Somewhere in the boundless void between the outer and inner circles of the universe, a white hound with three heads and nine tails raced through space, chasing a bone flying at the speed of light.
Smash!
Booom!
The bone slammed into a small boat, shattering it—and everything inside—to fragments, before finally coming to a stop.
Moments later, the hound arrived.
"woof! Woof! Wuuuff!"
All three heads lunged at the bone at once.
The middle head snapped its jaws shut around the prize, triumphant. The right head, however, came up empty—except for a chain now firmly stuck between its teeth.
The hound paused.
Then, satisfied with its victory, it turned around and bounded back the way it came, bone in tow, leaving behind nothing but drifting debris.
________________________________________________________________________________
'Agh… why do I feel so uncomfortable?
Is this really how it ends?
Hah… I was so busy forging a future for myself that I forgot to live in the present—and look where that got me. I don't even have a present anymore.
Wait…
How am I still able to think?'
I forced my eyes open with great effort, only to find myself dangling at the end of a chain—the very chain that had once bound me to the boat.
Following it upward, my thoughts froze.
The chain was lodged firmly in the mouth of a three-headed dog.
A dog the size of a truck.
Truth be told, I wasn't even shocked anymore. Everything that had happened to me so far was well beyond what my two remaining brain cells could comprehend.
So… what now?
I can't even reincarnate properly.
Am I stuck as a ghost? Or maybe I'll possess someone's body like in those horror movies—
Aghhhhh—!
A sudden burst of pain tore through me, as if something invisible were chipping away at my soul.
Cold.
It felt unbearably cold.
Gritting my teeth, I tightened my grip on the chain and began climbing upward, inch by inch—toward the warmth of the hound's thick fur.
"Come on, Raspar… you can do this," I muttered, forcing myself onward.
With a grimace, I drew upon every last shred of my soul's strength.
"Hah… hah… hah…"
After what felt like an eternity, I finally made it.
I collapsed onto the back of the three-headed dog, burying myself in its long, glossy fur. Warmth enveloped me instantly. The biting cold vanished, and the pain gnawing at my soul faded away as if it had never existed.
Wrapped in that unexpected comfort, my tense thoughts slowly unraveled. My eyelids grew heavy, resistance melting away.
Before I realized it, I drifted into sleep—cradled by the warmth of a cosmic hound.
"Rasper, wake up! You're going to be late for school!" my mother shouted.
"No, Mom. I'm not going today."
"Sigh… What am I going to do with you?" she said tiredly. "Reading light novels all day, sleeping late, playing games. If you keep skipping school, they won't even let you graduate."
"I know what I'm doing, Mom," I snapped. "I don't need advice. I'm old enough to make my own decisions."
"…Then I'm calling your dad."
"Alright! Alright!" I shot upright. "I'm awake, Mom. No need to call Dad."
…
I woke with tears in my eyes.
Not in my bed—but on the back of the three-headed beast, still racing through the endless void.
Stars stretched in every direction, countless and distant. I remembered something my parents used to say—that people became stars after they died.
"Mom… Dad… I miss you," I whispered.
"You know, I finally made money. I even quit playing games… stopped reading light novels." My voice trembled. "I wish you were here to see it."
I looked down at my hands—green, translucent, barely real.
"I don't know what I am anymore. I don't even know what to do now."
A quiet sigh escaped me.
"I don't want to die yet. I wanted to travel the world… settle down… have a loving wife… maybe a couple of kids."
My thoughts snapped.
'No.
I can't die'.
'I want to live.'
The thought burned brighter than anything I'd felt before.
Then—
Everything went dark once again.
When I woke again, I realized my soul was barely half its original size. The reduction made it easier to slip free of the remaining shackles, and I quickly tied myself to the thick fur of the hound instead.
A hollow unease settled over me.
'I can feel the end drawing closer,' I thought.
'If I don't do something soon… my soul will simply dissipate'.
The thought lingered like frost.
Exhaustion claimed me once more, and I slipped back into uneasy sleep.
...
"Ugh… my head hurts like hell."
I forced my eyes open—and froze.
Towering trees stretched toward the heavens, each one as tall as the Empire State Building. Birds the size of cars soared through the skies, their wings casting enormous shadows over the land below.
Then I looked up.
Seven suns blazed high above, each shining in a different colour of the rainbow. Their lights intertwined, merging into a single, overwhelming white radiance that bathed the world in brilliance.
A chill ran through me.
By now, my soul had shrunk to barely a quarter of its original size.
"Woof! Woof!"
The three-headed hound barked excitedly as it descended, landing atop a mountain peak. Not far away lay a man dressed in flowing white robes, fast asleep amid the clouds.
"BB-BaiBai?" asked the young man in a shaky and hoarse voice.
'What a handsome man…
Definitely a lady killer.'
That was the first thought that crossed my mind, upon seeing the man.
Sharp golden eyes. An aquiline nose. Long purple hair cascading down his back. Tall, lean, and composed—even in his weakened state, he carried an undeniable presence.
"Isn't this the bone of the Nine-Headed Fire Dragon I gifted LeiLei?" he murmured, eyes lingering on the object. "What is it doing with you?"
"Woof! Woof! Woooof!"
All three heads of the hound barked at once, their tails swaying.
"Oh?" The young man gave a bitter smile, then coughed up a mouthful of blood. "So she uses it to play catch with you instead of absorbing it?"
He wiped the blood from his lips and sighed.
"Looks like my soul has been heavily damaged because of LeiLei…" He lowered his gaze. "Tell me, BaiBai… how do I make her accept me? After everything I've done, she says she loves someone else."
His voice trembled.
"What should I do? Do I just… give up?" He clenched his fists. "I love her so much, yet she doesn't care about me at all."
He laughed weakly.
"She even left me here alone after I fainted."
"Woof… woof…"
The young man rose unsteadily and wrapped his arms around the three-headed hound. His shoulders shook as tears rolled down his face.
As I watched him, something inside my soul screamed.
'This is it. My chance.'
The urge was overwhelming—instinctive.
I understood immediately.
This was my chance to live.
If I didn't take it, I would fade away. Disappear.
Without hesitation, I followed that instinct and hurled myself forward—straight toward the man's forehead.
BOOOOM!
I plunged into the young man's mind with ease.
Before me stood a white, ethereal copy of him—magnificent, radiant, and incomparably vast. Yet upon closer inspection, deep cracks marred his soul, spiderwebbing across its surface as if it might shatter at any moment.
His soul sat cross-legged, eyes tightly shut, desperately holding itself together.
I seized the opportunity.
Slipping into one of the cracks, I hid myself within.
Pain exploded through me.
It felt as if my head were splitting apart.
"Hmph! You dare invade my soul sea?" the young man's voice thundered. His soul abruptly opened its eyes, blazing with fury. "You do not have what it takes to possess me."
"Mortal soul," he sneered. "Give up. You are nothing but a fragment on the verge of oblivion."
"Aghhh—!"
My soul began to dissipate rapidly.
Cold. Fear. Panic.
I don't want to die.
NO! I CAN'T DIE YET!
"So what if I'm a mortal soul?!" I roared. "At least I'm not delusional like you! Let go of her—let go of this life! Why cling to suffering?"
The soul before me shuddered.
Encouraged, I pressed on.
"She doesn't love you. She never did."
"NO!" he screamed. "I have loved her for five hundred years! She is mine!"
"You're lying to yourself," I said coldly. "She already has someone in her heart—and it's not you."
"NOOOOO!"
The cracks in his soul deepened, spreading violently as he clutched his head in agony.
"Imagine it," I whispered. "Her ignoring every gift you gave. Never sparing you a glance. Laughing… loving… another man."
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"
With a final, soul-rending scream, his form shattered.
White dust scattered through the soul sea—then surged toward me, merging with my fading green soul.
Memories flooded my mind.
Pain. Love. Regret. Obsession.
I felt intoxicated.
Overwhelmed.
Then—
Darkness.
...
Thud.
The body of the young man in white robes collapsed to the ground.
The so-called mere mortal soul—having shocked two high-level cultivators in a single day—lost consciousness once more, leaving behind the fallen shell of a defeated immortal.
"AWOOOOOOOO—!"
BaiBai howled in grief as the body hit the earth.