After he walked through the unguarded gates from the back, loud screams attracted Darius’ attention from the front.

"Quick! Quick!"

"Go go!"

"Pass it! Here!"

"…"

The first thing greeting Darius after entering the city were groups of children playing ball together or chatting merrily, while their guardians looked on the side, chatting and laughing as if without worries.

These people were the ones rescued from inside the danger zone after the rift expelled them out.

In truth, the frontier cities were nothing different from normal ones, but they were a nightmare for soldiers who had to go outside the cities to thin out the monsters’ numbers. Anyone living inside the city and having it easy was about anyone who wasn’t a combatant. That’s why the soldiers were trembling while the civilians were just shrugging their shoulders, unaware of the dangers they would otherwise have to face.

.

The story first states that a group of archaeologists discovered a huge golden gate at the foot of a mountain. The golden gate was unable to be dated.

But what was truly mysterious wasn’t the gate itself, but what was behind it. And so, maybe out of curiosity or out of greed, the archaeologists decided to take out the golden gate at the foot of the mountain. At first, it was close to impossible, as there was some weird force field that kept anything and anyone away from it. But after numerous tries, some mysterious people were able to get rid of the barrier and take the gate with them, disappearing as nobody found them afterwards. However, nobody expected that after a few weeks, the space itself would suddenly start to bend and break, creating this humongous rift called the Gate to Hell. And as if to make things worse, all over the globe, the space started bending and creating huge black holes that absorbed from whole buildings to whole cities. And now, around 50 years after the disaster happened, the living beings are being ejected from the rift through the storm above, falling like fallen stars, protected by some residual aura-like energy as they fall back to the ground unscratched. But, after that energy dissipates, the miasma will start corrupting them slowly and making them vulnerable to the monsters around them.

After being ejected from inside the rift, there are rare times when some humans wake up with superhuman powers, able to control the elements, to use telekinesis, super strength, mind reading, or so on, and other such crazy abilities. If Darius was confident of taking down 10 soldiers on his own, then a well-trained mage could easily take on 50 to 100, depending on their abilities, and adding into account that while Darius was heavily trained since he was young, a mage needed only a few months’ worth of training to reach the same level of physical control and reflexes. This was also another reason why the elites hated the superhumans as well.

Now, between these rare cases, there were even rarer cases of a Spirit Wielders appearing.

If the mages are those who absorb and control the energy around them by using mental energy, then the Spirit Wielders are those who have integrated with this energy and grow stronger based on their wills... or feelings, in simpler terms. Basically, the more they wish for something, the stronger their powers will manifest to fulfill that goal.

The Spirit Wielders are especially dangerous at the beginning as they don’t know how to control that power, at times releasing waves of energy with a simple wave of their hands, injuring or even killing the ones around them.

.

Strolling around down the main street and taking his time to reach the other end of the city, Darius froze in place as he suddenly saw a woman in a simple white dress with her eyes closed, resting under a green tree while holding a note with yellow pages. The note was especially old while she was writing on it with a feather that didn’t seem to need dipping in ink. It was especially mysterious how she was writing when her eyes were continuously closed and everyone else was doing their own thing as if she was invisible.

Shit! It’s the Godly Scribble.

The Godly Scribble. An entity known only to the heroes, as they are chosen by the gods. They can’t be perceived by normal people and, in-game, they had the role of assisting the heroes with the information they needed for their next work, although in riddles. They couldn’t offer concrete directions because of their fear of being involved with humans for too long. It was already a crime to interact with humans, be they heroes or not. But this world was just in that much danger, making even gods mobilize their forces to save it.

The fact that Darius was able to see her might be because he’s something like an oddity himself, having been able to see her ever since he appeared in this world. His first thought was that he might also be one of the heroes, chosen by the gods or something. But he quickly dismissed this theory after he first met her back in his last life.

I need to hide away from that woman…

Darius quickly went around a few blocks, as he had no intention of interacting with the gods for now.

In his last life, when he was discovered by the scribble, her eyes opened wide, and her gaze made him feel like burning in fire. She was only examining him, but this alone made it feel like he was sent to Hell. After she finished observing him, she then started questioning him, as he was acting in disagreement with his written destiny, which was constantly changing.

What was worse, Darius was able to see her and interact with her even when she tried to hide her presence, turning him into a danger factor. A few times, the goddess herself tried to end him, as he was an unknown element of this world, afraid of the dangers he might bring. But thanks to the other heroes defending him, Darius was able to escape the danger.

Being an "oddity" in this world, the scribble can’t detect me. So as long as I don’t just walk in front of her like some mindless retard and don't interact with the heroes directly, I should be fine.

He peeked at her from behind a corner, then just turned and went down another alley. He continued on down the streets, and suddenly a voice stopped him from behind.

"Sir. Please present us your affiliation badge or tag."

"…"

Darius turned his head, and there he saw a young girl with dark hair and blue eyes reaching out to him, waiting for the tag she spoke of. The affiliation tag was something everyone from the three guilds of the borders would have, since they didn’t wish to mistake the members for one another.

And looking at the girl better, she was wearing a uniform that was part of the Blue Spark army, which was the most predominant in the Southern City.

"I don’t have one."

"If you don’t have one, then how come you have a weapon, sir?"

"Since when it’s not allowed to walk with a gun near the borders? Miss, are you perhaps a new member?"

"…Sir, I've been a member of the Blue Spark for 2 months now. All this time I’ve been patrolling these streets, and I’ve never seen anyone wandering around with a weapon and without a badge or tag, especially a suspicious person such as yourself."

A blue hue appeared in her eyes, and Darius understood immediately what was happening.

A mage.

The little girl was most probably a mage-in-training. Normally, anyone would feel threatened by her, especially a soldier who saw firsthand the powers of a superhuman, but to Darius, it was a bit different.

Based on her looks, she’s yet to experience a real fight, let alone kill someone. Her body, although toned, is like this only because of the mutation of turning into a superhuman and not because of some training. If she trained only for 2 months, then she knows only how to fight, but not how to control her powers. Also, that blue light appeared on her hand as well, so the focus point of her power must be her palms or hands. Letting me find all of this out proves one thing: She’s completely inexperienced in the field.

Understanding all of this, Darius sighed annoyed and turned to her with a stern look.

"You dare threaten a civilian with your powers? You think this is a lawless zone?"

"What?"

"Bring me to your immediate superior. I’m curious to see just who was the genius that taught you such manners."

"… I’d appreciate it if you didn’t speak badly of my superior-"

"Soldier. This is the last frontier of humanity. In such a place, the last thing you want is to be unprepared and unorganized. By how I see it, the Southern City will be the first to fall after a serious wave of monsters hits the walls."

"…."

She didn’t know what to do or say. It was the first time someone other than her immediate superiors dared speak in such an authoritative tone to her after being expelled by the void.

"Ah, Yoko! Why did you suddenly run like that?"

"Sir Ian. I followed this man who was not wearing a uniform but was holding a gun. I asked for his badge, and he said he doesn’t have one. From what I know, aren’t only those from the 3 guilds allowed to carry weapons on them?"

"N-no, Yoko… There are, although rare, some mercenaries or unaffiliated soldiers who come to this city and try to make some money by hunting monsters on their own."

"Hunt on their own? Isn’t that stupid?"

"Y-Yoko, please watch your language….."

The young man sighed while massaging his forehead. It was obvious that this wasn’t the first time this girl was giving him trouble. He then looked at Darius once again and smiled wryly.

"I’m sorry for the trouble caused, sir. I wish you would be able to pardon us this time."

He bowed his head politely, but Darius simply waved his hand.

"As long as everything’s clear. But for your goodwill, you better train your subordinates some more. She released her aura just now, and I was easily able to tell that her powers are based on her hands. As long as I immobilize her hands, she’ll have nothing but an enchanted physique. Also, telling your age since outside the void as a superhuman it’s also a taboo subject since one can tell how inexperienced you are and take advantage of that."

"Y-yes sir… Thank you for your advice."

The young man and the girl stared with wide open eyes at Darius who, after nodding once, went on his way.

"J-just who was he, Sir Ian?"

"I’m not sure, but… I have a feeling that it would be better to not bother him anymore, Yoko."

He smiled weakly and looked at Darius once again, only to lose him in the crowd.

.

So that was Ian Armand, the Fighter… Interesting.

Ian was one of the heroes in the game. But since he was here and only as a simple mage, then Darius understood that he wasn’t inside Ian’s story but in another one of the 6 heroes.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

I must confirm something… The next stop, I guess, will be the parallel rift.

The Parallel Rift was a crack in space that connected more parallel worlds with one another. Although it connected them, they weren’t really connected since a spatial wall was still present between them, making only a visual and audio transmission between them possible.

Wanting to go outside the city, Darius continued on until he saw a mage resting on the city’s main gates, sleepily guarding the entrance that separated the residential area from the military camps and danger zone.

The fact that a mage was working as a gatekeeper showed just how ridiculously strong the forces of the three major powers truly were, and in some ways, Darius was happy that Jack didn’t follow him since his hatred for them could attract a lot of trouble.

That guy must be a subordinate of… Roald Set… That bastard, I better get rid of him since he won’t be of too much use to me. Be it now or later.

Roald Set was an infiltrate of the cult who reached the rank of Colonel of the Blue Spark Army in the Southern City. He was a Demonic Follower together with his brother, but it was better if he got rid of him sooner than too late, since he would prove to be a challenge to the heroes later in the future.

The Demonic Followers were those who saw the appearance of the space rift and the miasma as a godly will and a new chance for humanity to adapt and evolve. It was also thought it was the old world’s punishment for all their sins, appearing to destroy it and help humans recreate a better one. Seeing how the miasma enslaves one’s mind to their own desires, the Demonic Followers found this as a sign to do as they please, creating a type of hierarchy based on the strongest to the weakest.

Although it sounds barbaric, they are no fools, as they were able to integrate into all ranks and circles of power inside the Human Coalition's bases. What’s even crazier is how humans are aware of the Demonic Followers, but they simply think of them as some conspiracy theory, as a minor factor of danger, or as simple baseless assumptions created by some overly superstitious person.

"They have complete control over you the moment they make you think that they don’t exist and you think you’re free"… It was a saying my history teacher used to tell me back in university about the secret societies of the past. I guess there’s nothing new, be it past or present.

So to not be seen, he used many tactics of distracting the guards by either throwing stones in the opposite area or playing the role of some foot soldier in training, walking right behind another group of soldiers that returned from the city. Although some observed him as somewhat suspicious for staying so close to them, but because he wasn’t giving them any mind and behaved so naturally, nobody actually bothered to ask him anything, losing interest right after.

After sneaking past the borders of the fortified part of the city and outside the gates, Darius rushed through more buildings and into the corrupted central park of the city.

The trees were bent weirdly and twisted unnaturally because of the miasma, while the leaves were purple and had weird bulges on them, looking like tumors.

Darius continued on forward through a secret path used mostly by the Demonic Followers that he learned of in his past life, then took a turn through some woods, there being no longer any path made, only going through bushes.

That was a path unknown to anyone that he discovered once after trying to run away from some monsters back in his past life. Because of the miasma, the bushes were especially thorny, with sharp spikes ripping at Darius’ clothes and skin but leaving him unfazed as he had to reach some place that only he knew of.

Roars and growls resounded all around him, while the flashing darkness would make any soldier lose his composure. The wind was cold and the vegetation unkind, each blade of grass being weirdly sharp. However, Darius didn’t seem to suffer any damage, as he made sure to cover himself well with the hoodie he pulled out of his backpack. To not be affected by the miasma, he took out a simple gas mask as well, protecting his face and eyes.

Carefully advancing through the dangerous woods, he finally arrived inside a clearing between the twisted trees and deadly bushes. The grass was also purple or even dried up because of the miasma, while in the middle of it all, the space seemed to shake. If one looked closely, they could see the same terrain, same trees, and same clouds for about a dozen times, until the clearing finished and the weird trees appeared again.

This was a crack in time and space that normally appeared deep inside the danger zone. It was extremely rare for it to appear this close to the edge. And what was weirder was how there was some weird invisible wall, not letting anyone go past it. It was clearly just one layer of spatial reality that was holding the dozen or so parallel realities separated, looking like two mirrors slightly tilted inward, forming a multitude of realities within that made for space itself to be separated into multiple areas.

If I had to put it that way, it would resemble a thin glass layer separating the slices of a pizza. They were visible to one another but still separated.

Finding this weird semi-crack in space as amusing as always, Darius stepped forward, and the next moment, other five Darius appeared from the other side of the crack, all six of them forming a circle so as to fill the whole area. They were sitting in a circle and looked at one another, already knowing who they were and why they were here. Six people were staring at one another, doing the same moves, having the same gaze, wearing the same clothes, and sharing the same name.

Normally, he wouldn't have bothered to come here if all it did was to see others that looked just like him. But this place had another hidden trait that only Darius knew. And that was to create a rather unstable mental connection with the other parallel selves he will meet through this crack.

""Alright…""

Being the same person, all of them thought of the same thing. And now that they understood that, they weren’t sure how to start… Except for one of them.

"I found Ian. He’s corrupted."

""!""

Everyone looked at the Darius that spoke out, and they quickly reached a conclusion: In the main story, there was only one world where Ian was corrupted, and that was Rosy Nightwish, the reaper.

In the game’s story, there were a total of six main heroes. Based on which one you wanted to play, there would be a seemingly similar story, but with a few changes that show what the other heroes ended up like if you didn’t choose them.

In some cases, the unchosen hero would end up as a Demonic Wielder, or as a mage, or maybe simply die from some unfortunate event, or so on. In each hero’s story, the other un-chosen heroes have different destinies. For example, Ian, who’s the Fighter hero, might appear as a Demonic Wielder in Rosy’s destiny, and in another’s hero’s story, he might appear as a simple mage, fighting for humanity. It all depended on who was the main hero of the story.

And Darius, who was a hardcore player of the game, learned the stories of all the heroes.

After one Darius within the separate space spoke out, he looked to his right and asked,

"You are next. Did you discover in who’s world you are?"

Darius from his right nodded and looked at everyone around him, explaining shortly.

"I couldn’t find the one who I would normally meet first in this world. Ian Armand. Because of that, probably I might be in his world."

""Lucky bastard.""

Everyone sneered and that Darius smirked, amused. If one Darius respected Ian, then sure enough, everyone else did as well.

Unlike the other heroes, Ian was a hero focused on mainly saving all of humanity, making him a selfless and honorable individual. Because of that, his will was among the strongest, and his overall power was also the most superior of the others. However, if he had a downfall, then that very wish of his proved to be his greatest weakness, forcing himself into dangerous events only to save a few people. His strong self-sacrificing spirit was a great power but also his greatest weakness, as he was also the hero who faced the most near-death situations.

Right after, the next Darius opened his mouth and reported.

"I met Ian, and, although barely noticeable even for me, the air around him was vibrating. I guess he’s the strongest mage in the camp. In the main story, Amanda’s world had Ian as the strongest mage. So I’m positive to say that I’m in Amanda Goldfiend’s world, the gunslinger."

"I was able to find Annabelle, to my surprise, while we were inside the army. I met her at the arena."

"If you found her, then you’re the one who’ll deal with her."

"Damn."

"Founders keepers."

"You know I just left the army, right?"

""Your problem.""

"Fucking hell…"

Every other Darius nodded, agreeing while breathing a sigh of relief, as the one in question grimaced with a curse, massaging his temples from a headache.

"Sigh~… I’ll deal with it in a month. I can’t just show up back there just like that."

The one woman army, Annabelle of the 6th unit. She was a docile and quiet woman whose loyalty would put any dog to shame. She had a tragic childhood with a tyrannical grandfather who forced her to train in the military since she was young and to execute any command without a word, turning her into the perfect tool. Even more, everyone, her colleagues included, was actually calling her that—a tool—even when she was the granddaughter of one of the generals from the Main Army.

Now the reason why Darius was so depressed by this is because, after he finally made Annabelle open up her stone-cold heart to him, she started to feel the warmth of someone who saw her as a human being and as a woman, and not as a tool. This made her form some kind of feelings for Darius, and she ended up hitting on him, most of the time in more forceful ways as she didn't know how to be sensible. And in his past life, after he fell into madness thanks to the miasma, Darius was no longer able to resist Annabelle’s temptations after she also fell into madness and turned her desire for Darius into power, ending up sleeping with her more than just once.

Sigh~… And if you think about it, not only is she a top-tier beauty with a mature body, but she also moves well thanks to her trained body… Better stop thinking about it, or I’ll get the most confusing boner...

The reason why Darius didn’t wish to deal with Annabelle in a romantic way, whose age was similar to his, was because her social skills, judicial abilities, and emotional awareness were still like those of a 10-year-old, more or less. She got no chance to develop any other way than in a cold and rational form because of the overly strict environment she grew up in.

After she understood that there is no warmth or love in this world, her emotions just locked up, and her whole being focused on training in whatever field she was told to. If she had to train to kill, she would do so. If she was trained to deceive, she would do so. And if she was trained to infiltrate, she would do so, and with great skills at that. She was the best human weapon with no emotions. But that also meant that, once she learned what warmth felt like, she would start to feel desire as well and would turn into an easily influenced and controllable woman. The desire for that warmth made her not just extremely clingy after opening up to someone else but also hard to reason with and mentally unstable, as she never used to think for herself, only following orders and doing whatever others asked her to do.

Suddenly telling her something like, Do as you wish, was the same as writing non-existent code in a program. She would suddenly freeze and stare at Darius with her head tilted. And after making her understand what Do as you wish means, she would suddenly grab his hand and say something along the lines of: Then I want to be with you, since, in some way, that was her unconscious way of telling him to take responsibility for changing her mindset.

In my past life, I was more than happy to keep her company, as I was a naïve moron who thought of her as my little sister. But after falling into madness, what happened next left a bad taste in my mouth… I simply can’t look at her the same way anymore.

All of them sighed tiredly, especially the one who was supposed to be her helper in this life.

Afterwards, there remained three more who weren’t sure as of yet in who’s hero's world they were part of.

The next Darius then opened his mouth the same way.

"I’ve met with Ian, but he seemed to be just a normal mage. I’m in either Icarus Avram's, the swordsman’s world, or Sora Kim’s, the Beastwoman's. I don’t have enough information."

"Me neither. I guess we’ll see what our visions will tell us."

""Let’s do that.""

The next Darius commented the same and reached a conclusion, with everyone else approving together.

All of them nodded their heads and stepped back simultaneously, disappearing like ghosts from the vision of one another, turning back, and leaving the inter-dimensional window.

The visions… Some time has passed since I thought of that.

Now that he had entered into visual and audio contact with his other selves, Darius had one great ability unlike anyone else in that world: he was able to communicate with his parallel selves through dreams or visions. More exactly, flashes of memories from his other selves would suddenly appear in his mind after some key moments happened to any one of them.

It was impossible to control, but he was able to tell that once something he found important happened, that information would be sent to others in the form of a visual flash or a sudden thought or memory.

At times, it was confusing as he would mistake himself for one of his other selves, as the amount of information varied depending on how important it was.

"Woah-!"

Just as he thought of that, a sudden flash made him freeze in place.