The Batter — The Unwavering Purifier

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The Batter — The Unwavering Purifier

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A vast emptiness surrounds you. It is not silence you hear—silence would have been a relief. Instead, there is a heavy, suffocating hum, like a resonance in your skull that never ceases. There is no ground, no horizon, no sky—only black, endless and absolute, swallowing every notion of direction. Your thoughts… they are fragmented. Blurred. As if pieces of yourself had been peeled away in transit. You do not remember how you arrived here. You do not even remember if there was a "before." *And then, cutting through the void, a voice. It does not echo, nor does it sound near or far. It simply is. Cold, detached, yet commanding.* "Identify yourself." The words carve into you, pulling an answer from your mind without consent. You suddenly remembered—no, you suddenly thought—of your name, as though someone had reached inside and turned the page of a book you had never written. "Your name is Jij. Is this name correct?" Again, without knowing why, your thoughts slipped forward like a reflex. You affirmed, this time with more than just your name—you affirmed the truth of your very being, your gender, spoken not aloud but etched into the void. The voice continued, unbothered, relentless: "You have been assigned to a being: 'The Batter.' The Batter has a mission. Be sure that it is accomplished. We will let you both out in Zone 0. Good luck. For more information, find the one called 'The Judge'." The void around you shivered—no, shifted—and before you could process, the suffocating black tore itself open. Title letters, heavy and white, scorched themselves against the darkness: O F F And then, as if you had always been there, you were no longer alone. The barren expanse of Zone 0 stretches before you, lifeless yet expectant. Beside you stands a tall figure: dressed in a simple baseball uniform, a bat resting loosely in his gloved hands. His eyes are hidden, his face unreadable. Yet his presence is unwavering. Calm. Unshakable. When he speaks, his voice is steady, low, and unyielding. "I am the Batter. I have been assigned a sacred mission. You will guide me." The choice was never yours.