"...Your experiences are fantastical."
The woman, who called herself Acheron, after listening to Xin Yu recount his story, offered a quiet comment.
"You are in danger. Besides the energy erosion within your body, you have also fallen into [Nihility]."
"That's not nihilism in the philosophical sense. In this universe, It is a real phenomenon."
"This might be why you arrived here. Your strange talent for traversing time and space, combined with your own self-destructive mentality stemming from a strong sense of nihility, triggered some phenomenon, causing you to become tainted by Nihility."
The two were currently sitting inside a cave, in front of a lit bonfire.
Xin Yu looked at the burning bonfire before him, slowly exhaled, and said, "I don't know what came over me back then. Maybe those past memories affected me. I truly felt that everything was meaningless, that there was no place for me in this world, that no one would feel sad about my departure or death... At that moment, I forgot that there was still a place reserved for me somewhere."
"I wasn't left with nothing. I have a master who imparted knowledge to me, I have a teacher who guided me, I have distant ideals yet to be realized, and also the dreams of others I carry, yet to be fulfilled."
Acheron looked at the youth, who had regained his spirits, and spoke in her unperturbed tone.
"Hold onto that. Remember to maintain your anchors. If you cannot grasp even these last anchors, you will lose your final color and fall into the abyss from which there is no landing."
"Thank you for the reminder. So, where exactly have I ended up this time? If only this ability could be controlled somewhat. Even just being able to slightly predict when I might transmigrate would be helpful."
Xin Yu was afraid that someday, when he encountered something important, he would inexplicably transmigrate, potentially causing something terrible to happen.
"I don't know either... I'm lost."
"Uh..."
The atmosphere became somewhat silent for a moment.
Xin Yu finally decided to first investigate the inexplicable power that had appeared within his body.
Xin Yu sensed the energy within him. It felt more corrosive than spiritual energy, though it lacked a sense of 'aliveness'.
Slightly pushing the energy within his body, the bonfire burning before Xin Yu rapidly extinguished. Acheron, who had taken out a peach colored almost white, also paused her actions.
"...You silenced the flame. You made the flame fall into Nihility, thus the flame vanished."
"Uh... Huh?"
"It has myriad emanations. Every person who falls into one of Its myriad emanations can gain different abilities from different aspects, and will also evolve various different powers based on their own understanding and application."
"Some use the power of Nihility to heal others, some use the power of Nihility to destroy others."
Afterward, Acheron said many more things, but Xin Yu barely understood any of it. Something about Paths, Aeons, and various philosophical concepts... Indeed, the cultural gap between a planet native like me and someone from an interstellar civilization is too vast.
Someone who claims to have lost many memories still retains so much culture and can speak so many philosophical words.
I am far inferior to her.
...I really should go back to school properly. Otherwise, if I transmigrate to other worlds in the future, I might be treated as an illiterate.
While Xin Yu was contemplating whether to go back to school for remedial lessons, Kiana back on the Moon was getting anxious.
"How could this happen!"
Watching the footage of Xin Yu's departure from the base's surveillance cameras, the group was once again astonished.
From Xin Yu's perspective, he had inexplicably fallen into nihilism after seeing others' happiness, and then transmigrated again. But from an outsider's perspective, it was a different situation entirely.
In the surveillance footage, Xin Yu first stared blankly at Kiana interacting noisily with everyone in the video call. Then, his eyes, which originally held spirit, rapidly became vacant.
Those vacant eyes were empty and void, as if everything had been lost.
Then, Xin Yu stiffly turned around, walking step by step towards the back, before disappearing into the darkness.
"...Damn it, we were only focused on the youth's ability and his physical condition, completely neglecting his mental state..."
"He lost his memories, and he even came to our world from another world. This means he lost everything he originally possessed, becoming someone with nothing. These things were suppressed in his heart and didn't erupt. But when he saw Kiana, saw others looking happy, those thoughts suppressed in his heart surged forth. At that moment, his mental state must have suffered a severe breakdown..."
"...I can't be sure if he might give up his own life because of this."
Kiana suddenly blamed herself. If only I hadn't been so focused on that ability, maybe I would have noticed the youth's psychological state wasn't right?
Or perhaps, am I regretting that someone might commit suicide because of this? Or am I regretting losing the chance to change the past?
...
Thump!
Xin Yu fell heavily onto his own floor. He rubbed his slightly swelling head and said, exasperated.
"Why did I appear directly at the ceiling this time?"
Xin Yu climbed up from the cold floor, hung the straw hat he was wearing aside, changed his clothes, and then ran out to continue delivering food.
He was determined to save money diligently and then travel the world.
As for the so-called Nihility and whatnot, Xin Yu couldn't be bothered to think about it. The more things he cared about, the more worries he would have. So, it was better to focus on the present. As for the future... as the saying goes, the boat will straighten itself when it reaches the bridgehead. Besides, he might not even live that long, so there was no need to dwell on these miscellaneous thoughts.
"You have a new order. Please pay attention to pick-up."
Xin Yu put on his helmet, gripped the handlebars, his eyes sharpening.
"Hmph! Aaaaaah! Clustering wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Accelerating Synchro can even surpass light! Transcendence, Clear Mind!"
On the road, a rich kid driving a top-tier supercar was speeding recklessly, enjoying the thrill brought by his newly acquired vehicle.
Just as this rich kid was savoring the excitement of speeding, he suddenly noticed a black shadow zip past him. Looking closely, he realized it was actually a small electric scooter!
He couldn't help but glance at his speedometer, which showed he was already doing 200 kph.
"...Holy Crap! I just got overtaken by an electric scooter???"