Fear.

For Bologue, fear is a somewhat unfamiliar emotion; throughout his past experiences and the constant impacts of the Face of Horror, Bologue's will has long been unwavering.

Only when he learns the hidden truths of the past does Bologue's will ever slightly falter due to the astonishing facts, and when others face misfortune, he feels fear stemming from concern for their fate.

After many years, Bologue once again retrieves that pure sense of fear at this moment, his body feels frozen, and every inch of muscle no longer obeys his command, silently screaming.

In this post-death world, another presence awaits him.

This feeling is unbearable—a presence appears in a world where there should absolutely be none.

The world after death is lonely and vast, but for Bologue, it is a place far safer than the Order Bureau; in this peculiar space, he returns to the earthly world, and here, Bologue can fully relax, filled with an absolute sense of security.

But now the sound of snapping fingers breaks this safety, in this lonely world, Bologue is not alone… perhaps he has never been alone, as there is always a mysterious presence hiding in the shadows, watching every time Bologue resurrects.

Bologue struggles to control his emotions, forcing himself to calm down. As an expert, negative emotions don't affect Bologue for too long, and he begins to contemplate one plan after another in his mind.

Anger and delight overwhelm fear, and Bologue realizes one thing: this post-death world is intimately connected to his Blessing—the Time Reversing Axis, and further linking the two is the devil who snatched away Bologue's soul and whose identity remains unknown.

Ah… you have finally appeared.

The debtor is a deputy of the devil interfering in the present world, and one day the devil will seek out the debtor, making them fulfill the debt they carry.

Bologue clenches his fist and slowly turns around; an absurd scene greets his eyes.

The vision is wholly occupied by ashen stone; there are no mountains or ridges, only boundless wilderness and sunken ring mountains, some so massive they stand like basins.

Not far from Bologue, the person uses a snapping gesture to draw Bologue's attention and waves at him to come over; to him, it's just an idle gathering with friends.

Bologue scrutinizes the figure, and buried memories rise to the surface.

His breathing becomes rapid, and Bologue recalls a certain mechanism in this post-death world; after each resurrection, he struggles to retain memories from the post-death world.

Much like a dream, when Bologue awakens, memories related to his post-death world quickly fade.

Now Bologue understands; they haven't disappeared, but are sealed away.

Only when Bologue returns to this post-death world do these memories become clear, and he realizes he isn't meeting the figure beckoning him for the first time.

Even back when he became a Condenser during the implant ceremony, Bologue had seen him.

Before Bologue appears a simple open-air cinema; a huge screen stands ahead with chairs scattered about, and the person sits in the middle seat. Seeing Bologue approach, he pats the chair beside him, signaling Bologue to sit by his side.

Bologue gradually approaches the figure; during the implant ceremony, he had seen him in the post-death world, yet later failed to recall any of it upon awakening.

Unlike before, when Bologue struggled to discern the figure's visage and perceived him as an incomprehensible distorted silhouette, akin to static snow on a television.

Now it's different; the figure assumes a visible form, a bizarre form.

At first glance, Bologue imagines the figure in a bloated diving suit, appearing like a giant compared to the chair, with a spherical helmet enclosing his head, his entire face hidden behind a golden glass visor.

This is not a diving suit.

The thought arises in Bologue's mind; he recalls the memories of his "past life" and his understanding of the "present world."

He had heard on the radio that, following the development of technology, bomber planes ravaged the battlefield during the Fury of Scorched Earth, and with time, humans had conquered the skies, where eagle-like airliners easily ferry people across nations.

Now humans aren't satisfied with being confined beneath the sky; they desire to break through this blue dome, crafting spear after spear to tear through the heavens, powered by iron fire.

Yet those in the present world have not succeeded, but in "past life" memories, humans achieved it; driven by fierce flames, they sent spears carrying castles to the celestial vault.

In that vacuum of deathly silence, clothed in heavy "armor," they protected fragile bodies against the limitless darkness.

It shouldn't be...

Bologue stares vacantly at the figure on the chair, bloodshot eyes.

In this world, space exploration is but a vague hypothesis, theoretically, such an object shouldn't exist here, yet it appears in Bologue's vision, emerging through the barrier from Bologue's "past life" memories.

This isn't a diving suit; it's a spacesuit.

What appeared before Bologue was an astronaut, someone who should only exist in his "past life" memories, and should not appear in this era!

——In this world after death.

Bologue found it difficult to describe his own feelings. He had always viewed the memories of his "past life" as his ultimate secret, while he was merely a ghost from the Otherworld.

Now, things were different. Another being, seemingly aware of the "past life," had appeared.

The world as Bologue knew it began to fracture, and rearrange, sketching out a twisted oil painting.

Dragging his numb body, Bologue sat down next to the astronaut, who kindly offered Bologue a bucket of popcorn. Bologue didn't refuse, numbly accepting the popcorn and clutching it to his chest.

The astronaut casually tossed the empty bucket behind him, which rolled back and forth on the gray-white ground, before falling into a sunken Ring Mountain, eventually mingling with the pile of empty buckets forming a hill.

The astronaut spoke, "You don't look so good, Bologue."

"Perhaps..."

No matter how rational and smart Bologue was, under the continuous impacts, he fell into a mental stiffness, as if in a daze.

Gazing at the screen ahead, the projector was showing a familiar scene — a time distortion event. Under the indiscriminate might of the Immortal Heart, Bologue and Aimou found a chance to severely injure the Silver Knight, and later became the ultimate winners amidst the chaos.

The astronaut had been watching Bologue all along, and from this moment, Bologue felt he could confirm the other's identity.

"Which one of the Original Sin are you?"

Bologue tried not to think about the "past life" matters. He already had enough mysteries of his own. Rather than causing himself intense pain, he decided to tackle them one by one.

The astronaut lifted the glass faceplate, revealing a space of darkness underneath, as if the spacesuit enclosed not a physical entity but some void presence.

He took a drink, biting strongly on the straw to gulp the cold liquid down, before expertly tossing the empty beverage behind.

In the open-air cinema, a guest like the astronaut was least welcome, always making a mess of the place. Luckily, this was the astronaut's domain, and no one could boss him around.

"Rather than talking about who I am, why not discuss yourself first?" The astronaut directed the conversation towards Bologue, "You impress me greatly, Bologue."

"How dreadful!"

Bologue began to adapt to the current state of things, considering this as a terrible encounter... or perhaps a long-planned scheme.

That rustic, storm-torn anchor, if this was an embodiment of the astronaut's power, then he had acted more than once before.

The sensation was intriguing, like surviving a car accident, only to have your detested boss saving you, discussing your recent performance amidst the crash site.

"No need to fret, I always believed you are wonderful, full of potential!"

The astronaut gave Bologue a thumbs up.

"So... all of this is not a coincidence, right?" Bologue questioned, "I have died countless times, only to see you when it's about soul ascension."

"Is this your summons, or can I only meet you under such special circumstances?"

The astronaut shook his head, "Don't overthink things. Each time you die, you can see me. But often you return to the mortal realm before you even find me."

The time of resurrection.

Whenever Bologue found himself in the world after death, his time to act was short. Before taking a few steps, he would return to the mortal world. But now, during soul ascension, he received more time to act and recalled memories only remembered in the world after death.

Only deep within the soul.

"Where to start..."

The astronaut pondered for a moment, then snapped his fingers. Their seats spaced apart slightly, a small table appeared between them, followed by a chessboard, black and white pieces...

The other seemed to want to play chess with Bologue, at the moment most unsuitable for chess — a damned game of black and white chess. Bologue screamed inside, yet understood he had no right to refuse. Then, the astronaut spoke.

"Shall we play a game?"

The astronaut gestured invitingly, handing over the white pieces to Bologue.

"Your move."

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