I was finally out! Joy overwhelmed me, so I indulged in a sigh of relief.

  "Woooh! FREEDOM!"

  I was also standing in the open world for the first time.

  Fresh air hit me square in the face, carrying with it the pleasant scent of flowers and the sharp tang of pollen on the wind.

  The world around me was alive, vibrant, and stunningly real.

  I pinched myself to confirm it—everything existed, and I wasn't dreaming.

  My awe was quickly overtaken by a fake exhaustion that I really looked forward to: I collapsed onto the ground, savoring my first actual break ever since my very being was reigning over reality...

  For a moment, I let myself believe this world was mine to enjoy. But the universe has a way of reminding you that peace is borrowed, not earned.

  "Oh, I see the weight of time has caught up to you, Kai!" A voice interrupted my moment of peace, loud and surprisingly grating. Initially, I ignored it. It was directed towards some Kai guy anyway.

  But the voice persisted, echoing through the heavy air, insistently.

  "Hellow!?"

  Raspy, impatient—grating like gravel beneath a restless boot. It refused to be dismissed.

  The damn thing was persistent as hell.

  Footsteps crunched closer, a shadow carving its way towards me. Then, a figure emerged, swaying slightly, as if reality itself barely acknowledged their presence.

  "Dude, don’t ignore me!" A huff, an accusatory jab in their tone. "Rude..."

  I pushed myself upright, my limbs sluggish, my mind tangled in a fog of confusion. Baffled, I narrowed my eyes at the approaching figure.

  "Who… are you?"

  The man before me—if such beings could just simply be called 'a man'—stood with an aura that was both captivating and unnerving.

  His face was a paradox of endless beauty, framed by soft brown hair that cascaded gracefully, punctuated by a pair of piercing brown eyes that seemed to see through everything.

  Beneath his left eye rested a beauty mark, subtle yet undeniably striking, adding to the magnetism of his presence.

  His attire was no less remarkable.

  He wore a blue haori, a garment akin to a kimono but tailored with an emphasis on comfort. Its fabric flowed with a quiet grace, complementing the crimson hue of the shirt beneath.

  Layered further underneath was a simple white tee, all of it brought together by a sleek black belt that cinched his silhouette perfectly.

  Even his nails, a deep, lustrous black, meticulously completed his aesthetic.

  I found myself reacting instinctively, raising my own hands to study them.

  My breath hitched as realization struck like a bolt of lightning. I had the same black nails, the same haori, the same... Everything!

  The being I had just described in such vivid detail... was me, and the individual interacting with me?

  A perfect mirror—down to every minute detail.

  "Finally! Now we're talking!" he said with a calm, smug yet warm smile.

  He stood before me.

  He wore my very appearance as if he was my long-lost twin—which I did not!

  I'm not dumb, I caught-on quite fast, especially after he said the line: "I survived" with a bigger, dumb smug than the previous one.

  He embodied survival—a concept I had eradicated alongside with the last universe. Yet, there he was, standing strong and healthy—if that’s the right way to describe a being older than me, who's now older than time itself.

  “I need a moment. What’s all this?” I demanded, my mind reeling.

  There was no need for him to prove his identity further. His visage and that single word, survived, were more than enough to unearth buried and lost memories.

  As much as I wished to flee from him, guilt held me in place. My body had acted against my will, mowing down beings like him.

  Perhaps I owed him this much—to listen.

  Ryna clung to my clothes, her fingers barely grasping the fabric, a delicate yet insistent pull at my sleeve. A silent plea wrapped in hesitation—a shy, unspoken reminder of our mutual decision.

  The pawnshop.

  Our next destination after I finished a talk with this guy.

  We headed to a nearby bench, where questions and answers flowed like a river. Coincidentally, an actual river coursed behind us, flanked by lush forests. The sight was stunning, a stark contrast to the ancient ruins and the people bustling about with devices rich in advanced, or funnily enough, ancient technology—at least from my point of view.

  It reminded me of my homeworld…

  But these forests were far superior to anything I had seen before.

  Survival began explaining, drowning me in revelations.

  First, his ability. Well, his name was survival; what other power would he have but the ability to endure? The logic was simple yet absolute: his existence was tied to ALL. As long as something survived—something like a soul trapped within a beast—so would he.

  He would persist, return, just as my body had done countless times throughout countless stories.

  All right, I could accept that. If someone specializes in a specific task, they better be good at it.

  Second came his plea.

  He was bored and wanted to spend time alongside me, participating in my so-called “slow life.” I resisted with every argument I could muster, but not only did I owe him for, well, eating him, his arguments were annoyingly persuasive.

  “FINE! Have it your way!” I relented, though it didn’t fix the issue of how he addressed me. Kai was no longer my name. Apparently, he remembered me as Kaito, my original, first name.

  Since I had already chosen Lucifer and had no intention of answering to this... Kai thingy, we struck a deal: he would take the name instead. I mean, it fits him, y'know? It would also be less awkward than calling him “survival” in public.

  With that settled, he explained what had happened after the beasts stopped thinking. Existence reclaimed the void. As I had suspected, the law of existence was flawed within self and reignited the very universe from nothing, automatically and without intervention.

  Then came the most chilling part: more concepts.

  Time, Space, Wisdom, and the endless list of others...

  Upon the universe’s renewal, these titles were reforged anew.

  Different beings from those we had known before.

  New universe, brining new personalities, new deities, and new gods.

  And each one of them carried their own, unique and fully personalized... agenda.

  I felt a cold dread settle over me. The universe had reshuffled the deck and dealt out new gods to play their games.

  And like all gods, they were fickle, their agendas' unknowable, their influence unavoidable.

  Hmm... Different rulers with different agendas?

  Oh, no...

  That meant instability, unpredictability.

  I had wanted nothing more than to build a cozy home with Ryna, endure Kai’s antics apparently, and enjoy a slow, peaceful life.

  But now?

  Now I had to contend with chaos?

  Great.

  Just great...

  I let out a long, weary sigh…

  No matter what I do or say, Kai refuses to disappear. Believe me, I’ve tried—exhausted every trick, every excuse, every desperate ploy to shake him off.

  But it’s useless.

  Like it or not, he’s a main character now.

  Not the worst outcome, I suppose. When eldritch horrors beyond human comprehension start hurling their reality-shattering attacks, at least he’ll be around to help out.

  Either way I’m not looking forward any of them: getting attacked or sharing my life...

  But something I’m oddly looking forward to is his appearance!

  Kai, lacking an avatar of his own—and, apparently creativity—mimicked my form instead.

  When I pointed out how troublesome his mimicry might be—especially for Ryna—he grudgingly agreed to change.

  Now, he bears a slightly altered version of my appearance: he hued the green haori into a beautiful crimson-red.

  His hair is blonde and has a neat side-bride which is accompanied by his now sapphire-blue eyes, leading towards a pretty cool style!

  We settled on those for the time being, despite my visible displeasure at his insistence on keeping as much of my original appearance as possible.

  Now was time for some exatra questions that bubbled up inside me ever since he mentioned the newly reshufled deck.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Are there now two concepts of survival and persistence in this reality?

  Why is he so insistent on spending time with me?

  Is there a motive?

  A purpose?

  Surely, there has to be something driving him, right?

  Apparently? Nope. There is no second concept of survival; the title is claimed only by him and him alone. Once claimed, no one can overwrite it unless I truly succeed in existential termination—which I don’t intend to be a part of, again.

  Okay, good to know.

  If a title is available, someone’s going to pick it up.

  If not, well... whatever.

  As for why he’s bugging me so much? His survival hinged on me. He clung to me like a student copying answers off my homework page, desperate to pass the grand cosmic exam. Not because he wanted to, nor because he needed to, but because his ability works automatically. As he copied my essence, some things—parts of me—my personality, my ambitions, my very desires—latched onto him. They imprinted onto his being, shaping the core of who he is in this reality.

  And there was reasoning behind his insistence, too. “You're my only acquaintance, Lucifer. Everyone from the last reality is gone! Of course, I’m going to come to you—you’re the only thing I know!”

  Yeah...

  That's something I'd definitely do, okay?

  I'd seek out someone or something I know and see from there what and where my next move is gonna be.

  Kai’s explanation of his conceptual ability began to make sense as he concluded, offering insights into the world around us.

  The devices people held and wore contrasted sharply with the ancient ruins I had awakened from—ruins housing gems, treasures, and dangers. It was a duality of two worlds coexisting in improbable proximity. That same feeling struck me when I first stepped outside and saw the untouched beauty of the forest: trees shimmering with natural radiance, wildflowers swaying in the breeze, a serenity untouched by time. Yet, in the distance, there was the hum of cars and machinery—not discordant, not invasive, but harmonized with the world around it.

  This wasn’t a clash of eras or ideals. It was something new, a symphony of technology forged from scrap metal and magic. A fusion that didn’t tear apart its surroundings but wove itself into the very fabric of nature. None of this should have been possible. Not under the watchful eye of the god of humans.

  Because he—the most imperfect creator—ensures his image reflects through his creations. His designs are deliberate, calculated, always binding humanity in a cycle of ruin and dominance. He doesn’t create out of love but brokenness.

  I mean, it's a god we're talking about, not a concept, so they're anot llowed the curse of perfection!

  This world, though, was different. Kai had persisted not just longer than me, but together with me! Awake and waiting—but also acting.

  Together, we entered this new, self-perpetuating creation—a world neither of us had fully anticipated. Now, despite his connection to me, my emotions were still mine. My desires, too. Deep down, I knew that if given the opportunity to reshape the structure of this world, to bring it closer to harmony, I would take it without hesitation.

  And that’s what Kai did. Because he had inherited my essence—this essence—he acted as I would.

  But he didn’t build an idealized world, a shallow utopia. He simply pushed and pulled some strings in their creation, resulting in this: a place where technology, nature, and magic didn’t fight against themselves but coexisted and complemented each other. A delicate balance that neither strained the natural order nor ignored progress, but merged the two into a harmonious whole.

  It was a world born not of perfection, but of improvement—a reflection of the same unyielding determination I carry. To see the cracks, to acknowledge them, and to fill them with something better. Kai’s intervention wasn’t just survival; it was beauty.

  The cosmos stretched infinitely, as it always does—a black sea punctuated by an endless scatter of stars. Distant and eternal, the stars flickered like the reflections of long-forgotten fires upon the dark, still surface of an ocean. Amid this expanse, there were systems of every variety: planets orbiting suns, icy comets weaving their trails, and nebulous clouds glowing with hues that defied human comprehension.

  But here, at this very moment, the silent sea of stars was host to something extraordinary. A meteor shower—the kind of display that humbled even the grandest of cosmic phenomena. Endless rocks, aflame with violent brilliance, streaked across the void.

  They came in all shapes, in all sizes, from fragments that might crush mountains to titanic stones that could, with ease, derank The Earth to a mere pebble.

  Each meteor blazed in one direction, synchronized, as though the universe itself had rehearsed this celestial dance. Their passage left trails of fire and light in hues of red, blue, and violet—a spectacle so vibrant, so overwhelming, it seemed as though the cosmos itself had erupted in paint. An episode lasting hours, then days, and finally weeks, as though the meteors themselves refused to conclude their act.

  One month—yes, an entire month of unplanned cosmic brilliance.

  A binge-worthy series of beauty written in flame and motion.

  And yet, it still wasn’t over.

  As the meteors began to close the curtains, one stood apart, rebelling—motionless, defiant, ablaze and imposing. It did not streak through the sky as its brethren did, nor did it falter. It simply hung there, suspended in the impossible silence, as though challenging the stars themselves.

  No, not a meteor, not at all.

  It was something else.

  Someone!??

  A closer look peeled away the illusion, the celestial body revealing its secrets to eyes capable of discerning truth. From confusion to clarity, the flickering flames resolved their mysteries: it was human???

  A youngster, adrift in the black infinity of space, but no ordinary traveler. His form burned with defiance, the flames not consuming him but emitting from him. They did not smother nor rage wildly; they were the fire itself—a living inferno set against the backdrop of endless space where no oxygen dared to dwell. The fire burned because the adolescent willed it, existing outside natural law. It was, like the boy, otherworldly.

  “Hey, smarty!... I’m bored!”

  His voice shattered the silence, a ripple cutting through the indifferent black, as though space itself turned to listen. It was casual, careless—a sound no celestial body should have permitted.

  “Bored? BORED!?”

  A reply erupted like an indignant thunderclap. The words emerged with power, as though insulted by the sheer audacity of such a claim. And then laughter—a deep, resonant, knowing laughter—rumbled through the emptiness, shaking stars that should never tremble.

  “That avatar of yours is breaking your mind, Fire! AHAHAHAHA!”

  “Maybe,” the reply followed, unbothered, his fire mane calming down into a beautiful, red flowing hair. He flexed his fingers absently, watching the embers scatter and fade. “But I'm being crushed by it... Real; actual boredom.”

  The other voice sighed in response. “I honestly… don’t care,” it said, the laughter lingering faintly in its wake.

  “Yeah, I know—but I do! I’m bored of making these cosmic shows that nobody watches!” He said, raising his hands—each nail was chaotically painted in one of three tones, violet, blue and red, all in immaculate sync with the meteors’ hues. He continued the gesture, pointing his fingers towards nothing—at the empty cosmos. In a nearby area, out of thin nothingness, a fewsh new storm of comets came into reality, each igniting at his command, re-entered the harmonious dance, once again…

  His voice lingered, until silence consumed all—just for a moment, as the bored boy continued with a tone anew. “Hey old man…”

  “OLD MAN!?-" Unfortunately, this shock was not only ignored, but also interrupted.

  "That thing—that being… is what killed our ancestors?”, his voice sharp as steel, filled with something…

  “Yes,” came the measured reply, the tone carrying an unsettling sense of inevitability. “But it’s not as though you’re linked to that reality. If you were… Well… You wouldn’t exist here to bother me!"

  “Awww, I enjoy your company too!” the boy drawled, his voice dripping with mockery.

  “Ew.” The reply came sharp, flat—exhaled in a single breath.

  “You know, Truthseeker, I can’t help but wonder… What would it feel like to fight him?”

  Truthseeker—the name adopted by the entity known as the Concept of Wisdom, an insatiable sovereign reigning over all intelligence and knowledge. Some whispered that he was Truth itself—unyielding, all-encompassing, and absolute.

  And his fiery companion? The one musing so recklessly? He was but an avatar of an ancient, searing force—a being of burning will and boundless destruction. None took more pride in their own stupidity than he did.

  And yet… that title was relative.

  After all, even a so-called fool among Concepts still carried within him the clandestine knowledge of the cosmos!

  “You would trade your supremacy… for a mere fight?”

  “Supremacy’s dull when there’s nothing left to do with it, y’know?” the response came, casual and unbothered. “And… are you suggesting I’d lose?”

  "He is probably beatable, but risking the beasts' awakening is a no-go..."

  A deafening silence blanketed the atmosphere, thick and suffocating. Neither of them seemed inclined to break it.

  Until, with a shift in the air, the boy chose to shatter it himself.

  “Hey, Seeker,” he spoke, his tone casual, but beneath it, there was a quiet intensity—like a storm simmering just beneath the surface. His fingers moved with practiced precision. Each nail directing the cosmic orchestra before him, commanding comets of assigned colors. Red flared like molten fire, blue shimmered like cascading waves, and gold spun threads of brilliance against the backdrop of infinity.

  "Yes?" the companion responded, with a steady tone, its presence felt, rather than seen, amidst the void.

  "Let’s say... that guy," the boy continued, the comets twirling in response to his gestures, "breaks and seeks the Spark of Creation—even destroys it."

  A pause.

  The Seeker stayed silent for a moment, as though absorbing the question. Then came the reply, soft but definitive.

  "Hm... Nothing much. We'll probably, just... die."

  "Awwh," the boy murmured, his fingers resuming their celestial choreography.

  "A line humans favor," the Seeker added with a hint of detachment. "But the truth? It’s basically a coinflip."

  "A coinflip?" the boy echoed, curiosity glinting in his eyes.

  "Yes," the cosmic voice said. "A chance for a connectionless Spark to emerge against the odds, birthing another cycle of existence... That would reduce The Concept of Malice to a mere, worthless joke."

  "And the other?"

  "...True annihilation."

  "Yeah... I expected that," the boy replied thoughtfully, weaving a comet into an intricate spiral.

  The Seeker, its voice tinged with quiet amusement, kept the dialogue going, "Disappointed? You’re not looking forward death? Is your avatar, perhaps... afraid of it?"

  The boy’s fingers faltered, the lights dimming slightly before flaring anew. "I guess... death’s just another type of boredom I haven’t experienced yet. Right?"

  "Possible," the Seeker acknowledged, its tone contemplative.

  "I may not look forward to it if it’s too boring, but otherwise? I don’t really care."

  Silence settled between them, a vast and intimate quiet that seemed to echo across the cosmos. Even the meteors stilled, their movements muted, as though respecting the weight of the moment.

  "...Same," the Seeker finally admitted, under a whisper.

  The boy grinned faintly, the corners of his lips curving upward as he reignited the orchestra. The comets burst back into motion, a kaleidoscope of chaotic beauty painting the void.

  "Good," he said with a soft chuckle, his gaze fixed on a certain planet with flimsy skies.

  "..."

  "....."