"Hey, wake up, wake up..."
A childish and strange voice came from the endless void, its direction impossible to discern.
"Wake up! Wake up!"
The voice came again, Aidan, who was in a void, trembled slightly before slowly opening her eyes.
Where am I...?
He struggled to move his eyes to observe his surroundings, but no matter how he looked, all he could see was emptiness; there was nothing there, not even white.
Aidan floated in the void, as if remembering something.
"Oh, right, I'm... dead..."
He tried to close his eyes again, but the voice came again.
"Don't give up your resolve, Aidan!"
Aidan snapped out of her daze and opened her eyes wide, quickly looking ahead.
A few meters ahead, a Little Goat monster wearing a green striped shirt was looking at him with a gentle expression.
What's strange is that he's made entirely of pixels, making him look like he was ripped out of a game.
Aidan's eyes widened in surprise, but she wasn't intimidated by the pixelated appearance of the other party.
"Little Goat? Why are you here? Shouldn't I be dead?"
The Little Goat slowly walked up to him and sighed softly.
"Yes, you are indeed dead."
Aidan's eyes lowered, and she nodded resignedly. "Then... why am I still here...?"
"Because we want to resurrect you." The Little Goat smiled, but Aidan looked astonished.
"Resurrected?"
"Yes, resurrection!"
"Wait a minute!" Aidan hurriedly waved her hand, showing no joy whatsoever at the prospect of being resurrected.
"No, no way, how do I resurrect? It's difficult, could it be..."
The Little Goat lowered its head and nodded gently twice. "Yes, just as you think, we will revive your spirit with our own..."
"Don't want!!!"
Aidan waved her hand forcefully, her eyes bloodshot.
"You are all my friends! Friends I would give my life for!"
"If it weren't for you guys, I would have committed suicide countless times already!"
"Trading your lives for mine... This kind of absurd thing that only happens in anime... How could it be possible..."
The Little Goat lowered its head and forced a smile at Aidan, "Do you remember the first time you played this game?"
"Shut up!!!"
Aidan clutched her ears in agony, curling her body up in pain. "So be it!"
"Anyway, I'm just a marginal figure in society... a good-for-nothing in the eyes of teachers... and an object of disappointment for my parents!"
"The only thing I'm somewhat useful is my ability and strength, but, but..."
"I can't even do small things like helping the boss or protecting my comrades... What's the point of me living?!"
Large tears streamed down his face, falling onto his chest and soaking his clothes.
His curled-up body convulsed incessantly, looking like a child whose parents were about to leave, and who could only sob helplessly.
"No, that's not how a child should be."
A pair of warm, large hands suddenly embraced Aidan. Aidan trembled at first, then her nose tingled, and she hugged the gentle figure in front of her.
" Goat Mom! I can't... I can't live without you!!"
The Goat Mom gently stroked his head, her eyes filled with love and tenderness.
"My child, I know this is cruel to you... but your mother wants you to live. You're only eighteen; you can't die yet."
"But..."
Another warm, large hand rested on my head; it was my Goat Dad.
"Child, listen carefully to what we have to say..."
With tears streaming down his face, Aidan slowly raised his head, only to see all his monster friends, except for Sans, standing in front of him.
"Where... is Sans?"
"Hey little guy, I'm here!"
A small skeleton with its hands in its pockets suddenly appeared behind Aidan, startling him.
What are you doing...? Hmm? What happened to your eyes?
Looking at the other person's panda eye, Aidan asked in confusion.
"Oh, don't worry about the details, let's talk about you first, little one."
Aidan opened her mouth as if to say something, but after thinking for a moment, she closed her mouth and nodded slightly.
Sans walked over to the other monsters, and they all looked at Aidan.
"Little guy, you should know we're just game characters..."
Sans's sudden question startled Aidan.
"Yes, I know..."
Sans and the other monsters exchanged glances, and all of them broke into smiles.
"Since you know we're game characters, why are you still reluctant to part with us...?"
"Because you are different!!! To me, you are people even closer than family!"
"..."
"My child, you've grown up. Although I really don't want you to go through these things, you still need to bear them..." the Goat Mom said gently.
" Goat Mom..."
"Kid, don't forget to play with the riddles while I'm gone! This is important knowledge that I, the great Papyrus, left you!"
"This..."
"Most importantly! You must train hard from now on! And never hold back when you fight with others! Otherwise, I will definitely come back and beat you to a pulp!"
Sister Fish pointed at Aidan's nose and said fiercely.
"I..."
"Hmm... I should eat less instant noodles in the future... go out more, and also, be braver when facing the girl I like!"
Otaku Alphys also gave him an approving look.
"..."
"I will always believe in you, my child. Don't think you can't do anything right; you are the best!"
"Goat Dad encouraged Aidan," said the sheep.
"..."
"Alright, little one, you're on your own from now on. We... we'll be going now!"
As Sans finished speaking, all the monsters vanished into thin air, turning into pure white pixelated hearts.
"Wait, wait a minute... wait a second!"
Just as Aidan got up, wanting to chase after him, all the hearts gathered together and came into the Little Goat's hands.
" Little Goat, you..."
"The monster's soul is still too weak; you'll need a human to resurrect you..."
"Fortunately, you have enough human souls to revive yourself!"
The Little Goat held several monster souls, and then six pixelated hearts of different colors slowly emerged.
"These... are all people I killed, right...?"
The Little Goat nodded silently, and Aidan lowered her head.
"These five are the souls of the five garrison squads you killed back then, and this one..."
A pale blue pixelated heart floated out, slowly dissipated, and transformed into a human shape.
" Fulan..." Aidan gazed at the familiar figure, her reddened eyes welling up with tears again.
Fulan looked around in confusion, then seemed to understand something and let out a relieved sigh.
" Fulan... I really don't think losing one of your souls will make a difference, so please don't sacrifice yourself for me."
"After I'm resurrected, I'll find a way to get you a body! As long as your soul remains, there's a possibility of resurrection!"
Fulan slowly looked at Aidan, paused for a moment, and then spoke softly, "No need..."
"Huh?" Aidan couldn't believe what she was hearing for a moment. "Why?!"