Calamity Upon This World

'So everything I had experienced was real'

William had already considered this possibility, as everything he experienced just felt far too real to be fake.

But he just needed this confirmation, and now, after getting it, he felt happy for Gabura, who probably lived like a king in his village after discovering fire; sad for Maran and his mother, who died tragically after burning alive; and relief for Ella and her family, who were able to find their place in the world and hopefully managed to live a good life after everything they had gone through.

All of these people whose lives William had peeked into were probably already dead or were on some other planet, which ensured that William would never meet them.

And despite this, he felt grateful, as he had been able to understand himself better thanks to them.

If not for them, William probably never would have realised that deep inside he hated himself for all the bad things he had done or that were caused by his existence.

While it was a bittersweet realisation, it at least helped him understand himself a bit better.

However, the more important thing was that he had somehow gained a bloodline, and that too of the only pheonix in the universe, according to Fariel.

This whole ordeal, despite all the mental trauma he had suffered, was definitely more than worth it.

Bloodline abilities are left behind by extremely powerful mortals for their descendants.

A good example of this kind of bloodline ability would be Zephyr and the Royal Family, who, thanks to carrying Zephyr's blood, all had a very high affinity for mana, though not as high as William or Zephyr and, surprisingly, even less than Clara.

Speaking of whom, William was still surprised that she had such a high affinity.

But he was getting sidetracked; another way of getting a bloodline was by catching the interest of a really powerful and deceased mythical beast.

This was what was happening to William here, and this probably meant that Fariel was already dead.

But this raised another question.

"Aren't pheonixes supposed to be immortal?"

"You know about us?" Fariel exclaimed.

'Ah sh*t, I messed up,' William thought.

But thankfully, it seems Fariel wasn't interested in pursuing this topic and just chose to answer William.

"But to answer your question, yes, we are. I just got tired of living and decided to kill myself."

"But since I'm the only pheonix in this universe, I felt it would be a shame if I didn't pass on our glorious legacy and bloodline to at least someone before I die."

"And I just decided to choose whoever was the first one to enter this dungeon, but to my surprise, against all odds, a divine human decided to show up, so I just gave it to you instead."

"I remember meeting the golden-haired boy 6,000 years ago; he was £+@9_+@09";037! 0@;_001" In the middle of saying something, Fariel's words became incomprehensible to William, and he fell down while tightly clutching his chest.

William rushed over to try and help him, but was stopped by a single hand gesture.

After a few seconds, Fariel finally stood up and said,.

"Fuck this universe."

A statement that William could not agree more with.

In almost every step of his life, the universe has always found a way to screw him over.

It was almost like it was conscious and just hated his existence.

But surely that can't be true, right?

While William was quite curious about what Fariel wanted to say about the person who he assumed to be Zephyr, he didn't pester him after seeing what just happened when he tried to talk.

William had already learned about the forbidden knowledge of the universe that mortals weren't supposed to learn, and while he had the potential to become a god in the future, he by no means was one now, so he decided to reel back his curiosity.

And as for the comment about Fariel killing himself, William could honestly kind of relate.

As someone who had killed himself in his first life and almost considered killing himself in his second life, William knew how shitty life can be.

William was already suicidal after just barely 40 years of life; he didn't even want to imagine the kinds of horrors Fariel must have seen and experienced in the more than 6,000 years of life he claimed to have lived for.

Also, William wasn't really a therapist and already had enough trauma of his own, to the point where he didn't want someone else to also dump trauma on him.

Which is why he didn't ask just what made Fariel end his immortal life.

However, while he wasn't curious about that, there was actually something that really bewildered him, so he decided to just ask it now while he still had the chance.

"Just what is this dungeon, and why are you trapped in it?" William asked.

"I'm afraid that's another thing classified as forbidden knowledge, and unlike the last time where I merely had a heartache for trying to say it, both of us will die if I try to answer this question."

"I see," William replied, a bit disappointed despite having already expected something like this.

It was quite obvious that there was something really malignant going on in the shadows and with the history of this dungeon.

But it being classified as forbidden knowledge just confirmed Williams doubt about the involvement of a god in this whole thing.

Now the question just remained about who it was.

But sadly, it seems William won't ever be able to learn the answer to this, as by the time he's strong enough to learn forbidden knowledge, Fariel, presumably the only one who can answer his question, will have long departed this world.

"Don't look so sad. I had a feeling you'd be curious about this, so I recorded the answer in my bloodline. It will be unlocked after you unlock 100% of my bloodline. Just make sure you're strong enough to learn forbidden knowledge at that point, unless you have a death wish like me."

William breathed a sigh of relief at this and slightly chuckled at the playful jab that Fariel made about his own suicidal tendencies.

But it seems that in the midst of the enlightenment about fire, a new understanding of self, meeting a  creature bigger than the planet, a new bloodline, and potential malefic divine schemes, he had forgotten about the question that was the most important for the current him.

"What happened to my body?"