[ 2x Protagonist Shards has been received.]
[Do you wish to combine the shards together?]
[-Yes-/-No-]
[Request accepted, starting modification.]
…..
A cold void devoid of any light rested in an unknown space, there was no sound and no light being reflected.
"—Haha, I can't believe I really did it..!"
However, in this place devoid of light, there was a human of average features; standing upon a large, mysterious hovering structure that had a temple built upon it.
That was me, of course. The mad lad who somehow succeeded as a side character in beating protagonists of various genres in the accursed universe I was in. Fortunately, I had gathered enough Protagonist Shards to become one myself at the end of the disasters that formed due to the gods wanting a legendary relic.
Who knew how hard it would be? Surviving terrifying harem protagonists, the so-called 'ruthless' ones, the perverted ones, the scammers—gathering enough Protagonist Shards to build my own Protagonist Halo...
"Ugh, my groin still hurts from that brown-haired scammer bastard kicking me.."
I sighed, digressing and my gaze wandering around. My feet led me past the golden entrance and into the center where a fountain of unidentifiable liquid lay.
Curiously, I walked forward, dipped a finger in, and tasted it for some godforsaken reason.
The taste was superb—the liquid seemed to be warm and cold at the same time, flowing through my mouth to the— Never mind, I won't lie. It tasted like nothing. But a person has to add spice to important or mysterious-looking things, like in ads, right?
I wiped my finger onto my shirt and looked around the temple, specifically for the [Mysterious Egg] which both the New and Old Gods were so maddeningly trying to take for their own.
My attention was soon drawn to a colossal door in one of the hallways I was exploring. I walked up to it and tried to pry the doors open. Surprisingly, it didn't require much strength at all, as it pushed open easily, contrary to my expectations.
"Ah, Protagonist-level luck, I love to see it."
My words escaped my mouth unintentionally, and I stopped halfway through trudging into the big throne room that presented itself before me.
"..Did I just red-flag myself?" My voice trembled as I asked myself, a cold fear gripping me. I was changing, doing things I didn't even mean to do.. And it was probably the fault of the Protagonist Halo.
"..."
I trudged forward on the red carpet to the throne, where a small egg about half the size of a child sat.. The same [Mysterious Egg] which I was now going to steal from everyone without making it climactic.
Thus, opening my hand and grabbing ahold of the [Mysterious Egg], before throwing it onto the ground with the idea of breaking it.
However, it didn't break and stayed in shape. I was guessing that my strength simply wasn't enough, so I picked it up and decided to throw it out of the flying temple-like structure to ensure that none could get to it—-
At that moment, a shiver ran down my spine. The egg melted into my hand and the system once again made its appearance.
[Successor's Bloodline has absorbed the Mysterious Egg.]
"Wha—"
Darkness blurred the edges of my vision suddenly, my eyes filled with shock and fear. I felt my weight disappearing, as if an invisible entity was dragging me off the ground, higher and higher into the sky.
I overlooked the temple on the flying structure in this dark void I was in, flying higher and higher without my intent. In the blink of an eye, even the dark void disappeared and I was left staring at my flat planet.
The world turned into grids and lines, everything was retreating at incredible pace and vanished.
Eternal silence enveloped me at the moment. I did not have a brain to think, and no eyes to see. Yet there I was, seeing the birth and collapse of worlds. There was a sense of wonder to it, so majestic and marvelous that it would make people change their beliefs, yet so terrifying that the realization of being so small in the scope of the universe.
Everyone's goals, power and family, did they have any meaning?
Were gods, immortals and mythical beings as important as everyone thought them to be?
Nothing could change the insignificance every living being was. Not power, not immortality, nor wisdom. Everyone simply was born to live the life of a star, destined to shine and then turn into dust without bringing any change.
At last—
I felt myself falling into the center of something, before everything turned white.
…
W–where is this…?
There was no darkness, no light. No time, life, or death. There was nothing, and everything at the same time. And I had no clue why I thought that.
I couldn't even shout or perceive my own existence, it was like I was submerged in a sensory deprivation tank.
I suddenly felt fearful, what if I were to be stuck here forever? I started panicking and trying anything, from praying to the Old Gods, the New Gods; to trying to move or shout..
How long had it been since I was in this state?
An egg popped out from somewhere, tis distance and direction were difficult to distinguish. I felt my body floating once again, and was pulled into the egg like a meteor. And then I crashed into it.
There was no pain, but it felt like I was falling. Falling, falling, and falling even more..
I then heard the sounds of ocean waves.