A man stood alone in a dark room, holding a rusty lantern that barely did its job of brightening the room.

  Thankfully, he didn't need it for light.

  “In Between Worlds. A First Trade. O God of Truth. Told Your First Lie.”

  His voice echoed faintly off the stone walls. He had been chanting for over an hour, and though his throat burned, he did not stutter once.

  “Let Now Start A Tale With No Name.”

  When he finished the last phrase, the lantern flame surged so violently that he almost dropped it.

  The words he had spoken carved themselves into the walls, line after line, each marked at its center by a half-opened eye. The symbols blinked once, as if amused.

  He stared at them.

  Then he laughed.

  Not because it was funny.

  Not because he was scared.

  Just because he could.

  The lantern cracked in his hand. Flames burst outward, devouring the room in seconds, swallowing everything, including himself.

  Yet he didn’t stop laughing.

  “What a great morning.”

  Rain poured over me heavily.

  I am shivering like a wet stray dog right now.

  And yet I was laughing.

  Not because I have an optimistic life or anything.

  My parents had kicked me out of the house, and people who I thought were my friends had tricked me out of all of my money and forced me into an unfair contract that made me have to go to work even in this weather.

  So laughing should be the last thing I should do.

  “Hahaha… Is this positivity? Or am I finally insane?”

  Maybe this was what breaking felt like.

  The world is determined to reject me, but that only made me stubborn. If everything wanted me gone, then I’d live just to annoy it.

  So maybe that's why I'm laughing! To spite this damn world.

  I checked my pockets while crossing the street.

  A few coins. Not much. Maybe enough for coffee. It had been months since I’d tasted anything decent.

  A horn blared.

  I looked up just in time to see headlights swallowing my vision.

  "Ah."

  Right, you’re supposed to look both ways.

  The world flipped, and then I was on the road, staring at the rain spitting down on me.

  Pain came a second later.

  It was sharp. Bright. Everywhere.

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  “Hospital…” I tried to say it, but it came out wet and broken.

  But the truck simply drove off like it hadn't crashed into anyone...

  "...Seriously?"

  Breathing became difficult.

  My thoughts slowed down like someone had lowered the brightness of my brain.

  ‘This isn’t like those isekai stories at all.’

  Wasn’t I supposed to die painlessly? Peacefully? Dramatically?

  Instead, I was stuck on wet asphalt with half my body refusing to respond.

  ‘I should’ve lived a little more for myself.’

  That was my last thought.

  [The system had integrated with the user upon death.]

  [The user HP has fallen 0%.]

  [Countdown have begin]

  I opened my eyes.

  Candlelight flickered against stone walls. My body felt… fine. Not just fine—refreshed. Clear. Lighter.

  Did the driver actually carry me to a hospital?

  “Blergh—”

  The smell hit me first.

  Blood.

  I looked down in horror for I was standing in a pool of blood.

  And it definitely wasn’t mine.

  [Welcome to Igiton Endiameson, lost soul. Your journey has just begun.]

  A translucent golden screen appeared in front of me out of nowhere.

  "Argh."

  Surprised by its sudden appearance, I stumbled and almost fell down at the pool of blood.

  Now I'm sure that I'm not in a hospital.

  "Have I really isek-"

  [A Bad Event has occured.]

  The screen flickered rapidly.

  [Siegfried has used — Level difference too great to view.]

  Again.

  [Siegfried has used — Level difference too great to view.]

  And again.

  "What is this thing saying?"

  What's a Bad Event or who's Siegfried? I don't know why but the sound of it made me uncomfortable

  Maybe I should get out of this place first—

  “I finally found you, Leader of the Truth Seekers.”

  I froze from the cold voice spoke behind me like a ghost

  There hadn’t been anyone there a second ago.

  And what's with this heaviness in my chest? it feel like someone squeezed my heart right now.

  I tried to speak but the voice cut me off.

  “Now pay for your sins.”

  Cold steel brushed my neck and everything tilted to the side before coming crashing down.

  Darkness swallowed me for the second time today.

  'Isekai my ass, this is hell!'

  That was my last thoughts as my consciousness drifted away

  [The user HP has fallen to 0%.]

  [The countdown has begun.]

  [10…9...The God Of Truth has noticed your presence.]

  [You have been summoned.]

  Just like last time, I opened my eye just to be met with a complete scenario but this time it’s not indoor or outdoor.

  Or anything at all

  Did I actually die this time?

  Or whatever happened was just some sick game of a devil.

  “No, it wasn’t.”

  I turned around only to find no one behind me at all.

  I could heard it, a voice of someone behind me like a ghost… Wait a minute, did it just read my thought?

  “No, I wasn’t reading your thoughts.”

  I pause, feeling a little frustrated by its behavior but my dread keeps me from cursing it.

  “...Are you playing with me? What a sick devil you are.”

  "Devil, huh?"

  The voice briefly paused before it continued

  “Devil? What’s your view of a devil? If it means a man with two horns, then I’m not, but if it’s someone who commits evil deeds, then I may be one, but it depends on what your view on evil is.”

  ...What on earth is this damn thing blabbering about? Or is this just a voice in my head?

  “Ah. I’m going insane from this.”

  The moment the word left my mouth, the air shifted.

  The voice that had sounded mechanical until now became… something else. Not warmer. Not colder. Just heavier.

  “Insanity,” it said calmly

  "The word 'insane' or 'mad' held no meaning, for one must uphold their own truth to walk this path."

  "Wha—"

  “Let begin the introduction.”

  What in the—what do you mean in the introduction—

  My mind went blank for a few seconds before strange images suddenly popped into my head.

  At first it's just one or two images of a man about his age looking at the mirror, then the images double and overlap with each other and then double again

  And again and again.

  Thousands upon thousands, millions upon millions of images, voices and emotions stirred up within my head, causing me to want to scream, but even that thought was pressed down by another million images crashing down.

  “Y-you son of a bitch.”

  As countless images washed over my head, I became knowledgeable about everything: what this world is, what happened to me and my body and most of all.

  The identity of the voice that has been talking to me.

  “G-God”

  A divine being that withheld the truth of the word, a being that was known as the God Of Truth

  “It seems that you have managed to overcome the situation much quicker than I anticipated.”

  Without saying another word, he unconsciously blinked his eyes, and just like that, he was back at the room.

  This time, it was empty of the gore he just witnessed or the person that had just cut off his head.

  But that didn’t make him all better

  For he now understands where, why and who he is.

  He was sent to a fantasy world through some sick ritual made by this body.

  And he is a follower of an evil god, a twisted bastard that was hated by all and wanted by every organization.

  “Madness, this is madness.”