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  Chapter 3: A New Life

  Nagi sat beneath a tree, unable to tear his gaze away from his palms. Blood—thick, sticky, terrifyingly real—was drying on his skin. A fine tremor ran through his body.

  (Wh-what was that?! Where did that insane urge to kill come from?.. WHY?!)

  His breath caught until his eyes latched onto the glimmer of water nearby.

  (The river. I need to wash it all away.)

  Nagi rushed into the stream. Cold water wrapped around his body, carrying off the crimson stains. Submerging completely, he opened his eyes underwater for a brief moment—and froze: behind a tree trunk on the shore stood a strange black silhouette. A perfectly flat shadow, devoid of any depth.

  (Who is that?..)

  Nagi burst back to the surface, gulping air, but the shore was empty. Only leaves rustled softly in the light wind.

  (Did I imagine it? Just my nerves…)

  He climbed out onto land and began wringing out his soaked clothes with furious intensity.

  | The inspection of Object No. 43 was disappointing. I thought something truly unique had awakened in him, yet he bathes as if he hadn’t killed anyone. No reflection at all. |

  Beside the Creator, a control panel wove itself out of the void.

  — How am I supposed to forge a true hero? — he muttered, scrolling through endless lists of entities. — Release a monster? Or unleash a full-scale war?

  Nagi returned home, trying to look natural. He sat at the table across from Hina, who was happily devouring her breakfast.

  (It must be hallucinations… That fire, that blood… Just a prolonged nightmare. My brain snapped from the heat.)

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  At last, Nagi allowed himself to breathe out, looking through the window at the sunlit street.

  (Yes. I’ll start from a clean slate. I’ll pretend none of it ever happened.)

  At the same time, in another dimension, the Creator stood in the middle of an immeasurable void.

  — For the next phase of the experiment, I need a larger location. A city! Yes, there will be far more variables for the plot there.

  With a wave of his hand, he erected block after block, as if building from toy cubes.

  | The plan is ready. First, I will “beautifully” dispose of this village, and then move the story to the city. |

  Nagi sat on a bench, watching Hina play with the other children.

  (It really was nonsense! If I had truly done that to her, she wouldn’t be laughing so brightly right now.)

  He smiled, but deep inside, beneath layers of self-deception, he still felt the blade piercing his sister’s chest. He remembered his parents’ dying gasps and the silence of the slaughtered village. Those memories lodged inside him like splinters.

  His father approached, interrupting his thoughts:

  — Son, could you go to the forest to pick some berries? Hina’s been asking for a while, and I’m swamped with work.

  — Why not, — Nagi replied. — I’ll take her with me.

  (The forest… Silence and peace—that’s exactly what I need right now.)

  Nagi walked up to his sister and took her hand. For a second, the world distorted: he saw the knife handle protruding from her chest again, and a bloodstain on her dress. He blinked rapidly, chasing the vision away.

  — Let’s go, Hina. Dad asked us to pick some berries.

  They ventured deeper into the woods. Birds sang loudly, moss softly sprang beneath their feet, yet the atmosphere grew heavier with every step. Nagi plucked a wild berry and put it into his mouth.

  (Tasty… How long has it been since I last felt this flavor?)

  | The village idyll is boring. While Objects No. 43 and No. 18 are wandering through the forest alone… why not drop them a little surprise? |

  The Creator grinned in anticipation and touched a sensor.

  The silence of the forest was torn apart by heavy, rasping breathing. Nagi jerked his head up and went cold: a massive rogue bear emerged straight from the bushes.

  {Yes, yes—this is a “gift” from our author.}

  — Damn it! Hina, get back! — Nagi shouted.

  Acting on instinct, he delivered a sharp kick straight into the beast’s sensitive nose. The bear roared, covering its snout with a paw, but immediately swung back. Nagi was sent flying, his back slamming into a tree. Ignoring him, the beast moved toward the girl, frozen in terror.

  — Don’t touch her! — Nagi roared, springing to his feet.

  He pulled a knife from his pocket. {The very one he had taken to pick mushrooms… or so he kept telling himself.}

  Leaping, he crashed onto the beast’s back, driving the blade hilt-deep into its powerful neck.

  (Take this, you monster! Die!)

  The bear collapsed. Having lost control, Nagi kept striking again and again until the carcass stopped twitching.

  — It’s over… — he said, breathing heavily. — Let’s go. Now.

  They returned to the village with a full basket of berries—shaken, but alive.

  | How did they survive? I had planned a different ending… Hm. Object No. 43 is starting to genuinely intrigue me. Let’s see what he’s capable of next. |

  The Creator stood in the forest over the dead bear, examining the wounds.

  — Exactly twenty precise strikes in eight seconds. Impressive speed for a simple villager, — he murmured with a cold smile.

  This was the beginning of Nagi’s new life.

  A life where the line between reality and madness was erased completely.