Toward a crowded area, a man stands seemingly staring into the abyss. What's even stranger is that, despite the crowd, no one seems to move—as if time itself has frozen.
The man isn't looking at the void, though. He's staring at a screen, flickering in and out of existence.
[ REJOICE, MORTAL, FOR YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED THE PLEASURE OF THIS SYSTEM TITLED:
THE MULTIVERSE TRAVEL SYSTEM! ]
'Am I dreaming… or on something?' Countless thoughts raced through the man's head as he tried to grasp this dreamlike situation.
"Can I a—"
Before he could speak, another voice cut through. Another man had appeared—yet something about him was wrong. Too calm, too familiar with strangeness. Like someone who had lived far too long.
"Haaaah~ there you are! I've been searching for you, you know. Yare yare… Why go through all this trouble, man? Can't you just cooperate for both our sakes?~"
The screen flickered violently now, as if afraid.
[ SHIT—HOW DID YOU FIND ME?! FUCK—I NEED TO GET AWAY… ]
But it was too late. The strange man stabbed the first man and pulled out a glowing orb from his body.
The stabbed man didn't bleed, yet collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
"Phew… finally got you~"
He glanced at the body, eyes narrowing. "Shit! Is his soul still intact?! Haaaaah~ lucky me. Almost destroyed it. That would've cost me points… 'Don't underestimate what one single action can cause,' they always say."
The man grinned, satisfied. "Welp, job's done. Toodle-oo~ muahahahahaha."
He vanished without a trace.
A moment later, the dead man's body was pulled into a portal—and time resumed, with no one the wiser.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Mm..."
A faint murmur echoes through the silent space.
A man is submerged in water, flowing like a leaf—calm, still, like peace itself is holding him.
Suddenly, his eyes snap open.
*Gasping.* "Haah, haah… Is it a dream?!"
He looks around frantically—endless surface water and a dark void above. No horizon, no sky. Just... nothing.
"It's not a dream. Shit... hahahaha. And just when my life was getting started..."
Time passes with him just lying down... Or maybe Time doesn't pass, There's no way to tell.
Suddenly, he stands up and slaps himself across the face.
"There's no time to wallow in despair. For fuck's sake, keep yourself together. You didn't die, and that matters. Now's the time to be excited, right?! You've always wished for something interesting and now that youuu *got* it, you're complaining and bitching?!"
He shouts at himself, trying to stay sane. Or at least functional...
"Yosh. First things first, my self, Did anything change?"
He looks down.
"Naked. Got it. No clothes. Figures... Thank god I still got my brother, or else I'd be really done for. Hahaha..."
Then he notices something.
"...Wait. I have abs now?! *Sheesh* I look good!"
He laughs. Actually laughs, admiring his own body like it's a reward.
"Man I look good, hehe... Okay okay, enough goofing around. Let's see... what else changed."
He pauses.
"No name. Alright. No memories of that at least. But there's... something. A connection. Can't explain it, but it's there. Doesn't feel scary though. Heh. I already died once—what's the worst that could happen now, right~?"
Suddenly, his body glows.
A palace appears out of nowhere—no walls, no roof. Just a massive tower, a glowing crystal floating at the top. Stairs spiral around it like a pyramid leading to the heavens.
"Woah… what's that?"
His eyes widen with curiosity, the awe soaking into him like light on skin.
"This feels like LOTM... hahaha, Praise the Fool!"
He reaches the crystal. Touches it.
The moment he does, the void explodes with color—some familiar, some that don't even exist. The world ripples, the air vibrates with meaning.
After some time—seconds, minutes, days?—his thoughts come back. Clearer.
"...So that's what happened."
His voice is low. Dazed, but steady.
"These systems... It's something made by someone with power—for more power, or maybe just entertainment. Mine was meant to turn me into a vessel. A container. Then, when I'm ripe, they'd pluck me like a damn fruit."
He clicks his tongue.
"Luckily... there's a group they accidentally antagonized an organization that... I'm keeping it out of mind for now and I shall not say their name, though. Even saying it would tip them off. Gotta be careful."
A moment of silence.
"...I've got a 'partial' piece of the system now after that accident. Just a bit. Enough to matter in this infinity as an ant."
He exhales. Laughs again. Exhausted. Wired.
"What a long day... I am such a Lucky Man."
For Ignorance is bliss and the biggest tradegy of Ignorance is not knowing your own tragedy.
"The real world of the strong huh, even just thinking about it I feel pressured like I don't even wanna move and compete. I'm just an ordinary man, living an average life, fantasizing about greatness but when greatness comes, I can't move... I'm pathetic."
- - - - - - -
An:
So this is the start and yeah, I'm just someone bored who wants to create something even though I never truly starts. I'll try though, one chapter every motivation life dropped on me. There's no schedule for chapters so don't get your hopes up.