Eclipse | COTE x Danmachi

Chapter 0 (Arc 1 ➔➔➔⬇)

Often finding myself drawn to the concept of the full circle of life, I sat inside my room once my gym session with Ichinose ended. There wasn't much to do today, hence, I returned back to my room.

The topic around which this sudden contemplation circled around was—surprisingly—random. I just had a sudden notion of it.

Like a passerby throwing seeds into soil in a random lawn, which later results in a fully grown tree. The idea sprouted yesterday, and it had fully gripped me now.

Thinking over it, the essence of this concept lies in the intricate interplay of cause and effect, a phenomenon that transcends mere happenstance. People often relate it to something that makes things go in a perfect round circle.

A little push into the realm of karma.

The concept, deeply ingrained in the collective psyche of humanity, often hints that our actions reverberate through the universe, shaping the trajectory of our own destinies in a manner that is both subtle and sublime.

Karma, often referred as law of moral cause and effect, dictates that every thought, every deed, is a thread in the grand events of existence.

In the end, it comes down to the varying beliefs.

Yet, as I delved deeper into the labyrinth of human belief systems, I was confronted with the dichotomy of faith and skepticism that surrounded the concept of karma.

For some, it is an immutable truth, an ancient wisdom passed down through generations that provides solace in times of turmoil.

They believe in the justice that underlies the seemingly chaotic nature of life, finding reassurance in the notion that good begets good, and evil begets its own demise.

Conversely, there are those who dismiss karma as a mere superstition, a fanciful construct born out of the human need for order in a world that often seems capricious and arbitrary.

To them, the idea that our actions in this life can echo into eternity is nothing more than a comforting illusion, a narrative woven by the human mind to impose meaning upon the seemingly random events that shape our existence.

(RING, RING)

Slowly squirming in my bed, I forced myself up, the sheets rustling like crumpling leaves while a brisk walk in an autumn evening.

Looking ahead, in the direction of the source of the sound—my phone—I woke up with a subtle push on the bed. My fingers sunk into the mattress as I raised up, my back straightening.

Strangely, I could feel. Not like I my sensory faculties were at a fault before, but everything felt a bit more vivid.

Screeching sound of the bed shifting due to the speed I stood up and the ringing of my phone.

The gossamer touch of the mattress... and a shaggy sensation of something in my hand, despite it being empty.

The odoriferous smell of lunchbox that laid open in the kitchen that Kei had left me... and the pungent odour of... a body rotting away.

The light seemed to get darker and darker around the periphery of my eyes.

I stopped in my path and stabilised myself, watching over myself and observing if there was something wrong with me.

I touched my forehead and measured my pulse. Everything was normal. Yet, apart from the 5 senses that seemed be extremely discordant and mismatched with my current scenario, there was something else that made me retract my attention from all of the antipodean sensations and focus on something else.