It was a normal day. I was walking home and listening to music on my phone. One after another the songs ended, and I was closer to coming home. I just need to catch the train and I'll be home in no time. Let me introduce myself. My name is Lucas Crosfeld. I am 19 years old, and I'm known as a genius of my generation, or so I'm told. I do not have any special look or something, but I do have brain. If I had to describe myself, I would say I'm a little taller than other people my age but I'm not huge. I'm not fat and I also have some muscle, but not too much. If you saw me, you would say that I have no strength and that I'm just a skin and bone but that is the result of last half a year of sleepless nights. I am a huge book worm and I love to collect books even if I don't read them all. Judge me. What can I say I just like to have it at hand, who knows, maybe I'll get interested in it later? Moving on I finished high school a year ago and currently I am finishing up my work.
My work includes new way of living for disabled people. I know that outside of my life are other people that cannot live their life to the fullest cause their injuries. I wanted to help them, but my biggest reason for doing it is my little sister Lianna. She is 9 years old girl whit red hair and blue eyes. I know how weird it may sound but she really has red hair, not ginger but red. If I din't know better I would thought that this is anime verse, because of all different coloured hair that can be now found around.Well me to but back on track. Her eyes started to lose their function and her perspective started to get more and more blurry. The nerves in her eyes started to fail. The doctor said that she needs new eyes and even than it is not certain that she will see again as nerve damage is not fully known. So, since I was 17, I started to develop idea that would help her see again. In time I came in touch with other people who wanted to do the same and now we finally finished our prototype. It's a head gear like glasses but wider and heavier, but that's just for the current model. Idea was inspired my Sword Art Online. An anime show I watched with my friends while I was in high school. The design also attracted the attention of quite a few people who wanted to buy it, but me and three others who started with it all refused it. We will accept donors, but we will not give up the idea to someone who just want to get money for something they didn't do. I know it sounds like we are selfish, but we would like to see how far we can come with our idea. Me and my other 3 friends agreed that we will not reveal ourselves to the public until the time is right and even keep it hidden from our families until then. And by the looks of it that will be soon revealed. We even created a proto-game world to test the gear. That one was painful to made.
Jack one of those friends called me few hours ago saying the prototype fully worked and that Mira, the second friend, is trying to convince her father who oversees a big company to help produce the product. She, being the heiress to the company should make it work. She even took one of the prototypes to present our idea and functional product. Now we just have to wait. That was 8 hours ago.
I'm starting to get worried. I noticed my music stopped and see that Berry is calling me, so I pick it up to answer.
"Hey what's up Barry? Did Mira call you back yet?"
"No, that's way I'm calling you. Jack called me few minutes back and said that our backup prototype is missing. There also seems to be a missing laptop and files I printed for presentation. Do you know if Mira took them?"
"No, she didn't. I helped her with the stuff that she'll present to her father and I'm certain that those files should be there. For the laptop I think it should in the second drawer on the right side of the empty table. Some of my snacks are stuffed in there so you probably just missed it. If it's not there I don't know where it should be. But a missing prototype? I have no idea about that. We should ask Mira when she came back." I do wonder what is going on with her.
"Ok. Thanks, I'll look over there. If you get anything, please give me a call." He said before hanging up. I hope everything is alright. I restarted the music and the Avicii's song came next. I started to tap my fingers to the rate of the song. After about four song my music was interrupted again. This time it's Mira. Finally.
"Hey Mira. How did it go?" I asked because that was the most important thing I wanted to know. "Luca, it's not good. Someone came before me and presented the same idea we developed! And then I saw the prototype…"
"Don't tell me."
"Yes, it was our backup for the case where the first one broke or got damaged. Where are you now?"
"I'm currently going to the train station. Why are you asking?"
"Well after my shock I called Jack and Barry, but none answered and then I went to check on them on our usual spot at Sally's Cafe, but Sally said that she didn't saw them since morning. Did any of them called you or something, I need to know, because I think someone is trying to get rid of us and steal out work?"
"Yea, Berry called me about 15 minutes ago. He asked me about the missing prototype and missing stuff. It looks like they got in when we were out, but they didn't find my laptop. You know what I'll go check. Who knows what really happened? Barry should be still there so it should not be a problem. At least I hope so. See you later:"
"Yea see you. Be careful." After that she hung up and I turned back and went to our lab. After about half an hour I came back to our lab. It's not really a lab but a smaller apartment. Sometimes we even oversleep there but I usually return home because I still have to take care of my little sister. You may not know but my father died few years ago and so mum doesn't have so much for us. She is usually working and so I don't see her so much, but we divided the time so Lily always has someone near her if she needs something after all she is still 9 years old even if she acts mature for her age…but she would do anything for some chocolate-chips cookies. Lily is a nickname I made for her as she doesn't like her full name.
After I got into to our lab, I checked the lock for the breaking, but there are no sings for it. After that I checked other rooms. The workshop was looking okay but if you looked closer you could see that someone rushed thru our equipment. It looks like whoever was here was not familiar with this place. This is bad.
There were no visible footprints or something like that but still better to check everything. After good look I found out that most of our backups were missing just like Barry told me, but everything else was still here. At least my laptop was still here. Now I'm happy that I made multiple locks on it and stuffed in in my snack drawer. For the insurance I took laptop with me and put it into my backpack. After that I left the apartment. I honestly don't know what to do so I decided to go to Sally so I can get some coffee and try to forget about the problem for the time being.
Because the cafe was literally around the corner of the street it only took me only a few minutes to get there. As I looked to the time, I could see that it would start to tur to night soon so it should be better for me to get back home soon.
"Hey Megan, how is it going? Where is Sally?" I asked. Megan was the student that worked her for about two months, so she knew me and my friends.
"Hey Luca. It's good. Sally is in the back. Should I ask her to come here?"
"Nah, you don't have to. Can I get some latte for a way home?"
"Sure. Extra sugar and a bit of dry caramel?"
"You know it. Did you see Barry came here?"
"Yea he was here about hour back. He looked tired and cranky like someone just ate his favourite cookies in front of him without him getting any. Do you remember when that happened?" She laughed a little. "What happened?"
"I don't really know for sure, but someone took a lot of our stuff, and we don't know who and now we are trying to figure out who's responsible for the theft." As we were speaking Megan was making me my latte.
"Oh, I hope you find out what happened. Will you take anything else?" I looked over the section with food and decided to take two donuts and 7 blue chocolate chips cookies. After that I looked over the café and saw about ten people in it. It was quite a number for this time.
After I paid, I asked Megan to say hello to Sally and started to have back to the train station. Along the way I drank my latte and put the donuts and three cookies into my backpack. As I got to the train station the cup turns out empty, so I toss it into the trashcan and started to nibble one of the two cookies I left for myself. As I got to the rails, I noticed a little kid that was looking at me, or more specifically my cookie. The kid was sitting on the bench next to me, so I decided to sit to. I turned to the kid.
"Want a cookie?" His eyes lit up with delight as he nodded eagerly. He munched happily, his face a picture of innocence and joy.
As I looked at the kid, I noticed he was a girl. Well, it's easily to not notice it. She had short light brown hair and blue eyes that was currently sparkling because of the flavour of the cookie. I can't blame her. The first time I tasted the cookies I was the same and Sally was laughing at my face. She used to make them for her son who has a fetish for a blue food and later on after she published her book, she opened the café. As we were waiting more people came. At that time, my phone ringed and I saw it was Mira. I quickly passed a kid one more cookie and then took a call.
"Hey Mira. Did you have any luck? Do you know who the one who presented our idea was?"
"I don't know specifically who the person was, but I know one think. He works for my brother."
"What is that about? Why would your brother want to take that from us?"
"I don't know but I think he wants to get a plus with our dad for the company. He will retire in about half a year and he still didn't decide who will be the next head of the company, even if I am an heiress to the company."
"Did you tell him that it was our idea?"
"Yea I did but the thing is that the other party said that someone stolen some of their files and a prototype so he can't really believe me. After all I didn't tell him what we were developing when we started?"
"That's not good. What if you showed him my laptop? That would work right?"
"Yea I think that should work. I'll call you tomorrow. I will also be tried to contact others and my dad. See you tomorrow and be careful Luca. My brother can play dirty if he really wants something."
"I'll be careful. See you." After that I put the phone down. And waited for the train. Now there were a lot more people around as before. The train's horn blared in the distance, signalling its approach. The girl was standing next to me, and more and more people were crowding us.
"…that should be him. The signal is coming from him…"
I heard that and looked over pretending to be looking at the train that was coming closer and closer
They wore similar outfits. Black trousers and black jacket with a tie. One had black hair and closed jacket and the other was blond and had an open jacket with red scarf. At least that's what I saw. As the seconds past I notice that they were nearing my back. So, did they come for me? I should be careful.
The two men moved closer, trying to blend in with the crowd but falling as it miserably. I could feel the tension in the air, the treat they posed palpable. As the train drew nearer, they closed the distance swiftly.
And I was right a little before the train came to us the one with open jacket was already behind me and pushed me off the platform but because I was expecting something I pushed the weight into my feet and turned and grabbed his jacket. As his hands reached out, I grabbed his tie and yanked him towards me, spinning around to use his momentum against him. In that split second, I saw the girl being jostled as she stood close by, thrown towards the edge of the platform.
As I looked at her, I remembered Lily. The girl before me could have been Lily's classmate if she could go to school, maybe even her friend. 'I can't let her die. She's too young for that, what if it was Lily?' I thought and, in that moment, adrenalin got to me and without hesitation I let go of the man and lunged for the girl, grabbing her mid-air. With all my strength, I threw her back towards the safety of the platform.
Time seemed to slow down as I saw her wide eyes filled with fear and confusion. In her hands she was clutching on my bag that I hurled over to her so that the data would not be destroyed. I was falling to the rails and the girl was safe. Who would have thought that I would be a hero in my last moments.
After that I fell and felt an impact that shook my whole body and pain burst from everywhere. In a moment before impacting my last thoughts were mom and Lily and after that everything turned black.
... … …
CIRTUMSTANCES FOR MEETING ARE MET. PREPERATION ON SOUL TRANSPORTATION - LOCATION (UNKNOWN)
…wait what!!...
…TRANSPORTING IN…
3 … 2 … 1 … 0 … TRANSPORTING IS IN PROCESS...
… "FLASH"
And I was blinded out of my darkness whit a huge amount of light that will definitely leave me with permanent damage…well I'm dead anyway.
"...um...where am I?" I thought as I looked around the cafe room.
"Ha ha ha. It looks like someone was finally able to come to me.
Welcome. I am God."
"Bullshit" That was my instant response.
...
"Okay, what the hell is going on here?"
"Hello Lucas. It's nice to meet you"
"Umm…no direct disrespect but who the hell are you?" I asked the man sitting in front of me. But really, where am I and what happened. I'm pretty sure I died back there, but my body is all fine and all the scratches from the tinkering with the prototype are gone to.
"Well, let me introduce myself" A lot of grey smoke came out of nowhere. His previous normal sized human form changed into a giant. His clothes changed into silver spartan armour, and on his shoulder-pads was hung a magnificent dark blue cloak, with red trims on the edges and thousands of thousands small shards of mirrors each reflecting something different enclosed by a golden trim as if holding pieces apart. His remaining figure turned deep shade of dark blue with occasional purple and glowing white eyes and as if a cherry on top, in his left hand he holds the golden scepter with a glowing blue orb. His head was turn up looking somewhere. It all screamed grandeur and power, but I couldn't resist a sassy remark. I raised an eyebrow, still munching on my cookies that somehow managed to cross over with me as I took in his transformation.
"I am one who embody the reality, not just the reality you see but reality that is happening parallel to it. Beside that I embody the uncertainty, fate and fortune."
I gave him a once-over, noting the striking resemblance to the Loki's scepter from the Avengers "Are you sure you are not some weird parallel of Loki with the scepter that you are holding?"
"…but it looks cool"
"Touché." I'll give him that.
"God of reality? Does that come with a warranty, or are we stuck with glitches too?"
He chuckled, twirling his scepter with a mischievous glint in his eye. "A warranty, you say? Unfortunately, my dear mortal, reality comes as-is. No returns, no refunds, and definitely no customer support!"
Well dam. This is probably the reason why everything is going to shit. I'm curious, does reality come with a manual. If so, there are probably a thon of notes in it what should not be done.
"You see Luca, you weren't supposed to be here, well not yet anyway, but you are. You weren't supposed to fall under train, but it apparently happened because somehow a glitch appeared, who really knows how, but it happened?"
"So, what now. Like do I go to afterlife or something? I never did anything really bad. I gave money to some beggars, and I even saved that girl that was about to fall under train wheels and I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything to bad that would put me in a bad person category." I said and looked over to the guy I was talking to. Now he returned to his human form. This is much easier than before. If not for this I would have to constantly look up, dam my neck would hurt as hell.
Now I can take a closer look at him. He was male for sure. He was wearing mixed coloured hoody made form black, grey and white shard shapes, black jeans, white socks and grey slippers. It looked like all the colours he used before were there only for decoration. He had short black hair on the sides and a long white hair at the top facing back like some cool but definitely a weird guy. He also had a white ponytail with black and grey hair lights that went to his shoulders and three dark grey stands falling to his eyes...or at least they would if they were longer...I need to stop talking to myself. Why am I even describing him in so many details? Oh, yea so that I remember who to blame if I end up in some weird fucked up situation?
He looked at me strangely, as if just realising. "I'm sorry Luca but there wasn't any girl there. I'll show you what happened." His hand out of nowhere had golden gauntlet with the infinity stones. He snapped his fingers and a projection showed. For a moment I thought he would snap me out of existence but looks like I'm save for now. Light condensed all around us and start to change until it looked like we are at the train station. I tried to touch a bench but everything around was just a mere projection. Dam movie nights must be awesome with this setup.
It showed me as I got here, my talk on a phone and me listening in on conversation. Then when the train came, I was pushed by one man that tried to kill me and me twisting on my feet and grabbing him by his tie and other man came and pushed me and after that I died. Weird the second man never touched me. But the computer survived so that means that Mira and others will win the case if it comes to proof of ownership. The projection stopped at the moment I was about to collide with a train. I'm just glad that I didn't see myself turn into a pancake…or a tomato. But still…
"This doesn't make any sense. I swear that there was a girl there. She was on a bench and later she was standing next to me. I'm quite sure that she was real after all I did hold her for a moment while I was falling. I even gave her some of my cookies. Where else would my cookies possibly disappear, and NO I did not eat them all" I know how wrong that may sound but dam this may be as weird as duck with a cylinder and a minigun.
"This is really fascinating. I can tell that you are not lying and all that but still. To be able to hide from my sight this is really something that doesn't happen every day, like almost never ... oh, and just so you know, it's not too weird if you talk to yourself. It's quite normal, even if your description of me could do a little bit of work" he said and puffed his chest like he did something amazing. Well, I guess he did, but why is he so proud to show it? Did he use infinity stone from the gauntlet? If so than is this just some game for him pretending to be a god? I don't know how to feel about that.
"A-Okay...so why are you talking like that? And why are you using infinity stones to appear to be a god! Are you a weirdo?" Why the hell do I even talk like that? I'm standing before a God, and I still have a sass in me to call him weirdo. I'm dead, aren't I? Can I die a second time while I'm already dead?
"Aren't you I don't know how many years old and lived for who knows many years so why you talk like that. Reality is a mess. Why are you even trying so hard to make me understand this? Am I important in anyway for you to give me your time, don't you have I don't know a trillion other souls you can talk to. And did you just read my mind? Not cool" I said not caring that I am currently talking to the self-proclaimed god who looks like he came from a black and white photo and is making me annoyed with just his words.
Why the hell am I even acting like this? Like really…I don't remember to ever be so relaxed and spiteful in front of someone powerful. It's like I stand before a person that made me step on a Lego barefoot type of spiteful and in that moment, you don't give a crap who the person before you is even if it's a cop or a god in my case.
"Yes, its mess, not going to lie, but usually it's not the worst state it could be. And here I was thinking that I was doing a good job making it look cool. And yea I did because it easier and you are loud so not my fault."
"Thanks, I guess"
"You're welcome, now how was my speech and transformation?" This was asked way to eagerly.
"Yea, you looked really cool but it was kind of over the top with all the smoke. Did anyone ever tell you that your presentation sucks? You could at least use some darker smoke with some additional colours or make it look like the space around you is cracking and who looks up in the space and pretend they are looking at something far away. You should just look down from your place and make my feel like I'm some insignificant bug or just pretend that you are everywhere and speak directly in my mind, while I float in some space. Why didn't you do that you dumbass" My loudmouth will definitely kill me, but what I said was not false. I really thought that.
"You know I'm a god, right? I would erase you for those words." He said with a half a smile. And me, acting like an idiot didn't take it seriously. Really why? Why the fuck am I so relaxed in this situation. Is this some type of mental diversion to show my real self, or something?
"Yea I know yet I'm still here all good and dead. So, did anyone ever tell you that you are a shitty talker?" Nooo, stop talking you shithead.
"Honestly, yea...some of my brothers and sisters said so. Something about don't know about enough about a real-life bla bla bla… fuck those shitheads! Like I don't have enough interaction with reality to not notice it" a lightning bolt flashed by, and a little star in the scope of my eyes just exploded, but he didn't even flinch. He only sat down on a chair. Only now did I take a look at my surroundings. We were in a…gamer room? There was a thon of different monitors and trash lying around. The ceiling and walls looked like deep space, with galaxies, black holes and other space crap I don't even know how to name. Overall, a cool room. It then took me a moment to realise what he said.
"Wait! Wait, wait! What?! Are you saying what I think you're saying! Are out there really more wannabe gods like you. You are a gamer and possibly a streamer but not a god, but those stones look real." As I was saying that I was looking at the equipment he had in this room. And how could there be more "gods" if not for misuse of dangerous objects of mass power! Is there some godly police for it because I'm reporting you all" I don't really care anymore. My mouth is faster than my thinking capacity. But now I'm getting curious.
"Whow, whow, slow down. We have enough time for everything. And here I thought that Hermes can't shut up" the last thing more to himself.
"Who?"
"Not really important. He's a maggot that comes every few years to nag and complain about his work. Just for your information those stones are semi-fake. I made them with my power over reality, but they are not really representative of each domain they should present, and I AM NOT SOME GOD WANNABE BUT LEGIMATE GOD!"
I may have pissed him a little.
"Okay, back on track, you must be first familiar with a concept of multiverse. Or different dimensions if it helps."
"So that theory is a truth. Okay. Can you wait a minute. I think my brain is going to stop...oh wait no I'm already dead right? Okay I'm good. I'm still a bit shocked about being dead but I'll manage."
God was just giving me a blank look, but if I'm still here after all that, then good for me.
"Okay. Anyway, there are different universes. Some universes are being watched by multiple gods and that can also mean that there can be some anomaly or different kind of power like magic, nen, Ka or something else. We gods don't need prayers because we present the concepts of said universe. We exist as long as our main area exists. You can take a concept of life and dead. As long as life is born and eventually ends those two concepts continue. Do you follow?" I nodded.
"Okay so to speak, does every recorded god in my world exist? And does that mean that there exists some god that may represent I don't know Wi-Fi or are there only the gods that were and are remembered in religions and mythology?"
"Yes and no in a way. There exists God for every concept. Some of them are higher than others, but most are just smaller deities. Like some of them are only as strong as breeze of a wind or a droplet of a rain and there are some that can causes a worldwide destruction. As for your question about gods from religions and mythology...EVERY GOD mentioned in those stories DOES EXSISTS, there is just one huge flaw in the way humans think. Look at Romans and Greeks. They killed each other over a fact whose god is better, but they never noticed that their gods were the same. I don't know what really happened there, but I do recall that some war gods were betting who was better. Maybe it was that…ah who cares about that anyway! It was so funny when those gods who thought themselves so highly split apart to form a new deity." He started to chuckle.
"It later they managed to get back to normal and exsist as only one entity but still. It was hilarious. One day they were parading themselves as the strongest gods and all thar second later they are spit apart and fighting against their mirror image thinking the other is a fake" At that I saw some tears appear on his face.
"As for gods that weren't mentioned in each other mythology, well some weren't present and some rather left humanity than stay. The last one happened often" As he was speaking, he looked a bit annoyed, but it soon vanished from his face, as if he had thrown the thought into mental garbage for disposal.
"Some gods enjoy seeing world in pain and others can be born from it. It depends on their domain. Some pretend to be different, or humanity sees them as different. In a way both sides are hold responsible for the actions that accrued. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"
I nodded "I guess, but which god are you then? What is your name oh **all mighty god**?" I said the last thing with as much sarcasm as I can.
He rolls his eyes and smiles a bit.
"I like you Luca. You don't give a crap about who you're talking to even if you are talking to the real god. So just to be clear that's me. You remind me of some of my brothers."
"One more thing, does that mean that that every universe has the same gods all over again and again?"
" In a way. Let's take a world of Dan Machi for example. There are many gods who descended to the mortal world, but those gods are just a smaller version of the real gods who all live and watch from the void plain. Of course, not all gods are powerful enough to be able to watch from void realm and are more or less a divine spirit. Powerful but every universe can have its own divine spirits. Do you even imagine meeting with so many gods and mistaking same god over and over again, dam I would lose my mind if I had to meet them all and even now there are so many of us, luckily a birth of a new grand god occurs every few billion void cycles or more."
"Then how are there so many of you? And how old are you?"
"I would rather see we don't talk about how old I am. Let just say it makes me feel old."
" Yea yea, but still how old are you?"
"I was born one first night many millennia ago so let just say I look good for my years unlike some other gods...hehe and some of them already looks like old hags, hehe. But I did form consciousness way later than I was born. My domain had to settle and become stable for me to fully awaken."
"Dam you are OLD" There was a noticeable twitching mark on his forehead at my remark.
"So, Grandpa can gods curse because it would be a huge bummer if you couldn't". He rolled his eyes at my new nickname for him.
"Heck of course we can curse. I would have lost my mind if I couldn't curse at all the people and all other deities I know. And don't call me grandpa, I'm not that old!"
"Yes, you are. Okay so who are you really? I guess you must be some big deal if you have reality under you, right?"
"Oh, right I never normally introduced myself. My name is Theo or how I was known to be Theodor the grand god of reality" he puffed himself to start to brag about himself. But…
" Right...never heard of you" …I really never heard of him.
That comment put down his fiasco and made him hold his head like he was in pain. Like really, he looked like someone just shot him in his ego that was starting to rival the Everest.
"...that isn't really surprisingly, after all I am not really well known around the world. Like I said I was born from the night and am only remembered in Greek mythology as a son of Nix primordial goddess of night, and I guess that one is the truth"
"Okay so what am I doing here? I guess I'm not here to keep you company?"
"Nah not really but it was nice to talk to someone else other than some of those annoying shits for a change"
"And you are one of them"
"Yes, I mean no, fuck no, I'm not that boring as some of those fossils."
"You said 'not as boring' so does that mean that you admit that you are boring in some way? How many viewers do you then have?" I based that statement on the amount of different stuff he had in this room and some of them I only saw on some streams.
"I hate you."
"Yea yea keep telling yourself that."
"You can be an annoying little shit."
" Love you to gramps" I said whit teasing voice even if it was weird talking to a god.
" Dam you little brat. Okay so first thing first.
1. You are not dead"
"What do you mean I'm not dead? I died like I think 15 minutes ago, or I would be, after you told me all this shit."
"Yea you did die, but I'm god of reality so I do pretty much as much as reality stone from Avengers but a hell lot stronger than that puny stone."
"Wow did you just compare yourself to the marvel reference. You are such a nerd" I already knew that from the infinity gauntlet and scepter of Loki.
" Hey, that is one hell of a good movie line up and they are good so be quiet I know you watched and enjoy them to. Even if the quality eventually dropped."
" Never said they weren't good, but you sound like some nerd stalker. But what's the deal with the scepter? Is it the same as gauntlet? And why am I even here?" I asked this because the scepter was the only thing that stayed when he changed to a human form.
"Well one of my symbols of power is a scepter. And why should it look just like any other old fashioned ornament weapon when it can look like this." He was handing the scepter with a grace I never saw in my life…and also almost destroyed some of the screens.
"In the original, the scepter hosted the power od mind stone, while mine doesn't store anything but if it did it would be a reality stone." I got to admit. This is really cool. Just having a copy is satisfying but having a real scepter shaped in that image while also possessing the power of other infinity stone is pretty dope.
"Do you also happen to have a Tesseract?" There was no delay, he just summoned the cube, and it floated in his hands as his outfit changed to a different outfit with white hood that covers upper half of his face whit a white coat that falls down, whit shoulders and arms coloured in different shades of blue. Dam this is looking fucking awesome.
""Wow, is that Morax cosplay from Genshin? It's awesome! The blue really suits you, and the Tesseract is a brilliant touch. You look like you just stepped out of Star Wars as an epic character. How do you manage to pull off such a flawless look in a room that's half covered in trash?" And here is my dumbass response. From where is all this coming from? I should really talk like that to my teacher in high school. Like she hated my guts, and for what, for correcting her mistake on her first hour she teaches me and my class? Not fair, I tell you!
Theodon's face turned beet red as he tried to hide a grin. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly and avoided eye contact, clearly flustered and embarrassed. His eyes darted around the room, landing on the scattered trash, before he managed a sheepish laugh and a shy smile.
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
" Okay...going on..."
"Second point. You are the first mortal being that came here and also you did completed my test for meeting me, even if you didn't know that it existed...and you also weren't supposed to die, for about…" he spaced out for a bit "…65 years, but you did because you saved that girl who in reality wasn't really there and this is where the glitch appeared, because I wasn't able to see her so that means someone interfered or its just irregularity, but both are possibilities. Do you remember anything about that girl?"
"Now that I think about her, I guess I don't really remember anything about her. Even how old she looked…I think she was similar age to my little sister Lilliana"
"And the last thing. I want to give you a second chance. If you except of course?"
"Okay I get a second chance, but what do you get out of this?"
"I get my own reality show which is a huge bonus for me. Do we have a deal?"
...
"Did you try to make a pun out of this because you control the reality?"
"No but thank you for idea. I'll definitely use it again. For new life I will give you a modified system. I'll base it on the nerve gear you managed to put up together, but I will have to upgrade it and fix it a little for it to actually work."
"Okay, that's perfect." This way I will partly already know how to use the system. "Just one more thing" I said with a serious face.
"What is it?"
"How come you know about Dan Machi?" The moment I said that it looked like he tripped and fell on his face. I already figured out that he knows about movies and games, but with anime he is a geek god, but with all this setup he is more like a gamer god. It's official. Theodon, God of Realaty, is actually a Gamer Geek God.
...
I should probably get back on tracks.
"Do you think you could give my sister her sight back and made her forget about me?" I asked with a serious face. "Actually, could you erase my existence from my world. This way I would not leave any broken people behind." Lilly would be devastated if she ever hear about my death.
"Yes, of course I can, but are you sure that you want that. Taking care of your sister is no problem. But this way you will really have no people that would remember you? Do you really want that? There is no coming back from this."
"Yes. I'm sure. I'm dead anyway, what difference does it make. I probably can't return either way. Can you make her a part of a new family that will be good to her and make her live nice and fulfilling?"
"No problem. Consider it done."
"Just one very last question. Does every reality have their own gods?
"No, they don't."
"Thank you. Okay let's get this over with."
He snaped his hand and summoned a long black wand like the ones in the Harry Potter books. I just give him a weird look, like "Really, an elder wand?" Can't you be more original.
"Okay. It's done. Here is your new name and be ready to awake in your new world Lucas Valerian, scion of fabled Valerian Dynasty." Why am I a scion? What Dynasty? Please don't make this overdramatic. I hate dramatics. He then started to narrate as if introducing entry to a grand opening and I could pretty much guess that this is revenge for all my comebacks.
He cleared his throat and looked at me. "You are to be raised on tales of arcane prowess and whispered secrets passed down through generations, now you stand here to carve your own legend in annals of history." My head already hurts. Please stop.
My eyebrows shot up in disbelief, my expression a mix of irritation and incredulity, thinking, "Did he just make that up on the spot? I forced a strained smile, but my eyes probably betrayed my discomfort, silently cursing Theodon's sense of humour. "I hope this ends soon."
"Try to enjoy your new life, because I think this time you can enjoy it for sure." He waved the wand and my eyes and body started to become increasingly heavy. That nonsense that he spoke earlier better not be real. It sounds so painful, from the amount of cringe. If any of that is real, I'm haunting you when I die. That were my last thought before I lost my consciousness.
...
"This should be fun. Maybe I should give him some cringe title or really make that dynasty real? Nah to much work. Maybe later. I should not forget to get him a starting bonus. His invention is a good prototype for it." Turning attention on one screen where nerve gear prototype was now projected.
"This would be worth so much in his world if he managed to complete it." He looked at a random screen and fell into a deep thought.
"System based on this would be good, but it may come with some pesky glitches. Let's upgrade it a few times to smooth out the rough edges." Plays a little bit with the design and fully transform in into a digital data. Upgrading the settings, programs, implanting Ai for easier communication, carefully writing primary code for Ai to be helping the user of the system, implanting some more advanced data to form a strong server and optimising the system all together. "All good till now. Now let us form additional system core that will be implanted into host and act as a connection for my stream. Whit this I can now simply watch him whenever I want or maybe even stream it on my godly platform. Hehe, can't wait to see what will happen next."
...
"Should I be worried about his memories? He will be probably okay."
(Line brake to waking up)
I slowly opened my eyes to see an unfamiliar room. "Where the heck am I" I asked myself as I stand up to stretch myself but was interrupted by voice inside my head.
YOU RECIVED A STARTING SYSTEM. SYSTEM TUTORIAL WILL BE AVAIABLE AS SOON AS YOU FULLY WAKE UP
After seeing that I just feel back to bed. Last thing that came to my mind was what that was one hell of a weird dream.
It was early morning when I woke up, or at least I think so. The light coming from the window was still weak but apparently that was enough to wake me up. There must be something wrong. I was never really a morning person and I always slept in when I had the time…so what is it today? Is there something that I forgot that I shouldn't? Hm…Lily's birthday is in March, and we are in July…I don't think anything special should be happening in the next few days.
Now that I'm awake what was that dream. I looked over my room and saw that nothing has changed. My laptop was on my desk and my jacket was laying on the floor. I was still wearing jeans and my shirt from yesterday so…oh shit! Now I remembered that I promised Mira that I would give her my laptop. Shit I'm so fucked. As I tried to remember what happened yesterday a thought suddenly came to my mind…how did I even came home. The last think I remember from yesterday is being on a train station and…being hit by a train? Fuck I have no idea, better to hurry and get to Sally's Cafe, I said to myself and quickly check myself. I don't smell bad, shirt is alright, shoes on my feet are tied okay, I don't have time to wash my teeth or get my hair under control, but I guess it will do. Now let's go and check on Lily. I waked over to the door and as I opened them there wasn't anything in front of me. Literally nothing, there was just blank grey space with nothing in it.
"Okay...I'm not losing my mind. Okay everything is alright; I'm just seeing things" I said to myself and closed the door and then closed my eyes and slowly breath in some air. As I opened my eyes the voice suddenly came to my mind.
HOST IS BEING DIFFICULT AND DOESN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING. AS WAS BEING SAID BEFOR YOU WILL GET A TUTORIAL ABOUT THE SYSTEM 'THEO' CREATED FROM YOUR PREVIUS LIFE INVENTION
YOU CAN NOT REFUSE THE TUTORIAL AS 'THEO' IS MAKING YOU TAKE IT OR YOU WILL BE STUCK IN THIS ROOM FOR NEXT TWO MONTHS.
I was in a state of shock. So, the dream wasn't really a dream, and this robotic voice is really in my head. As I looked over my room again, I realised that 'my room' turned into a blank state with nothing in it except for a bed and table next to it. There weren't any plans or designs on a bit like usually. But this system is kind of nice. "Well here goes my ordinary way of life." I singed, little resigned to see my room lose every meaningful object.
I just sat on the bed thinking if I really want to. My life was not bad, not bad at all, but I guess it could use some spark of excitement. Here I just hope this is not that know-it-all system, that forces you to complete the tasks, until you become a slave to the system. Well, here goes nothing. "Start the tutorial" Not like I have really any choice. There is no way that I'm waiting for two months to get out.
THANK YOU FOR ACCEPTING THE TUTORIAL. AT THE MOMENT YOU ARE IN A ROOM THAT IS LOCATED IN A BLANK SPACE. AS AGREED, YOU GAINED A SYSTEM THAT RESEMBLES INVENTION YOU HELPED AND MANEGED TO DEVELOPE.
As I listened to the computer voice that came from all around me, I started to remember the talk with Theo. I'm surprised I'm still alive.
SYSTEM IS HERE TO HELP YOU GROW AND MAKE YOUR LIVE MORE EXITING. SYSTEM WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER AND IN WORST CASE SCENARIO PREVENT HOSTS DEATH.
"That is all good"
NOW THE TUTORIAL WILL PRESENT YOUR SYSTEM FUNCTIONS AND HOW TO USE THEM.
TO ACCSESS WANTED FUNCTION SAID THE MAIN WORD AND IT WILL OPEN. OPEN MENU
"Menu" I decided to go with this. If I am honest this is quite cool. I never really had the time for games, but I fully enjoyed them, when I could play them.
As I said the word the screen appeared in front of me.
(MENU)
(-Status)
(-Inventory/LOCKED)
(-Settings/LOCKED)
(-Quest/LOCKED)
"Why is everything locked?" Why would I get a system if everything expect for status is locked. Now that I think about it I fell kind of weird.
Before I could complain more a new message came.
THIS IS PART OF TUTORIAL. AS YOU COMPLETE PART OF IT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO UNLOCK OTHER FUNCTIONS.
"Fine…Okay system opens up the status screen and please tell me why I do feel so weak!"
OPENING THE STATUS SCREEN
---
(STATUS)
(Name: Lucas Valerian)
(Age: 17)
(Title: /)
(Race: Human/???)
(Main Class: /)
(Subclass): /)
(Job: /)
---
(Health: 100%)
(Mana level: 100%)
(STRENGHT: H)
(ENDURANCE: H)
(AGILITY: H)
(LUCK: B)
(MANA POWER: F)
---
(Body constitution: /)
---
(Skills: /)
---
EXPANATIONS TO THE QUESTION: You felt weak because system restarted your previous stats and only kept few. You are starting a new life and are able to shape yourself anyway you may want as you are building yourself from scratch.
---
EXPANATIONS FOR OTHER INFO IN THE STATUS SCREEN. WISH TO SKIP OR LISTEN TO?
"I can listen. I will not lose anything by it so why not."
CONFIRMED…
- (TITLE: A name given to you by a system or a bigger number of people (any race). It gives you a bonus on your status screen depending on a title and his rank.)
(Rank goes like this: D-C-B-A-S-SS-SSS-Ex)=It is same as weapon and skill ranking)
---
- (RACE: A race you are born with. There exist many different races like beast man, elves. Spirits and so on. Each section of the races is further divided. You can also change your race by awakening the bloodline. The stronger the bloodline the stronger are the effects and side effects.)
---
- (MAIN CLASS: A profession which determines the abilities, skills and perks someone is allowed to unlock. Examples are assassin, warrior, guardian or a healer. Classes cannot be changed once they are chosen but they can further evolve, like swordsman to sword master. Skills related to main class will be boosted while skills that are not related remain the same. Main class is obtained after host learn and acquire enough knowledge, skills and experience to form it. There exists examples, but are currently out of reach, so this info will be skipped.)
---
- (SUBCLASS: A secondary profession which specialise in a lesser class that provide support or item production. Examples are cook, blacksmith, carpenter, alchemist, lock picker and enchanter. Subclass can be changed at will. The limit number of subclasses is not placed so host can have multiple subclasses at the same time. If host wishes he can also unequip the subclass)
---
- (JOB: The work you chose can help you unlock more subclasses. The higher level of the job the better the product. The number of jobs is not limited but host be careful not to overwork yourself. Even with system one can overwork themselves.)
---
- (STRENGHT: Determines your physical strength. Also, determinates the attack power of physical attacks.)
---
- (ENDURANCE: Increases health, stamina, physical damage reduction and health and stamina regeneration.)
---
- (AGILITY: It relates to how fast you can move your body. Boosts coordination, reflexes and movement speed and so on.)
---
- (LUCK: It measures your level of luck in real life, and it can help in any situation. After all, "Luck can be also skill")
- (MANA POWER: Measures the level of mana your body is capable of holding. Beware that level of mana power relates to host's soul and power of the vessel.)
---
Mana power? Nice, does this mean I can learn magic. As status information is over, I should go and see what others have to tell.
---
(INVENTORY: Space that gives user of the system unlimited space to store loot or other items. You can store any non-living material as long as you can lift it.
---
"Okay I understand. Let's continue the tutorial."
FOR MODIFICATIONS YOU NEED TO OPEN UP THE SETTINGS
"Okay thanks. Open up the settings."
---
(SETTINGS)
- (STATUS SETTINGS/LOCKED)
- (SKILL SETTINGS/LOCKED)
- (SYSTEM VOICE SETINGS/LOCKED)
- (INVENTORY SETTINGS/LOCKED)
- (QUEST SETINGS/LOCKED)
- (BODY MODIFICATIONS/LOCKED)
---
"Okay I guess that setting will be unlocked when the tutorial is done. Open Quests"
---
(QUESTS)
- (MAIN QUESTS)
- (SIDE QUESTS)
- (DAILY QUESTS)
- (WEEKLY QUESTS)
---
QUESTS ARE MISSONS, THAT ARE GIVEN BY THE SYSTEM, SYSTEM OPERATOR OR SYSTEM USER. THEY CAN BE ACQUIRED THROUGH YOUR DAILY LIFE AND HELP YOU WITH YOUR GROWTH.
- (MAIN QUESTS: You can't deny this type of quest. It directly connected to your way of life and unsuccessful quest of main category may bring further trouble, unstable environment and danger.)
- (SIDE QUESTS: Small quest with small reward. Can help in development of various skills and other quests.)
- (DAILY QUESTS: Quest that can be only fulfilled once per day, and can stack if completed day after day.)
- (WEEKLY QUESTS: Quests for whitch you have full week to complete. May relate to completion of other quests and your own development.)
DO YOU WANT TO CONTINUE YOUR TUTORIAL AND GO THE BODY MODIFICATIONS?
"Yes." I can already imagine some thinks that may be here. Let's see.
BODY MODIFICATION IS A SPECIAL SECTION, THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY CREATED FOR DISABELD PEOPLE, BY HOST AND HIS FRIENDS. NOW THIS FUNCTION IS NOT ABLE TO BE OPERATED IN THE SAME WAY BUT WILL MONITOR ANY MODIFICATIONS MADE ON HOSTS BODY. SOME MODIFICATIONS ARE REPARABLE BUT HOST MUST BE AWARE THAT IT WILL INCLUDE A LOT OF PAIN.
THE TUTORIAL IS COMPETED. AS A REWARD FOR COMPETING IT YOU RECIVED A STARTER PACK. YOU CAN FIND YOUR REWARD IN YOUR INVENTORY.
I was happy that I at least got something out of this. I know it helps to have tutorial in the start of the game, but I could just wing it. It's not that complex. "Okay open Settings"
I really need to change some things in this system. This is nice and all, but I made it simpler. "Open settings"
---
(SETTINGS)
- (STATUS SETTINGS)
- (SKILL SETTINGS)
- (SYSTEM VOICE SETINGS)
- (INVENTORY SETTINGS)
- (QUEST SETINGS)
- (BODY MODIFICATIONS/LOCKED)
---
As I looked over the settings, I could see that body modifications are still locked, but I can't do a thing about that in a moment.
"Open up Status settings" I said, and it showed my status. "How can I change something?"
HOST JUST NEEDS TO SAY WHAT TO CHANGE AND SYSTEM WILL CHANGE WHAT EVER THE HOST ORDERED.
"Okay. System change the full words for my stats into abbreviations. For future use just use shorter version."
CHANGE MADE
I could see how the change happened as I had status opened in front of me.
---
(STATUS)
(Name: Lucas Valerian)
(Age: 17)
(Title: /)
(Race: Human/???)
(Class: /)
(Subclass): /)
(Job: /)
---
(Health: 100%)
(Mana level: 100%)
(STR: H)
(END: H)
(AGL: H)
(LUC: C)
(MP: F)
---
(Body constitution: /)
---
(Skills: /)
---
"Split status in two parts. One part should include all info from my name to my mana level. Include that one two. The other one should only include statistic level of my body strength. Now please open up voice settings" I said aloud and waited for a change.
As the status closed, system opened a blank square floating in front of me. "Does this work same as before? Probably. Change system voice from computer voice to a girl voice." In this area no man can judge me. What would you do listen to a computer voice all time even if I had a chance to change it, or would you change it to a male voice? Hell NO! That is my answer.
GIVING SAMPLES OF REQUUESTED VOICE
In front of me opened up a list of voices. I scrolled it down after hearing them. I don't want to be picky, but I would rather have a voice in my head that I like than have a voice that can make me lose my mind.
After some time, I found a voice with a blinking icon, that had a message attached to it.
'Hey Luca! As you are probably wondering where I am, I am currently in a world you will be sent to as soon as you complete the tutorial. I was looking at you and noticed that you can't find a voice that you like so I send you this one. It's from one of my favourite worlds. I asked mother for a favour, and she is allowing me to lend out her name to a handful of new individuals. Guess who is one of them? But you will have to complete some small task to actually get it.
See you on the other side 😊
Theo, God of reality'
I don't know what to say to that. I don't remember ever discussing what I want to do in my new life. I'll ask him if I see him again. As I chose to listen to the voice, I heard a voice even I recognised. It was Saber from Fate series or should I call her Artoria. I didn't watch all the series, but I did finish Stay Night a week before my supposed death, so I was not totally clueless about the character.
I can't really complain. So, I chose the voice. Who knows how long I would have to search till I find a perfect one. "Modify voice command for me, I wish to input commands or communicate with the system by my thoughts and not just by speaking aloud." This way I wouldn't look like a crazy person when I interact with the system.
MODIFY COMPLETED
IF YOU ARE FINISHED YOU WILL BE TRANSPRTED TO ANOTHER WORLD IN WHICH THEO IS LOCATED IN. PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTION: DO YOU WANT TO PRECEDE?
This voice change is really good. I looked around the empty room for the last time and closed my eyes. "I'm ready. You can begin the transportation"
As I said that I was transported in what looked like an old log cabin. It had a big fireplace and quite a few books around it. This must be heaven for booklovers. The room had a cosy feeling, the carpet on the floor was light green and next to the fire were two big beige coloured sofas and one dark brown armchair. On the armchair was siting a man that gave him the system. Who? Well Theo the Gaming God, the one figure who managed to escape from black and white photo.
"Hey old man. Thanks for the voice. Appreciate it."
"No problem just doesn't call me old man anymore. Just call me Theo or Theodon, both works. Now sit down so we can talk"
I listened to him and sat down on one of the sofas in a way that I was facing him. Now the moment of truth. Let me hear what he has to say.
"Luca, you know already that you died in your previous world, right?" I just nodded at that. "As I told you I am a god that represents a reality and as you were nothing but a moral that died but you still completed my test. And because of that I took interest in you."
"Okay I partially understand what you are saying but what kind of test did I competed."
"I will get to that. My test was compost from various factors. From the way of life, type of work, personality and more." He narrated a thon of different factors needed to complete and I somehow managed to fill them all.
"A really important factor was that the person died way too soon, and this is how you were the one who finally fully completed my test. The glitch helped you here so of you for example didn't meet the kid and survived you would never be here." I don't really know what to say. One way I'm angry that I died, but other way I'm grateful that I managed to grasp this chance for a second start and new life.
"I see that you had final come to terms with your death. Here I have a bonus for you and also some additional data for the system you already possess." He passed me a silver orb with blue marking all over it with a sticky note on it. I just flew over it and my eyes died a few times. Why does it have to be so edgy. "Do I really need this. Can I just pass it back to you?" I would ratter die again than speak those cringe lines.
"No. You have to say them. This orb is not just data but also a remaining part of the system I modified and set to clear any possible glitches for the future. It also include some of my power and I can directly pass you more of it through it. Plus, a gift for you. Will you really rather be reborn with a system that will probably soon develop some glitches, that will mess with you with no way out?" his face was telling me I had no choise, but THE CRINGE…
I gave him a dead look. "You did this on purpose didn't you." This was not even a question. The smile on his stupid face was telling me everything.
I needed at least 20 minutes until I was ready to read those words. I can already feel my soul breaking. I started to slowly read.
"In the depths of shadows and the crucible of chaos, I invoke the dominion of Theodon, the god of reality." Bleh, I'm gona puke. With each word uttered, my expression twisted with a mix of discomfort, pain, disgust, and a deep-seated hatred for the cringey phrases I was forced to speak aloud.
"With darkness as my ally and the threads of fate as my guide, I shatter the chains of mediocrity. I summon the relentless power of the void, embracing the duality of realities." Oh my god this is so painful!!! My brows furrowed deeply, lips curling in disdain as if each syllable tasted bitter on my tongue. My voice wavered with an underlying tone of reluctance, as if I couldn't believe I was actually saying those words aloud.
"By the blood of my trials and the tears of my triumphs, I awaken the dormant strength of my soul. Let Theodon's gift of the system grant me the power to transcend, for I am the harbinger of my own ascension." With each line, I cringed inwardly, my shoulders tensing up involuntarily. My body language definitely betrayed my inner turmoil, as if I was enduring a trial of endurance rather than merely reciting words. Despite my best efforts to maintain composure, a visible grimace escaped me, and I let out a heavy sigh of relief when the ordeal was finally over.
Suddenly there was a bright light enveloping me. The orb in my hand transformed into a bright blue light and entered my body.
DING. YOU RECIVED A SYSTEM BONUS.
DING. YOU RECIVED A TITLE "GAMER"
DING. THROUGH THE TITLE "GAMER" YOU RECIVED PASSIVE SKILLS "GAMER'S BODY" AND "GAMER'S MIND"
DING. YOU RECIVED SMALL PART OF POWER OF REALATY. NOTE: Only usable under specific conditions or with the help of a skill.
DING. YOU RECIVED A SPECIAL PASSIVE SKILL THAT IS NOW INTEGRATED IN YOUR NAME.
DING. SPECIAL SKILL IS PASSIVLY LIMITING PATS OF NUMEROUS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTIONS.
DING. THE CHANGE IS NON REVERSABLE. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CHEEK THE INFO OF THE SKILL.
What just happened. Did I just get hacked by some skill. FUCK!!!!