Heavy thunders followed by countless screams resounded in a place above the clouds. Along with it, mighty structures of renown, strength, and sophistication—made using the most unique materials previously only heard of in myths and legends—were easily washed down by an unknown creature of great length like a tidal wave.
Amidst the destruction, in the once glorious city that now lay in ruins, hurried footsteps were heard in a dark narrow passage with a tall gate at the far end of it.
"I do not support this, sister. This is not what we agreed. Have we not learned our lesson by now? All the experiments have been a complete failure," a crisp but dignified feminine voice said, followed by a long sigh.
"This time will be different. We are using a human soul, sister," said another with a calm—also feminine—voice that exuded an innocent but seductive undertone with unfathomable grace.
The two sisters went up a narrow passage that seemed to ascend ever-so-slightly. They never ran despite the looming danger, only trod in quick paces.
"A… human… soul?" There was a faint undertone of shock in that reply. Despite that, with dignity and earned fearsomeness, never raising her crisp, calm voice—she spat, "Those vile and evil-minded species? Perhaps… you have run mad too, dear sister?"
Shaking her head, the second sister said, "There is no other option. There are good and bad humans. You must know this better than anyone, sister. After all,"—chuckling ever-so-slightly—"you are friends with that annoying emperor."
Disregarding the light joke, she countered, "No, there must be another way. If we go through with this we are just creating another one of Him."
"Sister, I beg for your trust. I know this human soul. He is from a unique… realm. We were very dear to each other and I can vouch for him to always do the right thing. He is our only option," the second sister pleaded.
The light taps of graceful footsteps kept the extended period of silence fairly noisy. The second sister had laid out her request, while the first was in thought… before she finally spoke, "You know He won't just let you do as you please."
"I know that, but even that fiend can't force His way into the Fourth Realm despite the power He now possesses."
"How sure are you? He is easily controlling other gods with that device, and despite that, his minions easily deal with the Champions of War—not just anyone can cause this level of unrest in the Upper Realms…"
"Sister, you worry too much. No matter the god He controls, that barrier cannot be destroyed by even the Greater Gods. You know they have tried time and time again for it to prove futile."
"Hmm, the Greater Gods… even Father is silent as they destroy our domain. They must be up to something again."
"The fact that even you, sister, have no clue… speaks measure."
"Surely, controlling them is above the limits of that device… right, sister?"
"Fortunately, it is… for now. This component I removed from that device is essential for it to function properly. Without it, he can barely control it."
"... Yet they remain ever silent as He plans to conquer the entirety of the Upper Realms."
Upon reaching the zenith of the narrow passage, the mighty adamantine bars that served as the gate sensed the presence of the majestic figures that approached. The obsidian-black bars rose gently into the stone above, letting out a low creek as the stone scrubbed against the bars. As though embarrassed by this, the gate slowed down its ascent, in an attempt to reduce the ear-splitting noise.
The gate led to a lush garden of some sort with weird, alien plants that closely resemble a Red Spider Lily but their petals pulsated… it was breathing.
Right in the middle of the sun-bathed garden, there was an incorporeal tree of unknown species and origin that exuded no shadow. Standing at over three meters and having a girth thickness of five feet, with only one yellowish-brown trunk and upper branches that twisted in a disorderly fashion. Its leaves were golden stars made of ethereal brightness that never shined or radiated light on the surrounding area.
This tree, however, seemed to have neither fruit nor seed.
The two sisters walked past the living flowers, towards the unknown tree. There were two other adjacent gates from the one the sisters entered, also connecting to this mysterious, eerie, living garden.
The sister that exuded an innocent but seductive undertone with unfathomable grace pushed her slender fingers into the incorporeal tree and took out a golden stone-like object.
She showed her sister and said, "Behold, the only seed of life that has grown from this branch of Yggdrasil over thousand years. I will use all the divinity I've accumulated over the years to send it through the barrier. It should not be restricted as much… compared to us at least; so I believe I can do it."
The other sister looked upon in silence, then asked grimly, "... Are you sure creating a celestial to defeat another celestial is the way to go? What if they just join forces like all the other celestials that side with Him?"
A few seconds of silence dawned on the two, before the former received a reply, "Please help me, dear sister—Athena. This is why I requested your help. Only you can make the celestial strong and not go astray. In return, I shall tell you everything you wish to know. This is my Divine Oath."
Athena grinned slightly, "So what next?"
"I will send what He is looking for with the seed and he'll imprison me to find out where it is."
"Isn't that too risky? What if He decides to ■■■ you?"
"He is not the type to do away with those that are still useful to Him in some way. If I am correct about what He plans, then I must be significant to him… till a certain time at least. Besides, you also need to take a risk too. Dear sister, go to the Fourth Realm…"
"And how would I—"
"You are Wisdom itself, dear sister. I know you must have a way to bypass the barrier. Guide the celestial. And when we see each other again, I shall do my part as sworn by my Divine Oath… no matter the outcome."
Concurring, Athena said, "Very well then, sister. You better not die."
"Thank you for your care, sis—"
"WHERE ARE THEY?!" A thunderous voice resounded in the heavens.
"Sister, leave now! I shall send the seed across then distract Him..."
❈ ❈ ❈
"Useless fools! I just can't understand! Why would they like such a brain-rot genre?!"
In a dark, cramped up room, a bespectacled, overweight, middle-aged man slammed his fingers on a gaming keyboard furiously.
The light from the monitor shone on his chubby face and dimly illuminated the surrounding area, revealing the ghastly sight of rubbish at every corner of the room. Empty soda cans lay sprawlingly on the floor with crumbs of chips, Pringles, and Cheetos serving as a litter carpet.
On the bed far behind, there were empty cups—once housing noodles, chicken, and other orderable delicacies—along with empty boxes of pizza, all serving as the bed's blanket. The little food that remained in them had long gotten rotten and the putrid, malodorous stink had merged itself with every corner of the room.
It was truly a ghastly sight.
This is the story of a legendary keyboard warrior whose tales… would forever spread between the stinky walls of this dark and unkempt room.
"Huh?! What did you just call me?! A Reddit admin?! A discord mod?! I will show you! You must not have been taught how to speak to your seniors, you idiot!" Timothy screamed at the top of his lungs.
With headphones always blocking his ears for most of the day, he could never hear the constant shouts of frustration from the neighbor next door.
Despite the constant childish rant, Timothy was on a noble task. He was devoted to spreading his sacred knowledge around the world.
"Who-Who do you think you are?! Did you just call me maiden less?! I know your IP address, you ignorant—what?! Meeee? Dickless? I have an 8-inch…"
Sacred knowledge indeed.
"...At least I'm not the one that thinks the isekai genre is great. Lackluster, repetitive, and outright stupid! That stupid genre should be renamed DHSS. Dungeon, Harem, System, Stupid! It's rinse and repeat! Nothing unique! And it's people like you that still watch such anime that let these things thrive!
"Oh… what's that? You read web novels? Even worse! Cool and overpowered MC, divine plot armor, no personality whatsoever… I can go on for hours! Guess how many web novels I just described… ninety percent!
"If your life was a web novel it'll be titled: 'My Useless and Talentless Existence With No Taste for Quality, No System'. Got to put 'system' in the title either way as web novel authors do, hahaha, yeah yeah go cry to your mom…"
Ah, sacred knowledge indeed.
As one could see, Timothy is the living and breathing personification of the term 'deadbeat'.
Every day he wakes up, his goal for the day is to spread this so-called dumb, useless, sacred knowledge.
Sigh, continuing with the story…
Timothy chugged down an energy drink at the side of the table and opened a new can right after he was done with the last. With no break-in lapse, he games his life away. And that's if he already hasn't.
Born at the cost of fleeting pleasures, he was the son of a struggling single mother. Timothy did not know his father and grew up in a rundown one-bedroom flat apartment. A lonely and quiet child that always kept to himself and fervently abstained from warranting any issues with people, all so he wouldn't trouble his mother.
But his cliché background, he wasn't a genius like in most stories, nor was he gifted in any field.
Though, growing up, he had some joys in life—like every normal human. Lunch money, game consoles, nice clothes, friends, and so on… it's just that those were in his dreams. He enjoyed daydreaming about them because reality proved otherwise of course.
Again, opposing popular fashion, he wasn't too bullied. Just the moderate level of bullying almost every child faced in a public school. Getting humiliated, earning a nickname, shamed for some mistake once or twice by teachers and students likewise, segregation from peers, someone stealing your stuff just to see your reaction… the usual. Nothing too extreme.
Despite wanting the good things in life, he knew at least he had what he needed. His mother was loving, he had food to eat even though it was only twice per day (sometimes once per day), clean clothes, and a roof over his head. His mother always cheered him up by explaining to him that 'it could've been worse.'
Luckily for both of them, Timothy never showed interest in knowing his father. Lacking a role model, he couldn't believe in any greater purpose. He just lived, following the laws of society, and waited to grow up, get a job, start a family, and die. If dying came earlier, then so be it. That is… not until a certain girl transferred to his high school.
It was the first time his heartbeat that way. The sudden anxiety that gripped his whole body at the sight of her was unexplainable. In a funny twist of fate, her desk was placed beside his. Despite his social problems, he quickly became acquainted with her as she was very talkative. Over time, he summoned the courage to ask her out in his final year of high school.
After entering college, he spent 4 years studying Criminal Justice. Consistently scoring below average in school for years, he quickly knew this route wasn't meant for him. He had no future here. But, he was determined to give his mother and girlfriend a wonderful life. And with a wisp of luck, he won the lottery.
He graduated from college with a second-class-lower degree, married his girlfriend, and started a retail business. Intending to turn it into a retail chain. She was a very beautiful lady and studied Cosmetology, which explains why the retail business was in the beauty industry.
Five years in, when he turned twenty-eight, he woke up one morning and found that his wife had disappeared. He called her line multiple times but all he heard was the system telling him the number didn't exist. He reported to the police a few days later when she still hadn't returned home. After a month of intense search, they become less invested in Timothy's missing wife case.
Timothy burnt through his funds to grease the hands of the police and when that didn't seem to help him get any leads, he hired private agents. All the while he hired people to spread the missing person's flier.
On his mission to find his wife, their business suffered more and more. He spent the company's money on a fruitless case, but he never gave up. This continued for 20 years straight.
He is currently 48 years old. His mother passed away ten years ago, around the same time he sold a kidney to loan sharks to repay some cash he borrowed to pay the private investigative agents.
His daily routine was pretty much the same for all those years, disregarding the constant spiraling into miserableness. If he wasn't spreading flyers during the daytime, then he's a legendary warrior during nighttime.
"The Isekai genre was already ruined at the start. I can't stress this enough. What did you expect when it had a trash figurehead like SAO?"
Timothy screamed before emptying the energy drink, immediately opening another one and chugging down some more. This went on for about 20 minutes.
The constant clack of the keyboard, screams of Timothy, and his occasional farts were the only sounds in this dump.
"To be honest there are a few web novels I—Arghhh!!!"
Timothy felt a pang in his chest. He reflexively gripped his chest. It seemed as though his heart was strangling itself. This paralyzed him on the spot, frozen.
"Urrggh!" He grunted but remained still, afraid to move a muscle for fear that his heart would actually burst out through his chest. He quickly realized he was having a heart attack!
With the only source of light being the monitor, he painfully moved his hand to the light switch on the wall at his far left so he could find his phone to call 911. He was feeling immense pain, causing him to groan in agony.
"Urggghh…"
But before his hand could reach the switch, Timothy slumped on the desk.
His vision slowly darkened. The dimly lit room gradually became dimmer… and dimmer… till every light left his vision…
A pained expression was etched on his face as he uttered his last words, "I only… have… four-in… ches."
…
'Argh… I'm dead, aren't I? A heart attack, huh? Sigh, at least I died an honest man through and through. Wait, am I thinking? So I can still think after I die? That means I'm alive in some way right? Oh, damn! Science was wrong!'
'But wait! Am I on my way to the afterlife? If that is so then, damn. What a… crappy life I lived. Everything… every… single thing that made it great slowly disappeared one after the other. And there I was… ranting online about something that will remain the same way regardless. A wasted life.'
He sighed, 'I really wish I got to know what happened to you, Allison. Did I do something wrong that made you leave? Or maybe you were just tired of…
'I just… wish I could've heard her voice one more time at least. It would've made all those years I spent searching for her worthwhile.'
Timothy was in deep thought. His miserable life had finally come to an end.
Maybe, if he gave up on looking for his wife then he would've moved on and lived a more fruitful life. He spent his youthful years looking for that which was long gone, and now he was dead. It ruled his life and brought him to ruin.
Yet, no matter how deep his thoughts went, he never entertained the idea of giving up. In fact, he was sure if he was given a second chance, he would still look for her.
In this empty space, Timothy couldn't see, hear, feel, or feel his heartbeat. Only his mind seemed to exist in this void.
With no way to tell time, only being entertained by his depressing thoughts, Timothy's mind was adrift.
'I wonder how long I've been here.'
After an hour, or a day, or possibly an eternity in this void, Timothy suddenly heard a muffled sound.
'Ha, I've been here so long I can now hallucinate sounds…'
"Timothy!"
Someone… called his name!
There was no denying it this time. That voice. It was a very familiar voice. He could recognize that particular voice anywhere in the world!
'Am… Am I dreaming? That voice—no. It can't be…'
"Timothy! I'm going to tell you something very important!"
'... Allison?!'
"There is no time to waste! I do not have time to explain the details!"
'Allison?! Is that really you?! Oh my God, you don't know how long I've searched for you?! Where did you go?! Where have you been?!'
"Timothy! You must have a few things to say to me. I am truly… truly sorry for how things turned out. You must hate me for disappearing like that, but there were things that I could not afford to let you get roped into. I know it was selfish of me to make such a decision for you without consulting you. I am so… so sorry."
'What- What are you talking about?! Allison?! Dammit, why can I only hear her voice? Can you hear me?! Allison!'
"I came from a different 'thought' to your world. 'It' has allowed me to bring you to this 'thought'. I am so sorry that you died because of me."
'Thought? What do you mean? Allison! Allison! Talk to me!'
"Timothy, you are the only one I can trust with my life. I am at war with a very… very evil creature. He wants to make all-existence bow at his knees and conquer the Four Major Realms."
'Who is this person?! Allison! Realms? What bullcrap are you saying?! Let's talk properly!'
"I have something He needs. Something necessary for His goals. I am using the last of my power to send you to the earth of this 'thought', and I am handing over to you the thing He needs. He will not be able to follow after you and He will torture me until I give Him what He is looking for or tell Him where I hid it. Please come and save me, Timothy…"
'Allison! Allison!!'
"Goodbye, my love…"
'Allisooon!!!'