"... Due to your previous actions, it has been decided that..."

"—and therefore shall be sent to..."

"Regardless, you are—"

Distant echoes of the past would inevitably come back and haunt those who cannot ignore them. Such memories are not easily removed by measly means.

Harsh and terrible words entered the man's head as he recalled a catastrophe he had caused for his team— resulting in his performance rating decline and his eventual demotion.

As a member of the Business Consolidation Department, the man had a single goal— to raise businesses who he thought would benefit the Interastral Peace Corporation.

However, due to one miscalculation, everything fell on him. A business he thought that would serve a good purpose turned out to be something that served the Aeon of Destruction— and has therefore caused innumerable damage to his branch.

Due to this, his rank was demoted and he was forcefully transported to another branch director's team.

His teammates and subordinates who were with him would then suddenly turn their backs on him, and he would be left alone.

With no other choices left, he proceeded with the plans of his higher-up and prepared to be transferred to another area.

Although it was called "transferring," in his eyes, it was more like "exile."

"What a sad life that is..." The man sighed softly as he gazed out the window of the starship he was currently in. "Due to one mistake, his years' worth of effort had gone to waste..."

"How ridiculous."

"You know, if it was that serious..." As the man continued to mutter words barely audible for anyone to hear, he couldn't help but place a white handkerchief near his temple.

"You could have at least done it in the bathroom."

After saying this, the man looked at his bed which had a crimson liquid over it. And not far from it was a standardized gun issued by the IPC to most personnel for self-defense.

"Seriously..." The man clicked his tongue in annoyance. He then kept his handkerchief on his temple, "It hurts like hell..."

That's right.

The source of the crimson-red blood that had stained the pristine white sheets was none other than the man himself.

The man then stood up and looked around the room. It was a spacious room that had luxurious decor and a minimalist feel to it.

After surveying the room around him, the man started to walk. However, perhaps because the bullet wound was still fresh on his head, he staggered a little.

Still, he managed to walk past the room and in front of a white drawer with four compartments. On top of the drawer was a variety of items and a half-mirror.

The man then noticed a card and curiously picked it up. After checking it, he hummed. "Hm, that checks out..."

After uttering this, his eyes couldn't help but move and look at the mirror. There, he saw his reflection.

In the mirror, a tall slender man was wearing a white dress shirt. He had unkempt black hair and a pair of faint bronze eyes. Other than this, he also had elongated ears and a pale complexion.

Right now, the darkness under his eyes was quite noticeable, and accompanying it was a pale face.

"What a pity," The man scoffed as he touched his own face. "With that face, you could have made it big somewhere..."

"William Ceres." He spoke as he read the identification card which had his information. "How very unfortunate."

Looking at his palm, the man named William closed and stretched each of his fingers. "Well... Now that I've come to possess your body... Maybe it's because of some moral compassion..."

"But I'll make sure to live as best as I can with your body." The man talked to himself in the mirror. "I promise... I won't waste your potential."

That's right.

William Ceres, a former P28 Branch Director from the Business Consolidation Department of the Interastral Peace Corporation, had passed away on his way to another division.

One who had drowned in darkness would often succumb to it, and he was no exception.

That's right... He was supposed to die...

But then a "miracle" happened, and another soul came into possession of his body.

An unfortunate soul who met its demise too early.

'I knew staying up that late every day would come biting me sooner or later...' He thought as he clicked his tongue. 'The last thing I remember was staying up late while drinking... Wait, how many energy drinks did I drink again?'

Knock—*

Just then, a sound interrupted William's thoughts, pulling him out of his contemplation.

"Dear guest?" With two knocks, a voice came from his door leading to the hallway. "It's the staff. Are you alright? We heard a commotion in your room earlier."

'... A commotion? Have they not heard the gunshot earlier?' William's eyes became sharp as he pondered. He then replied with a clear voice, "It's nothing, I just dropped something."

"I see," Hearing William's reply, the man behind the door replied. "If you have any further problems, please, let us know."

"Got it, you may leave."

"Yes sir."

With that, their conversation ended. It was a brief conversation that was on point.

Tap—*

Hearing the footsteps of the man behind the door fading away, William couldn't help but still stare at his door.

"Hm?"

"Now what's this?" He muttered to himself at the sight in front of him. "This wasn't here before..."

Though he was still looking at the door, his eyes were focused on something else that was near— something only he could see.

In front of him, a book that had brass-colored pages was floating. He didn't know why, but William felt an unexplainable connection to the book.

It was as if he and the book were connected by a line— no, it was more like it was bound to him.

'A book that just appeared out of nowhere shortly after a reincarnation... If I'm not wrong...' Grasping his chin out of habit, William began pondering.

"Is this... One of those clichés?" He uttered as his faint golden pupils looked at the brass book.

He honestly did know how and why the book was there— as far as he knew, from original William's memories, he didn't have any connection to such a book.

'How very curious...' William thought to himself as he looked at the book that was presenting itself to him.

He then reached out his hand towards it out of pure curiosity. 'I wonder if...?'

However, just as his fingers were about to make contact with the book, yellow sparks suddenly manifested from the book.

"This—!" Realizing what was happening, William was surprised and tried to quickly take back his hand. However, it was as if his hand was being pulled by the book. "No! Hey— let me go, you!"

Desperately trying to take back his hand from the book, William struggled.

However, before he could, the golden electric current suddenly traveled up his arm. What soon followed was a feeling of lightheadedness. "What the... What did it do?!"

Thud!*

"Agh!" Dropping to one knee, William's face contorted with pain as he struggled to resist the inhumane amounts of pain traveling up his arm.

Within a second after the book "electrified" him, on the other hand, voices suddenly started whispering in each of his ears.

The whispers were vague and scattered, not concise yet coherent. It was both audible and faint, and they traveled from ear to ear in irregular intervals. Sometimes, the whisper was static, and other times, it was whispering vague words that caused the pain to grow stronger.

Not only that, but William also felt something from the depths of his being changing— no, rather, it was as if something was being added to his very being.

From this point, he didn't even know which source the pain was coming from anymore— the book, the whispers, or his body.

It was a chaotic event.

Drip*

Soon, he noticed that the crimson wound he had on his forehead was now dripping with blood.

William grasped his hand to a fist as he looked down the carpet floor. 'What the hell is happening... It hurts!"

He didn't know what was happening— and he hated it.

Fortunately, this event only lasted for a while. The electrocuting pain slowly subsided and the chaotic whispers vanished as if they never existed.

What was left now was an exhausted William on the floor, breathing heavily. It took him a lot of effort to muster up the strength to stay conscious.

'What the hell even was that...?' Still in pain of what just happened, William mustered all of his remaining strength to get up. His shoulders were still slightly trembling from the pain he felt.

'What the hell did that book even do?'

As he thought of this, his eyes moved toward where he had previously seen the brass-colored book— only to find... Nothing.

The book had vanished along with the pain it had caused.

"..."

Seeing this, William took a minute to process what was happening. Staggering from the pain, he went back to his head and sat down on the edge.

He didn't move and instead focused all of his effort to calm himself down. It was difficult, but not impossible. And so, after what seemed like a long time, he finally adapted to the pain to some degree and stabilized himself.

"Hah..." A heavy sigh escaped from his mouth after slightly recovering from his predicament.

"First I reincarnated now I got tormented by some floating book? Hah..." With all things said and done, he couldn't help but lampoon outwardly. "Seriously..."

"What the hell even was that thing?"

Right after asking this question, surprisingly, something answered him.

Out of nowhere, a brass-colored page materialized In front of William and it floated steadily.

"!" Surprised by this, William reacted quickly and made a distance in fear of being electrocuted again.

Thankfully, however, this page didn't seem to harbor any ill intent, unlike its complete form.

"This..." Realizing that the brass-colored page wasn't doing anything, William cautiously approached it. After confirming that it still didn't do anything, he held it. "What is this...?"

Thinking of this, William flipped the brass-colored page, and there, he saw silver letters that were written with what seemed like mercury.

[Attention!]

Just then, a female voice resounded throughout the starship he was currently aboard.

[The Golden Gleam Starship has now arrived on the premises of the Xianzhou Luofu.]

[All the passengers are advised to prepare all their luggage before boarding off.]

Hearing the announcement, William took one more glance at the brass-colored paper he was holding for a mere moment before clicking his tongue. "Tsk, so that's why... Now everything makes sense."

Saying this, William stood up and walked over to the drawer once again. Only this time, he noticed something different.

"Huh?" Looking at his reflection, a look of surprise once more appeared on his face. His eyes widened as he looked closer at the mirror. "No way..."

"How am I going to explain that?"

In the mirror, his hair— which was previously black— had now turned golden blond. It has changed in an instant!

"Is it related to this?" Seeing the sudden change, William couldn't help but correlate it with the brass-colored paper he held. "Hmm... Perhaps it is..."

"Hah..." Sighing softly, he scratched the back of his head. "I'll just make up some lies then... It isn't that weird to dye your hair, right?"

After saying this, William decided to find something to cover his head's wound— preferably, a bandage. Not only that but also prepare to disembark from the starship.

Looking out the windows and seeing a colossal azure-green ship in the distance, a faint smile couldn't help but form on his lips. "Well, unfortunate encounters aside..."

"It's a new life. So... I should at least enjoy it."

With that said, he placed the brass-colored paper down and went to find some bandage.

On top of the drawer, the brass-colored paper laid flat, and on it, letters that looked like mercury made up a series of words that only William could understand.

[Sequence 9 Arbiter]

The tale of the Last Follower of Order now begins.

* * *