“Yo. We meet again.” A familiar child welcomed me amidst the vast space of nothing. There was nothing, but his pose was as if he was sitting on a higher platform than me.

“Hey.” I waved my hand in return, not laughing or crying at the reunion.

“Why did you do that?” The child asked.

“Do what?”

“Everything. Fighting in vain, eating your partner, killing yourself. You name it.”

“It was the only way.”

“Is it? You could have learned the final skill.”

I shook my head. “I can’t.”

“You couldn’t, or you wouldn’t? You were afraid, weren’t you?” The child asked once more, his eyes gleamed a shine that pierced me to the soul.

“Of what, exactly?”

“Of losing everything. That technique was your partner’s only proof of existence left. If you learned it, then the only thing “original” left about her would be gone. Am I right?”

“... No. That’s a stupid way to think about it.”

“You’re contradicting yourself as always. I’m you, after all. My thoughts are yours.”

“... Fine. I didn’t want to learn it. But so what? Do you think I could have learned it, even if I wanted to?”

“I don’t know,” the child shrugged. “I’m you, after all. If you don't have any idea on how to learn it, then how could I?”

“Then…”

“What matters here is not the reasoning, but the choice. What does dying here help?”

“It… kills the monster.”

“Do you truly believe that?”

I couldn’t answer. To be honest, I didn’t know. Perhaps, I was just sick of myself.

I started as a child throwing a tantrum. I paid for it with my life, and I was reincarnated into this world. Here, I had a new life, made my first friend, only to get betrayed by the same friend. Said friend then entrusted me with the task of killing him, and in order to do so, I’d lost my only partner in the world.

“I…” I looked down at my shivering hands. “I was tired. I just… didn’t want to think anymore. And if what I did could pay back my sins, I…”

“Hah… You don’t get it, do you?” The child skipped forward, leaving his invisible chair. With a flick to my forehead, he said:

“Dumbass, all you’re doing is running away from responsibility again.” The child shook his head. “So you can’t protect your loved ones again, for what? The third time now?”

“You don’t have to rub salt into the wound, you know.”

Ignoring my retort, he continued. “In any case, so what? You wanna die to repay your sins to them? Well too bad for you; those as horrible as you don’t get to die in peace. You’re gonna live on, forever bearing that guilt in your heart. There’s nothing you can do about it, and it’s going to haunt you forever. That’s the only way you can make up for them.”

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“I… No, I can’t talk back against myself, anyway,” I let out a sigh.

He was right—it was just a way for me to escape, like always. I could never live with my sins, so I chose the easy solution out, by just not living anymore. But that wouldn’t be enough. The ones that I fell… they would never forgive me if I only got off with that much.

However…

“I’m still dead, though,” I said.

“Who ever said that?”

As the words left his mouth, a familiar static sounded around me.

[Congratulations. You’ve unlocked the achievement “Life Beyond Death”. Your understanding of life has grown significantly.]

“See?” The child chuckled. “It wouldn’t leave you alone.”

[Calculating reward…]

[You can now choose to take part in another evolutionary skill branch. Would you like to make the switch?]

“... Yes.” I nodded.

A light shone on my body, and from it, I felt my consciousness being whisked away.

“Don’t come back ever again, you hear me?” The younger me waved goodbye with a cheeky grin.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t wanna see your dumb face either!” I waved back, shouting as loud as I could, marking the end of our reminiscing time together.

When I woke up, I was still there, blade in hand. However, there were no dual blades anymore—in my hand was a singular dagger with the same shape, but a different shine. Its bladed half was a bright crimson, while its back was a pure snow white, exactly like what Akari’s forearm used to be.

In front of me, the monster taking Midorikawa’s form stood there with its arms crossed. It had stopped copying my moves, apparently assuming that I was already dead, yet its mouth… formed a smile, for the first time since I’ve seen it.

Were you there, buddy? If so… May you rest in peace.

[You’ve learned the unique skill, Beyond Infinity. Would you like to check for its descriptions?]

“No.” I didn’t need to. It was my skill, after all. Out of everyone, I knew how to use it the best.

A burst of flame erupted from my dagger. Unlike any other fire, however, one look and anyone could tell that it wasn’t natural. Like the blade itself, the flame was divided into two perfectly symmetrical halves—a crimson left side, and a blinding white right side. But they weren’t hot at all; in fact, I could directly touch the blade without even feeling any heat, let alone fire.

The two flames were those representing our souls. The red of the colorful living, and the white of the endless death. Achieving the perfect balance, once my dagger glowed the fusion of these fires, it could cut the boundary of everything.

Stillness and movement. Cause and effect. Life and death. It would only work once, but once was all that I needed.

Pointing the blade towards the spirit, I said my final piece.

“May you have a good rest.”

I didn’t move. Or rather, I didn’t need to move. The monster was cut, that much I knew, as the dagger in my hand soon also disappeared into thin air, leaving behind a trail of red and white.

May you rest in peace too, my beloved partner.

In front of me, the spirit dissipated also, into its original verdant shine. In its last moment, however, I could see the semblance of a smile coming from its curled mouth.

“I knew I could count on you.”

The voice sounded in my head, prompting me to turn around in shock. However, I should have known better—he could never have come back at the last moment.

As the last of the light disappeared, my armor also disappeared in the same manner, leaving only myself with a battered body in all means possible. Naturally, it meant that any strength I had left was gone, and I soon collapsed onto the grassy field.

“Yakushi-kun!/Yakushi!” Booth Yamabuki and Aozaki rushed to my aid.

“What happened?” Asked the yellow girl. “You suddenly stabbed yourself, but then you’re still alive, and then the monster is gone? What did you do?”

“How did you remove your own Transformation?” Asked the man in blue. “And where did your armor go?”

“Oh, it’s nothing to worry about,” I answered, shaking my head as a reassurance. “I just decided to actually stick to my own guns, and the armor helped me in doing that. When I was finished with my duty, well… it’s gone, that’s all.”

“So, can you stand?” Both asked at the same time.

I let out a chuckle. “Of course not. Can you two help me get up?”

“Oh, okay.” With a quick nod on both sides, I found myself leaning on their shoulder—Yamabuki on my left, Aozaki on my right.

“I must be a handful, huh?” I made a joke to lighten the mood.

Aozaki went for it in response. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

“... Sorry about that. I mean it.”

“... No offense taken.” Yamabuki nodded. “You had your own worries, so I won’t blame you for it. Now, let’s say we go back, yeah?”

“Yeah, let’s go back.”