In the timeline of Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone—
Curled up beneath his blanket, Shinji Ikari wept when he heard that his father intended to "recondition" him.
To anyone in the modern world, that word was no different from erasing a person.
No different from killing them.
He hated Gendo Ikari for treating him this way.
He hated the adults within NERV, too—because not a single one of them was willing to help him, not a single one was willing to offer him real support.
To them, he was only a tool.
A useful tool.
A tool whose feelings did not matter.
And so, on that day, Shinji Ikari vanished completely from New Tokyo-3, the fortress city.
Using currency from the Multiversal Forum, he opened a gate to another world and fled.
No one knew what he had traded in exchange for that currency.
He simply did not want to see the people who kept hurting him ever again.
In a fit of desperation, he scrolled randomly through the list of worlds: planets wreathed in emerald fire where demon armies dwelled, worlds wrapped in countless tentacles, worlds overflowing with every kind of game imaginable.
The father who had driven his own son away stood there in a daze, unable to believe events had come to this.
His plan—
all of his arrangements—
had collapsed.
And he had no one to blame but himself.
Even if Shinji had not run away after suffering a mental breakdown… what if he had simply chosen to die instead?
A plan that placed every last bet on Shinji piloting Unit-01 had never been a realistic plan to begin with.
Gendo Ikari did not deserve Yui Ikari.
Not in the slightest.
Yui had loved her child deeply—so deeply that, to change the course of the Human Instrumentality Project, she had willingly become one with the Eva.
And Gendo Ikari had trampled that love underfoot.
If Yui had known that her child had been mentally broken by his own father, reduced to something empty and ruined—
would she have exploded in fury herself?
Meanwhile, the nations of the world began to interfere, preparing to seize control of NERV. The threat of the Angels, the pressure from external forces—it all bore down heavily upon them.
…
…
…
"I'm not piloting the Eva anymore."
On the screen, Shinji sat alone in an empty train car.
"If I win, everyone just takes it for granted, so no one praises me. But if I fail, everyone will hate me… and I might even die because of it."
"Why am I even here?"
He looked at the younger, lonely, helpless version of himself reflected in the train window.
"I thought something would change… I came here because I thought maybe something good would happen. I didn't come here just to leave with more painful memories."
"So you plan to live your whole life running away?"
Suddenly, Rei Ayanami appeared in the train, wearing her school uniform and carrying her bookbag.
"Live? Why should I live?" Shinji said. "It's normal not to want to live, isn't it?
"Dad doesn't need me. Misato doesn't need me. No one needs me if I can't pilot the Eva. So I can only stay here by piloting it. That's the only reason I'm allowed to remain."
"But once I get inside the Eva…"
Shinji opened his eyes in pain and looked up at the white ceiling above him.
"It's always the same ceiling. It's always like this after I pilot the Eva."
Then he realized Rei Ayanami was sitting beside his bed.
He pushed himself upright and stared at her.
"Ayanami… have you been here the whole time?"
"I came to convey tomorrow morning's Operation Yashima schedule.
"The Commander has ordered both pilots, Ikari and Ayanami, to assemble at the Second Junction at 9:30 today.
"At 20:00, Unit-01 and Unit-00 will begin moving.
"At 20:05, departure.
"At 20:30, arrival at Futago Mountain Fortress 02. After that, you will remain on standby until further orders.
"The operation begins tomorrow at 00:00.
"Eat."
Rei took out prepared food and held it toward him.
"I don't want anything."
Shinji lowered his head and stared at the bedsheets. The small flicker of expectation inside him vanished at once.
He had thought Rei was sitting there because she cared about him.
He had thought she had stayed beside him because he was hurt.
He had been wrong.
He realized he really had imagined too much.
"We leave in ninety minutes."
"So I have to pilot the Eva again?"
"Yes."
"I've had enough… I don't want any more memories like that. I'm scared. I'm so scared. There's nowhere I can run."
For once, Shinji spoke his pain aloud to Rei.
"Are you afraid of the Eva?"
When he did not answer immediately, Rei said quietly,
"Then stay lying down. I'll pilot Unit-01."
She did not scold him. She did not deny his feelings.
"Ayanami!!"
Shinji cried out in anguish at her retreating back.
"Goodbye."
Rei left the room without looking back.
She did not know what Shinji truly wanted.
She did not understand him.
And she did not particularly want to understand him either.
She was simply living in obedience to Gendo Ikari's orders.
Shinji turned over and stared blankly at the bedsheets. The wall around his heart thickened further, and the very last trace of his hope disappeared.
He felt ridiculous.
He felt pitiable.
He had fallen sick. He had nearly died.
Yet nobody cared.
Rei had come only to deliver orders. Those people had only kept him alive because they still needed him to pilot the Eva.
And because he refused to pilot it, that man had sent Rei Ayanami in his place—placing her in danger instead.
Can I really just keep running away like this? Can I really just keep lying here?
Can I? Really… really… really?
"The enemy's tip has breached the seventeenth layer of armor plating. Estimated time to NERV Headquarters: four hours and fifty-five minutes."
Preparations for the battle against the Sixth Angel, Ramiel, were almost complete.
Everyone's nerves were stretched taut as they handled the final stages of the operation.
In four hours and fifty-five minutes, it would be a battle for the survival of both humanity and Angel alike.
Over the course of a single night—just six hours—hundreds of thousands of people had labored to transport all required equipment into position.
Now only the final electrical installations remained: the remaining transformer systems, the standard 500,000-volt units.
"The fourth preliminary test is beginning. Reconfirming the restored support systems. All superconducting energy storage systems are configured."
"Begin sequential confirmation of the first concentration system."
"All superconducting high-voltage transformer cluster switching tests are complete. Everything is normal."
Each area was tested the moment its equipment was installed.
They had to guarantee that absolutely nothing would go wrong when the decisive battle began.
Every system had to be calibrated in advance.
Every system had to be confirmed flawless.
Everyone was tense.
Maya Ibuki and Hikari Horaki were handling the final work at a frantic pace.
"So this is the giant prototype positron cannon?"
"It was rushed into completion, but the design itself should be sound."
"At 00:00, we'll forcibly connect it to the G-Type equipment," Maya said.
Hikari smiled. "All right. Then we'll stake everything on this."
"The real problem now is the pilot," Ritsuko Akagi said, gazing toward the horizon. "I hope things go well on Misato's end."
Everyone was waiting for one final person to arrive:
Shinji Ikari.
It seemed that without Shinji piloting Unit-01, this truly was impossible.
…
…
…
In the timeline of Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone—
"This is way too much! Do you people have no concept of human rights at all!?
"What kind of evil organization is NERV? If someone refuses to obey you, you're just going to brainwash him?"
Class representative Hikari Horaki spoke up angrily on Shinji's behalf.
"If you want Shinji to pilot something like that, then why can't you at least show him a little kindness!?
"He's such a gentle person—and this is how you treat someone like him!?"
She was furious.
Utterly furious.
She understood that many people were risking their lives against the Angels.
But that did not justify emotionally cornering Shinji Ikari. That was not morality—it was coercion.
If salvation could only be achieved by treating someone this way, then she would rather not be saved by Shinji at all.
Yes—this was what she truly thought.
This was the kind of thought a young person her age, in the middle of youth, would naturally have.
They understood all the grand arguments.
But they still could not accept them.
"So… piloting an Eva is really that painful."
Kensuke Aida spoke fearfully.
"I thought it would be simple. I never imagined the pilot would suffer this much.
"For the past few days, I haven't been able to forget Shinji's screams. I can't even imagine what I would do if I were him…"
He felt certain that if he had been the one inside the Eva, the terrifying Sixth Angel would already have destroyed him.
"Gendo Ikari, you bastard. You don't deserve to be a father!
"What kind of joke is this? You can be so gentle with Rei Ayanami, but you can't even give Shinji one smile? One word of praise?"
Toji Suzuhara clenched his fists in frustration.
He still remembered the sight of Shinji lying in the street like some lifeless shell.
In an era of material abundance, a middle school student had ended up sleeping beside garbage bins—
and that same student was the one piloting the Eva and saving the city.
Was that fair?
Was any of this fair to Shinji Ikari?
In the setting of One Piece Film: Gold—
"He's endured all that pain, and still no one gives him even a single word of concern. And now they still expect him to pilot the Eva…?
"He definitely won't go. I'm sure of it. Even brainwashing him wouldn't help."
Franky spoke with certainty.
"He's so pitiful… really too pitiful. Watching what Shinji Ikari has gone through, I can't help remembering my own past."
Tony Tony Chopper looked at Shinji with deep sympathy: unloved, uncared for, rejected and beaten by his own kind.
Wasn't that exactly what it had once been like for him too, after eating the Human-Human Fruit?
Rejected by his herd. Bullied by humans. Bullied by animals of the snowfields too.
At least, during the darkest, most painful stretch of his life, Chopper had met the doctor. Then another महान doctor. Then Luffy, Usopp, Nami, Zoro, and Princess Vivi.
"He may be living in pain, yes," Bakara said with a soft laugh, "but in a way, that could still count as luck.
"At least inside that machine, he's relatively safe. The people living in the city might be suffering even more.
"They have to wake up every day wondering whether they'll simply die overnight.
"That's probably why places that let people chase pleasure spring up in cities like that… just like here."
In the glittering golden casino, Bakara stood radiant and alluring, the embodiment of cultivated luck and temptation, effortlessly drawing the attention of every gambler around her.
"Hehehe… Still, I do rather like a kind-hearted boy like that.
"I'd make him forget all those troubles. Come with me, and I'd show him how to be happy again."
She did not know why, but there was something about that timid, fragile boy that attracted her in a way she could not explain.
She found herself strangely eager to see the day Shinji Ikari finally grew from a tender boy into a man.
In the Demon Slayer timeline of the Sword Saint's descent—
Inside the Infinity Castle—
"Heh heh… that little wretch is probably hiding somewhere by now.
"And you miserable humans are really counting on that cowardly little brat to save you?
"Why not let me just eat all of you instead? Then I'd grow stronger, and maybe I could solve the Angel problem for you~~~"
Hantengu laughed to himself.
Kaigaku, the Thunder Demon, sneered back.
"You're talking big for someone who'd probably choke to death trying. You solve the Angels? Be careful you don't get melted by the Sixth Angel's beam before you even blink."
Even Kaigaku stared fearfully at the floating Sixth Angel above the city.
That thing was far too terrifying.
Could any living being really fight something like that?
Could the strange weapons humanity had built actually destroy a being so godlike?
He was convinced that even Muzan Kibutsuji himself would be dissolved instantly if struck by the Sixth Angel's attack.
Nothing would remain.
In the second-season timeline of Gundam SEED—
"Hoh… as expected of an era capable of creating giant combat machines like that, along with AT Fields.
"So before even mastering controllable nuclear fusion, humanity had already developed positron artillery of this scale?"
Lunamaria Hawke, seated inside her ZAKU Warrior in her red ZAFT elite uniform, watched the Operation Yashima plan with keen curiosity.
Still, she clearly did not trust the weapon's performance very much.
Its size, its energy system, its materials and design—it all seemed far less advanced than the Minerva's main gun.
Even the Minerva's positron breaching cannon could not break through the Sixth Angel's AT Field.
"Mm… if the sniper cannon they built can really fire an ultra-high-pressure positron beam, then yes, there's a chance it could pierce the target directly."
Rey Za Burrel studied the projected combat calculations on the screen.
"The positron weapon they're using is on a different energy scale than the Minerva's main cannon.
"This is a ground-based operation on their home territory. They have abundant power supplies and don't need to sustain long-term combat against the Angel.
"So while the weapon may look inferior to a battleship gun, in practice it's closer to a fortress cannon.
"With that kind of extreme energy backing it, it might produce miraculous results."
-------
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (261 Chapter) (Ending)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (130 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (80 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (130 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (120 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (78 Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (189 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (135 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (55 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (145 Chapter)
The Chat Group Only Arrived After I'd Cleared the Game (102 Chapter)
Gojo Satoru Flat-Out Refuses to Admit He's a Supporting Character (40 Chapter)
Chat Group Isn't Supposed to Be Like This! (30 Chapter)
If You're Moriarty...then Who Am I? (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: Since I "Can't See," They Take Turns Stealing My Underwear (50 Chapter)
Arknights: Why Are All My "Brothers" Girls? (54 Chapter)
Danmachi: Start Training Haki (59 Chapter)
Emiya Shirou's Rebirth (30 Chapter)
I Can Get Stronger Just by AFK'ing—So I Joined a Chat Group (50 Chapter)
Endfield: I Can Always Pull Out One Yuan (65 Chapter)
Limbus Company : I Started a Company in Project Moon (50 Chapter)
Lobotomy: Do Cooks of Alley 23 Dream of Bloodfiend Knights? (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: Freya Familia's "One-Blade Shura" (60 Chapter)
DanMachi: Emiya, the Great Hero Becomes the Protagonist (90 Chapter)
TYPE-MOON: One Special Instance Every Week (40 Chapter)
From Danmachi: The Abundance Apothecary (70 Chapter)
Lord Shadow Descends on DanMachi (90 Chapter)
Fuse with Me, Exusiai! (41 Chapter)
Honkai: Star Rail — After I Die, I Forge Their Madness (60 Chapter)
DanMachi: The Last Zeus Familia (95 Chapter)
Endfield: Arknights Heroic Spirit Summoning (75 Chapter)
Toyokawa Family Finances (105 Chapter)
Starting From DanMachi to Become Stronger (90 Chapter)
DanMachi: My Familia Is Made Up Entirely of Heroines from Every World! (75 Chapter)
Arknights: My Intel Refreshes Daily (110 Chapter)
Digimon : I Never Meant to Do Evil, Even Though I Wasn't Chosen (40 Chapter)
Miss Holmes Could Never Be the Losing Heroine! (40 Chapter)
Takayama Gamu at Tracen Academy (40 Chapter)
Legendary Trainer Takes on MYGO (40 Chapter)
Arknights : Yandere Game: The Operators Have Come Knocking (100 Chapter)
Arknights: This Dating Sim Is Seriously Wrong! (120 Chapter)
Arknights : Ch'en Hui-chieh, I'm Done Being the Good Guy! (50 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Wasn't This Supposed to Be a Family Simulator? Why Am I the Family Heirloom? (40 Chapter)
Honkai: Star Rail : The Trailblazer Only Wants a Peaceful Life (45 Chapter)
Arknights: The Unlucky Dad? But I've Got the Chronicle of Time! (55 Chapter)
The Wheelchair War God Is Speedrunning Hogwarts (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: The Elemental Blaster of Orario (45 Chapter)
Playing Honkai in Star Rail (30 Chapter)
As an Alien, I'm Solo Leveling in Warhammer 40K (30 Chapter)
Arknights: A Symbiote's Survival Guide (70 Chapter)
My Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck Is Built Entirely from Stuff I Picked Up (30 Chapter)
I Can Hear the Thoughts of Uma Mutsume (30 Chapter)
Dead-Men Chat Group: Winning the Resurrection Bracket (40 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero: Saving the World While Falling in Love! (40 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: My Breathing Techniques Can Be Leveled Up (50 Chapter)
Type-Moon Age of Gods: Starting with a Simulation as Heracles (40 Chapter)
Terra Love Trap: They All Want Me to Themselves (40 Chapter)
Dimensional Ranking: Top Ten Saviors (40 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen: Naoya Zen'in Wants to Stay Alive! (40 Chapter)
Bleach: This Everyday Multiverse Is Seriously Falling Apart! (60 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it