《[Hiatus, but this is my favorite, wait for it] Realithia Collection》 Prologue - A glimpse of what is to come! I''m currently inside an enclosed space. A white room with no exit. Strangely, it isn''t dark but there are no light sources. On the thick round table in the middle of the room with me on one side, there''s a girl sitting right across in front of me. I had already spoken with her earlier and I had learned about my surprising circumstances afterwards. The girl named Rea stood up and approached me to the side. With a grin clearly displayed on her face, she handed over something to me. Upon seeing the strange object being handed to me, I hesitantly accepted it. "...Hey, Miss Rea. What is this thing?" "It''s a book. I''m testing something so try opening it, ''kay~?" A book, huh? I try to examine the object sized like my own fist. I held it with my right hand. Shaped like a cube, painted black all over without a single line or crack except for an out of place red, white and green dots on one side, heavier than it looks, metallic texture. No matter how I look around it, this thing is not a book nor is it going to open up. My right wrist is hurting. I think this thing is heavier than gold if both are compared in the same size and shape. It feels like my palm is getting slashed with sharp blades when I hold it too. But since Miss Rea said to try and open it, it should be possible to open. The problem is how... I should try aski-- "-Is something wrong? You''ve been silent for a while now." "Huh? Ahh! By the way, how am I supposed to open it?" "Simple. See that red dot on one side of the book? Focus your gaze on it and imagine getting your soul sucked into it." Did I just hear something dangerous? No, I''ll just have to trust her. "...Sounds scary, but I''ll give it a try. What does this white dot do?" "I''ll tell you about that later." "And what does this green dot do?" "Actually... I don''t know. It just appeared there when that guy went inside it and now I can''t go in it anymore but I can still read it." "Change? Go inside? Read?" "You''ll know what I''m talking about when you try opening it." I found the red dot and focused on it just like what Rea said. I hope this isn''t some sort of tool that could have my thoughts trapped into this strange cube... Well, it''s Rea so anything could happen. I feel like my whole body is being sucked into the cube and....... <<<<<>>>>> <<<<<>>>>> Prologue Alpha - The Origin I saw a world where there is peace after many wars. There is no sickness, no conflict, no jealousy and hatred. The concept of "death" literally does not exist on this world. Everyone is enjoying their lives peacefully. The humans in this world had already achieved the peak of science. They explored the entirety of the universe and discovered that humans are alone. But mysteriously, they also reached the limit of humans that are allowed to exist. No matter how they tried, they cannot create another human being. Be it by Natural creation or by Scientific such as Cloning or the like. No one can explain it, not even with science. It was like it was the will of the universe. This solved the problem of overpopulation but problems arise as they just ignored it. A man from another dimension came and killed a human from this world with an unexplainable method. A feat in which they thought was impossible, seeing that even being sucked into a black hole cannot kill them. They were once again reminded of how harsh reality was. They also realized that it is now possible to create another human. ========= Prologue Beta - A Glimpse into the future This time, I saw a different world. It''s like a fantasy world where swords and magic exist. A man was on his way home. He just finished a dangerous mission. Upon entering his home, he discovered that all of his loved ones has been killed in horrible ways. What he didn''t realize was that the killer was still there, just waiting for him. He he turned around after he felt a presence behind him. With its monstrous look, filled with sounds of machinery coming from inside, what greeted him was.... ......... ..... ... . Now the scene is back to the previous Sci-fi world. "Aaaaaaaahh!!" The boy shouted. He had a nightmare. He told his parents about it and went back to sleep. Not knowing that what he just saw is what will happen to him in the future. The scenery changed. Inside a certain research facility. There is a child. A young girl, locked up inside a glass cage. Hmm, she looks familiar. Her eyes were blank, seemingly staring into nothingness. She was the clone of the man from another dimension. How they got his DNA is a real mystery. The researchers taught her lots of things and morals, while at the same time studying her. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. She and the Boy who had a nightmare were the only children currently existing in this world. But they were one human too many. It triggered a disaster. And then... I saw the life of the boy up till his final moments. [Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, epilogue] In the end, he couldn''t prevent the tragedy which he had a dream about. .....and I have seen everything in his life. I feel like my body is going up. <<<<>>>> <<<<>>>> "It worked! Safe to use for others, check!" ......I''m back to reality and I''m standing in front of the girl called Rea while still holding the cube in the palm of my right hand. What just happened...? I think I just heard Rea''s voice earlier. Oh... Ah... I remember now... I saw this universe where people don''t die, I also saw the journey of a boy, also that end where he went home and... wait a minute. Now that I think about it, have I seen Rea somewhere before? With a dumb look on my face, I asked Rea who was curiously looking at me like a child who saw candy for the first time. "Rea, how much time did pass while I was in there?" "..." Oh, right. I forgot my manners. She doesn''t like being called by her name without a "miss". "Um... Miss Rea, how long was I gone?" "*smile* *smile* Five seconds. Did you enjoy it?" Said Rea with a smile on her face that says "So cool, isn''t it?" which she would have probably said if she was currently speaking with a child. Due to my current state of confusion I just replied, "...Oh, okay." "Really... What kind of reaction was that?" She took the cube from my hand. Her smiling face was instantly replaced with a poker face. I think I hurt her feelings. Ahh, you want me to act surprised? She then continued, "Never mind. So, what do you think?" "Except for the way the book functions, something seemed out of place in the story. Specifically, it''s near the ending." "Yes, you''re right. But I can''t seem to put my finger in it. I know it''s there but I just don''t know what it is..." "..." "I got this really strange feeling that something was wrong." "Hey Miss Rea, you know..." "What do you think?" "I think it was so obvious what was wrong." "Never mind the sci-fi beginning, why was there an unexplainable magical monster of science at the end?" "Ohhh! You''re right!" After she said that in a sarcastic tone, I got the feeling that she was just pretending to be retarded. "That was common sense! There isn''t supposed to be that kind of monster anywhere in the story at all because those scientific BS was only available in the boy''s old world!" "Okay~! You pass! Next we will try to see if you can go inside the book for real this time!" "Huh?"(me) Huh? What did she say? "Huh?"(me) "Huh?" "...Please don''t do that."(me) "Please don''t do that." "...Really." "*smile*" For just a moment, I felt an urge to punch her face. "........" "I''m sorry! I just wanted to tease you a bit. *smile*" "...Okay. Tell me about this ''going inside the book'' thing." She pointed at the white dot on the cube she was holding. "It''s what this white dot does. Like an edit button or in this case, edit dot. You can freely go inside the world and time period the book takes place in. It''s also possible to make changes in the story." "And what about the green one?" "I don''t know. Nothing happens when I try it." "So you want me to go inside and experience the hellish place to do things that will change the story, is that it?" "Yes!" After carefully analyzing all the details, with the power of my ultra genius(not really) brain, I came up with a suitable reply for the girl speaking with me. And my reply is, "Thank you for all of your kindness and goodbye, please send me back home." "No!" "But why would you want to change the story!? Just leave it be! It''s not like it bothers you, right? Besides, you originally wanted my sister to go to that violent place! What if she was captured and had this and that done to her... No, I guess that''s not possible anymore." "What about our deal? Well it''s not like you could go home without completing it anyway." She''s right. I shouldn''t have been rash with my decisions. Not that I have any choice at that time anyway. I have no regrets. "Yeah, yeah. I know. I''ll do it. But is such a thing really possible?" "Yes! Trust me, you can get your sister back!" Suddenly, I remembered all the events that lead up to my current situation. Chapter One - Preparations for the beginning of a journey "What... the... hell?" From a distance of 1 meter, I slowly approached her and stopped just a feet away as I muttered those words. We just saw each other on our way home together and chatted for a bit when it happened. Faced with this hellish scene, those were the only words I could say. We are in the middle of a highway and an accident was going on which stopped the cars. Needless to say, she was the cause of it. Me, who was safe and sound because I was pushed away by the other person in time, and the other person who is all bloodied and screaming in pain right now, regretting the fact that she saved me when it could have been me in her place. My younger sister. "Aaaarrgggghhh!!! U- u-aaaaaAAaaAAA!!! Help! Help! Ahh! Aaah!" I hear her screams of pain and cries for help. No matter how I see it, she is beyond saving. With her stomach trapped and crushed between the truck''s tires and the asphalt, she could only scream in agony and wait for her inevitable demise while even those people who noticed and approached us had already realized and accepted the horrible truth. Others began taking out their phones and cameras then started taking photos and recording videos. I don''t even have the energy to tell them to stop anymore. I could still see her lower body still slightly attached to her torso. "AaaaauuuaAAAaauughhhh!!! Help! Ow! Ow! A-aaaaH!!! Ihatethis!" Pound and pound and pound, she pounded the heavy, hard tire repeatedly as if it would move eventually if she tried hard enough. She kept struggling to get herself away from the tire holding her down on that spot. Even thought it''s impossible for her to get out. Even though that if by chance she did get out, it would be because she was already torn in half and would die due to blood loss later. Even though she will die eventually, why must she keep trying hard like that? Please stop it. Just die peacefully. I can''t bare to watch you suffer anymore... Even when in fact, here I am, just calmly watching my sister slowly die a painful death. Well, it''s not like I can do anything about it anyway. Wait. Why am I so calm? Ah, it must be because of the relief. That''s right. I was happy that it wasn''t me going through that right now. Disgusting, really. Even though it''s my own sister, why am I feeling a sense of relief? Huh? Why do I feel something on my cheeks? Oh, so I was crying after all. That''s better. I should just silently cry as I watch my sister flail around wildly in pain. I noticed she stopped screaming and her movements are slowly weakening. She''s still trying to pound the tire, yet doing it with lesser strength this time. Ah, she must be at her limits. She will die any time now. I should at least say something to her. "Hey..." She ignored me, but she stopped pounding the tire and then took something out of her skirt''s pocket. "This... no luck... but maybe... just hope." She kept holding onto the object in her hand, not letting go of it even for a bit. "Hey." She reacted this time. Our gazes met. What should I say to her now? I guess I should start by apologizing. "Sorry." "...Bro.." Now what? I can''t think if anything else to say anymore. "B...Brothe-r...?" She spoke to me. Her voice sounded weak though. It''s clear that by just speaking, she''s already suffering even more. "Yes. I''m here." "I. Hate..." "Yes, yes. It will be over soon." She probably wants to say how she hates the pain. She always hated pain so much that she can''t even stand shots from syringes. "You... Hate you....................." "Ah." ".............." She''s not moving anymore. "Nice last words. But still..." Well, that was only natural, I think. I would''ve said the same thing to her at my last moment if it was me who saved her instead. "Really... Nobody expected her to die this young." I said that to no one in particular. I recall what happened a earlier. I am 3 years older than her so I was already working. After I finished work, I headed straight home when we happened to see each other. We stopped in our tracks, just near the highway and chatted for a few minutes. She told me something about this weird run-away bride who gave her a lucky charm, but that''s not important right now. If only we kept moving at that time, this wouldn''t have happened. While we were talking with each other earlier, a truck suddenly lost its control and was on its way to ram both of us but my sister managed to push me away while she didn''t have the chance to get off her spot. I glanced one last time on my sister''s corpse. Still wearing her school uniform, her motionless, blank and dead eyes were staring at me. Hmm? She has something in her hand. I took it from her hand and examined it. It''s a small white cube measuring half and inch from all sides. This must be important for her to hold on to it till the end. So I''ll keep it as a remembrance. I put the cube into my pocket and turned away from the nightmarish scene. My tears were still flowing non-stop. I also hear the sirens slowly becoming louder and louder. Looks like help didn''t arrive on time. Not that they can do anything even if they were early anyway. In the end, I was still feeling happy that it wasn''t me who died. Happiness over sadness. "What a pathetic person..." I said that to my self. I started walking towards home since it''s not really that far. What good would it do to keep looking at the corpse of my sister anyway? Since my whole family lives under one roof, Mom and Dad must be waiting for us back home right now. Ahh... How should I say this to my parents? Hi mom and dad, my sister just died and I watched it all happen from start to finish without doing anything. No, I would be the next to die if I did that. And while thinking that, I arrived on the front door of my house. Thump. Thump. Thump. I can feel my heart is beating loudly. The pressure is killing me. I slowly reach for the door''s handle... No! I''m not ready yet. I wiped the tears on my face with my dry hands to make sure they don''t notice that I was crying. They wont... maybe. I took the cube from earlier out of my pocket and looked at it again. Doing so made me remember my sister. Alright! I''m ready now. With the cube clenched on my left hand, I opened the door with my free hand and then tried to enter. What greeted me was... ...a white room very different from the inside of the house that I was familiar with. The room has four sides and is not small but not very big either. When I looked back, the door was gone. I looked around and there''s a thick round table and three chairs yet everything was white. There were no windows or doors, yet it felt like air was breezing. But... When I tried to get out, I can''t find any exit and the walls are pretty solid. Not even slamming on the wall helps. It''s like the wall is made out of very thick concrete. This is too unnatural. There is no sign of anyone and I am now trapped inside this room. Oh no. This must be my punishment! "Let me out of heeeeere!" I shouted at the top of my lungs and yet there was no answer. But then suddenly... ======== A Certain Girl''s Point of View ======== After going inside this book, in other words "travel to this world", I did some preparations and then went to do what I had to do. I convinced the girl in the uniform that this "key" is a lucky charm and forcibly gave it to her since it was important that she receives it. After successfully giving her the "key", I turned around and started walking away. "How cute! Thanks for this. May I know your name, Miss?" Miss? She called me "Miss"? Uhehehe. That word brings back memories... In any case, she asked me politely so I should answer properly. Smile, check. Elegance, check. Approachable and caring attitude, check. While carefully calculating my movements, I slowly turned around and did my best to look majestic as I replied. It''s a necessity since we would be working together in the future anyway. I''ll just call this a little investment. I hope I will leave a good impression on her. "You can call me Rea. Miss Rea." "E-er, yes. Thanks for this, Miss Rea!" "*smile* Bye." I then turned around very slowly after I said that. Good! It makes me look more elegant! But... I think she was a bit startled back there. Did I overdo it? Maybe I should have just turned around normally. I started walking again. ".....Eeh. Ah! Yes, see ya.......... What a weird girl." What a delayed reaction. And did I just hear something bad? Never mind that. I think it was my fault anyway. After walking for some time, I reached a huge building with lots of people going in and out. I think this is what they call a Department Store? "Now then, what should I do now?" I said that to no one in particular but I think I spoke my mind out too loud. The bystanders are giving me strange looks. Please don''t look at me like that. It''s making me uncomfortable. Oh, maybe it''s because of what I''m wearing. Do I stand out too much with this dress I''m wearing? Well, it kind of looks like a wedding gown here in this world though. Should I buy some new clothes? I should have considered the clothes before coming to this world... Not that I''m staying here for long anyway. Or maybe not. Or should I? No? Yes? Ah, I can''t decide! ".....?" Oh? I spaced out. More people are staring at me right now. "...Whatever. I''ll just see what''s inside." I walked inside the huge building. When I went in, I was surprised to see so many different stores inside. There are lots of of stores. They got food, cloths, gems and other stuff that I''ve only encountered in this world. But more importantly, food! Though my body doesn''t need to eat, it doesn''t necessarily mean that I can''t enjoy eating. Doing so would make me need to excrete the food after sometime though, so I try to not eat too much. Well, it''s not too bad if it''s only once in a while. Different worlds mean there''s lots of different food so I can enjoy myself from time to time, and now is one of those times. With lots of money that I gained from doing some of my "preparations" before meeting the girl, I freed myself from restraint and bought lots of food from different places inside the building. I ate and occasionally went to the toilet, never minding the strange looks that I attracted. So much time has passed, a few hours maybe? But I didn''t notice it until I ran out of money. "Awe~ Too bad. Well, time for me to... time?" I checked the clock displayed on a wall nearby. It displayed 7:34PM. Oh no. I forgot about the time! It''s been a while since I gave her the "key". She must be so scared and lonely right now! I dashed off outside the building which in turn attracted even more attention but I kept running towards my destination. My destination is the girl''s house. It''s not far away so I should be able to go there quickly by running. Since the vicinity within the girl''s house is my starting location, the "key" should activate anywhere near that spot. That means she should be inside the "Observation Space" right now. I kept running while remembering what happened when I first went into this world, 12 hours ago. Around the time when I just arrived in this world, I walked around a bit and I had already spotted a robbery going on so I tried to sabotage it, taking with me all the very little money those robbers earned. This is just one of those preparations. I also did some modifications to a certain truck to ensure that it would arrive a bit later and would not kill the girl''s older brother. I also did some other things and that probably summarizes what I did.Those are only natural since I already know what would happen beforehand because this world is just like an open book. No, it literally is a book, and the same goes for the other worlds out there. "Ahh! Finally here." I reached the place. Now I only need to activate my "key". I also have my own "key" and I''m wearing it as a necklace since it''s too much trouble to put it in a pocket and take it out every time I use it because it requires skin contact to activate it and it''s also in risk of being lost or accidentally dropping it if placed inside the pocket. The conditions to activate the "Key" are simple. 1. Being within the vicinity of the starting point which looks like a white shining crack in space 2. Skin contact 3. Thinking about "Entering" After that, when you fulfill all those conditions you then get sent to the "Observation Space". That''s what I am doing right now. I stand close to the door of the girl''s house. The starting point or should I say the crack should be hidden from view behind this house. Enter. White light suddenly shines around me. I''m being transferred to another space call the "Observation Space". She should be inside already, ah there, I can see a silhouette. I guess I should start with a friendly greeting. "Welcome to Observation Space! It''s me again~ I''m sorry for making you wa-- huh?" When I looked closer... He''s not a she in a high-school uniform. He''s a guy in an office worker attire. He''s not her. I looked around and confirmed, she wasn''t in the room. No... No. No. No! No! Nononononono! I screwed up! ======== The Brother''s Point of View ======== But then suddenly... Even though the room is already glowing full of white, a strange beam of whiter light appeared on the other side. Before I could shout in panic, I heard the voice of a girl, "Welcome to Observation Space! It''s me again~ I''m sorry for making you wa-- huh?" Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. A girl in a white gown suddenly came out of the white light and said something random. She looked as confused as I am after she spoke and then she looked around the room. Her already pale face went even paler after she was done looking around the room. Is something wrong? I think I should ask her but she''s acting weird right now so I think I should just leave her be and wait for her to talk to me. Or so I thought. She stopped moving for a bit, probably spacing out. Her hands then slowly went to grab her hair. And then, "Noooooooo!!! What! Went! Wrong!" "!!!" I was shocked at her sudden screaming. She kept pulling on her hair while standing and screaming some nonsense. "Why! It wasn''t supposed to be this way! Noo! There are no do-overs! I can''t enter again! What do I do now!" "Um... Excuse me?" "What to do... what to do..." "Hello..." She kept ignoring me. "........." "Hey." Oh, she''s spacing out again. Alright, I''ve decided to do something that will grab her attention for sure. ========= The White Girl''s Point of View ========= "What to do... What to do..." "Hello..." What should I do now? I only get one chance and I failed horribly. If it''s not her, I don''t know of anyone else who can. Her world may be inside a book but that doesn''t mean I can go back in time just like turning a page to redo things. The best I can do is to pause the time in her world, but that''s all. I can''t jump to a world''s past or future, and even if I go back into that world, I can''t give her a "key" anymore since this person has the last one I have left and had already activated it. Once a "Key" gets activated for the first time, the ownership won''t change anymore meaning only that person can activate the "key". I know it''s for anti-theft measures, but why did such a thing happen now of all times? The "key" can be taken back, but if only he agrees to it without subconsciously wanting to own the key. I''ll deal with that later, I should think about my course of action for now. I only have two books right now. I also don''t have any "White Miracle Essence" on me. All my "Miracle Essence" and other books got stolen and the culprit locked himself up inside a book. I already paused the time on that book but it''s pointless since I can''t enter it. But I''m pretty sure it was just me alone who is unable to enter the book. Me not being able to enter the book is a problem, but I figured if I use the main character girl from the other book I could have her enter the book in my stead. But--- ---CLAP! "Ah! Who''s there!?" ========= The Brother''s Point of View ========= ---CLAP! "Ah! Who''s there!?" With one loud clap coming from my hand, she finally noticed me. It''s Time for me to ask some things. But what should I be asking? Oh, I know. "I just want to ask, where are we?" "You look familiar...... Oh I see! You''re that girl''s brother!" "Where are we?" "So... If it''s him.... but... no, he can''t possibly..." Kuh! she is ignoring me on purpose. ========= Weird Girl''s Point of View ========= "Where are we?" "So... If it''s him.... but... no, he can''t possibly..." I see now. It might be okay even if it''s just a bystander or her parents or in this case, her brother. He may be not as good as his sister, but I can still help him a bit... Yes! I can still use him. Problem solved! ...I think. "*smile*" "Why are you smiling now!? You''re doing this on purpose!" I can''t help but smile. I thought I''m in trouble, but it turns out that I was wrong. Huh? I seem to have made him angry. "Hmm? What''s wrong?" "You ignored me all this time. Are you trying to piss me off?" Oops, my bad habit seems to have offended him. "I, I''m sorry." "...Okay, now what?" Oh... Right. I should start by asking. "Brother, why do you have that cube? Didn''t your sister have it with her?" ========= The Brother''s Point of View ========= "Brother, why do you have that cube? Didn''t your sister have it with her?" "Hey I''m the one aski-- Ah?" I feel like I should be the one asking questions, but what I just heard is more important right now. "Wait, did you just say something about my sister?" But more importantly, "And why are you calling me Brother? We''re not siblings or anything right? My name is... huh?" I can''t remember my name. ========= The Girl''s Point of View ========= Finally, being inside the Observation Space finally made him aware of one of the many flaws in his entire life. Namely... The fact that he doesn''t have a name. Not that he really doesn''t have one. He will remember his own name when he''s back in his world, but once he''s in the Observation Space, he will instantly forget it as if it was not there to begin with. The world, or should I say book, automatically fills in the blanks for its inhabitants which makes them think they know their names and the like. This problem only happens when someone gets out of their own book. Anything not written or describe in the book they belong to ceases to exist when they are outside. He was described as the main character''s Older Brother, so that''s just what he is inside the book, and even more so outside where he is just known as the nameless Older Brother. Not that I don''t know his name back in his own world, but it''s fun to use this opportunity to tease him. I''ll try asking him some more things that would shock him a bit. "And your sister''s name is? Your parents'' names? What are the names of everyone you knew?" "Eeh... umm... uhh... I don''t know." "But earlier, you did think that you knew, right?" "Yes... How is this happening? Do I have a brain disease? Is the memory of my sister dying not real?" "Eh?" Wait wait wait wait. Did he just say his sister died? ========= The Brother''s Point of View ========= "Eh?" "Ahh... maybe this is all just an illusion or a dream. I should go see a doctor." "What!? Your sister died!?" "Yes? Maybe? Seeing her getting crushed by a truck might be just a dream." Oh boy. I never realized I actually have a mental disorder. Do I even have a sister? Ah! I don''t know which is real or not anymore. "Erm... Ehem! I think you misunderstood something. You''re not dreaming. Everything you''re seeing now is real." "Yes, yes. So you say." --Pinch "Ow! You pinched me." "See? It''s real." "So... my sister dying is real too?" "Yes, most likely." And I hoped it was all just a dream... Every time I remember that scene, I feel chills and sadness. "Alright, enough playing around. Brother, tell me what happened to your sister in detail. I''ll explain everything else later." "Okay, but my name isn''t Brother." "My name is Rea, but call me Miss Rea. Nice to meet you, Brother." Seriously... I had my name just in the corner of my memory. I just can''t remember it right now. I told Rea about what happened to my sister and that if only we didn''t meet up and chatted a bit, we wouldn''t even be anywhere near the truck when the accident happened. "Dammit, I screwed up even more than I thought..." "It''s okay, you weren''t there to begin with." "I know! But I was still the one responsible." What is she talking about? "Rea, you-" "Miss Rea." "Rea, -" "Miss!" "Miss Rea... You didn''t do anything wrong." "No, you don''t understand. I''ll explain everything now, so listen carefully. But first, take a seat. We''ve been standing for too long." "Ahh, right. Okay. Go on." "That habitual ''ahh'' of yours. You''re just like your sister. Now then," Considering the supposedly impossible circumstances, I''ll just believe everything she says. Rea began explaining things to me that I don''t understand at first, about a guy who stole some books, about Observation Space, Books and worlds inside it, about the "key" that sent me to this place, and more importantly about her action when she came to my world, which she thinks led to a chain of events that eventually killed the person who was supposed to be in my place, my sister. "Oh so you killed my sister, is that what you''re saying?" "...Yes, sorry." "Okay." "Is that all? You''re not angry or anything?" "How can I be angry? You actually tried and succeeded in saving my life, it''s not like you killed her intentionally." No, how can I be angry? At that time, I was thankful that it wasn''t me but my sister who died instead. Getting angry at her now would make me a hypocrite. I''m actually angry at myself. I couldn''t forgive myself for not even trying to save her. "You''re actually very different from what I expected since the book didn''t fill in this part about you not actually caring about your sister. And now I wonder why I even bothered to save you." "You''re wrong, Rea-- Miss Rea. It''s not like that. I''m just angry at myself for not even trying to save her. I convinced myself that it''s okay to not help since she would die anyway. Maybe that''s why my sister said she hated me." "She said she hated you, huh? I can understand why... She thinks of you as someone really important to her. When she was struggling at that time, maybe she was trying to find comfort from you but all you did was watch her die, and you even encouraged her to die. Even I would get really angry if someone says such a thing to me." Rea''s words struck deep wounds on my heart. I know I couldn''t excuse myself but it really hurts more when someone says it straight in my face. "--But...." Rea continued. What is she gonna say next? "We can still save your sister." "What?" Impossible. How can we save a dead person? It''s not like I can travel back in time to save her. Such a thing is impossible. "Oh? You have a look on your face that says ''Impossible''." "Are you telling the truth?" "Look around you, Brother. Remember your name, look for an entrance or exit, find where wind comes from. Are these thing really possible?" "What the hell are you saying? But more importantly, you''re saying we can--" "But I have a condition. Though it was my fault, you will have to work hard for it if you want to see her filled with life again." "Ah! Of course! What do I do? Anything, ask me to do anything." Why would I refuse? I''ll never get a chance like this again. "So do you accept whatever terms of this deal will be?" "Yes." "Wait, I can''t have you saying that now only to regret it later." Rea then took out a stack of papers from below the table. I didn''t know you could put things under the table. I check with my hands and confirmed there are gaps under the table. "Here, read this. This was originally meant for your sister. I worked hard to write it by hand. I don''t want my efforts to go to waste just because she can''t be here anymore." I received the stack of papers and checked its contents. "Why is it so long!? And you wrote it by hand? 50 pages? Back to back?" "Go read it first! If it was your sister, she would read it from start to finish. You got all the time in the world so take your time." "O-okay." This is really so long... "Remember, that''s a contract. If you still don''t get it, think of it as a magical absolute contract." Did she say something? I didn''t listen so I don''t know. I pretended to read it, but I actually just skimmed most of it. At the last page, there was a written sentence telling me something about placing my dominant hand on the center of the first page if I accepted the terms. I immediately placed my right hand on the first page and the stack of papers suddenly vanished. "H-hey, are you really sure? You''ve barely read an entire page." "Yes, yes. I''ve read something about me being able to negotiate about the terms but I''m sure it''s not important anyway." Yeah, no. I just don''t like reading a lot. "*SMILE* Uhuhuhuu~ As of now, you are my slave!" "What the!? You bastard!" "Hey, hey! I''m just kidding!" "...You almost had me there." "Yeah~ *SMILE*" Why is she smiling too much? Don''t tell me... "Hey, I want to read it again. Where are those papers?" "Sorry, it''s all gone. You''ve already read it all, rii~ght? *SMILE*" I think I screwed up back there... ======== Rea''s Point of View ======== Heh heh hehh~ I now have a slave-- Err, companion. I didn''t know that the brother is this stupid. If he only read the first page, he would''ve noticed that all the other pages except for the last one are just filled with lyrics of songs from his own world. Can''t stop smiling, everything is going so well for me. Oh, I know! I''ll try taking the "Key" from him later as a little experiment. But I must try out something else first. "Now then... As a little experiment, I will have you do something." I took out the other book from the shelf hung below the table, the book that I can''t enter. With the cube shaped book on one hand, I stood up from my chair and approached him. I gave it to him and he accepted it after hesitating for a bit. "...Hey, Miss Rea. What is this thing?" "It''s a book. I''m testing something so try opening it, ''kay~?" It would take I while for him to discover that he can''t disobey me no matter what. Now then, let''s see if you can use books the same way as I do, my little sla-- my helper. Interlude 1 - The prologue of a certain someones origin About Interludes: Though these may not seem like interludes at all, you''re just gonna have to accept this and move on. Sorry. Except for this first set of interludes(This one, [Interlude 1] and up till [Interlude 11-Epilogue]), the Interludes are the stories of what were supposed to originally happen if Rea and the MC didn''t do what they are doing right now. When you compile a set of them together, they will form an entirely different story. Yes, they''re stand-alone side stories. Not that this is important right now. We''re still far from those chapters.... sadly. But this is my plan and I''ll stick to it. Now then, here''s the first one: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Prologue Alpha - The Origin Mankind had finally reached a certain point in the field of science. And with the help of science, they had achieved peace for themselves. They turned Earth into a place that every human in the world longed for, and they renamed the place into Heaven. There were no more wars, no more death, no more sadness, no more envy and everyone is equal and united. Everyone in the world was happy. They sang songs all day, danced gracefully, no longer needed to eat, played together happily and so on... They could even revive the dead, but decided against it. Doing so would cause the peace that they had worked so hard for to achieve to come crumbling down like a house made of cards. Yet, they have decided to make every human in the world immortal. Is it due to their fear of death? Curiosity of what will happen in the future? No. It is to ensure that the future generation would not be led astray into the wrong path. To prevent humans from causing catastrophes in the far future. It seemed as if there was nothing to fear anymore. So they stopped developing technology, researching and gaining new knowledge. That is until they realized that peace never lasts forever... Unsurprisingly, a problem presented itself with the passage of time. The universe got overpopulated with humans due to absolute absence of death. But this resulted in forced evolution and the start of- no, the halt of all kinds of human reproduction functions which made every single human in the world incapable of producing an offspring anymore. Not by either the natural way or the scientific way. No one knew how it happened. They cannot explain it scientifically either. It seemed as if the limit of humans that are allowed to exist in the universe has already been reached. It''s like a natural universal law. They are baffled by it but decided to ignore it due to them being freed from the problems like the universe being too tight for humans. But most of them ignored this one crucial fact that will lead to their demise in the future. The fact that something non-scientific such as a universal law of the limit of humans allowed to exist has been applied to them. No, the fact that a universal law separate from science exists. Had they realized it earlier, they would have been able to take action and evaded an irreversible disaster. Time passed by and thousands of years later, humanity grew tired of seeing the same faces over and over again. Boredom hit everyone like a strange plague, from oldest to youngest, no one was an exception from it. Even when disaster is about to hit the Earth, the place they dubbed "Heaven", or any other planet, they could easily deal with it. A storm is coming? Control the weather. Predicted an incoming disastrous earth quake? Stop it by manipulating the planet itself. Asteroids colliding with a planet? Blast it away no matter how big or how small. Alien invasion? The border of the universe has been reached by humans and it was confirmed that they are the only civilization in this universe. Black hole? It just inconveniences them so they just throw in a single "anti-black hole bomb" that neutralizes any black hole. And so on and so forth... Their civilization''s level of technology had already reached that far before they stopped trying to advance it even further, believing that there is no more need for further improvement. Not until that one time in a certain planet that was once called Earth. In a place where it''s common for many people to gather. Inside a public park in the center of a certain city in a certain country. Something happened. Something unbelievable. Something unscientific. Something... supernatural. Not a single person present in that place expected to witness something so scientifically impossible. A human sized crack opened up in an empty space. From inside the crack came out shining white light, making it hard to see what was inside. Every single person present in that place stared at the cracked space. From within the cracked space, something came out. No, not something. It was a strange dark haired man. The man wore an overly large pure green robe that was dragged along the ground as he walked. The robe covered his entire body so no one could see what was inside it. The robe is also only slightly darker than the bright grass around the park. Strangely, not a single person in that place could recognize him. Each and every single human in the universe could recognize each other by face as they already have seen each other multiple times in their seemingly unending life. But no one could recognize this strangely dressed smirking man who was looking all over the place. The man chewed something with his mouth. No, he was trying to speak. "Come... want... to..." No one understood what he was saying. He was too far away for anyone to hear what he just said accurately. Had they just known what it is that he said, that one unlucky person who approached him would have avoided death. Yes. Death. In a universe where it was currently impossible for a human to die, no one expected what happened next. What the man had said was actually "Come closer, those who want to die..." Yet, due to being unable to understand, a woman tried to approach the man. What the woman wanted to was simple. All she tried to do was to greet the man in the friendliest way possible. But when she got inside the reach of the man... The strange man unclenched his already clenched fist inside his large robe. She felt a wet finger touch her forehead. The man touched her in the forehead with his index finger. The wetness must have been from his palm''s sweat. Not understanding what the action meant, she just stayed standing there while feeling strange. Until... Her head withered away like it suddenly began to age rapidly and, and, and... And then, her head exploded. It popped like a balloon. The body that remained, having lost its head, did what it had to do. It fell down with a thud like a puppet with its strings suddenly cut. In a world where a gun, if it even existed, or a meteorite crashing into your body, or coming into contact with a black hole could not make you feel pain, let alone harm you, that woman died all too easily in the hands of the strange man. To the eyes of everyone there, something strange and foreign happened. No one here is old enough to come in contact with malice when it still existed. It was a concept that they did not have a chance to come in contact with the moment they were born. What happened next came naturally due to the nature of humans, or more likely due to the nature of living beings. Those who were around watching felt an emotion that they had long since forgotten for the first time in a while. This familiar but surprisingly distant sensation. The feeling of fear. Someone screamed. They did not know who screamed first but they knew someone did. The scream brought them to their senses. Once they realized what happened, they began to panic and run around trying to escape from the man. Strangely, What the man did as a reaction to the panic he had caused was just a loud long laugh and then he along with the crack. It was as if his intention was just to cause a panic to enjoy himself. On that day, humanity was once again reminded of the feeling of fear after a long time. Due to the incident, Humanity once again decided to improve their technology and sharpen their self defense skills in preparation for a possible next attack. They had grieved for the loss of one human but most of them used it as an inspiration for finding out what happened to the fullest detail. Part of their motive was for curiosity, and part of it was for anger and revenge towards the man who killed the unsuspecting victim. Thanks to their already broad knowledge, it was only days later that they finally reached an answer that no one expected at all. He had come from an alternate universe. Traces of the dimensional crack where the man had come from had let them to that conclusion. Yet, before they tackle that problem, they still have another one small problem. Their current population is reduced by one. They are one human fewer. It means it was now possible to create another human child. This possibility brings with it a different kind of disaster that will change or take the lives everyone. ========= Prologue Beta - A Glimpse into the future -----Epilogue--------------------- ---------------------------------------- ------then------he--------over----- -----------never--------want--------------- ---lied----------killed---------------finish-- ------start-----------fast-------too------- -realized--------and--------------------sometime- ---and he ran as fast as he can, hoping that his friends are at that place still waiting for him to come back from that place undesirable place. He finally reached the entrance. He lives here. His friends live here. His foster parents live here. They all live here. He was standing in front of the entrance of a small white house in the middle his hometown. The place served as the base of operations of him and his friends, but it''s also the place that they call home. It has two floors, one with the living room and the kitchen, and one containing a hallway that has two doors that lead to different rooms. One room is for sleeping and the other room is for Bathroom and Hygiene. Some of his friends sleep in the hallway or the living room due to lack of space. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Remembering all the experiences he had from his childhood up to this point in time, he prepared to open the door. He remember about surviving a large scale disaster and being thrown into this place as a child. He remember about this only one other child that he met in that place before being coming here all on his own. He remember that he couldn''t remember anything about his real parents'' faces. He remembered all those hardships he went through when he was all alone, about how he met the owner of this house and helped him, about how mysterious coincidences keep happening resulting in favorable outcomes, and about all those people he met. Though he could barely remember any details about his past, he knows that none of it were good memories. No, wrong. He pushed the door open and went inside. He also remember about the teachings of his parents. Even though he could barely remember them, he knows they those parents thought him well as a child about all kinds of moral teachings and kindness. But those teachings are kind of wasted now as he had become something that would surely displease his real parents. He looked around the house. He was not proud of what he had become, but he is still happy that he had met all these different people who helped him reach this point in life. He was happy that he at least showed kindness, if not to humans, then to the world and that he had made it a better place. Finally, he found all his comrades in one spot in the kitchen... He remember all the faces of his friends when they we''re still children. They''ve grown up together and shared sorrows and happiness together. When one of them is in trouble, the others will quickly come to rescue. Now, all of those young faces are already adults. He was the only one who looked young enough to be out of place in the group. His body stopped aging before reaching twenty, he didn''t know why but that''s how it is. Though that''s not important now. Rather, what''s more important is what he is seeing right now right in front of his eyes. All of his friends, now adults. Each and every one of them. Dead. Blood was scattered everywhere. It looked like a mess. A slaughter fest. He could not believe what he is seeing. All of his friends, dead. It was like he was in a horror movie. No, he probably was in one right now. One of them even had his head twisted and torn off like a doll with a dagger stuck inside both eye sockets. One was impaled to the ceiling with daggers. One had her wrists cut off and stabbed with a dagger in the face and is now lying on the floor. One sat on the chair as if taking a nap silently, but upon close look, it was only his impaled body stuck to the wall with a single dagger in his chest and was only being help up in sitting position by the chair. One only had an unrecognizable skinless unmoving but uninjured body lying on a pool of blood while still gripping on a dagger in his or her right hand. He did not know where all those daggers had come from. He was shocked. He had already found 5 brutally murdered bodies of his friends. He passed by them and went to the second floor. There, he found four bodies. Two young girls he know are lying down in a pool of blood on the floor together while impaled together by a single dagger, if it still can be called that, long enough to get stuck in both of their throats. One was an old woman, his foster mother, also lying on the floor positioned a bit farther from the two girls and she was held in place to the floor by a dagger at the back of her neck. And the final body, with hands trying to to reach out to the old woman, her husband''s body was also impaled to the floor by multiple daggers on his back and he was just positioned a feet away from the old woman''s body. The scenes he saw were all too cruel for him. There was a creaking noise coming from below, but he ignored it. He had killed many people before, but not in such gruesome ways. He also didn''t kill without good reason. Footsteps could be heard directly behind him, but he chose to believe that it was just his imagination. He had considered the possibility of all this being some kind revenge from one of his target''s families, but that was impossible as he covered his tracks quite well. They shouldn''t even be able to know who he was. But there was now an even bigger problem for him to worry about after discovering all the bodies. The dead bodies... They were one too many. Yes, he counted nine bodies but he only knew of eight who should be in this house. And then he remembered. He remembered. Among all those dead bodies, there was only one which was not stabbed or damaged by a dagger in any way. He could feel a presence behind him. As he slowly looked back... When he turned around to see who it was, he was suddenly unable to move. It''s appearance was terrifying but fear was not the reason he could move. He held his breath upon seeing it but shock was also not the reason he couldn''t move. His body simply felt really heavy and could not obey him. It couldn''t move as if it was made of stone. He was just merely paralyzed while still standing. He couldn''t even bend his knees or move his eyeballs whether he wanted to or not. Not even another person could probably move even his fingers right now. Petrified. That word alone could describe his situation. It was unnatural. His body felt like stone yet it wasn''t. With all his will, he tried to move his body but couldn''t. All he could do there right now was wait for his inevitable demise. As he heard metallic footsteps coming from the front, he focused on the approaching face of the owner of those footsteps one last time. He saw a skinless face inches away from his own, and he felt a small impact and a bit of stinging pain above his head. And then... his thoughts stop there. ......... ..... ... . "AaaaaaaaaaAAaaaaaaaaaaAhhh!" He screamed as he woke up. "--What happened!?" His mother came rushing into his room and asked. The young child who screamed after waking up looked around and calmed down when he saw that he was in his bedroom. "I... had a bad dream. It was scary." Satisfied with the answer, the mother gave a sigh. "Don''t worry, all of it was just a dream. Don''t be scared, all right? I''ll go now, I need to wait for daddy to come home." "But mom!" The mother left the room without turning off the lights out of concern for her son and yet she shut the door despite the protests of the scared child. She then went back to the living room and turned on the television. "Phew... and here I thought it was something serious." While watching television, she waited for her husband. Her husband was working at a research company. The Miracle Industries. He was a scientist. He was also one of the oldest humans in the universe. They had met each other after that incident in the park eight years ago that everyone remembers. "---loving memory of Sherry Rheison. The scientists and researchers has combined their efforts with the government and offered help to---" The reported said something about the death anniversary of that one woman who died in the park eight years ago. She remembered. She was also there the moment it happened. In fact, the woman who died was her closest friend. Her best friend. Sherry Rheison. She tried to recall the events that happened on that regrettable day. Them strolling together in the park and then suddenly a man appeared, Sherry who was desperate for a companion in life tried to get friendly with him, then the man killed her unreasonably. Every time she remembers it, tears start coming down on her cheeks. "Why are you crying, mom?" Then she heard the voice of the child, the human who filled her friend''s gap in the universe. March Kleist. "Nothing, March. Go to sleep. Or do you want to wait for daddy with me?" The young boy approached his mother, Christina Kleist, and watched the television together with her. Few minutes later, the father Mark Kleist finally arived home. ...Somewhere inside the deepest floors and laboratory of Miracle Industries. A child was sitting idly inside a transparent cage. To be precise, the child was a young girl. That child who should not have existed at all is sitting there. A miracle, some might say. There was a strange rule in this world that supposedly made it so that only one human child that can possibly exist currently. But that rule was miraculously broken just by the existence of this girl. The girl''s eyes were blank, always staring into nothingness. Nobody knows what she is thinking. Is she hungry? Is she sad? Is she happy? Lonely? Scared? Tired? Excited? Surprised? No one knows. The researchers around her cage were monitoring each and every single movement she makes. At times they make the girl go outside the cage to teach her things that a normal human should be taught, and after that she gets to return inside the cage. This process has repeatedly carried on from the moment of her creation. Yes. Creation. She was artificially created. 100% artificial. An artificial human. A true miracle. It could be said that her parents are these scientists. But that also would not be accurate. Eight years old. The age of the girl. Her age is also the hint to her origins. Eight years ago, when a certain incident happened. She was created from the DNA of the man who killed Sherry Rheison and the DNA of Sherry herself. How they managed to get the man''s DNA is only possible thanks to his sweaty finger at the time of contact with Sherry''s skin. They detected a bit of his sweat and used it as a DNA sample. Strictly speaking, she is the child of the Sherry and the mysterious man. And so, they continued to study her in hopes on getting clue on the man''s mysterious origins and ability. Her days would go on like this until she is studied fully by the scientists and she gets old enough to go outside by herself. Chapter Two - Knowledge dumping, learn the necessary information first! Here it is! Another chapter update! I really did it! I posted a chapter without looking checking for mistakes! Oh well, post first regret later. If you see some mistakes, I apologize. I will edit the chapters in the future as I read them again in my free time, or if you would be so kind, point them out to me. Anyway, I have an important announcement. I have decided that the length of each chapter will not be consistent. What does this mean? It means more free space for me and I may produce chapters much faster! The cons? Some chapters might become shorter. How short? Well... take this chapter as an example, then cut it in half. That short. I''ve decided to do this as to give myself a little break from the pressure. You know what I''m talking about if you''re writing your own story. (Edit: I just realized, I really did name the chapter as info dump) Now then, enough chit-chat and here''s the chapter so... enjoy:
It''s painful to admit that I still need to ask this question but, what is my name? Earlier, Rea told me that she knows what my real name is. But... Here''s what happened earlier: She told me that this book, the black cube I''m holding now, has just started a new cycle. In other words, the story inside the book has changed. Every time a story ends, another story begins with different characters, settings and plot. It''s like every story has an infinite number of sequels. Well, not that it matters to a side character like me. My sister was supposed to be in my place because she was the main character in our book but here I am instead because she died. Rea also told me that the flow of time in books can be paused but cannot be turned back or accelerated. She already paused the flow of time back in my world so I won''t have problems with my parents finding out that I was missing. This also solves the problem of finding my sister when the time comes that I rescue her, finding her body I mean. Incidentally, the flow of time on the book that I am currently holding is currently paused until she decides otherwise or that I enter the book, or so she says. She approached me and touched another white cube to the lucky charm I got from my sister. "Brother, stare at the white dot and enter the book, now!" "Wait, let me prepare myself firs-- Whaa!" My body suddenly moved on its own. I don''t know what happened, but it''s like someone is controlling my body like a puppet. "Don''t lose your "Key". Oh, and by the way Brother, your real name is--" [Current Chapter: Chapter 1] Huh? There''s a voice in my head that says which chapter of the book I am now. This is scary... and why did I go straight to chapter 1 anyway? Shouldn''t I be the prologue first? Light is shining everywhere. I kept moving forward and then the light was suddenly gone. When I looked back, there was a crack in an empty space with shining light coming from inside it. Seems familiar. Where did I see it before? Now where am I....? I look around to check on my surroundings. I''m on the sidewalk of a futuristic city. The scenery I see in front of me right now can only be described with the word "Sci-Fi". Many people are walking on the sidewalk but I was just standing there in a daze. Everyone around me stopped moving when they noticed me. Is it just me or are their gazes quite hostile? Why are they moving away from me? After a few seconds of silence, I can hear Rea calling my name. "Ksssshhh....Ksshhh! Junn, Junn! Do you hear me? Kssshh! Over." "What''s with the ''Ksssh''? I can hear you clearly, just speak normally." After confirming that I heard Rea''s voice in my head, I replied like she was just in front of me but... "Aaaaah!! Run away! It''s happening again!" "Aaaaaa!" "Help! Aaaaaaaah!" After I finished speaking, they suddenly screamed and shouted like someone threw a grenade in the middle of the street. Are they afraid of me? It looks like they were running away from me. "Junn! Did something happen?.... oh and Ksssshh! Over." "That''s what I wanna ask. What just happened? Ahh, no. I already have an idea." It must be because I appeared the same way as that killer guy in the prologue. I looked around and there is not a single person present. "Kssshh! That. Kssssh! was. Kssssh! to be expected. Kssssshh! I think. Kssshh! Over." "I said drop the ''Ksssh''es. We''re not talking through a radio, I can hear you just fine." "Ksssh! You''re no fun. Ksssh! Over." "...Okay, what now?" "Our little experiment is done. Kssshh! Just ask later if you have questions so come back now, over. Ksssh! Over." "Uhh, how do I go back? ....ksshhh. Over..." "Oh my! Junn~, how childish of you. We''re not talking through a radio, remember?" "You!! Just tell me how to get back there." "Okay, okay. Just think inside your head about the word ''Enter'' or just think about entering. You didn''t move from your starting position, right? Ksssh!" I looked around and I can already see people in uniforms armed with surprisingly normal guns approaching me fast. Damn, I better get out. Alright, I''ll just think of the word "Enter". Light surrounded me and I felt like I was floating. .....aaand I''m back to the Observation Space. Rea approaches as she greeted me, "Welcome home, Brother!" "Stop calling me that! Didn''t you just call me by name earlier!? Call me....huh? What was my name again?" "Oh, so you noticed?" With a smug look on her face, she asked me that question. Yeah, I just noticed. Books fill up the gaps in missing information when you enter it. Though, I don''t know if the same information will be used to fill the gap every time you enter another book. Ah, right. Earlier, Rea said I can ask questions so I''ll just ask now before she start ignoring me all of a sudden. "Rea, what--" "Miss!" Enough of that already! You''re even stomping your foot just because of that? "Miss Rea, what did we do just now?" "It''s part of my little experiment. I''m just preparing you for the future." Ehh... What future is she talking about here? "Hey! I''m not gonna keep on doing that with other books, right?" "...." No answer. She just stares at the floor. She''s spacing out again. Then, she turned around and finally said, "Now let''s proceed to the next experiment~!" "Hey! Don''t start ignoring me again! And I''m not done questioning you yet! Hey!!!" Ah. Saving my sister will surely take a lot of hard work. ======= Rea''s Point of View ======= After he exited, I paused the book''s flow of time again. It stopped in the beginning of chapter one, so there''s still plenty of time for training him. I''ll use chapter one as a training ground for a while, since nothing too bad will happen yet anyway. There are only two books in my possession right now. Junn''s world and the one he just entered. I already confirmed that Junn can also "edit" books even though I still need to link our "Key"s together so that he can enter. It may look convenient because I can read the book to see the future while he''s inside it, but reality doesn''t work that way. Once an [editing] of a book has started, the book would go into a temporary "locked" state. You cannot intervene from the outside, like [read] it to see the future or pause the time. The only thing you can do is to watch the 1 meter visible area around the editor or join them in [editing]. As I cannot do the latter because of a certain thief, I could only watch from the outside. It''s like watching a movie that cannot be paused. Though it''s not normally possible, I can speak with Junn because I linked my "key" to his own. Maybe I should try out some other things as well? It''s never a bad idea. It''s been a while but now that I remember it, the thief who stole my things should already be a part of the book when he entered it without a "Key", that''s why unlike Junn, when he entered the book, I can''t see his actions inside since he''s not [editing] the story nor is he the main character. But because he did something that made me unable to enter the book by normal means and now he managed to change the contents greatly. Really... Even though that book even meant a lot to me... My father is giving me a lot of trouble... Oh, right. Now is not the time to be sad. "Now let''s proceed to the next experiment~!" "Hey! Don''t start ignoring me again! And I''m not done questioning you yet! Hey!!!" I forgot, I was supposed to be answering his questions. Never mind, it can wait later. "Brother, give me the "Key"." "Wha? Hey, I still have lots of questions! And why is my hand moving on its own!? What did you do!" He handed out the cube shaped "key" to me. When I try to take it from his hands, "Ugh! So, it wont come off even if he was enslaved..." His attachment to the "Key" is strong after all. It might be because he got it from his sister. "Ahh! You lied after all! You made me your slave!" "Calm down, I''m not that bad. I was only doing it as an experiment to see if I can take the ''Key'' from you." "But you won''t let me go, right?" "Who would want to keep you as a slave? I''ll set you free once we both get what we need. Your sister and all of my books. It means that even if your sister is alive, you will still be my slave unless you get back all of my stolen books." "How many books do you have anyway!?" "It''s a secret~ Let''s keep it that way so that it''s more fun." ======== Junn''s Point of View ======== This lying piece of she-dog! Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. I thought she was just joking when she said that I was her slave. But It turns out to be like this! Oh well, not like I can do anything about it anymore... But what if she''s also lying about setting me free once we''re done? "Hey! What if you''re also lying about setting me free after we''re done?" "*smile*" "...I just hope you''re not lying then." "Now, aren''t you supposed to ask me a few things, Brother?" Ahh, she''s right. I still need to ask about what we did earlier and what she means about all those experiments and preparations for ''my future''. She then prompted me to go have a seat by the table. She sat on the other side and told me to ask. "What was that earlier? When I entered the book I went straight to Chapter 1 but isn''t it supposed to be the prologue first?" "Oh so you wanna start asking with that? That''s pretty simple. It''s because I already went in first and started the prologue because the old owner of this place said the previous and the current story had the same prologues and I got curious." Oh, so it was her fault. Then she continued, "This happened long ago by the way. Also, you always arrive at the place where the scene is currently taking place according to the book''s story so you have to be careful to not go inside when there''s an ongoing tornado or fire or some other forms of disaster." "Ahh, right. Wait, there''s another owner of this place!? And what do you mean about two the same prologues?" "That... The other owner isn''t here right now. And also, the two identical prologues is due to the book having two main characters appearing at the same time in the story and meeting each other." "How do you kno-- Ahh, right, never mind. Please keep talking, I''m listening." "This was the very first book I touched when I just arrived in this place." She took the cube from my hand, the one I just entered, and held it up high dramatically. I get the feeling that she''s just exaggerating and doing it on purpose. Then she continued saying, "It was also the only book that had its flow of time resumed. All the other books had their time paused for some reason." "Okay, but there''s something more important. Where''s the other owner now?" She lowered the cube and returned to her normal sitting position. Then she said, "I''ll get to that later. Now then. Because the basics were already taught to me by the previous owner, I got carried away and tried to edit the book without reading it first. Somehow, I can''t access the first prologue, what the previous owner called Prologue Alpha. Since I can''t, I jumped straight to the Beta part. I was transported to where the main character''s house was... Until I realize that the place, his house, was familiar to me." "I''m sensing something wrong but please continue." "When I noticed that the events that happened were all too familiar to me, I quickly exited the book. Because I forgot to pause the time, When I entered again the prologue is already at the part where it shows a girl that was locked up. When I tried to speak to the girl, she wont even pay attention to me." And so you decided to be like her, huh? Just randomly ignoring someone who is talking to you. Rea resumes her talk, "After looking around the place where the girl was locked up, I recognized the place and then I remembered... No, telling you any more is too much. You''ll find out soon anyway. Also, I know you saw the Prologue Alpha but you don''t have to tell me anymore. I already know what''s inside." "Okay. But I wanna know more!" BAM! She slammed the table with her free hand. She looks angry. Then she threw the cube at me with the other hand. Ow, she hit my head. Then she said, "No! Look! All you have to know is things happened and now you''re only able to go to Chapter 1! That''s all! The end!" "That''s all?" I looked at the cube in my hand in a daze. She really threw this hard thing straight to my head. Wait a minute. There are still too many things that needed to be cleared up! I should ask before she starts ignoring me again! So I asked, "Wait! Last question! Where is the previous owner of this place?" "Oh? You must be talking about my father. He just stole a bunch of books and some other stuff then ran away. He''s in hiding right now. He''s probably inside that book you''re holding right now." "Err, okay? He''s your father, huh... Now what?" "O~kay! we''re now done with the questions and answers! Time for training!" "Wait! I''m still not ready! And what do you mean by training!?" Freaked out, I tried to stand up and slowly back away from her. She replied, "Enough questions! This is the first time you''ve pissed me off!" "What did I do!?" ======== Rea''s Point Of View ======== That talk made me remember some bad memories. I should be careful not to let him ask too much next time. Junn is now standing far from me with his back touching the wall. Did I scare him too much? It''s not like I was really angry at him. "Alright, Brother! We will start your training. Why are we doing this? So that when the time comes, you can find my father and kill him of course." "What? I know he''s your father, but do we really need to kill him? Did he do something to offend you other than stealing some things?" Kuh! He says to me the most painful things. "You don''t get it. He didn''t just steal material things from me... He stole things from me that are far more precious. I was still too young to realize it before, but by the time I was old enough to know, it was already too late." "I... I see... I''m sorry. So your father was that kind of guy... That bastard... Not even having mercy towards children." Did he really understand? I''ll ask just in case. "You understand now, right?" "...Yes, somehow. Is this also what you would be sending my sister to do?" "Yes. I think she can handle it." Maybe. I''m not actually sure. "You know, Rea, why--" "Miss!" Why does he keep forgetting to add ''Miss''? "Miss Rea, why are you the current owner of this place? Why would your father give you the ownership if he would just steal the books anyway?" Again, the things that he says makes bad memories start to surface. "I kicked my father out when I learned the truth about what he did. It''s not like he was a bad father, I just got really angry when he said he wont apologize and started laughing about it. After that, he stole most of the books and shut himself inside that book you''re holding. He also did something that prevented me from going inside the book so that I can''t chase after him." Every time I remember, I get angrier towards my father. "Your family... sounds complicated. Where is your mother anyway?" ...Did he really understand about me and my father? He had the clues already. "Looks like you''re not as smart as I thought after all. Now let''s do a review, read the book!" "Wha! Again!?" He focused on the red dot, then his eyes became hollow. He went back to normal 5 seconds later. "Hey! I appeared in the first chapter! It changed slightly." "Now get inside the book so that we can start your training!" With that, he focused on the book''s white dot and then he disappeared, leaving the cube lying on the floor. He went inside it. I will be guiding him from now on. Training by experiencing is the best method to learn after all. ======== Junn''s Point of View ======== [Current Chapter: Chapter 1] Just like last time, a voice said what chapter I am currently on right now. There''s a crack filled with white shining light behind me. I''m back at the scene where I appeared previously. "Junn. I need you to follow my instructions." Ahh, that''s my name. I can remember my name again! But more importantly her voice sounded angry. "Rea, is something wrong?" "Just do as I say." She said that in a forceful tone and didn''t even bother to correct me. Yep, I''m sure she''s angry. I might have said something wrong... Not that I feel sorry about it anyway. "Now, Junn, look around you and describe to me what you see right now." "I''m still at the same place as before... This time, there are a bunch of people approaching... Damn." "Oopsie~." "What the hell!?" "Oh, they''re coming? Prepare yourself. Also, I will not allow you to get out of the book. This is part of your training." "Hey, hey! How did you know ''they'' will come? Why didn''t you resume the time before I went in!?" Is it just me or did Rea do this on purpose? "STOP! DON''T MOVE!" "!!!" And ''they'' shouted at me and told me to stop moving. This is really a bother. I can escape anytime I want but Rea said I shouldn''t. I don''t think it would be a good idea to disobey her right now. About 15-20 people surrounded me. All of them are armed with guns. Since this is a sci-fi world, I expected them to shoot lasers with those things but that may not be true. Why does their level of technology look so low for its age? One person slowly approached me, then I was hand-cuffed and forced to go inside a glass cage. Rea must have expected this to happen. I guess everything is according to plan so I should ask her about what to do next. "Rea, what''s my next move? I got captured according to your plan, right?" "HEY YOU! SHUT UP! We will be forced to shoot you if you try to talk or otherwise do anything else without permission!" The one who answered me wasn''t Rea but one of the people who captured me. Should I have added ''Miss'' when I spoke earlier? Now I''m not even allowed to talk. Every time I try to talk or just show signs of moving my mouth, they would immediately point their guns at me. .... .... .... It''s been a while now. They had already transported my cage into an underground facility. Where exactly am I? Why is Rea not saying anything? Interlude 2 - The Boy who got lost (part 1 of 2) So, here''s a short update. Enjoy! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 1 - The end of happy times M.I. City # 00000000001 Out of the 60,543,607,708 Billion cities owned by Miracle Industries currently existing in the entire universe, this is the very first city created and governed by them. It could also be called the "Capital of Miracle Industries". Each city has its own differing sets of laws and culture which could sometimes be identical with others depending on the thousands of other Companies governing it. Though the laws differ, all of them share the same traits. That is to say, no crime is ever committed in any of these cities, not even crimes that are in forms of underground or secrecy exists in any of the cities at all if you were to attempt to find one. That''s just how peaceful things have become these times. But that is about to change sooner or later. Starting with this city. As usual, the city is bright and peaceful. Even though it is currently night time. This is the special feature of this city, though some other cities have also began copying this kind of thing. Even though the skies should be dark by now, everything still looks like it was daytime. When you look at the sidewalks, people are busy walking to their destinations. Though, that one particular sidewalk seems to have a commotion right now. There are cars that could be classified as high-tech models due to their simple but efficient design. Some of them even are faster than the wheeled ones but hovers above the ground and floats higher when it''s about to hit someone or something. All of these cars have their own kinds of safety mechanisms, both for the passengers and the would-be collision targets. Everything might seem normal somehow but it is very noticeable that there are no children visible anywhere. It''s not that there are no children in the city. In fact, this city contains the only children in the entire universe. Two of them to be exact. One of them is currently inside a house asleep and the other one is inside a glass cage. The next day... As usual, everything is still shining brightly. Because the city never gets dark, the nocturnal animals are forced outside where it darkens normally during night time. This makes it possible to go out and enjoy the scenery in the city at any point in time. That is why the Mother and her Child are currently walking on their way to a park right now. When they reached the park, the mother remember her experiences with this place in the past. She and her friend would always go here after work to hang out with each other. They would do random things from time to time. Buy and eat food anywhere, sing loudly, dance like they''re on stage and many other things. But now, she is here with her son. The son who replaced her friend in the universe. Quite literally. His name is March Kleist, the son of Mark and Christina Kleist. Currently 7 years old. Like his father, he has a dark hair and is Caucasian. And he is running around and playing in the park. All by himself. He does not know of anyone else of the same age as him. Most of his days just go on like this repeatedly. If he also gets bored of it, imagine what the adults who have lived such long lives feel. Sometimes he just felt like not doing anything, merely staying in bed. Even though he gets bored most of the time, he does not rebel against his parents. They taught him good morals and how he should be kind to everyone and everything. That is why he cannot prevent what would happen in the future. An event that would be so catastrophic that he would never forget it in his entire life. One week later, after hearing on the news about some dangerous things happening lately, Christina decided that they should just stay home until it would be considered safe enough to go outside again. Though it''s impossible for them to be in danger since they cannot get injured in the first place, she just decided to be extra cautious as she remembered what happened to her friend on that tragic day. The boy was watching television on the lounge when his mother said she would go out for a while. "Where are you going, mom?" "Don''t worry, I''ll be back soon. I just have to go somewhere." And her mother locked the door and left him all alone in the house, not even bothering to tell him to not open the door for strangers due to overconfidence and getting used to everyone she meets being a nice person. Though, it would have helped if she did. No, it would have prevented a disaster. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. 2 hours have passed and his mother still didn''t come back. March felt a bit scared of being left alone so he turned to volume of the television even higher. His father, Mark, would not come back earlier than his mother since the work his father is doing is important right now. It concerns dealing with the dangerous situation that recently arose in the city. *knock* *knock* Due to the volume of the television, he could not hear the knocking on the door. *Knock!* *Knock!* The knocking got louder, but he still could not hear it. *Bang!* *Bang!* "...!" The knocking turned into banging on the door and this time he finally heard it after being startled. He slowly went to the door nervously. *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* The banging was still keeping on going. If this was his mother, she would have just opened the door since she has a key. He didn''t know what to do. This was the first time he encountered this kind of situation. *Bang!* *Bang!* With two final bangs, it finally went silent. Snapping back to reality after over-thinking the situation, March finally mustered the courage to ask who was outside. "W-who is it?" "...Please open the door." It was a voice he didn''t recognize. A unique voice that he did not hear even on television. He asked again, "May I know your name first?" "...Please open it." "O-okay..." The other party seemed to be in a hurry so he decided to open the door. Expecting a random adult he didn''t know, he was shocked to see who was standing there. She was a girl looks to be about the same age as March, but in truth she was a year older than him. The girl was not supposed to exist, officially. But March didn''t know any of that. He tried talking to the girl. "M-may I help you, ma''am?" "Please let me in." She said without so much as a hint of emotion. "Sure." Not knowing the how to say "no" to someone, he relucantly accepts her into the house. When she stepped inside, he closed the door and looked at her again. She was wearing white sleeping pajamas, bare-footed, have golden hair, have dark irises and also taller than him. This was the girl in front of him. And he didn''t know what to do next. "Now what?" He asked the girl. "Please, just let me stay inside here for a while." Again, without emotion. With a reply full of politeness as if it had been routinely practiced, she pleaded the young boy. Not knowing what to do since his mother is away, he just let the girl stay. He resumed doing his previous task of watching the television while giving the girl some glances from time to time. She was just standing there in the same spot, looking all over the place with eyes devoid of emotion. But March remembered his unanswered question earlier. He asked her while both of them are still in their positions, "Ma''am, what''s your name?" "My name is Realithia." "And your other name?" "Other... name?" "Like mine. I''m called March. March Kleist. My other name is Kleist." "March... It''s just Realithia." "That''s a bit long. Can I just call you Rea instead?" "...Yes." The girl nodded as if she was so used to doing it all the time. And so, March finally made his first friend without even realizing it. But little did he know that their meeting will bring a disaster of even greater scale than war never before seen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Author''s notes: And that''s it for now, sorry. I decided to split this one into two parts since it will most likely spoil the next chapter and the one after. Hell, I''ve even spoiled a great would-be plot-twist here. You know what I''m talking about. Though, if you re-read the early chapters(and the prologue), it shouldn''t come as a surprise to you anymore. I''m talking about the foreshadowing in the early chapters. The next update should be Chapter Three. When will the next update be? I... don''t know. I''m still writing Chapta Three. Maybe in a week or two? Well then, till next time! On a side note; Did you like the cover? I made in with paint in 10 mins. Yeah I know, it''s bad. I''ll want to have someone else fix that but not now. Just let me enjoy experimenting with paint for now and I''ll update the cover frequently. EMERGENCY! (No, NOT a drop notice.) Since a couple of nice guys have given me heavenly advice, I will be rewriting the entire story, Don''t worry, the plot is still the same. I will mass release them after I''ve finished. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. In the mean time, read some other stories. I''m advertising mine. Who knows? You might see an autistic manchild being transported into a video game world sometime.