Chapter 20; The World He Didn't Asked For

Arth’s eyes snapped open.

The familiar scent of old wood and citrus-scented cleaner hung in the air. His gaze followed the ceiling’s jagged cracks—ones he hadn’t seen in while. Slowly, he sat up, disoriented.

His old apartment.

“What the hell...?” he muttered, pressing his fingers to his temple. “Last thing I remember... I was jumping into another universe. So why am I back here?”

Still in his travel clothes—a khaki trench coat over a white long-sleeve polo—Arth rose and stepped to the window. Outside, everything looked... normal. Too normal.

The same crooked lamppost. The same barking dog in the alley. The bakery with the flickering neon sign. Nothing had changed.

That’s what unsettled him.

As he wandered through the familiar streets, trying to ground himself, a figure lunged out from a side alley.

“Hand over your stuff!” the mugger barked, a knife flashing in his grip.

Arth instinctively moved to summon a force field—one of his many temporal gifts.

Nothing.

The mugger slashed again. Arth ducked—too slow.

“Arghhh!” He recoiled, blood leaking from a fresh cut across his palm.

Why aren’t my powers working?! He tried again. Still nothing. Panic set in.

“If you’d just handed it over—!”

Suddenly, a blast of concussive energy hit the mugger in the back, hurling him across the street.

“Hey—it’s Iron Maiden!” someone shouted.

The mugger scrambled away, muttering curses.

Iron Maiden stepped forward, sleek in her dark blue-accented armor, arm cannon still glowing. “You okay?”

Arth clutched his bleeding hand. “Yeah. Just a quick time reversal and—”

Nothing. Again.

Iron Maiden frowned and sprayed thick, foamy gel over his wound.

“Medical foam. You’re lucky.”

“It stings... but thanks,” he said, watching her closely.

She eyed him. “You said ‘time reversal’? What was that about?”

He hesitated. “Forget it,” he muttered, turning away.

Later, Arth sat alone at the park, wind rustling through the leaves. It should’ve felt peaceful.

Instead, it felt... staged.

“I somehow ended up back in this universe,” he whispered. “But I can’t use my powers. What the hell is going on?”

His phone buzzed.

“Arth? Where are you?” a voice asked.

His heart lurched. Kim?

“I’ve been waiting at the station,” she continued. “Don’t tell me you forgot our date.”

“No! Of course not,” he stammered. “Just... had a lot on my mind.”

“You better not bail on me, pretty boy,” she teased. “You’re lucky I love you.”

Kim Ji-yoo… But she’s from another universe.

Evening fell. Kim was stunning in a flowing black dress, candlelight dancing in her eyes. Arth sat across from her, stiff in his usual coat.

“Kim,” he began. “I need to tell you something.”

She smiled, amused. “Don’t tell me you’re proposing?”

“What? No—I mean, not that. I just…”

“I’m a Space-Time Voyager,” he said. “I control space and time.”

She laughed. “Okay, now I know you hit your head.”

“I’m serious. And you—you’re the Saint of Last Resorts. One of the creative sorceresses I’ve ever met.

Her smile faded. “Arth... are you sure you’re okay?”

“I am. I think. Something’s wrong with this world.”

“I’m going to the restroom,” she said quietly, standing.

In the men’s room, Arth stared into the mirror. His breath trembled.

“This isn’t real.”

His reflection blinked independently.

“Isn’t this what you always wanted?” it said with a twisted grin.

Arth staggered back. “Who are you?”

“I’m you. The part that dreams.”

“This isn’t right,” Arth growled. “I gave up everything to protect the multiverse. Why would I come back here?”

“Maybe it’s a reward,” the reflection whispered. “The Creator’s gift. Paradise.”

Arth’s fist clenched—and he punched the mirror.

Glass shattered. A clerk screamed outside.

Later, Kim wrapped his hand in gauze.

“Punching a mirror? Seriously? You’re lucky I’m famous, or you’d be locked up.”

“You’re not a celebrity,” he muttered.

She chuckled. “Arth, I’m the Kim Ji-yoo. You were a guard at my agency, remember?”

“No. That’s not how we met. You hit me with a bottle of liquor.”

She blinked. “You’re not making sense.”

“I need rest,” he said, standing abruptly. “I’ll walk home.”

Back in his apartment, he ripped off his coat and shouted into the shadows, “This world is wrong!”

His reflection smirked from the bedroom mirror.

“No, Arth. This is the world you asked for.”

“Shut up!,” he spat. “Whoever you are! Are you Ouroboros! Is this one of his tricks!.”

“I’m not Ouroboros,” the reflection replied. “I’m your conscience. And this dream? It’s yours.”

Arth’s eyes hardened. “Then I want to wake up.”

He shattered the mirror with his fist again. But now the reflection was in the window.

“You can’t leave,” it taunted. “You’ll lose everything. Including her.”

He looked at his bandaged hand, still aching.

“She wouldn’t want to live in a perfect lie,” he said. “This dream only makes sense to me.”

The world trembled.

Cracks split across the sky. Light fractured like broken glass.

“What are you doing?!” the reflection shrieked.

“I’ve created a multiverse,” Arth roared. “I can tear down one dream.”

The world collapsed.

Darkness.

Then—two doors. One black. One white.

Arth stepped through the white one.

He was consumed by a blinding light.

He coughed violently as he sat up on a metal table. A glowing parasite writhed in a jar nearby.

“Dream leech removed,” said a calm voice.

Sera—the Celestial Witch—stood beside him, holding forceps and smiling.

“You picked one up in a dream dimension,” she said, tapping the jar. “Nasty things. Trap you in your ideal life.”

“You sent me there?” Arth croaked.

“I asked you to collect specimens,” she said cheerfully. “You did great! I’m buying you chili fries for a year.”

“You couldn’t just conjure money?”

She scoffed. “Who do you think I am, Kim Ji-yoo?”

At her name, Arth looked down at his bandaged hand.

Sera tilted her head. “So… she was in your dream?”

He looked away. “Maybe.”

Sera grinned. “You like her.”

“I do not,” he snapped, cheeks flushed.

“Well,” she said softly, “some people throw away paradise... and never know if it was the right choice.”

Arth stood, adjusting his coat. “I’m moving on.”

“Let me know if you get more parasites in your system!” Sera called after him.

He gave a faint smile. “Sure Thing.”

At the edge of the multiverse, stars glittered in his eyes.

His phone buzzed.

1 New Message: “Wake up.”

He stared at the screen.

“Am I still dreaming?” He said in his mind

A glowing doorway opened before him.

Arth stepped through.

Rain fell in sheets. Neon lights painted the air in violent hues. Hovercars roared across magnetic rails. Drones buzzed overhead like steel birds.

Arth awoke—strapped to a vertical slab inside an obsidian tower pulsing with magenta circuitry. His hair was longer. His beard is unkempt.

How long had he been here?

“Arth?” a voice said softly.

He looked up.

Kim Ji-yoo stood before him.

The real one.

Not a dream.

“What happened…?” he whispered. “Where are we?”

She stepped forward, her eyes sharp. Her voice is steady.

“It’s a long story.”


Chapter 20; The World He Didn't Asked For End