And then… silence.
I was drifting in nothingness. My body in the real world was still falling, but here—here I couldn't even tell if I was alive. I tried to get up, but nothing worked. My limbs refused to move. My voice was gone.
I struggled. Hours could have passed. Or minutes. Or years. Time lost all meaning. My mind felt like it was fracturing, spinning toward madness.
Then the void began to change.
The endless white blurred and peeled away, like mist being burned by sunlight. A shadow loomed, massive and overwhelming. And then I heard it—
A voice.
"Why do you keep fighting," it asked softly, "even when the odds are against you?"
The sound alone rooted me in place. It wasn't harsh. It wasn't cruel. It was calm, melodic… the kind of voice that could lull a beast to sleep.
I lifted my gaze.
And froze.
I hadn't even noticed her presence until that moment. A woman—if something so colossal could be called that—stared down at me. Her skin was green, smooth as jade. Her eyes glowed crimson, shimmering like twin suns. Her body was vast, towering higher than skyscrapers. Compared to her, I was an ant on the ground.
Her arms were crossed, chin resting against them as she leaned in close.
Beautiful. Terrifying. A contradiction given flesh.
Snakes writhed where her hair should have been. Each one covered in green scales, with red eyes of their own. But they were calm, not violent, as though her serenity extended even to them. Yet the power radiating from her… it was suffocating. With a single thought, she could crush me. I knew it.
The question came again, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"Why do you keep fighting… even when the odds are against you?"
I tried to answer, but my body wouldn't move. I was paralyzed under her presence.
"Oh," she smiled faintly, lifting one finger. "Forgive me."
Something loosened in my chest. My lungs filled with air again. My body was free.
I stood shakily, still lost in her beauty and her danger. "W–Who are you?"
Her lips curved upward. "An ancient relic of the past. My body is gone. Only my soul remains… here, where fragments of me endure."
Her words unlocked a memory. The snake gate. The F-rank dungeon. The battle with the Broodscale Matron.
The Beastline Sample.
"You…" I whispered. "You were the one I absorbed back then."
She nodded. "We were once called the Guardians of Mankind. In your tongue, we are remembered only as… the Ancient Ones."
Shock stabbed through me. The Ancient Ones. I had read about them—half legend, half forgotten history. They were said to have gifted humanity the power to resist the Voidspawn. But then, mysteriously, they had vanished.
"Wait," I said, my voice trembling. "What happened to you? To all of you? Why did you disappear after giving humans their power?"
Her crimson eyes softened, though the weight in them didn't lessen. "It is not time yet. You are not ready for that truth."
Frustration burned inside me, but before I could press further, her question returned.
"Why do you fight, Renji? Tell me. Why do you resist when defeat is certain? Why do you rise when every blow should have broken you?"
I lowered my head. Rage boiled in my chest. Helplessness pressed on my ribs. The memories of the fight—the humiliation, the despair—burned fresh.
"I'm… a transmigrator."
Her eyes flickered with recognition, but no surprise. "I know."
My head shot up. "You… you know?"
She nodded as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
I clenched my fists. "In my old life, I always wanted to be a hero."
Her voice rolled over the void like silk. "A hero?"
"Yes." I met her gaze, forcing the words out despite the lump in my throat. "Heroes… they're strong. Strong enough to overcome anything the world throws at them. They protect their friends. They keep their families safe. They don't fail the people who believe in them."
My voice cracked. "I couldn't do any of that before. I couldn't save my friends. I couldn't make my family proud. But this life—" my teeth clenched, blood in my mouth. "I won't screw it up again."
For a moment, silence.
Then—
She burst out laughing.
Not mocking, but deep and ringing, shaking the void itself. Her snakes hissed softly in amusement, their bodies swaying in rhythm to her laughter.
I stood there, trembling, my face hot, my pride raw.
What was so funny? I said