When everyones was on board with my plan, welcoming the System Manipulator was all we had to focus on. She may have had the upper hand in countless other planets, but this one would be her biggest nightmare. The plan was to — hold on, did Tom just die?

  - Rachel, the second summoned

  

  That, he … just like that? This is outrageous! My authority is constantly on the brink of collapse, but I put may faith in the boy.

  In hindsight, I did not expect him to be such a simpleton and manage to ignore all my whispers. To ignore the whispers of a higher being due to an episodic format? That was a first.

  And after all that effort, he is dead…This existence is doomed after all.

  - ???

  

  Glorious Singers, that was pitiful to watch.

  - The demon kings

  

  He was suposed to be our saviour. Release us from our eternal torment. And now he is dead!

  - Veronica Goth, the Inventor

  

  Sorry, Tom. I should have explained more, so that you … nevermind. Maybe Luther's approach was the correct one after all. I—.

  - Rachel, the second summoned

  

  Shut up, Rachel! You literally left me for dead. This guy was suposed to save us; your grand plan failed.

  - Marchelion 'March' Neuwifoundeer, the Wise, from the planet Axiom

  

  Oh, shut up, Marchelion. What would you even have done against the Hero? Given him a pet talk?

  - Veronica Goth, the Inventor

  

  Dear otherworlders. I was but a child when the calamity fell upon us all. Mighty heroes from beyond…SHUT UP! I barely managed to live til adulthood, I am so bringing you all to insanity with me.

  - Mim, elementary school bully

  

  Great, Rachel. Now you made the local population even more mad at us.

  - Veronica Goth, the Inventor

  

  The whispers of the world were suposed to be singing the beauty of life. What would the Wandering God think if they found out it ended up in such a state. These otherworlders … Is this what mortals call 'having a headache'.

  - ???

  

  Hold on people. I got this. Maybe if we channel our collective will to save this world into him, then we can give him a boost.

  - Mil, The bookworm from Istemio

  

  This is not another one of your trashy books, you moron! No way goodwill and the power of friendship is going to do anything.

  - Veronica Goth, the Inventor

  

  Strange whispers from beyond. I do not understand what wisdom thee are sharing with me, but I offer you all my eternal praise. I am happy to be a part of this world.

  - Aumer, the beastkin monk

  

  SHUT IT, NORMIE!

  - Sev, the mad lord from the planet Sarmion

  

  Hold on. I hear something. It's her. Her ideal still lives on.

  - The demon kings

  

  She finally noticed him. About time. How long is she planning on sleeping for?

  - Veronica Goth, the Inventor

  

  Oh, the mighty Mirror Maiden graces this world again. How beautiful…I bet I could have beat her up if I was still alive.

  - Mim, elementary school bully

  

  This is unexpected. But that looks to be only a small fragment that awakened. A small glimmer of hope.

  - Rachel, the second summoned

  

  Indeed. What a deserving title. A beautiful dream.

  - ???

  We opened our eyes. A little girl was before us.

  "I think I did it!"

  "Perfect," another voice said. "This is how you bend the rules. Using this purpose incarnate, all your problems might be solvable."

  The little girl picked us up. "Might?"

  "Every action has a reaction. Altering a system is one of the most complex ways of learning that lesson."

  She let go of our body and waved her hand around. "Look! It sticks on like glue. I think it likes me."

  The second voice chuckled. "Children do tend to cling to their mothers."

  "So I am technically a mother now, huh?" She embraced us. "Our new friends are going to love him. They can finally be themselves again."

  We looked at our mother. All we could see of her was a cloud of colors.

  She caressed our head. "Don't worry. You will never be alone."

  ***

  Tom opened his eyes. His entire body was contorted weirdly. Stuck inside Morpheus.

  "Oi, why did you bring me along!" Trash complained.

  "My bad. Forgot about you."

  Trash hummed. "Things were finally starting to get interesting, and then you decided to almost kill yourself."

  "I am alive, aren't I?"

  He could still vaguely remember the strange memory. Just like he guessed, this had something to do with purpose; and somehow the Mirror Maiden was involved.

  Closing his eyes, he saw his own aura merged as a part of Morpheus. He had become one with the beast. Not that it would help him control it, but it would help him observe.

  The entirety of Morpheus still consisted of merged together auras, with a central area being absorbed by The Madness. Now, as a part of Morpheus, he used blend on the auras surrounding The Madness, attempting to slow it down, but the auras were eaten at the same pace. "Well, that didn't work."

  If he couldn't slow down The Madness, then his only choice was to stop it from growing.

  In the same way he sensed the Memento, he reduced his focus on the auras and took a more general view. He focused, trying to sense something.

  A surge of loneliness filled him, followed by a small wave of fear. Then The Madness overwhelmed all of his senses, forcing him to return to reality.

  His emotional state had turned into a mess, but he pushed all of his individual emotions to the side, merging them with the whole of the beast. The fear that followed had to be from being merged together. Then it was The Madness which the cult managed to contaminate Morpheus with. His key was the loneliness.

  He had no idea why the Mirror Maiden needed to create Morpheus, but the purpose intended was obviously to merge together auras. Merging together the clothes of the soul; perhaps even the souls themselves? With loneliness being the prevalent emotion, by merging with whatever auras it touched, they would never be alone.

  There was only one way to overwhelm loneliness, fear, and even anger. But first, he had to find a way to contact the others.

  "Trash, do you think you will be able to cut us a way out?"

  Trash hummed. The familiar feeling, which he could now understand was annoyance, contrasted with his messy emotional state. "A bit impossible to activate me with a spirit, with your arms merged into a rabbit and all. There is barely any space to breathe here. Why did you jump inside of it if you didn't have any plan in the first place? This would be a dumb way to die."

  "A spontaneous decision?" Tom chuckled. In hindsight, he had been reckless, but somehow he was alive. It looked like hewas in a more spacious part of Morpheus. The friction was probably shared with the entire body, so he didn't instantly die. There also had to be a mechanism preventing all the individuals making up Morpheus from starving to death, one that he didn't have time to understand.

  "Guess I will have to wing this."

  He focused back on the auras. There were several auras between him and the outside, but not too many. If the purpose was to be able to merge auras, then it should be possible to move those around.

  In front of him was a turtle hiding in its shell.

  He focused on only the two first auras in front of him. "[Blend]".

  Opening his eyes, he saw that the turtle's shell had shifted angle, and the head of a mule was poking through it, staring at him. Fortunately, the mule looked out of it, staring blankly in the air.

  This helped him conclude that the auras were connected to the physical state — the reality. Since merging together auras wasn't supposed to be allowed, it manifested in the real world as their physical existence being merged in grotesque ways.

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  Preparing himself, he focused on the auras in front, including himself. "[Blend]."

  His eyes shut when it was met with a weird brown liquid. Both of his legs were stuck in something. Using his skill again, he found himself in front of a rocky creature with the gaping mouth of a lion-like creature staring at him.

  Keeping the position of his aura in mind, he continuously shifted his position until he found himself closer to the edge. This time there was more wiggle space, stuck between a bear and a turtle. Focusing on the auras around, he shifted until both the animals were turned against him, with his back to another shell-type animal. Finally, he focused on the auras in front, shifting them until a small opening had been made.

  Outside he could still see all of them fighting. Tearing through Morpheus tentacles, he saw Hiro in his beastkin form.

  "Hey!" He tried to catch his attention to no avail.

  Further below he saw Ilona healing the wounded whilst Sierra ran around protecting her.

  Wiggling his arm free, he pulled Trash towards the hole. "I am going to throw you down. Tell Sierra to make Hiro use his depression sword."

  "What is a depression sword again?" Trash hummed.

  Tom let go of his grip and pleaded he wouldn't accidentally kill someone.

  ***

  Sierra held onto her arm. She had gotten too close to one of the error beasts.

  "Let me help you," Ilona said.

  She pointed her staff, and Sierra found herself immediately yelping in pain.

  "Are you alright? I don't know — you should have been healed."

  Sierra grunted, tearing off parts of her uniform and tightening it around her wound. "Don't worry about me. Focus on the battle."

  "But—."

  She grabbed Ilona and pulled her to the side, barely avoiding another of Morpheus tentacles. The tentacle was quickly torn to shred by a wind blade, with her fellow soldiers following behind.

  Letis found her and dragged her away from the error beasts. "Don't worry about protecting Ilona, we will handle it. You must be experiencing fatigue from too many healing skills. That buffoon always recklessly overuses her healing."

  Sierra nodded.

  Catching her breath, she finally had a moment to think.

  What had happened to Tom? She saw him willingly running into the beast's mouth, but there was no way he would kill himself in such a dumb way … right?

  From her periphery, she noticed something falling. Then she felt a familiar humming sound. Walking towards the soundshe found Trash, laying on the ground.

  "Trash? What are you doing here?"

  "That idiot Tom threw me down here," he complained.

  Her eyes widened. "Where is he?"

  "Inside Morpheus somewhere. Oh, yeah; he told me to send you a message: tell Hiro to use his depression sword."

  She thought for a moment. "The beast fury sword. What would that do?"

  Trash resonated a feeling of indifference. "No idea. The idiot didn't bother explaining his plan. But I think it was his best guess for a way to split up Morpheus body."

  "Really?" There was still a chance. "I will tell him, and — sorry it would be a bad idea for me to pick you up."

  Trash hummed. "Don't worry about me. Spread the word before he dies for real. Alice is probably going to put me in a museum or something if he dies."

  She nodded and ran towards Hiro. He was jumping back and forth in his beastkin form, so it took her a while to catch his attention.

  After saying something to another soldier, he ran up to her. His form had shrunk and his fur was falling off. He wouldn't keep going for long.

  "Tom said you should use your … beast fury sword on Morpheus."

  Hiro furrowed his brows. "What would that do? Are you sure he said that?"

  "Very sure."

  Hiro sighed, completely losing his beastkin form. "This better work."

  After putting away his aura sword, he took out the black katana. He took a deep breath. Then he ran towards Morpheus. Focusing on a nearby tentacle, he stabbed it with the blade.

  Morpheus entire body froze. Sierra could see that the katana was gradually losing its color, becoming more transparent. When it had returned to the form of a crystal, Hiro pulled it out and walked back to Sierra.

  Everyone stood confused watching Morpheus frozen in place.

  ***

  Tom stared at the encroaching crimson-red color heading towards him. How would he manage under the effect of The Madness? Remembering how the feral had been he was certain that he didn't want to find out. But the error cult had managed to turn him more sane, somehow. So if push came to shove, he would have to try his best.

  When a cloud of dark colors flowed into one of the auras, he sighed in relief.

  "Hopefully this works."

  Focusing on the entirety of the auras he used his skill. "[stabilize]." He didn't bother blending the auras since that wouldn't be disruptive enough.

  In a sudden motion, the entirety of the authorities shifted. The Madness was only temporarily held back. A wave of loneliness washed over him. Then a small wave of fear, followed by The Madness. Even though his head hurt he held his focus to sense what came next: the wave of negative emotions.

  Lower-grade spirits did represent reality, but the basis of their being, their authority, was always built upon color and emotion. Middle grades however were more inclined towards their emotion than color, since the purpose was their reason for being.

  Like a wave, the loneliness was pushed stronger and the fear resonated with it. Now the other waves weren't separate, but their emotions were strengthening a new wave.

  One wave of negative emotions, and one wave of The Madness.

  He felt like the main body had stopped moving, but it hadn't separated yet. There had to be another step to it. He had to figure it out before his effort went to vain.

  If Morpheus was created as a middle-grade spirit, a purpose incarnate, then the reason behind could only be because the Mirror Maiden sought auras merging together to be possible. That unintentionally would lead to the change of one's form through authorities mixing from different auras. They separated once cut from the main body since separated from Morpheus that purpose was deemed as illegitimate by the rules of reality. But most of the merged together creatures would still remember the emotion that resonated with them,and thereby keep the purpose of merging in tact as error beasts.

  Now what could he do with this information?

  Even thought he was desperate for a solution, his focus wouldn't shift from The Madness. It destroyed spirits and reality itself, he knew that much. But why? He knew he didn't have time to ponder open-ended questions, but he felt a solution here.

  "I am going to regret this."

  Focusing on the auras between him and The Madness, he shifted his position until he became its next target. Keeping his sight on the auras he braced himself as The Madness arrived at his own aura … then watched as it went past him. "Huh."

  He thought it would at least make him fight against it, andthen he could try and use the surrounding authorities to create more fuel to keep going, but it just went past him. The Madness had eaten up all the auras around him, and looking at its next meal he finally understood why: his own aura was too average compared to the rest. The Madness was completelydestroying everything besides the average combination of authorities. From that, he deduced it simply liked the average and destroyed everything else.

  There wasn't a lot to go on higher grades, besides the sonatas. The rejection between Sierra's sonata and that of the demons — it had seemed so simple. Both rejected each other which physically manifested in reality. Naturally, as a side character, there had to be something more to Sierra. That shade of black was identical to the weird rod the Hero used to kill the feral. The reason why they rejected each other had to be because their nature diverged extremely. Yet The Madness hadn't blended with the rest when he used [stabilize]. Perhaps playing against its own purpose was the way to go?

  Only focusing on his own aura and the crimson-red aura in front, he used [stabilize] and yelped as he felt a small jolt push him backward.

  "There it is."

  Now he finally knew what to do: make everything average. His own aura, even if it was stabilized with the rest slowlychanged back into its average distribution. All the other auras acted the same, albeit kept some of the changes in contrast to his own. He had to momentarily mirror his own aura with the rest.

  Focusing on an aura close to The Madness he continuously used [blend] on it, then focused on his aura as well. "[stabilize].

  To his glee, The Madness avoided that aura. But eventually, when the aura began fixing back to its usual distribution, The Madness took it as well. He had to be quick with it.

  Shifting his focus on the rest of the auras he repeated the process again and again until he felt a phrase tingle its way into his subconscious. "[Mirror]".

  He watched as The Madness reached the wall of, albeit in different shades, as average of auras when evened out to his own. It stopped. A wave of negative emotion flew past him, then what felt like the absence of the destructive emotion from The Madness. The two contradicting waves now merged together and reduced into a minuscule wave. As if the clashing emotion had never existed, Tom felt absolutely nothing.

  Then he used [stabilize] and watched as all the auras separated from each other.

  Tom screamed as he was suddenly in freefall.

  In the middle of the falling creatures, he saw a silhouette jumping in between and was taken away from his position underneath a bear and several other creatures. He found himself back on the ground watching a massive pile of animals forming in front.

  Sierra was carrying him in her arms. "Looks like it worked."

  Tom stumbled back on his feet. His entire body felt shore, unfamiliar. He stretched his body and looked at the mess. The unfortunate souls at the bottom were obviously dead, but several other animals survived the fall. Making use of the opportunity, they all ran for freedom.

  Soldiers looked on as the creatures dispersed. They didn't seem to be of any threat, currently, and it wasn't like there was any use trying to catch all of them. Although, the local ecosystem had officially become a mess.

  When most of the animals had left, they walked forward to the pile stricken by The Madness. Just like the feral, their skin was red, with most of their hair falling off. None of the red ones moved.

  With the battle over, soldiers began cheering. "We did it!"

  Tom looked on at the happy soldiers, but there was something that felt off.

  "Under here!"

  Sierra cut into one of the red bodies to reveal a sword lying underneath. He picked up Trash who was now covered in blood.

  "Why did you throw a pile of corpses on me!" He complained.

  "Sorry," he responded. He was too tired to argue.

  Trash hummed. "Well, you did good anyway. This was surprisingly fun. Looks like you really are going places."

  Tom smiled. "Thanks." He looked at Sierra. "Let's go to the others."

  "Wait." She closed her eyes. "Do you sense that?"

  Now that she mentioned it, he did feel a strange vibration. "Trash is that you?"

  "Nope. I am not that desperate."

  "[see area]."

  He saw the entirety of the surrounding. Scattered bodies. The soldiers. But he did feel a wave of loneliness wash over him. Looking around the area, he noticed a small part of his sight with a hole in it. He walked over to the location and pointed it to Sierra.

  Using her daggers she cut through the pile of corpses until it came into sight. She stopped. "A teddy bear?"

  Tom reached into the hole she had dug and pulled it out. It was indeed a teddy bear. In the same way he could feel emotion from Trash through a humming sensation, it gave off a feeling of loneliness. He let go of the teddy bear and waved his hand back and forth. It was stuck onto him. "I think this is Morpheus true form."

  Sierra's eyes widened. "Morpheus true body … is a teddy bear?"

  "He was a purpose created by the Mirror Maiden. At least, that's my best guess." He focused on the teddy bear with its murky aura and used [mirror] on it. It fell right off his hand and onto the ground. The bear wiggled its arms in annoyance.

  He picked it up again. "I understand how to un-merge it from others, so I think I should keep watch over it."

  "Are you sure we shouldn't get rid of it?" Sierra said. "It could be evil."

  The teddy bear began wiggling around, seemingly trying to get free from his grip. "I don't think it's evil, just lonely. And I know exactly what to call it." Tom grinned and looked at the teddy bear. "From today on, your name will be Little Bin."

  Sierra scoffed. "Little Bin? What kind of name is that?"

  "Agreed. That is a terrible name!" Trash complained. "Pick something else. Why are you obsessed with garbage?"

  "I am keeping the names consistent," he retorted. "And I have already chosen their name, so too late."

  They didn't bother arguing further and walked toward the rest of the soldiers gathered around Alice and Zev.

  Alice smiled at Tom when he appeared, and clapped her hands. "Our victory is a testament to the might of the kingdom. Our superiority against any foe, be it demons, cults, or error beasts."

  The crowd roared.

  "However, there is only one group the most worthy of praise, because this plan was—." She held her arm towards Tom. "A joint team effort."

  "Wut?"

  "See what we managed to do by working together. Defeating a seemingly undefeatable foe." She turned to look at the rest of the soldiers. "Everyone contributed to defeating Morpheus, and naturally no single individual can take all the glory of it. We all won."

  Everyone cheered yet again and started hugging each other.

  "What the space are you forgetting about me for!"

  His voice was drowned out by the cheering and he had to his dismay travel back to the camp to get checked up in the infirmary. But not without complaining the entire way of the nonsensical outcome.

  Laying down in the infirmary, he kicked his feet around in frustration. "Don't you guys see it! I literally was the one to tell everyone to fight Morpheus. I farting jumped into its jaws and had to use so much mental strength to figure out how to defeat it. What's with the joint team effort?"

  "Singling you out would make you seem like a Hero," Ilona explained. "That would be more of a punishment. Don't worry. Everyone knows about your contributions."

  Mark nodded. "I told so many people about you, don't worry. Your contribution to the collective won't be forgotten."

  Hiro was lying on the bed beside him, sighing. He hadn't said a word to Tom. Perhaps he was too tired?

  Ilona and Mark turned away from Tom and whispered something to Sierra. She nodded, and when they turned back towards him she started uncontrollably grinning.

  "Tom," Ilona began. "There is something we need to tell you. Actually … You say it, Mark."

  Mark flinched. "Why me? I — ugh, I will do it." He looked at Tom. "We, even before this battle, came to a conclusion amongst ourselves. Tom. We think you are suffering from a major case of main character syndrome."

  Tom gasped. "What the—? Main character syndrome?"

  They nodded. "You are way too fixated on being the main character in a story. There is nothing wrong about wanting to be more confident, but there is little need to act as a main character when you are not so different from everyone else. It could have a bad effect on your psyche."

  Tom had to desperately explain that he wasn't suffering from main character syndrome, without being able to explain to them that he was an otherworlder. Sierra was laughing her ass off in the background watching him suffer.

  Eventually, Zev walked into the infirmary to check on the wounded, and he even took part in the conversation. "Being too overconfident in your abilities can be a weakness. Move past this early on so you can—." He moved his hand around. "Budd it in the nip."

  "It's nip it in the bud! And I am perfectly fine. I am not delusional."

  Sierra smiled. "That not what a sane person would—."

  The door slammed open and a tall man walked into the room. He had a mustache and the most elaborate golden-plated armor Tom had ever seen. Running behind him was Alice.

  The man blew a trumpet. "A message from his royal highness, King Jaheed Boreas." He looked at Tom. "For Tomassio Rossi." He ignored Alice telling him to do it later and pulled out a roll of paper. "The king has eyes all over his vast kingdom, and in light of your contribution to defeating the great error beast Morpheus, lord Rossi is requested to return to the capital for a banquet held in his honor. Lord Rossi is allowed to bring any other he wishes, and Lady Alice Richardson has been ordered to accompany him to the capital." The man bowed and left the room.

  Tom smiled. Finally. After all the struggle, at least someone appreciated his efforts. "This is perfect!" All the answers lay in the capital, and it was definitely his ticket to get his perfect isekai.

  "It is amazing," Ilona said, smiling. "I would love to show you around the capital."

  For once, the people around him actually looked happy for him. Alice nodded and walked out of the room. She probably had a lot of work to get to.

  After finishing his conversation, he fell comfortably into the bed and closed his eyes. He hadn't slept ever since he was thrown in the jail cell. Zev said he could sleep as long as he wanted, and Tom was definitely going to take up on that offer.

  ***

  Tom yawned, opening his eyes. He still felt tired but somehow he was awake. He looked at Hiro lying on his bed. "Hey, Hiro. Are you awake?" He asked, worried.

  Come to think of it, he had told Hiro to use his depression sword. But if he could endorse his negative emotions into something, surely there had to be some drawbacks.

  Hiro didn't answer. Looked like they had to talk later.

  Trying to figure out the time, he looked at the clock. It was broken. He looked at the nurse sitting on the chair, keeping watch over them. "Excuse me, the clock isn't working. Could you tell me what the time is?"

  The nurse didn't answer. They stood perfectly still, not even bothering to blink.

  He hesitated. "Are you hearing me?"

  The building shook as a wall was blown to pieces. The entire room was filled with dust.

  When the dust settled, he saw a giant truck in the middle of his room.

  Tom coughed. "What the hell?"

  A woman exited the driver's seat. Her hair was chestnut brown, with her roots growing with the same hint of red as The Madness. One of her purple eyes was hidden under an eyepatch. She calmly walked over to his bedside.

  "What are you doing?" He asked.

  She pulled back part of her hair from her eyes and tucked them behind the ear. "My bad. A bit too much of a dramatic entrance. But I am afraid the others are growing impatient. Subduing Morpheus was impressive, but I wonder how well you will deal with the firmament." Then she pulled out a gun and shot him.