2 The Judgment
In The Broken Skyscraper, rain poured endlessly at the crevasse-torn part of the ceiling, and a lone black-suited man bled from his left lower chest.
His unnatural breathing and eyes were devoid of life.
'It's cold.' He muttered in a whisper.
He glanced at the office that once housed a highly powerful businessman that conquered most of the world.
It was his work, passion, desperation, and obsession.
The ultimate desire for eternal life that yearns for change.
'So close, yet so far.'
He grinned as blood trailed down from the edges of his lips.
Yearning to become the ruler that changes this unclean world was perhaps too much of a burden.
Now, it was over.
The struggles of life and death ceased to an end.
Upsettingly, only a loser was left with a bitter smile as he leaned on the torn wall.
His once adage of truth is just a meaningless lie to the people who've betrayed him.
For winners are always right.
'I am sorry... sorry.'
As the water continued to fall on his cold body, memories of the old gave him a sense of regret and solemnness.
A sickly blonde girl sitting in a wheelchair appeared like a hallucination before disappearing into nothingness.
He wanted to make a better world even if he lost his humanity.
His surroundings started to blur as exhaustion swept throughout his consciousness while numbness spread to his body.
'...'
Only silence and water droplets to the ground echoed in his final moments. It felt peaceful.
It was the only thing that soothed his defeated sigh.
'Tired... I want to sleep.'
He closed his eyes gently while feeling his breath and heartbeat to a slow rhythm until it stopped.
A feeling of flight ushered like a veil of quietus passing to his depressed mind.
'...'
.
.
.
...
.
.
.
The sound of wind blew into his ears like a new breeze from a spring.
He opened his eyes, baffled at the beautiful scenario.
The vast endless flower field produced a soothing scent like a natural perfume while a small tree stood alone in the vastness of the horizon with only flowers.
The flowers had white, red, black, blue, yellow, and numerous more colors he would never have thought existed.
But, when estimating the size of this world, he did not know the end of the flower field.
'Where am I..? I was supposed to be dead-'
He paused and uttered a word of fallacy. It was words he would have never said as an atheist.
"The afterlife? Heaven? Purgatory?" He uttered with disbelief.
'So, God was real?'
The thought of an afterlife and soul meant that he was truly experiencing an undeniable truth of the universe.
Moments passed like the ebb and flow as his torrent of thoughts ended.
Tranquility from the atmosphere calmed his mind while accepting the truth.
He approached the lone tree. The green and red leaves swayed from the wind of the blue sky.
He leaned over the tree trunk and gazed at the peaceful yet beautiful scenery like a masterpiece from an artist.
The sense of time existed in this world as autumn ended and winter came. The flowers withered while a few remained.
Now, only a brownfield while a few flowers existed in his sight before time passed again. The flowers germinated from the seeds of the dead flowers.
When spring came, flowers bloomed while a few of those last remaining flowers from the first cycle died in summer, and the newer ones took over. It continued for a long time.
It was like the cycle of life and death.
Yet, why was the tree in the middle still alive despite the countless cycles?
The tree had a long lifespan, but why was it endless?
-"That is a wise question, adagium."
A husky deep voice echoed in his ears. The tranquility disappeared from his senses as vigilance took over due to the unknown.
"?!"
"Who are you?!"
He looked frantically around the vast place, but nothing was in sight.
-"I?"
-"I am the truthseeker. We are alike, adagium."
Suddenly, light particles formed into a humanoid being.
"Why do you call me adagium?"
The handsome figure stood in the vast flowers, unshaken by the oddity of his androgynous appearance.
-"Adagium are scholars of wisdom."
-"Which is why I chose to become thine, solicitor."
"What do you mean by that?"
Confusingly, this strange person liked to speak in riddles. He did not know whether this being was a human or not.
-"I will show it to ye."
When the Truthseeker flicked his fingers, memories appeared and invoked his mind.
It reminded him of the sins of taking a life, coercing the innocents to safeguard secrets, destroying life, deceiving others, experimenting on human life, and countless crimes.
'That's right... even if I had justification for all I have done. It means nothing. I lost my humanity for the bigger picture.'
"Haha-hahaha... so, you're going to send me to hell by giving me this false hope?"
He calmly muttered while glancing at the surroundings.
'These were too good to be true.'
He had already expected punishment for the deeds he had done.
-"Quite the opposite. You are forgiven by the Creator and all of those lives who were taken by you."
"Preposterous!"
He frowned and stomped his feet.
"How could I be given mercy? I killed billions!"
Self-loathing crushed every bit of calmness left in his mind.
He broke down when his logic was no longer apparent when another showed forgiveness towards him.
"You must be lying. Right? There's no way..."
A sense of guilt destroyed the dam in his conscience.
The figure stared at the now guilt-driven person, who fell to his knees.
-"You held no hatred towards anyone. Your actions were driven by the sole desire for a better future. We understand your actions."
The purpose of creating a better future was to stop humanity from World War 3. To do that, he had to destroy the system.
The system that held humanity from advancing. The greed of politics and the idea that unification is improbable because of diverse cultures and perspectives. Humanity limited itself from the future it could create because of hate and the insatiable desire of human greed.
-"But... you have forgotten one thing."
"..."
-"You only relied on yourself to attain your goal. You trusted no one. That is the cause of your fall."
-"We believed that you were going to achieve that ideal goal, but when you lost her, a bright future for humanity ended, and only destruction awaited."
'That's right. I've forgotten the cause and only cared about the future. What was I trying to achieve in those desperate times?'
'If she was there as my assistant, maybe I could've kept going without losing my sanity.'
He lowered his head in a state of guilt.
-"I will not waste your time, adagium."
-"Thy journey is arduous yet long."
-"Ye must find thyself to find forgiveness."
"... Journey?"
-"Although thine victims have forgiven ye, the Karma System has not been satisfied."
-"Ye have done good as ye have done bad. But, the destruction of thine previous world was caused by ye, Adagium."
-"Ye must save the world plagued by the Honkai."
"What..?"
He paused and glanced at the truthseeker with a look of doubt.
Honkai meant "collapse." The world he was talking about was Honkai Impact. It was a game he used to play as a high schooler in 2017.
"You must be kidding. That world is a game with a fictional story."
-"Hm... Indeed. Ye must be in disbelief, but my words are no lies."
"... Fine. I'll believe in you since everything already doesn't make sense." He said in a bitter tone.
"What do you want me to do? You don't expect that the main story of Honkai Impact has problems?"
-"I will explain it to ye. The many worlds are created by gods that hold the power of concept. The Gods in your previous world are beings created from belief."
-"Their purpose is to spread awareness of their existence to creation that is in the image of God."
-"The Original God or the Creator was the one that created everything, including the concepts that became sentient as billion of years passed."
-"They became sentient because of the living lifeforms in their universe. Their beliefs shaped the image and identity their gods held."
-"The Hoyoverse is one of the creations of these concepts through the beliefs of the lifeforms from alternate universes."
"Crazy. So, there are many gods?"
-"No. There is only One God that exists in all things. God is the identity of everything and is one with all things."
-"There is an importance of the singularity of the one word."
"Because they are all connected?"
-"Indeed. Ye have read the Transcendants' Scriptures."
"You mean the Buddhist Scriptures?"
-"It isn't the only one in your world. There are numerous scriptures. The Bible, Quran, and all religions in your world possessed truth in them, but are all connected."
-"They hold a secret of the purpose of the singularity and image of God created within humanity while some scriptures depicted many gods that originated from one Great Being."
-"And, the problem of the world plagued by Honkai isn't the collapse itself, but the power of an otherworld anomaly."
"Otherworld Anomaly?"
He questioned with a look of confusion as the sentence felt familiar.
'Why does this sound like the plot of a transmigration novel?'
-"They are known as the Singularities. These anomalies are present in the timeline of Honkai Impact. Your identity will be Otto Apocalypse, the one closest to the Singularities' Timeline."
He explained further that the timeline was affected in a lot of places. The singularity would likely appear in the Middle Ages, Sengoku Period, etc.
It would span to the Modern Age, so Otto Apocalypse was the perfect character to transmigrate into.
Surprisingly, Otto Apocalypse was his favorite character in Honkai Impact 3rd. The thought of transmigrating into the major antagonist was odd and terrifying but welcoming for him.
Honkai Impact 3rd was one of the best stories he has witnessed. It left a deep impression on him, especially the tragedy of the stories of these characters.
Otto Apocalypse was the one that left the deepest impression on him. The drive, intelligence, goal, and sheer willpower to never give up. It gave him a strong motivation to achieve his goals.
Otto succeeded, but he failed.
It was the stark difference between his limitless inspiration and his perfect ideology from Otto Apocalypse. He smiled bitterly.
"How will I find the singularities?"
It was troublesome since the world was a vast place. The thought of searching for it would take ages.
-"Ye will be transmigrating with a powerful blessing made by the Creator. It will help ye in locating the singularities."
Suddenly, a blue screen of text appeared in front of him.
[ System Interface ]
[ Calibrating System Essentials... ]
[ Accessing User Interface... ]
[ Sending User to Characterization... ]
[ Loading... Ding! ]
.
[ Characterization (1/3) ]
In exchange for power, you will receive negative traits.
[Positive Traits]
1.) Perfect Honkai Compatibility
-You have complete control over Honkai Energy in your body.
2.) High Honkai Resistance
-You can resist honkai radiation even at extreme levels.
3.) Natural Genius
-Your intelligence is above 180.
4.) Iron Body
-Your body is gifted and strong.
5.) Gifted Reflexes
-Your reaction speed and movement stimulus are extraordinary.
[Negative Traits]
1.) Chronic Headaches
-Suffer headaches daily.
2.) Depletion of Honkai Energy
-Honkai Energy is scarce.
3.) Sexual Dysfunction
-Reproduction is impossible.
4.) Insomnia
-Difficulties in sleeping due to nightmares.
5.) Honkai Addiction
-Honkai Energy becomes turbulent and dangerous when enhancing the body. It can lead to death.
6.) Lifespan Reduction
-You lose 50% of your lifespan
7.) Overuse Honkai Backlash
-When overusing honkai energy. You will suffer from exhaustion.
8.) Insanity
-You easily suffer from mental illnesses, and any symptoms of mental illness tripled.
9.) Worsened Physical Health
-Your physical body deteriorates due to a lack of lifespan.
10.) Cold Feet
-You suffer from a cold daily, and a cold ailment can cause major debilitations.
-"The purpose is to supplement you for your journey to clearing the singularities."
He paused and asked questions first.
"You haven't explained it yet. How are these singularities made?"
Just what were these singularities, and what was the objective?
-"They are created from space-time distortion. Ye may think of it as combining another reality with a different one."
-"In essence, it is a world in a world."
"Like the Hollow Earth Theory?"
-"Indeed. It is similar. But the cause and effect are different. Once the singularity fully integrates into the Earth. It will change the course of history or even destroy it."
"What happens if that occurs? What do I do?"
He asked in an ambiguous tone while knowing the importance of a countermeasure for the worse case scenarios.
-"The only thing you can do, is to complete the objective in the system. It will give ye the best action to the situation even if it turns for the worst."
