Mimou
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Chapter 205: Choice
🕑 Added 2025-02-12 12:56:02 +0000 UTC« Chapter-204 | Index | Chapter-206 »
|You have died.]
Darkness.
A vast, endless void stretched around. There was no up, no down—just an overwhelming emptiness.
Before long, Kara's consciousness returned.
Air filled her lungs. She inhaled deeply, exhaled. Her body felt foreign, and she coughed because of how uneven her breathing was.
Opening her eyes, she saw a ceiling. The light of the sun filtered through curtains, and she could vaguely hear noise outside.
Coughing forced her to straighten her back and sit.
For a moment, she just sat, and steadied her breathe.
Unable to remain idle any longer, she stood up, leaving the bed behind her.
Her heart hammered against her ribs, as if her movement was too fast for it to handle.
Her movements were stiff, as if her body weren’t truly hers. Her legs were unsteady, her fingers trembling slightly as they tore into the fabric of her clothes.
She knew this room.
"This was my room. I've returned..." She muttered, feeling a weight settling in her chest.
Her head turned, scanning what should have been a familiar space, but the walls, the furniture, everything felt foreign.
Careful not to strain her body, she slowly moved toward the door. Each footstep was heavy, echoing through the whole house.
She headed out of the room. Down the stairs. But there was no sound. No voice. No presence.
"Of course... Why would anyone be here?" She thought out loud.
Kara lived alone.
Still, the weight in her chest only grew heavier. Reaching the bathroom, she turned on the light and faced the mirror.
And then she saw herself.
Her reflection stared back from the mirror. Wide eyes, slightly unfocused. Her lips parted slightly as if she had been about to say something—but the words never came.
Tears.
There were tears, streaming silently down her face.
Her breath hitched. She hadn’t even realized she was crying.
Her hands trembled as she touched her own cheek, as if the tears weren’t hers, as if the sorrow belonged to someone else. But the ache in her chest told her otherwise.
She knew this pain. She knew why she was crying.
'My [Soul Link] is broken...'
The feeling of her [Soul Link] breaking wasn’t unfamiliar—but this time, it felt different. It felt final.
And that thought hurt more than anything.
She had left him behind.
Sora, who had always been stronger than anyone, yet needed others more than he would ever admit. Sora, who could fight gods but struggled against his own loneliness.
Without his friends, she knew he could spiral.
And now… he was alone.
A sob wracked her body before she could stop it.
She had abandoned him.
And she didn't know if she would ever see him again.
She clenched the edge of the sink, gripping it as if to steady herself.
A sharp crack echoed through the empty bathroom. A moment later, the sink shattered, splitting in dozens of pieces as water gushed out violently.
Cold water sprayed across her face and clothes, soaking her instantly as it poured onto the floor, spilling across the floor. She stumbled back.
“Shit!”
The water spread quickly, rushing toward the hallway. Kara cursed under her breath and lunged for the main valve, twisting it shut. The torrent finally reduced to a slow trickle before stopping entirely.
Breathing heavily, she ran a hand through her dripping hair.
'Great. Just what I needed.'
She glanced at the broken sink, watching the water still pooling at her feet. "I should call someone to replace the sink…" she muttered to herself.
Then, with a smile, she thought, 'Things like this never happen in the other world.'
A minor inconvenience like this? It wouldn't even be a problem.
Back there, with all the magic at her disposal, all it would take was a flick of her wrist to repair something like this. If only—
On impulse, she raised a hand and mimicked the motion she’d made countless times before.
To her shock, she felt it.
'There's mana in the air!'
The energy around her was weak—so much weaker than what she was used to—but it was there. It responded to her like an old friend.
She focused, reaching out. Elemental particles gathered around the broken sink, condensing and reshaping. Within seconds, the sink was whole again—not restored to its original state, but reforged with slightly different materials.
Kara took a step back, staring at it in disbelief.
‘I just used magic.’
She hesitated, then called out, “Status”
Nothing happened. The system didn’t respond.
She frowned, turning her focus inward instead.
Her mana, her control, her mastery over her abilities—all of it was still there. Every technique she had refined, every breakthrough she had achieved—they hadn’t disappeared. But all techniques she had used relying on the system were out of reach.
'The mana here is barely enough to cast anything world-shattering… but it's not bad.'
'My affinities are still there... I can still sense all elements.'
Pausing, she wondered, 'What about [Time]?'
She remembered the feeling of her innate skill, [Time-Bending] and drove her energy in an attempt to accelerate herself slightly.
After a few seconds, she frowned, 'I could barely feel any difference... The effects are negligible.'
She refused to let frustration settle in. ‘It’s not gone. I just have to adapt.’ She had honed her ability once, and she thought she could do it again.
'What about my supreme skill?' She wondered.
Kara concentrated, drawing on the sensation of her Supreme Skill. She had used it so many times, refining its application in battle, pushing it beyond its initial limits. It had become a core part of her identity.
'I can't feel anything... There's nothing.'
She tried again, driving her life force through her veins, but the skill remained silent. It wasn’t like her [Time-Bending], which still existed but was weakened. This was different, as if the skill had never been there to begin with.
Kara tried to understand why she couldn't activate her skill before her eyes lit up.
‘It was a reward,’ she realized.
Her Supreme Skill had been granted to her upon achieving a certain feat. It was not something she understood the core of.
However, she did not give up and remembered what Sora had always told her: skills can and must be recreated to be mastered.
'An ability isn't just a collection of system-given effects. It is an understanding, a path carved by repeated use and refinement.'
'I've used my skills millions of times more than others... I remember each and every time I've activated [Life Force Mastery).'
A small spark of determination flickered inside her. She had lost much, but not everything.
'I won't remain powerless.'
That thought was enough to steady her emotions.
Her eyes drifted toward the living room.
She had no idea how long she had been gone, how much the world had changed while she was away. But if there was one thing humanity did well, it was keeping records.
With that thought, she grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. Surprisingly, it worked. The news channel was the first thing she saw.
'I don't know this channel...'
She grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.
A well-dressed reporter stood in front of a massive screen, speaking with urgency.
“The first major announcement of the hour—communication with the other world has been reestablished! After years of silence, we now have access to the Streaming Platform! It is broadcasting live footage from inside the other world, providing updates on ongoing events.”
Kara’s grip on the remote tightened.
The reporter continued, “The second major news is the World Update. Analysts are still deciphering the details, but the system has undergone drastic changes, altering fundamental aspects of gameplay, power scaling, and world structure.”
Kara exhaled slowly. ‘So they know about what is happening over there...’
But before she could think further, she heard the reporter mentioning the third topic of the day.
“The final—and most shocking—news of the day… A massive return wave is happening as we speak. Millions of human players are being forcibly ejected from the other world in what can only be described as a massacre.”
Kara shook her head, thinking, 'It seems I'm one of the countless returnees.'
'How do I access this streaming platform? I need to find a way to communicate with Sora.'
----------------------------------------
|You have died.]
Sora woke up in the familiar void.
It had been a while since his last death, and more than a year since his first. He had chosen to become Ralph Eden, and that name had become a part of him. But now, as he floated in the void, faced with another rebirth, he found himself hesitating.
He had two choices.
Start over with a new identity. Or return with one of his previous aliases.
The invaders knew about his ability, but their knowledge was incomplete. They had never mentioned Alius, and they didn’t seem to know what happened when he was in Kara’s Time Space.
And his greatest secret was still intact.
'Hopefully, no one will ever know what I was doing during the update.'
That was an advantage.
His mind worked quickly. He had a trump card that no one else did—knowledge. He knew how this world worked at its core. The hidden dungeons, the buried relics, the secret rewards that others would only discover after months of painstaking effort and countless chained quests.
If he revived immediately, he could use that knowledge to his advantage, securing resources, finding safe zones, and growing in strength faster than anyone else.
But there was also the risk of being hunted the moment he reappeared. Abbott and Norj had made it clear—if they knew when and where he revived, they would kill him over and over again. And they probably weren’t the only threats.
Then again, waiting a month came with its own risks. The world was quickly changing because of the major update. If he delayed, he risked returning to a world that had lost countless opportunities.
‘They're probably expecting me to return in a month. That's what a sane player would do. And if I go back now, they'll sense my return and will immediately hunt me down. There's a chance Abbott will underestimate me but it's unlikely Norj will do the same.’
His focused returned to the notification in front of his eyes.
[Do you want to use your Prestige to revive ?]
[Yes] [No]
He pressed yes.
[Choose an identity for an immediate revival or create an identity]
[Sora Hashino]
[Ralph Eden]
[New identity (30 Days penalty)]
With a deep breath, he made his decision.
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Author's thoughts:
What will he choose? What should he choose? What do you think ?
Will Sora become a streamer?
Kara is back in the real world!! Will she become Sora's number 1 fan ? Or will she focus on recreating her skills instead?
SO MANY QUESTIONS!!
Comments
Zephyrium
Love it. Can't wait to read the next chapter!
mimou
She is the Female Lead!
Yana Logs
So happy Kara still shows up and that we don’t have to wait another arc just to see her. I didn’t want her to become irrelevant now that she’s out of the game.
