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Chapter 1: The Endless Cycle
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-- In the middle of nowhere --
"What does it mean to be boundless, beyond creation? What is left if even your own creator can't do anything to you?"
Zarath's mind wandered as he stood on the precipice of a cosmic void, contemplating a question that had echoed in his existence for eons. His eyes, now dimmed by the weight of an infinite journey, stared out into the abyss. A voice from the past, from an enemy he had long defeated, still lingered in his mind.
"An enemy once asked me: what is left to achieve after ascending beyond divinity? And I guess he was right."
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Earth, Present Time
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Kaito sat in a dimly lit apartment, his eyes vacant as they stared at the cluttered floor around him. The walls, thin and cracked, seemed to close in with the weight of his thoughts. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing. Another cycle... Another life. Another failure.
(thinking) How many times does this make…?
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"Am I back in Japan again?" Kaito asked himself bitterly, his voice hollow as he glanced around the familiar, unremarkable room. “I’m tired of this... Why can’t it stop? Even death isn’t granted. Am I supposed to just live forever?"
He shook his head, a cynical chuckle escaping his lips. This was the curse he was bound to. An eternity of rebirths, always in a new body, always a new life, and always... a poor one. It never mattered how many times he died, or how many lives he lived. The same fate always awaited him. Death would never come. Only more pain, more suffering, more endless living.
Sighing again, Kaito got up from the floor and began preparing himself for his next delivery. He knew the drill. Deliver food. Get treated like trash. Feel even worse about himself.
As he went out to his scooter, ready to face the world’s indifference once more, a thought lingered in his mind.
(thinking) If I’m such a genius, why can’t I just use my ideas? Why can’t I live a life of success with all my knowledge?
But Kaito already knew the answer.
"Well, because I’ve tried that before... being called a genius just means your ideas get stolen by others. You get no credit, no recognition. They take your work, your potential, and make it their own. That’s the fate of the poor—your mind is a tool, your ideas are worth something only as long as you don’t have the means to make them reality. Signing contracts, thinking they’re partnerships, but they’re really just forms of slavery."
He exhaled bitterly, his hands gripping the handlebars of the scooter tightly.
"I can testify, reality isn’t what you see on TV or social media. It’s different. It’s cruel. It’s always ready to pounce on you and dismantle your being from the core."
With that thought, Kaito made his way to the next delivery. Another job. Another day. Another round of apathy from the world around him.
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But just as Kaito was about to leave the alley, the ground beneath him trembled. The world seemed to warp around him as a magic circle appeared in front of him, glowing with an eerie, pulsating light. His heart raced as the world blurred.
"Ah, so it happens today. I’d completely forgotten." Kaito muttered to himself, a faint smile creeping up his lips. There was no surprise, only an exhausted acceptance of fate. "I guess this is how it ends... or begins."
Without warning, the magic circle pulled him in. His surroundings dissolved into nothingness.
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The New World
Kaito woke with a jolt. The familiar weight of being dragged across time and space returned. But this time, it felt... different. Something had changed. He was no longer bound by the familiar constraints of his miserable life. He looked around, disoriented.
And then, he saw her. The familiar face—Yumi. She stood there, looking at him with compassion, not the usual pity or indifference he had become accustomed to.
"Are you alright?" she asked, her voice gentle, almost soothing.
"Yumi..." Kaito whispered, not fully understanding what was happening. "How...?"
But before he could ask more, she smiled warmly, her eyes full of an understanding that reached deeper than anything he could comprehend.
"Welcome," she said softly, "I’ll be here to help your."
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End of Chapter 1