An existential crisis during bath time.

When Luka woke up, the first thing he noticed was how comfortable the bed he's lying on is. Unlike the hard mattresses on hospital stretchers, this one is soft and squishy. The second thing he noticed is the lack of that typical hospital smell, that characteristic smell caused by the cleaning products with which they clean everything over and over again.

He opened his eyes and saw a pale blue ceiling, turning his head he saw a window that overlooks the city. Despite just waking up he still feels very tired, his body feels heavy and clumsy. His arms itch and sting and he feels pain in other parts of his body.

`Where am I? This is not the hospital- Oh shit.` Memories come flooding back and he sinks back into the fluffy pillows with a groan. "Why, God? Why this world?"

God does not answer.

`Cuz he is dead. Fuck my life.` Luka was never very religious but he always believed in God. In his past life he used to go to church several times a year, on all the big religious holidays and before any competition. `Fuck you Nietzsche.`

This horrific revelation would cause an existential crisis for anyone, but Luka has already had several of those in the last two months. The transition from being a 17-year-old teenager to an 8-year-old boy, in another world with magic. All of this made him much more resistant to such revelations. But that's not to say he's completely immune to the knowledge of god's death.

He feels a cold sensation that he hasn't felt since he started to get used to his magic, he feels as if the room temperature has dropped 10 degrees Celsius and the lights have lost some of their intensity.

The feeling is similar to the one he felt when he realized that he would never see his brother again, the person who raised him and always protected him. It is a feeling of loss and confusion.

Something that makes you feel alone and unprotected, that makes you question everything.

`Not the time for an existential crisis!` Luka slaps his cheeks with both hands and shakes his head, he gets up from the bed and begins to examine his surroundings.

He is in a simple hotel room with a double bed with a television on the wall at the foot of the bed, a table with two armchairs in front of the window, and a corridor leading to the exit. In the corridor, right next to the entrance/exit door there is another door, this door leads to the bathroom.

He enters the bathroom and sees his reflection in the mirror, he is pale and has dark circles under his eyes, despite just waking up he seems to be on the verge of collapse.

`I even look thinner.`

After using the toilet and washing his hands and face, he decides to take advantage of the bathtub and take a relaxing bath.

`Since I am in a free hotel room I have to take advantage of all the amenities. Dulio was with me when I passed out and my backpack is next to the bed, I don't think I'm in danger right now.`

Since he woke up in this world he only had quick showers in the locker room of some gym or school that he sneaked into very early in the morning when no one was there. Those showers were just to wash off the sweat and not smell like a wet dog, he hadn't had a chance to take a real relaxing bath since he was Elysia.

After filling the bathtub, he undresses and removes the bandages that cover his forearms. He looks at the cuts and winces as he feels his skin stretch around the stitches. Luka steps into the tub and lets out a satisfied sigh as his muscles start to relax.

"I may look like a corpse right now but I am a very physically fit corpse!" He looks at the muscles in his arms, unlike the mediocre body he woke up in now his body has lost some of his baby fat which has been replaced by muscles that are developing more and more every day. "In a couple of years I'll have a six pack again! This time I might even aim for an 8-pack!"

He lies down in the bathtub and goes under the water for a moment. As he surfaces, he runs his hands through his hair and looks up at the bathroom ceiling. As his hands moved, the cuts on his forearms sent waves of pain through his body and he suppressed a groan. The memories of yesterday's revelation are enough to ignore the pain.

`Highschool DxD is an anime that I know more about from memes and discussions on reddit than from having seen it myself.`

Elysia was fascinated by the world created by Ichiei Ishibumi, a world where all the pantheons exist and coexist together, well not peacefully but not in open warfare. But not even all the interest in the world could have made her watch beyond the second season, the battle between Issei and Vali was the last thing she saw of the anime as all the talk about breasts and harems became too much for her.

`Fanservice is one thing but that- Come on! Ishibumi might as well have turned it into a hentai, I think then I would have at least watched until the end. An interesting world can't take away the flaws of such a fucking bad protagonist. Issei might have been more likable if he didn't talk about breasts or harems every damn time he opened his mouth! Yes, I know, he is supposed to be a very perverted character but there are ways to create a perverted character and make him likable. Jiraiya is a super pervert and one of the most popular characters in Naruto, Master Roku is a full-fledged dirty old man and still has many fans. Characters- Fans- Created-`

Luka's eyes widen and his whole body freezes. He feels a cold sensation running down his back and his whole body begins to tremble.

"This world- is it real? Am I real? These past two months, they felt like- like a dream- no, a nightmare. Am I in a coma and thi- No, it's too real. One can't feel pain nor hunger in a dream, or learn new things. But then-"

He looks around as if he is looking for someone invisible.

"A world thought to be fictional, characters and- How can this be?" Panic and fear are visible on his face and his voice begins to shake, Luka hugs his knees tightly. "Is somebody watching me? Am I a monkey in a zoo? What should I do after-? What should I do?"

He falls limply and his entire body sinks under the bathtub water. Luka stays submerged for almost two minutes.

"Oh, enough!" He sits up, gasping for air. "Stop thinking so hesitantly! Thinking too much about it is a waste of time! There's no way I can do anything about it right now!"

He jumps up and stands in the tub with his hands folded.

"Nothing can be done. Even if this world is considered fictional in another universe, what can I do? I am real, I know that: I think, therefore I exist. I will live my life in my own way as I have been doing until now. What if some strangers are stalking me? Peeping like some perverts. I don't care, keep watching for all I care! Engrave my life into your memory to the utmost for its gonna be an awesome one!"

After cleaning himself he wraps himself in one of the fluffy robes provided by the hotel and sits in one of the armchairs in front of the window. While he bandages his hands, his mind runs at a thousand an hour looking for possible explanations for the existence of a multiverse.

`Maybe Ichiei Ishibumi is not human, but someone from another world who has the power to travel between universes and decided to get rich by telling the story of one of the worlds he visited. Urgh, why do I keep thinking about this? My curiosity will be my end one of these days. What I must focus on is what I know about this world and use that knowledge to ensure my survival.`

Since he stopped watching the anime in season two and didn't bother with the light novels or the manga, his knowledge of the plot leaves a lot to be desired. The only good fortune in his situation is that he followed several reddit discussions about the plot and he knows more or less who the main villains are and their goals.

`Lucifer junior wanted to conquer another world I think, and for that he needed the power of the Beast of Apocalypse. What the actual fuck? That is just- it sounds so damn stupid! Wasn't Trihexa at the same power level as Ophis, the super dragon god with the maturity of a kid? Couldn't he just manipulate Ophis into conquering that world for him? Why bother messing with a being that is pure destruction? Did he have a method to control 666?`

Luka's stomach begins to growl and he gets up from the chair, walks to the phone on the bedside table and asks room service for something to eat.

`There is no point in questioning those things. The important thing is that Lucifer junior is a powerful adversary, I have to stay away from him and his band of followers. I seem to remember that there was also a human faction that tried to eliminate all the supernatural factions. Something about protecting humanity from their shenanigans, which I support but I think they're just as stupid as Lucy junior. This world has gods, and I seem to remember that if you remove all the gods of something, that something will disappear. At least that's what I heard in some fandom and it would be stupid to prove the theory. What would happen if all the sun gods disappeared? Would the sun disappear? Then goodbye life on earth.`

Luka paces around the room while he waits for his food.

`I also remember that Hades had his own villain arc, and something about vampires. Fuck, I guess I'll just stay away from Kuoh and the "main characters". Canon started when Dulio was an adult so I have at least five years to learn some space magic and get the hell out of this world before shit hits the fan. Yep, that's the best plan. Stay away from plot and become stronger, those are my objectives.`

***

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What better way to start Arc 2 than with Luka fighting various existential crises?