Epilog ~ What Is It Like To Be Eternal?
Final Destination
Hiro’s POV:
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Both of us teleported straight towards the Creators’ Trading Room and a strange darkness welcomed us.
#Adding the Elven Race to your Creation list: 400 000 points.
#Adding the Demon Race to your Creation list: 420 000 points.
#Adding the Beastmen Race to your Creation list: 50 000 points.
Such lines were floating in front of us, but most of them were related to races we knew. “What’s with this? There should be more things. What about True Divine Beasts and such?” I asked, looking at Alice, my brows raised. The only thing that interested me somewhat was the type of Universe we could have.
#Switching Universe Type to Virtual Reality System: 15 000 000 000 points.
#Switching Universe Type to RPG System: 8 000 000 000 points.
#Switching Universe Type to Unique Power System: 10 000 000 000 points.
#Switching Universe Type to Cultivation System(active): 8 000 000 000 points.
#Switching Universe Type to CHI System: 5 000 000 000 points.
#Switching Universe Type to Monster System(Dangerous): 25 000 000 000 points.
The Unique Power System sounded interesting, but the price of the Monster System caught our attention even more. It was way above the average price.
#Monster System: Every living being will turn into a monster. Their intelligence will be equal to that of other intelligent races, but they will kill everything that isn’t a member of their race.
Reading the description, we understood its implications. If we were to switch to this kind of universe, it would be only a question of time before masses of people would group up to eliminate every monster in our Universe. [Actually, it would be quite fun. I mean, everyone would unite to the kill the big bad monsters in our universe! Haha.] Alice thought with a chuckle, spinning in this empty nothingness, her arms widespread.
“Yes, yes. There are a few things here… but not the thing we have been looking for!” I exclaimed, feeling slightly angry with the Abyss.
Looking upward, her hands on her hips, Alice asked, “Could you explain yourself?”
The Abyss’s voice resounded in the next moment, “What? Isn’t it obvious? There are more levels. You will have to unlock each of them!”
Shaking our heads, we breathed out long at the same time. Looking into each other’s eyes, both of us chuckled as we left. We had a lot to do!
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Time slowly slipped through our hands. Hundreds, thousands, millions, billions of years passed by.
“We finally reached this damned floor. Stupid Abyss. It kept us waiting for so long,” Alice mumbled in a low voice, puffing out her cheeks.
“Haha, somebody is just too cute,” I laughed upon seeing her face. “Shall we go?” I asked, looking at the double doors in front of us. It was the door to the last Trading Room.
“Mhm,” she nodded, pushing them open.
But instead of the usual darkness, a gray world appeared in front of us. The ground, the sky, everything was grey. In front of us was an empty plain. In the middle of it were two chairs. I and Alice were sitting in it.
“Took you long enough,” Alice’s mirror image spoke, leaning on her right arm, while my mirror image held her left hand.
“Why would the Abyss take up our shapes, I wonder?” Alice asked, furrowing her brows.
“Oh, it’s fun this way,” her counterpart replied, changing her looks. She had long brown hair and a very similar face to Alice’s. Her body was just as good… “Happy now? This is my original form. Dear, let’s get to the point or they will never understand it. It’s not like they could,” she added, looking at my counterpart with a bright smile on her face.
Breathing out long, my image spoke, “Yeah. As you have learned since becoming creators, the world was nothing but an infinite mass of white and black. When those colors mixed, we, the Abyss were created. We were the first matter and living being. Why or how we came is a mystery for us too, but we gave up on looking for something that we couldn't find.”
“Either way, we have spent so much time with creating new worlds, new creatures, new matters. It was interesting to watch over our creations, but time kills everything. We’ve got bored of it. Time is a finite circle, which rotates infinitely. Why is it finite? It’s because we are intelligent beings. You must have noticed it yourself. You still love Alice, your family. But doesn’t it feel bland?”
“You’ve had wonderful lives. You made a wonderful daughter, she found her half, they had children. Their children had children and the list goes on. Not even Sawolond needs you since your grandchildren can take care of its matters. Isn’t it nice? You have learned everything there is to know. It must feel boring and bland, isn’t it?” he kept questioning us with a stupid smirk on his face. But…
“Yeah. And? What’s your point?” Alice asked, furrowing her brows.
The brown haired girl replied, “Long ago, we helped Gaia to create life in a new type of world. The world without any type of energy. After living for so long, you have experienced the loop hundreds of thousands of times. We helped her because we wanted to see what happens when we break the loop. Since we feel bored of our lives when there is nothing to learn and fight for, we decided to play a little game.”
“We always plan our next lives and then reincarnate. We change people’s fates and life to fit our next life. The thing is, you two are our plans. Now that you have reached us, it’s time for us to disappear and for you to take over this infinite loop of insanity.”
As her words resounded, the world cracked around us. We sat up breathing heavily, our bodies soaked in sweat, and our eyes opened wide. We saw through each other’s eyes as our pupils slowly contracted. Looking around, we were sitting on the top of a mountain. The weather was a bit chilly, but the warm rays of the sun seeped into our bodies, warming us up.
Facing me, she sat on my lap and coiled her arms and legs around my back, burying my face in her bosom. Hugging her, I closed my eyes and relaxed my body. I remembered everything.
My life on the Earth was a way for us to try out what was it like when we broke the loop of time. It was bad. Unlike before, we didn’t find each other, we didn’t enjoy our lives as much as before. The system was something we disliked. Everything was centered around money. Well, it’s not that much different in the outside world either, where everything is focused on strength. But it was still much better.
I didn’t die in my past life. I just remembered my origin when I turned twenty. I and Alice were the Abyss all along. We lived our lives separated from each other on the Earth. It was something we didn’t want to taste ever again. In the past, we filled our lives with more tension and drama, but our current life was something, the me, who wanted an easier life wrote. It’s not that I didn’t know how colourful life was. I just wrote a novel where I and Alice had it easy.
When I remembered my origin, I decided to turn that novel into my next life. We were living our loop-like lives, rarely stopping to think or do something strange, weird, out of place. Because that was the time when we truly lived. When we did what we wanted to do. When we weren’t restricted. When we poured our souls and hearts into the things we were doing. Such was the way of living beings, be they humans, elves, demons...
But was that a problem? Although we were living in a loop, and we were crying because of the pain, the tragedy, but that was what made us feel alive. People had to feel pain, be it in their bodies or hearts. Would it not make you feel as if you were dreaming if you were to live in a perfect world? A world of equality where everyone was happy and worry-free.
We tried building such a world long before, but it felt too unreal. That wasn’t how the world was supposed to be. It was enjoyable for a long time, but still… it turned bland much quicker than a tension-filled life. Like a bowl of soup. A bowl of soup, which has been eaten many times. Daily… Our life was the same now. We lived such a perfect life. I would never complain about it. But such was the tale I wrote in my past life.
We were the Anchor and the Abyss was our home. Our home was where we were. We were the constant time, the constant space, the constant circle of life and death. The Abyss seemed like a cold, and cruel place, but our universe was the same. It was cold and cruel yet warm and cosy at the same time.
We could turn humans and every other race into completely good people to create world peace. But what would become of the universes? We tried it before, but it felt boring, it felt wrong.
It seemed as if everyone would be just a happy machine. The way of life was always just a means to struggle, to learn more.
Our reason to live was none other than to struggle. If we were at the top, knowing everything, and couldn’t do anything with pleasure after experiencing everything so many times, our lives would feel bland. To avoid this, we rather reincarnated every time when we felt that we were starting to get bored of everything. Living was always hard and it was full of the unknown and the mysteries of life, but that was what made it so inviting. That was what captured our hearts. The unknown and the thought that we could know everything and that we could get over others!
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Mortals always wanted to live eternally, to become immortals, they were struggling to reach something they didn’t even know. Why would you want to live eternally? It would be boring. It was enjoyable for a long time but what would you do once you get bored of everything?
You will want to die.
It was interesting how people wanted to live eternally, but they still wanted to die in the end. The creators were clear proofs of this.
We finally understood Aurora’s mission. It was something we gave her, in a way… Our past lives, to be more exact. Aurora was the Queen of Life. People felt happier in her presence.
#The Devourer(Restarts the loop of time): 100 000 000 000 points.
#The Life(The only person who can stop the Devourer): 50 000 000 000 points.
I chuckled upon seeing those lines. [Well, we created the Devourer race and for a creator to activate it… They must be really tired] she thought with a chuckle, thinking of every creator who has been living for billions of years.
“Hey, but there is still Kane to smooth out things. This time we might be stuck here eternally…” I remarked, raising a brow.
Shrugging her shoulders, she said, “That might be the case. We will have to overlook our family in that case. Elena, Aurora, and Kane. Let’s see how your fate intertwines and unfolds. Gray is the colour of balance, Kane.”
“Well, I’d hate to see either of them end up in a tragedy. After all, Elena’s tale isn’t a sad one either,” I chuckled.
Caressing her back, I mumbled with a provocative smile on my face, “You are just so soft. My lust for you will never fade, it seems~”
“Fufu~ we can do it later,” she said, standing up and lying down beside me. Looking at the sun, I held her hand with a smile splattered on my face. The wind gently blew, ruffling our hairs.
“Mh~ this is so peaceful. It’s been a long time,” Alice mumbled with a weak voice, slowly falling asleep.
“Yeah, it’s the same as when I decided to reincarnate. The only difference is that you are beside me once again” I replied, turning to look into her beautiful green eyes. As our eyes met, I leaned closer to kiss her.
Sighing loudly, she said, “Well, let’s see how things turn out in the future. And since I can control anything, we too can play with other people!”
“You sounded terrible… but it’s not like we can do anything else,” I remarked, shaking my head.
“That, and we played with ourselves too much… but I can’t beat myself up for that time when we restricted our own lust!” she exclaimed, holding the sides of her head.
“Haha, yeah. But I can imagine doing the same with our next lives. Which makes me remember, we should make plans and then play around with our next lives! For some reason, it sounds really exciting!” I laughed, having evil thoughts.
“No… you won’t turn me into a Masochist, but I can agree with a somewhat shyer personality That won’t change me too much and you can have your blush…” Alice rebuked me instantly.
“Eh? But I was just kidding. Well, a blushing Alice would be funnier. What about names? How should we call ourselves? Ah, this time let’s grow up in a family,” I advised, feeling Alice’s agreement with me.
“Alright…” she replied, and our planning continued on. We wrote our own tales because we had the power.
When we finished, we hugged each other and closed our eyes. Sighing loudly, I thought, That’s why you can’t escape death. By others’ hands or by your own hands it’s still going to reach you.
This is Eternity. We are Eternal. We have always been Eternal but that’s a false truth. After reaching a point it becomes hollow and boring. What can you do when you know everything? When you can’t enjoy anything anymore? When you get bored of living?
This is the reason why we reincarnate after every few millions of years. We always keep our personalities because that is what defines who we are! It might slightly change each time we live a new life, but it’s mostly the same.
We have lived countless lives, but the final destination was always the same. Death. For one reason or the other, you can’t live eternally. But death is never the final destination. Contradictory, isn’t it?
Every time we live a new life we delete our memories and leave only our personalities. We also define the path of the people around us, who are going to be our ‘enemies’ or ‘friends’.
In the end, all of these lives are just big programs. What is behind this insanity of a loop of lives you ask? What happens when you break this loop and deja vu? That you are going to be sad and suffer. There is nothing beyond the loop. You can’t escape the infinite swirling circle of life and death. Being Eternal doesn’t mean that you live forever. It means that you can hold onto yourself forever. No matter how much time passes by, we are always us and I’m always me.
We rule over everything. Everything is a part of us. It doesn’t matter if you have your universe or if you are a normal cultivator. We know your feelings, your thoughts, your life, your past, your future, your now. We can change anything we wish because all of you are us; are me.
It doesn’t matter what is your colour because, in the end, black and white become a colourful grey…
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In a far, far away galaxy, there lies an academy. In its basement is a dark secret only the director knows. Is she the person Aurora and her friends are seeking? Where is Elena? What will Hiro and Alice do as the new ‘Abyss’? What choices will Elena take, as the Queen of Devouring? Aurora’s mission is quite clear. But what is Kane’s mission? Why was he born?
That’s something only Eternity knows, for it is nothing but a chance to hold onto yourself through numerous lives. Memories and lives come and go, but there is only one couple that is eternal.
Alice and Hiro!
------ The End ------
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------ Continuation ------
Hello, dear readers. This is probably my last post on this novel. Every good thing comes to an end... or does it? Tongue [https://forum.royalroadl.com/images/smilies/tongue.png]
Please read this short note. After about 700k words, I don't think that this will be hard for you. Hehe.
I know that most of you won't read this, but anyway, check out my new novel: Queen of Devouring>>> http://royalroadl.com/fiction/11777/queen-of-devouring
Everything that was left open will be explained in QoD. These two are connected, after all. The first eight or so chapters are a bit rough since I had to get into writing in 3rd pov, but I'm pretty sure that grammar gets better later on. If you liked the novel, I would appreciate a good rating/review. It boosts my morale to write more, but it's up to you, after all.
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Afterword ~ Corpse Dead
It took seven months and one day for me to finish this novel. I started writing it on the 9th of July and finished it today, meaning 2017.08.10. It was a really long road. The start was really rough since I had to learn how to write. To be honest, I'm nowhere near satisfied with the grammar, characterization, etc. of this novel, but it's good as it is.
This was my first work. This is something that was not only a novel I wrote. I was writing about myself, my ideas, etc. I don't know if you liked the ending or not, but it was planned this way from the very beginning. It replied to the title. It was but a tiny shout, a drop in this huge ocean. I learned a lot about writing since starting, but the problem was that I couldn't implement it. I realized that my characters should make their own choices, I learned how to create a whole arc for them, just to have a backstory, etc. Writing in First Person POV was really hard, but I got used to it.
Why did I not implement what I learned in the meantime? Simple, it wouldn't have fit the story. But I can do all those in Queen of Devouring. You will see Aurora more in it, how she and Kane take on Elena and Dred and her friends. What will be the end of that single thread, that was left open in WIILTBE? That's all something that will be a part of QoD.
It was a few days after the new year when I felt really bored when I came home from school. I had this idea for a long time and on a fated day, I decided to write a prologue for myself, a few chapters, just for the lolz. I still remember how I wrote 17 chapters in 9 days. Yep. 17x 4-8k words in 9 days...
But I had a problem. I always had parts where I felt like... It would be good to ask somebody about how to continue with this part. Should I do this or that? How should I call that new race? It sounds lame... But I had a problem. I knew that if I was to post the novel, I'd finish it, which would take months. I knew that I wouldn't have the time to just take it easy and play and laze around, thanks to my personality.
Well, I still posted it since I was curious about how people would react, mostly to the prologue. I knew that OPness was a thing here, but that was never the point of this novel. I like such things too, I am a pervert so fantasizing was also fulfilled through 17 ero chapters... XD Either way, I made the prologue so that it would turn around many and drag in only a kind of personality type. The kind that can read and feel. The kind that can connect emotionally with characters. Most of you probably don't like the tragedy genre for the same reason. Gritted teeth? It's usually a sign of being depressed, burned out, stressed out. I wanted all of you to come on a ride with me and take it easy.
But the novel was full of underlying meanings. Those monologues I wrote were all a part of me. Something you probably knew. I always laughed when I saw reviews like 'the author is a poor writer and keeps saying things like you will understand if you continue reading'. No, they won't since they weren't the kind of people this novel was meant to. I know that I could have written something better from the perspective of the story. Something that would have been filled with tension and other such things. Better ero scenes. But that too was a question of my mood. Sometimes I was in the mood to be more realistic, whilst at other times, I felt the need to be more hentaish... XDD
Simply, I didn't want to write such a novel. There were polls, questions, chances for suggestions, but this always was and will be my novel. People can hate it, hate me for it, some of them seem to do it lol, but it will never change the fact, that this went the way I wanted it.
My words for some of you depressed people out there. Are you a walking Corpse too? Do you not find joy in living? Do you feel Dead inside? But life is still full of fun. You just have to find what you like in it. Nothing? Close your eyes and look for the answer in yourself. It will be there. It took me about 18-19 years to find it and now I enjoy writing and learning to code. I'm a wannabe developer... XD
A final big thanks to all of my Patrons, who supported me all this time, and to those who decided to spend their time with editing. I know that there were still mistakes, but you can't notice everything, can you? I'll revise this novel and post it on Amazon in the future, with a better grammar. It surely won't be perfect, but meh, it should be much better than this. XD
So thanks to Patrons, even if just for 1 month or keeping it up even now, when I'm piling up chapters for QoD.
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Jake Hughes (Became an online friend too. I know his past, he knows mine.) |
BlackStarLIne (Helped to edit too after 100+ We keep meeting on Discord every day, which I'm happy to see. Another friend. :3) |
Saleh Salehi Nezhad |
Bio Shout (My first patron!) |
Azoth Viz | William |
Mitchel Van Dorst |
David Salter (Another Discord visitor. Although mysterious, but we get along well. Don't kick me later. >.< ) |
Tom Seligmüller (Thanks for those bunches of likes and comments you did. I really appreciated all of them, not to mention your review. Really thanks again.) |
Peaceang Goreng |
Dylan Drouin (I don't know much about you, but you might be very young. Either way, I thank you for being one of my first patrons.) |
Crushow |
Azorath1234 (I know ya boy! Helped editing around 60-100. I thank you for your work. Doing 4k / every 2nd day is more tiring that readers might think. Even if it is editing.)
The Buster ( I thank you for letting me post this on your Wordpress site. It got me a bunch of readers. *Salute*)
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Check out Queen of Devouring if you want to continue your road with me.
Cya guys on Saturday/Sunday.
Tom/Thomas, (for English name. Tongue [https://forum.royalroadl.com/images/smilies/tongue.png])