Shard Emergence - Mind Snap - Loaded - Fourth Life

"Mmm~"

"Mmm-"

Finally, after several seconds, Philip and Tenshi pulled their heads away after a very intimate kiss. They look at each others eyes and giggled. They then leaned their heads forward and rested to each other's forehead while warmly embracing each other

"So, it's official, huh?"

Philip commented

"Yes... I'm happy"

Tenshi replied sweetly

"You know what's next?"

"Uhm... Wait-"

Tenshi became surprised and her face became red once again. It also seemed like smoke puffed out of her ears

"I'm kidding! Haha"

Philip let out a genuine laughter, like he was the way before when all he wanted was to make everyone around him laugh

"We can't go to a honeymoon yet. We have a lot of work to do after this"

"..."

Tenshi was silent. I nall honesty, she was looking forward to the honeymoon, but she's aware that they have a lot to do once they get out

"Okay..."

Tenshi just nodded, not that she was disappointed that they won't be having their honeymoon

"..."

Philip giggled in his mind, which Tenshi caught. She pouted as she glared at Philip

"Hehe, you're cute"

Philip just shifted his right hand and patted the top of her head

They were having a warm moment together when suddenly, the white church fell down and crumbled into oblivion, disappearing into nothingness along with the arches, carpet, altar, and benches. The cherry blossom trees, flying petals, and the calm ocean stayed though

It was at this point that Philip noticed the gaint cracks along the sky the splits the image of the world like a broken mirror. He and Tenshi turned around to observe the change around the ⟨⟨ World of Imagination ⟩⟩

They could also see their surroundings having a tint or hue of pink that's swirling around them. It wasn't the flying petals of cherry blossom, it's like the air itself was pink or a pink filter was placed around them

"What's happening?"

『 This is what I meant by developments after developments... 』

『 You're unparalleled level and power of imagination that can even deny the Omega System itself, the peak of all system imbued with the peak of all power, and the level of the power of love you and Tenshi both possess for each other! 』

『 This caused two out of five extremely important concepts to manifest! 』

『 An unexpected development... This is your Fourth Positive Exception because you shouldn't be getting that this early 』

『 But since you've met a lot of conditions... They decided to show up as they deemed it absolutely necessary 』

"Lay it out on me..."

『 ... 』

In this moment, the system didn't respond and just let it happen because it's too late to explain further

The giants cracks began to move and shift as the smaller cracks travelled towards Philip and Tenshi. The cracks looked liked lightning travelling through the air as it also created smaller arcs

"..."

Ultimately, the cracks reached Philip and coverged into one point, in front of his face. The cracks flashed and released light and the space around them started to ripple

Light filled the point and it shone brighter until the light itself condensed back into the single point

Philip and Tenshi could help but take several steps back as they slightly covered theur eyes. The ultraviolet vines and red cord are still attached to their wrists and pinky finger

Eventually, all the giant cracks, small cracks, and tranparent arcs disappeared into the single point as it flowed like a gushing stream of water

The single point of light pulsated until it dimmed down, revealing an irregularly shaped crystal, more like a shard that has rough and spiky edges. The shard is only as big as a thumb, approximately two inches in height, half an inch in width and length

『 You have obtained the first shard of the Shards of the Five 』

"..."

"..."

Philip and Tenshi looked at the shining blue-green shard with wide eyes

『 By possessing the World of Imagination that can harness infinite amount of imaginative power with no limits and restrictions, as well as being able to defy pure power with imagination alone... 』

"..."

『 You have received the Shard of Imagination 』

"!!!"

Philip eyes widened even more as his vision began to get sucked into the [Shard of Imagination]. Tenshi subconsciously closed her eyes as her head began to hurt since she is connected to Philip and whatever Philip sees, she can see also, but not this time

『 Save Point available! 』

『 Would you like to save? 』

『 Yes/No 』

The Lawyer of Checkpoint appeared within the darkness of Philip's vision, alerting him of a save point

Philip was incredibly confused, but he understands why a save point would appear before he enters wherever he would enter. It could be that extreme danger might arrive or there's a possibility that he could die, or it's just that this moment is an important event that it deserves to be saved

In the end, Philip decided to save

"Yes"

『 Overwrite "Amatsuka's Birth" or save at Save Point 2? 』

"Save Point 2 please"

『 Name Save Point 2... 』

"Shard of Imagination"

『 Rename of Save Point 2 to "Shard of Imagination" successful! 』

At that point, Philip felt like he was being sucked in again, like he was falling

~~~

Philip's vision was warped and he entered another world, drastically different from the ⟨⟨ World of Imagination ⟩⟩. He is floating rather than being on the ground and for the first time, he wasn't suspended in water like he always does

He doesn't know where up or down is and he slowly drifts through the white space

"Where am I?"

Philip asked and the system responded

『 The Imagination is one of the most powerful concepts that has ever existed. It was supposed to be a variable, but it was claimed by all beings and existences with souls. It was supposed to be the most powerful force in the universe, but it is worthless once life was extinguished 』

『 Imagination can do anything, more than mana and magic. It requires brain power and a space that's extremely malleable 』

『 Imagination, once condensed into a singular point, could create a matter that's capable to manipulate reality and fantasy 』

『 Ultimately, Imagination was taken advantage of and imprisoned into a single shard of a five 』

『 You have proven that you possess the capabilities to handle the limitless power of Imagination no matter how intense and abysmal the concept is 』

『 You also have shown that you are capable to freely control and manipulate Imagination with a wave of your hand and create concepts according to your image 』

『 Therefore, the Shard of Imagination has one last test for you before it could transfer itself to you as its rightful ownes 』

『 Shard of Imagination (Level 0) 』

"..."

Philip swallowed a dry saliva because he has a bad feeling about this. The hair on his skin were reacting, but none of his defensive abilities wete activating. His [Extreme Self-awareness] ability was also telling him to calm down, but he couldn't help but be wary

『 You have entered the Imagination Realm 』

『 The Imagination Realm is a realm that surpasses the World of Imagination. This realm has an ego and it will follow the possessor of the Shard of Imagination according to his subconscious will 』

『 Shard of Imagination Test 1: 』

『 Mental stability and mental strength are important to maintain the Imaginative State and maintain the imaginated concepts... 』

『 The Shard of Imagination has taken your power and potential into consideration... 』

『 Survive, resist, control, or overwhelm the very concept and existence of imagination! 』

"!!!!!"

Philip was stunned and he was immediately overwhelmed by an unknown force. If an x-ray screen was placed above his head, it would show that his brain was snapped into two

Even if he imagined a super massive black hole to get rid of anything that might manifest, he was still pinned down, like he was contained in a small container filled with cement. Even his negative emotions that are represented as something bigger and sinister than asuper massive black hole was overwhelmed

Philip immediately lost consciousness and he was kicked out of the ⟨⟨ Imagination Realm ⟩⟩

~~~

Philip's vision came back to the ⟨⟨ World of Imagination ⟩⟩ and Tenshi's headache disappeared. She then felt that the [Soul Link] established between her and Philip were severed

"Philip?!"

Tenshi called out to him in a panic as her eyes dilated into dots. Her heart dropped after seeing Philip's demeanor

Blood profusely spilled out from his nose as it kept on squirting. Blood also spilled and squirted out of his eyes, as well as his ears

Light immediately disappeared from his pupils and his body swayed back and forth until his balance became unstable and he fell backwards

The ultraviolet vines snapped and the red cord was severed

『 ... 』

"PHILIP!!!"

Tenshi instantly bursted into tears and all of her transformations manifested through her body like it was some sort of abomination. That was the last moments that Philip saw after his eyes closed on its own

Just then, with all of his remaining consciousness and willpower, he called for the system

'L...oa...d... 2...'

『 Load 2 』

『 Confirming... 』

『 Load Save Point "Shard of Imagination" 』

『 Loading last save point... 』

『 Success! 』

~~~

『 You have loaded the last checkpoint saved! 』

Philip was non responsive for a split second as he stared into nothingness

"Hm?"

Tenshi turned her body and leaned he rhead forward to look Philip's expression

After a few seconds, his empty dilated eyes regained light and became bigger again

"*Cough*"

Philip let out a single dry cough

"*Cough cough cough*"

Followed by a chain of dryer coughs and it kept on going and going like he was supposed to regurgitate what he ate. He fell down on his knees while clutching his chest and scratching his neck at the same time

Tenshi became worried and patted his back to ease his pain. She also assured Philip and kept comforting him, but he couldn't hear anything for several more seconds

After a few minutes has passed, Philip finally calmed down, as well as his body. His body was the one who was the most affected because he recovered faster in his mind. All he had to do was to regain control of his body to stop coughing

"Are you alright? What happened?"

Tenshi asked with eyes filled with worry

"Read my memory..."

"That's the problem, I can't"

"What? Oh, wait..."

Philip then turned his head at the representation of the system to confirm his suspicions

『 The period of time that wasn't recorded by the Lawyer of Checkpoints without it being encompassed between Save Points are deleted indefinitely. Those branching timelines will be severed until loading and it will be erased. This includes all records and memories that may have been brought along 』

"I see..."

Philip's suspicions were correct

"But if memories were also erased, why can I still remember it?"

『 Would players forget the unsaved playthrough that they did after they accidentally restarted a game? 』

"I guess you have a point... But why Tenshi can't see it?"

『 A limitation through space-time continuum and stability of reality. Concepts and existences must absolutely not witness any erased timelines, especialy if said scenario has themselves in flesh 』

"I think I know this one... It will cause something like resonance between two identical beings and cause a catastrophe worse than chaos or something, isn't it?"

『 Close enough... Think about it in simpler terms like a eternal limbo between identical existences and nothing will be able to break that limbo 』

"I see... I think I understand"

"So, that's how it goes..."

Tenshi commented

"Yeah, I'm sorry"

"Nah, it's fine! You can tell me anyways"

"Well, basically..."

Philip then told her what happened in the past that can happen in the future. He also explained the Ultimate Skill and Lawyer of Checkpoint as he forgot to tell her before

"I was overwhelmed by the shard itself and I almost died"

"Well, good thing you now have that Ultimate Skill?"

"Yeah... At first I didn't like it, but thinking deeper about it, it will be very useful in the future like investigating a mystery or some sort"

"Exactly... Though, from what you told me... Did you die or did you not?"

"Uhm... I don't know actually..."

『 You have died 』

The display appeared next to Philip and Tenshi as the system confirmed what happened

"What? If I managed to load before dying, would that be considered dying?"

『 ... 』

"Unless, there's a bigger picture that I'm not seeing?"

『 The Imagination Realm instantly killed you and bypassed Instant Death Immunity. You were able to load with the last bit of your consciousness and willpower. It's considered a miracle that you were able to load... Not to mention, the process of you loading back takes a little bit of time and the Lawyer of Checkpoint doesn't have control over time, which pauses the state of your body. She is only capable of pulling yourself back into the point where you saved. The Correction of the Universe will apply and you will return to the state of you being alive. It wasn't resurrection nor revival, it's close to a rewind, but it's most likely an application, a correction to be blunt 』

"Then..."

『 You were considered dead, so this should be your fourth lifetime... Congratulations! 』

"..."

~~~

Author's Note

How the correction works:

Before Philip died, he managed to load the save point from when he was still alive

Just like any other games, loading a save point takes time... Like there would be a bar that goes from 0% to 100% in just a few seconds to a fraction of a second. In that time, he fully died, until be completely loaded back

Since Save and Load is basically time travelling back to the past while deleting the initial timeline since it was saved prior to the load, Philip should've returned dead, but by the power of the Lawyer of Checkpoint: Soteriartóno, one of the Ultimate Skill in the universe, the universe recognized the change

Dead Philip was overwritten and replaced by Alive Philip from the save point and he returned back alive. That's the power of Save and Load that could rival Resurrection or Reincarnation

Because of that, it is considered that he died, even though he technically did not, timeline wise