Void World.

Right, why didn't I realize it? Why would Madeline actively invite me to a photo shoot like this? I'm just a weeaboo who loves games, with nothing remarkable besides my standout achievements in natural sciences. Perhaps that's why my parents abandoned me to be cared for by my grandparents.

I've lost too much blood and no longer have the strength to run. I lean against the door as Madeline's footsteps fade away, holding my wound and watching the monsters charging towards me.

If only I were stronger like the Void Keepers, if only I had experienced women before dying, if only I had listened to Simon, then I wouldn't be in this mess. Seeing my current state, he would probably say...

"You look terrible, Sebastian!"

His voice suddenly rings out, making me think I'm hallucinating due to a rift in the Void. But no, Simon is really there, with a heavy cannon in hand.

A loud sound and blinding light emanate from inside the store, Simon blows away all the monsters in front of the thermal cannon he's carrying.

"I had my suspicions about that girl, no one but me would invite a loser like you out."

Looking at the empty black box beside him, I give a faint smile.

"So the rumors about you being a Void Keeper are true!"

"Stop the nonsense or you'll open your wound, just hold the blood in and wait for rescue."

"You're pretty cold to a friend in pain!"

"I don't have friends who abandoned by girls!"

Arguing with him somehow makes me feel much better, like I'm shedding a weight off my shoulders. Perhaps Simon feels the same, as he tosses me a syringe and reloads the cannon.

"You've watched enough movies and played enough games to know what to do with it!"

I pick up the syringe, staring at my friend dressed in a Void Keeper's armor, looking like a real soldier. He puts his hand to his ear to connect with the communication channel and reports the situation.

"Void Keeper Nouis in sector seventy-seven reports a civilian injured, request for reinforcements and a rescue helicopter, over!"

"You're using a game name as your call sign?"

"Come on, smile, it'll get heavier than this."

"Hey, focus on farming monsters!"

I shout to alert my friend, who quickly realizes, turns towards the approaching monsters, and fires a stream of energy from the cannon at them.

It's beyond me how someone like him can control such a large cannon, Void Keepers are truly as rumored. The residual heat from the cannon still emanates from its barrel, and I can feel it, but it seems the cannon's heat has alerted something dangerous nearby.

While Simon is still busy loading a thermal battery into the cannon, sharp-tipped roots, like rock drills, shoot from all directions towards him. With such a heavy cannon in hand, Simon certainly can't dodge.

As the tree roots were approaching at high speed, my mind froze in time between two choices once again. Leave him and run away or sacrifice myself to save him, just like how I sacrificed myself to save Madeline only to be betrayed.

If I could choose again, I would still save Madeline and, sure, call me foolish or lovesick, that's just who I am. Of course, if Simon were a cute girl, I would still dash forward to sacrifice myself to save her, too bad he's not...

...But... for some reason, now I find myself rushing to save him.

I rushed over, pushed my friend away, and of course, took a bunch of high-quality stabs in his place, like a piece of skewer meat about to be put on the grill.

Now, I realize, I don't understand why I did that either. Maybe, I just wanted to settle scores with him?

Other Void Keepers immediately appeared for backup with one using ultrasonic waves causing the horde of monsters to lose direction and flee back into the Void crack.

The tree piercing through me was no exception, it dragged me along the ground, fleeing into the deep chasm of the Void.

"Sebastian!"

Simon called out to me while trying to follow. Somehow at that moment, I felt a bit sad, a bit happy, emotions mixed together, but one thing was for sure, I wasn't afraid.

I looked towards him, being held back by other Void Keepers from getting too close to the crack. Seeing Simon's pathetic look, turns out he does worry about his buddies.

"Next time in ranked, remember to ban Yasuo, dummy!"

I replied with a bitter smile before being pulled into the endless Void crack.

...

5%

My body started to feel frail, with symptoms of hallucinations, headaches, and nausea appearing.

"Aah, it hurts so much, I want to vomit!"

10%

I started to feel something different inside me, as if my body was no longer my own. I began to feel a lack of energy, an immense hunger and thirst.

"Hungry, I want to eat something, I want to drink something, so thirsty, my throat is so dry!"

15%

My senses began to fade, I could feel it because I could no longer perceive anything, as if falling into an endless abyss.

"I want to continue living, I need to live, I can't die if I'm still a virgin!"

20%

Indeed, I'm not afraid of death, but I'm not ready to die at this moment, there are still so many things I want to do.

"@#^!@#$& !"

50%

I tried to scream but no sound came out, tried to flail my arms and legs but couldn't feel anything, I couldn't even sense my own limbs.

90%

"The... scary thing isn't death... it's the loneliness that death brings..."

100%...

I awoke amid a frenzy and overlapping nightmares without end, surrounded by the desolation of a dark, bizarre space. Above me, buildings stacked and twisted together, behind me was a vast desert, and in front was an ocean filled with shipwrecks.

"Where am I?"

I tried to get up, but my body wouldn't obey, and I couldn't even feel the beat of my heart in my chest or the breath at my lips anymore.

"Am I dead? So, this is hell?"

But this hell was unusually desolate, with countless dimensions of chaos and ruin piled upon each other.

From the distant ocean, a bizarre creature with countless giant tentacles approached, each suction cup armed with myriad sharp, jagged teeth like a saw blade, heading towards me.

"Well, even in death, I can't find peace, how..."

I bowed my head, accepting my fate in despair on the snow-covered desert sand.

Strangely, the giant tentacle of the creature should have struck me by now. I looked up, just as a dark red liquid, presumably the creature's blood, splattered on my face. The large tentacle fell onto the snow, wriggling as if it had its own consciousness, moving towards me.

"You do not belong to this world!"

A mysterious male voice suddenly spoke before his dark blade pierced through the bizarre tentacle in front of me. The event was so sudden that my brain couldn't catch up with what he had just said.

Seeing my bewildered look, the mysterious young man in a black cloak scratched his head, mumbling.

"Weird, I'm sure I used the right language of this world, or is it the wrong country?", he pondered for a moment, then withdrew his dark blade, pointing it at my face: "Tell me, how can you resist the intrusion?"

The murderous intent emanating from the red glow inside his right eye as he aimed at me was like those anime characters I often watched. The dense murderous aura overwhelmed me but also snapped me back to reality after what I had gone through.

"You're not planning to kill me, are you?", I raised my hands in defense.

Oh, I can move and speak normally again?

"Oh, so you've still retained your reason."

"Am I dead? And are you the Grim Reaper?"

"Does the afterlife in your world look like this? Because where I come from, it looks very different."

"So, I'm not dead?" I ask.

"Of course, the afterlife doesn't have monsters like that!"

"So, where is this?"

"Void, a land beyond the control of the gods, the origin and end of all realms!"

I looked around, indeed this place didn't resemble hell as described in books at all, although there were still some mysteries.

"Um... Sir Black Cloak, why can't I feel my pulse or breath?"

"Breath or pulse, life or death, those concepts only exist in your world. In the Void, no concept lingers."

Although it was a bit hard to grasp, I could still absorb some of what he said, even though his voice had something quite strange about it, like the grandmasters from the medieval times stepping into real life.

"You have truly overcome the invasion from the Void, even the strongest gods in our world have fallen before its darkness."

"Can't you also move freely here?"

"That's a long story." the mysterious man said with a tinge of sadness: "But, if you can resist the invasion from the Void, then I think your world still has hope."

"What did you mean by mentioning the gods earlier?"

"Is there a strongest god in your world?"

"I'm not sure, how do you define the strongest?

"In my world, the strongest god is one who possesses both strength and knowledge!"

"I know it's a bit abrupt to say this but in the future if you seek strength." the mysterious man placed his finger on my chest: "You'll need more than just physical training." 

Then he continued, placing his hand on the center of my forehead: "You need to train your mind as well!"