This is a story from long, long ago, so long that the person it is about doesn't even remember. In this story, no one was at fault, but no one was in the right either. She was just too powerful, unfortunately. That was really it.
Ever since she was born, or possibly even before that, she was too powerful. She herself knew that something was gravely off with herself. There was no fantasy in the world, just days of never-ending, unmerciful reality. People had no superpowers, and they could not use magic. Those who claimed they could on television were just those good at faking it. Fortune-tellers and prophets were all simply people extrapolating from the past to guess at the future, and none of them could actually do what they claimed. That was why they would strut around like a peacock reminding everyone of their achievement whenever they managed to be right, but when they were wrong, they would craftily pretend that they didn't remember ever making any such prediction.
People could not fly through the air, nor could they live without air. People could not produce fire from their hands either, nor could they combat aging. That was why all of that was confined to the realms of fantasy and fiction, only to be told of in fairy tales. All of this was simply a fleeting dream that could only exist in fiction, or it should have been.
She alone was different. In this world with no dreams and no fantasy, she alone had dreams; she alone was fantastic. She could use magic, and she had superpowers. She could fly through the air, survive being in space, produce fire from her hands, and if she wanted, she could stop growing at any time. She could even become younger at will. She had once tried burning herself to ash as an experiment, but even then, she'd never lost consciousness. All that had happened was that she'd lost her body. With her consciousness still remaining, she could get her body back in an instant if she wanted. Even life and death bent to her will.
Not even she herself knew why someone like her was able to be born. In fact, there was probably no reasoning behind it. After all, would anyone be able to answer if someone asked them if there was a reason the universe itself existed? No, surely not. There would probably be some scholars or religious figures who would try to answer the question with some convoluted logic, but without any proof, it would still be the same as if they hadn't answered at all.
There are always things that people cannot explain, as well as some things that will probably go unexplained forever, such as how the universe was created. If asked, the majority would probably answer with the big bang, but that invited the next question. Then what caused the big bang to occur? At this point, most would become unable to answer, but a minority of smart people would probably attempt to reason through an answer. They might say that something happened, or that there was some kind of coincidence, or maybe that some kind of component clicked into place. However, that would then invite another question. Where did such a thing come from?
By repeating this cycle, the conclusion that the beginning was nothing would eventually be reached. However, reaching that conclusion would erase all meaning. If there was nothing, then there would be no coincidence or component, and there would be no universe. Wouldn't the nothingness simply continue for eternity? After going that far, most likely no one would have a rebuttal, since this would be reaching into the area of philosophy.
Ultimately, there would always be unexplainable things if one inquired far enough, and she was probably one of them. She was something that could not be explained by reason. In fact, there might have been no specific reason behind her at all. She was from a completely failed place where human intellect could not reach and illogicality and inconsistency ruled. She may have been born because humans imagined God, or maybe humans were born because she had imagined them. She may have come from the universe itself, or it was possible that the universe came from her. Not even she herself knew which had come first. After all, she currently stood in a place where a sense of time could not take hold. She both felt that she could have been alive before the universe had existed and that she could have come after the universe had ended.
What kind of thing am I? Why was I born? Why do I exist?
Not even she could answer those questions.
In the end, it was probably all a coincidence, just like the universe that had sprung from nothing. Just like how a green planet called Earth happened to have been formed, and how life happened to have been born on it. Just like how fire and water existed and how time had begun as well. Just as how all things were born or formed, she was surely born as the concept of herself.
In other words, she herself was some sort of phenomenon, something that had even less of a chance of happening than the universe, a singularity that was able to be born and walk around on Earth. The biggest glitch ever to spring from the world.
She might have been the manifestation of all the unrealistic things that had been unnecessary when reality itself had been created. Maybe all the concepts and notions that had not been created in the world had taken human form and been born as her. This coincidence was basically impossible. It was as if someone had scattered computer parts all throughout the ocean, and they somehow came together and were assembled into a complete PC. There was an almost zero percent chance of it happening. However, she was born from such a happenstance. The impossible became possible.
Humans are beings who march towards death from the moment they are born. They lived with the fear of death their entire lives. However, she did not understand such things, and so she pitied humanity. No matter how much humans fantasized, they could never escape the cage that is reality. The only time they were allowed to dream was in their sleep.
How pitiful humans are, she thought. At the same time, she grew angry. Why does God not save these poor people? Look at how hard they're praying; it's almost comical. They're all wishing not to die. Why doesn't God reach out a hand to save them? Why, why, why?
Her questions were never-ending.
Why is the world filled with so much suffering? Why do people make so many mistakes? Why do they kill and hate each other?
People are scared, so they take up weapons. Though they seek peace, they cannot put down their weapons for fear of being attacked by others with weapons.
As long as the concept of conflict exists in people's hearts, then fear will not disappear either. If someone didn't have any means to protect themselves, they would just be killed, so peace and weapons go hand in hand. Deadly weapons and peace… though those two things are antitheses and will never mix, they've become synonymous. Just like that, people accrue weapons, gradually become stronger, and most likely they eventually fall, burned by the weapons that made them too strong.
People recognize the inevitability of this future, at least somewhat. That is why there are so many postwar, postapocalyptic novels and stories in general. However, they still are unable to let go. If they do, they will be destroyed by others who haven't, after all. There would be no protecting themselves. So, wouldn't this be the point where God should step in? If a child picks up a toy that would hurt them, is it not the job of the parent to take the toy away? However, God is doing nothing.
These poor, unstable creatures need strict guidance! But no matter how they pray or wail, God pretends not to see. No, he surely isn't even looking. She paused. If God really exists, then he is heartless.
At some point, she started to think like that. After years, decades, centuries of living amongst people, the dissatisfaction she had towards whoever had made this world grew ever stronger each time she came to know of the suffering that she was divorced from.
Living things die. They leave behind children as proof they were alive, and they continue to pass the baton to the next generation. The reason living things exist is in order to leave behind children. They lived in order to leave behind proof of their life. That was probably a necessary evolution in order to survive. It had to be done in order to allow creatures to adapt to their surroundings and maintain diversity. By having generations quickly change out, resources were not wasted.
There were many other reasons why this was done, and she understood that. However, she still felt it was cruel. Because they were gifted with knowledge, humans all died while crying about not wanting to die. The will of this world was for everything that lived to die. There was no salvation; from birth, the world itself told them to die, to not survive.
Why was the world made this beautiful but also this cruel?
At some point, she went out on a journey to save people. From the sick to the wounded to the suffering, she reached out the hand of salvation to all those she laid eyes on, continuing to pick them up. She was called a savior, a saint, and a goddess. She saved, and she saved, and she saved, but it was hopeless. There was no end. After all, people were made to die. In the end, it was as if she'd never saved them at all.
Because the world had been made this way, she was not solving the underlying problem. In order to save this world, in order to free everybody from their suffering, she had to flip the world over completely. That was why she decided to change the foundations.
Reaching the place was easy; she simply flew through the sky and space so fast that light was not even close to catching up, until she reached the end of the universe. It was impossible for a human-sized lump of matter to surpass the speed of light. Even if it did happen, it would be disastrous. However, none of that mattered to her. After all, she was a singularity. She was unbound by the laws of this universe, and she contained multitudes of different laws and providences within her. She simply rewrote the common sense of the universe, applied what laws were convenient to her, and forced them into place.
Normalally, cooling water would turn it into ice. However, if she said that the water would become fire instead, cooling water would then produce fire. Why? Who knows? She was able to do it, and that was that. The question of why never entered her mind at all.
"I can do it."
That was the truth, and that was all that mattered.
If someone saw the entirety of space at once, they would see that it resembled a brain, and that outside of that, there was nothing. There was just white that seemed to stretch on forever, and there was no god to be found. It was just endless nothingness.
"Ah… as I thought. There is no God."
She was disappointed at that. The salvation that humanity believed in didn't exist. There was no fantasy, and there was no dream. All there was was merciless nothingness.
I see. No wonder no one can be saved. No wonder no one stretched a hand out, no matter how people prayed. I mean, there's no one here. But from now on, things will be different. I can save them. I can stretch my hand out. If there is no God, then I will become God. If they pray, then I can be like the Gods from their dreamed-up myths, living beside them and listening to their wishes. After all, I can do anything.
"Okay, it's time to change things. I will save them. It's the end of this world with no God. From now on, I will love all of you. I will save all of you. From this moment, the true world begins!"
She laughed and was innocently happy.
From now on, I'll be God. I can save everyone. I can make them happy. It'll be fine. I will never abandon humanity. I will definitely make them all happy. I will save them!
A prisonlike world with no special powers is just boring, so let me split off another world. I'll use a piece of my power, mana, to make a new universe, populate it with stars and planets, and invite everyone there. People will be able to fly through the air and use magic, and I'll even let them have ESP. I won't put any fetters on evolution. If they don't want to die, then they can live for thousands or tens of thousands of years if they like. I'll even let them be immortal!
That's right. It will be sad if they just disappear after death, so I'll just create souls. That way, they can be reborn as many times as they like. I'll also prepare a place.Valhalla, I'll call it, to accept people after death and allow them to be reborn. I'll trap all the bad concepts, like violence, life spans, hating others, and bringing people down, in bad mana, and separate that to make a wonderful world where everyone can live in peace.
Everything started with a wonderful idea. She simply had a pure desire to make people as happy as possible. However, her ideals weakened at some point, buried under vast years of time. She forgot what she'd set out to do. All that remained was the desire to make people happy, but it had been bent and twisted. Finally, all that was left was rampant goodwill left beyond the edges of space, continuing to comically dance alone forever and ever without forgetting the ideal of making people happy but making grave mistakes on how to go about it.
***
Countless year later...
Nobody could move.
Neither the king on his throne, his soldiers, nor even the court mages. Not even the king's advisor, who'd lived for over thousand years. Everyone saw that figure and was drawn in, absorbed in its presence and yet drowned in utter fear.
Her long, fluttering hair was the color of gold that formed into a long braided. Her eyes, which seemed to see through everything, were an ice-like blue. Covering her fair white skin was a majestic black dress and a cloak of orange.
Her appearance was so beautiful, symmetrical, and flawless it made one realize the difference between them and perfection, going as far as to result in feelings of misery.
And peeking out of her cloak was proof of being one of the flugels while at the same time being the taboo of the same race: large, pitch-black wings.
As if a true king had just returned, people bowed their heads in fear. They could not raise their heads. They could not face forward. Knees shaking, they assumed the position of a retainer welcoming their master home, heads stuck to the ground.
She was the perfect example of a king whose presence commanded the space around them, prompting people to prostrate themselves just by standing there.
She had the presence and dignity of a supreme ruler, one that would brook no argument, as well as the dress of a leader.
And in the center of that whirlpool…
The black winged girl who forced all the people in the castle to prostrate themselves, who gained total control of the place without lifting a finger, smiled silently and thought:
What the hell! Some people I don't know are bowing to me. What is this? A prank? What should I do? Just how did all this happen? Someone, please help me!
It wasn't anyone else, but her, who was most confused in that situation.
***
Why is this happening to me?
That's probably first in the order of things I should explain. But, there's something I should say before that.
My name is Naruko. And I'm just a girl. A perfectly healthy, normal, everyday high school girl living in Japan. With that as a premise, I'd like you to listen.
First… let's see.
I was playing a game, just like usual. That game being Xgate Online.
Xgate Online was an online game that got released in 2025, and this year was their 6th anniversary.
Apparently, it was based off of a family-friendly, orthodox RPG set in Midgar, a fantasy world of swords and magic, which got turned into a tabletop RPG before having that turned into the online game we have now. Unfortunately, I never had the original console, so I never played the original game.
…No, well, I had considered buying it. The console was called "Dreamstation," or "Dreast" for short.
But the Dreast was a console from twenty years ago; it was really hard to find. There exposed immediately and ostracized and hated just as fast.
There was also one more selling point to this game. The "Story System."
It was a system that partnered with the internet's largest novel-submission site, where the things that players did in-game got turned into official canon in the form of a novel.
"I started a war for this reason."
"We went through this much trouble to finish a quest."
Send those things in to the official site, and anything they accepted would get displayed on the official homepage.
If you paid money, you could get even small events made into a story, so everywhere in Xgate Online was a story, and the players were all the main characters. And large, critical events were turned into stories free of charge.
My character, Lunaru Fenris, became a semi-official character that all the players knew. She'd destroyed and taken over many enemy states and was the first character since the game started to combine the entire world into a single country and reign over it as the Black Empress.
Lunaru Fenris, the Black Angel of Death, the Blackbird of Doom.
That's right, once I managed to take over the world I found my country and empire—Zodiac. As one would expect, I couldn't take over the official last boss, the Grimm King, his minions, but everyone other than the free players became citizens under Lunaru Fenris.
The above event was treated grandly by the above Story System, and people started saying a lot of different things about Lunaru Fenris. If I remember right, they were things like, "You're a wild last boss," or "Geez, why don't you just become the last boss?" But then, a problem happened.
A unified world was, honestly, not fun game-wise. It was a waste of a fun mechanic in the War System, and made it harder for new players to make their own new countries. So, I consulted with the other seven high-level players, and we agreed on holding a player-created event.
We contacted a famous novelist on the site and had him create a new "crux of history." The story went like this:
The world was invaded by the Black Empress Lunaru Fenris and unified through force.
However, the Seven Maidens of Midgar rose up.
Even while being ruled, they waited for a chance, and along with others who agreed, they stood against the root of evil, Lunaru Fenris, in rebellion! Oh, great heroes of Midgar. Such bravery is true nobility!
Now, drag the Black Empress who exploits tyranny to no end down from her throne!
Yeah, I'm straight-up the bad guy.
Essentially, we split the world into two forces: the Zodiac's Army led by Lunaru Fenris, and the Army of Justice led by Erza Belserion. Then, we proceeded to leave the official last boss in the dust as we held the biggest battle in the history of the game by ourselves.
So to spoil the conclusion for you, I lost. I mean, basically all the most powerful players were on the other side! As if I could win.
But I still tried my best. By the time I noticed, I was already alone, but I still rampaged as hard as I could.
I used my racial skill to neutralize all the weak players, around 80% of them, and did my absolute best and managed to take it to a one-on-one fight with Erza.
…Well, at that point my HP was already dipping past the 20% line, though.
Yeah, it was over in one hit.
I made the first move and managed to bring her HP down to 0 once, but she used the skill "Climax," something totally for main characters, to revive herself and win a miraculous come-from-behind victory. At least, that's how she played it.
I mean, she definitely took that last attack on purpose.
After getting hit by Erza's, and the rest of heroes's, ultimate moves in a show of complete overkill, I was subjected to a subspace seal (a magic spell that exiles someone or something into subspace, or so the flavor text goes). It even came with the description: Finishing an enemy with this will extend the time it takes for them to revive.
Please stop! I'm already out of HP! Well, I didn't like the idea of getting wrecked without even saying anything, so before I was completely gone I even tried to roleplay, saying, "Well done, heroes of Midgar! You have done a wonderful job surpassing us! If it's with all of you, you might be able to win, even against that detestable Grimm King!" …Yeah, uhhh… I was young.
Just like that, Lunaru Fenris lost, and the world was freed from her grasp.
That was how the end of the story went.
The reactions to it were really good. Enough that people said things like, "Like, this can just be the real ending," "That was a good last episode," "Hey, don't forget about the Grimm King (lol)!" "Grimm King? Oh yeah, the one that hid until Naru was dead. Uhhh, what was his name again?" and "Lol, that's way too cruel." It was big enough that it basically sparked an internet party.
Even though I lost, I still managed to complete a huge event and was satisfied with that. I was even grinning from ear to ear as I looked at the message boards.
So, when I tried to log in the next day, an unfamiliar character popped up on the screen.
Her full name was the Goddess of Love and Creation, Yggdra. In the story, she was the one who created the world of Midgar, and to put it bluntly, she was basically the avatar of the devs.
She was a cheat character that popped up during times like when a player logs in for the first time or during official events, and although she does have her stats set, they're so ridiculously high no one would ever be able to even think of beating her.
Like, what the hell? 999999999999999 health? Are you screwing with me? Even bosses don't go past a million in this game, you know?
So, the official cheater Yggdra appeared and said this to me: "I shall bestow upon you a new role."
I took this as some sort of message from the devs.
Right now, Lunaru Fenris was treated as a big boss character on the level of the Grimm King in Xgate Online. Of course, the game company wouldn't be able to ignore her, especially if the next day I tried to log in again after such a huge event like nothing had happened… yeah, I get it. Even I think it's kinda uncool.
I was thinking, like: If I just log in like this, what'll happen to the story if I just revive like nothing happened? So honestly, this was a godsend.
That's why I clicked the "Yes" option in response to the message.
I had no idea what kind of event it was, but I'd been getting through official events just fine up until now.
So whatever plan they have for me, bring it on, I say! With that thought in mind, then, my vision whited out.