[Welcome to the Character Creation System.]
[Choose a Character from the Celestial List to follow your path.]
Kael looked at the options appearing before him in an endless succession of tabs. Unknown faces, names he had never heard of, and worst of all, none of the characters he truly admired.
"Out of all these... Why are the cool guys never available?" he muttered, frustrated, as he scrolled through yet another endless sequence of options.
He took a deep breath and decided to try names he knew; after all, it was a system, right? Something had to be right.
"Let's start with the obvious... Satoru Gojo!" he said confidently, imagining himself with the unshakable charisma and divine strength of the sorcerer.
[The requested character is not in the list.]
"Dammit... Alright, Sung Jin-Woo!" he insisted, already preparing to summon shadows like the badass protagonist from Solo Leveling.
[The requested character is not in the list.]
"Roronoa Zoro! Roronoa Zoro!" he shouted, hoping to wield three swords and cut through anything in his path.
[The requested character is not in the list.]
Kael huffed, crossing his arms as frustration grew. He kept listing names, one after another:
"Levi Ackerman!"
[The requested character is not in the list.]
"Edward Elric!"
[The requested character is not in the list.]
"Kenshin Himura!"
[The requested character is not in the list.]
The list kept going as Kael typed more and more names, his patience wearing thin with every rejection:
"Ichigo Kurosaki, Meliodas, Killua, Kaname Tosen, L Lawliet, Subaru Natsuki, Eren Jaeger, Tanjiro Kamado, MADARA!"
[The requested characters are not in the list.]
The feeling of defeat began to settle over him, but Kael wasn't giving up so easily. He had already listed more than twenty characters, each an icon in their respective stories. Still, none of them seemed available.
"Why do I feel like I'm playing a gacha and only pulling B-tier characters?" Kael thought, massaging his temples.
Then, an idea came to him. He stopped, thought carefully, and slowly a smile appeared on his face.
"Wait a minute... There's one man. One man no one can refuse. He is the perfect example of strength, determination, and leadership. Someone who's practically a force of nature..."
Kael took a deep breath before announcing with full confidence:
"Escanor! The Lion's Pride, from the Seven Deadly Sins!"
[The requested character is not in the list.]
"Ah, go fuck yourself then," he said, slapping the message tab that flew away, only to reappear in front of him...
[Choose a Character]
Kael stared at the screen that stubbornly reappeared every time he tried to dismiss it.
[Choose a Character]
"Fine... You want to play with me, huh?" he said, eyes narrowed, his tone thick with irritation. "Great. Let's go then!"
And so began the real marathon of names, ignoring race, gender, sex—nothing mattered. If the System wanted to challenge him, then it was a war!
"Gon Freecss, Hisoka, Guts, Griffith, Kirito, Kazuma Satou, Ryuk, Shikamaru, Jiraiya, Sanji, Mikasa, Vegeta, Hiei, Yusuke Urameshi, Akame, Tatsumi, Gilgamesh, Saber, Archer, Rin Tohsaka..."
With every name he spoke, the system responded relentlessly:
[The requested character is not in the list.]
Kael didn't give up. He kept listing names, his patience turning into sheer stubbornness.
"Shanks, Usopp, Boa Hancock, Light Yagami, Ainz Ooal Gown, Lelouch vi Britannia, Kamado Nezuko, Makunouchi Ippo, Sano Manjiro, Ash Ketchum, Pikachu..."
[The requested character is not in the list.]
"NOT PIKACHU TOO?! WHAT KIND OF RIDICULOUS SYSTEM IS THIS?!" Kael yelled, kicking the nonexistent ground in fury.
The tab blinked unshakably. He continued, now out of pure spite:
"Sasuke, Guy, Gaara, Obito, Itachi, Jotaro Kujo, Dio Brando, Joseph Joestar, Erwin Smith, Reiner Braun, Zeke, Saitama, Genos, Tatsumaki... Inosuke, Yuma, Rias, Akeno, Itadori, Sukuna, Yasuo, Yasuke, Deidara, Yamamoto, Aizen, Zangetsu... AH... I'm tired..."
Kael breathed deeply between names, his voice hoarse. Then he noticed it. The interface seemed... to be freezing?
The screen flickered with an irregular glow, and messages began to appear in a jumbled manner:
[Error processing character...]
[Character not available...]
[Updating database...]
Kael smiled triumphantly. "HAHAHA! Fuck it, I'm going to destroy this shit!!" But he didn't stop. Not now. Not when he felt like he was winning.
"Saber Alter... Sephiroth... Asta... Zeref... Meliodas... Ban... Merlin... Gilthunder... Alucard..."
Suddenly, the system froze completely. For a brief moment, there was absolute silence.
Until the tab flickered with a single audible sound.
[Alucard – Selected.]
Kael froze, surprised. He didn't even remember saying the name, but there it was, shining on the screen.
"Wait... Alucard? The Alucard from Hellsing?" he asked, still trying to process.
The system responded without hesitation:
[Yes. The requested character is available. Do you wish to follow the path of Alucard, the King of Vampires?]
Kael hesitated for a moment. "Is this serious? Alucard is like... the pinnacle of chaos and destruction. Is this really who I'm going to choose?"
He thought for a second, then smiled mischievously.
"Ah, you know what? Who wouldn't want to be Alucard? I accept!"
As soon as he confirmed, the screen blazed brightly, and the system began to turn his choice into reality.
The light surrounding Kael was intense, almost blinding. He felt his body—or whatever he had in that strange space—being molded, remade, almost as if every cell was being rebuilt from scratch. A searing heat ran through him, followed by a chilling wave, as the system continued working on his transformation.
Then, everything stopped.
When Kael finally managed to open his eyes, he expected to see the absolute grandeur of Alucard reflected somewhere. He stretched out his hands and saw... well, pale, thin, and frail hands. A classic black suit enveloped his body, but it was somewhat loose, as if it weren't tailored.
"Okay... This is a good start," he murmured, trying to convince himself.
He looked at his reflection in a floating glass window conjured by the system. There he was, with messy black hair, eyes glowing bright red... but something was wrong.
Very wrong.
"Wait a minute..." Kael frowned and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. The reflection staring back at him looked... pathetic. His figure, instead of imposing, was skeletal. He looked like a freshly turned vampire who could barely stand on his own.
A system tab suddenly appeared, as if to explain the situation:
[You have been transformed into the Path of Alucard.]
[Current Level: 0.]
[Unlocked Abilities: None.]
[You are currently the equivalent of a low-ranking vampire.]
Kael blinked, incredulous, and cracked a nervous smile. "This... this has to be a joke."
[Note: To reach the true form of Alucard, you must progress through levels and unlock abilities through missions and challenges.]
"So I'm not Alucard?" he asked, his voice heavy with frustration.
[You are Alucard. An initial, nerfed, limited, and... quite weak version of him.]
Kael felt his stomach—or whatever passed for it in that moment—sink. "So basically, I have the name, but none of the power, none of the respect, and none of the ability to wipe out anyone who stands in my way. Cool. Very fair."
Then another tab appeared with a distinctive sound:
[System Tip: Despite your initial weakness, you have the potential to become one of the most powerful beings in this world. Persist, and the true power of Alucard will be yours.]
"Persist? I literally died, got thrown into a broken system, and now I'm the equivalent of a B-movie vampire extra. What kind of joke is this?"
Suddenly, the familiar voice of Zero Two echoed through the environment, cutting through his self-pity.
"Well, Darling, I think you're exactly where you should be. You wanted to be powerful, but no one said it would be instant, right? Now get up off that skinny carcass of yours and get to work. You have a lot ahead of you."
Kael grunted, throwing his hands up. "Are you serious? Not even a decent skill? No absurd regeneration, no hellish guns? This is all I am?"
Zero Two simply shrugged, a provocative smile on her face. "Everyone starts somewhere, dear. Besides, you have something no one else has..."
Kael narrowed his eyes, expecting some kind of revelation.
"You have charisma."
Kael let out an incredulous laugh and pointed at himself. "Charisma? Me? Look at me! I look like I haven't seen a ray of sunlight in decades!"
Zero Two chuckled softly, waving at him as she disappeared in a pink glow. "Good luck, Darling. Try not to die... again."
And with that, Kael was left alone, staring at the pathetic reflection of a level-zero vampire.
Zero Two remained still, that enigmatic smile Kael was starting to hate—a mix of provocation and charm. She crossed her arms, tilting her head as she observed him with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
"Well, Darling, my part here is done. You have a long road ahead."
"Wait, wait!" Kael gestured desperately, pointing at his own scrawny body. "You can't just leave me like this! I'm... I'm useless this way!"
Zero Two laughed, tilting her head back. "Ah, Darling, the fun is right there. It's not about where you start, but how you get there. And, well, honestly, I'm looking forward to watching."
"Watching? What do you mean by 'watching'?! You're just going to sit back and watch me screw up?!"
She took a step forward, and Kael felt the weight of her presence, even though she seemed to be just playing around. With one finger, she gently poked his forehead, and Kael took a step back.
"Exactly, Darling. I'll cheer for you... from afar."
Before he could protest again, Zero Two snapped her fingers, and a glowing, pulsing portal in shades of pink and red opened behind her. The vortex seemed to twist with uncontrollable energy, and Kael felt his body begin to be pulled by an irresistible force.
"Ah, just one more thing," she said, looking at him with a devilish smile. "Watch out for the early bosses. You're... fragile, to say the least."
"Early bosses? What bosses?! I can barely walk in this body!"
Zero Two ignored his complaints, and before he could say anything else, she lightly pushed him with a touch of her fingers.
"Good luck, Darling. And remember: I'll be watching... always."
Kael tried to resist, but the portal swallowed him whole, and the last thing he saw was Zero Two's teasing smile as she waved gently, almost as if saying "see you never."
Inside the portal, Kael was thrown at high speed, spinning uncontrollably as colorful lights exploded around him. He screamed, more out of frustration than fear.
"I'M GOING TO GET REVENGE ON THIS, ZERO TWOOOOOO!"
And then, everything went dark. He felt the impact against something solid, as though he had been thrown face-first into cold stone.
Kael slowly opened his eyes, feeling every bone in his newly created body protest. As he stood up, he realized he was in a vast place, with a sinister forest ahead and a colossal black tower in the distance, piercing the foggy sky.
[Welcome to the Abandoned World.]
[Initial Mission: Survive for 24 hours.]
Kael looked at the message hovering in the air, then at the threatening forest. He sighed deeply.
"Great. Survive. As if that's anything new..."
And so, his journey began.
On the other side of the space-time veil, the environment was completely different from the shimmering portal and the sinister world where Kael had been thrown. The place was vast, filled with pulsating energy, and grand thrones rose around a central room illuminated by mystical lights.
The figure who had once embodied Zero Two walked with determined steps toward one of the thrones. As she moved forward, her appearance began to change. Her pink hair dissolved into a cascade of black strands that shimmered like the night, her eyes turned golden, and the flashy anime outfit was replaced by an elegant and imposing dress that seemed made of shadows and stars.
"Finally," she sighed, throwing herself into her throne with a mix of relief and irritation. "That was a real test of patience."
She crossed her legs, resting her face in one hand, while with the other, she made gestures in the air as if manipulating invisible screens. A projection of the world where Kael had been thrown appeared before her, showing the young man still confused and stumbling as he tried to adjust to the new reality.
"What an annoying guy... Listing random character names like he's in an anime quiz!" She huffed, rolling her eyes. "Ah, yes, Escanor, the Lion's Pride, as if I'd give that gift to such a pathetic mortal. Honestly."
She spun a finger, enlarging the projection to show Kael stumbling over a root in the forest.
"Well, at least he chose Alucard in the end. Even if it's the nerfed version, of course. A low-tier vampire... fits him perfectly."
The woman smiled, but it wasn't a friendly smile. It was a cruel smile, tinged with something deeper, almost predatory.
"Why do they always insist on seeking absolute power? Don't they understand that the true entertainment lies in the struggle, the despair, the slow, torturous rise? Humans are so predictable."
She moved her hand again, and the throne began to react, glowing with intense power.
"Now, let's set the gears of fate in motion. This world won't balance itself, and there are many 'bosses' eager to test the new player."
Her expression shifted to something more playful as she watched Kael try to understand the system messages that appeared before him.
"Ah, but I can't deny... He has something... special. Perhaps, just perhaps, he might survive. If that happens, well... who knows? It could be interesting to watch him evolve."
She stood up from the throne, walking to the center of the room, where a glowing magic circle with intricate symbols hovered.
"For now, it's time to send another 'gift' to our dear protagonist." She extended her hand, and a sphere of energy appeared, floating with a golden glow.
"Not something that will help him directly, of course. That would be too easy." A mischievous smile curled her lips. "Perhaps a little complication. Something to make things more... exciting."
The sphere disappeared in a beam of light, crossing the space-time veil and heading toward Kael's world.
The woman returned to her throne, reclining comfortably as she watched the projection.
"Now let's see how you handle this, boy. Surprise me... or fail spectacularly. Either way, I'll have fun."