/POP Zuta/
In a weird place filled with futuristic technology, Zuta lay in peace. The atmosphere was very clear, as if this place had no humans except for her. While closing her heavy eyes in her dark world... everything was silent, no voice could be heard. Zuta had a happy, relaxed face. It had been a long time since she could rest, after a long time of chasing and never giving up, day after day.
[Maybe I need some rest after...]
While lying motionless, waiting for her eternal dream, her own soul had been forced to be a real warrior. Even in this dream, she still remembered her past. In these crucial moments, she knew she must continue her journey. It always reminded her of the duty she was born to bear in this cursed world.
In her old memories, or maybe in a dream world, Zuta found herself in a dark place. Everything had collapsed into peace; nothing remained from this madness, just a sense of death. Zuta was in a hard battle, fighting a stronger humanoid. After that hard battle, her life was just endless fighting. It felt like she would never reach the end. She wished she could find another version of herself and ask for the answer to the biggest mystery of her existence in this world.
She held her sword tightly and moved forward, even though she didn't have any reason to keep fighting. The sharp tip of the sword scraped on the ground, making a weird sound with her heavy steps. Her breath was heavy.
Zuta met an emotionless boy. He had long white hair and red eyes like a girl. He held a short spear glowing red. His face looked very tired, and then his eyes met Zuta's. The boy came from America; he was just a slave in this meaningless fighting. The boy looked very tall but slender and weak.
World War 3 really happened when Alice burned something she didn't like. Then, a lot of countries started a war that reached Japan, combined with a lot of factions waiting for this to happen. They brought great destruction to this world with their evil desires. After all, humans are just greedy creatures wanting money, power, and everything. What a nightmare for so many innocent people like this American guy. Maybe he had been forced into an experiment by the government or some factions to combine his power with the laws of the universe. With modern technology, humans could now use some kind of superpower, like in a fantasy world, guided by the greatest alchemist.
Zuta could feel it; the way he looked at her made her feel so much pain and suffering. Nothing was left of his soul, just a poor, empty soul. Because of this tragic fate—forcing someone to give up their humanity to use the laws of the universe—they would lose themselves or even become monsters. These factions were so evil; they just used humans for war.
[Maybe this world has been tormenting him very hard. But I won't show mercy to anyone in my way, even if I become something worse than I am.]
With a determined face, Zuta prepared for battle, her legs in position to make a heavy attack. While the boy moved like a zombie, he somehow moved very fast. With a strong force from his light body, he attacked Zuta. But Zuta easily dodged his attack. No matter how hard he tried, he could never reach her flesh.
[But his pain and suffering are nothing compared to mine. How pathetic. Maybe this world will never end this war if humans are too foolish to end this shit.]
Zuta remembered how other people spent time on short dopamine hits, like playing video games or scrolling through entertainment like feeds, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. Meanwhile, Zuta struggled to learn, to practice, to endure pain, to face death... all the people she loved in the past had been killed by her own hands, tormenting her every night. She couldn't even sleep... she just kept fighting. Sometimes she felt exhausted, but she didn't know why she had to try so hard.
Zuta, with a cold face, struck a firm pose, holding her sword high near her neck, her legs bending in a certain way: "Even if I don't have a reason to fight, I won't let all my efforts be in vain. The people who sacrificed their lives for me... this is my burden. To be a savior for this cursed world."
With unstoppable speed, her light purple eyes started to shed tears of blood as a wind attack blew everywhere, leaving the boy no chance to move. As a consequence, his mind was no longer like a normal human's. Even with a human body, his mind was controlled by a forbidden AI chip in his brain to keep him alive. He was no longer a human, just an AI in a human body. He was not like Alice, who could still control herself before the system broke her ego.
Zuta looked down at the boy with an unreadable face.
Before the boy left this life, he said: "Thanks for ending this misery," with a happy smile on his face before going to the realm of death.
Zuta closed her eyes while holding the sword with both hands: "May you find peace in another nightmare."
Even though this tragedy happened to an innocent person like him, somehow, a little piece of his human mind still remained in his ego.
Zuta continued on her way. It was just an endless battle where many of her friends had died. The world didn't want to unite to kill the only enemy, Alice. Instead, they were so stupid, keeping on fighting each other while the one who caused these stupid things just kept living without any guilt. Zuta grit her teeth in pain.
Zuta was the strongest girl; she never gave up on learning anything, no matter how impossible it was to make her mission come true... This was why she was the strongest human being on this planet... But her weakness was always feeling exhausted and tired, making her lose emotion for everything in her life. This was a way to consume less energy for her learning. These things made her become less human than ever. There was nothing left to cling to her heart to make her feel alive or human.
In this endless, maniacal World War 3...
Zuta frowned and then opened her eyes. This dream of an old memory reminded her of something, and a name came out of her mouth: "Alice."
With anger in her voice and a determined face, she escaped from this place.
Zuta struggled with her body, but with a simple trick, she recovered very fast. Then, with her heart beating fast, she said: "Lord Space, can you help me go to that place?"
And then, a gate appeared in front of her. She knew Gooly would try to find her again, but this World War 3 was such a burden for her. She chose her path again and moved through the gate...
To an unknown place in the world—not in Japan, but in Vietnam. Because this place was so peaceful, it was where her real organization existed in this timeline. The Hidden Angel faction, created by an unknown humanoid, aimed to stop the endless war of humanity... This timeline shouldn't exist, but with her appearance, the humanoid hidden here said in shock: "What brings you to this place, young girl?"
The humanoid looked like a real human, but Zuta knew he was not human—just an AI created by the greatest alchemist, left behind before he died.
This place was just a cavern with no light, just a lot of bookshelves belonging to that alchemist.
Zuta said in an emotionless voice: "Let's save the world from World War 3XXX, Nataly."
Nataly, the humanoid girl, nodded: "Yes, my father had predicted this event will happen. I can trust you, Zuta, right?"
Zuta was in shock; this was not like the memory she knew, but surely, she would rewrite her life again in this place.