Tiger found himself dreaming again.
He was standing inside the same mysterious castle he had visited before—the white castle where the God sat upon his throne. Everything around him was quiet, almost unreal. Tiger was lying on the ground when the God began walking down the stairs toward him.
"So, what makes you think you had died, Tiger?" the God asked.
Tiger looked up at him, confused. "What are you talking about?" he asked while still lying on the ground.
"I'm talking about that loop," the God replied as he continued coming down the stairs.
Tiger slowly stood up. "How do you know about that?" he asked. "I did feel like I was dying, but I couldn't completely feel it. How am I supposed to tell you whether I was actually dying or not?"
"You don't need to tell me," the God said calmly. "And besides, you felt like you were dying, but you weren't."
Tiger's eyes widened. "What?"
"Yes. You weren't actually dying. You were in a state of half-sleep."
"Half-sleep?" Tiger repeated. "What does that even mean?"
The God stopped in front of him. "It means you had already fallen partly asleep. You were asleep enough to remain standing there without falling down, but you weren't completely unconscious."
Tiger looked confused. "But why did that happen?"
The God sighed. "Look, you know… well, I don't know if I should say that you know everything or not."
Tiger narrowed his eyes. "Was it because of my Swiga…?"
"Exactly."
Tiger immediately looked down at his Swiga.
"Your Swiga was responsible for it," the God continued. "You thought you had died, but in reality, you were still standing in the exact same place. You didn't move at all. It was almost as if you had become paralyzed for a short period of time."
Tiger stared at his Swiga while listening carefully.
"But why did it happen?" he asked.
The God began walking from one side of Tiger to the other, studying him as he spoke. "Your Swiga does things even you don't fully understand. And these powers weren't gifted to you by any God. They're your own powers. If you didn't exist, your Swiga wouldn't exist either."
Tiger remained silent, staring at the ruby-like object.
"Actually," the God continued, "you probably know more about your Swiga than I do. But just to make things clear, I can tell you what happened."
He paused.
"As for why your Swiga did that… I don't know either."
Tiger looked up at him.
"You can call what happened to you a Temporal Loop," the God explained. "You experienced something like a future loop at the beginning, then a repeating loop, and now this Temporal Loop."
Tiger listened carefully.
"A Temporal Loop means time no longer moves in a straight line," the God continued. "It can twist—rewinding, repeating, and even allowing pieces of the future to leak into the present. And you were trapped inside one."
Tiger's expression became serious.
"Or, if you want the simple version," the God added, "you can think of it as being able to enter reverse loops, repeating loops, and future loops. But once again, I don't know exactly why this happens to you. I'm not even completely sure whether your Swiga is responsible for all of it or if something else is involved."
Tiger sighed. "Maybe nobody knows."
The God smiled slightly. "Perhaps."
Tiger suddenly remembered something.
"But how did you know from the beginning that I had experienced a future loop?"
The God looked at him.
"Because I've been watching you since before you were even born."
Tiger's eyes widened.
"Wait… what?"
The God didn't answer that part. Instead, Tiger quickly remembered the mysterious girl.
"And what about that girl?" Tiger asked. "You know about her too, don't you?"
"I know about her," the God replied.
Tiger immediately asked, "Then tell me about her."
"I can't."
"Why?"
The God looked toward Tiger with a serious expression. "It's a rule of the Gods. We aren't allowed to spoil the future of our main humans."
Tiger frowned. "Main humans?"
"Yes. When I appear in your dreams, you become one of my main humans. And, of course, you're the first human who has ever been able to see a God inside their dreams."
Tiger looked surprised.
"And even now, no other human sees Gods in their dreams like you do," the God continued. "Nobody else has done it, and nobody else will. You are the only human who will experience this."
Tiger remained quiet, trying to understand what he was hearing.
"There are many Gods like me," the God explained. "But they don't see you because I haven't called them here. Anyway, we've talked about enough things for now."
The God turned away slightly.
"I can see your fate, Tiger. But as I told you, I cannot reveal it to you."
Tiger stared at him.
The God then looked back.
"And before you leave…"
He paused.
"There is something you should know. Nobody can kill you anyway. You are the God of—"
Tiger suddenly woke up.
He sat up in bed, completely annoyed.
"Argh! Every single time!" Tiger shouted. "Can't you at least finish one sentence before I wake up?"
He rubbed his face and sighed heavily.
"I'm tired of all this."
Tiger looked down at the bed, his expression becoming exhausted.
"These loops… all this weird stuff happening to me…"
He slowly lay back down.
"My mind doesn't even feel normal anymore. At this point, I don't think I'll even be able to sleep properly."
Tiger closed his eyes, hoping he could finally get some rest.