Sli#47 opened his eyes to nothingness.
'I miss those days… gaming with friends. Noodles and Coke,' the sli thought tiredly, indifferent to the void surrounding him.
His emotions were going haywire. He recalled his past to relieve them. He didn't want to think for a few minutes.
The silence pressed against him, smoothing his exhaustion rather than easing it.
[ Ding! Tiline 78521452224.178 has ended! ]
[ Error! Error! ]
'What?' Young Sli's eyes widened. "This is new…."
He checked himself, scanning with aura and mana to see if anything was wrong.
[ Ding! An anomaly has been spotted in Tiline 78521452224.178! ]
"What anomaly?" Sli#47 muttered, rubbing the top of his head.
[ Ding! Actions of Sli#47 have deviated! ]
[ Ding! Checking for reasons! ]
'What the heck?' he uttered. "What deviation…?"
[ Ding! Interference of future Sli#47—'$^%$$' has been detected! ]
"Soul Chronicles," he muttered, sighing. "So my future self giving a skill and encouraging has deviated the tiline…"
'My future self should have acted differently from in this tiline,' he realized, taking a cold breath. "So how did he regain his hope, and what would have happened in the actual Tiline 178?" He could only wonder.
[ Ding! Deviated Tiline 78521452224.178 has been renad to Tiline Sli#47.1 ]
"No, I refuse!" he yelled. This Tiline na seed mocking to him. "This would always remind of nalessness."
[ Ding!… ]
[ Ding! Tiline Sli#47.1 has been changed to Deviated Sli Tiline 1! ]
"Well, this is sowhat better," he sighed. There were many slis in the world.
Mainly, it won't remind him of his nalessness.
[ Ding! Begin the new Deviated Sli Tiline 2? ]
A red panel shimred before him.
"What to do…" He clenched his fists.
'I cannot leave Mama Sli, Elder Sli, Little Sli, and the others behind… they are waiting for my return,' he fell into deep thought.
"It should work out," he muttered, planning.
"But first, let's check my mories and use Soul Chronicles to prepare." He didn't forget his future self's advice.
He recalled everything he'd experienced, but after a few monts, he broke into a sweat.
'I cannot rember…' He trembled, as he couldn't recall small details like what he did or how he trained in a few loops.
"What did I do in Loop 14?" he muttered, eyes widening.
"I focused on mastery… I can figure it out via Loop 13 and Loop 15… but I can't rember the training," he broke into a chill, as he could only recall a few things from that loop.
"And Loop 28, Loop 30… a few more as well—I can't…" His hands felt out of control, as he couldn't control them properly.
"Soul Chronicle…" he uttered, as his chill spread more.
A small white shard appeared in his soul dinsion as he used the skill.
[ Ding! Soul Essence Shard detected! ]
[ Use it? ]
[ It contains all mories and emotions of Sli#47! {Personality}! ]
[ —Yes— or —No— ]
"Yes," he clicked yes as he began to re-experience all the mories.
After a few monts, he opened his eyes. He glanced at his palms, still trembling in fear.
"I can now recall them," he muttered, yet nothing was any happier. Instead, he scowled.
Due to his strong soul, despite the soul essence leaking, he could recall almost all of his life.
"I could rember almost all important details… so I didn't care," he noted, holding his hands together, 'but I was already forgetting things… from useless mories.'
He stayed silent for a few monts.
'I need to get them out...those two lights,' he mused grimly. 'I hope I can get sothing from them… It's best if I get a solution.'
After a few monts—
"Tch."
Ripples spread across his fluid body.
"Stop," he snapped. "I want to go ho. Please… I can't do this anymore."
His voice wavered.
'I'm starting to lose my mories… just like my future self warned.'
"My personality will be affected next," he whispered.
Fear crept in where anger once lived.
"I'm afraid of losing myself," he muttered, eyes hollow.
He clenched his hands, afraid that one day even this fear would disappear.
"How many loops has it been?"
"How many years since I last breathed Earth's air?"
'Co out… now,' he thought, despite knowing no one would answer him. 'I hope my acting works.'
Though he called it acting, his emotions were clearly leaking out.
Yet silence…
He turned calm and yelled, "If you don't co out, I won't start the loop."
He waited patiently after the warning—no moving, no starting a new loop.
---
After a few months...
[ Huff! It has been more than ten years since Earthlings were placed in the loop. ]
With a sigh, a gentle, lodic voice echoed through the void.
"Who—who is there?" His body jolted as he looked around.
'Finally here,' he grinned. He never expected he would find soone else.
'Only a voice…' he thought, as he found nothing except the gentle, motherly sound.
[ I am A̷̰͇̝͕̺̗̯͔̤̦̪̻̹̜̽͂͗͆̒̈̕͝i̶̮̺̭̰̦̦̣̪̬̖͖͍̦̮̬̜̫̤͇͑͑̄͒̀̅̄̃́͒̒̿̐̆̎̄̋̀̚͜͠ͅg̶̛͋͑̓͋̅̀̈̊̐͗̒̀̈́̆͝͠͠͝#$# ]
The na collapsed into distortion.
"…Who?" he asked weakly.
[…It doesn't matter.]
The voice continued calmly.
[ Even if I send you back, you will never et your parents or siblings again. ]
[ They are trapped in loops—just like you. ]
"Why?" he shouted. "Why Earthlings? Why are we always targeted?"
His voice cracked. 'I want answers… before anything else.'
"Do you know what it feels like to die?"
"Not once. Not twice. Hundreds… maybe thousands of tis."
His gaze dropped.
"…Especially under that small nace's spell."
Silence followed.
An empty black void filled his vision.
[ Do you want them, your followers, to stay dead? ]
The question ca abruptly.
Faces surfaced in his mind.
His body trembled as he shut his eyes.
Sighing, he asked, "Why did the Ti God create loops instead of choosing a few exceptional people and training them as his successor?"
[ You will know in the future ]
The answer made his body twitch.
Again, the reason was avoided.
"I don't want them dead…" Sli#47 yelled. "Now, send back… You can do it, can't you?"
[ Start the new tiline… you'll et them again! ] The voice replied flatly.
"Urgh… not them—new versions," he roared, his voice hoarse. "Now, either give sothing which would help my current situation, or send back to the previous loop."
'Now, send back… I have to save them,' he thought, glancing around him. He was confident that voice would send him back instead of curing his condition.
The voice didn't reply, but stayed silent.
"Don't play silence with …" Sli#47 barked, clenching his fists. "I won't start a new tiline if you don't accept my conditions now."
[ Very well, Sli ] The voice humd coldly. [ I'll give you two choices… either start the new tiline, or… give up 30% of your already leaking and cracked soul essence. Pick one. ]
The voice turned stern, chilly from gentleness.
'What?' He didn't expect things to get out of his hand, but he grinned the next mont. "Hahaha."
Now he was given a choice: either give up his remaining life to save his followers, or start a new world with other versions of them.
"I know the choice even without thinking," he declared, grinning widely.
----
End of Arc 4—Trial of Combat.
Last Arc remaining in Volu 1.
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