Memories [1]

The scythe passed through Noah's neck without injuring him.

"It didn't hu—!? Aghhh!!!"

Memories of his thousands of lives and death passed through Noah's mind in an instant. The memories flowed backwards, starting from the 21,387th life it moved towards lower numbers.

Noah could feel the pain and misery as if everything was happening to him again.

— 19,0135th Revival

Noah appeared in a normal city, or so he thought. In reality, he was caught inside Siren's illusion spell and killed.

— 7,205th Revival

Black magicians were summoning an evil god which happened to summon Noah. The mages soon realized Noah was a normal human and burned him at stake for blasphemy.

{Child…!}

Hepius tried to help Noah who was reliving his hell. Noah's thousands of lives were being compressed into a few seconds and the intensity of pain he was going through was nightmarish.

"Don't do that." Hades stopped Hepius.

Hades added, "You have chosen that child as your successor. Believe in him. That child is much stronger than you give him credit for."

Those words left Hepius with no other choice. He could only watch silently.

— 244th Revival

Noah woke up beside a pond. He was about to run away when he noticed a child drowning near the lake's center. The child turned out to be an ancient beast living in the lake using bait to catch unaware visitors.

— 1st Revival

Noah was standing inside Asgard and killed by Godfather, Odin, for trespassing.

{He… did it.} Hepius could not believe his eyes.

Noah was panting heavily. However, the pain that once drove him to the edge of insanity, Noah endured that pain without breaking down.

…But Hepius was too soon to celebrate.

— 0th Revival.

'Who was that crazy bastard? I don't even remember doing anything to him,' spoke Ark. 'I got a very good reward thanks to him though.'

A scrawny young man woke up and removed the headgear. The scrawny young man, Ark, bounced to his feet.

{What is this memory?} Hepius questioned.

"It's the original world of the child." Hades answered.

The ghost and his master could see the memories Noah was reliving.

Ark, the name Noah carried in his original world, returned to the room after washing his clothes. Ark was befuddled by his sudden bleeding and thrilled at the success of achieving Rank 1 in [ High-Heaven Online ] at the same time.

Hades and Hepius watched in silence as a robed man entered the room and attacked Ark.

Ark was defeated.

In those memories, the old man applied first-aid medicines to Ark and left with the robed figure. The old man said something but Noah couldn't hear them.

A few minutes later, another person entered the room where Ark lay unconscious.

"Anna.." muttered Noah. Anna's face was blurry, but Noah could recognize her with even that.

Noah was able to see his memories from a different perspective. He wasn't seeing those memories from his past self's eyes but someone else's who was watching him.

'You woke up at the right moment. The dinner is almost ready.' spoke Anna.

Noah's eyes widened. He saw in the memory that the injury was inflicted by the robed intruder and healed by the old man.

Yet, Anna lied, saying she was the one who applied those first-aid.

The inconsistencies only grew, throwing Noah's mind into turmoil.

The same Anna who would faint from the slightest wound on Noah didn't ask Noah about his injury.

Anna let Ark enter [ High-Heaven Online ] even though she reprimanded him for not resting.

And…

'Sorry for lying to you, Noah.'

Anna killed Ark.

The storm that had been ravaging Noah's mind suddenly died down.

{Child, it has ended. How are you feeling?} Hepius called out to Noah when the recollection of Noah's lives ended.

However, Noah couldn't hear him. Everything became a lull to him.

"Anna… killed me?"

[ Warning! Mental Instability (Trait Flaw) is worsening ]

[ Warning! Mental Instability (Trait Flaw) is worsening ]

[ Your Soul is crumbling ]

The will which had been keeping Noah's soul from breaking apart was shattering.

***

From childhood Ark was different from others.

Ark learned the common language before he was 5 months old by listening to his parents, he could recall everything he saw even once vividly, and his body was stronger than 4 year olds by the time he reached 6 months.

Was he a wonder child or a freak of nature?

Ark didn't know. His parents called him the latter and threw him away. For better or worse, Ark received the same treatment at the orphanage. The children intuitively understood Ark was different and stayed away from him.

The adults were no different. They praised Ark as a prodigy and called him a creep behind his back.

At the tender age of 5, Ark was luckily adopted by a wealthy family who saw through his genius which Ark was trying to hide.

Anna was the single child of that household. She was inflicted with a terminal disease and her parents adopted Ark to inherit their legacy and replace Anna.

After Ark entered the family, Anna was ignored by her parents. Knowing Anna couldn't help their family, the Sir and Madam treated Anna as if she was never there, to begin with. Yet they showered Ark with pure love.

Noah could never forget his first memory with Anna which shook him.

'Play with me! Stop reading day and night! Can you even understand them?'

'Go away.'

'No! You won't grow healthy if you remain inside the house!'

'Hah, sounds rich coming from you. Why do you even come to me? Aren't you angry that I stole everything from you?'

'Ughhh! I don't understand those difficult things! So shut up and follow your big sister!'

Anna was a bratty child who would pull Ark and treat him genuinely like a little brother.

Was she trying to look for support in Ark?

Was she so stupid that she couldn't understand that the Ark destroyed her life?

Those questions were meaningless in the end.

A few days before Ark's 11th birthday, Anna's parents passed away. And a succession war began for the legacy of Sir and Madam.