Unknown time had passed when Aurri opened his eyes

"I… survived?" he muttered and found he could not see. It was dark no matter what direction he turned his head towards.

Shit! People can go blind from being shot!? Aurri panicked.

"No!" a sudden voice rebuked him.

"Huh?" Aurri turned towards the source of the voice- just darkness again before bam, a figure appeared, startling Aurri.

"Who!?"

"Ah, sorry for suddenly shouting." the figure apologized. Still, its voice didn't carry a tint of apology, "My name is not important. Aurri Waldt, you died."

"Huh…"

There was a bomb dropped with no warning. Yet, Aurri was a bit expecting this.

"Hm?" the figure tilted its head, "That's all?" asked his lack of reaction. The figure is clearly dissatisfied.

Aurri scratched his head, "I got shot and lost a lot of blood. I would be more shocked if I didn't die."

"Ah, okay," the figure nodded in understanding, "this is a bit awkward, but usually, people don't die."

"...? Okay..." Aurri was speechless with the contradiction, not getting the figure's point.

People don't die? What does that even mean? Am I not a person?

Also, now that Aurri's back to his sense, he wonders if he's dreaming. Earlier, it felt like he was still half asleep. Now, his thoughts began to wander.

What a very realistic dream. So, since this is not a dream, I'm actually alive?

Aurri is not religious, but he's familiar with the concept of the afterlife. Meanwhile, this place didn't seem to be either heaven nor hell. But what does he know? This may be just a dream as well, Aurri hoped.

"This is not a dream."

Eh? Did I say that out loud?

"No, you didn't. Anyway, you have to listen. Although it wouldn't matter if you understand or not but it's unfair for you not to know." after confounding Aurri, the figure just went straight to the point. With a wave of its hand, the scenery immediately changed with a flash which frightened Aurri.

Looking around, it was as if he was inside a mirror room, infinitely reflecting one another. However, the thing that reflects each reflection is a bubble containing something familiar.

They look like they're galaxies… Aurri gazed with astonishment. He had gone stargazing before, but the starry night sky couldn't compare to how grand and beautiful he was seeing right now.

"They're not galaxies but rather, they're the multiverse." the figure explained, "Humans could only theorize about them, not knowing they are real."

"Multiverse…" Aurri bewildered.

"You don't have a physical body. Instead, the state you're in right now is your true form, your soul."

When Aurri heard this, he looked down at his body and raised his hands. Although he could feel his body, he couldn't see it, making him panic. The feeling of having your body disappear is simply terrifying.

But soon, Aurri calmed down. There was the vast multiverse around him. This was more shocking.

"Every human has a soul. In your universe, a person dies each second that passes, but those people who died didn't know they died. Instead, their soul jumped to another universe before their death. Surely, you have experienced a situation where you swore you could've died but miraculously, you survived? Well, the truth is, you did die, but not your soul. It just jumped to a different body."

Aurri frowned and thought deeply. He understood what the figure said.

In other words, people are supposed to be immortal…?

"Correct! You should be immortal. However, by some stroke of luck, or in your case, bad luck, you died."

"Then… what happens to me now?"

If this is not a dream, then this could only be reality. Since I'm still conscious but could not go back… wait.

Realization struck Aurri as the dread of existence dawned upon him. If this is all true, then what's the point of existing? Recounting all the memories about the time he should've died just like the figure describes, that's how many times he jumped from one universe to another at the very bare minimum. In other words, are his friends really his friends?

Is Olly the same as the previous universe's Olly? What about Zara? Jason? Rae? Charles?

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Aurri's thoughts spiraled down as he became more depressed the more he thought about this. When his parents passed away when he was still young, the only ones who supported him were his friends.

The times he spent together with them were his most precious memories. If those memories could just be washed away, then—

"Oh, don't be so depressed. It's much much much MUCH more complicated than that. You can rest assured. Even though there are infinite universes in the multiverse, you only have one soul." the figure comforted Aurri.

Upon hearing this, even if it was a lie, Aurri accepted it as his chest lightened with relief. After all, when he was still alive, was there any point where his friends became different?

"I see… thanks."

"Since you understand, let's talk about your future," the figure nodded in satisfaction, "Earlier, I said you died. By 'died,' I meant that all your bodies in all multiverse had died, so you can't jump to any of them."

"What happened...? Isn't the multiverse infinite? Shouldn't there be at least one where I'm alive?" Aurri asked.

"If only that's the case. However, the one who killed you is possessed by a Demon. The goal of these fierce creatures is to steal the body of beings in other universes to strengthen themselves. There are only a few of them, and only the strongest could reach other universes. Since there's an infinite multiverse and also an infinite universe in each multiverse, your chances of encountering a strong Demon are practically zero. Yet, you did!"

Aurri raised his eyebrows in disbelief. From all the people, he was targeted? What luck!

So, that's why that Brad is incredibly annoying. He's been possessed by a demon! Whenever he saw Brad's face, he had a great urge to punch that smug ugly face; it was as if some mystical force was making him feel so.

"Wait… does that mean Olly and the others will also be killed by that Demon?"

"Ah, no, no matter how strong a Demon is, they could only possess a body for a short period. After achieving their goal, they would leave." the figure continued, "Brad is just innately annoying."

"Oh…", Aurri nodded in understanding and agreement.

"Regarding the Demon, we have restrained and stopped it halfway from collecting all your bodies upon death. However, we could only save some, though some from an infinite are still infinite. It would take us more time to completely apprehend the Demon so that you could finally return to your body. You can return to the exact time before you are supposed to die."

Hearing this, Aurri sighed in relief.

"That's great to hear. So how long do I have to wait?" he excitedly asked.

"Haha, in no time! Just a few hypereons, that's all." the figure laughed.

"Haha" Aurri laughed as well before suddenly asking, "Excuse me, but how long are these 'hyporeyons'?"

"Oh, not 'hyporeyons' but hy-per-e-ons," the figure said each syllable clearly, "You should know what's an eon, right?"

"Eon…," Aurri's smile became stiff, "it's something like an era, right?"

"Correct, but to be exact, one billion years. Meanwhile, longer than that, tens of billion years-"

"So a hypereon is ten billion years long!?" Aurri raised his voice from shock.

"No, that's a supereon. Hypereon is longer than that."

"O-one hundred billion years?" just hearing his own words made Aurri dizzy.

"That's an ultraeon. A hypereon is around a trillion years."

Aurri's jaw dropped.

A trillion years, that's basically forever!

"No, it's not! It's like a blink of an eye." the figure greatly disagreed, but Aurri was absolutely in doubt and asked-

"How old are you?"

"Wow, what a rude kid. I'm only seventeen." the figure sounded offended.

"Seventeen… what?"

"Seventeen…" the figure paused, its confidence waning, and quickly muttered, "ten to the power of seventeen."

"That's not seventeen at all! You even used scientific notation! That's seventeen digits long! I bet you don't even know the first four digits of your age!"

"... I know I'm old already…" the figure's voice suddenly toned down, "... you don't have to say it in front of my face."

"A-ah, sorry," Aurri suddenly felt guilty before becoming confused.

Wait, why am I even guilty?

But assuming this figure is telling the truth, compared to its age, a trillion years may even be shorter than a blink of an eye. They do say that the older you are, the faster time passes.

However, how old was Aurri? He just recently turned seventeen himself! He is the true seventeen between the two! A trillion years is a trillion years for him!

"Alright, alright, since you 'sincerely' apologized, I'll let it slide," the figure moved on, "if that's too long for you, then we have other options. The first option is that I'll let you sleep. For you, it will be an instant before you return to your body."

"Oh! If that's possible, then-"

"Wait, I'm still not finished. If only it was so easy, I could've just let you sleep when you died. There was no need for me to talk to you like this. There's a problem if you sleep. Currently, we only have the Demon restrained. If you sleep, you will enter a vulnerable state. As you know, your soul is just one; thus, the link to all your bodies decreases. Although it would benefit you, it would benefit the Demon more."

Aurri sighed upon hearing this. His bodies right now we're feeding the Demon. Aurri had always been fearless and took all kinds of risks; however, multiverse, souls, demons…. Does he have any power here?

Being fearless doesn't mean being stupid. He wouldn't risk something he didn't have any control over.

"As of now, the Demon only has a hold most of your bodies. It does not have any control over them yet. That's why you need to be conscious. Fortunately, we still have two more options." the figure said.

Aurri focused on listening to these two options.

"The second option is that I will manipulate your perception of time. Truthfully, this is what I intend to do from the start. If you're awake for a hypereon, you will turn insane with the flow of time. You're still not ready yet; that's why I will make your consciousness slower. In your perspective, time is passing by so fast, but in reality, it is just your mind processing it so slowly. One hypereon would only feel like a few years to you. Don't worry. I'll constantly visit you so that you'll not get bored."

Aurri found it logical. Even on the physical world, Earth, this is possible with human cognition. However, it is far from making a trillion years feel like just a few years.

But there should be side effects to this, right?

"Correct," the figure replied to Aurri's thoughts. At this point, Aurri was no longer surprised, "Since I'll make your mind slower, it would mean that your consciousness would become weaker. Although not as defenseless as sleeping, it'll still become significantly weaker. But do not worry, the Demons are within our responsibility in the first place, so we'll spare no effort in not making them succeed!"

Towards the figure's admirable stance, Aurri felt a sense of security.

"What about the last option?" Aurri asked. Although the second option seemed good and was even recommended by the figure, he still wants to hear all his options.

"Hm, this last option is the safest or most dangerous depending on how you act."

"What is it?" this greatly piqued Aurri's curiosity.

"The third option is that you will temporarily live a life within an entirely different multiverse. In other words, you will be reincarnated."