My body froze as the space in the air cracked apart, and a tentacle-like monster with countless eyes pulled itself through.
"FOUND YOU!" The eldritch monster said with an eerie voice that wasn't coming from its mouth.
It suddenly disappeared. As I looked around, it materialized right behind me, a complete jumpscare, opening the countless mouths on its body as it tried to attack.
'Hold on, let me borrow your body for a second, me.' A thought that only I could hear echoed in my mind.
I couldn't control my body, but it moved on its own, dodging the fierce attack as if time were slowing down. It started doing movements I'd never done before, jumping over the eldritch monster and kicking its head into the ground.
But as the monster lay unconscious, another one suddenly appeared from a new crack. My legs started running as fast as they could, and I finally regained control of my body.
'Tch, only 30 seconds… to think that's all the time I got.' The thought said, sounding dissatisfied.
But as I was running, lightning struck right in front of me, preventing me from going further. From the smoke, a muscular, bearded figure with ruggedly handsome looks glared at me like he wanted me dead. His body crackled with lightning, ready to strike.
'Well, looks like it's my turn now.' Another thought appeared, different from the first. I lost control again, and my face stretched into a lunatic grin, vibrating with excitement at the threatening situation.
My hand snapped its fingers, and a black shadow figure appeared in front of me. I noticed it was materialized from my own shadow. The shadow blocked the lightning man's attack, while my body started running on its own again.
'Well, the shadow should be able to hold Zeus for more than a minute, so what's our plan?' The thought said, just as I regained control and kept my legs pumping. I noticed the eldritch monsters had stopped chasing me, intercepted by nearby Agents.
"What's with these monsters! This type never appeared before!" The agents cried as they struggled to stop them.
Suddenly, a massive shadow covered the sky, a huge centipede-like monster flying overhead. Its eyes focused directly on me, and it started shooting laser beams my way.
"Shit! I'm cooked." I said as the lasers barreled toward me.
'Don't worry about that.' A third thought appeared in my mind. A fire shield enveloped my body, saving me from the blast.
'Now it's our turn to fight back.' The thought said as I lost control yet again. My fingers gestured as if unsheathing an invisible sword from my waist, forming a brilliant aura blade.
'Final Slash!' The thought said as the large centipede monster was cleanly cut in half.
'Run as fast as you can, me.' My thought warned as I regained control.
The slash caught the attention of both the eldritch monsters and the lightning man, and they rushed toward me. However, before they could even reach my position, five beams of light crashed down, revealing five figures and stopping them in their tracks.
"Weak." One of the figures said. As though time had stopped, in an instant, the figure was holding a beating heart in his hand.
My body trembled as realization hit. I looked down at my chest. It was my own heart. It had been taken out of me without me even realizing. I started coughing blood, and my consciousness began to slip away.
Is this how it would end? This chaos. These monsters I didn't even know. What grudges could they possibly have against me to want to kill me like this? These random thoughts I was having… what is this…
'It's not time yet.' Another thought came. 'We… no… I will get our revenge.' I lost control of my body, but my mouth smirked at the situation.
I could see a thread connecting my chest to my detached heart. It was still beating. I was still alive.
Suddenly, countless threads started appearing in my vision, wrapping around all five figures and rendering them unable to move. My heart moved on its own, reattaching to my body via the threads, and the hole in my chest began to stitch itself closed.
Clap!
A sharp clap echoed in my mind. Before I knew it, the chaotic scene I'd just been through was gone. Appearing in front of me was a round table.
Four figures were seated there. I just knew it. They were all… me.
"To think that all four of us awakened at the same time. I don't think this has happened before in our previous worlds." A voice said, coming from a figure wearing armor. He had striking looks, well-combed hair, and wore gloves. It was the first voice I had heard.
As he spoke, I realized I was already seated together with them around the table.
"I didn't even know I had a different world other than the one I lived in." The voice came from the fourth thought. It was a figure wearing a long, unique robe made of high-quality materials, his hair cut just around the neck.
"I thought of the possibilities, but it just seemed impossible. I've only experienced different timelines." The voice came from the third thought. He wore modern clothes like me, with headphones resting around his neck.
"I'm too lazy to think." It was the second voice. "But I've experienced different timelines too. It doesn't change anything, though. Either way, it's still all just a bad ending." The long-haired, messy figure with his eyes covered said in a mocking tone.
They all appeared to be the same age as me. 26.
Then they all looked toward me, as if waiting for me to say something.
"I don't know anything… I'm not even an Agent…" I said, looking down.
It seemed like all my previous selves were cool and successful… but me… I was just a loser.
"Well, we can see that." The third figure said like it was no big deal.
"We've been with you since you were born. We've known everything that you did, but this is our first time sitting here." The first figure said.
"I thought I was the only one here, though…" The second figure said as he lazed around the table.
"We can talk about this later. Remember, our fifth life is in danger right now." The first figure said.
"That's right, I don't think I can stop them much longer. Even gathering here takes a lot of my energy." The fourth said.
"You don't need to worry about that. I got a plan. But first, let's reintroduce ourselves."
"I am the first life, Deed, the Death Knight." The armored voice said. "In my world, I fought monsters that came from the sky… those eldritch creatures you saw earlier. We managed to become immortals in order to fight them; however, our planet was destroyed, and we were consumed by a black hole."
"What an awful ending." The second voice said mockingly. "I am the second life, Zeronoz, the Lazy Lunatic." He said with a grin. "I fought a war with what you'd call mythologies. Those who called themselves gods… heh, those bastards were never divine in the first place. I hated how they acted like they owned the world despite being human, so I fought the system itself. I didn't lose. I destroyed the whole world. How that Zeus survived is a mystery."
"I am the third life, Zeroze, the Tyrant. But I would prefer to just be the Gamer, though…" The third said. "I fought monsters like that centipede you saw before. My world was like a game. No… it was a game. Some higher being decided to combine reality and games. We were forced to clear life-and-death games, and the one who cleared the most got a high rank, which I did. However, I was tricked by the system. I got the title of Tyrant, which forced me into a villain role, and I ended up being hunted down by everyone."
"A gamer plays by the rules; you shouldn't call yourself a gamer if you want revenge." The fourth said. "How ironic. It seems three of us have used the name Zero."
"Make it four. I was once Knight Zero too." Deed corrected him.
"Fate is an amusing thing." The fourth said. "I'm the fourth life, Radiance Of Heaven, or ROH for short, the Sovereign."
"In my timeline, the world had already ended. I was revived in a bizarre fantasy world. A new beginning, but without any ending. It was an endless war, endless battles, endless fights. It was a loop. Only those who had strength could become a Sovereign, and I was one of them. The five figures you saw earlier are Sovereigns as well, and the one that ripped our heart out was the Sovereign of Time, my eternal enemy. To be honest, I don't know how I died and started a new life, because no matter how many times I died there, the world always reset itself thanks to those with time abilities."
All three were shocked by the life of the fourth.
"Seems like my world was much easier." Deed said, trying to lighten the mood.
Then they all looked toward me as I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.
"I'm the fifth life… Null… I guess I want to change my boring life." I said with a smile. The others smiled back.
It seemed like every version of me had a screw loose, and we all knew it.
"Not bad, that's my plan in the first place." Roh said. A silver thread formed in his hand. "This is the time thread. Although I can't change the past itself, I can send our memories and thoughts back to the past." He explained.
"The key to this plan is you. Null." He said, looking toward me.
"Become strong enough so when our past lives' enemies arrive, you will be the one to hunt them." Deed said.
"So… do memories and thoughts include us?" Zeroze asked.
"Could be… we can just read our future memories and awaken earlier, in theory." Roh said, unsure.
"Man, I love gambling." Zeronoz said with a grin. "I would for sure awaken if I read these future memories. Those myth bastards, it's my chance to destroy them again."
"Well, it's not like we have much choice anyway." Deed said. "However, if we don't awaken, you must do whatever it takes to become stronger, our fifth life." Deed warned cautiously.
"I agree. This time thread can only be used once in the first place. So it's all on you, Null." Roh said.
"My life just got a bit interesting now. I won't waste it." I said with excitement.
"Good, that's all I need to hear." Roh said, as the time thread in his hand started spreading all around everyone and the space itself.
Suddenly, everything turned white.
Deed… I could hear a voice calling me… no, it was a voice calling the name of my first life.
"Deed, how long are you gonna slack off." A young woman's voice called out to me.