Chapter 53 - FUCK! I Was Madly In Love With A Fictional Girl!
I felt myself drifting through countless streams of reincarnation.
Literally.
One moment I was falling through unfamiliar lives, and the next my consciousness was violently pulled back.
When I opened my eyes again.
I found myself sitting across from that nasty old man, who was still leisurely sipping his tea as though nothing had happened.
Meanwhile, memories from countless lifetimes crashed into my head all at once.
"Fuck! What is this?!" I shouted, clutching my head.
The old man calmly placed his teacup down and said.
"Relax, kid. Just take a deep breath."
I stared at him in disbelief.
"Relax? You expect me to relax after making me experience my worst nightmare over and over again for who knows how many lifetimes? You evil old man!"
After experiencing all those lives, I had reached one undeniable conclusion.
This old bastard was definitely evil.
Across countless lives, I, Evren Sorin, had never once managed to create a harem.
Every single life felt specifically designed to torment me.
In the first life, I became the underling of an emotionless witch and spent decades trying to teach her what love meant.
In another, I served as the secretary of the leader of an evil organization, working day and night until I died.
The third time, I was kidnapped by an ancient black dragon.
Yet, instead of eating me, she spent decades discussing philosophy with me until old age claimed me.
In the fourth life, I became a once-in-a-generation cultivation prodigy.
Just when I thought I finally had the greatest chance of fulfilling my dream, an immortal fairy from the Upper Realm descended, kidnapped me, and carried me away.
Then came the fifth.
And this time, I was the dragon.
Powerful. Majestic. Invincible.
Well... formerly powerful, majestic and invincible.
Unfortunately, it happened to be the era of Dragon Slayers.
I was captured by an empress and spent the rest of my life serving as her mount.
The more I remembered, the darker my expression became.
Then a horrifying realization struck me.
"Fuck! I was madly in love with a fictional girl."
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
I immediately looked at the old man with a vicious expression.
"What kind of AI made that spell?" I unconsciously said that.
"Ai?" The old man frowned.
"That is a strange name. It wasn’t an Ai, it was a spell made by a wandered1 called–"
I quickly raised my hand.
"Please don’t tell me its name. Just tell me what it does. I don’t want to know whatever cursed technique you old monsters invent."
The old man chuckled.
"Very well. The spell had two participants, and each was forced to confront their greatest fear."
I folded my arms.
"So let me guess. My greatest fear was never being able to build a harem, while the other participant must have been the bastard who kept ruining every single one of my relationships. He probably made sure the first woman I met every lifetime was... a unique personality so I could never escape. What a vicious bastard!"
The old man nodded with an amused smile.
"That’s... certainly one way to interpret it."
Only I understood the pain.
Watching my dreams shatter over and over again.
Then, there was also her.
Black hair.
Golden eyes.
"..."
I remained silent.
’How the hell did I fall in love with the same woman in every single lifetime?’
No matter the world.
No matter the era.
Whether she was a witch, gang leader, a dragon, an immortal fairy, or an empress.
She always had black hair and golden eyes.
’That template was dangerously effective.’
I wanted to laugh it off, but I couldn’t.
Those memories felt too real.
The sorrow lingering in my heart wasn’t fake.
For a brief moment, I genuinely felt as though I had lost someone precious as I felt hollowness in my chest.
"...Fuck."
I glared suspiciously at the old man.
"What exactly was your goal? Were you trying to make me transcend emotions or teach me some profound non-sense of being away from the secular world?"
The old spirit simply smiled.
’He’s interpreting everything himself but unfortunately for him, every conclusion is completely wrong.’
Then another thought crossed my mind.
"Wait a minute... the culprit must’ve been one of those four troublemakers from the first life. Lin Fan, Ye Chen, Long Aotian, or Jiang Chen. I knew those suspicious names couldn’t possibly belong to normal people."
The old man watched me ramble for a while before taking another sip of tea.
Finally, I looked at him seriously.
"Forget all that, just answer me one thing."
I leaned forward slightly.
"Did I pass the trial?"
The old man gave me a long look as if he was talking to someone other than myself.
And in reality, he definitely was.
***
"How do you feel?" the old man asked with a calm smile.
"Your hands are shaking quite a bit."
The young man standing before him remained silent.
His long black hair hung over his face, unable to hide the violent trembling of his golden eyes.
Even his fingers refused to stay still.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"I am going to kill you."
A sword appeared in his hand with a flash, and an overwhelming pressure burst from his body.
The killing intent in his gaze was so dense that it seemed capable of freezing the very air.
The old man merely gave him a look.
"There is no need to be so agitated, kid. We both benefited from this."
The young man’s grip on the sword tightened.
"But you call that a trial?!"
The old man chuckled.
"Instead of glaring at me, why don’t you take a proper look at yourself? Didn’t you notice it?"
The young man’s brows furrowed.
"What are you talking about?"
"Your nature." The old man said.
"That absurdly evil nature of yours... it has changed, even if only by a little."
"!!!"
The young man’s pupils contracted.
He immediately sheathed his sword and sat down cross-legged without another word.
Closing his eyes, he entered meditation.
Moments later, his expression subtly changed.
The old man hadn’t lied.
Something inside him had indeed shifted.
It was only a tiny change, maybe insignificant.
Yet, it was undeniably there.
The old man watched him quietly before speaking again.
"Believe me, kid. For someone with an evil disposition as frightening as yours, you’ll eventually need someone truly exceptional brilliant to stand beside you."
He paused for a brief moment before smiling faintly.
"Otherwise..."
The sentence remained unfinished.
Some endings, were better left unsaid.
My Name Lol😭