Fish

The memory left me gasping in darkness. My chest felt like it was being crushed, each breath burning.

This is my fault.

All of it. Every single fucking thing that happened to Inorin was because of me. My stupid, selfish ass wanting fancy stationaries. Who the hell needs a penguin pencil case that badly?

"FUCK!" I slammed my wooden fist into the void around me. The impact sent splinters of darkness flying, but I barely noticed the pain.

This is my fault this is my fault this is my fault-

I'd been so wrapped up in my own little world, prancing around like an idiot while Inorin worked herself to death. And for what?

She took that cursed job at Studio Cai because of me. Worked on that game Daikon because of me. Disappeared into thin air because I wasn't satisfied with normal pencil cases like a normal fucking kid.

"I didn't ask for this! I never wanted you to- to-"

…to die?

Here I was, running around different realms, fighting monsters, desperately holding onto hope that she was still alive somewhere. 

But what if... what if she wasn't?

What if I already killed her with my selfishness?

If I'd just opened my damn eyes back then, noticed how exhausted she looked, how her smile got more strained each day, maybe she'd still be home. Maybe we'd be eating dinner together, laughing about my latest cooking disaster.

But no. I had to be a greedy little shit. Had to make everything about me, me, ME.

This is my fault.

This is my fault.

This is my fault.

I screamed and slammed my fist into the void one final time. This time the impact shattered the darkness, fragments of black falling away to reveal a small room. Candlelight flickered across walls covered in paper talisman, wisps of incense curling through the air. At a low wooden table sat a young girl in Taoist robes, her red eyes widening as she whipped around to face me.

"What the hell?!" She scrambled to her feet, bare toes curling against the tatami. "No one can break through my talismans!"

I barely registered her words. My wooden arm throbbed where I'd punched through.

"Hey, are you even listening? How did you-"

"Shut up! Just shut up! None of this matters! I killed her, don't you get it? I KILLED HER!"

"Look, I'm sorry I trapped you in my talisman, okay? It's not a you thing, it's a me thing. I just prefer peace and quiet in my realm, so naturally anyone who steps foot in it goes into my talisman cursed to relive something they dread."

"You don't understand! I'm the reason she-"

"Hey, hey, calm down! Don't make me do it for you."

With a flick of her wrist, an enormous calligraphy brush materialized beside her. The thing was way oversized, taller than she was.

The smirk in her voice just pissed me off more. What right did this bitch have to mock my pain?

She reached for a blank talisman. But she froze mid-reach, red eyes widening. "Your arm..."

I glanced down. Crimson lines pulsed through my wooden arm like infected veins, spreading outward with each throb.

A thunderous crash suddenly came from behind her. One of her talismans on the wall had torn open.

"What now?!" She spun around, brush raised.

Through the shredded talisman burst an enormous koi fish, its black and white scales gleaming as it spun through the air, rippling with the same angry red that pulsed through my wooden arm. Was this thing connected to me somehow?

"Hey fish-face! Watch the talismans!"

But the koi continued to thrash violently, its tail smashing the talismans on the wall. Wood dust rained down as the ceiling groaned.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Do you have any idea how long it took to make those?"

She furiously scribbled on a new talisman. The paper glowed as she flung it at the koi. It stuck to the fish's scales for exactly two seconds before dissolving into nothing.

"How...?!' The girl then turned to jab her brush at me. "This is your fault! You and your stupid emotional breakdown-"

The floor exploded.

We plummeted through empty space, sections of her room falling around us. As the rage drained from my system, horror took its place. Below us stretched familiar ravines.

Lung's realm.

"Did I... did I do this?"

"Oh, you think? Normal people cry when they're upset. But no, you had to go and summon this fish!"

The koi slammed through a section of the cliff. Beyond that, I caught glimpses of endless rice paddies.

Ten's realm.

That's right. This was Daikon. A game with realms stacked on realms. There could be hundreds of floors. Thousands. And somewhere in this endless digital maze was Inorin.

My wooden arm throbbed. The crimson lines pulsed faster, spreading further up toward my shoulder. How many more realms would I have to fight through? How many more Generals would I have to-

SMACK!

A paper slapped onto my face and exploded in a flash of light. It didn't hurt, but it sure as hell snapped me out of my daze.

"Stop sulking and do something about that damn fish of yours!" The girl in Taoist robes - what was her name? - screamed as we plummeted.

"My fish? I don't even know what that thing is!"

But wait. When was the last time I saw Peng? Not since ascending to that girl's realm, now that I thought about it.

As the world started to tilt sideways and consciousness slipped away, I caught one final glimpse of the koi.

Peng... what happened to you?