"I need you to stay late Kane."
"Bu-but it's New Years Eve..."
"And? It's not like you have anyone to go home to."
"th-that's true but it's still a holiday..."
A sentence left unheard to the boss that had already walked away. Have you ever wondered if a tree makes a sound if no one is around to hear it? Well this man: Kane Arthur was a living embodiment of the sentiment that the tree makes no sound.
This scene: a man pleading for the time off that everyone should get, was a very common one in his time at this company. With no choice and no voice, he sadly walked back to his computer and began working once again.
On this holiday, a day like no other, a miracle, that no normal person would believe, occurred to this normal man: Kane Arthur.
"I hate this shitty job." He whispered under his breath. "I wish I could live in a game. Be the protagonist and save cute girls. Be super strong so no one can boss me around. Or be a big boss villain. I just... I just wish I could be in control, strong... at least able to stand up for myself."
A normal seeming wish.
*sigh*
"Too bad that'll never happen. At least I can always dream about it. A world where I can be strong."
Hours passed with him at his desk, typing away on his keyboard. As the clock ticked closer to twelve, his eyelids gradually became heavier and heavier.
"huh, I should get some coffeeeeee......."
*BANG*
His head leaned forward and hit his keyboard as his eyes closed for the last time in his world.
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"...huh?"
In a pure white room, a man, Kane Arthur, slowly, drowsily, got off the floor.
Rubbing his eyes, he questioned "Where am I?"
Looking around he saw nothing.
"Is this Heaven? Hell? The Underworld?"
As he turned around, he saw it. A chessboard with one pawn in the center.
Walking towards the only landmark in the room, Kane came to the chessboard.
"A pawn? Or... is it supposed to be me?" He pondered as he reached for the pawn.
The moment his fingers made contact with the pawn, the chessboard disappeared and the pawn began to grow rapidly in front of him.
"WOAH!"
*SMACK*
Startled, he fell backwards onto his ass.
"Ow!"
Looking at the pawn, the growth stopped, but another strange process began. It began changing shape. A shape very familiar to Kane. It was a 5'10, skinny nude man, with short black hair, and grey eyes. It was him. A full-body model of him. Even the smallest details were shown exactly. Including the scar on his left leg that he got when he was 12.
"What the hell..."
Suddenly, a monotone, genderless voice, boomed in the white room.
[KANE ARTHUR, AGE 26]
[YOUR WISH HAS BEEN CHOSEN OUT OF THE MANY FROM THE INFINITE COSMOS]
[YOU WILL BE SENT TO A WORLD COMPRISED OF INFINITE PLOTS FROM INFINITE GAMES ACROSS INFINITE MULTIVERSES]
[TO GIVE YOU A FAIR CHANCE OF SURVIVAL, YOU WILL BE ALLOWED TO CHOOSE FIVE TRAITS FROM AN INFINITE LIST TO START WITH]
[ONCE YOU ARE PLACED IN THE WORLD YOU WILL BE GIVEN A BASE LEVEL TOOL TO ALLOW FURTHER STRENGTHENING, HOWEVER BOTH STRENGTHENING THE TOOL AND YOURSELF, AND SURVIVING WILL REQUIRE PATIENCE, INTELLIGENCE, PLANNING, AND ABILITY AS EVEN THE IMMORTAL AND DEATHLESS CAN BE KILLED WITH THE RIGHT IDEAS]
[YOU HAVE FOUR HOURS TO CHOOSE]
With that, the voice vanished entirely as quickly as it appeared.
"My wish? It came true?!?!?"
Shocked, a grin slowly formed on Kane's face.
"Where's the list? I need to be very careful with my choices if I want to get stronger and survive."
In front of the pawn, a semi-holographic silver screen appeared.
On it were traits like: (Super Soul- Gives the trait owner a soul that has been strengthened to a point comparable to the lowest tier of Demi God, further strengthening possible, but control must be trained), (Solar Powered- Makes the trait owner 300x more powerful in the sun), and (Demon Summoner- Gives the trait owner the ability to summon Demons, further strengthening possible, but control over the demons has to be trained, Demons within a certain rank are bound to not harm the user, the binding can be strengthened to higher levels with effort)
"These are from different games across infinite multiverses? Holy shit!"
Looking at the screen he noticed there were buttons that allowed him to select or deselect traits, search for certain criteria, along with ones that would mark a trait as one he may select to be saved on the side so he can find it again.
"I could go with an overall strengthening build with my physique, soul, and mind, but that leaves a lot of gaps in my ability to get stronger. Those things can be trained, special talents can't."
"Hmmmm. This one looks good." He stated after 30 minutes.
As he said that, he saved the trait (Jack of All Trades- Trait owner can use all power systems at the cost of them being more difficult to advance in) for later.
In another ten minutes he saved (Immortal- Trait owner cannot die due to old age, will stop physically aging, will not get any sort of age based inflictions due to eternal youth, can still die to other means).
Twenty minutes he saved (Regeneration Factor- Gives the trait owner a regeneration factor that will constantly bring his physical body to peak state, can heal scars, can regenerate limbs, cannot heal poisons, diseases, or anything that is not a form of physical injury or loss)
"So if I take those three, at least I can guarantee the ability to maintain a state to get stronger, and my ability to strengthen in more than one way."
After an hour he couldn't find anything that suited his ideas.
Another thirty minutes passed before he saved (Eldritch Brain- Gives trait owner a brain that cannot be considered human, gives extreme learning, processing, nerve ability, allows the comprehension of things humans cannot, ability to react to information processed relies on body)
"I don't really understand the soul too well but it feels important... but having some protective ability is important at the start too. What good is a strong soul if I can't use it."
(Reaper's Student- Gives trait owner an affinity for death and will assist in learning death based power systems)
(Water Breathing- Gives the trait owner the ability to breath under water as if they were on land)
Saving trait after trait to the side, eventually, he came across one he found interesting.
(Genetic Mutability- Gives trait owner the innate ability to change his genes to an extent, can be strengthened, degree of change can be strengthened, allows physical form to be changed along with other things)
"This should let me have some physical fighting ability right? Grow claws or tendrils or things like that right?"
Looking at his list of saved traits, as the clock ticked away at his last ten minutes, he finally decided to choose: (Jack of All Trades), (Immortal), (Regeneration Factor), (Eldritch Brain), and (Genetic Mutability).
As he locked in his choices and the selection period ended, the monotone voice came back.
[TRAIT CHOICES HAVE BEEN LOCKED]
[DUE TO TRAIT (JACK OF ALL TRADES), INITAL POWER SYSTEM SELECTION HAS BEEN CANCELLED]
[DUE TO TRAITS (IMMORTAL) AND (REGENERATION FACTOR), AGE HAS BEEN SEPERATED INTO BIOLOGICAL AGE AND CHRONOLOGICAL AGE]
[BIOLOGICAL AGE LOCKED AT: 18 YEARS OLD]
[DUE TO TRAITS (GENETIC MUTABILITY), (IMMORTAL), (REGENERATION FACTOR), AND (ELDRITCH BRAIN) SPECIES HAS CHANGED FROM {HUMAN} TO: {ETERNAMORPH}]
[TRANSPORT TO INFINITE LANDS COMMENCING IN 3...2...1]
And with that countdown, for the second time that day, Kane Arthur collapsed.
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*groan*
"Ugh, my head hurts. Maybe hopping through space-time or whatever is bad for my health."
Laying on his back, Kane began to get up and look around.
"Where the hell am I? A cave? And where are my clothes?"
In his view was the entrance to a small cave, big enough for a shelter. But when he looked down he realized he was completely and totally naked.
"Could I call this a lucky spawn? Doesn't look like any people are around here." He said, noticing the forest behind him.
"Might as well sit in the cave and think out my next move"
Walking into the cave and taking a seat on a large rock, he crossed his legs and began thinking out loud.
"Considering that I'm in a cave right next to a forest, I'm led to believe that either the white room was real, I was pranked and kidnapped, or I'm dreaming. I suppose I can test one of those theories now."
With an idea in mind, he pinched his cheek hard.
"Ow!" He exclaimed softly.
"So I can confirm that I'm not dreaming at least. As for it being a kidnapping, I can't determine that quite yet. If my memory serves correctly, I was told I would be sent down with a basic tool in the white room. So next plan is to check for a tool."
Getting up and looking around the spot he woke up, Kane did not see any sort of tools or clothing. Walking back to the rock and sitting down once again, he sighed.
"Maybe it was a prank and kidnapping. I'm probably being laughed at on TV or some YouTube channel right now."
As the pessimistic thoughts began to fill his head, a thought about the semi-holographic silver screen they used popped up. As soon as that thought appeared, a silver screen appeared in front of him.
*GASP*
"It... it was real... it was all real."
With those words, a massive grin slowly crept onto his face.