'This NCHammer guy must be in the highest level of denial to defend Boruto like that.'
I muttered the thought while slurping my noodles and playing a match of Age of Empires while random videos were rolling in the background. "Once I'm done here I'll leave a heavy comment about your delusions, internet man."
My name's Gabriel. I'm almost thirty, and if I had to sum up my life in a single word, it would be "FAILURE."
Don't get me wrong—I really tried not to end up like this. But life doesn't always care about our plans.
I was the straight-A student, the model kid. I graduated from university, landed a good job as an accountant in a supermarket chain. Things were going pretty well—I even had savings set aside for opening my own business someday.
And then it all went to hell the day the executives' corruption scheme came to light...
—BZZZT—
"What the…?" I adjusted my headset, but the static wouldn't stop. 'Please don't tell me it's the cable. God, let it be the headset and not the PC…I just bought these last week!'
I paused the game and the video, but the buzzing only grew louder.
"The hell is going on…"
I opened the sound settings, but before I could do anything, the noise erupted, and my world went black.
.
..
…
'What happened? My eyes… Are they closed? I was sure they were open—or is this just darkness? Wait… a blackout!?'
I tried to look around, to move, but I couldn't tell if I was moving at all.
"------?"
'What? Am I deaf now? Did that buzzing shut my ears? Or is it my voice that's gone?'
"----------------!"
'… I'm dead, aren't I? Dead by headset. What a pathetic way to go.'
Death is unexpected, sure—but this? This was just unfair.
'Or maybe I'm not dead… Maybe I'm in a coma. I mean I wouldn't still be thinking if I were really dead, right?'
In this strange state of half-consciousness I struggled to make sense of what was happening until tiny points of light appeared within the darkness.
'Stars…?'
That was the only comparison that came to mind. Like stars in a night sky, the dots multiplied—dozens becoming hundreds, hundreds becoming countless.
'They're moving…'
Slowly, they seemed to drift back and forth and when one floated close to me, I realized they weren't stars at all—but glowing flasks of every imaginable shape and color.
'Oh… so it's a dream. That explains it.'
[Essence of the Personal Objects]
The knowledge flowed straight into my mind the moment I focused on the flask.
'I recognize this… so yeah, this has to be a dream. Well, why not enjoy it?'
I set aside my worries and dove into the information of the essence, unaware that other flasks were already drifting closer.
The description filled my thoughts—an entire personal dimension, untouchable by gods, a timeless world where anything I owned could be stored and carried across worlds.
'A perfect essence for a recluse person like me.' I thought with a bitter laugh.
But then, among the endless sea of glowing glass flasks, one in particular caught my attention.
[Essence of the Cultivator]
'No way.'
The knowledge came rushing in again. Overwhelming power, infinite potential, unbreakable will, protagonist-tier luck. It was the cheat of all cheats, the kind of thing you only ever saw in xianxia novels.
'Heh. If I take both, wouldn't that be the same as founding my own sect? Well, since this is just a dream, I might as well indulge myself and see what happens.'
Even though I couldn't feel my body, I reached out. The essences burst in dazzling explosions of light, their contents streaming toward me.
'So cool…'
Enchanted by the spectacle, I turned my attention to the other flasks floating nearby and began shattering them without much thought. After all, this was just a weird dream. None of it was real.
…Or so I believed.
—BZZZT—
The instant the first essence touched my chest, the same static roared in my ears, and a burning sensation spread through me.
"---!!!"
I tried to scream, but no voice came out.
—BZZZZZZTT—
The second essence struck, the noise intensifying, the burning flaring hotter and hotter.
'What's happening to me!?'
I screamed again and again—but all I could hear was that damn buzzing, louder, harsher, until the fire inside me reached its peak.
And then—
I exploded.