Chapter 22: The Curtain Between Worlds
"Hmm… I wonder about those multiverses… Is it real?"
That single question echoed in the void of Chris's—no, Desire's—newfound world. A question asked with idle curiosity, and yet one powerful enough to shatter the illusions of separation.
He was not bound anymore. Not by name, not by rules, not even by time.
He was not a god. Not a devil. Not a mortal.
He was Desire.
And desire—true, primal, eternal—was a force that connected all things.
The Veil of the Realms
As his thought wandered, so too did his gaze. He stared into the abyss not of darkness, but of possibility. An endless gallery of universes—shimmering like motes of light in an ocean of time—spun lazily before him.
He reached out.
Not with hands, but with intent.
And the veil between worlds parted.
There was a flicker. A resonance. A flash of familiarity.
There, a boy holding a sword made of emotion and memory.
There, a girl who turned into stars every night to guard her world from the devourers of dreams.
There, a robot who discovered the concept of a soul through poetry.
There, heroes, villains, monsters, lovers, cowards, kings, traitors, broken things—each a universe of their own.
He saw them all.
The Library of Existence
In a moment of realization, Chris appeared in what could only be described as a library without walls—a manifestation of infinite knowledge, narrative, and imagination.
Shelves spiraled into the stars. Books made of light and shadow, film reels made of memory, ink that pulsed like a heartbeat. Every story, every tale, every reality ever imagined—existed here.
Novels. Manhwa. Manga. Anime. Movies. Webtoons. Forgotten dreams. Whispered ideas. All of it.
Each was a world. A multiverse. A living, breathing realm.
"Aha… it is real," he whispered, a grin spreading across his ethereal face.
And in that moment, he knew what came next.
A Desire Unleashed
"If the multiverse is real… then it's time for me to enjoy myself."
He laughed—not madly, not cruelly—just with a child's delight and a creator's curiosity.
"Wreak havoc?" he mused. "Be the storm in a hero's journey? Be the whisper that turns saints into monsters?"
"Or maybe… just maybe… I'll be the watcher in the back of a café in a slice-of-life world. The one who never speaks, but always smiles."
He stepped into one world.
And another.
And another.
Sometimes a character would see a shadow in the mirror and feel a chill, never knowing it was him.
Sometimes, he would be the protagonist—rewriting fate from within.
Sometimes, he was the villain, but only to test the worth of that world's justice.
Other times, he merely sat beneath a cherry blossom tree and watched two lovers meet for the first time.
He did not belong. And yet he belonged everywhere.
The Entertainment of Eternity
He wasn't here to dominate.
Nor to save.
Nor to be understood.
He was just here.
To enjoy.
To indulge in the story. To feel the thrill of a world brimming with potential. Whether it ended in fire or light, tragedy or triumph, it didn't matter.
It was the desire for the unknown.
The desire for story.
The desire to see what came next.
"Hehe… this will be entertaining," he said, watching as another world opened before him—one with mechs and magic, betrayal and redemption.
And then, he stepped through.
End of Volume 1: "The Birth of Desire"