"NOOOOOOOOOO!"
The withered, eternal form of the old man shuddered, finally stirring from his primordial seat. His bottomless coffee evaporated into nothingness.
"You are dead, Sam... You killed yourself with your own hands. You shall not be liberated from death without a price. You have dwelt here for millions of years... everything you once beheld has withered away, yet you remain."
Sam felt his flesh and blood evaporate, leaving nothing behind but a skeletal frame shielding his inner organs. He looked revolting—useless, devoid of life.
"I am not dead! I haven't died yet! You are an illusion... surely, surely! I haven't died, I can still breathe... I still have a heart!"
The skeleton went mad. His limbs crumbled one by one, turning into gray sandy dust. As the skeleton collapsed, the hollow sockets within the skull stared at the ceiling, screaming and screaming:
"Help me... help me! No... NO! NOOOOOO!"
The cafe door swung open, revealing a vista of infinite black space, teeming with endless stars.
"Look there... look further," Max said. "There lies the planet where you perished. You cannot see it, and it cannot see you, for you are far too distant. You destroyed yourself. You deserve nothing but death... You must live out your eternal life here."
Sam could not leave... he could not escape. He would never live again.
He had to sleep once more to forget what had happened... he just needed to rest within this void.
The eye within the skeleton closed, and Sam fell into a slumber. A million years... a billion... an immeasurable span of time passed.
When Sam finally awoke, his form had returned—his body was whole, yet his hair remained bone-white. He found Old Max sitting in his usual spot. This time, Sam awoke with full realization.
"Master System... do you require another cup of coffee?"
The old man—the personification of the System—looked at him. Sam had understood far too late. He truly had died in the real world, and now he was facing the System's judgment: an eternity spent in the primordial void.
The System was right. A person like him didn't deserve to live. He didn't deserve a normal life. Someone like him... would remain here, in this eternal void, for a very, very long time.
"No... just rest..."
He sat there, still seated... in a mundane, geometric fashion... composed of right angles. He continued to sip his coffee.
"How about... I massage your shoulders?"
How about... what about... Sam's mind had shattered. His consciousness drifted away and returned, yet he remained incapable of coherent thought. He wanted to return. Surely, he wouldn't stay here forever. What about Sarah? What happened to her? Did she die? Did she simply forget him?
He had been useless, but at least he had tried to help.
"Sam... why do you want to go back?"
Old Max—the System—spoke to Sam, who stood by the window, staring out at the terrifying void of space.
"I want... I want... not to die a virgin."
A desire... an ancient, primal desire. Raw, unrefined, and unpolished. He wanted to feel the touch of a woman; he wanted to live again.
[Desires registered... Maximum level of requirements reached... Maximum level of needs met... The soul demands freedom... Return failed...]
"And what else? Continue," the System urged.
Sam collapsed to the floor as if paralyzed. He was pouring out every desire and emotion he had suppressed throughout the eons.
"I want to become the King of Gambling... the King of Luck... I want to possess everything and never be held accountable for a single mistake! I want... I want..."
"Yes... you are getting closer," the System whispered.
Yes, he had thought about it so often from the start. The more he clung to the world outside, the longer he remained trapped here.
"I want to be... a normal human being."
It didn't matter. He had made this request many times before, and he had always been lying. There was no hope of escape yet. But for once, just once, he had spoken what he truly wanted—what he had really been seeking all along.
Now, finally, he was at peace.
"No... you are not satisfied yet... You haven't fulfilled your desires... You haven't reached contentment! Why are you satisfied?! WHY?!"
Old Max began to blur into a thick mist before his eyes, and the System window flickered into existence once more.
[The Host has failed the mission: 'Salvation of the Villainess'... Desire levels have reached the absolute limit... The Host must complete the Villainess's salvation to avoid a permanent return to the Eternal Void... Reanimating Host...]
[WARNING: The soul has bonded too deeply with the Void... Attempting to purge Void-related traces from the soul...]
[ERROR! ERROR! Purge incomplete... Some side effects will remain on the Host... We wish the Host good luck.]
On one of the beds in the Academy's specialized hospital, someone was suffering from an agonizing headache.
His long, slightly curly black hair reached his neck, now streaked with prominent strands of pure white. He lay there, writhing in pain, clutching his body and limbs, gasping loudly as he finally forced his eyes open.
Curtains surrounded him completely. He was in a state of utter disbelief, trying for a moment to deny everything he had experienced just seconds ago.
Wasn't he dead? What was happening?
[Patient has awakened... Patient has awakened... The nurse will arrive shortly...]
One of the machines beside his bed began emitting a piercing, rhythmic sound—much like an alarm clock. Sam tried to shut it off, but to no avail.
A moment later, a nurse entered and gently drew back the curtains, dressed in her soft-colored uniform.
"Wait just a moment, the doctor is on his way."
A doctor... machines... real people. No more stifling air; instead, the sharp scent of germicidal disinfectants filled his lungs. It was sterile, pure.
To Sam, that clinical smell felt like a long-lost, nostalgic fragrance.
When the doctor arrived at Sam's room, a look of sheer astonishment was etched across his face. He swallowed hard, glancing cautiously at Sam, who was staring directly into his eyes.
"I am the chief physician of this clinic... Dr. Tom Harry. To be honest, I thought you would never wake up, so I had somewhat neglected your case."
Sam gave a slight nod. "How long have I been here?"
"Hmm... let me think. About two weeks. Your body was battered from head to toe, and you were covered in filth from the trash. It was Ms. Sarah Smorgoth who brought you here. I heard you had been missing."
Hah... It wasn't an easy pill for Sam to swallow. After finally winning some money from gambling, he had decided to indulge himself with drinks and "Ecstatic Angel" injections.
That indulgence led to him being stripped of everything he owned and tossed into the alleyways behind the buildings after witnesses saw him stop breathing entirely.
And now, here he was. It seemed that strange dream was merely the hallucinatory aftermath of the brutal beating he had endured.
It was incredibly difficult... he had truly been through hell.
It ended here... Even though everything had been a somewhat strange dream, it had forced him to confront himself and face his lowest, most primal desires.
It had left him profoundly content and hyper-aware, as if he had finally tasted what is called "eternal peace."
Now, Sam was undergoing a rehabilitation process. Two days had passed in the Academy's clinic, and not a single soul had asked about him. He had no money, no phone—not even the simplest of possessions.
During lunch in the present day, Sam sat in total silence until this message flickered into view:
[System Re-initialization Complete...]
[Mission: Salvation of the Villainess – In your absence, the Villainess has spiraled further into resentment. You must lead her back to the right path and save her from the abyss of rage.]
[Reward: One Wish.]
[Penalty: Spiritual Rot in the Eternal Void.]