The air felt thinner today.Hinata sat on a jagged ledge outside the cave, overlooking a valley of ash and bone. The Netherstretched before him in grotesque glory--crimson lightning arcing across a sky that never trulydarkened, yet never saw dawn.His palm still burned.The soul mark--Val'Kyros's cursed gift--glowed faintly under his glove, as if pulsing in rhythm withthe Nether itself.Behind him, Alis stirred."You've been quiet," she said, stepping out with her coat draped lazily over one shoulder. "Whichusually means something's about to explode. Preferably not me."Hinata didn't turn. "I saw them. The gods."Alis stopped. "You dreamt again.""No," he said. "I remembered. They weren't just dreams this time. I think... I was there. A memoryecho.""Of the Accord?" she asked.Hinata nodded slowly. "They weren't judging. They were terrified. Of what happens when someonelike me--someone broken--survives."Alis leaned against the stone, arms crossed. "Good. Let them be scared."He

They walked in silence.Not because there was nothing to say-but because every word now felt like it echoed beyond them.Hinata had rewritten a being that was supposed to be unrewritable.And the Nether had noticed.---"How are you feeling?" Alis asked eventually, her tone less teasing, more wary."Like I committed a cosmic war crime in my pajamas," Hinata muttered.She cracked a dry smile. "You're adapting.""To what? Being a threat to reality?""No. To being seen."---They camped in the ruins of an upside-down castle-floors above, ceilings below. Nothing madesense in this part of the Nether. Gravity was more of a suggestion.Alis lit a blue flame with her fingers and leaned against a broken throne.Hinata sat nearby, rubbing his hand. The mark there was glowing faintly again, but differently.Pulsing like a question.Why haven't you asked me what it means?" he asked.She didn't look up. "Because if you're not ready to tell me, it's not my business."Hinata nodded, appreciating the

I dreamed again.Not of monsters. Not of fire. Paperwork.Endless glowing scrolls stacked to the sky. Angels in suits flying around likecaffeine-addicted pigeons, stamping documents with holy approval seals. Every time ascroll got approved, it disintegrated into sparkly dust.One angel sighed so hard it created a tiny hurricane.“Welcome to the Divine Court,” said a voice behind me. “Please take a number.”I turned—and yeah. There was a line. A literal line of souls stretching miles long. Some ofthem had been waiting for centuries.“This is... heaven’s DMV,” I muttered. “Figures.”I looked down and realized I was holding a clipboard.Case #8421 — Denied Reincarnation: Self-Termination Clause 3B.My own name was stamped on it in big glowing letters. “Wow. Even in death I’mpaperwork.”Before I could complain, the whole place started to glitch—like someone hitCTRL+ALT+DELETE on reality.The angels melted into patterns of glass and light, forming a tall woman made entirely ofreflect

The night settled over the Nether like a thick, trembling breath, as if even the realm itself sensed whatwas coming. Hinata walked ahead, his footsteps slow, heavy, yet stubbornly steady. Alis followedsilently. She didn’t try to stop him—not because she didn’t want to, but because she understood. Shefinally understood what he carried inside him.Hinata had always been the one who smiled first, even when everything else was broken. He crackedjokes during battles, tripped over his own sword, and called himself “the discount hero nobody ordered.”But beneath all that? There was a weight. A silent, dragging gravity he had never let anyone see.Tonight, he didn’t hide it.“Alis,” he said softly, not turning back. “Do you ever… feel like the world gave you power just to seehow fast it could take everything from you?”Alis swallowed. “Every day.”Hinata chuckled, but it was a sad, cracked sound. “Guess we’re both disasters.”The path opened into the obsidian clearing—the place where the