Unknown Place
Akira Shindo wakes up, his head heavy, and his mind drowning in regret.
(Congratulations to myself... I'm dead.)
He tries to remember how he died.
Unknown Time – Akira's Perspective
"Hello, Mom. Yes, I missed you too, but I couldn't leave the office early."
Mom: "But… aren't you the company president? Presidents usually delegate their work to others."
Akira: "..."
"You're right. Okay, I'll do that tomorrow."
And while he was exchanging small talk with his mother, waiting for the green light, he heard the sound of a car approaching rapidly. At the same moment, his mother screamed:
Mom: "Akiraaa! Watch out!"
"Huh?"
Akira turns around and sees a black car rushing toward them. Armed men jump out of its windows and start firing at his car.
In that brief moment, thousands of thoughts rush through his mind:
Why are we being targeted? Why me? I'm sure I didn't hurt anyone at work...
Yet he doesn't hesitate. He does the simplest thing he can; he throws his body to protect his mother.
Five bullets pierce his body—
Damn it…
Movies make getting shot look like nothing… like eating a lemon… but this—this is burning hell!
Wait… of course, they are actors… they don't take real bullets.
And before he can curse his stupidity, the pain of the violent penetration brings him back to reality.
Even the heat of the bullets alone is enough to make me lose consciousness… what terrible luck.
Glass shatters around him with a deafening sound, blending with the screams of passersby and the voice of the traffic officer calling for backup.
(I'm dying here, you fool… and what backup are you calling for?)
As his breath fades, he thinks bitterly:
(I didn't even succeed in my work to provide her a decent life… I haven't even started achieving my goal… and now I'm a cold corpse.)
He sees his mother in a blurred vision, screaming and crying over him.
I wonder… she's not hurt, right?
Present Time – Unknown Place
He thinks with annoyance: "Now… where am I?"
He lifts his head, and he is surprised by a white space with no end and no beginning.
He takes some time to comprehend that he is in such a strange place.
(Really… a white space.) He thinks blankly.
When he turns his face to the right, he sees a white figure, shrouded in gray mist around its face.
And although he cannot see its features, he is sure it's looking at him.
But… how did I know it's looking at me?
Because there's no one else here, genius.
"Ah… right."
They stare at each other silently, without saying a word.
"...Should I wait for someone to answer me?"
"...I am the one answering you, you fool."
"Ah, so… sir, aren't you supposed to introduce yourself? Because I really don't like this staring."
"Haaa…"
Akira hears the strange figure sigh, and thinks:
Why is it sighing? Isn't my question logical?
"First: I am not a strange figure, I am Prizmo."
… He stares at him blankly:
Isn't Prizmo a pink creature stuck to a wall?
And although he cannot be sure, he feels as if the other's eyebrow twitches.
"Second: don't compare me to what you know from your world, just because of a name similarity."
"Third: you are here to compensate for a mistake that happened in your life… your premature death."
…
Okay… that's unexpected.
But its voice interrupts him:
"Since when is standing before a sovereign being to be compensated for its mistake something expected?"
… Right.
Seems my mind has been damaged from work lately.
"Yes, that's correct."
"Please… stop reading my thoughts."
(A sign of anger appears above his head.)
"Okay, what do you want?"
He ignores the pleading:
"Wait… am I not supposed to be compensated?"
"Ah, I haven't told you what the compensation is yet."
He feels his eyebrow twitch:
(Really?!)
He ignores it and continues:
"When people die, everyone reincarnates in the same world… but without their memories."
His thoughts automatically drift to:
Ashura… and Indra… but—
"That's because they had extremely strong will."
Prizmo interrupts him again.
"Therefore, the nature of their characters remained rooted in their reincarnations, despite the differences in their fates and types of lives they lived."
And this makes me think of Joy Boy… Luffy's predecessor—
"And due to his will being stronger even than Ashura and Indra…"
(A sign of anger appears above his head.)
"…his incarnations began living a life similar to his, with a personality almost identical to his."
"Okay… let's move on to my reward."
(I think quickly before this annoying one interrupts me.)
Prizmo ignores the insult as if it were a breeze and says:
"As I said, the dead reincarnate in the same world without memories."
"As for you… your compensation is to choose the world you want to reincarnate into, keeping your memories."
"And additionally… you get two advantages of your choice."
When Akira Shindo hears this, he begins thinking:
Okay… so I should choose a calm world, one whose events I know, so I can live a good life…
But while he thinks about the world he wants to choose, suddenly his mind goes blank and returns to one thought:
Wait… what was my goal again?
Without Akira noticing, Prizmo starts focusing on him more deeply, not on his body, but on his soul, and more precisely on his soul filled with chains and restraints.
Prizmo thinks as he sees a barely noticeable crack:
(It has begun.)
Akira: "What was my goal?
To live a decent life?"
Nooo!!
(Some distant thing roars in a corner of his mind)
(The sound of cracking iron)
"To live the life of the rich?"
Nooo!!
(The roar of rejection approaches)
(His chains crack even more)
"To live according to others' whims, to satisfy their expectations and hopes?"
Nooo!!
(The sound becomes noticeable, but Akira ignores it)
(A quarter of the chains crack)
"To earn money, give it to my mother, make her happy, and keep to myself?"
He thinks, and his non-existent blood starts boiling.
Nooo!!
(The roar approaches closer and closer, and Akira feels it)
(Half of the chains crack)
Unknowingly, curiosity ignites within Prizmo, and he blesses it with clarity and intellectual freedom.
Akira continues thinking in raging anger, unaware of anything happening outside his mind.
Akira: "Should I continue putting others' expectations above my dreams and ambitions?"
Nooo!!
(Instead of fearing the roar and trying to push it away or suppress it, Akira accepts it and aligns with it. His thoughts roar with it, becoming louder and louder.)
(The cracking spreads across all chains and reaches the lock above his forehead)
Akira thinks, and with each thought, his thoughts merge with the other voice:
"I will no longer keep others' opinions above me."
"I will not live for their expectations."
"I will enjoy what I can in life, with all kinds of pleasures."
"I will protect who I want, and kill who I want."
"I no longer need to restrain myself to a society that rejects everything it doesn't understand and calls it crazy."
"I no longer need to wear the Akira Eye mask."
"I am the damn true character."
(The crack reaches the lock)
(The sound of an old lock breaking)
Akira: "Haaah!"
He takes a deep breath in and exhales with relief, as if he had been trapped inside a cage in the depths of the ocean. For the first time, he breathes real air, even though he doesn't think souls breathe…
What is this feeling?
"Ah… yes, this is freedom… this is it!"
He stands and spreads his arms, and his shoulders start trembling at first barely noticeable, then the tremors increase as the sound of his laughter grows louder and louder:
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
Prizmo stands beside him, watching with a smile Akira never saw… hmm, no, it's no longer Akira.
This being filled with relief and joy at his freedom.
And while Akira knows his death was a mistake, what he doesn't know is that it was intentional…
Prizmo did this because, being sovereign over the power of freedom, he could not bear to see a being constrained like himself.
Prizmo thinks to himself with relief:
"And now… where will you reach after your liberation? What is your destiny? What are your upcoming challenges? What losses will you face? And what your entire future will be… all will be the result of your decisions."
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Note: I use artificial intelligence for translation and writing improvement, and I would greatly appreciate any tips you could share.
"What suggestions do you have for the second feature, since I've already chosen the first one?"