I awake in a dark void once more. Huh so this is what this place feels like. It feels a bit… Uneasy? Like staring off into the abyss as there is nothing forever in any direction I look. I’m so distracted by this that I completely forgot about what comes next. The rush of memories of this life… The happiness, the grief, the anger and pain it hits me all at once. I can’t scream, I can’t throw my hands around in anger. I try to claw at my throat but I’m just a mass of grey and white dust in the rough shape of a person but without the ability to move. I stay there floating attempting to scream for what feels like ages before the emotions start to drain away again.

You have died... Loading… checking life reset procedure ERROR Soul fragmented]

Fragmented soul reincarnation subroutine detected.

Memory cleans option default set to positive.

Detecting skill system… Cannibalizing skills to strengthen soul.

Oof that’s not a pleasant feeling… I like something being stripped away without feeling exactly where from.

Relevant Entities have been notified to offer their tithe for support in their world. Meeting with local entity in 3….2….1.

A massive mass that seems to stretch from all directions around me forms clouding in like a wave on a shore from every direction before reforming into a more solid shape of white, black and gray. It swirls around like the tides of an ocean… It’s much much larger than Takashi was…

A small crash of waves seems to meet in front of the mass and from it a humanoid form walks out. It has no distinct features just being humanoid in shape. “Hello, I see you’ve finally passed on.” A voice that seems to come from my surroundings rather than any particular direction.

I attempt to speak but still feel that I can’t. Like I don’t have any throat or mouth to speak with. Like I’m missing something to speak with here that I should have.

“Ah still a bit too broken I see. Well, there isn’t much I can do to fix that… I’ve been watching what you’ve accomplished down below.” I feel a bit of guilt wash over me. I know that I’ve made some mistakes, but I got things done.

“You could have been happy you know? Lived a life that you could enjoy. Why did you go through all of that suffering? I understand that the system is giving you quests to complete but for every problem there is more than just one way to solve it.”

Another person judging me for my actions. I got things done if it were up to them the actual problem would never be solved. It would just be another cancer on a society that would exist forever.

“Now, I understand why you took down the company. It was a little interesting seeing how you accomplished that. Those ah, what are they called? BIM? They are interesting but that’s not what is important. I’m asking you why did you kill yourself at the end? Don’t you deserve happiness too?” I can’t really gauge any real reaction from him. He’s just a humanoid mass of swirling energy in front of a larger ball of energy. They are probably not really even a he just the voice they chose was masculine.

I can’t really express myself here. Why did I kill myself? Because I don’t deserve happiness after everything I did? Because I want them to solve their own problems now that I’ve taken away the largest threats. I finished what I promised, and I feel like I’d rather help the next life rather than stay there and suffer from the mistakes that they made me do in the end. The mistakes that I was forced to make if I wanted more power for the future worlds…

“Ah I see, you are running away from the problems you made. It still wasn’t too late to have happiness you know. Without the company you could have gone to another country… restarted and been happy. But… that would mean accepting being happy wouldn’t it? I feel like you blame the quests, don’t you?”

Is he able to read my mind here?

“Haha! No no, I can’t read your mind. I can read your emotions and I’ve watched you for long enough that I can make a good guess. I’ve also been around long enough to somewhat understand how most people think.” Great so I’m just an open book.

“Regardless, you blame the quests for everything that happened but looking at these.” I see a few blue panels fly by his hand.

“They don’t say anything about killing, just that you need to collect the chips and escape with Himiko and help with getting Kaguya off the island. You chose to kill, you chose to follow their game. In every game, there is more than one way to solve a problem. The quests are also not set in stone. They are made from opportunities within the world that would better award karma. Whether it’s good or bad karma makes no difference to the quest. Perhaps someday you may find a quest that you may not want to finish. You should know that by now. You could have rebelled, you were strong enough to take down the helicopter and forced it to leave. Why didn’t you even try?” He doesn’t understand at that time I was… It’s because I was… it was… easier…

“Ah you’ve realized it now, haven’t you? That you looked at a problem and took the easiest path. Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes the easiest path is the path you need to take. But sometimes it’s the hard ones that are worth fighting for. If you had escaped the show would have failed, Thimas would not have functioned, you might have even been able to patch things with that girl you were so madly in love with. If not that you could have just spent more time with your family and your siblings.” I… I had siblings? I didn’t look into them after they left. I was so focused on getting back at the company and… I hardly had time to pay attention to things going on around me.

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“Regardless, you need to think about these sorts of things when you go to the next world. Huh odd, it looks like someone has turned the default to turn off memories. Let’s just chan-“ I start to panic… NO! I don’t want to go into the next life… I want the next to be able to have a happy long life not burdened down by everything I did… they might see my actions but… I… if they lose the emotions, it should be fine. I sort of understand how Haru felt at the end. He went off into the white space and decided to take a break… I don’t know if I can do that yet. I want to make sure that the next one doesn’t make some of the same mistakes. I don’t want them to have to… deal with my problems. I know I have some unhealthy feelings still. I know that I have problems dealing with people. I don’t want the next life to have those…

“You… don’t want to remember everything? You’re okay with just passing off the baton to the next life?” I try to shout yes mentally as best I can.

“Strange… strange indeed, most people would beg for the chance to keep living. But you seem like you are fine with just the role of an adviser. Regardless, It looks like the time here is limited. I believe I owe you a tithe.” I feel a long sigh vibrate through my existance. “Now although you had some good intentions… not everything you did was exactly… good. So, this is the karma you have earned.” As he says this a sludge like mass seems to fall out of the swirling vortex of energy. It congeals and makes its way towards me. I can see some specks of white within and many shades of gray but the overwhelming amount of it is pitch black tar as it seeps towards me on a floor that doesn’t exist.

As the mass touches my form, I feel like a chill runs down a spine I don’t have. The feeling of writhing insects under the skin that isn’t there. It takes a while for all of it to make its way into my form. The feeling isn’t pleasant… but I have this feeling like it could have been much worse if the white and gray hadn’t been mixed in.

I’m snapped out of my thoughts by the being again. “Best of luck to you… hopefully you learn to accept yourself and learn to view the options not told.” I feel grateful but then I realize I couldn’t ask about Saeko. I panic slightly hoping that it’s not too late, but I already start to feel myself slipping away. The form of the energy surrounding me crashes down before vanishing into the familiar darkness.

Skill and quest tithe integration complete!]

Soul has achieved satisfactory repairs, access to new options available.

Preperations complete! Sending to next destination in 10!

Haaa sorry Haru I tried! Hopefully we can find something in the next world to help out.

9!

...

-sigh- System help world info.

6! Location Yinxu Xing year 1898

Huh that’s… not a place? The countries have at least stayed relatively the same in each world so far. I wonder whether or not this means it’s going to be a bit different.

...

1!

Main quest: Stop Fathers plans from coming into fruition.

Huh that seems relatively easy? I just have to stop my dad from doing something. But what? Then I feel a jarring stop as a notification pops up just as my sense of self starts to be sucked into the spiraling tube of consciousness.

Removing memories!

Error conflict of skill… memories not able to be removed. Rerouting… initiating separation procedure.

I feel myself splitting… everything torn into pieces separate parts of a whole. I feel something near me like… like I’m not alone in this space. Haru is already there in the mindscape to see the new life be born.

“Looks like you had it a bit rough in the end… I’m sorry again I was not there for you Shimada. Let’s make sure to get it right this time.” He holds out a hand. I shake it… that’s right I’ll never be alone, and neither will the next lives. We might split and be different but we will never be alone. I turn and look at the new form that is starting to be made in the seat of the table. It’s shaped a mass of gray spotted mist parts moving in black others in white but making up a shape that looks to be fluctuating between both me and Haru’s height.

“So, what do I do now?” I turn to Haru.

“Now… we wait. You can go practice in the white space I’ll look over them for now. I don’t want them to be alone when they come out of it. They have to go through all of both of our memories so it may take a bit.” I give him a small nod and start walking out into the white space… I wonder what I’ll find out here. Haru told me it let him see his family again to relive the life he had… can I… can I make some memories that I wanted but never had?

BOOOOM!

My thoughts are interrupted by the crash of an object hurtling into the whitespace at an incredible speed. I jump for cover but quickly realize it’s not needed. The surroundings in the white space aren’t exactly made of any material. Looking around for what happened off in the distance there is a large stone doorway… what they hell is that?