Not So Shoujo Story

Other's Perspective

In this dark hall, only the prisoners's breaths can be heard, but I can feel their eyes staring at me and the boy in front of me, as only his cell has light.

He stops holding his breath and moves to face me.

"What do you want?" he asks, uninterested.

"Want to hear my story?" I ask in return.

"Whatever."

"A few weeks ago, I met a kid running from assassins. I decided to help him. You know, I'm also from another world, so I thought this kid was the main character of the world I'd reincarnated into, like in those cliché manhwas." I tell him my story, reflecting on my actions back then.

I take a deep breath and laugh.

"I was so fucking naive. He's just a normal, pitiful boy. My fantasy made him suffer twice. I'm not in a fucking shoujo novel—I should've known when my teacher fell into a coma after a dragon attack."

He then started shouting,

"I'm the same as you! I was reincarnated by a god. She claimed she'd give me a cheat to help me survive, but she gave me this curse of infinite reincarnation! I didn't carry any skills from my previous life at all! I've prayed and prayed to her to release me, but nothing ever happened." He stopped shouting and calmed down. You don't need to shout; the hallway is small.

"I think I probably didn't do something she wanted. Did I have a mission to complete? I tried to build temples for her, raise a religion in her name, and even make a whole country dedicated to worshipping her. It was all useless." He started screaming again. "I finally realized what happened. She took advantage of me! She was just using me for her own amusement! So I started to ruin everything I had done for her!"

"Hey, sorry for eavesdropping, but why are you not enjoying your life, looking for women, using your knowledge to be rich, you basically have all the experience right?" one of the prisoners asked.

"I can't enjoy all the luxury without her"

"Damn, boy, don't you know the phrase 'move on'?" another prisoner said, laughing.

"......" He remained silent but looked angry.

"Yeah, this is more your problem than the goddess's. If I were in your place, I'd use my knowledge to get rich. I'd enjoy every life I had and wouldn't end up in this dark place!" another prisoner shouted.

"What do you all know? I've lived 65 lives! Everything precious becomes worthless when your time is unlimited!" he screamed, trying to drown out the prisoner.

"That's still your problem! You only think about yourself! Your knowledge or gold might not be precious to you, but to others, it's something that could brighten their lives! Your pragmatism is boundless!" the prisoner yelled back.

"Try experiencing this curse yourself!" he shouted in response.

"SILENCE!" I roared. In the small space, my voice echoed. They finally calmed down. My ears were about to bleed if they kept shouting any longer.

"Do you want to live another life, or face eternal death?" I asked as calmly as possible.

"I—"

"Before you answer," I cut him off, thinking he might change his mind, "I want to ask the prisoners here: do you all feel tortured being trapped in this place?"

"Tortured? No! We're happy here!" one prisoner answered.

"Yeah! It may be dark, but we basically just sleep, eat, and work a bit. That's it!" another prisoner added, supporting the answer.

"This place is better than being homeless outside."

"This may not be relevant to your condition, but what's your decision after hearing their opinions?" I asked the boy.

"I'm fucking tired of living anymore! If I'm not dead, please make me a new person. I don't want to slowly forget her! I'm scared of losing her forever," he shouted sadly.

"Hey bro, you're traveling between worlds with each reincarnation, right? What if each world has the same copy of souls? You might find your girl somewhere in the world," one prisoner suggested, probably feeling bad for him.

"Please don't think of dying. You can still meet your girl someday. Even if your time isn't precious, the time you spend with her is," another prisoner tried to stop him.

"Enough! I'm tired of hearing the same shit over and over! Just shut up, all of you!" he screamed.

"You know what happened to the boy I met? I accidentally stripped his bloodline from him. He lost his family name permanently, his family magic, and his name was removed from the family's descendant history book. And he was happy because of it," I told him to stop his shouting.

"You see! Not everyone's happy with what they have! I'm also one of them!" he managed to find justification from my story.

"You're different from him. He was chained, but you're free! You can do anything you want without pressure! You're someone who can contribute greatly to this world's development. You're the wrong person with the wrong power," I said with an annoyed voice.

"What will you do? Did you come here just to talk shit to me? Are you here boasting that you have the power of the gods?" he asked in an annoying tone.

Enough, I'm totally fed up.

"This will be your last life. You will find peace after this—no more life for your soul, destroyed unto nothingness. You are not worthy of your power," I said to him boldly.

"Are you a god? How are you so confident saying cringy things like that?" he said, trying to vex me. I stayed silent, holding my urge to punch him in the face.

".........."

"You're just pitying me, right? You—!"

He started coughing violently.

"I'm going to die again... this damn weak body."

He then looked at me.

"Do you promise this will be my last life?"

"I... I want to know too, if it's really my power to change one's fate..." I said uncertainly.

"You... your black hair reminds me of her... Nagisa... I miss you."

Blood started flowing from his mouth, and he collapsed.

"His disease won't spread to us, right?"

"No, he's been holding his breath this whole time. His lungs probably collapsed during the night."

His body began to glow, and a transparent figure resembling a Japanese man floated out. The people around started to freak out.

"Is this what reincarnation looks like?"

"Who knows?"

The body starts disintegrating into thin air. I think reincarnation isn't supposed to look like this. Is he really gone for good?

"I command reality to stop!"

Those are the last words I hear before I'm suddenly transported to a white room. A loud woman's voice echoes inside my head—covering my ears doesn't help.

"You dare use my God Authority without permission? You shall be punished by cosmic rule!"

I finally see the source of the voice: a beautiful woman with blonde hair. She looks like something out of a Greek mythology painting. She has butterfly wings on her back, and her aura suppresses me to the point where I can't move at all.

"I, God of Souls, ANIMA, command the soul who doesn't know her place to be removed!"

What???