Decades more passed as I drifted through the tunnel. Time had long since lost its meaning, yet a feeling deep within told me I was nearing the end. Then, in the distance, I saw it—the gate. Vast and towering, it radiated an overwhelming sense of divinity. Its surface shimmered with celestial light, woven with runes that whispered forgotten truths. It should've been awe-inspiring, the kind of thing to bring a mortal to their knees, but to me, it was nothing. There was no sense of reverence, no trembling in its presence.

Before I could react, my body was pulled through it effortlessly, like the gate had no power over me, no more than the void did. Behind it lay a universe so vast that the sight of it twisted my mind. Galaxies spiraled in perfect harmony, stretching into infinity, and I flew past them like a speck of dust. Yet, in the face of this immensity, my focus narrowed on one thing—an enormous planet in the distance. Even from here, it dwarfed Earth, at least a thousand times bigger by my rough estimate.

My speed increased, and I pierced through the planet's atmosphere. I was slowing down, but still too fast to fully comprehend everything that flashed before me. Massive beasts roamed the lands below, creatures so enormous and strange that merely looking at them could shatter the minds of lesser beings. I saw shapes so terrifying, beings so mind-bending, that they would have driven me insane—if I hadn't already crossed that line in the void.

What struck me most wasn't their size, though. It was their reaction. These god-like entities, beings of unimaginable power, glanced at me, and for a fleeting moment, I saw shock—perhaps even horror—in their eyes. Then they quickly averted their gaze, avoiding me like prisoners avoid the eyes of the unhinged. A feeling all too familiar.

I continued to descend, now over a forest of towering trees, each reaching thousands of miles into the sky, something that should've been impossible on Earth. Exotic landscapes stretched for what seemed like an eternity. It was then I saw him.

A boy, lying in the forest, his small body barely clinging to life. As I plummeted toward him, something froze in me. He looked... just like me. My younger self. Every detail, from the faint scar on his cheek to the way his hair matted against his head. The uncanny resemblance stopped my thoughts dead—but my speed remained unchecked.

I slammed into him, directly into his skull.

There was no blood, no scream—just the utter destruction of his flickering soul. It shattered upon impact, like glass smashed by a hammer. For a moment, I was dumbfounded. Did I just obliterate this boy's soul like some kind of cosmic wrecking ball?

Then, something even more astonishing happened. As I lingered in disbelief, I felt it again—that strange sensation. The same one I had felt in the tunnel. His soul, now shattered into a million pieces, began to be devoured by mine. It wasn't conscious; it was instinctive, primal. As the remnants of his being merged with me, I could feel myself growing stronger. The power that surged through me was intoxicating, almost familiar.

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And then—Ding!

A soft chime rang out, breaking the silence, echoing in the corners of my mind like a toaster going off.

I froze.

The instant I absorbed the boy's soul, everything came to a screeching halt. My entire being felt locked in place, like the universe itself had clamped its jaws around me. My thoughts slowed, grinding down like gears filled with sand, as a presence—an unimaginable, suffocating force—descended upon me. It was as if the weight of a thousand worlds had focused solely on me, squeezing my soul until I thought it might shatter.

A blood-red screen flickered into view, its malice so thick I could feel it poisoning the air around me.

{Unauthorized entity detected... Initiating soul obliteration.}

Soul obliteration? My heart nearly stopped. Isn't that what I just accidentally did to the kid? Panic surged through me, a jolt of electricity. Is this some kind of revenge?

"It wasn't even my fault!" I screamed in my head, struggling against the invisible vice crushing my soul. I cursed the world's system—the sub-administration system, probably. Had to be. I'd read about this kind of thing in the novels back when I could sneak time at the library, before everything went to hell.

{Searching for soul... searching... searching... searching... soul found.}

I started begging. I had never begged before—not in prison, not even in the worst moments—but now, fear stripped away whatever pride I had left. I couldn't—wouldn't—go through that again. Not the void. Anything but that. I'd rather face an eternity of hell than return to that nothingness. My mind cracked under the weight of it all. The pure unfairness of the situation.

{Beginning obliteration... 1%... 2%... ERROR.}

The malice in the air grew denser, and something else stirred deep within me. Something ancient. Something powerful beyond reason. It swelled up inside, pushing against the crushing weight of the system. The vice around my soul began to crack, the pressure splintering like brittle glass.

The screen flickered.

{ERROR...ERROR...HIGHER LEVEL ENTITY DETECTED!}

The presence—no, the system itself—was trembling. I could feel the fear bleeding off of it. Whatever was rising inside me, it terrified even the system.

I had no control. My mind was slipping, and I couldn't stop it. From the very depths of my soul, something primal let out a roar—a sound so powerful that it shattered through reality itself. The sound exploded outward, like a bomb, and the world around me reacted.

The roar hit the forest like a wrecking ball. Trees, towering miles high, were obliterated in an instant, reduced to splinters. The ground quaked, splitting open beneath the force. Beasts—those giant, terrifying creatures I had seen earlier—fled in every direction, scrambling for safety. The forest crumbled. Entire mountains trembled and cracked. The roar wasn't just a noise—it was raw destruction, unleashed.

{PLEASE! WE BEG YOU! NO NO NO I'M SOR...}

The system's desperate plea was cut off, silenced. I could feel its remnants—like the shattered pieces of the boy's soul—being drawn into me, devoured by whatever force was inside me. I couldn't stop it. The fragments dissolved, fusing with me, and once again, that overwhelming surge of power filled my being. It was too much to process.

Then the darkness swallowed me whole.