Reincarnated Hero System

Evan had just returned to Aramis after his talk with ‘Aidos’.

It was late at night, and exhausted from the day’s events, Evan wanted nothing more than to get some rest.

He soaked in the bath, ate a hearty meal, and then dropped onto his bed, ready to conk out.

But after a single blink, he found himself not on the familiar double bed, but standing on a beach that he recognised all too well.

The Coconut Sands, a shore in Sushye Coastal City on Aidos’ Alpha Continental Nation of Wechil.

The problem was that Wechil didn’t exist in this time period, and neither did this beach.

Just as he frowned and raised his guard, a familiar voice echoed in his ears.

“Evan.”

“!”

Evan flinched, spinning around instantly, his grey eyes widening as they met with a pair of sapphire blue ones.

As he stared in shock, the owner of those unmistakable eyes stepped out from behind the coconut tree she’d been standing behind, her blonde hair swaying gently in the wind as she smiled and lifted a hand in a small wave.

“Why’re you acting like you haven’t seen me in a bikini before?”

The young woman asked, one eyebrow raised as she walked closer to the silent Evan.

She was stunning, a beauty so striking that everyone else on the beach turned to look at her, though her gaze was fixed solely on Evan. As she brushed aside a few strands of hair that had fallen into her face, Evan caught sight of a silver band with a grey heart-shaped diamond set in the centre on her ring finger.

“Evan?” she called again, and after a moment, Evan finally found his voice.

“…Eliza?” he said quietly, and at that, the young woman lifted her brows once more.

“My name? What’s wrong? You’re acting strange.”

“…”

Evan fell silent again, then, after a deep breath, he stepped forward and pulled her into his arms.

For a moment, she looked confused by the sudden hug, but she eventually reciprocated, her arms sliding around him as her left hand moved up to his head, her fingers gently running through his hair.

“You seem a bit off.”

“Mmm…”

Evan only hummed in response, his embrace gradually tightening with every passing second.

“E-Evan…?” she called softly, confusion lacing her tone. “What’s wrong?”

“Mmm…”

“Hey, you’re holding me really tight…” she said with a nervous laugh, shifting a little in his arms.

“Mmm…”

“Evan, you’re hugging me too hard, I can’t—” she started, but her words were cut off with a pained gasp as he tightened his grip again. “Ah—! Evan, stop, you’re hurting me!”

“Mmm…”

“Evan!” she cried, her voice rising as she struggled against him, her arms pushing weakly at his chest. “Please! Let go!”

“Mmm…”

The pressure only grew, and soon faint cracking sounds began to echo between them.

“Evan! Stop! You’re—ah! You’re hurting me!” she screamed, tears forming in her eyes as waves of magic power burst from her body, sending sand flying in all directions and blowing away everything and everyone nearby.

“Mmm…”

No matter how much force she unleashed, Evan didn’t move. He stayed still, holding her close, humming softly as if he couldn’t even hear her pleas.

“Evan! Please! Please, stop! It hurts!” she sobbed, her voice breaking as she tried one last time to push him away.

“Mmm…”

Another crack resounded, louder than the rest, and her body suddenly went limp in his arms.

Silence reigned as Evan took a deep breath, finally loosening his arms and letting the body he’d been holding slip from his grasp.

It never reached the ground, however, for mid-air, it glitched like a broken projection before shattering into countless fragments of crimson light that slowly faded away.

As one of those fragments brushed against him, the RHS brought up two notifications before his eyes.

[‘Blessing of Destruction’ reacts to the Cosmic Conceptual Authority of ‘Reality’.]

[The ‘Eternal of ჸ̸Ɉ̸i̸l̷ɒ̵ɘ̷Я̵ ̶b̸n̶ɒ̷ ̶ɘ̵ɔ̵ɒ̸q̵Ƨ̸ gazes at you with light surprise.]

Evan’s eyes narrowed at the second notification, his mind instantly recalling the time he’d seen something similar during his trip through spacetime into this era.

[The ‘Eternal of ჸ̸Ɉ̸i̸l̷ɒ̵ɘ̷Я̵ ̶b̸n̶ɒ̷ ̶ɘ̵ɔ̵ɒ̸q̵Ƨ̸ questions the presence of an ‘Unfamiliar Eternal’.]

Taking another deep breath, he turned around, his eyes landing on a figure lounging on a short beach chair, legs crossed, a glass of wine in hand, looking right at him.

The unknown handsome young man was dressed in a blue floral-print t-shirt and matching shorts, with palm sandals strapped around his long legs.

His neatly parted black hair framed a pair of mesmerising reddish-purple eyes, their triangular pupils rotating in a steady rhythm in his irises, within which Evan could see an endless expanse of swirling space.

His expression mirrored the System’s indirect message, confirming for Evan that he wasn’t mistaken about who stood before him.

Meeting those strange eyes, Evan frowned and spoke.

“You must be Ranus. Quite the distasteful hobby you have.”

[…]

Having lost his chance to dramatically introduce himself, the man blinked once in surprise before speaking in a deep, calm voice.

[You actually killed her? Wasn’t she supposed to be the one you love the most?]

“No,” Evan replied immediately. “That wasn’t her. Just you messing with my perception of reality.”

At his immediate response, the man lifted an eyebrow, setting his glass down on a small table that appeared beside him as he spoke.

[You seem displeased.]

“I am. Who wouldn’t be when faced with such a blasphemous imitation?”

[Blasphemous, you say?] The man chuckled, standing to his feet and crossing his hands behind his back as he continued, [I suppose I can understand that.]

The world around them glitched and warped, transforming from a sunny beach to a cloudy sky, and Evan glanced around to find himself standing at the centre of a hot air balloon’s wicker basket.

[I happened to overhear your little conversation with that Planetary Consciousness, especially the part about growing fond of certain people, and it made me curious about how you’d react if faced with the one you were talking about.]

Resting his hands on the basket’s rim, he looked out at the skyline before adding,

[Thinking about it, I suppose I’d also be displeased if someone placed a fake version of my beloved in front of me. For that, I suppose an apology is in order.]

The man sighed softly, turning his gaze toward Evan as their eyes met. [For a moment, though, you wished she were real, didn’t you?]

Evan didn’t respond, and taking his silence as agreement, the man smiled faintly. [Don’t worry, I understand. I’ve been in that situation myself, wishing she were real, even though I knew deep down it was nothing more than an illusion. It’s been far too long since I last held my dearly beloved, and sadly, I doubt I’ll ever have the chance to do so again.]

At that, Evan finally spoke. “Your dearly beloved,” he said. He could clearly hear it in the man’s tone. “You seem to care about them a lot.”

The man smiled wryly before replying. [More than anything. They’re the single most important person to me in all of existence.

Hearing you talk about wanting to create a world where the one you love can live free from the dangers that forced your investiture as a Hero reminded me of how I ended up where I am now because of them.]

Evan’s eyes narrowed slightly at that indirect confession, but he still asked to be sure. “You became an Eternal because of them?”

[Yes,] the man replied with a nod. [I did. Sadly, they misunderstood my intentions and pushed me away for a long time. When I finally saw them again, they’d become my greatest enemy.]

Evan frowned. “That sounds like the plot of a tragic love story.”

The man chuckled softly. [It does.]

Then, his eyes brightened slightly as he raised a finger and added, [Ah, it seems you’re misunderstanding something. When I say ‘my dearly beloved,’ I don’t mean a romantic lover.]

Evan blinked, caught off guard. “You don’t?”

[Of course not,] the man replied with a faint smile. [I wouldn’t love my sister romantically, now would I?]

So the person he had been referring to all along was his sister.

Right after speaking, the man lifted his hands from the rim of the hot air balloon’s basket, and in an instant, he and Evan were back on the beach.

Evan found himself standing before a chair now positioned parallel to the man’s. The man sat back in his own seat, reached for the glass of wine between them, took a sip, and then began to speak.

[I’d love to keep talking about this with you, but you’re here for another reason, so I suppose we should move on to that, shouldn’t we?]

Setting his glass back down, he went on, [You’ve rather unceremoniously taken away my chance to dramatically introduce myself, but I’ll do it anyway.

My name is Ranus. Of the Concepts that govern this Multiverse you inhabit, I preside over Space and Reality.

But you seem to already know who I am. How is that? I don’t believe Jamie’s mentioned me to you yet.]

At his question, Evan looked out toward the ocean and answered, “The Deity Soul you sense within me has stepped outside this universe before. I’ve heard of the cosmic beings that dwell beyond it.”

Ranus inclined his head slightly. [I see. So you’ve heard of me.]

“This is still our first meeting, though,” Evan said.

[Of course it is,] Ranus replied. [If we’d met before—past, present, or future—I would’ve known right away.]

Gesturing toward the beach chair beside him, he added, [Take a seat. This might take some time.]

Evan glanced at the chair for a moment before quietly sitting down and asking, “Your words earlier, you said the exact same thing as the narrator.”

Ranus blinked, raising an eyebrow. [The narrator?]

Evan nodded. “Yes. The narrator. Tell me, Eternal of Reality, are you aware of the Fourth Wall?”

Ranus was silent for a while before eventually replying, [The Fourth Wall… I’ve heard Jamie mention it before.]

“You’ve heard of it,” Evan said, “but it doesn’t seem like you’ve personally confirmed its existence.”

Turning his gaze back toward the ocean, he sighed softly. “I guess it was too much to expect anyone besides us Protagonists to be aware of it. Don’t worry about it.”

Leaning back in his seat, he continued, “So, shall we get down to business? Why exactly did you pull me out of my well-deserved rest to bring me here?”

Ranus smiled faintly. [Well, I came to grant you a well-deserved reward before you take that rest.]

“A reward? For what? Defeating your little puppet?”

Evan was naturally referring to Bewússtsein, and at this, Ranus chuckled.

[Puppet, huh? Well, he wasn’t exactly mine. I was simply watching the show, and it turned out to be quite an entertaining one. So I’d like to express my appreciation for that.]

The playful tone in his voice faded as he continued. [And I’d also like to have you remain silent about certain parts of that show.]

“You want me to stay silent about Bewússtsein? A bit late for that, don’t you think?”

Information about Bewússtsein’s existence had already spread among the major powers within the Orithyia Galaxy, and from what Evan’s memories as Prisma revealed, that was only the beginning.

At his question, Ranus shook his head and answered.

[No, not that.

The whole thing was an experiment conducted by a colleague of mine, and I couldn’t care less if you talked about it in general. There’s just one specific detail about it that I need you to keep quiet about.

Jamie already understands and has taken steps to make sure it doesn’t get out, so I’d like you to do the same.]

Ranus raised his palm, and an immense amount of cosmic energy gathered, though to Evan, it appeared only as a glowing orb of crimson light that pulsed softly.

[Recognise this?]