"Protect yourselves!"
A terrified official screamed.
They believed this was the end.
A sense of acceptance settled in everyone who witnessed the event.
"This is it..."
Someone muttered, staring at the monitor in a dim room.
What he saw was the orb sinking into the ground.
The girl who had dropped the glowing white orb simply turned around and walked away, as if nothing had happened.
When she was about a meter away, the ground began to turn completely white—like snow.
But it wasn't just the ground.
Structures, the air, even the atmosphere began shifting, losing all color—turning into absolute whiteness.
It spread rapidly.
Everything it touched became a white void.
Nothing physical remained—only faint impressions, illusions of what used to be.
Reality began to distort.
Images of the real world twisted into indescribable visions.
People inside buildings didn't even notice—they were becoming part of it.
In the distance, King Dan stood, hope still clinging to his heart.
"The heck? I thought she was just on par with Anon. I should've used her..."
Regret filled his heart, though he said it with the indifference of someone pretending not to care.
"Now… let me do what I can to stop this, even if it's impossible. I am the king. It's my burden to protect my people!"
He unsheathed his sword and raised it, trying to connect its power to her.
But even the threads of energy that extended from the blade were affected by the spreading white—not bright or dark, but a raw, natural distortion of reality.
"It's... useless!"
He cried.
"So many regrets... Damn it, I should have married someone... taken time to rest from my duty..."
He shouted, filled with anguish.
Regret, regret, regret—it echoed in his heart.
The Warlord Robots didn't move.
Their connection to their controller had been severed by the orb.
They stood in place, encircling Anon's trembling, unformed body.
Anon hadn't yet reformed—his soul was still resisting the many wills trying to take control of him.
"This is too much for me to handle!"
King Dan yelled.
He kept launching threads from his sword, again and again, but the orb moved closer.
Everything in its path became a blank canvas.
"Maybe… maybe luck will show up and give me a chance to undo this..."
But even his hope had become hopeless.
All that remained were delusions—impossible dreams.
"I can do it!"
He said.
"No, I can't!"
He cried.
His mind was falling apart, flipping between fear and hope.
He wanted to run—but his role as king held him in place.
Then it reached him.
His hands dissolved into white.
He couldn't move—he was being pulled in.
"Nooooo!"
He screamed in agony.
His face was like a child's—crying, begging to escape his fear.
And then, at last… he was swallowed.
The world shattered in less than a minute.
The expansion of the orb quickened by the second.
The girl responsible?
Gone.
Vanished from the world.
---
Human decisions always seem right—if the results look good.
But once they bear bitter fruit, they throw them away and pretend it never happened.
No… that's a lie.
Humans don't throw them away.
They repeat them, again and again—chasing the first good outcome while ignoring the eventual disaster.
They are ambitious yet lazy.
They only trust when they are trusted.
They act kind to strangers, yet hurt those who truly care for them.
That's reality.
Power and knowledge are mere tools to justify themselves—
Yet none die without regret.
The powerless and the powerful remain divided.
But they all seek happiness in fleeting things.
They all cry, feel sadness, envy, and hatred—
Yet none of it makes them better.
Maybe, somewhere, someone exists who lives without regret.
But if that person exists…
They are no longer human.
---
"Hello?"
"Are you still there, old man?"
A familiar voice.
"Who is it?"
"Am I still alive?"
"Hah! That's impossible... impossible..."
His voice echoed.
But he could still feel his body.
"Oh my... this is a weird flashback."
"Heheh... Feels nice though."
"Should I try opening my eyes, even if it's fake?"
He heard a voice again.
"Hey, you there, uncle! This weirdo is talking to himself!"
A child's voice.
Then another familiar one echoed.
"You insolent brat! Our king is not a weirdo!"
An angry voice snapped.
"No, he totally is! Listen to him!"
"What... is this? A dream?"
He was confused.
"So dark... I must've been swallowed. Maybe now I'm just a spirit without a torso..."
He opened what felt like imaginary eyes.
And what he saw—
Unbelievable.
Anon stood above him, while he lay on the ground outside Grandeul Jail.
"Wh-What kind of s****y dream was that?!"
He shouted, scrambling backward.
Anon turned, smiling darkly.
"Old man... our fight is a draw."
"What?! I saw everything—from the start to the end of my life!"
His voice trembled with panic.
Anon explained:
"The moment you sliced me... I chanted a little trick. My favorite technique for escaping enemies.
It puts them in a simulated reality of the present and future—until they die."
"So... everything I experienced was just a dream?"
He struggled to believe it.
It all felt so real.
He remembered everything—every sight, every emotion.
"Yeah, it's all true."
Anon confirmed.
"That's what would've happened if you really defeated me.
I don't know exactly what went on in your mind, but clearly it affected you.
Still, it was fun watching you sleep.
You cried and muttered the weirdest things."
"So I'm really alive..."
He squatted down, tears streaming from his eyes.
"Then... I'll do my best. I won't let myself die like that again."
His confidence returned.
He had decided:
He would no longer try to kill Anon.
He stood and walked toward him.
"You dense old fool!"
Anon snapped.
"I never said it was just a dream!
It was a real simulation! That was another version of you—a version that died!"
"So... logically speaking, I've already done it—but in a different me?"
Even after Anon corrected him, the king stood firm.
"Good. That means I now know what not to do.
Thanks to that other me.
Though... I wish he made a better plan."
"Dad!"
Anon shouted, raising his voice.
"I've found the dumbest king alive! You said kings are wise—but this guy's worse than a corpse!"
He turned and walked back into Grandeul Jail.
As the king lost sight of him, Anon spoke one last time:
"By the way—you have three days to come up with a real answer.
Why did you run that experiment on those old fools?
Your life—and your people's lives—depend on your answer."
---
"I can't believe it..."
The king muttered, laughing.
"He's unbelievably human.
I thought he hadn't mastered his power yet—but he has.
I was fooled by his childish face.
He must be a thousand years old... maybe more.
This is the first time I've seen a god-human with full power who still has emotions and a conscience."
He noticed the Manager of System Command nearby—a frail old man, marked by the passage of time.
"Hey, old man!"
He called.
"Did you open the sp—"
The old man interrupted before the question was even finished.
"They planned to open it without your permission, my king.
But I stopped them.
You have nothing to worry about."
He knelt.
At that moment, the king realized—he'd been right to promote him.
This man wasn't just a subordinate. He was a friend.
Someone who'd been with him since the beginning.
They had built the kingdom together—faced hardships, fought side by side, and survived.
The king walked to him, placed a hand on his shoulder, and smiled.
"You've done well, my friend.
And I'm sorry for doubting you."
"No need for that, my king.
It's my duty—and I'm happy you still see me as your friend."
They were more than king and subject.
They were comrades—trusted allies through it all.
---
Inside Grandeul Jail, Anon wandered.
"Oh no! Where am I now?"
He shouted.
He wasn't familiar with the place.
He only remembered meeting the king here… and then falling asleep during the story.
"This place is so hard to remember."
He groaned in frustration.
---
And as everything returned to what it once was…
The lives he had taken…
One day, they will come back to haunt him.
His actions now may become regrets later.
But the words of someone still echo within him—
Words that gave him the courage to keep going.
Never regret.