Traveling a path of endless storytelling
A wasteland blanketed in snow
The snowy wasteland was dotted with footsteps.
"Ah, haha."
Breath rose as I saw it...
In the middle of the snowy wasteland, a pure white structure or artifact was standing tall and mighty in the middle of nowhere.
Looking like a mirror, the "mirror of truth"
Also known as the mirror of true self
"I finally found... it."
How long was I wandering to search for the mirror of truth?
Hundred? Thousands? Millions? Or even surpassing time
It has been long since the concept of time was meaningless to me.
As memories of endless fighting, chaos, and human warmth, I finally found it. Since my time at the academy, I knew that sometimes life like this was possible since that time...
"Hahhh..."
I first discovered it in my first year at the academy around the time when I was dejected, knowing I don't have any authority or blessing.
But during the practical exam I was attacked by an ogre; it swung its giant mace on my head, smashing it.
My body that was smashed flesh to flesh
I thought my life would end just like that.
But something like a miracle happened: my flesh, which was scattered around the ground, healed itself until my body returned to before I was killed.
I didn't die? That was the first thing that came to mind.
And that was the time I discovered my blessing... The so-called blessing that I called a curse a million years later
My divine blessing is "life." At the time I discovered it, I was dejected that I didn't get immortality or undying.
But as time passed by, I realized my blessing was unlike others.
Unlike immortality, where you become ageless and undying, but you can be killed by those with powers beyond even the scale of immortality.
And unlike the undying, which still can be killed even though the name is "undying,"
Life was different; unlike the two known blessings, life was on a different scale.
Food became meaningless.
Sleep, water, death, living, pain, and many more became meaningless after gaining "life."
It didn't just grant immortality; it granted even more.
---
And at that moment did I discover my blessing, but unlike ordinary blessings, it was a divine blessing.
A call that suggests you're a future hero, and that's the story of how I became the 5th hero of the last force of humanity.
"Hey guys, we finally found it."
I smiled bitterly as I looked at the mirror.
I looked to my left, finding a golden-haired man with a smiling face.
"We finally found it, Noah."
As I looked beside him, I found the mage of our group.
"Olivia, just as you said, it was at the wasteland all this time."
At my right
"Sylvia, we did it," I smiled happily as I tried to hold her hand.
But as happiness is always met with sadness
I couldn't touch her, nor could she hear me.
To begin with, they were never here.
They died long, long ago after the battle against the devil.
No, to begin with, I'm the only survivor.
Not just at our group but the whole world
All species alike are gone from earth.
And I am the sole remaining living or nonliving being here.
This is why my blessing is a curse. After millions of years, I still can't die.
"Ugh..."
My eyes began to hurt.
"Huh... I'm crying?" Me crying? The lone survivor of earth? Alone for millions of years?
"Me crying? Then what's the point of my journey?" His words were choked by tears.
His tears echoed in the vast wasteland.
"Heh, this will all end today." He wiped his tears away as he reached for the mirror of truth.
His journey of time that couldn't even be counted will end today...
"Oh, the mirror that speaks the truth," as he said that, the mirror shined as his reflection was visible. Earlier, the mirror showed no reflection, likely indicating it's not working.
As the mirror shone, I began to ask my long-awaited question.
"Please tell me, is there a way for me to die?"
His long-awaited answer was nothing but himself laughing at himself.
Not him but his reflection
"What the…" As he began to question why his face was laughing, a sound was heard from the mirror.
Identical to his own voice
"Is your journey just to ask that question? You know deep down that you have had a question that you have wanted to know since then, do you?"
The question deep down? What did he mean?
"What do you mean? My deepest question is how to die. What else is there?"
"Hehehe, till the end, wouldn't you say?"
"Say what?"
While he says that his reflection began to think something
"Ahh, so you didn't know yet or forgot." His reflection began to change; his once silvery hair turned shiny dark hair.
His once sea-like blue eyes turned crimson blood-like eyes.
His once cute-like appearance changed into a more devilish look.
But overall he still looks like him.
"Huh… what the hell? Who are you?" Who is he? He's different from me but strangely feels familiar.
"Hahaha, I should've known since the beginning that you would never do it."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Is this guy a weirdo? I know my talking skills are lacking, as I didn't have a conversation for the past years, but this guy is worse than me.
It's like my words are passing from his ears.
"Hey, you," my thoughts were disrupted by his call.
"What?"
"Do you know why the devil descended?"
The reason the devil descended on earth? Well, I was curious, but what about it?
"No, but why would I be curious about it?"
"Hehe, maybe because it's connected to you."
"Huh? Connected to me? My blessing?"
"Hehe, should I tell you or shall I not?" The devil-like me smirked, finding all this interesting.
"He… you should remember I was not talented, but I was once the brain of the world, you know."
"Your point is?" The devil like me probably got the idea of what I said.
"Even though you're talking using the artifact, I know it's just a medium, and you're inside my head or my soul, as the name suggests, the mirror of truth and also the mirror of true self. Am I correct? The other side of me who I abandoned?"
"Hehe, you finally remembered, you bastard…"