Ch.1Prologue (1)

In the darkness where nothing is visible, I regain consciousness.

I open my eyes. I try to grasp the situation. I attempt to turn my head and look around.

But nothing happens.

I begin to question. I question this current situation.

After regaining consciousness, I cannot feel my body moving. Despite my self clearly existing, I cannot feel the physical form it should inhabit.

No. Is it truly certain that… “I” actually exist right now?

This question transforms into fear. The terror that my faint sense of self might not actually exist, the source of this fear is…

Upon reflection, it was ultimately myself.

Therefore, I reach a conclusion. I exist. I exist here, in this world that I’m not even sure is a proper space.

My existence, which I am fully conscious of right now, is an undeniable truth, at least in my own world.

And just as I was able to define my own existence, at that very moment.

For the first time, I felt a stimulus from some external factor.

What I feel is an endless floating sensation. A strange feeling as if drifting on water, gently enveloping my body.

The eerie feeling of floating alone in a world where warmth and coldness coexist stimulates me, and simultaneously, through the instinct of a living being, I could understand.

Right now, I was slowly dying.

Since this world is as vague as a dream, the reality doesn’t feel particularly strong.

Furthermore, since I’m aware that my current sense of self is hazy, this tendency becomes even stronger.

The coldness of death. Perhaps a familiar yet chilling cold that I might have experienced before, extending toward me, in that strange experience…

I could also tell that something else, another object, existed before me.

“It” was red. Small, red, round… anyway, something that could only be described in such abstract terms.

“It” was something I couldn’t possibly identify with my current hazy awareness. In the midst of that overwhelming feeling, like advancing through thick fog with only a flashlight, I suddenly realized something by instinct.

If I devoured “it,” the red fruit, I could drive away the death slowly pressing upon me, escape from the fate of death.

Of course, this “fact” was so dubious to me that I questioned its truthfulness…

But before I could doubt why I harbored such feelings, I was more desperate about my own imminent death.

…It might be selfish, but ultimately, the most important thing in the world is me. I don’t know exactly what my situation is right now, but what wouldn’t I do to survive?

So I reached out my “hand” toward “it,” the red fruit, grasped it tightly, and then opened my “mouth” and shoved the fruit in without hesitation…

“…Ah.”

A torrent of intense power erupts the moment the fruit enters my “mouth.” By instinct, I sensed this was the taste of sacrilege for breaking a taboo, the taste of corruption from committing something forbidden.

[AAAAH—AAH—AH—AAH——]

A scream echoes in my head. Despair and resentment not my own reverberate like an echo, then gradually fade away.

This scream, which fills my heart with strange emotions, seems to tell me that I have done something I can never undo.

Of course, I don’t regret it.

This ominousness brought about by my choice is ultimately a situation that appeared because I chose it directly at the end, carried out by my own will.

Rather, I now feel that by pushing the red fruit into my “mouth,” death has completely retreated from me, and beyond the ominousness, I felt a slight joy in having escaped death.

The primal fear brought by instinct, the survival instinct that maintains my existence. The joy of escaping from something so terribly frightening was more intense than I could imagine.

And just as I was sincerely rejoicing in my escape from death.

The torrent of power, of energy, that began to be felt when I pushed the red fruit into my “mouth” to avoid death.

That power, which felt like sacrilege and taboo, soon entered my inner self and slowly began to coalesce, resulting in the birth of three small fruits.

What is this situation, what is happening?

As I was feeling frustrated by the anxiety and questions arising from not being able to accurately perceive the situation, a voice that wasn’t mine… that didn’t belong to me echoed in my head.

[Choose, choose what you will take.]

The first voice of another I’ve encountered since being trapped in this inexplicable space.

Strangely familiar for something I’m hearing for the first time, possessing both beauty and ugliness simultaneously, I was wary of it…

“…I could, think.”

While feeling a self-awareness that became clearer through contact with another’s existence, I felt that this choice would not harm me, despite the strange aversion brought by the voice’s suggestion.

So, putting aside my concerns about the voice for now, I focused my attention on each of the “fruits.”

Then, a voice like the one from before began to explain to me the fruits before my eyes, the inner fruits formed after pushing the original into my mouth.

[This is the seed of a ghost obsessed with swords. It is the seed of a ghost with the talent for cutting human flesh with blades.

You will possess power superior to anyone else in killing people by cutting them with a sword.]

One is talent, the talent to kill people by wielding a sword. A talent that, by my perception, seems somewhat problematic.

If I obtain this, I would gain power superior to anything else in the act of cutting people with blades.

[This is an innately strong physical constitution.

Its bones are hard, and its frame is sturdy and unapproachable.

The strength of your body will be incomparable to your kind, and your body will be completed in a form that is nothing short of blessed.]

The other one is constitution. If I had to express it in a word, perhaps “strong-boned.”

The durability of bones and the overall skeletal structure itself becomes stronger, and furthermore, I could aim for benefits such as improved physical abilities or enhanced physique.

In other words, I would have a body with a sturdy frame, an excellent foundation.

[This is the sixth sense beyond the five senses.

You can feel what cannot be seen, and detect what cannot be heard.

You will innately possess senses more sensitive and precise than others, abilities difficult to obtain even through training.]

And the last one is a special ability, a sixth sense. Or an ability that could be called intuition.

If I choose this, I would gain a supernatural and special sense beyond senses like sight or hearing, which could be expressed as… New■?

Anyway, in this situation where three options are presented before me.

Feeling my sense of self and mind slowly recovering, I actually cannot understand what these options are for.

Although I’ve entered a stage where my sense of self is gradually recovering, I’m still in a state where a significant part of my judgment is excluded, and furthermore, I’m at a point where I even doubt whether I am truly myself.

To put it simply, I was maintaining a mental state similar to having a high fever where reality and thoughts cannot be distinguished, so I just wanted to take it easy and choose one of these options…

But as I was trying to take it easy and considering which of these options to choose, I now found myself focusing all my attention on the dilemma of what to choose.

Talent, constitution, and special ability. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the importance would vary depending on what this choice is for.

I desperately wish I could choose all three, but my senses tell me I can only choose one of them…

[…Do you really need all of them?]

Yes, that’s right. Setting aside the question of why I have to choose one of these, why I need to make a choice…

Considering the fact that I don’t know what I’ll go through in the future, I think I’ll need all of them.

[Don’t you think that’s greedy?]

Greedy, greedy… Yes, it’s greedy. Out of my personal desire, I want to have all of them. I want to devour all those powers, just like I devoured the red fruit.

And when I thought this far. Only then did I realize that I had been answering someone’s questions.

And it was… no, it’s different. …Is it different?

[Yes, it’s me.]

…Who are you? Who are you to… no, who am I? Where am I right now? You…

[I have much to say, but there isn’t enough time left to tell you everything.]

Wait! What are you saying all of a sudden? Don’t change the subject, speak properly!

[So remember just this one thing. You are my child. That is an undeniable truth.]

What does that mean? I said don’t change the subject and speak properly!

[Well, it’s a gift. Devour them all. It will take some time, but it will be worth it.]

My thoughts were cut off at this point. Like an electronic device with its power turned off, I, who could no longer continue my thinking as the ability to maintain consciousness disappeared, I, I…

“—WAAAAAHHH!!!”

‘…Huh?’

As the sound of a baby crying echoes in my ears, and the tangy flavor of fruit bursts in my mouth. I… ■■■ fell into a deep sleep.

Perhaps a deep sleep that might last for years.