In a black void where I couldn't tell left from right or up from down, a red screen popped up
[---Hayes Joan, Do You Comply?---] [Y/N]
Without regrets or a hint of hesitation, I clicked the "Y" button, but before that happened, the Grim Reaper said, "Your friends will be rejuvenated at random places, and may die depending on where they land. I can't control that."
"What the–"
Yet again, I blacked out, and then it showed up.
«---GOD SYSTEM INITIALIZING---»
A blue screen appeared in the void, replacing the red one that had popped up before it. A crisp and robotic voice read the words:
[---Welcome, User #02. Loading world: BLUE ASCENDANCE---]
'Isekai, huh. Looks like I struck it rich… And it's my own novel, meaning that I know of any and all things that happen… I wonder which character I'll be reincarnated as? Maybe the MC? No… The MC is 'that person,' after all. Maybe I'll get to meet him.'
«---Error: Protagonist Slot Occupied. Assigning alternate role…---»
"Of course. Let it be a good one… Please let it be a good character," I internally begged, until another screen popped up in my face, the robotic voice speaking with what I swore was malicious glee:
[---Congratulations! You are now: SHIROI VARN (SIDE CHARACTER).---]
My stomach dropped. No. No no no-
A name I don't recognize. A side-character.
More screens followed, and as if to rub sand on an open wound, the system read it out with an impassive tone.
[---Skill: {WRITER'S KNOWLEDGE} has been obtained---]
[---Skill: {POSSESS} has been obtained---]
[---Skill: {WORLD OF TEXT} has been obtained---]
[...]
[....]
[...]
[---I wish you luck in your new world, Hayes---]
I blinked, looking at the screen, and something inside me just clicked. If the surname was "Varn," then that only meant one thing… for better or for worse, the person who I possessed their body is of the Varn family, meaning that he/she is Akai's sibling… Damn.
'I need to find a way to work my head around this and survive, because Akai almost dies in Chapter 350, in the year 5638. More importantly, the main problem is that all of Akai's family dies in 5631. I hope I'm not summoned in that time period; at least a few years would do, just so I can make the necessary preparations.
As soon as I had that thought, I was lurched into a body I could only imagine was Shiroi's.
I gasped "awake" to a tiny voice's screeching. "Rise and shine, maggot!"
«---SYSTEM ALERT---»
[---Welcome, User Hayes. Synchronization: 12%---]
Once I awoke, the first thing I looked at was the date, and what I saw made me wish to return to Earth, or even the soul passage realm.
[March 20th, 5631]
[05:36:32]
Oh fu-
Fragmented memories crashed into my head, and I gotta say, a lot of the stuff I saw was not nice. Still trying to process the memories that crashed into my head, a hand yanked the blankets off me, and I squinted up at a girl.
Noel Varn, "my" older sister from these new memories, and according to my notes, one of the most terrifying characters in the early chapters, which doesn't say much, considering the fact that she dies in chapter 3 anyways. Her red hair shone in the damp darkness of the room as she said, "Get up. You promised to help with Nez's birthday."
I barely heard her because inside my head, memories I had no idea where they were coming from started thrashing around, and another system screen appeared.
'Nez? Who's that?'
«---REMINDER---»
[---Main Plot Event: "The Massacre" begins at 14:32.---]
I rubbed my eyes. Right. Today was the day.
The day everything went to hell for Akai.
I swallowed hard.
"Shut up," I muttered, swinging my legs out of bed.
Noel raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"
"Nothing! I'm up, I'm up."
My memories were still incomplete, but from the get-go, I knew how to behave in response to Noel; it was almost like muscle memory. Still reasoning, a system message popped up in front of me.
«---WARNING---»
[---Soul Synchronization: 100%
Memory Synchronization: 25%
Side Effect: Soul Bleedthrough---]
Once I read the side effect, a voice that was presumably Shiroi's started booming in my head.
Holding my head in pain, I pushed open a random door and closed it behind me.
He kept shouting and shouting and shouting, until I couldn't handle it.
'Alright, this is getting out of hand. My head felt like a dam had burst, and a flood of screaming chaos was raging through it. Yeah, I hijacked your body, sorry about that, but could he please just shut the hell up?'
First things first: I needed to put a cork in his lungs, mental lungs? Whatever. The headache was bubbling up like a volcano. Crap. I was spiraling. Again. Focus. I needed to calm him down.
Another mental banshee-scream rattled through my skull, and I swear I felt a vein physically pop. That was it.
"YOU INSOLENT LITTLE WORM! WHO PERMITTED YOU TO SPEAK?!"
I flung the words at him with the same psychic volume he'd been using on me. If I were to reach this asshole, I would have to speak my native tongue: threats and intimidation. Lucky for me, I'd dabbled in a bit of improv acting (don't ask), so slipping into a domineering medieval demon role was... relatively easy.
"IF YOU DON'T SHUT YOUR FILTHY MOUTH THIS INSTANT, I'LL BANISH YOU TO HELL MYSELF!"
What followed after I said those words was silence. Blessed, blessed silence.
Because, well, Hell in this world wasn't something to be messed with. It's a literal, flaming, contract-binding, infernal-infested place. And infernals were the only beings who could live in such a place, and had a pretty useful skill, one that lets them possess bodies. Everybody knows that. This guy, too. That's why I took on the role of an infernal.
Time to run with it.
"Ahhh, now that's the tone I prefer," I purred, holding in the feeling to just cringe. "Call me an infernal if you must, though in Hell, they call me a far more... reverent title."
For a second, I thought I'd short-circuited his brain. But then he found a little flicker of backbone.
< W-What do you want from me?>
Just then, someone already inside the room spoke, "Um… Am I interrupting something?"
By the side of the room, a boy with red hair and black eyes and a girl with blue hair stood, holding each other's arms.
"Shush, Cyan, it looks like he's out of it today."
"That doesn't change the fact that he's your brother. And besides, we're not supposed to use our real names here, Fred."
"But you just used mine."
"That was out of necessity."
'Cyan, Fred? Those names remind me of them… Well, let's just ask… there's no harm in asking questions, right?'
"There's an adage that says, 'Don't bite the hand that fed you.' My question is, does that also apply to mosquitoes?"
The red-haired boy, Fred, looked at me with a confused expression on his face, and he said slowly, "Say that again."
"There's an adage that says, 'Don't bite the hand that fed you.' My question is, does that also apply to mosquitoes?" I repeated, but this time, I opened both my palms and said, "So, what's your answer?"
"The rule does apply, but the mosquitoes probably couldn't care less. It's been a while, Hayes."