"Hahahahaha! How could that be, my friend? Aha never does bad things!"
"You blew up Acheron's train?"
"Acheron didn't even care!"
"Are you sure They didn't care?"
"Mm... Aha thinks They didn't care," Aha said righteously.
Lin Nai opened his mouth.
Even if Acheron did care, you'd ignore Them anyway, wouldn't you?
The Youthful Passion Aeon was pretty freewheeling.
"Oh, wait a moment, my friend. I need to set up the final stage~ You're looking forward to it, right?"
"Not at all... And when did I become your friend?"
"From the very beginning?"
"Aha, you really know how to joke."
"Aha thinks so too, because Aha is the Youthful Passion Aeon~!"
"..."
The atmosphere fell silent.
"Forget it, Aha. I came to negotiate terms with you."
"Terms?"
"Yes, terms. Get out of the Herta Space Station."
"Mm, that won't do. Our game isn't over yet."
"No, it's already over."
Lin Nai took out a dial from his pocket and gently pressed it.
"Zi-O II"
Time began to rewind!
PS: The dream arc will be over in two more chapters. I apologize to any readers who found it uncomfortable to read.
The main plot will begin soon after.
Maybe it's because my writing isn't good enough, but I just couldn't write that tense, exciting feeling.
Just like the comments said, it felt like strolling down the street.
I'd like to apologize to everyone here.
As expected, I'm not very good at writing this kind of plot. Honestly, making jokes and messing around suits me better.
I'm not suited for overly oppressive plots that require sustained thought, so this whole section collapsed and became rather neither here nor there.
I wanted to try, then discovered I couldn't do it.
So from now on, I'll focus on comedic shenanigans instead.
And then there are the counterparts. My original intention was to establish them so the protagonist could let loose and do whatever he wanted.
After all, it was always comfortable to have someone watching your back and a powerful supporter. It also made certain things easier to handle.
But I guess quite a few people don't like that kind of setting and prefer a unique protagonist, so I'll mention it less from now on.
After all, they're just background elements from the early stages and won't show up much later.
Sorry.
I'm truly sorry.
For giving you all such a poor reading experience.
Of course, I also hope everyone will offer more suggestions. Uh, but if you want to insult me, just send it in a private message.
Aha, You Wouldn't Want to Never See Another Funny Thing Again, Would You?
"Hee→hee↘hee↗hee↗hee↘! This is really... Wait, what did you do?"
Aha froze for a moment and looked at His own position.
"Nothing. I merely adjusted time a little." Lin Nai revealed a sly smile.
"If I trap you within these few minutes, you won't be able to run around looking for fun anymore."
"..."
"Want to try it? Even if you can use your avatars to watch other interesting things..."
"Guess what will happen to all the interesting things taking place across the universe within these few minutes?"
"..."
"The result is, either you won't be able to finish watching them and get stuck at the critical moment, or you'll get sick of them!"
"..."
Aha's mind raced.
If time remained forever stuck in these two minutes, only He could move because He was an Aeon.
As for finding amusement in the other Aeons?
The Intellect was a pile of scrap metal, The Preservation was a fool, The Destruction was like a madman, and The Hunt was chasing The Abundance.
Damn it!
How was He supposed to find any fun following this bunch of vermin?!
How was that any different from asking Him to die?!
Having time rewind for a few minutes over and over again? He didn't want that!!!
"Aha, you only have one option now: make a deal with me."
Lin Nai narrowed his eyes slightly.
Threatening an Aeon.
That was indeed bold.
"Why can't I just kill you?" Aha asked seriously. "My friend, aren't you a little too confident?"
"Even if you kill me, I'll revive, because time will rewind, idiot."
Lin Nai crossed his arms. "What? Want to give it a try?"
It was like Doctor Strange facing Dormammu. He and Aha were in the same kind of standoff.
Though he could only rewind time three times.
But that was enough.
As long as he bluffed this fun-loving god, that would be enough!
"If you kill me, time will rewind again. In other words... you'll never reach the reality of truly killing me."
"..."
"So, Aha, you wouldn't want to never be able to watch anything funny again in the future, would you?"
Upon hearing Lin Nai's words, Aha fell silent for a few seconds before bursting into wild laughter.
"Ha... hahahahaha! Lin Nai! You're really interesting!"
Truly.
He had never expected that He would one day end up in a situation like this.
Oh dear.
This time, Aha really had lost face.
Lin Nai felt that guy might be laughing so hard he was crying now.
Aha's wild laughter.
Instead made Lin Nai wary. That guy wasn't planning to pull some trick on him again, was He?
But unexpectedly, Aha raised both hands and made the gesture of a military salute from some country.
"You win, Lin Nai. Aha doesn't want to be trapped in one place and never see anything interesting again."
How was that any different from killing Him?
How vicious.
"I'll leave the Herta Space Station and never come back."
"...That's just an empty promise. I don't really believe you."
"Mm... In that case, I swear upon The Youthful Passion: I, Aha, will never come to the Herta Space Station again!"
Lin Nai: System, what do you think?
The other party was sincerely making the oath. There was no problem.
"Good. Then clean up all the mess you made."
"Of course, of course, no problem." Aha said with a chuckle. "You won this time."
Aha made a gesture, and a strange power appeared.
Asta's figure gradually became transparent. This was a sign that she was about to wake up.
Lin Nai finally relaxed a little.
This meant the matter had been temporarily resolved, right? He hadn't needed the remaining two attempts.
That was great.
"Oh, right. There's one more thing."
"What do you want?"
Aha's sudden words made Lin Nai instinctively clutch the Time King Rabbit in his hand.
"Don't be nervous. Aha is very trustworthy... It's just that, Lin Nai, are you interested in becoming Aha's Emanator?"
"An Emissary of The Youthful Passion? Why?"
"It feels like it would be interesting. That's all."
Aha extended an invitation. "I can give you power and let you seek happy things throughout the universe."
"Mm..."
"What do you think? Tempting, right? You'll have power, and you can have fun too."
"It is indeed tempting..."
"So..."
"But I refuse!" Lin Nai suddenly thrust out a hand. "One of the things I, Lin, enjoy doing most is saying no to self-righteous people!"
"Oh... I was rejected." Aha froze for a moment, then shook His head, seeming somewhat regretful.
If Lin Nai became an Emanator, there would definitely be even more fun to be had in this universe, wouldn't there?
But being rejected Himself...
That was pretty amusing too, wasn't it?
Thinking about it that way, Aha felt like laughing again.
"Forget it. Aha will always welcome you if you change your mind, Lin Nai. Well then... goodbye."
Before you continue