I woke up to a familiar void—vast, endless, and eerily silent. No stars, no floor, no sky. Just endless black stretching out in all directions. A place outside time and space.
But I was alone.
With a sigh, I ran a hand through my hair and sat up, realizing I was no longer in my room, and the warmth of two assassins from last night was long gone. I knew exactly where I was.
"Death," I muttered. "You could've at least let me enjoy the afterglow."
From behind me, a voice purred like silk sliding across skin. "Jealous, are we?"
I turned, and there she was—Death herself. Her presence warped the void around her. She was clad in her usual form: elegant black robes that clung to her frame, flowing endlessly as if alive. Herkin was as pale as moonlight, and her lips were as dark as the space around us. Her eyes shimmered with eternity, and yet, they softened the moment she looked at me.
"I already know," she said before I could speak. "You're bored of this world."
"Well, there's not much adventure here anymore," I replied, stretching my arms lazily. "When I start yawning mid-dragon slaughter, I think that's a sign."
Death smiled faintly and drifted closer, not walking so much as gliding. Her every step rippled the nothingness beneath her feet. "You've racked up enough Karma Points to move on. Would you like to go to your next world?"
I didn't answer immediately. I simply looked at her. I looked at the woman who had watched me rise from nothing, fall into blood, crawl through ash, and ascend higher still. My eternal lover. The one constant presence across my impossible journey.
"I'm not ready to leave just yet," I said after a moment. "There are some threads I still need to tie off. But yeah… I've made my decision."
Her eyes glimmered with satisfaction. "And where does your curiosity take you now, my beloved?"
I smirked. "You know… since I started out as an adventurer, all I've done is kill things. Monsters, undead, dragons, demons. It's always been Hunt this, purge that, destroy them all."
She chuckled. "And you do it so beautifully."
"Maybe," I said with a shrug, "but when the job description starts sounding like exterminator with flair, you start wondering—where's the adventure? The mystery? The unknown?"
Death folded her arms. "So?"
"So I want something different next," I said. "I want a world where I don't just hunt, but live. Where I can sail oceans, uncover secrets, laugh and brawl, and chase chaos—not because it threatens the world, but because I want to."
Death tilted her head, amused. "That narrows it down."
I gave her a grin. "One Piece."
Her expression didn't change right away. But there was a flicker of surprise in her eyes—followed by amusement. "Of course," she murmured. "A lawless world of pirates and dreamers. Where a boy can declare war on the heavens if he feels like it."
"That's the one."
"I have to say, Alex," she said, her voice softening into a purr, "you never disappoint. I thought you might choose a world of gods or maybe some apocalyptic hellscape to conquer. But you—no, you want the sea. You want the wind in your hair and a ship beneath your feet."
"I want something fun," I said simply. "Something chaotic, raw, and stupidly optimistic. A world where willpower bends fate and insane dreams come true."
Death approached me again, placing her cold, delicate hand on my chest. "And what will you be there? A pirate? A revolutionary? A warlord?"
"I'll decide when I get there," I said, placing my hand over hers. "I'm good at improvising. First, I'll just sail. I'll learn the world. See where it's heading. And then... maybe I'll make the world pivot around me again."
She smiled, leaning up and kissing me softly. "Of course you will."
I took a breath and stepped back. "But like I said—I'm not going just yet. There's still work here. My base and I also have work with Renner, and I need to work on Rune Smith."
"Right," Death said with a smile.
~~~
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