Aochi
The silence was broken by the Harvester.
“Mind if I tell you what happened to the ones I fed my heart to?”
Honestly, I was more curious about the secrets everyone here was keeping from me than some strangers I’d never met.
“Oze and Oomi don’t know their fate. But once I tell you, you’ll realize what the others are hiding. Saves time.”
Everyone looked up. Even Ululu wore the same expression.Even someone born just yesterday shared in their understanding—And yet I was the only one left behind.
“...Alright. Tell me.”
♢♢
Let me get this straight—it’s not a long story.
You already know I once fed pieces of my heart to passengers, to save their lives.But I didn’t do it for just anyone.
Only for the ones I liked.Sounds arrogant, right? It wasn’t like that.
There are people in this world who aren’t worth saving.
Yeah, I see that look on your face—Like, “Who the hell are you to decide that?”
But it wasn’t just me. The other passengers wanted them dead too.So I helped them out. That’s all.
I’m a killer, same as Rhone.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
If I kill them, their hearts float up, become fuel for other ships.Rhone stuck to the rule—“Only one survives.” God’s rule.Me? I couldn’t always do that.
Too many of them were worth loving. That’s all it was.
For a while, I thought I was doing the right thing.When I realized my body was aging from giving away too many pieces of my heart,I wasn’t devastated. If anything, I was... happy.
I thought: If I grow old, that means they’re still alive in the next world.
Then one day, a Watcher Bird came down to my ship.
"There’s something I need to tell you," the Watcher Bird began. "I’ve been watching the ones you saved—even after they moved on to the next world. At first, I thought it was just coincidence. But after a few more transfers, doubt turned to certainty."
Then he hesitated, as if debating whether or not to say it.Finally, he said it.
"The people you helped—will never, ever meet each other again in the worlds they move to."
Everything went white in front of me.I couldn’t speak for a while.
What had I done?I kept replaying the words they’d said to me.“I hope we can meet again in the next world.”
That’s when the Watcher Bird pressed on, like he wanted to get all the pain out in one go.
"They’re still struggling—searching for the friends who disappeared."
Even after hearing that, I didn’t stop.I kept giving away pieces of my heart.I knew it was wrong, but I couldn’t leave those sorrowful souls to vanish—not when their pain was so real.
God would never forgive a coward like me.
Worse than God,the souls I tore apart—they hate me.They’re still out there,wandering this world,waiting for the day some other Harvester comes to end them.
♢♢
Even when the Harvester finished speaking, I couldn’t make sense of it all.
Not being able to see them again in the next world—it hurt.But the world is so damn big.Wasn’t it naive to think we’d just bump into each other?
And besides—why would a Harvester carry that weight?
"How… could it come to this?"Oomi’s voice was small, but heavy with sorrow.
Oze looked up.It was a face I’d never seen him make before.What do you call a face like that?
Then, without changing that expression, he asked the Harvester:
"Since we’re not the ones eating your heart, does that mean we’ll meet again? Or am I doomed to wander forever, chasing the version of me I already lost?"
That’s it. That face—Loneliness.
The Harvester met his eyes and answered:
"As long as I keep breaking the rules... yeah. I think that’s how it’ll be.""Sorry. I couldn’t return you to who you were."