Opening his eyes, Jun found himself on a lush green meadow, one reminiscent of his 'world'.
'Huh? Shouldn't I have...'
Looking at his unscathed body, Jun's mouth was slightly agape.
At that moment, he had chosen to sacrifice his life for the future of all those kids on the train. Instead of the one-sided request he had made before, this was a direct plea with clear-cut trade conditions.
It didn't require all those circles since a connection had already been established beforehand. Since the world's eyes cover all that it contains within itself, as long as the right words are spoken, even an unstable connection works.
This meant that even if he was put in another vessel unbelonged to him, only he would go with all certainty.
Well, of course, that didn't happen, and thus matters not either way.
In any case, the deal should have been a success and he should have died.
Was it on a whim? Maybe.
'I wonder why.'
It was his own words.
But his heart believed it was well-justified, even if his mind didn't understand.
Woosh!
Someone ran past him.
It was a child, no higher than 1.3 meters, running energetically. Following him were other kids, all of whom seemingly bore similar bright faces.
Standing from afar, adults who were probably their parents watched them heartwarmingly.
"That's right..."
However, in a matter of seconds, all that joyful peacefulness vanished, replaced by endless screams and chaos.
The lush green meadow was no more, replaced by barren lands and raging flames.
Cross-shaped poles were planted in rows, displaying something too sick and gruesome for a child to see.
Dragging his wounded body, the black-haired boy, now slightly older, trudged forward helplessly as he continued calling names all too familiar to him, yet the only thing answering him was a deafening howl.
It was as if the land was weeping, lamenting all that was lost.
The boy collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. His eyes were filled with anger and despair as he bit his lips to bleed.
He was powerless, bitter at the unfairness of the world.
Complex emotions swirled within his heart, but one was visibly sitting at the top - hatred.
The only thing on his mind then...was revenge.
"That's right..."
Even if he couldn't save all the children in the world, he'd hope that those within his reach wouldn't have to make an expression like that.
In no world should children have to bear the misfortune and cruelty of the world.
"Ugh!"
Memories slammed his brain like a hammer, startling him. Nonetheless, something held his left shoulder, keeping him from falling face-first.
It was a hand of his size, neither rough nor gentle. The force applied was also just right.
"Are you okay?"
"...Thank...you?"
Turning his head to the left, Jun got another surprise. It was someone who looked too similar to him to be a coincidence, just like that beast-man on the train.
"You look as though you've seen a ghost."
"...Your face."
"Huh? Is there something on my face?"
"No...it's nothing."
Thinking he might have seen it wrong, Jun rubbed his eyes and looked at the boy's face once more. Nothing changed.
"Ah!" Coming to a realization, the boy spoke, "We 'look' quite similar, right?"
Jun nodded lightly, followed by the boy's nod as well.
"There's a reason for that. Let me introduce myself first, though."
'Reason?'
Something that seems to only happen by chance so rare having a reason? It's as if...
"My name is June. June Normaris."
The boy named June Normaris extended a handshake.
"It's Jun Kether."
...the work of a [God]. One powerful enough to freely meddle with the inner workings of worlds and creation.
***
"So you're saying that your body was a shell created specifically to house me...and that the world made me occupy your identity after it accepted my request?"
June nodded, though he added that he only came to know of that until now. Rather than a trusted thorough mission he was briefed with, it was a destined choice he just knew he had to make someday.
The amount of new information was troublesome to digest, but if a powerful [God] was really behind it all, a lot of things could easily be justified or explained.
He was, after all, somebody who had contact with and at least fought some [God] during his journey to find a way to heal his supposed injury.
Whether any of those he won against were powerful in the sense above though, he didn't know. Even in the world he lived which was frequented by more foreign [God] than many others, most only did things through either their influence on the inhabitants or their avatars/messengers.
Most of his wins were, of course, against their schemes rather than them directly.
It's only apparent that there would be unsettled "beef", though he would be more like an obstacle required to be dealt with than a target of mere feelings than enmity.
The name "Tep" was on the list as well, and the reason Jun was thinking of that name was because of Tep's curiosity about something called the "heart".
"So who told you about all this?"
"I'm not sure. It was a voice that spoke to me. Someone claiming to be your god said it's probably this world's voice, though."
It wasn't the answer he wanted, but nothing surprising. Most [God] at Tep's level isn't actively involved with lower beings as a slight can end up in irreversible results. They probably don't even care to begin with, but those who do are usually very careful about how they go about things.
But what caught his interest was something else.
"My god? You met him?"
"Yes...Is there a problem?" June scratched his chin with a reluctant expression.
As far as Jun remembers, he never got to meet his god, only ever hearing his voice on occasion. Even his seemingly faulty memory doesn't contain a lick of information.
Jun didn't want to doubt someone who he owed a life debt to, but the mysteriousness didn't help. His [God] did have an awful lot of knowledge about other [God] though, foreign and local alike, so he probably scales at foreign too.
"...No, there's no problem. Did he tell you to tell me anything?"
"He did. He said that he would meet you later to talk about something important."
"I see. That's...good to know."
A chance to finally meet someone that never appeared before him. It was something anyone who worshipped and bonded with a [God] for long enough would be ecstatic at, but that wasn't the case for him.
He was confused about what he should feel. Happy? Sad? Anger? It was mixed and none was particular among the masses.
He still has a long way after reclaiming what should have been natural to him.
A dream finally achieved, yet not entirely by his hand. Though doubts lingered in his mind about it, it is something that should be pushed back for later.
"It seems you have no choice from the beginning. I apologize, though."
"No, no, it's fine. It was my choice after all."
Choice? He chose to give up his own body?
"You were given a choice?"
"Yes...I thought it was the only choice." June's expression dived, but he kept up his smile nonetheless. From Jun's learning, it's preferable that one doesn't press on when noticing such subtleties, but he did anyway.
"Why?"
"Because..." June's face grew painfully sour as he tried to mend his words, "I'm bitterly, uselessly average."
***
When babies are born into the world, most are unaware of everything, reacting in certain ways with some degree of emotions.
However, there are some exceptions.
Legends had it that great individuals throughout history, behaved much differently and more distinct in their infancy. They never cried, always remained composed with determined eyes, and always obsessed with reaching something that would come to define their greatness afterward.
For example, Scholar Soleil, with eyes glittering like the starry sky and magic talents that rival legends of the past, has always gravitated toward historical texts related to humanity and demons. He was the one who figured out how to end the perpetual cycle of war between demons and humans, even if it led to the extinction of demons instead of a shared harmony ideology many preached at the time.
June was also an exception. He didn't cry and always remained composed with determined eyes, yet he reached for nothing at all.
It sounded like he was a case of special conditions rather than exceptions, but that also wasn't it.
What he realized was...What made him most different was...whatever he did, he was destined to always be just that - Average.