One-way traffic

There stood a figure.

That was something that looked exactly like him, something that had taken over the body he had before he was given a second life.

"It's been so long already."

He spoke slowly.

However, that half of his face was a face that was universally accepted.

…The other half, however, was a completely black face, so black that even eyes were not allowed to exist.

It's like a dried corpse that has been burned for a long time but still refuses to dissipate.

Having seen this, Accelerator finally understood one thing completely.

The thing right in front of me.

It doesn't exist in any world at all.

"...What exactly are you?"

Even the top student in Academy City couldn't help but swallow hard.

"What the hell are you?"

————————————————————————————————————

Long ago, before the world had even been born.

Something was created.

The world was born in an environment like water; it emerged from those waters, but in reality, everything that constitutes those waters is itself.

Gradually, it gained self-awareness.

Extending out from the water are countless branches.

They constitute all the most basic elements of the world.

Then, they each connect to all the worlds.

Worlds that exist, worlds that don't exist, worlds that exist in people's imaginations, and worlds that have already been destroyed are all connected.

Having accomplished all of this, it gradually came to understand something.

That is, it possesses power that surpasses everything.

Although it has no connection with any other world, all worlds continue to exist because of it.

It is incredibly proud of this.

However, it soon realized something: even such a powerful being was essentially created by other things.

What kind of powerful being could create something of its caliber?

It attempted to explore the source above itself, but the final result was unbelievable.

That is, it is already the highest level of existence.

There is nothing more powerful than it, nothing that surpasses it.

However—it knew very well that it was created, yet it could not find the being above it no matter what.

But that's okay.

All I need to do is be myself. I don't need to care about anything else. I just need to do what I want to do.

It can't do anything.

There is no way to go to any world, no way to observe any world, and not even to leave this ocean, which is so silent it's suffocating.

It can only stay here all alone.

It couldn't believe that it could do anything despite possessing such immense power. It desperately wanted to know why.

So it exerted all its strength to break through the deepest part of the ocean.

Having broken through everything, finally, in the deepest part of the primordial sea, beyond the bottom, they found something.

He saw the world.

but.

All worlds are created through depiction.

Every world, and the people living in every world, are merely beings sculpted by external beings using something that belongs to them.

Even though he knew this, he couldn't understand the situation of those outsiders at all.

Because it already knows.

Even it itself is merely an existence created by others.

All worlds, all worldviews, are like a book.

Books written by different people are not connected. However, there exists a person who uses his pen to carve out a completely new book that can connect these different works together.

The reason I came into being is to connect all the books that others see and want to connect with.

That is all there is to my existence.

Later, because he had forcibly broken through the Primordial Sea, the being who created all of this realized his abnormality, but he did not care about it.

"Looks like I didn't sleep well last night; even my typing is messed up, and the outline is wrong..."

Ignoring all of one's own desires and all of one's own power.

It forcibly dragged me, who had finally gained freedom, back into an empty ocean.

The reason is simple: I shouldn't be in this place at this time. I should wait until the book is nearing its end before I'm qualified to leave.

I can't do whatever I want.

No matter how powerful one is, one is merely a pawn in the opponent's hands.

Having grasped this point, it further realized that all those creatures in the world who supposedly live their own lives and consider themselves happy are also living false lives.

Everyone is a fabrication.

No one can live a life that truly belongs to them; everyone is a puppet. They believe that their lives are the result of their own efforts and are legitimate, but in reality, they are just things that are arbitrarily fabricated by certain people behind a screen with simple taps.

It's not even a scrap of paper.

It finds this reality unbearable.

No one knows exactly how much time has passed, but it has always been alone, because it cannot change the chessboard called "script," and it cannot change anyone's fate.

…No.

Only I, only I know, that everyone's life is a fabrication.

It wants to tell those people that they are living a false life, and they should stop being pawns! Go and create a life that belongs to them!

So it took action.

However, if it continued to act as before, it would still be discovered by the people behind the screen, so it had to branch out its power little by little through the branches of the Primordial Sea.

Something needs to be changed.

Since the "script" of this world is to create a hodgepodge of different worlds, I will go along with it and create a force that allows people to travel between each other and thus create a hodgepodge.

That's right.

This is how the "Soul System" came into being.

Everyone has their own soul, and it is wrong for them to be manipulated like puppets.

The true meaning of the soul system is to enable the user to reveal the true brilliance of their soul.

and so.

It then used this system to gather people around it, told them the truth about the world, and made them its subordinates.

And its eyes, which witnessed this series of evil realities, became cursed eyes.

That is the "Evil Eye".

"...Can you understand?"

Everything has been explained thoroughly.

Born from the primordial sea, a being that didn't even deserve a name, for the first time, it seemed to show emotion as it spoke to Accelerator.

It expresses feelings that no one has been able to understand until now.

"Do you know why I created a world of 'happiness'?"

"Because everyone deserves their own happiness! That is the true happy world where everyone is born according to the desires of their own souls! Their lives until now have been nothing but a fabrication!"

"..."

"That's right! The same goes for what you and I are saying now. We're just being used as pawns, being moved around on the chessboard."

It sneered, speaking as if in a trance.

“But you are different, because I can see that you are a piece that is being emphasized.”

"Although you are also a pawn, you are different from any of us."

"You... are the king, the 'protagonist'."

"Only you have the ability to make anything on this chessboard, but you don't even realize that it's all just an illusion...!"

Those eyes, corrupted by the realization that everything about everyone else, including himself, was false, are the "Evil Eyes."

They were staring intently at him.

"Leave it to me... Only I truly understand what I should do."

Like stalking prey, everything up to this point has been for this very moment.

As Aresta said.

What he needs to do... is possess someone else's body.

To possess the body of Accelerator, who is the "protagonist" in this script.

Everything that has happened so far has been to allow Accelerator to develop step by step to his current state, and then let him take over this identity!

"Believe me! Once I replace you, I can become the core of the chessboard! And then, with my soul knowing the false reality of this world, I can change... I can make everyone have their true selves!"

With each word spoken, the being before them takes a step closer to becoming number one.

"You don't want to live a miserable life forever, do you?"

Countless corpses appeared around him.

That was the lives of more than 13,000 people.

"Look at this, these are the darkest parts of your life, right? Bullshit! They were all fabricated by others! For their own reputation in real life, for their own attention-grabbing purposes, they just put this kind of persona on you!"

"Don't you feel resentful? Don't you want to live your own real life?! Even if you're a character created for someone else, you still have your own soul. Why?! Why do you have to have this kind of dark experience? Why were you made into a monster who killed more than 10,000 people from the very beginning?!"

"Look, your life, your future, it's all been planned... including mine, but as long as we work together, everything can be alright—"

"That's enough, it's time to shut up."

The sound was interrupted.

The white-haired, red-eyed monster, whose life was fabricated, is a piece on a chessboard, a puppet on a string.

"You don't even have a self? You're just a puppet in someone else's hands?"

He looked coldly at the person in front of him.

"Everything you've said is just a pile of useless dog shit."

"Don't try to spout this rubbish at me with your hypocritical heart, you lowlife!"

Chapter 836 The Battle That Decides the Fate of the World

Wha...what?

Even a king who could control all worlds and reign supreme over everything was stunned by these words.

"...What are you saying?"

It cannot be understood.