Eric:
I'm Eric!
Please take care of me from now on~

With a mischievous grin, Eric turned and walked back to the room directly across from Nicolas', that same grin still lingering on his lips.

Nicolas (thinking):
Why do I get the feeling this new neighbor of mine isn't normal…?
Something about him smells dangerous.

Brushing that thought aside, Nicolas went back to his room, flopped down on the couch, grabbed a bottle of Coke and a bucket of popcorn, and began watching his favorite horror movie.

Chaotic Realms

The entire Chaotic Realms was violently shaking. The atomic particles composed of MetaConceptual matter were being torn apart by the sheer force of the battle between Agene and the mysterious figure.

Agene (furious):
Valenti… I really don't want to deal with you right now. So be a good boy and get out of my sight.

Valenti:
Oho? Someone’s mad but can’t do a thing about it?
Hahaha! So much for being one of the so-called Nine Supreme Beings. What a joke.

Agene:
...If you want to find out whether my title is just empty words...
Then try dodging this.

From the void, Agene slowly pulled out a long spear with his left hand.

Its name—Spear of Suffering.

SWOOSH! Agene launched the spear.

Valenti smirked, elegantly dodging the attack, clearly about to make a smug remark—

THWACK.

He was sliced clean in half.

Terror. Confusion. Disbelief.
A torrent of emotions surged through Valenti’s fading consciousness.

Valenti (shaking):
I—I dodged it… I know I dodged it!
How… how did you reverse causality!?
Cause and Fate are the most elusive aspects to manipulate... they're mysterious, chaotic...

Agene:
Weaklings like you aren't worthy of knowing.

As Valenti’s awareness faded to black—FLASH.

Ana:
Sweetie~, come in and eat dinner!

A middle-aged woman called out lovingly to a small child playing in the yard.

Valenti:
Coming, Mom!!

Back inside, his mother scolded him for being dirty, made him wash up, then served dinner.

After eating, he went back outside to play, not coming home until dusk.

They laughed and chatted for a while before bedtime.

Ana:
Sleep well, dear. Tomorrow I'll make your favorite—braised rabbit stew.

Valenti:
Yay!! Thanks, Mom!

...

Crackling fire.
Chaotic noise.

Valenti (whispering):
Huh...? What’s with all the noise...?

Hearing strange voices and his mother’s voice at the front door, Valenti quietly snuck over to peek—

What he saw horrified him.

Ana:
Please! I already gave you all the valuables I have!
I beg you, just spare me!

Ana knelt, trembling, in front of a group of men clad in pitch-black outfits from head to toe.

One of them leered at her.
Another, clearly the leader, scoffed:

Leader:
This handful of trinkets? Are you mocking us?
Boys—tear this house apart!

Ana:
No! There’s really nothing left!

The black-clad intruders stormed into the house, smashing and overturning furniture in a frenzied search.

Valenti was found and dragged outside.

Valenti (crying):
Mom… I’m scared…

Ana tried to rush over to comfort her son, only to be blocked and shoved back.

Leader:
Where do you think you’re going!?

Once convinced the house had nothing valuable, the leader's eyes gleamed with cruel intent.

Ana:
Please… my son is scared… let me hold him...

Leader:
Aw, how touching.
Boys—hold this woman down.

And what happened next… is something better left unsaid.
Ana died in agony.

Valenti, weeping and broken, was struck across the body by the leader’s blade.

SLASH.

Scene reset.
Back to Ana calling her son for dinner.

But this time, a hungry bear mauled them both.

Another reset.
This time a natural disaster.
Then a plague.
Each time, a tragic, hopeless ending.

A cycle of suffering.

What was happening?

The truth:
From the moment Valenti was struck by the Spear of Suffering, he was dragged into a separate dimension.

A place where all powers were nullified.
Where even his memories and personality were erased.

There, he became the "main character" of countless stories—
But each one was a never-ending loop of tragedy, despair, and utter hopelessness.

A perfect prison.

Just as the name of the spear promised: Suffering.

Back in the Chaotic Realms

Agene (coldly):
Tch… Just a fictional character and just a copy created by an Elder God?
No wonder Valenti is so weak.
Eric... that bastard used this as a way to stall me?

Suddenly, Agene was surrounded again.
But not by one—by countless figures.

Each one a fictional entity, birthed from Eric's imagination.

Agene:
Pathetic vermin…
Eric, just wait.
Once I’m done cleaning up this mess—

Your end will begin.

Nicolas… please, stay safe…

With that, he charged into battle.

Meanwhile, at Nicolas’s apartment

Nicolas was sipping his drink when he suddenly sneezed violently, choking on the Coke and coughing uncontrollably.

Nicolas:
Ugh, who’s talking about me now…?

Across the hall, Eric also sneezed.

Eric:
What the hell? I'm an Elder God… why the hell am I sneezing?

End of Chapter 6