Waking up in a black void filled with what looked to be stars wasn't how I imagined dying.
I was dying...Right?
Or was I dreaming?
I didn't even get a chance to scream, much less think before what appeared to be a human made up of those tiny stars appeared in front of me. It reminded me of Alien X.
"Oh? What's this? Another soul wandering in the void?" It spoke. It clearly didn't have a mouth, yet I could hear it perfectly.
What the hell is going on? Who is this? What is this?
"I have been seeing a lot of your kind here lately." It continued, clearly amused. "Your afterlife is leaking like a sieve. Something to do with all those desires to leave your old world behind and go on some grand adventure."
What the hell is he going on about? Afterlife? Leaking? Wait ... is he saying our afterlife is leaking because people want to be isekie'd.
"Bingo," it said, voice tinged with dry humor. "This so-called 'isekai anime' in your universe has done quite a number on human souls. Some of you even have the audacity to demand I send you to some random world. The gall."
...So he can read my mind. Great.
"Lucky for you," it said, shifting slightly, like the stars that made it up were swirling, "I find this entertaining. So rather than let you wither away here, I'm going to send you to a world of my choosing. For fun."
Before I could protest—or think anything useful—I felt pain.
Real pain.
It spread through every inch of my being. My cells. My atoms. Like I was being ripped apart and stitched back together all at once. No screams came. Only raw sensation.
"I'll send you with a boon," the being said casually, as if I wasn't being torn apart. "So you don't die a pathetic death. Survive. Thrive. And above all... enjoy. You've been given a second chance."
And with that, the stars vanished.
And the fall began.
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MC POV
These past few minutes? Hours? Days?
A few hours ago, I was just another guy with average luck and an average life. A pedestrian. A nobody. Then came the screech of tires, the rush of steel, and the dark.
I didn't expect an afterlife. I definitely didn't expect a void filled with stars… or a being made of them.
He called me a wanderer. A soul with too much desire. One of many caught between worlds because of our obsession with escapism. With isekai.
"Lucky for you," he said, "I'm in a good mood."
And now… here I am.
Standing in the middle of a burning city, smoke thick in the air, ash clinging to my skin—and in a body that isn't mine.
Scratch that. Two bodies that aren't mine.
I'm in the body of Ryomen Sukuna, who was in the body of Megumi Fushiguro when he died. And yet… I'm the one in control. Somehow.
It's not possession. It's more than that. I didn't just inherit Sukuna's body—I inherited him. His memories, his instincts, his techniques… even his hunger. It's all in here with me.
What's strange is how natural it feels. His memories stretch back decades, a river of blood and war and cursed energy. They should drown me. But instead... they fit. Like a glove that was always meant for my hand.
And the strength?
It's real.
I feel it in every breath, every step, every heartbeat. Not just Sukuna's power—but something beyond it. Like I've stepped past a threshold he didn't even know existed. Not invincible, no—but unshackled.
Honestly? It's exhilarating.
Or… it would be, if I wasn't surrounded by flaming wreckage and skeletons dragging themselves out of the rubble like discount movie extras.
Skeletons.
Seriously?
No matter.
If this body's mine now, it's time I see what it can really do.
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TWO MINUTES LATER: 3RD POV
Crushing the head of the last skeleton beneath his sandals, Sukuna quickly took stock of his inventory. While he had nothing on his person other than the clothes he had when he fought Satoru, his shadow seemed to have been filled to his needs. A few pairings of his clothes (some even for his true form), food (mostly meat, some humans prepared by Uraume), water and most surprisingly Kamutoke.
The cursed tokkosho seeming to have made its way all over here. Well, not like he is complaining.
A plan already forming into his mind, Sukuna set off into the ruined city, head flicking from side to side as he picked his way through the city. Fortunately, the streets were mostly clear except some buildings that were either blown up or missing some walls. He had little to fear from the fire, even though it seemed to be cursed, curses never hindered him in his life much less this new one.
What was concerning was the lack of bodies. It didn't take him long to realize that the skeletons that he had fought earlier were from the residents of this city, he had been suspicious once he realized they looked a lot like the ones he had seen in his life.
An uneasy feeling seemed to begin settling in the King's gut. Something was way too wrong with this place—beside the inferno of a city he was traveling through.
His pace seemed to slow down as he started to look around carefully. If this whole thing was the work of a single being, then he'd need to take caution. Even though he was sure of his own strength, he knew what overconfidence could lead to. Especially as he realized he was not in a version of his own home. A place like this would have been teeming with curses, the fire would attract them like a moth to a flame, but he had seen none.
For the next ten minutes or so, he carefully crept through the city, Divine Dogs at his back as he traversed at a leisure pace. He had begun to wonder if his caution had been misplaced, the dogs couldn't pick up a scent and he couldn't see anything in sight.
Something that was gnawing at him was this strange energy in the air. While it was not cursed energy, it wasn't something he couldn't feel. It felt strange, a little repulsive to him. Not like he hadn't felt that from people before. Still, it was weird.
For the briefest of moments, the wind seemed to have picked up, his ears twitched as he heard something, a loud bang as though a hunk of metal clashed with another. And a voice, crying out in pain—a young girl, possibly, though it was hard to be sure of it.
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Everything had gone wrong so fast.
The day that was supposed to mark Chaldea's triumph—its first dive into the past to combat the impending catastrophe detected by SHEBA—had spiraled into chaos.
Mash had been making her way to the briefing room, where the A-Team and the Director were assembled, when she came across one of the new Master candidates collapsed in the hallway. The girl was flat on her back, limbs splayed out, drool tracing a line down her chin. For a heartbeat, Mash had assumed the worst—that the girl had been attacked. Dr. Romani had warned her that some magi, particularly those from the Western tradition, harbored deep disdain for others, and weren't above violence to assert their superiority.
But that thought vanished once she saw the girl's peaceful, almost goofy expression.
Her name was Gudako. "Just Gudako, please," the girl—her new senpai had said with a sleepy grin.
She had been harmless, even kind in her own distracted way—but that hadn't saved her from Director Olga Marie's wrath. Her casual attitude and the fact that she had slept in the middle of the meeting had seen her thrown out of the meeting almost immediately. Mash had felt sympathy—especially since she'd known this was the aftereffects of the simulation, ones she hadn't voiced out of fear less the directors rage be attracted towards her.
But none of that mattered now.
A massive explosion rocked the facility before the mission could even begin. Flames burst forth in every direction. The ground trembled. And then—nothing. Just pain.
A wall had collapsed, pinning Mash beneath it. Her lower body was numb, her upper body in pain of being burned.
She'd tried to scream, to move, to do anything—but her strength failed her. It felt like the end.
Until someone grabbed her hand.
With effort, she looked up, and there was Gudako—her senpai—eyes wide with panic and sorrow, clutching her fingers as though willing her to live. Mash smiled despite everything. Even if she was going to die here, at least she wasn't alone.
Her vision faded. Her breathing slowed.
Then—a sound. A murmur. Words she couldn't understand but she felt in her bones.
Power surged through her.
In the blink of an eye, everything changed.
One moment she had been dying, the next, reborn—heat still licked at her skin, fire still burned around her, but this wasn't Chaldea anymore.
She had Rayshifted.
Somehow, against all logic, against all odds—Mash had survived. And not just that… she was outside. Truly outside. For the first time in her life.
The air was sharp, thick with ash and mana. Her armor had changed—sleek, unfamiliar, and yet hers. A weapon, a shield pulsed with new strength.
She had merged with the Heroic Spirit sealed inside her.
And more than that, she could feel it now—an invisible thread pulling at her core. A tether. A bond.
A contract.
Her senpai had done something impossible—formed a connection with her mid-death. A true Master-Servant pact.
Everything after that had passed in a blur.
She'd fought for the first time, driving back skeletal monstrosities with ease. Her strikes were clumsy but powerful, driven by instinct. She had shielded her master, stood between her and danger without hesitation. The compulsion to protect her Master burned in her chest like a second heartbeat.
Were those her feelings? Or the Heroic Spirit's? Or both?
There was no time to figure it out. The city burned. Their enemies came in waves. And she had a duty now.
They found the Director again. Still alive. Still barking orders even though she could feel her running on fear and desperation. Together, they cleared another wave of skeletons. They re-established shaky contact with Chaldea—relief flooding through Mash at hearing Dr. Roman's voice. He was alive. But what about the others? Ophelia? Pepe? The rest of Team A?
No time to dwell. No answers to find.
Under the directors' lead, they pushed toward a leyline near the bridge. Stabilizing their connection would allow Gudako to summon another Servant. Reinforcements. Hope. A proper servant, unlike her.
The undead tried to stop them—but they were no match for her. For the first time since the explosion, Mash dared to believe they might survive this.
And then HE came.
As the Director completed the summoning circle, Mash felt it—an overwhelming pressure, a creeping dread that coiled around her senses like a vice. Her instincts screamed. Her body moved before her thoughts could catch up.
She shoved both the Director and her Master aside.
But she was too slow.
The towering figure moved like a force of nature—hulking, brutal. His axe came down, and her shield met it too late. The impact was overwhelming. Pain exploded in her arm as the force sent her flying. Her hand barely held on to the shield. She hit the ground hard, the world spinning.
When she rose again, horror met her eyes.
The Thing struck director Olga before she could react—his axe tore into her, severing her arm. Her scream was swallowed by the wind as her body tumbled into the dark waters below the bridge.
Mash didn't think. She moved.
Mana surged through her legs, burning like acid, but she forced herself to sprint. She had to protect her Master. Had to stop that Thing before—
Too slow.
The axe came down again, this time aimed for her senpai.
Mash saw it in her mind's—her senpai's body broken, her life snuffed out in a second.
She had failed. Again.
But before the axe could hit—
A blur.
Something slammed into the monstrous Servant, intercepting the blow and sending them both crashing through the air—over the edge of the bridge and into the ruins beyond.
Silence followed.
Mash stood frozen, heart thundering in her chest. Relief. Disbelief. Fear.
Something had saved them.
But what?
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Author's Note:
Thank you for reading.
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