Another World: My life is on the hook!

That day, he did not rush madly into the chaotic deep space to fight against that calamity as before.

He wandered aimlessly through the entire main universe, traversing the turbulent borders and the vast, ruined cosmos, as if his life were about to end like this.

The origin of the main universe has been swallowed up.

Or perhaps, that was the last bait that Sir Evan and the others left for that calamity, because the painter had said that if things got out of control, he would still have one last chance, because after he devoured most of the main universe, he would fall into slumber once again, just like he digested the painter, he would also digest this last food.

Then... he woke up.

But he ignored it.

He walked alone, traversing those star fields that had turned to ashes, like a corpse that had lost its soul.

As he passed by a broken planet, he suddenly heard a faint sound.

"Your Majesty... is that you?"

that moment.

His body froze instantly, his eyes, which seemed eternally silent, widened, and a faint, almost extinguished glimmer of light finally returned to his pupils.

That day.

In those ruins, he found a survivor who had survived the great catastrophe.

Because life is the most resilient thing, because even if it's the end of the world, someone will definitely survive, no matter what.

He took him back to Night City.

And this seemed to become the last solace for his pale soul.

He began to search.

They hurriedly searched every corner of the main universe, following those shattered star fields.

at last.

In the dozens of days that followed.

He found more and more of his former subjects who had survived, although some were already mentally unstable, some were in a daze, and some were already on the verge of death.

Almost everyone who met him wept bitterly.

"Wang...is that you...?"

“Didn’t you say… you would fight alongside us… didn’t you say… you would be with us no matter what… You’re finally back… isn’t that right…”

"I'm sorry... Your Majesty... We failed to hold that line of defense..."

"We didn't make it to your return..."

"We are so sorry..."

Many people, many living beings, even in such a state, still believe in him, believe in him from the bottom of their hearts.

They simply felt they were too weak and had failed the king's trust.

Because the king has protected them for hundreds of years, and he has always fought alone, but this time you are finally able to protect him.

But... they failed.

Each word made Lynn fall deeper into silence, and each cry of anguish made it harder for him to breathe.

Even a single word of blame, even a curse or resentment, would have made him feel better than he does now. But no, every one of his people wept and confessed to him, blaming themselves. They never abandoned their faith or wavered in their trust in him until their deaths.

Lynn even told them the truth about it all.

He told them.

He himself has sown the seeds of all this evil. He needs their sacrifice, their faith, to leap to become the ultimate Lord of Cinder! He is the executioner who caused all this disaster!

But they didn't believe it; they shook their heads in grief, and they forever regarded him as a god in their hearts.

Two thousand people.

These are the last survivors Lynn found after searching the entire main universe.

And how absurd this is.

That great catastrophe.

After the fall of Night City, the Nightmare Demons led countless Nightmare hordes and swept across the entire main universe, killing almost every living being they could find.

The once glorious main universe, where empires once teemed with billions of lives on every star, is now reduced to a mere two thousand survivors.

"You can stay here..."

On the day when no new survivors could be found, his eyes were bloodshot as he spoke to them in the City of Night.

"As long as I am here... no one will take your lives anymore... and you no longer need to treat me as your king... we are all... the last reptiles in this world..."

Despite the promise he made.

But death inevitably comes.

In less than ten days, one-tenth of the two thousand lives were lost.

But when he realized the problem, he was powerless to change it.

That day.

He was trembling violently.

Because after that calamity devoured the origin of the main universe, the laws of the entire main universe were in fact plunged into an irreversible great decline and destruction. Without the original core, without the soil for existence, everything in the entire main universe was irreversibly transforming into disorder.

Those who are still alive are the first to suffer the calamity.

He wanted to make amends.

He wanted to resist.

He desperately wanted to unleash his primordial power from his soul once more, to forcibly manipulate the laws that were in decline and turmoil, to make them move against the tide, but everything was irreversibly sliding towards that abyss.

Because he no longer inherited from the First One!

Because of his fire.

It only brings destruction.

It brings no hope.

After that, he became increasingly insane, consumed by an obsession. He relentlessly searched for the God-King, knowing that even if the entire main universe were destroyed, he could not possibly die. He knew that the God-King was the only one still in control of the power of the Firstborn, and that as long as he was willing to help, there was still a chance for everything.

But he searched the entire universe, the chaotic deep space.

That figure never appeared again.

He wanted to use his only time godhood to reverse everything, but the moment he used it, the godhood trembled violently, like the collapse of the laws, making it difficult for him to continue to use this limited time.

But why? !

Time isn't the only law that can transcend this dream, is it?! Why does even it crumble in this reality?!

He was almost desperate.

A thousand people.

Five hundred people.

One hundred people.

People are dying every day.

In the collapse of those laws, they died silently, leaving nothing behind.

He didn't want his emotions to affect them, and they didn't want their fear of death to affect their king, so they wore smiles every day. They would try their best to find all kinds of wine, and search for ingredients that could be made into delicacies in the remaining ruins. They would invite their king to spend these last moments with them.

Perhaps everyone had a premonition of that future fate.

and so.

Let's party, let's have a feast, let's drink and chat!

Because at least this way, we can leave behind a beautiful memory in our final moments.

They laughed heartily, feeling incredibly honored and happy to be able to spend their final moments with the young king they had only ever seen in images.

The number of people is decreasing every day.

The guy who swore he would survive to the end yesterday was nowhere to be found the next day, and the causal link between Lynn and the cause and effect was breaking one by one.

ten.

Five.

One.

Finally, when only one person remained, he got completely drunk and loudly mocked their king, saying that he was truly no good at drinking. Although he could fly and dive, he still couldn't outdrink an ordinary professional like him. If it were in the past, he certainly wouldn't have dared to speak to the king like that.

But fueled by the alcohol, he kept talking and talking.

He criticized some of the empire's past policies.

He berated the bureaucrats who were gradually becoming more and more pedantic.

He even went so far as to criticize Lynn's shortcomings as king, for allowing everyone's fervor for him to run rampant. He questioned why he couldn't return sooner and why he had given everyone hope only to cruelly take it away from them.

but……

"What right do we have to blame you? Perhaps if it weren't for you, this kind of apocalypse would have already come more than a hundred years ago."

"You've already done something amazing. You gave this world one last glorious moment before the end of the world. You're already the most amazing king in the world..."

That day, he drank his last glass of wine.

He sang a cheerful and rousing tune, laughed heartily, put his arm around their king's shoulder, and, with comical dance steps, raised a large wine cup to the sky.

"Come, my king! Do not grieve, and do not lose heart!"

"If the end of the world is inevitable, then let it come! Even if it does, we must be open-minded! We are not afraid of it!"

He yelled and hooked his arm around Lynn's shoulder.

"So come on! Let's pay homage to the end of the world!!"

Let us... honor tomorrow!