Curious about the new identity the system had written for him, Aoi Shun was especially eager to see what sort of "future" it had assigned.
Watching the chatter fill the quiz chatroom, he decided to join in.
As a spectator, he could refuse to answer and still claim rewards, and he would openly possess a "future." That sounded perfectly reasonable.
[Aoi Shun (The Man the Goddess of Death Is Fated to Lose): Everyone, shouldn't we be discussing the answer? Ten minutes have already passed.]
[Stephen Strange (I'm Here to Negotiate): Huh, well now. Judging by that suffix, the goddess of death actually exists in this world? If she's divine, then her physiology compared to ours...]
[Natasha (Stop Arguing, I'll Jump Off a Cliff): @Dr. Strange, gross.]
[Clint Barton (If I Fight, We Win): The new guy has been lurking like the so-called future-seeing Sorcerer Supreme. But he's right. The priority is the quiz. We've got twenty minutes left.]
[The Ancient One (Died Because VFX Was Too Expensive): Aoi Shun? Is there such a person among Earth's future heroes? I need to reexamine the future.]
[Nick Fury (Would Love a Vacation on the Moon): @Sorcerer Supreme, what's going on? You know the future, don't you? Do you not recognize this Aoi fellow who just spoke?]
[The Ancient One (Died Because VFX Was Too Expensive): @Nick Fury, in my memory the Avengers do not include such a man. Perhaps this concerns events after my death. I will review the future.]
[Natasha (Stop Arguing, I'll Jump Off a Cliff): @Sorcerer Supreme. If possible, check the nickname after my name. Why do I jump off a cliff?]
[Tony Stark (She Says She Loves Me Three Thousand Times): @Sorcerer Supreme, I also want to know whether I die under that missile. And since you can see the future, you must know who orchestrates my kidnapping. Which means you know the answer to the quiz, right?]
[Stephen Strange (I'm Here to Negotiate): @Sorcerer Supreme, if it's real, could you see whether I ever get the chance to dissect a vampire, a werewolf, or an alien?]
[Natasha (Stop Arguing, I'll Jump Off a Cliff): @Strange, gross.]
[Clint Barton (If I Fight, We Win): @Strange...]
In the Sanctum, the Ancient One watched the lively scroll of messages and smiled without replying.
This Aoi Shun who had suddenly spoken intrigued her. She had watched the future many times and seen countless scenes.
Yet she was absolutely certain that in the futures she had known, there was no hero named Aoi Shun.
She raised her hands, formed a mudra, and opened the Eye of Agamotto. The Time Stone flared with green light.
Visions of what was to come unfolded before her.
This time, many things were markedly different. The Avengers were still the Avengers, but some people were missing, like the one called Vision.
And there was a newcomer named Aoi Shun. The Ancient One focused on his future in particular.
In the vision, Aoi Shun stood tall with a sword in hand, righteous and unwavering. The Avengers lined up behind him.
Their enemy was not the Titan named Thanos, but a sultry figure in black robes with a visage of bone.
The vision shattered there, refusing to show more.
The Ancient One froze. As the guardian of Earth's material plane and the Sorcerer Supreme, she knew exactly who that robed woman was.
One of the fabled Five Cosmic Entities: Death.
Could it be that in the future, the true divine being called Death would descend upon Earth, seeking to erase the planet or even the universe?
If so, the Avengers would have no chance to resist. Not even with her, with Odin, with the Vishanti temple behind her, nor with those so-called Celestials roaming the cosmos.
Before Death, they would have no power to oppose.
A tremor of despair brushed her heart. If the future truly ran that way, then everything she had fought to protect...
She halted, as a thought struck her. Her gaze darted back to the chatroom and to the suffix attached to the newcomer's name.
Nick Fury wanted a vacation on the moon. Natasha would sacrifice herself for the Soul Stone by leaping from a cliff. Strange would bargain with Dormammu. Tony's daughter would say she loved him three thousand times.
Even if she would not live to see those events, she knew of them. The suffixes were real.
If so, then the suffix after Aoi Shun's name, The Man the Goddess of Death Is Fated to Lose, might represent a slender hope for Earth, for the universe itself.
The more she considered it, the more it made sense. If the suffixes were not false, then when the true deity Death arrives, the one fragile chance should lie with this man called Aoi Shun.
Her eyes softened as she read his message again.
In that case, she might as well offer some help.