I spent the next few days drawing up an initial plan. While time was never a restriction for me, I knew if I put off doing anything for even a day, a single day could stretch to a week, then weeks, then months, then years - that was just the story of my life.
The starting point I set for myself was research, which I sucked at, but I had to suck it up and get my lazy ass to put some serious effort to it.
Although the appearance of this Hell Beast must be the first time in history, there are plenty of ancient myths and religious stories that told of the apocalypse. Of course, the human mind was capable of creating nonsense and delusions for millennia. After all, that's how I've felt about religions all my life - ever since I stopped going to church at least.
However, I wondered if there may be at least some trace of truth or hint in all those terrifyingly fantastical stories that mankind has been perpetuating even since before the invention of writing. They may not tell the exact truth of what happened or accurate predictions of what may happen in the future, but they were deemed important enough to be passed down the generations throughout the history of human civilizations. An uncountable number of people lived and died to protect and spread what they believed to be the truth, and if there was any value in human lives, perhaps I should give them the benefit of the doubt and listen to what others far wiser than I have said.
So I first started by reading the entire bible from cover to cover. I knew most of the stories already from the Sunday Schools I went to when I was young (which I found excruciatingly more boring the older I got), but it was the first time I ever paid so much attention to details and read it with a real intent to understand the significance of each event.
I knew studying the Christian Bible alone would already take me an unfathomable amount of time. After all, there were scholars who dedicated their entire lives to studying them. But I had to start somewhere.
As I got started on the Bible, only on my second day I already realized that my attention span was so short and my mind so numb that I couldn't keep myself deeply engaged in such boring text in the same way that I could when I read web novels or manga. I figured I needed to mix it up a bit. I decided to alternate between different texts.
I went out and got myself a bunch of books. Books would disappear anyway after 40 days, but I knew the knowledge, understanding, and experience would remain. Sometimes painfully so.
My first round of investigation would be the Bible, the Quran, an endless series of Buddhist writings, Greek mythology, and everything else I could find about the mystical, the spiritual, and the divine. There were an almost infinite amount of such stories in this world, more than I could have imagined. From a tale of a hero passed on orally through generations from a small tribe in the most obscure places to urban legends and conspiracy theories that plagued the Internet - nothing could be dismissed without giving them some consideration. Anything that could nudge me toward understanding or provide the slightest hint about the impending apocalypse and the Hell Beast would be worth my time.
But I knew that no matter how hard I studied and how much effort I put into it, there was no way I could keep everything in my mind when all the books and data I collect will disappear every 40 days. I had an inkling that there was something I could do about this, and after two weeks of mind-numbing studies I met up with Haein again.
"So how's your research been going?", my only supporter in this world asked.
"It's driving me crazy. I haven't studied this much even for university exams"
"Heh, I think studying is fun"
No shit, you geek who can enter SKY universities while writing smuts at night and doing decadent things with me during day time.
"I'm just not built for this"
"What are you built for?"
"I'm not built for anything"
"I believe there must be a reason why it is you"
"Like I am the 'Chosen One' of some sort?"
"Yeah, I believe there is a purpose behind everything"
"So you believe in some divinity?"
"Maybe not as an entity that has a human-like persona, but I believe in the force of destiny. I wouldn't be here with you otherwise"
Fair enough. I don't want to believe that I am the Chosen One, but I do want to believe that there is a destiny in front of us that leads to stopping the apocalypse so I can finally become free.
"This is going to take a very long time. I can't even imagine how many cycles it would take, and heck, in the end, I might find that all this study was useless"
"Yeah, the solution could be something as simple as just whacking it on its nose, or giving it the Fluttershy's Stare"
"Never imagined you'd be a My Little Pony fan"
"You might be Rainbow Dash if we were in MLP world"
"Why would you say that?"
"Idiotic and awesome"
"Ha…"
"So, what is this favor you said you wanted to ask me? I hope it's something I can help you with"
"Don't worry. It's not something weird. I just need you to do one thing for me to experiment and confirm my theory"
"Yeah?"
"Could you please buy me a notebook?"
"Huh? Just a notebook?"
"Yes, just a simple notebook that I can write stuff on"
"What would that even do?"
"I will tell you once - IF - it works"
"So you made me come all the way here so I can buy you a single notebook?"
"Yes, but it has to be you if there really is some kind of destiny at work here"
"Alright, let's go then"
With that, Haein and I went to a simple stationary store.
"Which one?", my benefactor asked me.
"I'd like a red notebook. I always used them since I was at school"
"Right"
It was easy enough to find one and shortly after we stood outside the stationary store.
"Could you please write your name on the notebook? Write 'From Haein' and that should do"
"OK", she did as told.
"Thanks. I will see you in the next cycle then. It's been good to know you"
"Huh?"
"Don't worry. I will explain when we meet again. Take care"
I left the confused girl behind and headed home. Drowning myself to death was such a trivial matter now I wanted to do it at home for the best efficiency and the most straightforward test without any variables.
I turned on the tap on my sink in the bathroom, came out to place the red notebook on my desk, and returned to kill myself.
I bet not many people in the world can keep their heads inside the water until they die…
Probably the most useless talent ever, I chuckled underwater.
After a moment of blackout, I woke up again in my bed.
The time was 12:04, October 1st - all good so far.
I got out of my bed and went to the desk.
Yup, I was right.
There lay the red notebook Haein bought me and inside the cover was written, "From Haein. Good luck"