—————..........

“It’s over, Hero of Skien This world is DOOMED!! I have controlled the minds of the blood beasts and turned them ALL against your kind! —Even the cute ones with cat ears!”
“Maestro! You’ll pay for what you’ve done!”
At the end of their final battle, the evil overlord Maestro stands above the kneeling hero of justice and sinisterly declares their evil plan.
“I have also killed all your friends and threw all their corpses into the sun for good. There’s no one out there who can save you now!”
““—No one but us!””
“Isabella!? Ortello? You were alive!?”
The hero of Skien exclaims in surprise at the sight of his allies.
“It’s over, Maestro, we have undone your mind control, your catgirls army no longer poses a threat to humanity,” Ortello exclaims righteously.
“What? How?! I have been planning this invasion for decades. I have prepared every defensive measure! Considered every possibility."
"Time travel."
“...”
“It’s time for you to die Maestr—Ugh!"
But before Ortello can deal the finishing blow... his lover stabs him!
"Isa-Isabella!? Why?”
“That's because I'm not Isabella—I am Isabella... the DARK EATER!”
"Don't tell me.... All this time you were a world devouring demon from the Abyss!?"
Enraged by the betrayal the Hero of Skien clenches his fist. But there is one person who is more enraged by the appearance of [Dark Eater Isabella]… Maestro, whose mask has fallen off to reveal a beautiful face full of vengeance!
“Finally, you show your true color… I have been waiting for you, [Dark Eater Isabella]. Everything I have done was just to lure you out so that I can have my revenge! Look at my face now that I have revealed what’s underneath the mask and remember the lives you have destroyed! My true name—is Maestrola!”
“Maestrola? Why…"
After having seen the true face of the evil overlord.
"Why didn’t you tell me you were this pretty? You're definitely my type.”
The hero of Skien falls in love at first sight!?
“...W-why are you holding my hands?”
“You may have brutally murdered my entire family and killed all my friends... but in the face of pure evil such as this, only we can stop her and save the world—and get married afterward because I have forgiven you for all the evils you have done.”
“O-okay…”
The Hero of Skien and Maestrola turns to face the greater evil with the newfound power of love?!
“Isabella! It’s time for you to meet your fate!”
“That’s impossible, I have thrown my phylactery into the sun and without the phylactery, you would never be able to kill me. I AM INVINCI—wait, h-how are you killing me!?!?”
“Time travel.”
“...”
““Die!!”"
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah~!!!”
By the combined effort of both the hero and the former villain [Dark Eater Isabella] has been vanquished and the world is saved. The hero of Skien and Maestrola go to live happily ever after in a town called Ortello in honor of their fallen comrade. They have 3 children. 2 of which will get their own spin-offs sequel after a 10 years time skip.
And the world is peaceful ever after...

—————..........

Huaaaa~!

Finally…

After 20 years. 120 volumes and 2 spin-offs. 30 TV seasons of anime. It’s finally over!

Such a good ending. Absolutely brilliant and emotional. The teaming up between The Hero of Skien and Maestrola to defeat the greater evil elevated this series to new heights… I can probably die happy now that I have finished reading this.

Hi, my name is Steve. I’m 30. Un-married. Currently jobless and also [1 second away from death]—actually, I have been [1 second from death] for a while now. During which the main observation room has become quite crowded, filled with various records that Master has summoned for me.

Now that I actually get my hands on them I can only say that they are simply incredible. As you might expect they’re not such simple tomes with normal papers, but feature-rich [Digital Grimoires] with touch screen pages that can change and shift at the swipes of my fingers.

[The Table of Contents] has various settings such as automatic reading, animation, comics. You can change it to any language I know and more—including this one called [Bioarboribus], and I don’t even know what that implies. More surprisingly the spine can open up to reveal a compact panel of buttons and sockets. It even has a USB port.

—Whoever designed this has really thought of everything.

Master has also brought out a table with some popcorn and a glass of water which automatically fills with infinite drinks of every kind. I can even drink an unlimited amount of cola with no health repercussions!

As for the white-haired man himself, he has just been reading that book he’s always holding silently beside me… so silently, and so contrary to his earlier chatty persona that I start to wonder whether or not he is sulking at the fact that I haven’t been paying attention to him.

Which would be weird… and cute?… weirdly cute? Is it weird for me to call Master cute? I call him, [him], but honestly, I can’t really tell whether or not he is a he or a she. Especially when he’s sulking.

“I am not—sulking!”

“Okaaaay~… Then what are you doing?”

Master’s mouth opens and closes before he pokes his head a little as if giving me a blindfolded equivalent of an eye roll.

“Since everything you know about the universe pretty much got turned upside down after coming here, I thought I should just let you sink into your old habits for a while and do things you’re used to doing—but Steve!!”

He takes a deep breath and shouts.

“It’s been 3 days!! <78 hours 45 minutes 31 seconds> to be exact! Ever since we project ourselves onto <Sabetha’s Record> you have just been binging the dumbest manga series in existence, drinking cola, and eating popcorn!”

“< The Hero of Skien X Maestro and the Army of Catgirls> isn’t that dumb…”

I throw another popcorn into my mouth—

Just because you know [everything]… doesn't make everything you say right, Master.

“Okay, fine, it’s not even in the top 500—”

“You... made a list?”

“—But you have to admit that it’s a little stupid.”

“But that’s why I like it though.”

“21st centurians… You have been given a chance to know the answer to any question, you could’ve asked something like what’s the meaning of life? How to find love and happiness? What’s the best way to get free kitchen supplies without a subscription service?”

“I feel like one of those things doesn’t belong on that list…”

“The point is—! I thought you would want to know that stuff.”

“…”

His words make me pause.

Ever since Sabetha’s Record, I try to avert my attention from everything else. Because even if I don’t want to admit it. By knowing what happened afterward…. Something has changed.

When I watched her die, my place in the world disappeared.

Something that makes me, [me]. The tether that binds me to my identity has been thoroughly torn—apart

I don’t belong anywhere now.

I can’t go back to anyone now.

Hell, I don’t even know who I'm supposed to be, now. Steve Carlo. 30 years old, complacent Otaku who has given up on life? A person who has stopped trying to become something, and died without ever leaving any impact on the world?

I realized that the Grand Archive is too much for me. This place contains so much knowledge that, if I ever get a glimpse of, could trivialize everything I have experienced and reduce the meaning of my existence to nothing.

If I ever ask those questions I will be opening a [Pandora's Box] that should be kept tightly shut… so, I’m not sure.

“I’m not sure… if I’m ready to know or even want to know. I’m already fine with this much.”

I say, referring to the stacking piles of records around both of us. Master looks at me in silence for a second...

Then he walks to the center of the observation room, hugging the book in front of him, and says with a bitter smile.

“There are only 2 [truths] in the universe I never want to disclose, Steve. Though, the first one is known by quite a few… even known by you at some point.”

—Me?

“This is not the first time we’ve met. You can’t remember it of course, but our first meeting left quite an impact on me… maybe that’s the reason why I chose you of all people.”

What could… possibly happened then?

“—You asked me a question.”

….!

A faint memory resurfaces within my mind.

I have met him before, we have talked to each other before.

A long, long time ago...

“You said, and I quote. ‘—Who thought it was a good idea to make the universe so big and vast? —Who thought it was a good idea to make everything happen randomly as if it was all decided on a roll of the dice? —Who made it so that whatever we think we can do or accomplish, eventually all of it will be turn to dust and lost forever without even a point of it all?’—”

Different [Steve]... Different [Master]... The answer to the [ultimate question]... The [truth] to all creations… But I can’t seem to remember… How he responded to me then.

“Back then everything was recent and brand new, and we haven’t gotten used to it yet—haven’t moved on yet. Too many failures, too many regrets. We knew what we had to do but questioned it every step of the way. It was honestly quite unfathomable... [Us]? Questioning ourselves? You have no idea how many people there were who would laugh if they heard that…”

The corner of Master’s lips rises into a smirk, but his voice descents into self-mockery.

“You’re saying now that you don’t think you’re ready to know, and I agree. No one's ever ready. But time never waits... eventually, even eternity will end—and when it does, the purpose of [The Conceptors Grand Archive] must be fulfilled, and [The Seventh Conception] must begin.”

The white-haired man, whose eyes are always hidden behind an ominous black blindfold, says to me quietly, as if letting out something he has always held back….

“Knowledge can be a curse, Steve, I have been the master and the bearer of this curse ever since the beginning of time… So long, I have been here, so long it could drive you mad…. but it’s also long enough for even insanity to wear off.”

—An eternity of loneliness, of not being able to change anything, or share it with anyone, isn't that just an eternity of torture?

"Even so, Steve… If knowledge can be a curse...”

In the grand and quiet library with only the two of us. [The All-Knowing One] asks...

“Would you bear that curse with me?”

A question, a simple question that makes me realize the reason why he’s doing all of this.... a reason more simple than I expect.

I remember back to when I was watching <Sabetha’s record>. The feeling of helplessness and loneliness of only being able to watch without ever being heard or seen…

The feeling of knowing you can’t [change] anything even if you try like an [Outsider] who can only observe from afar.... to live your entire existence like that.

“Ha~ You just want me to ask a question, right?"

All this time, I have cursed the universe for its [randomness]. It never occurred to me that—no, I have always known but never admitted…

That there is freedom in this uncertainty.

If anything could happen at any time, then there would be no limit as to what you can do. The only thing that can stop you is how many times you get to try. A world like that is completely unreasonable, random, and uncertain...  But if you fail, as long as you’re still alive, you could try again and hope that next time, next time something would change.

And as long as you keep going, as long as you never give up, if the future is [truly undetermined] then you will eventually succeed…

—But the opposite is much, much different.

Imagine that suddenly you come to possess the knowledge of [everything] in existence. And with it comes the full understanding of what is possible in the universe. So, promptly, you try to use it to find happiness in life.

—But what if this ‘happiness’ isn't a part of [everything]?

What if there’s no way that you could ever find this ‘happiness’? Because by knowing [everything], it eliminated all the other possibilities outside of it... leaving behind only one [absolute truth]—the truth that you will never be happy.

—For [everything], (all there is), isn’t the same as ‘everything’, (all that could be)...

There’s a reason why they say that ignorance is bliss. With ignorance all that’s impossible, is possible. You can believe that if you try hard enough, you can do pretty much anything.

But if [everything] is absolutely set in stone? If there’s nothing more that can be learned, nothing more that can be done?

Then all that could be, would be limited by all there is.

You can’t change anything no matter how many times you get to try, no matter how many [next times] there may be, it will always end the same way. Everything becomes absolute, certain—and [unchanging].

But then…

I, who cursed the universe for its [randomness]—and Master, who cursed the universe for its [unchanging certainty]...

If knowledge can be a curse, then I’ve all my life lived in blissful ignorance—by telling myself that everything that happened was completely unpredictable, and there was no way I could have avoided it. There was nothing that could be done.

But, was there really nothing I could’ve done? If I hadn’t [given up], could I really have changed anything? Was there really a predetermined future that no matter what I do, would drag me along its course?

Normally, this is probably not something anyone can ever know. But right now, I’m in [The Conceptors Grand Archive].

So, if there’s anyone out there who would know, it would be you, Master.

“Hey, in this universe; does something like [fate] actually exist?”

—Was the life I lived, the only way I could've lived it?

Frankly and almost cold-heartedly, Master answers my question...

“Yes. It wasn’t supposed to, but yes.”

…..

Is that so? Is that how it is?

“And you know… how [everything] begins and ends, all this time?”

“I do....”

“How are you still sane; after all that?”

“Insanity can wear off.”

Looking up above the non-existence ceiling into [The Six Eternities] in the dark sky. Now I know that truth, the [absolute truth] that there was truly nothing that could be done.

...But then why? Why does it still feel so wrong? Shouldn't all of my past failures become meaningless now that I know they’re unavoidable?

...There was nothing I could have done, so it’s not my fault, right?

...But then why is there still this voice inside my head that keeps telling me that I’m wrong? Didn’t you hear what he said? [Fate] EXISTS! WHY are you still saying ‘so what?’

…..

“...Master, the scene that you threatened to show me earlier.”

So in the end, it comes back here. To the memory that I tried to forget but couldn’t.

“That day was the day I got stubborn about my dream and ran away from home. My parents who came after me got into an accident—and they died.”

Master must know this already. Even so, he let me continue.

“Ever since then, I’ve told myself that it wasn’t my fault. That it was just something that happened out of pure chance. That there was nothing I could’ve done. ”

So many times I told myself that. So many times I have cursed this [randomness] and was so convinced that I was [right].

But now I’m being told I was [wrong], that it was [determined] to happen no matter what I do?

“All of [The Sixth Eternities] has been stuck in a loop, Steve. No matter what changes have been made by anyone, all of it will eventually disappear and reset when that cycle ends. That’s just how it works.”

“Don’t screw with me—!!”

Letting out my frustration that has built up for god knows how long, I lash out at Master… and at myself.

“Let’s just admit it, alright? That’s just shifting the blame! So what if all of my past failures have been unavoidable?! They are still all my fault, aren’t they?!”

And it will always be my fault, over and over again, FOREVER!

“An avoidable [loop]? Doesn’t that just mean that it happened before? Then how many times has that happened already?! How many more times will it happen again?!”

Is this my [fate] for all eternities? Is this really the [meaning] of my existence?! Either way—!!

A [fate] like this! A [meaning] like this!

“—I can’t accept it!”

So what?! What if I was wrong?! So what if [fate] does exist? That changes nothing! Nothing at all——!!

Whether it is [randomness] or [fate] In the end, they all lead to the same thing….

Hopelessness...

This is what this knowledge has brought... Hopelessness that runs so deep it makes me want to laugh.

“....Hey, Master…if you actually know everything… and if this place truly contains all that there is…”

If [The Conceptors Grand Archive] exists…

“Then please tell me… that there is a way to break free…”

Even if there’s no point for me to know. Despite that, even if I know, I still won't be able to do anything and will inevitably forget. Even so, I still want to believe that there’s still some hope left.

Some hope that somewhere in the sea of infinite possibility, there's a version of me who did right by them.

“The root of the problem is more fundamental than that. We’re not talking about the reciprocating causal temporal status of just 1 person, 1 world, or 1 universe. But all of [The Six Eternities].”

I see, so it’s not just me, but everything else as well. I guess there’s no—  

“But there is a way.”

———!?

“It involves knowing the true identity of [The Creator of The Six Eternities]. the answer to the original question you asked me.”

The creator... of this universe?

“You have regretted knowing the answer before and you might regret it now as well. Are you sure you still want to know?”

“...”

Retreading the steps of my other self. Rediscovering the secrets that I had once known.

—What will happen if I say [no]?

Nothing, probably, Master wouldn’t throw me out of the Grand Archive just because I choose not to. After all, what can a person like me really do with that knowledge in the first place? Considering the pros and cons, this would be the best option. I can just continue to be ignorant and complacent, read manga and light novels, and watch anime or something to my heart’s content, and eventually leave this place when there’s nothing more to do….

And when I leave, it will be the end of me. I will be back on that crossroad. I will die. And when the [cycle] end, my life [resets], I will have to do it all over again.

Live again, dream again, lose again, love again, and die again.

Blissfully unaware of what has come before. Ignorance of what will come after. There’s nothing wrong with that kind of existence, right?

I should be fine with that much… right?

—But, what will happen if I say [yes]?

What will happen, if I choose to bear that curse of knowledge?

.....

“You know, I’ve never thought that I would live an interesting life.”

Since not everything I want can be granted, why bother asking for anything?

“Why bother asking for something more when I could just be satisfied with whatever was thrown at me. And for a long time… I was fine with that.”

That’s right. That’s how it’s always been.

“But you see. Right now, I’m away from my past, my home, and my family. When I have basically died and was brought outside the universe is when I feel, maybe for the first time in my life ever since that day, I feel that... I’m not actually fine with it!”

Don’t be ridiculous! There’s no way I would be! There’s a limit to how complacent you can be and I have reached it so many times already!

Foolishly complacent and intentionally ignorant, looking away from it all, averting my eyes from the cracks that keep appearing again and again in this relatively simple thing called existence!

—And now what?!

All the failures and tragedies that happened in your past? Do it all again, and again, and again, and again and again and again and again and again and again and again. But hey, at least you won’t be remembering any of it and it will be a new failure and tragedy every single time~!

“I’ve lived in complacency and ignorance long enough!”

I look in front of me, toward Master.

If there really is a person who is responsible for all this!

“Tell me, who is it?”

And just like that—I decided to open the [Pandora’s Box]!

…..

Silent falls upon the Grand Archive.

“Haha... Hahaha… Hahahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHA~~~!”

Until eventually... Uproarious laughter burst out of Master’s throat, along with another warning.

“Steve, you have no idea~! What kind of rabbit hole, you’re plunging into!”

“If I’m going to regret it, I’ll do that afterward.”

“I see, well, you have asked and I shall answer!”

Standing in front of [The Astral Projector], surrounded by stacking piles of <records>, Master twirls around and around while spreading both his arms exaggeratedly, his robes fluttering in the air, and when he finally turns to face me.

“—Now, then.”

Let us open [Pandora’s Box], where all secrets lie within.

“—Let us reveal.”

The answer to the ultimate question.

“—The truth.”

To all creations.

“The true identity, of the being who created this universe, the one who is responsible for all our plight and pleading, iiiiiiisssssss~~~!!!” 

IS—!  

“————[Me]————!”

…..

“————Huh?”

“Yes! You haven’t heard wrongly. I’m not just a [Recorder], Steve, I’m also a [Writer]—I created [The Six Eternities]—!”

“————————Huh?”

“Aah~~! I did again——! I said it twice——! I told someone about my true identity twice, Aaaaah~~♪ ! Are you watching, mothers, fathers? Are you proud of me~~✰?”

“Wait a minute, hold on—”

“Weeellll, now that I think about it, it was probably more like [us] or [we] than just me. But eh, same difference. This language is too [punctual] to properly be used to describe—”

No, no, no, no, there’s definitely something wrong about this! This makes no sense—!  

“But—but you said you’re not a god!!”

“If you want me to call myself a god, then [make] me!”

“That’s not how this works!”

“That’s what you said to me before as well… ‘playing with people’s lives, creating us without having been asked, what makes you different from a god?’ And to be honest, Steve, back then we couldn’t answer you.”

Master walks back toward me who is still sitting on the couch, all the while continuing his explanation.

“[Gods] are eternal and everlasting. They sit foolishly upon the thrones carved from death and destruction, overlooking all that exists with eyes of contempt and arrogance... Then what makes me different, really? Is it because I don’t have to rely on [faith] and [belief]? Is it because few know of my existence?”

His feet come to a halt, we’re now only an arm's length apart, only separated by the coffee table.

“In the time I was wondering that I have seen the whole of creation begin and end, every star born and dies, every empire turns to dust…." 

Master lowers his voice and leans forward, to the level of my eyes.

“Eventually, I reached a conclusion, Steve. The thing that makes me different. The answer to what it means for me to be [human]... IS—”

He raises his book high up into the air...

“ ————[Change]————!!” 

Bang—!!

And with a smile full of certainty, he slams it on the table so suddenly I jump!

Then with seemingly no interest at all for my ‘I don’t know what’s going on’ facial expression. Master continues to give his monologue to no one in particular but himself.

“I’m still changing! I am not eternal and everlasting, I’m a [human] like you and I can still [change] like you. This isn’t my final destination, my journey hasn’t ended. There are still things I can do, things I haven’t done!”

Tick Tock Trrr...!

As if responding to its master’s outburst of emotion, the Grand Archive begins to move and revolve! Growing louder and faster as Master continues.

“My story isn’t over yet! I haven’t given up, the winner hasn’t been decided. I can still keep going!”

Fervently and with a fiery passion, Master declares… and I have absolutely no idea what the hell he’s talking about, can someone help?

“Even if I would have to do whatever it takes to get there! Even if it would take me another eternity! ——I will find a way to break free!” 

“Okay, okay, I get it! You’re not a god! Please stop banging the table!”

Thankfully, my pleading worked and when I look around, the movements of the Grand Archive have completely stopped. But before I could turn to look back at Master.

“We may have created [The Six Eternities] but it is certainly not our intention that everything becomes unable to move forward.”

His voice didn't come from in front of me but from my left. So, I instead turn to see Master back at his spot on the couch. And before I could ask how he get there so fast—he has already taken both of my hands.  

“...W-why are you holding my hands?”

“Listen, Steve, I have a plan, a grand scheme to change everything. But no matter how confident I am about being able to pull it off, I still need help from someone very, very....”

“Master… I don’t think I'm—”

“—Ordinary.”

“...”

“Someone so ordinary the likes of which if the word [Ordinary] didn’t exist before in a language—something of the same meaning would be created specifically just to describe that person.”

“...Thanks for elaborating.”

“So that they would be an obvious contrast for my genius. And a constant reminder that once upon a time, I too, was an, almost as ordinary a person.”

“...Good for you.”

“Eeehh, maybe not almost, maybe something like 1 tenth as ordinary?”

“...”

“1 fiftieth? 1 thousandth? I don’t want you to feel bad, Steve. But compared to you, I’m very special.”

“...”

“Compare to you, everyone is special—”

“...How long is this going to go on for?”

“Oh, right, *Ehem* …Now that I have shared this knowledge. Despite our vow, I’m really not asking you to become my friend forever. I tried that, never gonna try it again… So to be honest, Steve, even if our friendship won’t be an eternal bond or something like that, it’s good enough.”

—Good enough, huh?

“So, let me ask you one more time… If knowledge can be a curse.”

So once again, in the grand and quiet library with only the two of us. [The All-Knowing One] asks.

“Would you bear that curse with me?”

.....

“Master... the more you repeat that phrase, the more it starts to sound like a proposal.”

“It is a proposal.”

“No, I don’t mean it like—”

“I know, that’s the joke. Kinda have been waiting for you to point it out actually, but that never happened.”

"..."

Huaaaaaaa~

I breathe out… a really deep sigh, and finally, give my answer to Master.

“Sure, why not? You basically just want me to be the John Watson to your Sherlock Holmes, right?"

"Yes, but instead of solving mysteries, we'll be solving some of the greatest dilemmas in existence ~!"

"Well, I already come this far, might as well see it through a little longer. And it's not like I have anything better to do anyway.”

“Steve. Thank you.”

Master releases my hands and jumps off the couch, before walking over to [The Astral Projector] and humming a strange tune merrily as if nothing ever happened.

I carefully observe his appearance again. Young, androgynous half of a face, and a thin, almost frail figure that seems quite fragile.

This guy is the creator of the universe? I don't know if I fully buy it. There’s got to be something more to the first [truth] than what I was told.

“Wait, if that’s just the first [truth], what’s the second one?”

“... Are you really sure you want to know? It could change how you think of yourself and everything else forever.”

“Try me.”

I pick up my glass to take a sip—

After coming this far, [nothing] could surprise me anymore.

“—We’re [Fictional].”

“Pffffffffffffffftttttttttt~~~~~~~!”

…I spurt out every last drop of my drink...

“I warned you.”

…..

Okay, Master…—What the fuck?