{Congratulations! You have been chosen as the Inheritor of the Primordial Gamer System.}
It had been a few minutes since Akira stared at the text hovering in front of him, lost in unknown thoughts.
The last thing he remembered was being in Tokyo, about to receive his fifth Gamer of the Year award, when his vision went blank and he woke up here. This place was an empty white plane, with nothing in sight as far as the eye could see. He tried to move, but his position remained stationary.
"System," he asked, voice steady. "Where did you come from?"
{System was created by the Primordial God of Games.}
"Can you tell me his name?"
{He doesn't have one.}
'Or you don't have the authority to mention it,' Akira thought but decided to change the subject. Right now, he needed to understand his situation and collect as much information as possible.
"What can you do for me?" Akira asked, not forgetting that he was chosen for some inheritance.
{The System allows its user to travel throughout the multiverse. Each universe is treated as a game, with a single task. Complete the task to win the game.}
"Do I have the freedom to choose the universe or goal?"
{The host will have the freedom to pick the world; the task will be selected by the system.}
No change of expression showed on Akira's face—he had half expected that answer. There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world. If you get something for free, either you're the product or what's given is inherently worthless.
If he could choose his own tasks, what would stop him from picking something like "wake up every morning" and calling it a win?
"What happens if I fail to complete a given task?" he asked, his voice heavier now.
{Failure to complete a task will result in the host being erased from existence.}
Now that was concerning.
Akira had no idea whether the system was truly capable of erasing him from existence, but he knew he was in no position to take any chances.
After a few minutes of silence, he organized his thoughts and decided to provoke the system.
"What if I refuse to choose any universe?"
Since the system wanted him to travel to another reality for whatever reason it had, what if he just refused to comply? Would the system forcefully pick a world for him?
He didn't think so. He had been promised the right to choose a universe for himself. Instead, the system might try to persuade him, which he could use as a bargaining chip.
{The system will wait until the host is ready.}
Akira looked at the screen with an unreadable expression, after which he laid down on the white floor, attempting to sleep.
Four days passed.
Or at least, that was his estimation. There was no hunger, no thirst, no fatigue—no biological needs whatsoever. He couldn't sleep, and yet he never felt tired. The experience had confirmed one thing: some supernatural force was at work here.
Akira had also carefully utilized this time strategizing and familiarizing himself with the system.
'I am being used for entertainment,' was the conclusion he reached, and he was quite sure of it. Nothing is free. He was the product. Sadly, he had no power to oppose the "Primordial God of Games."
His original plan of stalling had also failed—the system could just trap him here for eternity. He'd have to do what it said eventually.
After careful thought and consideration, he was now ready to start his first game.
"System, I wish to start a game," he said.
{Which world would the host like to travel to?}
"Classroom of the Elite."
There were two main reasons for him to pick this world. First, it was relatively harmless. In the vast multiverse, compared to worlds like Marvel or DC, this one was a cakewalk. Second, in this world, the information he possessed would give him a huge advantage—whether it was knowledge about the special exams or the S-System.
Obviously, if the system gave him an absurd task, then all his advantage would be for nothing.
{Initializing multiversal travel…}
{Finding the said universe…}
{Warning! Once created, a game must be completed and cannot be dismissed.}
{Should the system proceed with task generation?}
"Yes."
{Generating task…}
{Host – Akira KazamaGame No. – 1World – Classroom of the EliteTask – Raise the infatuation of 5 main heroines to 100% before graduating high schoolDifficulty – Extreme}
Akira took a deep breath as he lamented his luck. The difficulty of a task ranged from Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard, Extreme, and Nigh-Impossible.
Not only had he gotten an Extreme difficulty task, but it was romance-related. He was an expert at strategy-based games, not romcoms.
{Please create your character, Host.}
Akira quickly collected himself and decided to shift focus to the next step: Character Creation. He had learned about this prompt from the system, but still took his sweet time interacting with it.
He skimmed over the basic information like name, age, and gender, and focused all his attention on stats, special abilities, and knowledge bases.
As absurd as it sounded, not only had he been given complete freedom to design his character, he was also allowed to choose 3 special abilities (provided by the system) and 3 knowledge bases from anyone in the multiverse.
Despite being given such overpowered privileges, Akira's expression was grim. According to the system, the harder the game, the better the perks.
After spending a long time on the character screen, Akira finally nodded to himself in satisfaction.
{Name – Akira KazamaAge – 16 (23)Gender – MaleStrength – 100/100Agility – 100/100Endurance – 100/100Reflexes – 100/100Looks – 100/100Intelligence – 100/100Academic Knowledge Base – Korosensei (Assassination Classroom)Combat Knowledge Base – Shang-Chi (Marvel Earth-616)Charismatic Knowledge Base – Johan Liebert (Monster)}
{Special Abilities →
[Mind's Gate][Rank: A][Description: Allows the user to read and alter thoughts of another person.]
[Aphrodite's Eye][Rank: E][Description: Shows people's infatuation towards the user in numerical form.]
[Aphrodite's Blessing][Rank: B][Description: Stops the opposite gender's infatuation toward the user from going down.]}
Without hesitation, he maxed out all his stats. It would be incredibly foolish not to make full use of the privileges given—especially with his life on the line. The rest of his time was spent selecting knowledge bases and special abilities.
He had tried to get the knowledge base of characters like One Above All from Marvel. Naturally, the system declined. He tried a few more overpowered characters but was rejected each time, eventually settling on the final three. As far as his knowledge of fiction went, these were his best options.
There were many S-rank abilities available, and even more A- and B-rank ones—but he couldn't pick them. As amazing as it would be to have superpowers, Akira wouldn't risk his existence on them. His task was romance-related, so the abilities chosen had to suit that goal.
He took a deep breath, giving the screen one final look.
"System, my character is ready."
{Finalizing character generation…}{Integrating character into the world…}
{Which class would the host like to be assigned to?}
"Class D," Akira said with no hesitation in his voice. His task was to infatuate five "main heroines." Class D had five of them, including the homeroom teacher. It was without a doubt the best option for him.
{Choose a student to replace from Class D.}
Forty names appeared in front of Akira, based on the seating order of Class 1-D.
Once again, Akira Kazama got lost in thought as his gaze fell to the name at the bottom-left corner of the grid.
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.
His name was different from the others. All other names were in white, but his was in red.
"Why is this name in red?" Akira asked the system, pointing at Ayanokoji's name.
{His admission into the school was an order directly from the chairman. As such, it is not possible to replace him.}
'So the system isn't just erasing the student I choose from existence?' Akira gained another piece of information. It looked like the system would simply make it so that the student he chose never got into ANHS, and he'd be admitted instead.
Not wasting any more time, he clicked on the name Wataru Ijūin.
This person sat between Suzune Horikita and Airi Sakura—both of whom were main heroines—and he didn't play any important role in the plot.
{Would you like to start the game now?}
"Yes."
{May the odds be ever in your favor.}
That was the last prompt he saw before the world turned dark around him—and he woke up in an unfamiliar room.