Yujin had introduced himself, but Amiya continued to stare at him with colorless eyes.
Seeing her slumped and lifeless posture, which could drain the energy out of anyone watching, Yujin sighed. Through the screen, she had been a girl with a beautiful, bright smile. He couldn't understand why she now wore an expression that suggested she was done with the world.
"…Why not try smiling a bit?"
Since Amiya had touched his face earlier, Yujin reached out and lightly tapped the corner of her mouth with his finger.
Whoosh!
Of course, the moment he made contact, she recoiled instantly like a startled animal, eyeing him with deep suspicion.
"My name is Amiya. Why are you here? This isn't a place an ordinary person can reach."
"That's what I'm saying. I don't know the reason either. I just opened my eyes and found myself here."
Yujin shrugged at her question. He assumed he was reading someone's memories through Originium again, and that the owner of those memories was the girl standing before him.
Silence. Since neither knew anything, conversation stalled. Yujin tried to break the awkward tension.
"Haha, by the way. What race are you? Donkey?"
Remembering the old meme from his past life where players called her a donkey, Yujin asked. For the first time, Amiya showed emotion, frowning deeply.
"Not a donkey. Rabbit. I am a rabbit. Don't call me a donkey."
"…Not a donkey?"
"I said I'm a rabbit!"
"Then I'll call you Donki."
Thwack!
Angry, Amiya kicked him in the shin, but a little girl's kick was far from painful for Yujin.
"Now you look a bit more human. A moment ago, you looked like a walking corpse, Amiya."
When Yujin smiled and said that, Amiya flinched and trembled.
She realized it too. Yujin‘s earlier remark was an attempt to lighten the mood, a consideration for her.
Just moments ago, she had been contemplating sealing Yujin in Originium to preserve him as a specimen. But after wandering through dozens of worlds, she was simply too exhausted.
A brief respite. Nights spent sleepless in fear. If she closed her eyes, she feared she would dream of the family and friends she missed. So she couldn't sleep.
Seeing Yujin smile, she felt the warmth of humanity again. She tried to observe Yujin‘s world, but it was blurred, hidden behind a veil.
This warmth terrified her. She feared she might become attached to people and fall silent again—not the ending suitable for a girl who preserved countless parallel worlds in Originium.
She reached out again. Originium formed in response to her will, but it couldn't touch even the tip of Yujin‘s toe.
In the dark void of the sandy beach where nothing existed...
The sky, originally black and empty, now held three stars when Amiya looked up again.
"There was nothing there before."
"Hmm? What?"
When Amiya looked at the sky and spoke, Yujin followed her gaze. Three stars, his stars, had risen.
"Only three stars in the sky. Can't see anything else."
The three stars floating in the dark sky were anomalous. Amiya tried to reach out and trap their light with Originium, but the stars rejected her touch.
The light shone down on her. Stars she thought she would never see again.
She reached out. Stretching her hand toward the sky, she felt as if she were grasping a star, and then she understood.
Why this man had come here.
She read the promises and memories contained within the stars. The faces of Sarkaz even she knew well, the Demon of Explosion who fought in crumbling buildings.
And the vow of chivalry made not long ago.
When she opened her eyes again, a tear trickled from one eye.
"Why..."
"Wait, Amiya. Are you crying? Why all of a sudden..."
"Why do you choose such a difficult path?"
Amiya‘s ash-gray eyes met Yujin‘s. Her gaze seemed to pierce through his heart, compelling him to speak the truth.
"I don't know."
The answer Yujin brought was simply that: he didn't know.
"…You don't know? A man who burned his own life to do those things?"
His actions might have been impulsive, or perhaps the result of a promise made in his youth.
"The path I walk might seem hard, or to others, it might not seem difficult at all. Everyone sees people differently."
Choices are the same. No one knows what results they will bring. Yujin‘s choices might have split into dozens of paths, leading to different events in other worlds. But there was one thing Yujin could say with certainty.
"I just hope I have no regrets on the path I walk."
If I had made that choice back then.
If I hadn't done that on that day.
Life is a series of choices. Nothing is certain, but the results of Yujin‘s choices were consistent.
Even if it meant death, he would not regret it.
"…An ordinary person couldn't do that. You know what this world is like."
The world is hell.
Amiya knew that better than anyone. If the Sarkaz disappeared from the world, other nations would simply label another race as the new "Sarkaz" and pour their hatred onto them. Amiya knew a world where everyone called each other "Sarkaz" and walked the path of destruction.
Every world was like that. Not once had a world deviated from her expectations. People didn't see people as human; they aimed guns and swords at each other.
"Do you think it would be different without Originium?"
Originium—the mineral that brought dazzling progress to humanity, and the root of all evil.
Yujin‘s words pierced to the core of Amiya‘s thoughts. Would the world be different without Originium? It was something she had always pondered. If there were no Oripathy, if the Originium that caused conflict didn't exist.
"No, it wouldn't. This time, it would be because the race is different. Skin color is different. You're from a different continent, so you're different. They fight, pointing guns and swords because they are 'different.' That is what intelligent humans do. A world without Originium doesn't guarantee happiness for everyone."
"Then, why does the world..."
Amiya‘s eyes darkened. If humans fight even without Originium, why do they exist? Thoughts justifying her actions raised their heads.
"Not everyone in the world is bad."
The path to destruction.
Amiya believed every world was walking toward destruction, so she imprisoned them. Stripping them of free will, believing her actions were salvation, she preserved worlds in Originium.
"If there are bad people, there are definitely good people too. I'm not here to debate human nature, but I believe people can change at any time."
Because people change their choices for simple reasons.
"So, I love humans, Amiya."
"…What does that mean?"
How many people could say that with confidence?
"People get annoyed as they live. And they realize their mistakes and apologize. Actually, I hate crowded places too. Lazing around at home is the kind of rest I like."
Yujin‘s platinum eyes looked at Amiya. Perhaps those eyes resembled the eyes of the woman who had saved her from the rubble—
"People might have things they hate. I have plenty of things I dislike too. But still, aren't humans amazing?"
Shining eyes. The knight's eyes looked at the girl. Within his gaze, there were people.
A knight seen running across the land beyond the wall. His spear shines silver, saving people.
A girl who threw herself to save children despite her youth.
A human living by his own lines and promises, even if it seemed meaningless.
A witch who, despite being a coward, feared ordinary people getting hurt.
A person who rushed with spear and shield without hesitation to help a friend.
A woman who fled to another country with a child just to save her.
In this world, such people also existed.
And those people influenced Yujin‘s choices.
"…So, don't hate people too much."
Hearing Yujin‘s words, the girl laughed. Whether out of disbelief or because she saw a man with a head full of flowers, she laughed.
Her mouth was smiling, but tears fell from her eyes. The hot drops flowing down her face seemed to deny the justification of her actions.
On the dark sandy beach, drops fell, creating ripples. Yujin didn't know how to comfort a child with words, so he simply hugged her silently.
Amiya buried her face in Yujin‘s chest. To hide her grotesque face that was smiling yet crying, she buried her face, screaming soundlessly.
Yujin said nothing more. He just held the child's head and stroked it gently.
Even if decades or centuries passed.
In his eyes, Amiya would always appear as a young girl who had not yet become an adult.