"So this is it, Sakata."
The man standing across from me smiled, even though blood ran down his face.
"You really lived up to your name, Mr. Ripper. You almost wiped out the entire organization single-handedly. Even after we knew you were coming."
Gunfire echoed in the distance. Alarms screamed. The building was already half-collapsed.
He coughed, forcing out a laugh.
"But tell me… why?"
"Why bite the hand that fed you?"
"Why were you so hell-bent on killing everyone?"
I laughed.
Sakata: "Hahahahahaha…"
The sound echoed through the ruined corridor.
Sakata: "Because I could."
Before he could react, my hand moved.
Click.
I pulled the release on the self-destructive bomb suit wrapped tightly around my body.
A device powerful enough to erase the entire building.
The man's eyes widened.
Then—
BOOOOOOM.
---
Silence.
No pain.
No sound.
No body.
Only… darkness.
Huh…?
Why could I still think?
Why could I hear my own thoughts when I couldn't feel my arms… my legs… my chest?
Everything was black. Endless. Empty.
"How long has it been…?"
Minutes?
Hours?
Years?
Time didn't exist here.
The silence pressed against my mind like a vice. It was suffocating. Crushing.
"Is this… the afterlife?"
Maybe this was my punishment.
An eternal void for a sinner like me.
I deserved it.
I had killed—God knows how many innocent lives. Even if I tried to justify it, even if I blamed the organization… my hands were still stained red.
I closed my nonexistent eyes.
"I deserve this."
I was never human to begin with.
I was raised as a weapon.
Sold.
Bought.
Sharpened.
I still remembered the day my orphanage handed me over. No tears. No hesitation. Just a signature and some money.
From that day onward, it was survival of the fittest.
Kill or be killed.
I learned faster than the others. Hand-to-hand combat. Firearms. Blades. Explosives. Tactics.
Too fast.
Too easily.
They called me special.
And I loved it.
I loved being different.
I loved being powerful.
But I also remembered my first kill.
A fellow trainee.
The final test.
Me or him.
I still remembered the warmth of his blood. The way his body trembled.
After that day, killing became easier.
Sleep disappeared first.
Then emotions.
Then humanity.
Eventually, I became a phenomenon.
Mr. Ripper.
The organization's go-to agent for S-class missions.
They sent me wherever hell was needed.
But I was tired.
So tired.
I wanted to close my eyes and sleep forever.
Yet I couldn't kill myself.
Because if I died quietly, someone else would take my place.
More children would be bought.
More lives would be ruined.
So I chose another way.
I destroyed their bases.
One by one.
Agents. Commanders. Directors.
Until only the headquarters remained.
I knew I wouldn't survive this one.
And that was fine.
As long as no more children lost their humanity.
As long as no one else became me.
The darkness around me felt endless.
"I guess this is it," I thought.
"An eternity of nothingness."
I accepted it.
I had no complaints.
---
"…Good child."
A voice echoed through the void.
Calm. Deep. Absolute.
"I can see your regret."
"What…?"
My thoughts froze.
"You have accepted this cruel state without resistance," the voice continued.
"Even though no mind can endure eternal doom."
Am I… hearing things?
Have I finally gone insane?
Then—
Light appeared.
A small point at first.
Growing.
Expanding.
The darkness began to retreat.
"What is this…?"
The light grew blinding.
White replaced black.
"So bright… damn it… I can't even close my eyes."
I felt like I had crossed from hell into something worse.
"No child," the voice said gently.
"You are not in hell."
"You are in my space."
I turned toward the source of the voice.
And my breath caught.
He stood there.
Calm. Vast. Beyond comprehension.
Not once in my life had I prayed.
Not once had I believed.
Yet there he was.
The one and only—
God.