"So. Signing is dying, right?"
The skeleton simply looked at John with a staunch glare on it's face.
"If it is dying them signing again would bassically be the same as dying again. But how could I have died before?" Dude tapped his fingers into his lips in contemplation.
"The only thing I can think of is reincarnation. That's the most logical way that I think it could be possible to die multiple times." Said, Dude.
"Stop Nathan. You're going down a dangerous path."
Dude glared at the Skeleton. The hate shimming in his eyes was almost lethal.
"DON'T YOU EVEN CALL ME BY THAT NAME!"
"SIGN THE GODAMMN PAPER, AND I WON'T HAVE TO!" The skeleton screamed so loud that it almost sounded like it's nonexistent vocal cords had snapped.
"I WON'T FUCKING SIGN THE PAPER UNTIL YOU TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK YOU MEANT BY AGAIN!" Bellowed Dude in response.
"I WON'T TELL YOU THAT NATHAN! IT DOESN'T MATTER TO YOU!" This time the skeleton screamed so loud that the library itself shook.
"IT DOES! I CAN FEEL IT IN MY... IN MY ME!" Screamed Dude.
"Well. I can't tell you." Said the skeleton.
The look of irate rage on Dude's face calmed at the sound of the skeleton's suddenly calm voice.
Well…. I can't tell you.
Not I can't help you.
Dude knew what that meant.
"Well then could you at least help me find an answer?" Asked Dude.
"Read it. That's all I can say."
There was only one book in this Libary.
So Dude knew exactly what to do.
Dude put his pen down on the table and grabbed the book from that very same table. Dude opened the book and flipped to the first page. While the skeletion waited patiently Dude read.
It was a massive tome. It was so long that Dude was surprised that it even managed to be cohesive at all.
The story was about villains. Specifically about the second-rate kind. The one's that were made just to be killed by the main character. The ones that had no life. No will of their own. Their overarching story only consists of conflict and death.
The story wasn't one long plot but a collection of thousands of short stories. At the end of each short story, there was the same name signed in the same blocky script.
NATHANIAL
Over and over, this name was written. Dude had read it more times than he could count. It was a name that he had forsworn. A name that he had banished from this world. And yet here it was at the end of every story.
But Dude was strong. So he pushed through the anger and read on.
It grew boring after the tenth time.
It was the same idea expressed over and over again.
Villian comes along. Villian meets Hero. Villian betrayes Hero. Hero kills Villian.
Over and over, this repeated.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
As Dude read these stories, they began to feel more and more like memories.
It was only when he turned the last page. Reached the very end of the Final tale. It was only then that he realized.
They are memories.
CRACK!
Reality almost seemed to split around John. The world warped and the book below John began to split into pieces.
It had been a facade all along.
Rather than a book that looked about a hundred pages that possessed one hundred thousand pages, there was a library. All the shelves were filled with books. The Dude had read every one.
Dude looked down at himself. Something had changed.
Rather than being a collection of flesh and bones like most people, he was thousands of spinning orbs. Each orb contained the exact same narrative.
The second rate Vlillian.
CLICK
But that strange body was only temporary. Every few moments He would switch between his collection of souls to his fleshy human body.
Something else is also different.
Dude looked up a the skeleton. Where there was once a skeleton there was now a Warrior woman.
She had her head shaved bald and was completely nude She had her arm crossed around her brests which pushed them into her chest.
There was a deep scowl on her scar-covered face.
"I've been around since the sun wet the bed, haven't I?" Asked Dude.
The woman could only nod.
"Yup. You were one of the first. What was your first name? I can't remember if it was either Canio or capace. Regardless you were one of those two." Said the woman.
Dude could only smile.
"I think It was Canio." He said.
The woman only sighed in response.
"Could you just sign again? I signed up for this world because I thought the workload would be small. But that fucking sky fish interfered. It's so fucking annoying. So if you don't sign soon. I'll take my anger out on you. And You Can't Die here." Said the woman.
Dude picked up the pin. For a moment, he moved to sign it. Then he paused.
"Tell me. Do you like Chaos?" Asked Dude.
"No. It makes more work for me."
Dude simply smiled in response.
"Well, I like it. In fact. I get rewarded for doing chaotic things."
The woman's face grew deathly pale.
"WAIT! NO!"
In this instance that Dude's body flickered to the flesh. Dude stabbed his pen through the bottom of the chin and up into the brain.
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|}
A blue screen expressing pure madness appeared in front of Dude. Another notification then followed that screen.
{Sufficent Insanity points gained. Race change granted: New race: Ultra Zombie.}