"Helooooo, you awake yet?"
"..."
"Knock, knock! The best sister is calling her best brother! Helloooooooo."
"......"
"I know you can hear me, y'know!"
"..........."
"I'm sorry for what happened, but come on—it's like the millionth time this has happened, and you need to get used to this as time goes on, right?"
"............."
"The others are really mad at you still and see you as some sort of scared cat. And, honestly, you kind of are when we think about it. But at least talk to me when we have the chance! And you were pretty good this time—you stayed alive for more than twenty years, right?"
"y-yeah, I guess so…"
"Which brings me to my next topic—and probably the most important topic we've talked about since, you know, 'That guy."
"......"
"Okay, so here it goes… we are thinking of… cutting your string. But please don't be mad! I really did try to tell them no, but they didn't care since we're nearing the Grand Reset. I assure you, I'll try my best to make them understand!"
"So what's going to happen? You'll leave me to die?! In the hands of that foul, disgusting beast? Is that what we're going to do, HUH?!"
"I told you not to be mad! And as I said, I literally tried to tell them to excuse you and give you a few more chances, but they just wouldn't listen to me! You could at least try to be more useful instead of hiding all the time!"
"Am I the one at fault? Me? I have seen what he can do. I have experienced what he can do, and he's been watching me with an open mouth all these decades! Imagine what he'll do to me if he even gets near me! Every time I reset, every time I look into the abyss, he is always there. He hasn't stopped looking at me—not even for a single day after what I did—and you want me to just accept my fate? You are crazy!"
"How many times have you been reborn?"
"W-What?" "Answer me, brother."
"How the hell am I supposed to know, you idiot?!"
"You have reset 1,361 times. The oldest you ever got was thirty-nine. The best reset—the one that benefited you and us the most—was number 1,203. Do you remember why it was the best one?"
"Why does this even matter? You were always like this, always making me the scapegoat for your stupid antics and bad relations with others!"
"Because you were born the youngest in a rich kingdom. You didn't do a single thing, yet you lived one of the best lives anyone could ask for. What did you do with that life? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You had so many chances to redeem yourself, yet you chose not to!"
"You don't even know what I saw, and you're still talking nonsense!"
"And you actually have the guts to blame me after all this time? Really? The world is in shambles, the people have no hope, and their god has been hiding for more than ten thousand years without doing anything valuable!"
"Shut up!"
"You truly deserve your fate, and I am done being your defender against the others."
"W-wait, Lumin, please listen to me and give me another chance! I swear I'll do anything you want—just give me another chance!"
"I want nothing to do with you. Your last chance has already been granted—not by me, but by Kurur—so don't even waste your breath." "Him? He granted me my last chance? Can't you see what he'll do to me if he learns my string is gone? Please, Lumin, don't do th—"
Before I could even complete my pleading, I was in darkness once more. I had been here a thousand times, yet I still couldn't get used to this wet, humid, sticky entrance. The doctor pulled me out of the womb and handed me to my parents, who looked at me as if I were some sort of reward—which, to these mortals, I truly was.
My mother and father were better than most I'd had. They even gave me treats from time to time if I behaved. All I did was lie in bed, sometimes crawl, and sometimes poop. That was all there was to it: food, shelter, and night lights that made me relaxed and happy.
I learned how to walk. I already knew how to speak, walk, and do many other things, but my body needed to grow and adjust before I could perform those actions freely. As I grew older, my parents realized that I possessed immense magical and physical potential and enrolled me in one of the best schools in the world at the time: Lumaria Academy.
The name came from the Goddess of Knowledge and was quite fitting, as the school housed the largest library in the Realm. I was thrilled and remained a good student for some time. Everything began to fall apart when I reached the age of ten.
That was when I regained my memories, as stated in the contract.
My string was gone—the thing that tied me to the gods had vanished—and I was going to be hunted by that foul beast once more. I was still a prodigy, but that wouldn't help me hide from such a powerful monster. I was truly doomed… or so I thought.
I was once meant to be the God of Hope—and so much more. I had been a good god for a time, but even gods can be killed.
The first gods were eight individuals, and I was deemed the 2n eldest among them after my brother. That foul beast was younger than me, yet always looked down on me from above.
I didn't want to dwell on the others just yet. Having only recently regained my consciousness of my past lives, I needed time to think. I cleared my head and went for a walk, my thoughts lingering on my sister and her words about how I supposedly deserved this fate.
She knew nothing—nothing about how I felt or how powerless I was against Kurur, the Taker. I couldn't simply sit around and wait for my demise. I didn't know what to do, but I needed to figure out how to beat him in his own game—or at least how to survive for as long as possible.
I had truly been a good god in the beginning. I helped people and answered prayers from across the Realms. Race and lineage meant nothing to me; hope was the fuel of those who struggled. I believed nothing could stand in my way, and I kept giving and giving to the world.
That all changed because of one of my favorite humans—Preugos.
He faced a beast he could not slay, a mountain he could not climb, a problem he could not solve. The beast finally came for him. He wasn't even old—only thirty-three—and though he was past his prime, he still fought bravely holding his own for some time.
I couldn't accept his death. He still had so much left to do. I used my own mana to bless him, making him stronger. In doing so, I interfered with nature itself and broke the unspoken rule of the gods:
No matter the case, we must never intervene in the natural cycle of life.
I betrayed that rule and committed the greatest sin of all. I was dethroned and tortured for more years than I could count. It was him—the beast. He was the one who tortured me and exposed my crime.
I was undoubtedly mistaken. I had crossed a line. But I did not deserve what followed.
They made me experience death in every way imaginable. Every spell, blade, and martial art was tested on my now-mortal body. I was eaten by him countless times, beaten by him countless times—yet the smile and joy he took from it never faded.
Eventually, I managed to strike a deal with the others and proposed a trade. When I died, I would no longer return to the Realm of the Beast. Instead, I would be reborn as a random animal or race of my choosing. I would loose nearly all of my godly powers but at least i would be safe from his sick and awfull Realm.
I was reborn 1,361 times. All I ever thought about was never returning to that foul place. My sister was right in one regard—I had done nothing but hide. The God of Hope had become a cruel joke for the past ten thousand years.
People had little to no hope. I was nowhere near my former state, yet I still had to do my best and grow stronger to stop the Grand Reset. I could not go back to that foul beast and his realm. Never—ever—again.
I had the tools to be better: a prestigious school, the talent to support it, and the experience of ten thousand years of running. (I'm not really proud of this part but sill i should putit to use)
I was going to prove my worth