I want to do what I want to do. It’s not something predetermined; it’s what I decide. Whether I decide or not, it is already determined by me, and me alone—the me who decides my own fate. It’s a myriad of possibilities, all discarded and chosen as one in the present, which will soon become the past. And yet, the present we hope for is the future, contained within an infinite or finite number of choices.

  The present could be the one we live in, or the one we hope for. It could be the present we have forgotten, or the present that has already passed, becoming the past we lived in but no longer do. Everything in this world is finite, and so are we. We live and survive only to die by our predetermined fate—everything is fine, except the present. Is the present finite or infinite? Is what we live in indefinite or definite? Is it deterministic or non-deterministic? Are we ourselves the present, or is it just a meaningless form of time, stuck at the moment?

  The past is a shadow of the present, and the future is a reflection of the past, which we live for. We live in the present to be present in the future. We never live to be present in the past because we cannot go back in time. We’re afraid to find out what the past would do to our present. We never truly understand where we are, or what surrounds us. We perceive, but we don’t understand. We learn, but we don’t implement. We observe only to observe again, until that process repeats itself. Eventually, we reach a point where we call the present the future. We look back at the present, disguised as the past. We’ve gone through it, become it, and relived it, thinking we’ve reached the future, only to realize we are in another present.

  We cannot escape the present; we are what we are, and we are what we are not. We live for what we cannot live for, and we survive for what we want to live for.

  Humans live for something, and that something is purpose. That purpose creates the reason for us to survive and struggle. Humans cannot live if they don’t survive. A person living without struggle, without purpose, is nothing more than a hollow puppet.

  I always observe those who have achieved their goals. They have that empty look in their eyes. Before, their eyes were full of life—sometimes despair, sometimes hope—but never that emptiness. Now, their eyes are devoid of purpose, though they still live. They struggle, but without the will to survive. They don’t feel anything, until they find a new purpose, only to lose it again. The process repeats until the predetermined present consumes us, and the past meets the future. The present ceases to exist, and we live only as observers. We cannot perceive or understand what we cannot observe. The process of observation continues, until all that remains is our consciousness. But that consciousness, at what we call death, could be eternal sleep, nonexistence, or nothingness. Or perhaps it continues as a ghost, spirit, or monster. Maybe it repeats until these memories fade away, until nothing remains. Until it all ends, or even nothingness ceases to exist. Or maybe we reincarnate.

  「Episode 0: Chapter 0:」

  Reincarnation.A concept of the soul transmigrating to another body.

  Whether in the past, future, or present, it will happen. To something, to someone—reincarnation will occur.

  「Emptiness」

  You don’t know if you will reincarnate. After death, you will be forgotten by yourself. You try to be remembered, but that effort never prevails. No one knows whether you’re dead or just reincarnated. No one will know whether you suffer or not, unless they observe you. But observing you is what you do all the time. You exist because you are observing yourself. You cannot understand others unless you understand yourself.

  But in the first pce, is reincarnation even possible?I never believed in reincarnation.Humans are given a single life, and once that life ends, it cannot begin again.But you won’t know unless you experience it, whether you do or don’t.

  Everything has a cause and an effect.

  So, reincarnation must have a cause. But why does it happen? Does it happen?

  I wake up, only to sleep, and wake up again, until I don’t. Until I never open my eyes again.

  That is what we call death. Death is inevitable.

  Death cannot be avoided, as it is the predetermined fate we live for.

  So if death is another purpose, what comes after that purpose? Do the patterns end after death? Do they repeat in a different reality? But that’s not death, is it? Death is the end of one being. But the end of one being cannot be the end, because it exists in another reality. The end continues after another beginning, only to end again, making it an infinite loop.

  You, however, cease to exist. You cannot perceive the "you" that you do not know. You don’t know if your soul has moved on or shattered. You never know if your brain is really in the present. It could be another brain, or another you, after a moment. The "you" that is reading this is different from the "you" that was before reading this. And you will be different after reading this. The "you" from before does not exist in the present. The "you" from the present does not exist in the future...

  So, is death the end?

  No.

  I lied to you. It is.

  I lied to you again.

  Maybe. Certainty is impossible, because everything can change at any point. Death is something you neither know nor understand. Maybe reincarnation is possible after death, but then again, you cannot be certain unless you experience it. And even if you do experience it, there’s no way others will believe you. But then, that’s a chance—because to believe, you must reincarnate in the same world.

  And humans don’t believe other humans. So, is it possible to reincarnate while reincarnating?

  Now, here’s a better question: What would you do if you knew the world was ending?

  I will be myself.

  It’s not that I will be, it’s that I am.

  It’s not an “if,” it’s “now.”

  Because the world is going to end before my eyes. No, it’s not a matter of possibility—it’s a matter of certainty. It has already happened. It’s strange, I can’t quite expin why, but I feel it deeply. This present moment, it has already occurred. In some way, it’s a past, yet it remains a present to me. Does that mean I’m in the past, living in a present that was already decided? Or perhaps, I am not truly myself but another version of me from another moment, from another present.

  But none of this will change anything. The world will end, and I will end with it—along with everything that is, was, and will be, vanishing before my eyes.

  Not that it matters. Everything I’ve said could be a lie or a truth. I won’t cim either. It all depends on how you perceive it, on what you believe. The choice, in the end, is yours.

  I could be real—or not. I could just be a figment of your imagination, speaking to you from some distant pce in your mind...

  Nevertheless, whether I exist or not doesn’t matter to you. It doesn’t change your world, though maybe, in some way, it does. But the world is ending soon, and in the grand scheme of things, none of this matters.

  Why is the world going to end?I don’t know. It’s a strange, inexplicable feeling that’s been building up inside me. I don’t know if this feeling even belongs to me. Every time I try to look at someone I care about, my chest tightens, and tears threaten to spill from my eyes. My heartbeat becomes erratic, and no matter how much I try to grasp the source of this emotion, it slips away. It’s a familiar sensation, but one I can’t pce.

  My mind sways, unable to hold steady every time I try to reach out to others. My throat clenches, as though something is blocking it, forcing me into silence. I try to speak, but no words come out. I try to build connections, but no matter how hard I try, they crumble before I can hold them.

  Somehow, I know it. I know the world is going to end soon.

  And before I could think of anything else...

  The shrill sound of a loud monotonic arm sliced through the quiet of the room, jarring me back to reality.

  Ah... I spaced out so much I didn’t realize the entire night had passed, and It was already dawn

  I barely kept my eyes from closing, my eyelids heavy with the weight of dreams that never truly came. I hadn’t slept at all… not really. I did sleep some.

  My body ached as I sat up, the soft warmth of the bed moving away from my back, leaving behind a ghost of warmth quickly devoured by the morning chill. I swayed slightly, the gravity of sleep trying to drag me back down, but I caught myself—barely—and reached out and turned off that annoying arm from my phone.

  The room was dim, washed in a warm, pale hue of orange. The sunlight filtered zily through the blinds, casting stripes of faint light across the wooden floor. The air felt still—unnaturally so—like the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for something it couldn’t name. It was calm, and yet... not quite.

  I stepped toward the window, drawn by some vague pull. The view of Seongnam was oddly serene. It felt like no one was beside me—barely a sound in the air. It was cold, yet it carried a strange warmth—like a memory I couldn’t grasp.

  It almost feels like—

  Before I could think of anything else, my chest convulsed and I started coughing for a while, something came out of my mouth, I didn't bother looking.

  This feeling again.

  I stood there for a while, saying nothing, thinking nothing.

  I barely walked away from the window and walked into the bathroom and took a bath.

  Afterward, I dried off and changed—pin bck pants, a gray shirt, and finally, the white b coat hanging near the door.

  And I walked to the kitchen and brewed some coffee. It was tasteless, bitter and yet nonexistent.

  After drinking the coffee, without thinking much more, I grabbed my bag, slipped on my shoes,grabbed the keys, locked the door behind me, and stepped outside.

  The streets were quiet—eerily so. Barely any people were out at this hour, just the occasional passerby, their footsteps sounding hollow against the pavement. The sky was still the usual purple.

  The atmosphere was suffocating… and yet comforting

  I stumbled forward, legs unsteady, vision blurry, and body weighed down

  Eventually, I arrived at the building—one designated for third-year students, isoted from the others.

  I didn’t just step into any room—it was my usual b

  And turned on to the lights, the room empty and being a mess.

  I walked forward, put my bag on the table in the middle, and sat on the sofa , my breathing ragged and a mess, as I yed on the sofa and closed my eyes and lost consciousness.

  "Hey, wake up."

  I heard a voice from somewhere. It was strangely familiar.

  Maybe it's another dream.

  "So you are asleep. That means I can do anything I want to you."Another voice came, and this time, I felt chills.

  A hand touched me. The soft finger was warm—it touched my stomach and traced off below it.

  Wait...

  For a moment, I couldn't comprehend what was happening. The finger felt real, almost like a real person.

  Am I not dreaming?

  I opened my eyes as I jerked upward and sat up.I looked around. There was a boy—pretty young, with a pretty face. A strikingly beautiful face, with lustrous silver hair and red eyes. Compared to me, he was handsome—annoyingly so.His hand was still inside my shirt. I looked at him with a bnk expression, and he looked at his hand, then pulled it out with an awkward ugh.

  "You... Why are you here?"He asked me that with a strangely confused voice.Of course, he would—since I was still here, even though I had taken some days off.

  "I'm thinking of dropping out,"I said with a low voice.

  He didn’t respond right away. Just a long, tired exhale. His voice trembled when he finally spoke.

  "I see."

  He sighed as he said that. His expression somber.

  I slipped my hands into my coat pockets, stood, and walked toward the door.

  But just as I reached the door, I heard him say behind me—

  "You’re really going insane."

  I stopped and turned my head just slightly, bent slightly around, and smiled.

  "Mmm." I nodded as I walked away.

  ***

  The heat outside was blistering and sweltering.

  I didn’t notice what others thought about me. I didn’t see what was around me. I only walked forward. No. It was not like I didn't, it was I couldn't as my vision swayed and my thoughts drifted away leaving my mind bnk.

  An umbrel dangled loosely in my grip, shielding me from the gre overhead. Not that it helped much—I always been weak to heat.

  Eventually, I reached the apartment complex. Familiar cracks in the pavement. The dull groan of the elevator. The stale air. Home.

  As soon as I stepped inside my room, I colpsed forward, knees crashing against the hardwood. My chest tightened . I coughed for a while, my lungs feeling ruptured every cough.

  Blood spattered across the floor and onto the sleeves of my b coat. It soaked through quickly.

  "Heh."

  I chuckled as I dragged myself to the bed, barely pulling the sheets aside, and fell face-first into it.

  How nice.

  To be still alive... maybe. Living like this is what I should call living, as I am surviving to live—but this kind of living is something—

  Before I could think of anything else, I coughed again and again and again and again and again and again—until what felt like an eternity passed.

  I got up and walked to the table.

  Looking back, the bedsheets were stained with blood. The room carried an odor of iron. The air felt light, yet suffocating. I put on my gsses and pced my hands on the keyboard, typing today’s report and writing:

  「Entry No. [Error 404 not found]: The world is going to end soon. Everything is already predetermined—as to what will happen in this world, and as to why it happens—we have no control over it. We can only hope that everything will be fine.??????????????????????????????????????????????????? “Everything is predetermined,” is what “I” said. Don’t believe it. Because I make my own choices.

  The subject “Re” has been acting weird. As for its daily observation, it has not made any exponential changes. It’s still in a stable state. Its css is currently determined to still be Keter, and its threat level is close to Demon. Most likely, it will reach Angel in the next few days.

  My health is getting worse                                     fade away...」

  Before I could write any further, I lost consciousness.