dear kim jiwoo,
a koi fish's major predator is the blue heron.
blue herons can consume these fish daily.
but what happens to a blue heron who chooses not to hurt the koi?
…
i still remember your face…
nevermind, i lied.
your body, all caged up.
but now you are all free, wings spread out.
…
only one can wonder, what does the sky mean to those to swim?
and what does the water mean to those who fly?
and what about those who are caged? who try their best to spread their wings? to be free?
the day that you died, i didn't cry.
was i supposed to? i think i was supposed to.
…
i'm sorry
i didn't mean to leave you that day.
it was no surprise you wanted to leave this world.
i always knew you were fed up with everything.
i just wish i could've said goodbye.
no matter, whatsoever.
i'll meet you soon.
***
"The first option is rebirth. You keep your identity, soul, age, and biological makeup. You will spawn on a random planet as a citizen. However, you lose your memories. Some traits may shift to recessive forms. The chance of regaining your memories is extremely low, and typically has to be triggered by someone from your past."
Koi only stared at the glowing screen in front of him, clutching his bleeding shoulder. He still remebered his vivid injuries that he had when he was alive.
After dying, there is a 1*10^-1000th chance of entering the chance system. The chance system allows you to continue living, rather than proceeding to the afterlife. There are always three trials with the chance system: one for physicality, one for mentality, and one for your deepest fear. Luckily, although the Koi didn't know how, he managed to survive the torturous chance system with all of his might.
"The second option?"
The second is reincarnation, keeping your soul intact, yet you lose the majority of your biological makeup. You will be granted only a small fragment of your memories. Your starting age will vary, either from your current age or a differing one. If you choose this option, you can choose what age you want to reincarnate at. The chance of regaining all of your memories is still the same. This option is the option if you desire to start a new identity."
"... So I have to leave my past life behind either way. The options only differentiate when it comes to keeping my identity or not. But I ask you, what is one's identity without its memories? Wouldn't I change?"
"Of course, your new surroundings will change you… In a rebirth, your identity can still be kept despite losing memories. It can be changed, but at the end of the day, at the starting point of your rebirth, you will be nearly the same person. "
"Well, it makes sense. Can't complain since I'm already dead. What happens after I choose an option?"
"You will randomly spawn onto a planet, becoming its chance citizen. Chance citizens, given their strength, are automatically qualified to be a planet's presenting calamity. Now, Koi Namo, which option will you choose?"
"... I choose rebirth."
"Very well." The system buzzed in and out.
"Planet selected for citizenship: Atlantis Co. Description incoming…"
***
The Koi didn't really mind the blood that seeped from every inch of the street and ground below him. As a calamity, he had to attack planets at least once per year. Given that Earth 2038 was still in its tutorial phase, Koi knew that this event given to him was specifically less brutal than typical calamity events.
Why?
Although the tutorial always kills off ~40% of a planet's population, the difficulty of the calamity phase is always lowered to simulate growth. Apparently or whatever.
"Where to next?" Koi disappeared into the puddles beneath him.
As liquid, whether it was blood or water, overflowed his senses and covered the infrastructure, he kept thinking to himself.
"Something is missing."
Koi always knew, from the chance system, that he had lost his memories. He didn't care, yet for some reason, he felt more… saddened at the loss of his previous life than usual.
He emerged from the depths of the waterdrops and jumped from house to house. It was clear that the koi fish was on the lookout for its next victim.
***
So much better! I practically sighed, putting on a new pair of clothes. It was nothing special, just a clean uniform that I could move in. I also took a huge, empty basketball bag, filling it with supplies, toiletries, and food/water that I might need.
Hmm… I'll probably need a weapon of some sort. I can't necessarily completely rely on Mr Simon for support.
"Lily! The ramen's ready." Mr. Simon called out to me. I gave him a simple house tour before changing my clothes. In the meantime, he decided to make food for us… I was starving, so I was extremely grateful for his service.
"Oh, coming!" I rushed downstairs with the bag slung over my shoulder. "Mister, I appreciate this so much, you just don't get it."
"No worries, this is your house too. I wanted to make sure that neither of us went hungry."
"Great idea." I gave him my thanks, taking a seat while blowing on the food to cool down.
I grabbed my chopsticks, mixing the ramen as it cooled. The kitchen faucet wobbly water drop slowly dripped into the dirty pot my teacher was setting in the sink.
It dripped, dripped, and dripped.
I found myself almost mesmerized by it, for a split second.
I…
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
The water hurled and condensed within a millisecond, forming a large bubble that burst out near Mr. Simon. My teacher quickly moved back, yet it was already too late. Frame by frame, water droplets appeared all around our surroundings. Little reflective spheres were dispersed before I could even react, and then he formed.
"Do you know who the blue heron is? Where is the blue heron?" The man, clearly half fish or something and half human, stood in front of Mr. Simon.
It's the Koi!
"Mr. Simon!" His back was blocking my view. The koi only narrowed his eyes, looking straight at my physics teacher's facial expression.
"..."
***
It was almost like the blonde teacher had his hand over his mouth, in shock, from the teenage girls' perspective. But it couldn't be further from the truth.
The teacher put his index finger to his mouth, almost as if shushing the calamity. The calamity instinctively knew what the man was conveying.
Play along.
In a way, the Koi really wanted to sigh and perchance take a long sleep, looking at this situation. This is certainly something I didn't sign up for… of all planets, who knew that Earth 2038 was the planet that the Cryo Land's runaway royal son was here?
What a nightmare.
Just how long has the "royal highness" decided to stay put on this planet, pretending to be one of the citizens?
This was truly a despairing situation; the koi didn't want to deal with such a guy…
Well, playing along is my only option here… worst comes to worst, I'll just fight him…
***
"... No, I do not know who the blue heron is." Mr. Simon whispered.
"Alright…" The black and orange-haired Koi raised his palm.
The blast of water split apart mid‑air, reshaping itself into long, spear‑like rods. They shot forward with terrifying force. One of them struck Mr. Simon first, slamming him backward before I could even react. His body hit the corner of the kitchen with a sickening thud, knocking pots and utensils off the counter.
He collapsed to the floor, breath knocked out of him, one hand pressed desperately against his abdomen. His face twisted in pain, but he still tried to lift his head to look at me.
"Mister-!" The Koi only glanced towards me as he waited for my words. He initially started walking toward the wooden table where I had jumped up from, until a brute force slammed him into the wall of the kitchen, sending broken shards of tiles flying. A force… from Mr. Simon's SP! Unseeable forces from the air followed, continuously crushing and harshly banging the calamity into the cracks.
"Don't touch her!" The teacher spat out blood, gasping for air. These injuries… so much blood… no chance Mr. Simon is going to live. In fact, there's no chance that I'm going to live either! I rushed over to his side, ignoring the trembling in my hands after witnessing the chaos surrounding me.
"Mr. Simon!" I cried out, "Urgh… what should I do?"
"Shh, Lily, you need to… the koi is getting up." The Koi slowly peeled himself of the surrounding debris, looking calm as ever. The only change in expression would be the furrowing of his eyebrows, as if he were deciding on which way to kill me. Shit, shit, shit!
Why?
Someone close to me is going to leave again.
Pira, Cara, and now Mr. Simon…
I'm going to die soon, aren't I?
…
I don't want to!
I don't want to remain this weak, unable to do anything!
My brain and body started to burn up, almost as if they were on fire. Heat crawled beneath my skin, spreading through my chest until every breath felt like it scraped against sandpaper. I suddenly found it hard to breathe, gasping and sucking up for any oxygen left in the room. The room started to blur around, connecting dots and mirages for me. The room warped around the edges, flooding my five senses, flickering in and out as if it were a series of lights.
A system screen popped up in front of my red face, with System Neo's voice ringing out.
"SP conditions met. SP granted to Lily Chang, congratulations."
[SP CONDITIONS TO ANY POSSIBLE AWAKENERS:
Special Powers, known as SPs, can only be awakened under a set of conditions (ALL CONDITIONS MUST BE MET):
Extremely high stress situations, usually life or death or emotional breakage on the individual's brain An individual must have a similar experience/thoughts/feelings to a mental breakdown, and these internal breakdowns must have an important reason behind themThe individual must contemplate their life and very core existenceThe system that belongs to the individual's planet must agree that this individual has earned it
NOTE TO ALL AWAKENERS: It is possible to obtain more than one SP, although very rare. There is no same SP in this cosmos; each SP is tailored to the awakener's profile.]