands were going to pull my hair out.

"It all started on that day when we first met each other. Do you remember? The day I asked you to survive until the timer ran out." the goddess asked.

And what a loaded question it was.

How could I ever forget the most critical day in the history of Astoria? The day that changed this world's fate.

And as every story does, this one started before my journey in the novel's world as well. It started when I took the hand of an unknown creature and changed everyone's fate, including my own.

...…..

...…..

There was once a kid that lived his life in fear. His family circumstances were complicated and they shaped him to carve freedom.

He tried again and again to escape that life. But nothing helped. Not even suicide helped him escape that bound life.

Because you see, the child had a special power. He healed incredibly fast, almost inhumanly fast.

If he cut his wrist in a fatal place, the bleeding would stop under a minute. If he ate the poison, it would be digested by his body in a matter of minutes.

No matter what he did, he could not die. That was just how strong his will to survive was.

In his mind, all he wanted to do was to die but his will would not let him die. A part of him wanted to live, to survive and flourish.

There was one exception to this rule. For him, the only one person could ever harm him. And that was his mother.

But after her death, the world became dull and lifeless. That child grew up but his condition did not change.

In the end, death did not come for him. Instead, it was his mother's image that called out to him.

The image called herself a goddess and promised that child a better life. A life he could choose for himself.

And in return, she needed a favor from him.

The child had nothing keeping him attached to his past life. His mother was dead, and his social life was non-existing.

And now his only family member, his father, had died as well. He was truly all alone.

That was why he did not hesitate to take that goddess's hand when it was offered to him.

Maybe it had something to do with his mother's face and voice as well. But the main reason was the freedom being offered.

Once the goddess explained where she was sending him, the boy released a few things.

First, he recognized the place he was being sent to. It was a novel he had read a long time ago.

One he had never finished due to financial reasons.

Second, he did not want to be either a protagonist or a villain.

Being a protagonist would give him riches. But it would also take away his freedom of choice.

A protagonist has a lot of power, a lot of fame, and a lot of girls. But it also has its downsides to achieving his set destiny.

Having his freedom being oppressed throughout his life, the man did not want such a future for himself.

A villain was not any better.

Although they had the freedom to do what they wanted, their fate was bound as well. They had to be defeated by the protagonist.

Many even died in the process.

And although the man wanted to die, he did not want to die such a death. If he were to die, it would be on his terms.

So that only left the mob characters.

Characters that were non-essential to the story but still had a presence.

The man wanted to lead such a carefree life. He wanted to have his freedom not be restricted by anyone.

Mob characters were generally free to do what they wanted. There were no obligations on them. They did not need to impress anyone either.

They just existed for the sake of the plot.

That was what the man wanted. He wanted that liberty of being able to act and chose what to do.

And he had a perfect candidate in mind.

You see, one candidate existed in the novel who matched the man's ideals perfectly.

That man was the younger brother of the main protagonist no 1. But even having such an important distinction, his involvement in the story was minimal.

He was a low-stat character who existed only to show how much better the crown prince was.

He was minimally mentioned in the story and has no major interactions with the main cast on screen.

That was why he was the best person to be in his new life. Free enough to run around, just important enough not to fall under anyone's control. But not important enough to be bound by the strings of fate.

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'If that is your decision, then I acknowledge your choice.

But remember -

Try to survive until the timer hits zero. You are free to live it how you want to. But do not try to run away from your fate. It will come back to bite you eventually.'

8 years, 1 month, and 15 days remaining.....

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As you could have guessed, the child mentioned above is me.

I had wanted my freedom so badly that I had agreed to that goddess's deal without a second thought.

And that had landed me in my current situation.

Had I realized that I was being tricked, I would have tried to resist my fate better. I would have begged the goddess to kill me.

And if not, I would have chosen an early death character and escaped this fate.

But all I can do now is to wait for my death. I did everything I could to survive in this wicked world but my circumstances made it impossible for me to keep a tight grasp on my emotions.

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A quick note for those who might get confused by the first few chapters - The MC has convinced himself that he wants to die but his will to live is stronger than anyone else. That is why his body heals so quickly. Do not take his suicidal tendencies to heart since he doesn't really want to die.

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