The rain poured down in sheets, an unrelenting deluge that drenched the ancient forest. Towering trees stood strong, their leaves heavy with water, as rivulets cascaded down their trunks. The forest floor had long since turned to mud, the once-soft earth now a quagmire that sucked at the feet of any who dared to tread upon it.

Amidst this tempest, Fable sat upon a stone, his form ethereal and untouched by the rain that passed through him. Three days had passed since he found himself in this strange, melancholic existence, and still, he wished it was all a bad dream. His heart ached with a profound sense of loss, the weight of his emotions amplified by his newfound spiritual state.

Not far away, a peculiar figure perched upon a tree branch, his legs swinging back and forth with carefree abandon. The boy, no more than ten years old, had an otherworldly air about him, with ethereal purple hair and golden eyes that seemed to hold secrets beyond his years. He called out to Fable, his voice carrying over the din of the rain.

"Are you planning to just sit there and mope around?"

Fable ignored him, his gaze fixed on the muddy ground before him. The boy let out a long, exaggerated sigh and swung backward, falling from the tree with a graceful flip. He landed on his feet, the splash of mud drawing Fable's attention. Fable glanced up, hoping the boy had left, but instead, he found him standing there, smiling.

Not wanting to meet the boy's gaze, Fable slowly began to lower his head once more. But in a flash, the boy appeared before him, his forehead pressed against Fable's as he leaned at a 30-degree angle to the ground. At that precise moment, a clap of thunder boomed through the forest, shaking the very earth beneath them.

Fable's patience wore thin as the boy's playful demeanor grated on his nerves. In a burst of frustration, he demanded to know if this was all just one of the boy's games, if he was the mastermind behind the chaos that had unfolded. The boy's eyes flashed crimson for a fleeting moment before returning to their usual hue. He responded slowly, his voice tinged with a hint of annoyance.

"Of course not. I set the game's rules, and I abided by them. However, this Minor Reality broke the rule; therefore, I have subjected a quarter of it to an eternal apocalypse."

The boy paused, then squatted on the ground in a flash, conjuring a bucket of popcorn out of thin air. As he munched on the snack, he continued, "This Minor Reality has a desire to become a Main Reality, and to do that, it needs a Sub-Reality. Hence..."

Fable's expression shifted several times as he stared at the ground, processing the boy's words. He glanced up, meeting the boy's gaze. "Well, then can you...?"

Before Fable could finish his sentence, the boy cut him off with a playful "Nope," flicking a piece of popcorn at Fable's forehead, which passed right through him. As he neared the bottom of the bucket, the boy licked his fingers and continued, "Even if I reverse the time flow, the Minor Reality would keep manipulating the collective human consciousness to drop that missile on your location."

Fable tried to interject, "But..."

The boy cut him off again, staring into the empty bucket. "No..."

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Undeterred, Fable persisted, "But if you..."

Growing annoyed, the boy turned the bucket upside down, shaking it as he cut Fable off once more by calling his name. Fable, however, kept talking, "You just need to...!"

The boy's patience snapped. "SHUT UP!" he shouted, his voice echoing throughout the void.

In an instant, the falling rain froze in midair, and a deathly silence descended upon the scene. The boy's eyes burned a deep crimson, slowly fading back to normal. As he looked down at the ground beneath the bucket, he spotted the last piece of popcorn sitting in the mud. "Sh*t," he muttered.

As his eyes returned to their usual color, the rain resumed its descent, and the boy reached into the void, pulling out a book.

he looked down at the book, its worn leather cover decorated with intricate patterns that seemed to shift and change in the dim light. A feathered quill, its plume a vibrant azure, danced across the pages, guided by an unseen hand. As the quill continued to write, the boy's eyes shimmered a deep, chromatic green.

He glanced up at Fable, his expression a mix of solemnity and mischief. "Look, the story has already begun, so I will no longer interfere unless my rules are violated." With a flick of his wrist, the book snapped shut and vanished in a burst of golden particles that scattered in all directions, like stardust carried on the wind.

A flash of lightning illuminated the scene, casting stark shadows across the ancient forest. The thunderous boom that followed shook the earth, reverberating through Fable's ethereal form. He looked at the boy, his eyes filled with a profound sorrow that seemed to emanate from the depths of his being.

The boy tossed the empty popcorn bucket behind him, letting it fall to the ground with a soft thud. He stared into Fable's eyes, the green of his own deepening with each passing moment. "You know my rule; I only create, destroy, and occasionally convert. I do not manipulate in the process of the game and especially during the writing of a story; however, I will guide you in the right direction before I go."

Rising to his feet, the boy pointed his finger at the spot between Fable's eyebrows. His voice echoed throughout the void, gentle yet commanding. "ASSET CREATION." Then, in a whisper that seemed to carry the weight of the universe, he uttered, "Dungeon Master System."

Fable flinched as a transparent blue window materialized before him, accompanied by a soft, chiming sound. Golden letters slowly appeared on the screen, posing a question that would determine the course of his journey: "Would you like to bind with the Dungeon Master system? Y/N."

Fable turned away from the translucent blue window, his gaze settling upon the boy whose eyes had already reverted to their normal hue. With a sense of urgency, he asked, "And my friends, what about them?"

The boy simply smiled, his index finger reaching out to poke Fable's forehead. Despite Fable's ethereal state, the touch was tangible, a brief moment of connection amidst the chaos. "Boop," the boy said, his voice tinged with mischief. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

As the words left his lips, a sincere grin spread across the boy's face. In that instant, an unseen force blasted Fable away, his ethereal form careening through the air, helpless against the overwhelming power. The force was so immense that the rain ceased, and the sun began to shine down upon the ancient forest, its warm rays piercing through the once-impenetrable canopy.

In the same location, the boy stood alone, stretching his arms above his head as he shouted, "Finally!" He reached into the void, pulling out the Book of Ascension once more. As he flipped through its pages, he muttered to himself, "Looks like I need to do this a few more times."

A sky-blue portal opened before him, its edges shimmering with an otherworldly light. As the boy stepped through, his voice echoed in the tranquil forest. "If that girl Nirvana is anything like this buzzkill, I'll just stuff her soul into the World Tree's sapling and be done with it!"

The portal closed behind him, leaving the scene in a state of serenity. The ancient trees stood tall, their leaves glistening with the remnants of the rain. The forest floor, once a muddy quagmire, now lay still, with only the occasional drop of water falling from the canopy above. Amidst the tranquility, a single object remained as a testament to the strange events that had transpired: an empty popcorn bucket, its once-vibrant colors now muted by the mud that clung to its surface.