END OF BOOK 3 CHAPTER 318 EPILOGUE
<span style="font-weight:400">I woke up in the Junction.
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<b>Post Challenge Healing Complete</b>
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<span style="font-weight:400">Items, Pets, Summons, and your body have been healed of all damage.
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<span style="font-weight:400">I looked down to my body and it was no longer old and wrinkly. My chakra and other power systems back up to full strength my Gantz Armor was fixed as well. And something I hadn’t felt a moment ago reappeared, my drive. My need to survive and live. I guessed using up my lifeforce had made me feel weak and depressed. Though I believed much of what I thought, there was no reason to give up and die. I could always do better.
<span style="font-weight:400">Bringing up my Status Screen I clicked Summon next to Hancock’s name. She appeared right in front of me. But not the woman I knew. She was now the same age as my body. About 16 years old she was a couple of inches taller than me, her rack not near asrge as before, she wore a simple white T-shirt and a pair of ck yoga pants. <span style="font-weight:400">
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<span style="font-weight:400">“I’m sorry,” I said. But instead of being angry at me shetched onto me. Holding me tight to her I hesitated to touch her. Still ashamed with myself and my actions, I didn''t deserve this kind of reception.
<span style="font-weight:400">Hancock didn’t care, grabbing my hands she moved them to around her. Crying further she sobbed, “I saw it all! The entire fight.”
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<span style="font-weight:400">“You did? How?” I asked.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“I was watching the whole thing. I don’t know how. You gave it everything you had. I know you did.” She pulled back, where I expected tears there was a look of pure rage. Drawing her arm back she punched me across the face. Throwing me back I hit the back wall. “Why the fuck would you give up!?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hanc-”
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Don’t you dare Hancock me!” she yelled. Moving to me the young girl was full of a rage I hadn’t seen before. “We have children! Why would you give up on them?!”<span style="font-weight:400">
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Because I already died!” I said, growing angry. That shut her up. “That bullshit story my shadow clone told you about me disappearing from our Link. I was dead! 20 minutes!” I let out a long breath, trying to keep the anger back. “I don’t know. It’s been building for a while. I had a vacation but I didn’t feel better afterward. I just felt more tired. I have been doing this for over 6 years. Jumping between ces. I am beyond exhausted. I wasn’t bred for this sort of thing. I’m not some protagonist that pulls through. I am an average Joe that gets tired, and wants to sleep in, and take breaks. But I pushed on. Training every day. Hell, I shouldn’t have even spent that time with you back when I was training Haki. I needed that time off though. I needed to recharge. And it has built up to this. Me, giving up.”
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<span style="font-weight:400">Hancock was quiet as she crouched in front of me. I bit my lip hard. Trying to use the pain of it to pull back some of the anger I was feeling. I was trying to admit how hard it had been for me. This was the truth on why I had left MHAst time. I had stopped interacting with the others in ss as friends. Just training and doing the quests I was burnt out on everything. So much on my shoulders it was almost too much to push to the back of my mind.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“You were right, Hancock,” I said. “I didn’t respect your wishes. I med it on not being able to tell you the whole truth. But if I had intended to not keep the promise, I should have said so.” <span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes, you should not have made that promise,” she said. We locked eyes for a long time. She was the one that broke it. “I had thought you were lying.” Looking around the room she asked, “Is this the ce you were talking about?”
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<span style="font-weight:400">“It is the Junction. Where different types of worlds intersect,” I said. “Behind each of these doors is a myriad of worlds. All with different versions of me.”
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes, I am starting to believe,” she said. Reaching down she extended her hand. I took it slowly and she helped me up. “I have not forgiven you, husband. But, I do not hate you as much as I did.”<span style="font-weight:400">
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Uhh thanks,” I said. <span style="font-weight:400">
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<span style="font-weight:400">“To make me not hate you I will want to start over,” she said, her chin pushed out as she decided.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Start over?” I asked.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes, in another one of your worlds. You can bring me to them. I want to travel with you. You said that time will freeze in our world, correct?” She asked. I slowly nodded. “Good. We will start over at the beginning. No lying this time. No half-truths. You will be honest with me, from now on.”
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<span style="font-weight:400">“I don’t know if that will work,” I said. She gave me an angry re. “Don’t get me wrong, I want to have you with me. But I don’t know this summon skill, or whatever you did to show up in the Challenge, or if you can live in the other worlds.” <span style="font-weight:400">
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Then we will figure it out,” she said. I studied her. The beautiful girl was not budging on this. All I could do was nod. “Good. Now what did you lose from this fight?” She asked.
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<span style="font-weight:400">I dreaded looking at my screen, but it was time to pay the piper.
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<b>You have forfeited your 4th Challenge</b>
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<b>Losses:</b>
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<span style="font-weight:400">Hall Closure - Manga
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<span style="font-weight:400">1 Ability - Give and Take Quirk
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<span style="font-weight:400">1 Bonus - Venom Resistance
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<span style="font-weight:400">1 Item and Challenger Slot - Seastone Jitte
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Goddamn,” I said, shaking my head as I looked at the Manga Door. The name above the door was now crossed out, but the door was still there. The doorknob disappearing, it was really gone. <span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">“What?” Hancock asked.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Your world,” I said. “It’s gone.”
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Destroyed?!” She asked.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“No, just-we can’t go back to it. Or I can’t. Right now the time should be stopped there, and if I died it would start back up again.”<span style="font-weight:400">
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Don’t say that,” she said, pping the back of my head as she moved toward the door. “Our children are behind this door. Lillian and Lupin. Our lives are behind this door, Weston. I’m sorry that you are burnt out, but we keep moving forward. You will take on the next challenge, and the one after that until this door is opened again. You and I will conquer these worlds. Whatever it takes to make that happen, I do not care. But we will both get back to our children. Then you will finish whatever nonsense you have with your crew, and we will keep working toward getting stronger, until you never have to lose or give up a fight again.”
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<span style="font-weight:400">Her eyes were like embers as she stared at me. Though in a young body I could hear the strength of the woman I hade to love.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Am-I-understood?” She asked through gritted teeth.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes dear,” I said, a small smirk breaking out on the side of my mouth. She smiled slightly as well.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Good,” she said. “You have done some bad things, husband. But we are young. You can make up for them. Nothing is written in stone. We will work together to figure it out. Now which world shall we go to?” She asked with some actual excitement in her voice.
<span style="font-weight:400">I chuckled. Shaking my head as I watched her look at the doors. Reading the nametes above the frames I could feel a sense of adventure leaking from her Haki.
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<span style="font-weight:400">I had done a lot in my time in Manga. I hadn’tpleted everything I wanted, but maybe this was the push I needed to venture out and try new things. Mikhail had the World Lasting Physique, and I thought I knew how he got it. I doubted many others had it, so maybe I could get lucky and turn things around.
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<span style="font-weight:400">Having a beautiful dark haired woman by my side would probably make it more fun as well. I wasn’t sure what the Companion Fusion had done to her, but maybe it would work out where she could join me on the quests. Some hope grew in me. I was surprised that I got another notification.
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<b>Congrattions for living through your 4th Challenge. Please pick a Path</b>
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<span style="font-weight:400">Those you Gave Hope
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<span style="font-weight:400">Those you Let Down
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<span style="font-weight:400">I hadn’t seen this kind of notification since the 1st challenge. My path wasn’t that hard to pick, and as I read over the other notification I became more hopeful. Talking more with Hancock she actually got excited as I talked about the different worlds before us. After working out our n we stepped into a new Hall. For the first time since I started this ordeal I was venturing to somewhere new, and to be honest, I was looking forward to it for once. Hand in hand Hancock and I stepped through a doorway off to a new adventure.
<i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement
So Manga Hall is wrapped up for the time being. Sorry if you don''t like Hancock. She was just the best choice strength-wise. I wanted Toru, but it didn''t make sense. I do want her eventually, but that’s a ways away. My current n is a 4th book that spans about 200 chapters that goes through the other halls. I n to finish up the Manga Halls after that book. The challenges will slow down drastically. I don''t expect any in the 4th book, but we will see. I will update the series description with the halls and chapter ranges so you can skip them if you have no interest in Comics, Books, Manhwa, or any other Halls I may have show up in this book. Anything goes. Can''t give anything away, but I think you will like what happens in the other Halls. Smut slows down at the beginning. I recently threw away about 30 chapters because the story was bing boring and smut had taken a nose dive. I hope you like what happens. I mean it’s free, so who cares.