New Eridu
"Um...where am I?"
A guy with dark grey hair, wearing a black trench coat, a white undershirt, and a pair of black trousers, glances around the ruined area. All he saw was a ruined city, covered in black crystal, with no sign of life.
"Did...did the world just end!? I was pretty sure the city was brimming with life yesterday! Did a meteor strike Earth or something!?!" The guy asks in disbelief, scratching his head before realizing something is amiss.
He looks at his hands and furrows his brows. He was pretty sure he never bought a pair of fingerless gloves, and even if he did, he never wore them. He looks down and glances at his outfits, grabbing one in confusion.
"Wait, this....isn't this Caelus' outfit from Honkai Star Rail!?" The man asks in shock before he turns to see a wrecked train covered in black crystal. He walks closer and tries to glance at his reflection. He was greeted with a gray-haired face with yellow eyes.
"..." The man stares at the reflection before pinching his cheeks. "Ouch, okay. This is not a dream. So, an isekai? But, where in the world am I?"
Before the man could say anything, he was greeted with a large blue screen. He yelps in shock, not expecting a screen popping out of nowhere.
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Name: Caelus
Age: 22
Title: None
Level: 1 (0/300)
HP: 100/100
PE: 100/100
Ether Aptitude: Error
Available Path(s):
- Destruction (LVL 1): To Next Level - 10/200
- Preservation (LVL 0): To Unlock - 0/1000
- Harmony (LVL 0): To Unlock - 0/1000
- Remembrance (LVL 0): To Unlock - 650/1000
* Click the Path on the list to see more details.
Passive:
- Stellaron Vessel (LVL MAX): ???
- Galactic Baseballer (LVL 1): Increases damage and accuracy when wielding a baseball bat by 15%.
- Basic Engineering (LVL 1): You have a slightly better understanding of machinery.
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"...Okay, I have so many questions..." The man mutters in disbelief. "But, seriously, did a ROB just casually yoink me from my home universe to another world and change my identity as a whole!?"
The man shakes his head as he slaps his cheeks.
"Not the time, there are more important things." The man sighs before looking at the system once again and blinking. "Hold on, Ether Aptitude!? Oh, don't tell me...."
The man glances around, and he feels like he wants to slap himself. The clue was very obvious: the post-apocalyptic scenery, the black crystal covering the area, and the monster with a black core on its body roaming around.
...hold on.
"Shit, Etherials..." 'Caelus' swore before glancing around. He is in deep trouble right now. He's currently in the world of Zenless Zone Zero, and he is completely defenseless.
"Wait, the system..." 'Caelus' glances at the system and takes a look once again. The system grants him the power of the Pathstrider, and from the list, he only gains access to Destruction. He would like to know how he's already halfway unlocking Remembrance, but now is not the time.
[Destruction (LVL 1): Grants the Pathstrider an access to power that could destroy anything, imbuing energy either in the Pathstrider's limbs or weapons to increase its destructive power. Reckless usage of it could cause harm to the user.]
"So, it's like the power of a certain anime protagonist..." 'Caleus' mutters before glancing at his passive. "To think that title ended up becoming my passive...one question remaining, where's Caelus' baseball bat?"
'Caelus' flinches when he hears a growl from a distance, starting to panic.
"Um, is there an inventory!?" 'Caelus' asks in panic, and to his relief, another screen pops up. Several empty slots were displayed on it, and 'Caelus' can see the bat at the top left corner of the screen before pressing his finger on it.
In an instant, blue lightning appears on his hand before it is replaced with a black baseball bat. 'Caelus' grips the bat with both of his hands, letting out a sigh.
"...now, how am I supposed to access the power of [Destruction]?" 'Caelus' asks before a sound comes from above the train next to him. He looks up and sees an Ethereal glance at him before it jumps down.
'Caelus' yelps and, in panic, swings the bat at the head of the Ethereal. Upon making contact, a loud crack is heard as the Etherial is sent flying a few meters. 'Caelus' grimaces at the sound and even more so when he sees the noticeable cracks on its orb-shaped head. He takes a deep breath before rushing towards the Ethereal, swinging the bat with his strength.
The Ethereal didn't get the chance to do anything as the head shatters into pieces, and its body goes limp before it collapses to the ground. 'Caelus' looks at the downed Ethereal in shock, trying to process what he just did as the body slowly disintegrates.
[Notice: You gain 20 EXP]
[Destruction (LVL 1): 11/200]
"..." 'Caelus' glances at the baseball bat. "I never questioned this before, but what is this thing made of?"
'Caelus' wasn't given the chance to rest, as the 'battle' earlier had attracted more Ethereal. The man gulps nervously as he grips his baseball bat.
"It would be nice if I could access the path of Destruction right now..." 'Caelus' mutters. "The system didn't bother to explain anything...what, am I supposed to chant my character's ultimate line? Shouting 'Rules are meant to be broken!'??"
As he said this, he felt something flow out of his hand, and his baseball bat started to glow blue. 'Caelus' widened his eyes before gripping the bat tighter, feeling a violent shake coming from the bat. The Ethereals start charging at 'Caelus', who is panicking at his situation before swinging down his bat.
Like a bomb, a powerful shockwave appears when the bat makes contact with the ground, disintegrating every Ethereal on the path while 'Caelus' is sent back flying several feet. He grunts as his back slams into the ruined train, creating a dent as he falls to the ground.
[Notice: You gain 20 EXP] (x7)
[Destruction (LVL 1): 50/200]
He winces as he looks at his hands, now burnt from the residual energy. He grasps at his hand while looking at where the Ethereal was, only to see a large crater, disintegrating corpses, and items floating like they're in Minecraft.
"...I take everything back, nothing is nice with the Path of Destruction." 'Caelus' whimpers before he shakily gets up, even using his baseball bat as a support (He wonders what that thing is even made of). "Also, item drops?"
[Core Fragments X 17]
[Dennies x1,256]
"..." 'Caelus' said nothing, grabbing all the dennies without any questions.
"I need to get out of this damn Hollow..." 'Caelus' says as he glances around. "But, I have no idea where I should even go...."
'Caelus' let out a sigh before he started walking with no destination in mind. He is in deep shit, especially knowing how the world of Zenless Zone Zero is. Hollow is a supernatural disaster appearing out of thin air, shaping into a dark, disordered dimension that swallowed portions of the physical world, and corrupts everything with Ether. There are no laws of physics and space-time applied in the dimension; any straightforward path is just an illusion that leads to a random location within the dimension, making it effectively a maze.
The only way to get out of there? A program that predicts the space behavior inside Hollow name Carrot is required, or perhaps a droid called Bangboo, as it is equipped with said program. Unfortunately, 'Caelus' doesn't possess any of them, and he needs to be extremely lucky to even find one intact in the Hollow.
"ROB must have some sick twisted sense of humor for sending me in the middle of Hollow." 'Caelus' mutters. "I need to get out of here before the Ether in the Hollow corrupts me and turns me into the Corrupted."
'Caelus' pauses before opening the system, and narrows his eyes at the [Ether Apitude: Error] section.
"I almost forgot about this," 'Caelus' mutters. "And also, why is it displayed as 'Error' in it? Does that mean I am safe inside the Hollow or not?"
As 'Caelus' walks, he suddenly hears a loud explosion in the distance. He looks around, trying to see the source before noticing a ladder leading to an unfinished construction. He puts his bat into the inventory before deciding to climb up to the top to get a better view, trying to see the source of the explosion.
'Caelus' knows this is crazy, but if there's an explosion inside the Hollow, one thing is certain: someone has entered the Hollow. If he could find them, he can get access to either Carrots or Bangboo. He just hoped that his luck didn't toy with him; he didn't want to encounter someone who got lost in Hollow without navigation like his.
He looks around, trying to see if there's any sign of an explosion, and sure enough, another loud explosion is heard, and he can see the smoke from a distance. 'Caelus' was excited at his discovery, to the point that he didn't pay attention to his surroundings as he stepped onto an unstable platform, causing him to fall from several stories.
To his luck, he falls right into a space rift that sends him flying towards a pile of rubble. 'Caelus' shields his head as he waits for the crash, but he ends up going through another rift, which causes him to crash into the ground.
"Okay, that luck was bullshit..." 'Caelus' says as he winces in pain. He already had to deal with his burnt hands; now, thanks to his carelessness, he feels pain in his entire body. As 'Caelus' looked up, he was greeted with a sight of a chubby bunny droid with a screen displaying a pair of green eyes staring at him curiously. For whatever reason, it looks like it was painted to look like a raccoon, and it holds a tiny baseball bat.
"Um, hi?" 'Caelus' greets the droid awkwardly, recognizing it as Bangboo, ZZZ's mascots.
"Ehn-na! (Hello!)" The Bangboo greets and waves the baseball bat cheerfully. 'Caelus' blinks in surprise. Did he just understand what the Bangboo said?!
"...I think I had enough weirdness for today...." 'Caelus' mutters before faceplanting onto the concrete. This causes the Bangboo panics as it frantically moves around, waving its hands as it tries to search for help.
To be Continued