Chapter 5 – Past, Catching Up

Those words were the trigger. A week. He only returned from Fantasia a week ago. Now there was a disturbance in the form of a mysterious girl. He didn’t like it, so he pretended not to know anything.

“What are you talking about, Miss? Could you have the wrong person?” He shrugged his shoulders. “For your info, I don’t know anyone named John.”

“No, you are, John.” The girl’s answer was firm. “You’re Fujiwara Atsuku, the author of Miracle Hero’s Adventure. The setting of the novel is Fantasia, the world where you lived for 20 years until you returned to Earth. You’re the Depraved Hero, John.”

Atsuku dropped all his acts after he heard the girls. She knew him. His eyes became sharper as his attitude changed. He put his guard up and was ready to fight or flee in case something happened.

“Who the fuck are you?” He asked with a chilling tone, threatening the girl. “I don’t remember seeing someone like you.”

“Of course not.” The girl answered calmly, and appeared not to mind Atsuku’s behavior. “But you’ve heard my voice a lot of times, in fact.”

Now that the girl mentioned it, Atsuku felt like the voice was a bit familiar. The girl’s voice was clearer, but he remembered hearing the same voice in a noisy static state. Hearing might not be the right word because…

‘Wait, could it be?’

“The voice of the world?” The familiar name escaped Atsuku’s lips.

Yes, hearing might not be correct because the voice rang directly inside his head. That was why he couldn’t recognize the girl’s voice in the first place.

“Indeed, you’re correct, John. I will say it again. They will return soon, John. You need to prepare yourself.”

The way the sentences were structured was similar to the voice of the world. That voice helped him a few times yet also forced him into a dangerous situation many times. For him, to hear that voice again only meant one thing… trouble.

‘Fuck this shit. I finally can gain peace. Not this fucking voice again.’

“Who the fuck will return? And why in the hell hole did you tell me about it? I am just a shitty normal human in this world. Answer me!”

“It’s a long story. May I explain everything in your house, John? This is not the best place. Ears are everywhere.”

At that moment, Atsuku’s body jolted. He forgot about it. Maybe a week of peace had gotten into him. He was usually careful, but he lost his cool and didn’t look at the situation calmly. Taking a deep breath, he glanced around before stopping his gaze at the girl.

“Follow me. And my name is Fujiwara Atsuku, not John.”

“Alright, Atsuku.”

***

Atsuku took the girl to his home. He didn’t even need to ask her name as he knew who she was now. The world's voice is often called Gaia by the people in Fantasia. Its existence was mysterious and was questioned a few times by some researchers, but who would expect that Gaia was such a beautiful girl?

A long silvery wavy white hair that extended to her butt. A voluptuous body that invited every man's desire. And more importantly, she dressed in a tight black bodysuit underneath a white jacket exposing her body lines. All in all, she was in Atsuku’s strike zone, but…

‘She will only bring trouble to me. Fuck it. Because I am 18 years old again, my fucking hormone is kicking in, and I want to attack her.’

He had a rather hard time controlling himself, but he finally reached his apartment and took her into his room.

Sitting on his gaming chair, Atsuku looked at Gaia, who sat silently on his bed.

“So, explain it in a simple manner,” Atsuku commanded, putting his head on his hand. As an experienced torturer and gangster in Fantasia, he was confident to intimidate the other party, but… Gaia didn’t even flinch at his gaze.

She remained calm and replied in a simple manner, “Earth will become Fantasia.”

Yes, that was simple. But that left a lot of context behind it. Even Atsuku facepalmed at Gaia’s answer.

“Indeed, I said simple, but… can you explain it so I can understand everything? Start with my earlier question. Who will come to Earth?”

“Yes. It is the countdowns. They will appear on Earth sooner or later.”

“Fuck!”

Hearing the word countdown was enough to make Atsuku curse loudly. That was a cursed word in Fantasia. Even Atsuku was careful enough not to mess with it, trying to get away from each accident or incident related to it.

He knew everything about it. His stomach was full of that bullshit, so he didn’t pursue the details from Gaia. Instead, he asked.

“Is that what you mean by Earth will become Fantasia? Is it because of what I wrote?”

“No.” Gaia shook her head, denying Atsuku’s guess. “Fantasia exists far before you write your novel. It’s just a coincidence that your idea and the story in Fantasia overlapped.”

That was something that Atsuku didn’t know. His eyes widened for a second before they turned normal again. He stroked his chin, a habit when he was thinking hard. When he thought about how such a coincidence could exist, he couldn’t find an answer.

More importantly, he had another important question for Gaia.

“Then how did I end up as John in that world?”

“Because your soul is similar. You are John, and John is you. Only… the consciousness in Fantasia is a blur, so you can take control of John’s body. The world began to move again, using your soul as its power. In other words, you resumed the paused world and made it run toward its destruction at full speed.”

“That’s too much bullshit. But somehow, I can’t deny it because I found out about that when I was adventuring in that world. Now, the question remains… Why me? Why did you try to find me to stop them?”

Atsuku was a bit sad. Before he went to Fantasia, his life was fulfilled. He didn’t need anything else, but he was broken now because of that world.

He blamed Fantasia. He hated Fantasia. But he somehow couldn’t get away from it. Even when Gaia told him that the countdowns would come to Earth, he only cursed. If he truly hated it, then he would definitely go crazy and find a way to stop it before it happened.

‘Maybe I want to feel the thrill from Fantasia again.’ That was what ran through his thoughts. ‘I had changed considerably.’ He couldn’t even understand himself now.

That was why he asked that question, hoping to get an answer from Gaia.

“Because you’re the Deprived Hero. He is the only survivor in Fantasia and the only one who can harness his original power. Everyone has a chance to be a hero, but only you can become the Depraved Hero, John. Only you can survive in Fantasia. That’s why such coincidences exist. Now, that kind of coincidence is called ‘Fate’ in my book.” Gaia smiled sweetly as she explained.

“Fate, huh?” Atsuku scoffed, leaning his back against the backrest.

If fate existed, then it surely must be fate too. Him coming back, countdowns were coming to Earth. If so, then the answer was clear.

“When?” He asked seriously. “When will the first countdown start?”

Gaia answered Atsuku with a grim expression. ”In an hour.”