#oudites

bored!reader who's just doing this whole thing cuz you think it's interesting.. you don't think you'd ever tell him about your real status in society, not unless he connects the pieces himself: how there never seems to be a lack of food despite you complaining about how "you don't got a penny in your wallet," or how the both of you can still live just fine even without clients for an extremely long time in a place people barely frequent.. well, that's a story for another time!

yan!crybaby who was in fact, trained to be a killer. in fact, it was all that he knew all his life! he's not that refined in his craft, though. not when his cowardly, pathetic perception wherein every other people is "bad" was solidified the moment another familia left him on the streets simply because he had done "too much." he never elaborated on what that exactly meant either, of course! he was simply too busy weeping in your kind, comfortable arms.

yan!crybaby who aalways hogs all your attention. I mean, everyone else can't possibly deserve the way your eyes see people with such boundless kindness, the possibility of them taking advantage of you simply scares him too much– he can't let that happen! he's too scared! there's no way he's gonna allow that to happen!

yan!crybaby who always looms behind you, eyes teary as you talk to other people because, well, that's your job! hs can't possibly leave you alone.. having to be on his on scares him too much! you think it's cute, though. he just looks like a meek little herbivore in your eyes.. how could someone like this be exposed to such a cruel environment when he was young? it's such a shame that your clients don't seem to agree with that sentiment.

yan!crybaby who shakily accompanies you when you sometimes become a consultant "detective" for a day or two, especially when he notices that there are people tailing you. "they're probably people who's got a bone to pick with my client," you'd reply to his frantic warning carelessly. how can you not worry about your life?! he's wrecking his brain thinking on how to deal with them, and you're just letting it happen? no way! not in his watch!

yan!crybaby who messily charges at your attackers at a speed and with the kind of power you never thought you'd see in him; who takes out the weapon that you gave him for self-defense and just start killing other people with it, even if you hoped that he'd never really have to be put in a circumstance that forces him to use it..

yan!crybaby who comes up to you with a shaky grin, mind torn on thinking whether you'd praise him for getting rid of the enemies or whether you'd abhor him for doing such unseemly things out in the open...

...only to see that you're smiling at him with a gentleness that clearly hides a very thinly veiled satisfaction. who discovered that you had understood his kind of upbringing ever since the very first time he told you about it, and simply hired those assassins to measure the strength he was seemingly so ashamed of having.

yan!crybaby who didn't expect you to be this.. shrewd? but that's okay.. it simply goes to show the extent of the things you'd do for him, doesn't it? aah, he's so flattered! how can he not be? you.. someone who he thought was pure and untainted.. that he was so afraid of ruining was someone who was not even close to that description in the first place! he was simply made for you! he thought, eyes tearing up.

yan!crybaby who would massacre people in broad daylight just because they unconsciously called you names, or just.. words that he deems insulting when it's directed to you. who is simply too powerful.. yet you're not sure how. what have you been feeding him anyway? protein isn't all that powerful, is it?

"uwaahhh! stop running.. I'm tired, I have to go back to help (name) as soon as I can!!" cale whines, running with speed equivalent to a predator, massive axe on hand and is actively catching up to the perpetrator. "I promise I'll make it painless if you give in and let me kill you right now!"

theres no way he's going to be home past his curfew tonight! and theres no way in hell that he's gonna let you cook and cleen by yourself when hes right there! the both of you live almost in the middle of nowhere anyway, so what's the problem? dead people can work just fine as fertilizers anyway!

"no, the fuck!" that guy yelled back, clearly worn down with the way he's getting slower yet even more desperate to run away. "just get back to that lover of yours now! pretend I never exist, leave me alone!"

"no way." he interjects right away. "people like you are the reason I can only live with (name).. the reason why (name) is constantly put at risk is because of your actions! it's your fault!"

his shouts didn't get an answer, though. not when the body of the man is already mangled, chopped and destroyed to an unrecognizable degree. cale swiftly digs the soil to sloppily bury him right at the place of his death.

"yeah.. I knew it.." he mutters, eyes teary and the blood splatter on his cheeks drying up as he turns to walk back into his only home, the place where he truly belongs. "after all, every human other than (name) is evil.. I can never let anyone else step into this territory ever again."

yan!fanatic who doesn't leave your side even after you dropped out and entered a sketchy organization in an even more sketchy place which seems to be a.. cult? why would you join a cult? you were doing just fine by his side just a few days ago, weren't you? what could have possibly happened?

gloomy!reader who in truth, since the moment your friend entered the spotlight, has wanted to get rid of him from your solitary, quiet life. what the hell is he doing, anyway? by being so active in society, he's also actively harming you by association! doesn't he know that when antisocials like you try to mingle with popular kids, they usually get beaten up?! that's what you've read in your comics, at least..

gloomy!reader who's actually a total scaredy cat! you're just doing these insanely terrifying urban explorations, ghost huntings and other ghastly activities just so that he would finally get weirded out and avoid you! or better yet, he'd get hurt protecting you and start resenting you for it.. that way, you'll be outta his life immediately!

gloomy!reader who got so stricken with fear you accidentally join a cult.. wait wait wait, how did it get to this?! ah, but their offer seems so nice.. besides, if you join them, maybe you'll get protection from the scary, probable bullies that might come to ruin your whole life someday..

yan!fanatic who totally understands why you'd join a cult! after all, you're such a beautiful, otherworldly being that you would naturally need to subtly, discreetly infiltrate another organization to gain followers for yourself! in that case, he'll follow you to assist you in your noble journey!

yan!fanatic who completely abandons his old, functional and "normal" life to follow your steps. for what reason? well, why not? his whole purpose of existence is to fulfill your every wish, so it's not like he's got any attachment to a single, rigid way of life. especially not when he's given the honor to spread your greatness to the masses!!

yan!fanatic who can't help but mention your name in almost every single conversation he's in.. after all, he prays to you every morning, and what is that if not the most seamless way to inject you into his daily life? he can't even begin to imagine his life without the very concept of your presence...

yan!fanatic who eventually builds his (your?) own cult with the entire purpose of it being that you are a creature who lives on a plane far higher than theirs, alongside the other.. puny, pathetic lifeforms who can't even begin to fathom the sheer magnitude of your existence.

yan!cult who praises your every being, serenading many hymns and songs that speak of your grandeur, who does dirty work simply to get rid of the vermin that may taint your presence, so on and so forth..

..with the direction of yan!fanatic, of course! you act like he's the cult leader, but he's really just doing all of this for you and no one else; even when he alone managed to create a cult under your name! ..while somehow being completely unaware of the sheer terror their actions give you instead.

gloomy!reader who can't help but subconsciously be flattered at the amount of praise they're willing to give you.. because all your life, you've been hated by basically everyone else aside from yan!fanatic.. I mean, who wouldn't preen at the reality of having a whole community of people dedicating their whole existence to you and you alone?

"hmm.. no, not quite. their punishment has not been done according to the manual in– let's see.. page 55, article 8. you should still take out their tongue," commanded aseah with his droopy eyes madly glued on the book; the.. manual-doctrine-rulebook-thing that they made to impose proper "order" on those that had gone through the trouble of greatly inconvenicencing you.

the executioner nods, taking the "sinner" back into the "dungeon" to finish the job.

of course, being a mostly experienced leader in various ways, he is most definitely a man of order. with such a large stature yet a seemingly kind visage, how can one not be compelled to follow his words? especially when a man like him so fervently praises someone like you. after all, great people only follow those even greater than them!

as of the victim of today, well.. aseah giggles. he has badmouthed you, and he has simply done too much! why should one go through all that trouble just to put harm in your way? obviously, in accordance to the rule, he shall never retain the right to speak again! of course, this too was granted by the grace of the benevolent (name)~

"how did I do, (name)?" he turns to you, complexion doing a 180° as he beams at you, utterly ignorant of the way you're basically pissing yourself right then and there. of course, he thinks, that's not enough punishment. so he'll definitely finish the job later on, and it's not something that should be displayed in front of your already sorrowful-looking eyes..

"yeah, you're fine," said you, utterly frozen, body near-unmoving as you do your best, desperately, to stop your whole body from trembling in fear. the poker face that you have managed to build up over the years is finally doing its job! "you did great, aseah. maybe it's time to take a break now." and stop torturing these poor people, you lunatic!

oh well, it's not like you're gonna actively do anything to prevent it. unless they're in your inner circle, you've never really cared about others anyway.. maybe that's why aseah has gotten so comfortable with doing these things with you as the audience.

seriously, he's such a handful, you think.

aah, of course, (name) is as benevolent as ever! aseah thinks, weapon in one hand and you in the other, definitely not planning to just straight up kill the guy tonight.

yan!system who seems to not like the other characters very much.. to a very weird degree. they've always been really skittish with others, so much so that you wonder just how they ended up warming up to you so quickly.. maybe you got lucky! you're definitely not someone who would mind being treated as someone special by a seemingly all powerful, extraterrestrial, formless being ♪

yan!system who seems to be less active, lately. you're still getting spoiled, and the missions that you're given are still very, suspiciously, incredibly, oddly easy! even with all these perks, though.. you still feel somewhat lonely without them.

reckless!reader whose only source of entertainment are extreme physical activities that are less for fun and more of active suicide risks: in other words, a thrill-seeker. if not that, then you'll do nothing but play games within the confines of your room, so either way adrenaline rushes are so your go-to.

reckless!reader who died in.. well, you don't remember. you're pretty sure that you died in some unavoidable accident though; like in those microsized caves, or maybe you just fell off a really, really high cliff. oh well, you have little to lose.

reckless!reader who at the beginning, really, really didn't like the system. I mean, come on! you were fine with dying because you thought you'd be able to rest, not participate in world-hopping missions that just straight up threatens your whole existence! surely you'd be let go if you do the missions well with the best of your ability? or if you kept dying, resetting, failing and looping scenes?

yan!system who used to just enjoy seeing people struggle to live, and now is wrecking their not-brain and pulling out their not-hair from the constant frustration of seeing you actively looking to do things that will-most-likely-definitely kill you! it's for the rewards, you'd say; but you don't even do anything with them! giving you valuable items for no reason didn't even do anything, so clearly you're just doing this for the love of the game.

yan!system who was driven mad by the sheer amount of danger you put yourself in for your own entertainment. they thought you were doing all this to survive! do you just wanna die or something? though.. the sight of your beat up and battered face isn't so bad to see every once in awhile.

yan!system who eventually got sick of seeing you almost-die but not ever actually dying. ah, whatever, why don't they just cross this screen barrier and directly come to you? that way, they'll be able to keep you in their gasp forever.

reckless!reader who started noticing the pattern.. because why do these love interests from very clearly different worlds and different stories act similar, when they're described to be opposites? wait, you've heard exactly what A said in world X! there's no way that should be possible! hold on, you gotta reset and start over reeal quick!

yan!system who started fucking up stories.. for you. aah, they really didn't wanna do this, but literally no other method works on you. why won't you stop trying to die? stop resetting! they may be able to keep bringing you back, and the sight may not be as bad as they thought, but they're just so sick of it!

yan!system who isn't even acting like a system anymore. to hell with this whole thing, they've found someone that makes everyone they've ever toyed with pale in comparison. there's no way they're gonna be letting you go now.. and it's not like they've had any intention to do it in the first place. your latest death-reset simply solidified their decision.

yan!system who is finally taking you to their world! <3 see how there's no one here? see how there's absolutely no way that you'll be able to get out of here? it's the perfect sanctuary for the both of you! this way, the only reason why you'd be battered and bruised is them, and the sight will be reserved for them only.. haha, why do you look exhilarated? or is that fear? oh well, as long as you're with them now!

the sight that lies in front of your gives you nothing but freezing cold shivers. there stands a lone person– with quite possibly the most ethereal look you've ever seen your whole life, it's practically inhumane– standing drenched in blood amongst the many clones of the past characters that has acted as your love interests in the various worlds they made you travel through.

aah, you'd never thought you'd see a sight more beautiful than this. with such a visage, they look no different than a lovely gossypium that's simply been tainted by the lowly. crap, is this what you're into? like.. some sort of hidden kink or something?

"(name).." whispered the figure. wow, you think, face beet red. they just said your name, like, with their mouth. really pretty too, by the way.

"(name)," they repeat. "won't you look at me?"

you look at them. they grin, utterly enthralled.

"ah," they falter, then. "I've never properly received your gaze.. I'm so happy.."

that beautiful person– system? that beautiful thing cupped their cheeks, beaming the brightest smile you've ever seen them make in the short but definitely irl encounter you've had as of now. wow, you think, again, this person is into me?

amongst your daze, the system approached you, cupped your cheeks and examined your face ve~ry closely, doing nothing but making you even more red in turn. "your face looks even more fascinating when it doesn't have any bandages or bruise."

"r– really?" you stammer. "you think.. so?"

"ah, you're so cute, my player–" they reach out to hug you. it's gentle, but you also feel the sheer intensity of the way their fingers grasp your body so tightly it feels like you might get ripped apart. "–my (name), my (name), my (name).. you're with me, you're finally with me..!"

"with.. you..?"

"ha!" they giggle, "I'm your system, remember? not anymore now though, not really. you can still call me system, if you want! or give me a name. as long as it's from you, I'll accept it all the same."

holy shit, you think. this cannot be happening.

"aaall that matters is that you're now here with me, and that you'll never step out of this little space of ours ever again. so won't you look only at me?"

you don't think that would be that bad of an idea.. not for now, at least. how can you, when the sight of them alone is already taking away your ability to think of anything else?

blood drips from your nose. what were you here for again?

yan!artist who sees other people as canon fodders that are only capable of defying your untainted form. every touch, every interaction that you receive from these.. things only serves as a hindrance. they serve as nothing more than dirt who can contribute nothing more than replace the ground you step on.

yan!artist who finds even his own form repulsive. the only time he can achieve even a fragment of beauty is when he resides within your arms.. that is why he can never leave you with anyone else! only when he is with you will he retain the ability to stand above all else, to be the one to judge the beauty that is "right."

yan!artist who has always seen you as someone good-looking, even in your first encounter. of course, at the time, he wasn't aware of the kind of person you'd be. it's only natural that he's not gonna be able to see you beyond that.

yan!artist who even then, has always abhorred even the thought of other people's presence around your orbit. though hollow still, you have always been something that he can't help but rest his eyes on. surely it must mean something, and it most definitely means more than what those mongrels can even hope to comprehend.

detached!reader who has always been naturally adored by the ones around them simply because of how good-looking they are. of course, that ultimately becomes the whole reason why they have already established a viewpoint where nothing else can simply stand on the same pedestal as they do. even if one does, would they still be human?

detached!reader who's really not a narcissist at all! it's simply something they see as a fact. after all, there has to be a concrete reason why everyone has loved them so much their whole life– and what else can it be other than the fact that they are simply the most ideal form of a human being? of course, with love comes hate, but it's nothing they can't handle. that's how insignificant it is.

detached!reader who, true to their thoughts, was fascinated by none other than yan!artist's artwork. "what a beautifully imperfect depiction of humanity, is it not?" you'd tell him, upon seeing his piece. such things are disgusting as much as it is ethereal, and you're sure that there's no one else who can interpret his artwork the way you do.

detached!reader who hasn't gone through enough thing to develop a personality. but it won't stop yan!artist from loving you. besides, such abject hollowness can only mean that he has been given the honor of embellishing you with his own hands, in his own language, all by himself.

yan!artist who shivers at the thought of touching you, so much so that his hands immediately rush back to grasp his own frail body upon contact; eyes shaky and breath heaving, he really can't bear the thought of being able to go through such intimate physical contact with you.. it drives him over the edge embarrassingly fast.

yan!artist who unexpectedly gets flustered very, very easily when you tease him. whose face turns beet red when you lightly tug his chin just so the both of you would see eye to eye, only to immediately retain his terrifying complexion when someone else (–in his words, a mere pleibian) take one step closer to you anywhere within his line of sight. you notice, of course, but it really is just amusing to see more than anything, so you let him.

yan!artist who can make as much artwork as needed, who can dissect and sculpt the human body so long as it remains your only source of intrigue, your sole object of entertainment. hell, he doesn't mind taking his own body apart, as long as it's you asking for it!

yan!artist who wishes that he can keep you in a beautiful cage, free from the eyes of others. alas, the one that would rather keep him in a cage is you; which is something that he, surprisingly enough, doesn't mind as much as he thought he would!

detached!reader who wants yan!artist to only create his artworks for you. after all, you've finally found something interesting for the first time ever– why should you ever let it go?

"maybe you can spread the ribs to make the heart stick out more," said you, observing yet another one of elian's artwork as you hover your hands over the raw, grotesque display of flesh. "I mean, the overall look is fine, it just doesn't make me feel as much as I did with the stuff you made before."

"aah, I see.. I'll– I'll keep that in mind.." he heaves, words trembling from the mere sight of you touching the object that he had spent hours perfecting, if only to satiate the desire that never truly escapes your eyes. yes, he thinks, there can never be anything that can grant him such passionate joy as much as you do.

"I don't blame you, though," you exclaim, "this was sourced from quite the ugly lifeforms, wasn't it? I mean, it was really that unpleasant to look at."

you don't really mean that.

elian is more than well aware of how in truth, you see everyone else amusing enough to be a source of entertainment, one way or another. the only reason why you're entertaining him specifically is because, as you said, verbatim: "because his hands seem to cherish what it holds– it makes you really wanna see more of what they can do."

regardless, you still took the words right out of his mouth. because in spite of your indifference, he still abhors everyone else that has managed to live among what should be a world that belongs to you.

he despises this one especially, because it had the gall to grab your form so hastily, so.. so grossly! in the most unsightly way anyone could have possibly done, too. he wishes he can simply rip out its heart and reduce it to nothing but charred remains.

no matter. soon enough, you'll grow sick of it enough to throw it away; and by then, he'll be the one to gladly do it and dirty his own hands for you ♪

kuji looks around to find not a soul among them.

"haven't you heard of the legends that surround this place?" it persists, "haven't you heard of the stories of the spirit that will take you into a journey in hell if you were to insist on staying here till nightfall?"

of course, he has. such murmurs has invaded and therefore plagued his minds countless times, alongside the demeaning mockings that those vermin just love to spit on his face every waking hour.

it was the main reason why he even came here by himself in the first place.

"oh my, not afraid? walk any further past this point, and you'll never be able to return to your normal life, you know?"

he's.. aware. he can't seem to bring himself to care much about it.

eyes devoid of light and face devoid of emotion, kuji walks further into the forest. a step and two past the statues of the guardian, a third and fourth past the shrine, a fifth and sixth past the stairs. his surroundings then morphed in a blink.

there, at last, he sees the being that has been one sidedly talking to him in its humanlike form. they don't say anything, nor do they move. they simply smile, subconsciously beckoning kuji into being the one to approach them.

to say that they were mesmerizing would simply be a grave understatement. still, he approached you with only a single glimmer of faint yet flickering desire in his eyes:

"I'd like to die."

you grin.

"well, we can't have that, can we?"

so you take him into hell, or what seems to be its barest layer. then you take him to the one below, then to the one under; exploring the world in which grime, blood and sin seeps into its surface like water, the world where the damned faces only suffering, and the guilty retribution.

you take him into hell, unaware of the way his eyes progressively linger less on the paintings of brutality that lay in front of the both of you, and more into your very own figure. his guide, and the one he has begun to carve his own path to.

so he stays, and he clings. even through the great depictions of suffering itself, his eyes stay fixated on you alone.

of course, this ends up bewildering you. for the first time in what felt like a millenia, someone wanders into hell as if they're simply going to an amusement park; instead of the raw expression of sheer terror and despair, you see his expression lighten more and more the deeper into hell he roams.

even knowing that he can never, ever return to the realm of the living. even knowing that he has lost the long, grand lifespan that has already been decided for him, had he not perished so quickly on his own accord.

there is only one question that he repeats as he grabs your hand while taking a step forward: "where will you be taking me next?"

so you take him into its worst, ugliest parts.

among the lowest level, there lies the proof of humanity's worst. the realm where the stench of rot becomes prominent, where the sight of severed tendons and broken bodies fill the ground that he walks on, and where the grotesque forms of indomitable torture is forced upon those who has merged into evil more than any other among them.

among these, lie those that has turned to a life shrouded with actions so irredeemable and therefore mangled beyond belief, so much so that it makes the cruelty that's been displayed on the upper levels seem like blessings.

if one can survive the mere action of witnessing this level of suffering, then they are likely already far from human.

eventually, the journey ends.

which is, at a certain point, has made you realize how terribly lonely you've been all this time. of course, it's not like you can be the one to say it; so instead you keep such feelings locked deep within your heart, and take him to the boundary between the afterlife and the beginning to the cycle of reincarnation.

the journey has ended, and for a life wasted, you shall face retribution wherein he shall face a new, fresh and better beginning.

"go on, now."

he doesn't move. instead he approaches you, grabs your hand in a grasp so tight with eyes so lovesick you almost thought that he was messing around. you can't bring yourself to pull away either, though.

so then he beams the widest smile thag you've ever seen on him; one that is so sincere, he almost deceved you into thinking that he's nothing but an innocent, clueless mortal.

truly, such illustrations would've been brought to life– had you not notice the way that his form is beginning to change not as a human, but into something that shouldn't be anywhere within the realm of what's possible, all the while his loving sights are dead set on you.

he then grasps your hand tighter, and you let yourself be pulled to him.

"wouldn't it be better for me to join you?"

it– it almost makes me feel bad about doing all this, you think, whole arm trembling in fear as you shakily complete the summoning circle for.. this scary-looking entity from within the book. one that you firmly believe will be able to get rid of aseah once and for all.

well, it has to! otherwise, I'd just be risking my life for nothing! why on earth would I want that at all?!

–was what you had thought at first, fully unaware that you'd come into another, even more troublesome predicament instead.

"..pardon?" asked the incomprehensible-looking, not even close to human being in front of you.

no, seriously, you were expecting something, but to think that even you can underestimate things.. you can't even look at them! how would you even expect to.. ask.. for such a trivial thing?!

aah, what do you do, what should you do? your eyes are tearing up, and blood is beginning to drip from your nose. you're not built for this at all!

"ca–can.." you stammer. "can you–can you.. I n–need you to.. uh.." ah, shit.

"calling forth a being like me, only to pathetically fall apart from my very presence.." you can practically feel its eyes narrow in amusement. "have humans always been this feeble, or are you simply that cowardly after all?"

"..n–no! I'm good! I just–I just wanted to ask you to kill someone for me! just one person! please!"

"..hm?"

"th– there's this.. this guy.. and uh.. his name is–!"

"..ah, hold your words. I am fully aware of the individual you're referring to."

you brighten up almost immediately, "th– then..!"

though it was shut down just as fast with the following words: "the man that you've got wrapped around your little finger has already struck a deal with me way before you did. were you not made aware of this beforehand?"

..huh?

it continues, then, "..I assume not. I cannot take the life of a subject before he fulfills his own part of the contract, which shall only be done in due time."

..no way. no way, theres just no way! I really am doing this for nothing!

–was what fills your mind as you scramble for answers, mouth stammering and arms violently shaking as you grab the book in an attempt to re-read the information provided in it to summon them, only to find the pages utterly blank, with not even a blemish of ink left anywhere on the surface.

"y– you..!! you.."

"me?" they scoffed. "was it not from your own foolish decision of choosing who to summon based on our description of looks, instead of properly finishing the book prior the summoning?"

or so they said, but you don't really seem to sense any real contempt nor malice in their words. almost as if they're merely.. teasing you. at that, you bristle– well, as much as you can make yourself seem like you are.

"say," they begin. "you're quite the amusing human, aren't you? I can understand why he was so fixated on such a thing. I'll lend you my name, then, so you can at least get something out of this."

"call me astaroth. it's quite nice to finally meet you in the flesh, (name)."