Subaru drifted in a dark void after death.
Nothingness... had devoured his soul before it ever touched his body.
His very existence was dissolving—as if submerged in an alien sea.
His body no longer obeyed him—or perhaps it no longer even existed.
Time, direction, weight... all of it was gone.
Then—
He began to fall.
At first, he didn't even feel it.
But then, the weight returned.
Not as a burden, but as a punishment.
And after that—
He crashed.
"Ow... Would a gentler landing be too much to ask?" he groaned, his voice echoing in the void.
A voice pierced the darkness.
"You'll get used to it, Natsuki Subaru."
Cold.
Calm.
And somehow... familiar.
Subaru turned around.
Standing there was the same figure who still called himself "the former Natsuki Subaru."
Snow-white hair.
Two differently colored eyes.
And a face like stone—void of all emotion.
Yet he looked nothing like Subaru.
Not truly.
Subaru squinted.
He stared at the figure—at himself, or at least something claiming to be.
"This... is supposed to be me?"
The question echoed endlessly in his mind.
And every answer slammed against the same wall:
"No… it can't be."
"Those eyes… that hair… that emotionless face.
I've never been like that."
But then—
A whisper rose inside him.
Familiar.
Dark.
And echoing like a chasm.
He met the figure's gaze.
There was no depth in those eyes.
Only an abyss.
And the abyss stared back.
For a moment, Subaru saw his own fear within them.
The part of himself he buried, silenced, suppressed.
"I don't know this man,
and I don't want to be like him.
But why does a voice inside me say...
he's closer to me than I am to myself?"
His breath tightened.
His heart… felt like it was being forced to remember.
Even so, he didn't look away.
"Is he a piece of me?
Or am I just a leftover scrap of him?"
And then—Flugel's voice split the void:
"Natsuki Subaru, as entertaining as it is to see you struggle with identity,
you must return.
But before that… we need to talk."
Subaru remembered where he was.
He stood—or floated.
There were no feet, no ground...
Yet he moved forward.
And then—
Light burst forth.
The void trembled.
A blinding light filled everything.
And in an instant,
he found himself inside a middle school classroom.
No chalk dust lingered in the air.
But it wasn't unfamiliar either.
It felt… engraved into his soul.
Flugel stood by the window, hands clasped behind his back.
"As much as I prefer the shadows,
this setting suits you better," he said.
His eyes were still empty.
"You and Echidna share similar tastes.
Tell me—did you two strike a deal?"
subaru asked
Flugel paused for a moment, as if searching through his memories.
"No," he answered bluntly.
"That woman only ever makes deals for her own gain.
Greed-Subaru suffered for that."
"Greed, is it?
So... there are others besides us?"
subaru couldn't hide his surprise
Flugel rolled his eyes and took a deep breath.
He now resembled a teacher dealing with a student he was all too familiar with.
"I'll tell you a part of it, Natsuki Subaru."
Subaru nodded eagerly.
Inside him, there was more curiosity than fear.
Flugel locked eyes with him.
"Your life… is the sum of your choices."
His voice was calm.
But every word…
echoed in the void.
Like truth.
Like an unbreakable blade.
"Every 'what if' is a fork in the road.
What if you had waited just a little longer...
What if you had trusted someone else...
What if you hadn't been afraid..."
As Flugel walked, gray silhouettes began to form around them.
Like ghosts floating through the mist of the system.
Each one looked like Subaru.
But none of their eyes held his gaze.
Flugel pointed with his finger:
"A Subaru who swore vengeance." (Wrath IF)
"A Subaru who chose to kill." (Pride IF)
"A Subaru who made a pact with Echidna." (Greed IF)
"And the one you fear the most:
A Subaru who chose to forget." (Sloth IF)
Subaru took a step back.
His heart was pounding.
Silhouettes.
Not himself.
But versions he could have become.
"Are these… just possibilities?"
Flugel slowly shook his head.
"No. You can't become them because they..."
"…never met me."
His smile was faint, but the meaning it carried was as sharp as a dagger.
"But know this — every choice comes with a cost.
Whichever path you choose… you carry the burden of the ones you don't."
Subaru fell silent.
He couldn't say a word.
Because Flugel's words didn't just reach his ears —
they struck the depths of his soul.
Flugel turned his gaze to the darkness.
As if he wasn't speaking to Subaru,
but to fate itself:
"If you ask me,
the most dangerous question is always this:
'What could have been?'"
"Because you'll never know the answer.
But it'll keep gnawing at you from the inside."
Subaru lowered his head for a moment.
Something welled up inside him —
Was it regret?
Fear?
Or simply the weight of everything?
Then he lifted his head and slowly nodded.
As if accepting it.
As if he understood there was no escape.
Flugel snapped his fingers.
The void trembled slightly.
As if a curtain was being drawn.
Like the stillness before a scene changes.
"Alright," he said.
"Before you go back, let's grant the technique you just copied."
A transparent screen appeared before Subaru.
It shimmered with a cold light.
Lines emerged one by one like blinking stars.
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED]
Name: Advanced Dagger Technique
Type: Passive Skill
Effect:
— Grants the user instinctive mastery in dagger combat.
— Enhances reflexes.
— Evolvable through branching sub-techniques.
Subaru squinted at the screen.
But it didn't feel like a victory.
There was a tremble in his chest —
this wasn't just a gain.
It was the echo of a death.
"The dagger… that woman."
The memory returned in a flash.
A dark room, a wooden floor soaked in blood…
Death.
Cold.
And inadequacy.
That fleeting moment had now returned as a skill.
What a cruel system...
A death turned into a technique.
He slowly turned around.
His gaze drifted into the void—
But his eyes were trapped in the past.
Flugel nodded.
"This is only the beginning."
He raised his hand.
The translucent screen slowly faded.
Darkness returned—
but this time, it carried echoes within it.
Just as Subaru was about to speak,
Flugel continued:
"You can now use Soul Coins.
Moments where your death resonates...
They shape this currency."
Subaru's eyes widened.
"Soul Coins? You mean those things you get after missions?
Are they just for… shopping?"
Flugel slowly shook his head,
his eyes turning to Subaru with a weight they hadn't carried before.
It felt like a secret was about to be revealed.
"No.
They're more than that.
Far more."
He snapped his fingers once more.
The scenery changed instantly.
No longer just endless mirrors—
Each mirror now shimmered with life.
Every reflection...
was a different Subaru.
Yet all their eyes were veiled by the same shadow.
Flugel's voice echoed in the void:
"Soul Coins are not mere rewards.
They are the crystallized echoes
of your soul."
"Each one carries the essence of a choice,
a death,
a regret,
or a surrender."
Subaru slowly turned around.
The reflections were watching him.
But none of them were him.
Flugel continued:
🜁
"With them, you can personalize your power.
Say your Unseen Hand—
you can alter its nature,
diversify its function,
or merge it with memories gained through other deaths."
🜂
"You can expand the limits of your Resonance.
Some abilities aren't purely physical—
they respond to mental resonance.
These, too, can be awakened...
or suppressed,
through Soul Coins."
🜄
"And yes...
sometimes they grant access to forbidden memories of the past.
Fragments hidden in your soul's archive,
locked away by the system,
yet still affecting you.
Perhaps lived by another Subaru.
Perhaps forgotten by you.
But those moments...
can be recalled through a Soul Coin."
Subaru's heartbeat quickened.
His breath grew shallow.
This was… too much.
Too dark.
And... too real.
"What about..." he asked through clenched teeth,
"...Forgetting?"
This time, Flugel's voice was heavier.
Duller.
As if the past itself were speaking through him.
"Some burdens are too heavy to carry.
A life taken to protect someone—
or the crushing guilt of a life you failed to save."
"Over time, these can break you.
And in that moment, the system offers you a choice:
For one Soul Coin...
you may erase a memory,
a regret,
even a death."
Subaru's breath caught in his throat.
The words that left his lips—
were less spoken and more exhaled by a trembling soul:
"So I'm selling my reality."
Flugel nodded.
"You're not selling.
You're exchanging.
But no change comes without cost."
The words hung heavy in the air.
Subaru lowered his head. His fists clenched.
He could still see Elsa's dagger piercing his chest—
The fear.
The pain.
The helplessness.
He remembered how his heart had thrashed.
And the temptation to erase that moment... was overwhelming.
But at what price?
"If I erase it, will I lose the technique too?"
Flugel raised an eyebrow,
his expression turning solemn.
"Some gains are tethered to certain losses.
When you erase the memory,
you also erase the foundation of that gain."
"Everything is cause and effect, Subaru.
Remove one...
and the rest will rot."
Subaru's hands trembled.
These painful memories—
Were they truly burdens to be erased?
Or...
was learning to live with them
the very essence of strength?
In his mind, thousands of echoes clashed.
Regret, hope, fear, exhaustion.
All speaking at once.
Then suddenly, he asked—
his voice shaky, yet laced with a dark curiosity:
"What about...
buying someone else's memory?"
Flugel fell silent.
A faint smile, difficult to read, appeared on his face.
"Your questions... are veering into darkness,
Natsuki Subaru."
"The answer is yes.
But that is the greatest taboo."
Subaru sighed.
He was tired of Flugel's cryptic replies.
But the truth was—
he was more tired of life having no single truth.
Buying reality.
Erasing regret.
Acquiring new memories.
And then… who would he become?
"Alright..." he finally said, his voice clearer now.
"From what I saw on the screen, I have 10 Soul Coins.
If I'm not mistaken, I earned them by defeating those bandits and completing the quest that brought me to you."
Flugel nodded in confirmation.
Subaru took a deep breath.
And asked, firmly:
"Is there any feature in this system you haven't told me about yet?"
Flugel yawned.
Apparently, all this talking was already too much for him.
"I[nventory]," he replied flatly,
in a sleepy tone, as if opening just another mundane menu.
Instantly, a new tab appeared before Subaru.
It was nearly empty—
but in the first slot
were the daggers he had taken from the bandits.
Subaru slowly reached toward the inventory.
His fingers passed through the translucent surface…
and the daggers dropped into his palms.
"Huh? That was easier than I thought."
Flugel seemed pleased by how quickly he was adapting.
A faint glimmer of approval flashed in his eyes.
"Alright," Subaru said.
"I want an ability I can actively use—
something I can purchase with Soul Coins."
Flugel snapped his fingers.
Before Subaru, four magical windows appeared.
Each one shimmered in a different color.
Each one looked like a doorway to a different destiny.
[Mana Blade]
Type: Active Skill
Effects:
— Channels mana into your dagger, sharpening it.
— Allows attacks that bypass enemy defenses.
— Attack potency weakens as mana depletes.
— Mana consumption decreases with mastery.
"If battle is an intersection, this skill is the dagger's sharpest point."
[Void Step]
Type: Active Skill
Effects:
— Briefly turn invisible at short range, instantly reappearing behind an enemy.
— Ideal for surprise attacks or escapes.
— Overuse reduces effective range.
— Requires intense mental focus.
"One moment you exist, the next you don't. But for whom?"
[Soul Drain]
Type: Active Skill
Effects:
— Steal energy from a slain foe's soul to gain temporary power.
— Boosts endurance and speed.
— Upgraded with Soul Coins.
— Target must die for activation.
"No true change occurs without a soul taken."
[Phantom Strike]
Type: Active Skill
Effects:
— Your dagger splits into two phantom blades mid-strike.
— First hit stuns, the second deals critical damage.
— Briefly slows movement after use.
— Balanced mana cost.
"Shadows dance in pairs. But which one is real?"
Subaru's mind reeled.
These glowing windows weren't just choices—each was a key to a different future.
[Phantom Strike] offered speed, power, unpredictability. But what if the dagger shatters mid-battle? A weapon's betrayal was a death sentence.
[Mana Blade] was reliable. Coating steel with raw mana could turn every slash into a killing blow. But mana was finite, and Subaru was still an amateur in this world.
[Void Step] meant evasion, hit-and-run tactics. But survival wasn't just fleeing—some battles demanded standing your ground.
[Soul Drain] was intoxicating. To consume a foe's strength… It whispered like a god's ambition, but demanded killing.
"I need to survive first. To grow stronger… I have to live first."
He closed his eyes. Silence fell.
Then, with cold clarity:
"I choose [Mana Blade]."
His voice echoed first in his skull, then seared into the void like a brand. Indecision burned away. Fear gave way to calculated resolve.
Flugel tilted his head, one brow arched.
"Surprising we agree. Not that I mind."
A snap of his fingers.
"10 Soul Coins, paid. Hone this skill. True battles await."
The screen flickered:
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED]
Mana Blade (Active)
Sync Rate: 10%
— Mana-infused attacks pierce defenses.
— Efficiency improves with mastery.
— Critical damage scales with mana reserves.
[Soul Coins: -10]
[QUEST COMPLETE]
Subaru stared. The coins were gone, but satisfaction simmered. This wasn't a loss—it was an investment.
"Mana Blade isn't just a skill now. It's a part of me—one that'll grow with me."
Flugel observed him.
"Wise choice. Mana balance is delicate… but master it, and you'll become a true warrior."
Subaru inhaled deeply.
"I'm ready."
Flugel turned away, leaving a final warning:
"Our talks end here. Try not to die, Natsuki Subaru."
A cryptic smile.
"Next time, I might not answer."
The void swallowed Subaru as he fell.
"Round two… begins."