Chapter 7 – The End of a Role
The freezing air outside struck Raphael the moment he stepped out of the cave. His legs were still trembling from the backlash, but he kept moving. The Scarlet Chains vibrated faintly around his arms, as if they sensed something approaching.
The wind howled between the rocks.
The monster's roar echoed in the distance.
Time kept ticking.
Raphael took a deep breath.
"Two hours and fourteen minutes… I can still—"
He stopped.
A shiver crawled down his spine.
No sound.
No movement.
Just… a presence.
A presence that hadn't been there a second ago.
Raphael clenched his teeth.
"Who's there?"
Silence.
Then a voice echoed inside his mind.
Calm.
Ancient.
Authoritative.
As if it existed before the world itself.
"You can stop here, Raphael."
Raphael froze.
"…What? Who's talking?"
"Me. The one who created you. The one who wrote the rules of this world."
Raphael's heart pounded.
"A… a god?"
"If you like. The term is convenient."
Raphael stepped back, the chains rattling around him.
"Why… why are you talking to me now?"
The voice sighed, almost tired.
"Because your role ends here."
A cold wave pierced Raphael's chest.
"My… role?"
"Yes. You were never meant to go this far. You were not the hero of this story."
Raphael clenched his fists.
"I don't care about being the hero! I just want to live!"
"Exactly. That wasn't planned."
An invisible pressure fell on him.
Not an attack.
Not a wound.
A decision.
His body froze instantly.
His muscles refused to move.
His lungs stopped.
Raphael tried to move.
Impossible.
"Let me go…!"
"This body is no longer yours."
Raphael's heart tightened.
"Wh… what are you talking about?!"
The voice grew heavier.
"Someone from another world read the story of this world. He didn't like the ending. He insulted the author. And the author… decided to give him a second chance."
Raphael's mind cracked.
"No… no, no, no…"
"He was placed in your body.
Not to replace you…
But to live alongside the true protagonist and his allies.
Your body was… available."
Raphael screamed inside.
"Available?! I'm alive! I exist!"
"You existed."
A burning tear slid down Raphael's cheek.
"This is… this is unfair…"
"Fiction often is."
A force crushed his soul.
As if someone was tearing him out from the inside.
As if his consciousness was being expelled from his own being.
The system appeared, cold and mechanical:
{ [Status: Body reassigned]
Observation: The challenger is losing control.
Comment: You have been replaced. }
Raphael screamed, but no sound came out.
The voice softened.
"Don't worry. I won't let you disappear."
The ground vanished beneath him.
The world turned white.
His body dissolved.
Only his consciousness remained.
"I will give you a new role… in another world."
Raphael fell into the light.
"A ruined world. A world from another book… a book many consider cruel, unfair, poorly written."
The light swallowed him.
"You will be reborn randomly. Maybe as an animal. Maybe as an object. Maybe as a… skill."
Raphael screamed as the void consumed him.
"Why me?! Why again?!"
The voice answered, distant, almost amused:
"Because you have something others don't.
Something even I did not foresee."
Raphael's nonexistent heart stopped.
"…What?"
"I won't tell you. You'll have to discover it."
The light grew blinding.
"If you want to survive, find the one who was meant to be the hero of that world.
You'll recognize his name when you hear it.
And beware of the transmigrator…
He is not your enemy.
But he is not your ally either.
He simply follows his own path."
Raphael screamed as the light devoured him.
"Good luck, Raphael.
This time… it truly is your story."