Nobody likes the prospect of war. Most of its impacts were ive. Still, the one making everyone move was the order of the higher-ups. The on folks has no choice but to fight for their tries.

  Boom-!

  Boom-!

  Bang-!

  The smell of gunpowder smoke choked Ainsworth’s mouth.

  “Cough…”

  The hands holding his M4A1 were shaking untrolbly. He wao keep himself together, to pull the gun’s trigger, yet he was uo do so.

  “Huff… Huff…”

  It anic attack. The bullets and projectiles were fended by the huge boulder on his back.

  “Fire..!”

  “...Cover!”

  “Hold!”

  The battlefield was extremely chaotic. The scripted guys only had fifty or so days to train before being expedited to the battlefield. While some were able to get a hold of themselves, there were others who couldn’t do so such as him.

  His silver-rimmed gsses were misaligned as another explosion happened hem.

  “Fuck… Fuck! FUCK!”

  Ainsworth let out curses after curses. Only then did he feel slightly lighter—his hands starting to remain steady. The tension in his heart was slightly removed.

  “A bullet to the head will kill me quickly. I won’t feel the pain at all..!”

  Ainsworth became more and more focused. The messy thoughts inside his head began to calm down. All that was left was to give cover fire and capture their objectives. He, just like others, began fighting fully in this war.

  While they were resting, they saw several streaks of white light in the sky. It was as fast as fighter jets, yet the silhouettes were much smaller.

  “Halo… No, it’s literally Iron Man. Everyone has an Iron Man Suit, haha…”

  The Third World War came all of a sudden. Though, when the miniature nuclear reactor teology was revealed to the public, it became reasonable all of a sudden. It was an arms race of the stro tries that mao get hold of such teology.

  Now, the maiers are divided into three: humans, robots, and iron suits.

  The warring tries tacitly decided to do these divisions, lest there will be higher casualties.

  “Haa… If I pilot such a thing… or even a huge mecha, I’m already good.”

  The first battle made it evident for Ainsworth that death is ohere’s no such thing as a protagonist buff. The anti-tank shells will ruthlessly pierce through such metaphysical beliefs.

  It didn’t take long before he joined more battles. Ainsworth saw his peers get repced as soon as they died. He himself gets panic attacks occasionally. It couldn’t be easily shrugged off as ohought.

  That was the beginning of his nightmare. His dreams were filled with war, and nothing else.

  “Huff… That thing fell here.”

  In one of his missions, he had a so-called “fateful enter”.

  The rising smoke pilr pinpoihe location of the fallen iron suit. Ainsworth immediately saw the pierg hole in its waist. Its pilot raised his right hand and was seemingly stuck there.

  “...”

  He grasped the right side of the suit’s helmet before he felt a small button. He clicked it and saw the man’s sleeping face.

  Ainsworth removed his gloves and pced his hands on the man’s he hing he did was to check the pulse.

  “...ive. He’s dead.”

  He pushed back the fusion in his mind. This war theater was supposed to be fought by humans only. Yet, there was an iron suit who came here.

  Just as he was about to radio everything he saw, a streak of light passed by in the sky.

  “What the…”

  Ainsworth had a bad feeling. He looked at the sky and the dead man ihe suit. It was obvious he fought an enemy and lost. Now, that same enemy might be the one he saw just now.

  Between dying and disobeying military orders, Ainsworth knew whie to choose.

  “Manual… Manual… Alright. I still recall the basics.”

  His tratio him no room for doubts. His thoughts weren’t as messy as they used to be. It was a certain talent that he developed over those fights.

  “Huff… Let’s do it.”

  That was the enter that ged his life. He used a broken iron suit to defeat an enemy iron suit who infiltrated the human-only battlefield.

  His kills tinued piling up until the war had officially ended. It was the time he gaihe position as the Director of the Specialized on Division.

  Unfortunately, the tinuation of the Third World War occurred suddenly.

  “’t humans… really go against a huge tide (Trend of the World)?”

  His st moments sisted of being blown to pieces.

  ******

  “Nagazora… Nagazora…”

  Five years ago, Ainsworth… no, Aleph found himself reborn as a baby. He retained pretty much all of his sciousness. Though, the memories of his past life were extremely fragmented. He couldn’t recall them properly no matter what.

  It was only until now did he show signs of rec them. tally, the trigger that pushed this recovery was a familiar name.

  “Nagazora… Honkai..?”

  Honkai was something at the tip of his tongue. He knew about it, yet he couldn’t properly expin it.

  It wasn’t until a few months ter did he recall what it was.

  “Honkai… fuck!”

  Aleph frantically looked at the world map. Upon firming the Mu ti’s presence, his jaw dropped. It was the first time he felt that huge of a shock.

  “Previous Era… will be destroyed within nine years after the Third Eruption..?”

  It was a sense of powerlessness at first, followed by an itch.

  “I… I really… came to this world?”

  It was a world he only knew from his smartphone—a game, even. Its memories should’ve been blurred by time, given how long he spent otlefield. Most of the online games at that time were shut down. If not for his nostalgitiments urging him to search for the game when he became the Director, he would’ve pletely fotten about it.

  Most importantly, it was a new world where he had the ce to rectify his mistakes.

  “All of the suffering… I interfere with them?”

  A stroion rose up from his heart. Not even the scription he received back then could pare to it. This was, after all, a world that he loved during his childhood years.

  “Nine years… Nine years…”

  It was the moment he began his preparations. Knowing the Honkai’s tendency to bee stronger as the civilizatiressed, he didn’t dare spread his knowledge this early on. There are too many problems to be fixed within Fire MOTH.

  All of his thoughts were written down in diaries.

  “MOTH’s internal problem o be solved first.”

  “The Divine Keys shouldn’t only be for bat. The first be used for a on factory, the third for electricity…”

  “The nuclear suit must be created first. Its bat capabilities will be important even if the MANTIS Surgery bees successful.”

  “MANTIS surgery… It’s too bad I don’t specialize in that field. But then… I will put some theories…”

  It tinued until the unfortunate act ihird Eruption…

  He died.

  *****

  ***

  *

  The soul and the body are intrinsically linked.

  For the Jujutsu Sorcerer, the body is the shape created by following the soul.

  For the Honkai, the soul is something that holds down memories, a unique aspect.

  Although the two have differences, ohing remaihe same—

  Ohe soul breaks down, it results in a true death.

  The world will no longer permit someoo piece back a destroyed soul. Their uniqueness will no longer be recovered.

  Aleph experienced a “true death” ond recovered on his own. When it happened for the sed time, a timely assistance from the [Achievement Hunter] pushed him from the brink of true death (i.e., destru of soul).

  His soul was stitched together, yet it was a stopgap. Only now was it properly dealt with.

  {Ahe soul’s inal state has beeored.}

  The [Great Sage] analyzed everything before fixing them. The many things Aleph didn’t know, it somehow knew.

  Just then—

  {Initiating forced dise.}

  Aleph’s soul, which had been kneeling down in the pin white space, soon disappeared.

  Moments after he did, a small crack appeared. A hand tried to reach out, but to no avail. Seeing it couldn’t get out, it forced one of its fingers in the crack. When the crack disappeared, all that was left was the severed pinky finger made of white light.

  It slowly melted into the ground until there was nothi.