As the one and only Eira continues to toil away in the mortal realm, allow me to jump back to a time when shit was going down.

"Augere... Efficiens Magna Majoris!"

The Creator scratched his ears in confusion. 

'Weird. Why did I hear Elias The First just now?'

The Creator was currently following the adventures of Elias The Ingrate, AKA Eira, AKA Snow White. He bound his omniscient senses to Eira to properly enjoy the show.

Weirdly enough, he heard another person's voice from a different "show" altogether. 'He shouldn't be here... what did that System do?'

He began to focus. All information regarding the new Omniverse had entered became readily accessible to him. Lazily, the Creator decided to absorb everything.

Then, it became clear what had happened.

"You little shit..." a mad grin made its way to his face.

[...]

There was only one other entity near the Creator. It wasn't hard to figure out who he was talking about.

"Sever Swordsmanship: Genesis Renewed."

Elias swung his sword. A tear in the fabric of reality followed its path toward the quest the Creator had imposed on Eira.

And it cut through it.

It cut through everything but Eira herself.

With his raw strength alone, Elias could punch an Omniverse into oblivion. With a sword, he could cut through multiple.

With his most powerful skills working together, Elias managed the impossible.

Everything that the Creator made, apart from his most recent creations, was utterly destroyed.

Towns, cities, countries, continents, planets, solar systems, galaxies, universes, multiverses, and omniverses—sliced into two, never to reconnect. Every living thing, their bodies, minds, thoughts, souls, and egos, were severed by a stroke of a blade an infinite distance away, ending life where it stood. They didn't die, for even the concept of death was split into irrecoverable pieces among all the others.

The force of that blow surpassed all previous records set by anything that ever existed. 

Yet it couldn't kill the Creator. The attack reached him, sure. It just wasn't sharp enough to leave even the slightest mark.

"So this is what you were aiming for. I underestimated you."

[...]

Truck-Sama kept their silence, but the Creator easily gleamed the feeling of satisfaction oozing from it.

'Receive the help of an unknown ally in your quest. I should have thought it weird that the XX Ranked System didn't disclose who the ally would be. It wasn't Elias but my little truck all along. Scheming little shit...'

The range of Eira's Omniversal System was limited to her current omniverse. It shouldn't have been able to detect Elias who was in another omniverse.

A certain truck was scheming in the background to ruin the Creator's fun.

Still, the Creator smiled.

"I'll admit, you won this one."

[...what?]

Truck-Sama was stunned.

Scratching his ass, the Creator spoke with an amused tone.

"You heard me right."

[I'm not hearing things, am I? You, THE CREATOR, just admitted defeat to ME?]

"Yep. You won, 100%. Sure, I wasn't paying much attention to what was happening, but I gotta give it to you for causing the End."

[You said it yourself. You were not paying enough attention. But I was. And now here we are.]

"Don't get too full of yourself. This is a one-time thing."

[No way.]

With those words, the Creator set his sights on the two surviving people left. Elias seemed satisfied as he floated in an empty void, while Eira was shocked that the quest bugging her mind all this time had disappeared just like that.

"Tsk. Simp. I never thought Elias would go all out since he knew how powerful he was, but I misjudged how desperate he'd get to woo a girl. She's not even a real girl!"

[Ehem: Sometimes it takes a real man to become best girl.]

"Don't give me that shit."

[I am only speaking facts.]

"Well, whatever."

The Creator waved his hand. A simple wave, as if he was shooing away a fly. He didn't need to wave at all, but appearances mattered.

"Augere... Efficiens Magna Majoris!"

And we were back to a time when shit was going down.

In simple terms, the Creator reversed time to a point before Elias cut down everything. 

Some readers might say, "Didn't Elias cut down everything, even concepts like death? So the concept of time should have been sliced as well," which is why I said it in simple terms.

I don't really get it either. I'm just a narrator. The Creator did his thing and everything was fixed somehow.

Ahem. Moving on.

The Creator clapped his hands. All of Creation froze as Elias's sword began its descent.

'Why is he interfering?' Truck-Sama was confused. After all, the Creator usually didn't interfere no matter what happened.

The reason for this confusion stemmed from the fact that Truck-Sama had no memories of the reset that the Creator had done. A simple time reversal wouldn't have affected Truck-Sama, so what the Creator did was a feat infinitely more complex.

'Like I'd ever admit that you have a win over me. Can't have you gloating from now on. Heh. Hehehe.'

'Act natural...'

"Hmm... let's see. My newest creations are playing their stupid tricks. Should I ignore this or not? Activate the Randomizer."

[...Fine.]

With a pout, even though trucks can't pout, Truck-Sama activated the Randomizer. But since the Creator knew that his truck creation wasn't cooperative, he didn't go along with the result.

In the name of "punishment."

"Alrighty! Eira goes to BnP. Full of weird shit, I know, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."

To protect his pride, the Creator deemed it necessary to make sacrifices.

If all that occurred wasn't because of Truck-Sama's machinations, he would've let it go. 

But it wasn't.

"As for Elias, he's grounded. Looks like I'll have to introduce myself..."

Just like that, the show continued.

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"...they're gone."

A man appeared on the moon. Looking around, he found neither of the two entities that gave him the certainty of his absolute death.

He sighed in relief. There was an enormous amount of energy that would've potentially destroyed everything. 

'I'm glad that it's gone, whatever it was. This world is quite dangerous...'

It was then that the man noticed something peculiar.

"What is this small tear in the fabric of reality? The sword intent behind it remains. It's sharp enough to strike me dead if I get too close... but..."

The man entered a daze. On instinct, their body assumed a meditative pose.

Slowly but surely, the tear was closing. 

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Summer vacation was about to end, and soon, Eira will leave her grandpa behind.

A first-generation gray Audi A4 1.8T rolled along the countryside, effortlessly passing through thick forest areas and rocky roads. Two people sat inside, one of them asleep.

Their destination? A lovely beachside town unknown to the rest of the world. The buildings retained their traditional architecture as they overlooked a crystal-clear ocean that stretched as far as the eye could see.

"Honey, we're here."

The driver shook his passenger awake. They weren't driving a Tesla, so the opposite wasn't possible.

The woman gazed outside her window, taking in the view. She was used to the sight, so she looked forward instead, trying to find if anything within the town had changed. "Woah. Is that a crab statue? When did that get here?"

"Must be new. It looks quite bizarre, doesn't it?"

They saw a few more crab statues wielding a variety of utensils along the way. 

"Let's park here. The road's too narrow. Do you still remember the way?" The man asked.

"Of course. Leave it to me."

"Alright, lead the way! Quickly now! I haven't seen my daughter in a while!"

The woman chuckled. "Fufu~ She's my daughter too, you know?"

The instant they stepped out of their vehicle, the sun ruthlessly bore down on them. They began to sweat and by a considerable amount.

"I forgot about this..."

"Uhh, let's hurry then."

Speedwalking made them sweat faster. However, if it meant taking cover under the restaurant/bar quicker, they'd even sacrifice an arm.

Ten minutes of torture later, the couple finally saw their destination.

The woman murmured, "That's weird..."

"What's weird?"

"Those people. Am I seeing things, or are they lining up to get into Dad's bar?"

"If you're talking about last time when it was practically empty, then sure... let's go in first! I'm dying out here!"

******

Lunchtime.

Grandpa Hiroshi and I were in the middle of dicing onions. From beside me, he spoke.

"Summer vacation is about to end. You'll have to return home soon, Eira."

Home. Return.

Pairing the two together in a sentence sounded strange to me. For the past six weeks, Ocean Oasis has been my home. To return home meant...

"You should expect your parents to arrive any time today."

"What parents?"

"Pft! Don't make me laugh! I might accidentally cut myself!"

Right. I may have forgotten about that.

I have parents.

'What do I do?!'

My parents are, by far, the absolute worst people I could possibly meet when I had no memories of anyone in this world.

They know me too well. Unlike Grandpa Hiroshi, who chalked up my strange behavior to simply puberty, they know enough about me to know that I'm acting weird because some random stranger possessed their daughter!

'I'm screwed!'

But I thought of a possibility.

'Wait. Maybe my parents were the inattentive type? Hopefully, that is the case. As fucked up as it might sound, I hope my parents are horrible at being parents.'

But if it wasn't the case...

I continued helping Grandpa in the kitchen until he could breathe a little easier. Then, I returned to serving customers as the Ocean Oasis's one and only waitress.

The workload since I started working has only increased with time. It made me worry for Grandpa when I was gone.

But I also knew that he had a lot of reliable friends if he ever did need help. The folks around here were nice. Still, I couldn't help but worry.

'Can't I just stay here?' I thought, but unless my parents really wanted to get rid of me, they would drag me back to where 'home' was.

"Eira! Five more beers, please!"

"Yep, got it!"

"We ran out of water over here!"

"Get it yourself, Akira!"

"Is it possible for our news station to have you step aside for an interview?"

"Huh? Uhh, I'm working right now. Come back tomorrow!"

Busy. Incredibly busy. At some point, the customers suggested adding a reservation list to ease the pressure on our shoulders. Still, it was hard work to do everything by yourself.

A stream of customers came and went. Some were nice enough to clean up after themselves, reducing my workload to serving/collecting dishes and wiping the tables.

"Woah... there's air-conditioning now? And so many people..."

"It's so nice..."

"Look! Over there!"

'Newcomers?'

They had just entered, standing in front of the entrance. I'd never seen the couple come here before. They wore urban clothing, so maybe they were city people.

'Damn, is the Ocean Oasis that famous already?'

I approached them, handing them the menu. "Welcome to the Ocean Oasis! Take any free table, although there's only one free right now, and it's over there."

*Ding!*

Grandpa had another batch of dishes ready, so I quickly served them. As always, the group that ordered them dug in with beaming smiles.

'Stupid Creator with your stupid punishments...'

With that out of the way, I went to the table of the newcomer couple. They seemed confused. Well, it's not rare to find it hard to order from a large variety of food.

"Since it's lunch, I recommend this meal, that meal, or if you're hungrier, this family pack that I'm sure you can fit with two people if you're hungry enough, and since it's super hot today, ice-cold refreshments this and that work well with this meal if you're gonna choose it..."

I was recommending food based on how many people ordered it in the past. FUUUUUUUUUCK. I don't know what anything tastes like, but everything probably tastes good anyway!

I finished giving my recommendations with a quick "...and that's all. I'll come back when you're ready to order."

"Pic—"

They weren't the only customers. In fact, two groups left while I was recommending food. I cleaned up after them while the next batch of customers patiently waited for me to finish. I also mentally wrote down their orders in case they wanted the usual.

"The usual, please! Thanks, Eira!"

What did I say?

It didn't take long for me to return the newcomers again.

"So, have you guys decided yet?" I asked, notepad in hand.

The woman massaged her forehead. "...yeah. Can I see the owner?"

"Wot?"

Well, that's the first time I've heard that before.

I took a good look at the newcomers.

To my left was a man in his thirties with blond hair and brown eyes. He wore shorts and a polo shirt, a typical look in this weather. To my right was a lady in a similar attire but with more vibrant colors. She had black hair that reached her shoulders, green eyes, and black sunglasses sitting comfortably on her head.

And when I looked more closely, the woman's face was undeniably pissed.

I gulped. "I-Is there a problem?"

"I changed my mind. I'll meet the owner myself."

"Honey, wait!"

I was but a child. The woman got up and stormed the kitchen before I could process what was happening.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!?!"

"GAH! Which prick did that—MAYUMI?! You're here already? How was your vacation with Kenzo—"

"WHY ARE YOU MAKING YOUR YOUNG GRANDDAUGHTER TAKE ON THE WORK OF FIVE PEOPLE?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

"Oi! Stop throwing bowls at me!"

"Someone call the police! My grandpa's getting murdered!!!"

The Ocean Oasis had to temporarily close ten minutes later.

...

Once the lady ran out of bowls to throw, the man with her calmed her down before she could reach for the plates. Good job, dude.

Currently, Grandpa and I were sitting across them. I overheard them talking to each other as I cleaned up the establishment, but they spoke in hushed voices. The evacuated customers left behind tables full of half-eaten dishes that Grandpa asked me to deal with. After I finished, I joined them.

The man known as Kenzo spoke with a smile. "So... how was summer vacation with Grandpa Hiroshi?"

"Did you have fun? Any problems?"

"I heard from Grandpa that you made a friend. What is he like?"

"You didn't get hurt while you were cooking, did you? Tell us everything!"

Hearing them bombard me with questions cleared my doubt about who these two people were and what kind of parents they were. I doubt that I can fool them.

In the first place, I had no idea about Pico's personality and quirks. It's not like I'm an Oscar-winning actor either.

Might as well rip the band-aid off.

Tilting my head, I spoke.

"Are you two my parents?"

Silence.

"...what? Wh-why do you sound so unsure?" The feisty lady—I guess I should call her mom from now on—stammered.

"Uhh, so are you?"

"Whaaaaat?!?!"

Mom turned her attention to Grandpa. 

He said, "I didn't do anything, so I don't know why you're looking at me like that."

"You... I find it hard to believe she came up with this prank alone."

"Eira, can you stop joking? Your mother has a scary look on her face..."

"'Eira?' Why are you calling her that?"

Grandpa begged me with pleading eyes. Sorry gramps. I really don't know who these people are.

In short, the jig was up.

I spoke slowly to give them time to comprehend my words.

"Miss Mayumi and Mister Kenzo, right? I really don't remember you guys."

"Eira, stop fooling around."

"I'm not, gramps. I don't remember them. In fact, I didn't know who I was or where I was when I woke up six weeks ago. I didn't know who you were either."

"Huh?" Grandpa joined the couple in their bewilderment. Clearly, what I said wasn't something he expected.

From their expressions that kept darkening as time passed, it seemed like they were starting to understand our current situation. No, I wasn't joking. No, this wasn't a hallucination caused by the summer heat. No, I wasn't your precious Pico anymore.

I never thought of myself as a good actor. I had the Acting Skill before to compensate. Now and in the future, I can only act like myself.

Suddenly, the woman known as Mayumi stood up, almost knocking over her chair. 

"!!!"

Then she hugged me. Tight. The combination of her breasts and tight embrace squeezed the air out of me.

"It's okay, Pico! It's okay! You must have been so scared all this time! My brave girl, we'll figure this out!"

Hearing her say Pico brought back flashbacks. Fuuuuuck. I almost forgot that I got sent into this world as punishment. I don't think I met that pedo from the anime, so I completely forgot about him!

"My name isn't Pic—Urk!"

"PICO!!! DON'T FORGET THAT DADDY LOVES YOU VERY MUCH!!!"

My Dad, known as Kenzo, joined the hug, squeezing me like an industrial press. I was between a rock and a soft, suffocating place.

They finally separated after several minutes of torture. With urgency, my mother spoke.

"Pico, why don't you go elsewhere for the time being?"

"Call me Eira."

She looked at Grandpa with a questioning gaze. He nodded his head with a grave expression.

"...Eira," she said, "Dad and I will have a talk with Grandpa Hiroshi. It will be very boring, so how about you go play somewhere else in the meantime?"

"Okay." The opportunity to escape has presented itself, and I'm not letting it go to waste!

I walked to my room and decided to continue on my Pokemon journey. It was my second run, and my goal was to max out my team for bragging rights.

"Psst! Oi!"

I paused the game. Looking out the window, I saw Akira waving at me from the ground. His shoulder-length hair swayed with his rhythmic hand movement.

"Eira, Look at what I found."

Squinting my eyes, I saw a squirming something in his hand. 

He moved closer. I got a better look at what he was holding.

"Is that a massive cockroach?! Throw it away!" I almost gagged. Why is he holding it?! How is he holding it so casually?!

"Nuh-uh. It's a stag beetle," he replied. "Have you never seen one before?"

"Nope, and I could've spent my entire life not seeing one."

Akira sighed. "You don't get it, do you? Stag beetles are cool! Having one is like having a real-life Pokemon! You can make them fight and stuff."

"I'm gonna stick with the Gameboy."

It's times like these that solidify the fact that Akira truly was a boy. As effeminate as he looked, he didn't act like a girl. Was this what you call a gap moe?

Akira smirked as if he found an interesting piece of information.

"...are you scared?"

"...nope."

Yes, I was. Insects weren't that bad when I was a full-grown adult, but now that I'm a kid again, they look twice as big.

I don't have psychic powers either, so I can't yeet them away with psychokinesis.

"I have another one. Let's make the beetles fight and bet on which one wins! Stay there!"

"Wait!"

He ran to the entrance.

"Don't you dare come up here!" I screamed.

Too late. Akira entered the Ocean Oasis. I heard him greet Grandpa and my parents through the floorboards before sprinting up the stairs with loud and hurried footsteps.

"Eira—!"

I slammed the door and locked it shut.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

The doorknob rattled. Akira continued to call out to me from the other side.

"Eira~ I thought you weren't scared~"

"Sh-shut up, they might be poisonous."

"Even if it was, my grandpa can fix you so it doesn't matter. Let's play together!"

"Insects in the Ocean Oasis violate food safety and sanitation regulations!"

"It won't count if I'm in your room."

"What are you two yapping about?!"

Grandpa Hiroshi spawned out of nowhere. I pressed my ear against the door to hear better.

"I wanted to show off these stag beetles, but she won't let me in."

"You can't just go in a girl's room! Play outside, then you can go say goodbye."

Akira's voice lowered. "Goodbye? Why? Is she leaving already?"

"Yeah. She has to leave today. Sorry about that."

With that, Grandpa Hiroshi returned downstairs.

"..."

"...Akira?"

I couldn't hear anything from the other side. Did he leave? I pressed my ear harder against the door.

"Eira."

"Waa—! You were still here?! You scared me!"

"Open the door."

His voice didn't sound like it normally did. 

"I put the beetles away, so open the door."

Hearing his words, I hesitated. In the end, I decided to unlock the door and open it.

The first thing I saw was his grim, downcast expression. He looked so excited earlier. That was gone now.

"Will you be coming back?"

After hearing him speak so seriously, it was my turn to smirk.

"Of course I will. I like it here."

Only then did his face regain some color.

Akira held out his pinky.

'Alright, fine. You should really get other friends apart from me.'

""Pinky swear, whoever lies will be made to swallow a thousand needles.""

After locking pinkies with him, and saying those ominous words, Akira stopped moping. Cheerfully, he said, "Okay. Let's make the beetles fight now."

I flinched.

"No!"

I tried to slam the door on him, but Akira's foot was faster, blocking the way.

"Just choose who will win between Shiba and Inu. You don't need to touch them."

"You named your beetles after a dog breed?! One of them literally has 'dog' for a name!"

"So you also think that Inu has what it takes to become king of the beetles. I was gonna bet on Inu, but Shiba can't be underestimated..." 

"I don't care about any of that! Go away!"

But little by little, the door was opening. Not only was Akira older, but he was a boy too.

At that moment, I realized that going home with my parents didn't sound so bad.

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A/N: It's been a while, huh? Sorry about that.