Zero felt nothing.
Rather than looking back on his own past, it felt more like he was reading a story full of twists and turns.
An author would never spend the most important opening chapters building up an unimportant character.
Zero instantly guessed that person's ending.
Death.
From what he had read so far, the story still lacked the key elements it should have had.
Who was the protagonist? What did they want to do? Why did they want to do it?
There were two very clever ways to answer those three questions.
One was a system.
The other was a blood feud.
The next step would be introducing the conflicts and obstacles standing in the protagonist's way, making readers continue reading to see how they would achieve their goal.
It was obvious that the protagonist's friend was the key person who would push the protagonist, Eric, to grow and change.
Based on the details mentioned earlier, Zero quickly figured out what that person's life at school had been like.
On the very first class, where everyone carefully tested each other's family background, that person completely let down his guard and instantly became an outsider in everyone's eyes.
The "chance encounter" Eric had mentioned...
There was a ninety percent chance he had happened to see other classmates bullying that person and casually stepped in to help.
Eric wasn't excluded by the others because of it.
Zero thought that was perfectly reasonable.
It was like neighbors who saw each other every day.
No one knew whether one day their family or business might need the other's help.
Even if someone pointed at their nose and cursed them, they would only smile it off in public.
Of course, unless something unexpected happened, they would probably never meet anyone that rude in their entire lives.
Most people acted especially friendly. Even if they disliked or disagreed with something, they wouldn't say anything that revealed their personal feelings.
Just like Zero. When he came across bean juice hotpot broth or the remains of Abominations, he would only politely describe them as "special."
One classmate regarded Eric as one of his own kind.
The two of them happened to run into that person while he was talking to the bullies.
The classmate carefully said, "So... I guess they became friends after fighting?"
"It's my first time meeting someone as... special as him."
'You helped him fight back against the bullies, and what happened?'
'He turned around and went right back to them.'
'You and he were never the same kind of people.'
Eric didn't care.
Not everyone had the same advantages they did.
He admired people with strong hearts who worked hard.
Of course, that was only if they obeyed the law and didn't cross moral boundaries.
Eric spoke up for him, "Yeah, we get along well."
"My rule for making friends is simple. If we get along, then they're my friend."
The classmate didn't agree with Eric's view, but still remained neutral and smiled with a nod.
"That's a very unusual rule for making friends."
Just as Zero expected, that person never graduated.
A week before the graduation ceremony, war broke out on his home planet once again.
Eric couldn't get any weapons, so he settled for gathering supplies for him and sending him off.
Polka Kakamond attended Eric's graduation ceremony in Zandar's place and placed a laurel wreath on him.
During the ceremony, Polka asked about the Colossus.
It was a weapon from a game that Eric had casually mentioned when he was fifteen. Who would have thought that Zandar could actually turn the idea into reality?
If that kind of weapon ever appeared, it would only bring endless war to the universe.
Eric disliked war.
So did Zandar.
The research stopped there.
At this point, Zero had only one thought.
Eric was too normal.
So normal that Zero couldn't predict what he would do next using his usual way of thinking.
He stopped trying to predict the plot and simply continued reading as an ordinary reader.
Using fundraising as an excuse, Eric skipped over the topic.
By the time the graduation dance was halfway over, he had already raised more than a hundred billion Credits.
———
[My friend who had returned to his home planet contacted me.]
[After I answered, the first thing he said was, "I read your journal."]
["'Neutron Annihilation,' 'Planetary Devastation,' all those weapons... they were made by Mr. Zandar, weren't they?"]
[He had secretly read my journal without permission, yet he called me a hypocrite. He said my kindness was fake. He said I was laughing at him, tossing him a few Credits through my fingers like charity, turning him into my dog, making him wag his tail and beg me like I was a savior just so he could stay alive.]
———
From the words, Zero could guess how Eric had felt at the time.
It was the first time someone had pointed at his face and cursed him.
More than anger or disappointment, he felt surprise and confusion.
Besides, that person had always been smooth and good with people.
At school, he tried his best to get close to his classmates. He even spoke politely to the bullies.
Everything he did was for his home planet.
What if they were willing to help?
So Eric asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"
———
[He sounded as though I had made him angry, but also as though he was enduring terrible pain.]
[Across the long-distance transmission, all I could hear was his heavy breathing.]
[He muttered, "Eric... how could you do this?"]
["You said before that you saw me, so you came to help."]
["But... but..."]
["Right now... I don't need your help anymore..."]
———
Then he hung up.
Zero quickly skimmed through the following pages and summed up the rest of the story.
Eric knew wars often broke out on his friend's home planet.
So he didn't think much of it and never connected it with the Swarm Disaster or the mechanical uprising.
He worked hard to raise Credits, only to be cursed for it.
Eric couldn't understand.
Did this count as cutting ties?
He didn't want to do anything that would hurt that person.
If he complained to his classmates, word would spread. Then wouldn't that person's home planet truly have no hope left?
Zandar was busy. Eric didn't want to bother him, so he asked Polka instead.
Polka couldn't be bothered with Eric and showed no mercy.
———
["Dear Eric, forgive me for saying this, but you two were never the same kind of people."]
["The environments you grew up in, the cultures you were exposed to... they have nothing in common."]
["What? You think he could never turn against you?"]
["Dear, do you think you're a character in a novel? This is reality. Reality doesn't need logic."]
["To be honest, he was absolutely right to curse you."]
["Didn't you notice? You've always looked down at him from the position of someone above him."]
["You're just as arrogant as those people."]
["He's sick of you."]
["He found someone even easier to fool than you."]
["All right, I'm busy. Remember the trust fund Zandar set up for you? Now that you've graduated, you'll receive more Credits every month. I'll have my assistant transfer you some extra money. Go out and relax."]
———
Eric went to a resort planet to attend the graduation trip organized by his classmates.
The schedule was so full and enjoyable that he didn't log into the Star Network for three straight months.
On the final day, while everyone was holding a pool party, Eric wasn't interested, so he happened to see the news about the star system where that person's home planet was located.
The Swarm had passed through.
No survivors.
The man from that remote planet, the one everyone had placed their hopes on, the one who would rather remain unknown than fail to bring honor to his home planet, the future leader...
Died before taking office.
The reporter never wrote the name of that planet.
Instead, with only a few words, they summarized the suffering of the entire star system.
Until the planet was destroyed, until its civilization disappeared completely, his home planet never even had its name appear in that tiny news report on the Star Network.
The author didn't describe the protagonist's reaction after learning of his friend's death.
The whole matter was skipped in fewer than a hundred words.
———
[I wanted to tell Polka, "He never found someone easier to fool than me."]
[Polka would probably only say, "Oh, my condolences. This time there's no budget limit. If you're planning to buy a planet or any other assets, let my assistant know in advance so she can evaluate them for you."]
———
Zero knew that, for Eric, the news had come too suddenly.
He understood himself.
In the higher-dimensional world, his family always supported him.
After coming to the lower-dimensional world, he had Zandar.
So whenever something unexpected happened, he never developed any negative emotions.
Everything could be solved anyway.
So why waste his emotions?
His first reaction was... Give me the result.
He only cared about the result, never the process.
As long as the result was right, everything else was negotiable.
Likewise, both Eric and Zero were used to working backward from the result to figure out the purpose.
This time, Eric wanted to understand the process.
He couldn't break away from his old way of thinking.
He couldn't understand what those words had really meant.
But fate loved playing tricks on people.
When people encounter a difficult lesson, fate keeps giving them the same test until they respond differently.
Only after he killed Zandar with his own hands did he finally understand.
Only then did he realize that his friend had never hated him.
On the contrary, he had regarded Eric as his best friend.
That was exactly why he had argued with him.
Zero completed the unfinished sentence that the other version of himself had never heard.
"But... but..."
"But now... why can't you help us?"
That person hated war.
He also hated Eric for having weapons but refusing to use them.
As death slowly approached, he cursed Eric loudly.
Besides venting his emotions, he had another purpose.
In his own clumsy way, he was trying to comfort Eric and lessen the pain he would feel after learning the truth.
Zero took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
After resting for a while, he continued reading.
Eric sought out the Aeon of Erudition and asked why war existed in the universe. After receiving the answer, he attended Zandar's funeral. Polka patted him on the shoulder and said, "This was a necessary sacrifice."
After that, he sought out Akivili.
One day, they rescued someone.
To be precise, a corpse.
Akivili looked sorrowful and slowly removed Their hat.
They knelt on one knee and gently closed the dead person's eyes.
Everyone quickly recognized who it was.
A Yaoqing native who had encountered the mechanical army and was trying to seek outside help.
He held an extremely high position... the Chief Strategist of the Yaoqing General's Office and the General's direct subordinate.
Everyone felt sorry for him.
If even someone at Yaoqing's highest level couldn't survive, then what about everyone else?
The situation must have been terrible.
Zero quickly pulled himself out of those emotions.
Guan Liang dying in the story had nothing to do with the Guan Liang far away in Yaoqing raising his Doberman.
He examined the story.
The protagonist parted ways with his friend, killed the person closest to him with his own hands, and set off on a journey.
Next, while traveling with an Aeon, he would see barren lands and endless wars.
He would witness martyrs giving up their lives to uphold justice and defend their homes.
He would find his purpose and complete his transformation.
———
[I said to the Aeon, "They said war exists because of You."]
["It seems they were wrong."]
["In the end, machines can never compare to humans."]
[Akivili replied, "You've found what you truly want to do."]
[I said, "Yes."]
["I want humans... to become human."]
[I want them to live as human beings.]
———
Soon afterward, the story took a sudden turn.
Without any buildup, the protagonist attacked a red-haired boy.
———
["I can't understand."]
["A thing like you..."]
["Why are you an Aeon?"]
———
Zero, "..."
'Aha, why are you involved too?!'
At first, he had been prejudiced against Aha.
But now he had vaguely realized that this Aeon had Their own bottom line and wouldn't do anything truly unforgivable.
The Aha in this story had probably been caught in the crossfire.
The protagonist came from a higher-dimensional world and had no reverence for the Aeons. After meeting Akivili, he had finally begun to feel some goodwill toward them.
Then he ran into Aha.
He realized he could easily kill an Aeon's avatar.
Then...
'Could the Aeon's true body also be killed?'
———
[After thinking for a long time, I finally came up with the two most valuable ways for Them to die.]
[Either They die.]
[Or They die together with the Tree.]
———
Zero, "....."
He took back what he had said earlier.
Eric wasn't normal at all.
He had simply gone from one extreme to another.
Anyway, it was all Aha's fault.
His eyes moved lower and landed on a name that was both extremely familiar and completely out of place here...
Marty.
But... according to the timeline, Eric shouldn't have met Marty until hundreds or even thousands of years later.
Could Eric travel through time?
If so, why wasn't it mentioned in Game Instructions?
Zero patiently continued reading, word by word.
Marty witnessed the entire process of Eric killing Aha's avatar.
Although Eric normally never fought people...
The sight of him carrying a severed head was too horrifying.
Marty was terrified.
To save himself, he desperately searched his memory, remembered that Eric was Zandar's student, and shouted Zandar's name.
The two exchanged names.
———
[I said, "Marty..."]
["I like your name very much."]
———
Compared to the earlier chapters, the later ones contained far less detail.
If the first part had been a complete story, then the second half was more like a rough outline with many scenes omitted.
The protagonist restarted the "Colossus" project that his teacher had abandoned before his death.
Then he sought help from his classmates and friends, using their families' influence to successfully bring the war to an end.
He had already made preparations in advance.
On the day the Swarm Disaster and the out-of-control machines disappeared, he revoked all authorization to use every weapon.
After that, the protagonist encountered the "Rectification Protocol," the "Sorin Swarm," and the ones indirectly responsible for Zandar's death.
In the end, he avenged Zandar.
Then he sought out Erudition once more.
———
["Did He come here because of me?"]
[He said, "Yes."]
["Did Zandar die because of me?"]
[He said, "Yes."]
———
Seeing this, Zero fell into thought.
Erudition might not answer him at all.
For now, he assumed Eric wasn't lying.
Then after the war ended, Eric used the system to travel to another lower-dimensional world and deal with the Rectification Protocol and the Sorin Swarm.
But why?
Why go through all that extra trouble?
Then again...
What if the one who killed Zandar had been an outsider from another lower-dimensional world?
That would make perfect sense.
He was eliminating future threats.
But that sentence, "came because of me"...
Could it be that the enemy was a monster capable of crossing time and returning to the past?
Everything fit together.
After Zandar died, Eric wanted to travel to the killer's world and eliminate every unstable factor.
There, he met the monster before it had ever met him.
So the monster crossed worlds and time and arrived here.
The loop was complete.
It was an inescapable dead end.
Across time itself, Zero sighed for the other version of himself.
Unlike Zero, he possessed far more emotion and humanity.
On one side was a star system where disaster had not yet arrived.
On the other side were civilizations on the brink of destruction and the surviving natives barely hanging on.
The moment he restarted the project, he already knew those in power would have to make choices on the battlefield.
He suffered.
He felt guilty.
The crushing guilt left him unable to breathe.
At the same time, he began to suspect the truth behind Zandar's death.
Only after taking revenge did he seek confirmation from Erudition.
Whether the Aeon answered him or not...
No matter what the answer was...
Eric would die.
Zero lowered his eyes.
———
[I once believed I was fortunate
[Even after suffering, I still believed I was fortunate.]
[If you want to obtain something, you must pay a price.]
[Now, I've accepted reality.]
[Suffering is suffering.]
[It isn't worthy of praise.]
[All it wants is to crush you.]
[And you must save yourself within that suffering.]
[After it breaks you apart, you must gather the scattered pieces and rebuild yourself again.]
[I've begun to believe in fate.]
[No one can escape it.]
[Not even me.]
[One day, we will smash the gears of fate with our own hands and decide for ourselves what fate truly means.]
[By now, you should understand the meaning of the title.]
[Everything you're reading now, everything you and I have experienced together...]
[...is "my" countless times of rebuilding myself and saving myself.]