"You do know that this could have all been avoided if you had killed him," Ryuk stated as he appeared before us in his humanoid form.
We were in the same situation as when I first died.
I could see my vessel standing on the other side of my original body...
Yes, fortunately, it wasn't me who died, but my temporal duplicate...
I wasn't proud of it... Nor was I happy. But this had to happen... I was simply cursed with the privilege of watching him pass away because of Ryuk.
"Does it really matter?" he asked, his soul form phasing in and out of existence. "As long as one of us lives... we can continue this story."
Although Ryuk didn't say anything in response... for a brief moment, there was an expression on his face that looked like shock at the answer my doppelganger gave.
"I can see on your face that there is so much guilt in your heart, yet you choose to hide it all for the sake of changing the fate of so many people..." He turned toward me as he spoke. "But if you give up now... all those sacrifices you made will mean nothing. So go on... continue this story and reach its end."
If I could have spoken at that moment... I would have thanked him.
"For all of us."
Those were his final words before he faded...
Then everything went dark as I was knocked out by the shockwave that followed.
....
When I opened my eyes, the bright rays of the sun struck them immediately. I squinted, raising a hand to shield my face as I looked up.
Green leaves swayed gently above me, their branches weaving together to block parts of the sunlight. Thin beams of gold slipped through the gaps, scattering across the grass like fractured glass.
"Did I sleep so long that trees started growing on this planet?" I asked as I slowly sat up from the grass.
"I wouldn't be surprised if you slept that long," a voice came from beside me.
Turning my head, I found Tom sitting comfortably on a thick tree branch, one leg dangling lazily in the air. In his hand was a stick skewering what looked like roasted gecko meat.
"The hell, man... I just woke up. Did you seriously not find anything else to eat?" I asked, grimacing at the sight.
"The only other thing I found were snakes," Tom replied with a shrug as he took another bite. "But I figured killing them might upset this dude who's letting us rest on him..."
He tapped the bark beneath him with his heel. "Or her... I didn't exactly confirm the gender."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, frowning as I leaned forward and brushed my fingers through the grass around me.
It felt natural.
Then why would he call it that?
"Maybe you can't feel it yet since you just woke up," Tom said casually as he continued chewing. "But from where I'm sitting, I can feel its blood flowing."
He glanced down at the ground beneath us.
"Guess my range improved after all that bloodshed..." His voice trailed off for a moment before he looked back at me. "You... are you alright after what happened?"
"...I'd be crazy if I was," I replied with a faint smirk.
"But being sad about the past won't push us any further into the future..." Tom didn't answer immediately. "...How can we save another planet when we couldn't even protect a child?" he asked quietly, turning his gaze away.
"It's true they're giving us another chance... but if I could, I would throw away my life without hesitation to save him."
Silence lingered between us.
"Another chance..." I exhaled slowly as I stared at the sky. "Just another chance to live."
"You know how many people would kill to get something like that?" I lowered my gaze toward Tom. "He gave us the chance to live... Don't let his sacrifice go to waste."
"...You're more hurt than you look," Tom murmured.
"That aside, did they give you any information about this planet?" I asked, standing up from the ground.
"None, actually. They said our objective this time was exploration, to figure out whether this planet is habitable or not," Tom replied as he hopped down from the tree.
"...Exploration?" I repeated.
"Exploration," Tom confirmed.
"Bloody hell..."
My expression darkened as I lowered my gaze.
Unlike missions such as investigation, extermination, or securing an objective... exploration is far more dangerous.
It can go either way.
Either this place will prove to be a highly dangerous world... or a planet with little to no threats beyond a few minor inconveniences.
There is no in-between.
"Tommy... we are so dead," I stated as I looked up at him, noticing a pair of glowing eyes behind him.
The very next second, we sensed the creature's presence and moved fifty feet away from that direction before we even had time to properly glance at it.
"You totally jinxed that," Tom said as we turned to face the creature that had appeared before us.
Its figure was mostly humanoid, with red scales instead of normal skin. It had a long tail and a large reptilian face, a monocle resting on its left eye, and baggy clothing hanging loosely from its frame.
"The hell even is that thing?" I asked in confusion. I was genuinely baffled. Something like this never appeared in the main story, which meant we had just lost our greatest advantage.
The glowing eyes blinked once.
Then stepped forward into the sunlight.
"Ahem, excuse me, but... you two wouldn't happen to be members of any notable guilds, would you? I couldn't help but approach after noticing the attire you're wearing," the creature said as it walked toward us.
"It speaks?" Tom gasped in surprise, lowering his guard slightly.
"That's rather rude. Addressing an intelligent creature as 'it' is somewhat disrespectful, good sir," the creature replied politely. "But... judging by the two of you, it seems you are fairly new to this world. It's been quite some time since we last received guests from another planet. Did you happen to make planetfall here?"
"Yes, we did. But seeing as you're aware of people from other planets... I assume you can tell us a bit about this world," I said. "If you do, we could trade some information you might find useful. You do look like quite the book lover."
My gaze drifted toward the leather bag hanging at his side, where the edges of several books were visible.
"Hmm, of course. But I believe the two of you would prefer to speak somewhere else, as this isn't exactly the most suitable place for a proper conversation. You may address me as Tiavus, Fifth High Scholar of the Red-Scaled Dragonborn, Keeper of—"
He then proceeded to list nine other titles, most of which we didn't even bother paying attention to before he finally stopped.
"...Oh! My apologies. It seems I've gotten carried away and forgotten the time at hand. How may I address the both of you?"
"Tommy," I said, pointing at Tom.
"Raymond," Tom replied, pointing at me.